July  31,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
105 
Snow  in  July. 
Heavy  snow  fell  on  the  23rd  inst.,  on  the  hills  in  the  north 
of  Scotland.  The  thermometer  was  down  to  39deg  this  morning 
(July  25). — D.  T.,  Esbank. 
Large  Rhubarb. 
There  can  be  seen  growing  in  the  garden  of  David  Pitt,  at 
Eccles,  Kelso,  N.B.,  a  stalk  of  Rhubarb  measuring  2ft  6in  long; 
girth  at  the  base  8|in  ;  girth  at  the  top  8|  in;  length  of  leaf 
4ft;  breadth  of  the  same  4ft  8in,  and  measuring  round  the  edge 
26ft  Gin. — July,  1902. 
Strawberries  at  Aberdeen. 
The  first  of  the  local  Strawberry  crop  appeared  in  the  market 
about  July  15,  or  a  fortnight  later  than  usual.  The  crop  is  a 
light  one.  The  berries  are  of  an  unusually  small  size  when 
contrasted  with  the  big,  juicy,  finely-flavoured  fruit  of  a 
favourable  season.  The  retail  prices  on  Saturday,  July  19,  ran 
about  10d.  per  lb.,  and  wholesale  about  8d. — or  nearly  double 
the  price  in  ordinary  seasons. 
Digitalis  orientalis. 
Digitalis  orientalis  has  long,  slender,  self-supporting  stems, 
with  very  numerous,  small,  straw-coloured  flowers.  As  in 
D.  sibirica,  the  stems  are  branching,  but  it  is  much  dwarfer  in 
habit,  elegant  and  graceful.  The  height  is  2ft  to  2|f't.  Both 
are  true  perennials  and  perfectly  hardy,  like  D.  ambigua,  not 
like  the  ordinary  Foxgloves  of  gardens,  which  are  biennials. 
For  a  number  of  years  experiments  have  been  made  to  hybridise 
the  various  biennials  with  the  true  perennials  to  obtain  a 
greater  variety  of  colour,  but  there  is  no  report  on  the  results, 
which,  however,  are,  after  a  number  of  failures,  promising  at 
last. 
A  Sweet  Pea  Outing  at  Kelvedon,  Essex 
On  Thursday,  the  24th  inst.,  a  party  of  some  sixty  persons, 
including  the  chairman  and  committee  of  the  National  Sweet 
Pea  Society,  and  members  of  the  leading  metropolitan  and 
provincial  seed  houses,  by  the  kind  invitation  of  Messrs.  Hurst 
and  Son,  of  Houndsditch,  journeyed  to  Kelvedon  to  inspect  the 
extensive  trial  of  Sweet  Peas  being  grown  by  this  firm  on  their 
seed  trial  grounds.  The  party  found  nearly  1,500  samples  of 
Sweet  Peas— many  of  the  varieties  being  repeated — the  collec¬ 
tion1  including  all  the  forms  of  the  Cupid  type,  and  all  being 
in  full  bloom,  an  excellent  opportunity  was  afforded  for  com¬ 
paring  the  older  varieties  of  Sweet  Peas  with  the  latest 
novelties.  The  Cupid  types  were  seen  to  be  generally  carrying 
good  heads  of  bloom,  and  there  did  not  appear  among  them 
that  tendency  to  drop  their  blooms  witnessed  in  previous  years. 
The  cooler  and  moister  weather  was  probably  helpful  in  this 
direction.  Some  of  the  company  devoted  themselves  to  inspect¬ 
ing  a  very  extensive  and  representative  trial  of  culinary  Peas, 
including  nearly  a  thousand  samples,  while  Lettuces,  Onions, 
Beets,  Carrots,  Beans,  &c.,  had  attractions  for  others.  There 
were  also  many  samples  of  flower  seeds  which  well  repaid  inspec¬ 
tion.  A  word  of  warm  praise  is  due  to  Mr.  T.  A.  Newby  for  the 
admirable  manner  in  which  the  numerous  samples  are  arranged 
and  supervised,  and  the  grounds  kept.  Mr.  N.  N.  Sherwood  is 
in  much  improved  health. 
Cordon  Pears  Grown  under  Glass. 
In  cold  or  unfavourable  districts  it  is  sometimes  more  profit¬ 
able  to  cultivate  part  at  least  of  the  Pear  crop  under  glass. 
Noxious  vapours  too,  may  have  to  be  avoided,  and  indoor  treat¬ 
ment  is  then  much  more  satisfactory.  The  engraving  shows  a 
Pear  house  at  Lambton  Castle,  324ft  long,  lean-to  and  facing 
south-east.  The  house  is  wired  1ft  from  the  glass,  and  the 
Pears  are  planted  along  the  front.  Strawberries  are  grown  on 
shelves  in  the  same  house,  and  sufficient  light  is  afforded  for 
odd  plant  culture  beneath,  though  this  is  better  avoided  where 
practicable.  No  fire  heat  has  been  found  necessary,  early 
closing  on  sunny  afternoons  being  sufficient.  The  fruits  come 
into  use  during  August  from  the  following  varieties  among 
others:  Jargonelle,  Beurre  Gifford,  Clapp’s  Favourite,  and 
Beurre  de  l’Assomption.  In  September  we  have  Williams’  Bon 
Chretien,  Beurre  d’Amanlis,  Beurre  Superfin,  &c.  October: 
Lovlise  Bonne  of  Jersey  and  Beurre  Hardy.  November: 
Doyenne  Boussoch,  Marie  Louise  and  Marechal  de  la  Cour  ; 
other  late  varieties  will  continue  the  supply  till  springtime. 
The  present  is  a  suitable  period  for  the  construction  of  such 
houses. 
June  Weather  at  Temple  House  Gardens. 
In  your  report-  last  week  you  omitted  to  give  the  rainfall  for 
June,  1902,  which  was  3.42in,  as  against  the  1.36  for  June  last 
year.— George  Groves. 
Appointment. 
Mr.  C.  F.  G.  Candler,  for  the  last  five  years  head  gardener  at 
Foxbury,  Sevenoaks,  Kent,  as  head  gardener  at  The  Kent 
County  Asylum,  Chartham,  Canterbury.  He  entered  upon  his 
duties  on  July  7. 
Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture. 
Professor  L.  H.  Bailey,  of  Cornell  University,  has’  announced 
his  intention  of  beginning  work  at  once  upon  the  “  Cyclopedia  of 
American  Agriculture,”  supplementing  the  Cyclopedia  of 
American  Horticulture,”  but  differing  from  it  in  that  it  will  be  a. 
book  of  instruction  rather  than  a  reference  work. 
Weather  in  South  Perthshire. 
We  still  await  the  advent  of  summer.  Occasionally  a  warm 
day  has  occurred,  but  generally  the  temperature  has  been  un¬ 
usually  low,  and  there  has  been  comparatively  little  sunshine. 
On  Friday,  the  25th,  the  northern  hills  were  covered  with 
snow,  and  frost  has  left  its  mark  on  Beech  hedges  and  tender 
plants.  Potatoes  are  many  places  quite  blackened.  The  hay 
crop  is  abundant  ;  cereals  are  promising  a  good  return,  but  are 
at  least  three  weeks  late. — B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire. 
Poppies  and  Sweet  Peas. 
The  Sweet  Pea  is  capable  of  great  improvement,  and  we  hope 
to  witness  changes  for  the  better  in  this  beautiful  and  fragrant 
flower.  And  with  Sweet  Peas  could  not  our  National  Society, 
which  watches  the  interests  of  the  flower,  enlarge  its  field  and 
include  the  Poppy  genus  as  one  eminently  suited  to  accompany 
the  Sweet  Pea  in  its  progress,  and  worthy  also  of  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  trade  and  private  cultivators?  The  genus  Papaver  yields 
considerable  variety  in  species,  and  systematic  hybridisation, 
crossing,  and  selecting  amongst  the  species  and  varieties  would 
surely  be  successful  from  many  points  of  view,  and  seems  well 
worthy  of  being  undertaken. 
Carpenteria  californica. 
An  uncommon  shrub,  but  one  that  is  gradually  becoming 
better  known,  and  more  fully  grown.  In  sheltered  gardens 
even  in  Scotland  it  succeeds.  We  have  seen  healthy  specimens 
at  Tyninghame,  and  at  Edinburgh.  Yet  it  is  usually  regarded 
as  being  very  tender.  On  the  right  hand  central  page  we 
figure  a  flowering  branchlet,  this  being  the  period  of  its  bloom¬ 
ing,  or  in  more  favourable  years,  June  month.  The  white 
flowers  are  2in  to  3in  across,  like  the  white  Japanese  Anemone, 
and  are  borne  in  racemose  cymes.  The  golden  anthers  of  the 
stamens  too,  render  the  flowers  additionally  attractive.  It 
loves  a.  light,  warm  soil,  and  furnishes  a  capital  pot  shrub  for  a 
greenhouse.  Increased  from  seeds,  layers,  cuttings,  or  suckers, 
it  soon  forms  a  bushy  plant,  and  requires  very  light  pruning  or 
thinning.  (See  page  107.) 
South  African  Irrigation. 
The  full  text  is  now  published  of  the  report  on  the  possibilities 
of  irrigation  in  South  Africa  by  Mr.  W.  Willcocks,  managing 
director  of  the  Daira  Sania  Company,  Egypt.  It  is,  he  says, 
fortunate  that  nearly  everywhere  in  the  Transvaal,  in  the  greater 
part  of  the  Orange  River  Colony,  and  over  wide  areas  of  the  Cape 
Colony,  the  rainfall  is  sufficient  in  quantity  in  even  the  very  worst 
years  to  allow  of  the  storage  of  water  on  a  very  large  scale.  On 
a  rough  calculation  he  states  that,  with  the  aid  of  its  rainfall  and 
the  Orange  River,  the  Cape  Colony  should  be  able  to  ensure  the 
perennial  irrigation  of  1,000,000  acres,  the  Orange  River  Colony 
of  750,000  acres,  and  the  Transvaal  of  500,000  acres  in  the  high- 
lying  regions  where  Europeans  can  live  and  work,  and  1,000,000 
acres  in  the  low  tracts,  which  should,  he  thinks,  bo  thrown  open 
to  our  fellow  British-Indian  subjects.  Mr.  Willcocks  concludes 
his  report  to  Lord  Milner  as  follows: — “South  Africa,  with  an 
additional  3,000,000  acres  of  perennially  irrigated  land  gained  at 
an  expenditure  of  £30,000,000,  and  valued  at  £100,000,000,  and 
also  with  10,000,000  acres  of  land  under  crops  depending  on  rain¬ 
fall,  which  might  be  valued  at  another  £100,000,000,  would  be  a 
very  different  country  from  that  which  it  is  to-day.  An  addition 
of  £200,000,000  to  the  permanent  wealth  of  South  Africa  would 
enable  the  country  to  contemplate  with  serenity  the  dark  days  of 
its  gold  and  diamond  industries.” 
