366 
October  16,  1906. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Figs  under  Glass. 
Early  Forced  Trees  in  Pots. 
Trees  intended  for  affording  fruit  at  the  close  of  Apiil  or 
early  in  May  will  now  need  dressing  with  an  insecticide,  paraffin 
emulsion  Bo'z  to  a  gallon  of  water  answering,  adding  \oa  of  liver 
of  sulphur,  and  applying  it  in  a  tepid  state  with  a  brush,  being 
careful  not  to  injure  the  points  of  the  shoots  or  rub  off  the 
embryo  fruits.  Very  little  pruning  will  be  necessary,  the  trees 
having  been  regularly  stopped  during  the  season,  but  if  the 
growths  are  too  crowded  and  irregular  they  may  be  thinned  to 
render  the  trees  symmetrical,  but  the  shoots  must  not  be 
shortened,  or  the  first-crop  Figs  will  be  cut  off.  The  house  m 
which  the  trees  are  forced  should  have  the  wood  and  ironwork 
washed  with  hot  water,  whitewashing  the  walls  with  hot  lime  and 
a  handful  of  flowers  of  sulphur  to  a  pailful.  A  mild  bottom  heat  is 
almost  a  necessity  to  a  successful  swelling  and  perfecting  of  the 
earlier  crop,  the  pots  being  raised  upon  loose  bricks,  pedestal 
fashion,  in  the  positions  they  are  to  occupy  in  the  bed,  and  the 
pit  filled  with  Oak  or  Beech  leaves  pressed  firmly.  The  depth  of 
the  pit  needs  to  be  about  3ft,  with  a  mixture  of  stable  litter  and 
leaves,  one-third  of  the  first  to  two-thirds  of  the  latter  ;  for  leaves 
alone  the  depth  should  be  4ft  to  4  V f t . 
Care  must,  be  taken  to  avoid  overheating,  not  allowing  the 
temperature  about  the  pots  to  exceed  Godeg  until  growth  takes 
place.  The  trees  should  consist  of  early  and  reliable  first  crop 
varieties,  Early  Violet  and  St.  John’s  being  small-fruited  and 
earliest  Brown  Turkey  and  White  Marseilles  following,  and  are 
large  fruited,  and  be  started  about  the  middle  of  November, 
bringing  them  forward  very  gently,  keeping  the  house  close  and 
moist  by  sprinkling  twice  a  day  in  bright  weather,  employing  fire 
heat  to  maintain  a,  temperature  of  50deg  at  night,  55deg  by  day, 
and  with  sun  heat  GOdeg  to  Godeg.  The  soil  must  be  brought  into 
a  moist  condition  by  needful  watering,  but  not  making  it  sodden. 
Early  Forced  Planted  Out  Trees. 
The  trees  should  now  be  untied  from  the  trellis,  and  the 
needful  pruning  effected.  Those  with  the  roots  restricted  to 
small  borders  will  only  require  to  have  the  shoots  thinned  where 
too  crowded,  cutting  back  growths  extended  to  the  limits  of  the 
trellis  and  useless  for  fruit  production,  so  as  to  allow  space  for 
the  successional  growth.  Trees  that  have  not  the  roots  restricted 
will  require  cutting  back  at  the  upper  part  of  the  trellis,  allowing 
room  for  the  extension  of  the  lower  fruitful  branches,  but 
luxuriant  trees  should  be  root-pruned,  or  the  cutting  out  of 
growths  will  only  tend  to  render  the  trees  more  unfruitful.  The 
trees  should  be  washed  with  an  insecticide  as  advised  for  those  in 
pots,  and  be  secured  to  the  trellis  loosely.  Cleanse  the  house 
thoroughly,  remove  the  loose  soil,  remains  of  mulching,  point  over 
with  a  fork,  and  apply  a  surface  dressing  of  fresh  loam  and 
sprinkle  over  that  4oz  per  square  yard  of  a  mixture  of  three  parts 
dissolved  bones,  two  parts  nitrate  of  potash,  and  one  part  sul¬ 
phate  of  lime,  and  oil  that  a  light  mulch  of  partially  decayed 
manure,  lumpy,  yet  short.  Give  a.  good  watering,  ventilate  freely 
at  all  times,  except  when  frost  prevails,  then  keep  closed,  and 
turn  on  heat  to  exclude  frost. 
Succession  Houses. 
The  trees  are  not  ripening  the  wood  well  in  some  cases,  and  it 
would  be  wise  to  turn  on  the  heat  in  the  morning,  and  admit  air 
only  to  induce  a  circulation,  throwing  the  ventilators  open  at 
night,  the  heat  having  been  turned  off  at  midday.  This  will 
assist  the  maturation  of  the  foliage,  but  any  unfruitful  trees 
must  be  root-pruned  and  the  roots  restricted  to  moderate  sized 
borders,  and  are  then  more  manageable  and  fruitful  with  the 
roots  confined  to  limited  space  than  when  having  an  unlimited 
rooting  area.  Prune  the  trees  when  the  leaves  have  fallen, 
cleanse  the  house,  put  everything  in  order.  Dress  the  trees, 
especially  those  that  have  been  infested  with  insects,  with  an 
insecticide,  it  always  being  good  policy  to  do  this  as  preventive 
of  attack.  Keep  the  house  cool  and  dry,  yet  exclude  severe 
frosts. 
Late  Houses. 
Excessively  luxuriant  trees  should  be  lifted  and  root-pruned, 
as  advised  above.  Trees  in  unheated  houses  ought  to  be  given 
free  ventilation,  and  when  the  leaves  fall  wash  the  trellis  well. 
Have  the  branches  tied  together  in  convenient  bundles  and  made 
safe  from  frost  with  some  straw  or  fern  over  them,  encasing  the 
bundles  in  mats.  In  heated  houses  this  is  not  necessary,  but  the 
trees  in  these  must  not  be  exposed  to  seVere  frosts  or  they  are 
liable  to  be  injured,  therefore  a  little  warmth  will  be  necessary 
in  severe  weather.  Trees  in  cool  houses  should  have  the  roots, 
especially  at  the  collar,  protected  by  a  covering  of  dry  material. — 
Grower. 
Societies. 
R.H  S.,  Scientific  Commitee,  Oct.  7th. 
Present:  Dr.  Russell  (in  the  chair);  Messrs.  Worsdell, 
Saunders,  Worsley,  Odell,  Hooper,  Drs.  Cooke  and  Rendle,  Pro¬ 
fessor  Boulger,  Revs.  W.  Wilks  and  G.  Henslow  (Hon.  Sec.). 
Crotalaria  Species. — Mr.  Wilks  exhibited  a  flowering  branch 
of  a  species  raised  from  seed  received  from  Uganda.  It  closely 
resembled  C.  Cunninghami,  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Gulf 
of  Carpentaria  in  Australia.  Dr.  Rendle  undertook  to  examine 
it  for  identification. 
Effects  of  Hail  in  Kent. — Mr.  Wilks  also  showed  stems  of  trees 
of  which  the  bark  had  been  ripped  open  in  considerable  lengths 
by  the  hail  of  the  late  storm.  The  wood  was  exposed  as  the 
bark  curled  backwards.  It  was  received  from  Mr.  Woodward, 
of  Teston,  Kent.  It  was  recorded  that  six  tons  of  hail  was 
found  in  the  basement  of  a  house  after  the  storm. 
Fir  and  Cryptococcus. — Mr.  F.  Lloyd,  High  Sheriff  of  Buck¬ 
inghamshire,  sent  a  bough  infested  by  this  insect.  The  tree  had 
died  after  four  years’  attack.  Mr.  Saunders  undertook  to 
examine  and  report  upon  it. 
Mushrooms  and  Mites. — Mr.  Gaut,  of  Leeds,  sent  some 
specimens  badly  attacked  by  mites,  which,  with  their  eggs,  were 
very  observable.  They  are  said  to  be  wholly  destroying  the 
crop.  Mr.  Saunders  examined  them,  and  reports  as  follows: 
“  The  Mushrooms  are  badly  attacked  by  one  of  the  ‘  bulb  mites,’ 
Rhizoglyhus  echinopus.  I  do  not  see  what  can  be  done  to  destroy 
them  but  to  clear  out  the  whole  of  the  Mushrooms  and  the 
top  soil  of  the  bed  and  begin  afresh.  Any  method  of  killing 
the  mites  would  certainly  destroy  the  Mushrooms ;  soaking  the 
upper  part  of  the  bed  with  boiling  water  would  kill  the  mites, 
but  it  would  equally  kill  the  Mushrooms,  and  most  probably 
the  spawn.  Before  making  a  new  bed  I  should  wash  down  the 
walls  or  woodwork  that  had  in  any  way  come  in  contact  with 
the  bed  with  paraffin  emulsion  or  paraffin  mixed  with  water, 
one  part  of  the  oil  to  twenty  of  water,  or  with  boiling  water.” 
Vine  Leaves  Burnt. — Leaves  of  Madresfiekl  Court  Vine  were 
received  from  Mrs.  J.  B.  Wood,  Henley  Hall,  Ludlow.  No 
fungus  could  be  detected.  It  was  suggested  that  the  appearance 
was  probably  due  to  the  effects  of  the  sun  through  the  glass  on 
the  leaves  when  they  were  wet. 
Beyonici  Leaves  Diseased. — Leaves  were  received  from  Mr.  C. 
Newington,  of  Oakover,  Ticehurst,  Sussex.  An  examination  by 
Mr.  Saunders  revealed  no  insect  pest;  but  Dr.  Cooke  remarked 
that  the  peculiarity  of  the  disease  occurring  along  the  ribs  and 
veins  was  very  suggestive  of  Gloeosporium,  so  that  it  might  be 
an  incipient  stage  of  that  fungus ;  such  being  the  feature  of 
this  disease  of  leaves  of  the  Plane  tree. 
Chlorosis  on  Pcdms ■ — Mr.  Odell  exhibited  seedlings  of  Kentia. 
showing  the  yellow,  unhealthy  leaves,  taken  from  a  batch  of 
some  thousands  of  seedlings,  of  which  only  a  very  small  pro¬ 
portion  were  affected.  A  plant  of  Kentia  submitted  to  the 
committee  in  February  last  (with  five  others)  were  in  same  state 
as  seedlings  shown,  but  when  grown  in  a  cool  house  with  little 
shade,  and  potted  in  soil  containing  a  trace  of  iron,  the  leaves 
developed  the  ordinary  colour.  Mr.  Odell  added  that  Kentias 
and  Seaforthias  (Archontophoenix)  seem  more  subject  to  chlorosis 
than  such  genera  as  Cocos  and  Rhapis. 
Germination  in  Amaryllids. — Mr.  Worsley  read  a  paper  on 
this  subject,  which  will  appear  in  full  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Society  with  illustrations.  The  author  observes :  “  That  it  is 
possible  for  two  embryos  to  exist,  in  one  seed  of  Hymenoeallis 
coneinna  (Baker,  sp.  nov.).  I  believe  it  to  be  unique  in  the 
literature  of  these  plants.  The  minute  threads  by  means  of 
which  the  ovules  adhere  to  the  base  of  the  style  (placenta)  and 
constitute  the  only  direct  communication  with  the  stigma,  would 
seem  to  be  so  arranged  that  the  whole  of  the  ovules  would 
become  impregnated  contemporaneously,  and  probably  instan¬ 
taneously,  on  the  adhesion  of  a  sufficient  number  of  virile  pollen 
grains  to  the  stigma.”  Of  these  Amaryllids,  with  bulbiform 
seeds,  lie  observes :  “  Such  plants  have  a  fixed  number  of  ovules 
(six)  and  a  fixed  number  of  seeds  (subject  to  very  small  fluc¬ 
tuation),  yet  there  is  often  a  great  dissimilarity  between  the 
number  of  seeds  and  of  ovules.”  In  the  above  plant  the  number 
is  four.  “  I  believe  that  we  must  seek  in  the  structure  of  the 
tissues  below  the  ovary  the  cause  of  such  limitations.  It  would 
seem  as  though  the  carriage  of  nutriment  to  the  embryo  from 
the  bulb  of  the  parent  was  either  limited  by  the  nature  of 
such  tissues  to  a  certain  number  of  channels,  or  that  all  the 
nutriment  became,  after  impregnation,  quickly  diverted  to  the 
strongest  embryos,  and  that  the  rest  suffered  from  strangulation 
or  starvation.”  He  then  refers  to  the  great  variety  of  sizes,  the 
unequal  vigour  and  vitality  in  the  seeds.  After  alluding  to 
the  difficulty,  if  not  impossibility,  of  “  diverse  impregnation  ”  in 
support  of  his  thepry  of  simultaneous  impregnation  of  all  the 
ovules,  Mr.  Worsley  proceeds:  “From  this  it  would  appear 
as  though  a  single  pollen  grain  were  capable  of  impregnating 
over  100  ovules,  such  as  exist  in  the  ovary  of  Hippeastrum ;  yet 
I  do  not  think  we  are  justified  in  asserting  this  to  be  an 
ascertained  fact.” 
