Marcli  24,  19C4. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
BOOK  ON  BKKS  (J.  1).).— -  Tlie  Britisli  Bee-keeper^  (iuide,” 
by  T.  W.  Cowan,  editor  of  tlie  '  British  Bee  Journal.'’  price  Is.  (id. 
PHOTOS  RECKTVKD  (J.  L.b-  Have  just,  found  your  two 
oreliid  photos,  and  will  reproduce  one.  Tliey  liad  been  overlooked, 
(W.  B.). — Your  bhicharis  plants  are  good  samples;  the  photo  shall 
be  reproduced. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS:  A  LEGAL  ACTION  /  G.  W.  I).).— 
The  issue  containing  the  legal  report  is  out  of  print,  but  we  re¬ 
print  it  for  your  benefit.  Many  of  our  (piene.s  la'fer  to  news 
paragraphs  and  articles  in  back  volumes  of  the  Journal,  and  it 
would  be  both  to  our  and  readers’  advantage  were  the  weekly 
issues  saved  and  bound  up.  These  would,  moreover,  become  a 
household  asset  in  the  bound  condition.  The  paragraph  was 
as  follows:  “A  Spoiled  Exhibit. — Sheriff-Substitute  Sym,  Perth, 
has  issued  his  decision  in  a  case  of  unusual  interest  to  the  garden¬ 
ing  profe.ssion.  Mr.  James  Beisant,  head  gardener,  Ca.stle 
Huntley,  Longforgan,  as  an  individual,  and  also  as  an  assignee  of 
his  employer,  Mr.  Armitstead.  sued  the  Caledonian  Railway  Com¬ 
pany  for  £100  in  consequence  of  damage  to  valuable  C  hrysan- 
themum  blooms  entrusted  by  him  to  the  defenders  for  conveyance 
to  the  Edinburgh  Chrysanthemum  Show  in  November  last.  A 
special  van  had  been  engaged  for  the  blooms.  M’hile  the  van  was 
being  shunted  at  Longforgan  it  was  run  into  and  disabled  by  the 
shunting  engine,  with  the  result  (as  alleged  by  the  pursuer)  that 
the  boxes  of  blooms  were  thrown  violtiiitly  from  one  end  of  the 
van  to  the  other,  spilling  the  water  supplied  in  tubes  to  keep  the 
blooms  fre.sh,  and  many  of  the  blooms  were  found  crushed  and  cut, 
and  many  of  the  petals  shaken  off.  The  blooms  were  144  in 
number,  picked  from  about  600  plants  of  the  choicest,  newest, 
and  costliest  varieties.  Expert  evidence  was  given  by  Mr.  J.  W. 
McHattie,  superintendent  of  the  parks  to  the  Corporation  of 
Edinburgh  (who  was  a  judge  at  the  show  in  (luestion).  Bailie  Mel¬ 
ville,  president  of  the  Dundee  Chrysanthemum  Society,  and 
others.  The  Sheriff’s  finding  was  that  the  damage  suffered  by 
the  pursuer  consisted  of  loss  of  the  chance  of  gaining  the  Edin¬ 
burgh  City  Cup  and  other  prizes,  with  the  accompanying  loss  of 
money,  lo.ss  of  professional  distinction  and  advertisement,  and 
partial  loss  of  time,  labour,  and  expense  devoted  to  the  production 
of  the  blooms,  which  may  be  moderately  estimated  at  £60,  and 
found  the  defenders  liable  to  the  pursuer,  in  this  sum,  in  name  of 
damages.” 
PRUNING  ROSES  (Amateurj. — The  theory  that  during  the 
growing  sua.son  the  depriving  a  plant  or  tree  of  shoots  having 
liealthy  leaves  correspondingly  lessens  the  increase  and  power 
of  the  roots,  is  sound  and  correct;  but  the  fancy  that  each 
branch  has  its  own  peculiar  root  is.  of  course,  incorrect.  Alore- 
over,  this  is  not  .vet  “  the  growing  siason.”  The  whole  system 
of  plant  vitalit.y  is  not  in  full  swing  till  there  are  well-developed 
i/n'iai  leaves;  though  the  roots  have  b.v  this  time  made  numerous 
white  haii'-like  growths,  and  the  buds  on  the  branches  have 
pushed  two  or  three  inches,  the  connection  between  them  is 
not  .yet  completetl,  and  will  not  be  till  there  are  green  leaves 
to  play  the  part  of  lungs  in  the  plant-life.  For,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  white  growth  begins  on  the  roots  before  the  bnds  show 
signs  of  moving,  and  on  the  other,  shoot.s,  even  as  much  as 
din  long  are  sometimes  put  forth  in  the  spring  from  trees  cut 
doun  in  the  winter  in  a  green  state,  though  the  connection  with 
any  roots  is  entirel.y  severed,  the  growth  in  such  cases  evidentl.y 
coming  from  the  sap  left  in  the  trunks.  Iloses,  severely  pruned 
after  growth  has  commenced,  will  often  “bleed”  a  good  deal 
for  several  days,  .sufficiently  even  to  damp  the  surrounding 
ground,  but  I  have  never  observed  loss  of  subsef|uent  vigour  in 
such  cases,  though  it  might  well  be  different  if  the  operation 
were  delayed  till  fully  developed  green  leaves  had  appeared. 
The  pruning  of  H.P.’s  may  be  courmenced  by  the  middle  of 
March,  followed  b.y  H.T.’s,  with  a  dela.v  till  April  for  the 
T.’s.  The  varieties,  of  all  classes,  which  bloom  earliest  should 
be  pruned  latest,  and  vice  versa,  the  object  being  to  avoid  young 
fiower-buds  having  been  formed  before  the  arrival  of  the 
inevitable  cold  nights  of  May.  The  manners  and  customs  of  tlie 
varietie.5  should  be  considered  : — In  H.P.’s.  Her  Majest.y  is  a 
very  slow  starter,  and  ma.y  be  iiruned  in  February.  Violet 
Bowyer  is  very  early,  'and  Charles  Lefebvro  and  several  other 
crimson  Roses  are  apt  to  form  “  hard  ”  red  bnds  with  their 
points  gone  if  the  buds  are  subject  to  cold  nights  in  iMa.v. 
Among  H.T.’s,  Lad.v  M.  Fitzwilliam  and  White  Lad.y  are  very 
carl.v.  The  shoots  are  apt  to  come  (  ntirely  blind  if  the  plants 
are  pruned  before  April.  Among  Teas,  Ifevoniensis  and 
Souvenir  d’Elise  are  early,  and  Maman  Cochet  and  other:-;  late, 
and  the  latter,  therefore,  should  be  pruned  first. — W.  I*. 
Railleji. 
- - <♦♦♦> - — 
Miscellsneoiis  Notes. 
“  Slugdeath  ” 
This  laconic,  but  ampl.v  descriptive  name,  has  been  applied  to 
a  new  powdery  substance,  which  is  offered  by  iMessrs.  H.  Staidey 
and  Co.,  .3,  Commercial  Buildings.  High  .‘Street.  South  Norwood, 
S.E.  The  powder  (like  very  fine  sand  with  a  -aline  ta-tei  is 
recommended  to  be  -sprinkled  thinl.v  upon  the  surface  of  ground 
infe.sted  b.y  slugs,  and  is  said  to  kill  them. 
Lubrose  Paint. 
On  a  past  occasion  we  had  a  sample  (in  of  (hi.s  non-oxidisable 
paint  brought  to  our  notice  l).y  Mr.  (  harles  T.  Druer.v.  of  the 
Lubrose  Paint  Co.,  Moorgate  Sfation  Chambers,  E.C.  Not  onl.y 
are  those  v  ho  have  tried  this  paint  well  satisfied  with  it,  but  as 
we  have  been  latel.y  informed,  their  aiipreciation  is  taking  the 
ver.v  practical  form  of  solid  orders.  A  man  may  speak  words  of 
praise  about  an  article)  or  preparation;  the  question  is.  Does  he 
piactise  his  faith?  Sometimes  editors  metaphoricall.y  “  la.v  on 
the  paint,”  but  while  an  ungenerous  public  might  say  that  of  an 
editor,  an  editor  would  not  say  the  same  of  the  public!  And  so  we 
shall  quote  “the  public”  and  shield  our  fair  fame  from  tln^ 
inference.  Messrs.  Bunyanl  and  Co.,  Ltd.,  are  able  to  sa.v  of 
Lubrose  that  “Their  painter  finds  the  new  paint  works  well,  and 
the.y  will  like  five  cwt.  of  the  white  paint  sent  on  per  rail  to  IMaid- 
stone  'We.st.  The.y  have  used  the  Lubrose  paint  for  outside  work 
and  are  much  pleased  with  it.  It  is  of  fine  appearance  and  sets 
hard.”  Me.ssrs.  D.  Stewart  and  Son,  “Fern  Down”  Nurseries, 
Wimhorne,  Dorset,  sa.y  :  “A  second  coat  of  white  for  outside 
greenhouse  woodwork  proves  tp  be  quite  satisfactorv,  and  a 
tlecided  improvement  on  the  usual  horticultural  paint  used.'’ 
Lubrose  is  said  to  be  imperishable — that  is,  it  does  not  con¬ 
tain  those,  oils  which,  in  ordinar.v  paints,  cause  their  destruction 
by  the  oxidising  effect  of  the  air;  nor  does  it  bli.ster.  As  a  paint 
for  us;e  on  ironwork,  gasometers,  or  conservatories,  it  i.s  of  the 
"Cit,  and  for  places  in  contiguity  to  the  sea  its  resistive  power 
is  especiall.y  marked.  Ordinary  paints  exposed  to  sea-air.  in  time 
become  powdery  and  crumlde  away,  as  the  result  of  the  oxidisa¬ 
tion.  The  cost  of  this  new  patented  paint  is  dearer,  bulk  for 
bulk,  than  the  oil  paints  hitherto  in  general  use,  but  whereas 
four  coats  (with  an  extra  tempering  one)  are  necessary  with  the 
paints  of  thinner  consistenc.v,  two  coats  of  this  article  give  a 
thick,  “sweet”  and  .smooth  skin,  which  does  not  crack,  blister, 
or  flake  off,  and  vhich  .stands  both  heat  and  damp  indefinitel.y. 
No  priming  is  required  ;  the  paint  (which  is  prepared  in  a  number 
of  colours)  is  very  economical  in  airplieation,  and  the  appearance 
is  ecpial  to  the  best  expensive  enamel  paints.  It  is  five  years 
since  this  paint  was  first  prepared,  and  during  that  time  it  has 
become  widel.y  used  on  the  Gontinent,  and  in  British  Colonics. 
The  basis  of  it  is  an  imperishable  rubber-like  body. 
Difficulties  and  Work  in  tlie  Poultry  Yard. 
March  is,  or  ought  to  be,  for  the  average  farmer  s  rvife 
the  busiest  month  in  the  year  ;  that  is,  supposing  she  has  the 
personal  supervision  of  the  poultry  yard.  It  is  the  Alarch 
hatched  chicks  that  make  the  breeding  stock  for  the  next 
season  (for  breeding  read  layiirg).  AVe  may  allow  a  little 
latitude,  and  accept  those  chicks  hatched  in  April.  Some¬ 
times  the  earlier  birds,  if  very  forward,  begin  to  la.y,  and 
then  as  soon  as  the  first  spell  of  sharp  weather  sets  in  they 
retire  incontinently  from  their  duties,  and  need  much  urging 
and  persuasion  to  take  up  with  laying  again.  On  most 
farms  the  fowls  are  rather  a  mixed  lot,  and  there  may  gene¬ 
rally  be  found  now  plenty  of  birds  ready  and  willing  to  sit. 
Of  course,  if  for  a  ferv  seasons  the  sitting  element  has  been 
eliminated  in  favour  of  the  purely  egg  laying  variety,  there 
will  be  a  difficulty,  and  this  difficulty  can  only  be  overcome  by 
the  purchase  of  an  incubator,  or  the  loan  of  hens  from  a 
neighbour.  The  incubator  necessitates  a  foster  mother,  and 
both  require  a  good  deal  of  attention,  though  nothing  inordi¬ 
nate.  and  a  fair  amount  of  paraffin  say.  Id.  per  day,  that 
is,  if  bought  wholesale.  Although  we  have  personally  been 
successful  with  the  incubator,  we  still  I'ather  incline  to  the 
hen.  We  think  she  is  able  to  comfort  and  coddle  the  little 
chioks  better  than  any  artificial  heat,  and  we  are  sure  if 
allowed  a  little  range  is  able  to  eater  well  for  them.  She 
educates  them  to  the  due  appreciation  of  worms,  insects,  and 
grubs,  and  takes  them  to  the  sunniest  coiner,  and  to  where 
the  fresh  green  blade  is  attainable. 
In  passing,  we  might  observe  that  the  cuirent  price  of  a 
