432 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
May  19,  1904 
The  Proposed  Gardeners’  Society. 
I  tliiiik  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Close  in  your  last  issue  an 
excellent  one,  and  I  liope  he  may  get  many  answers.  I 
thoroughly  agree  with  him,  too,  with  regard  to  the  Provisional 
Committee,  and  think  a  .society  on  the  lines  .sugge.sted  will  not 
be  of  much  use.  As  to  the  questions  which  may  be  taken  up  by 
the  society,  mention  is  made  of  the  assi.stance  of  .sick  and  aged 
gardeners  and  gardeners’  orphans.  We  have  'blready  three 
excellent  societies  for  that  pmqmse,  viz.,  The  Garcleners’  Royal 
Renevolent  Institution,  The  United  Horticultural  Benefit  ancl 
Provident  Society,  and  The  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund. 
I  venture  to  say  in  this  respect  that  gardeners  would  help  them¬ 
selves  more  by  subscribing  to  these.  I  hope  the  meeting  will 
be  largely  attended  and  thoronghiy  repre.sentative  on  Time  1 
and  the  whole  thing  well  threshed  out.— H.  P.,  Viro-inia 
Watei'. 
Fruit  Prospects  in  South  of  Ireland. 
\  ery  remarkable  meteorological  prophecy  that  of  Mr.  B.  G. 
Jenkins,  F.R.I.S.,  author  of  the  well-known  weather  chart, 
that  (improbable  as  it  might  seem)  we  should  have  snow  on 
May  8.  Well,  we  had  a  shower  of  snow  here  for  a  few  minutes 
last  Sunday  morning,  and  the  aspect  of  the  weather  was  not 
reassuring  for  those  having  the  great  majority  of  their  fruit 
trees  in  full  blossom,  'tins  very  same  week  last  year  the  holo¬ 
caust  of  our  fruit  hopes  took  place.  Fortunately,  towards 
evening  of  that  day,  the  wind  veered  round  west,  and  by  a 
narrow  shave  a  very  promising  fruit  crop  seems  saved.  There 
is  a  profusion  of  Apple  blossom.  I  cannot  remembei'  for  some 
years  seeing  such  a  prospect,  owing  to  imperfect  ripening  of 
the  wood  last  year  probably.  Pears  in  many  cases  do  not 
promise  such  a  heavy  crop,  though  in  the  cases  in  my  garden 
where  I  had  thick  meshed  netting  over  the  choicer  varieties, 
the  set  of  fruit  is  very  promising.  Of  course  I  am  aware,  under 
unfavourable  conditions,  some  of  this  may  yet  fall.  The  same 
is  true  of  Plums  and  Cherries,  but  the  few  trees  I  have  pro¬ 
tected  on  walls  of  Apricots,  Peaches,  Nectarines,  and  Figs 
promise  well. — AY.  J.  Murphy,  Clonmel. 
Thunderstorm  at  Tyntesfield. 
M’e  have  to-day  (Tue.sday)  experienced  a  most  severe, 
tliough  sliort,  thunderstorm.  At  midday  it  broke  upon  ns  with 
scarcely  a  cloud  to  be  seen.  The  lightning  was  so  vivid  and 
sharp  that  we  could  distinctly  feel  the  vibration  as  it  passed 
through  the  air.  Our  men  in  the  garden  say  that  thej’  never 
experienced  such  a  storm  before.  My  own  definition  of  the 
lightning  was  like  a  loud  cracking  of  whips,  or  similar  to  pour¬ 
ing  fat  in  a  fire,  and,  strange  to  say,  yve  had  no  rain.  I  regret 
to  say  tliat  it  destroyed  two  fine  Cedar  trees  in  the  grounds 
here.  The  thermometer  now  (8  p.m.)  stands  at  70deg  outside. — 
T.  Wilkinson,  gardener  to  A.  Gibbs,  Esq. 
Hydrocyanic  Acid  Gas. 
I  notice  in  your  issue  of  May  5  you  publish  an  account  of  a 
series  of  exiieriments  carried  out  by  Mr.  G.  F.  Strawson  in  con¬ 
junction  with  Ylr.  E.  F.  Hawes  and  myself  at  the  gardens  of  the 
Royal  Botanic  Society,  Regent’s  Park;  experiments  which  had 
tor  their  object  the  putting  on  a  sure  basis  (English)  the 
destruction  of  insect  pests  by  the  application  of  hydrocyanic  acid 
gas.  It  is  not  my  purpose  now  to  argue  as  to  the  enormous 
advantages  that  the  process  has  over  any  other  method  of 
destruction  for  such  pests  as  mealy  bug  and  scale,  as  by  the 
experiments  themselves  that  question  has  been  settled  once  for 
all  to  our  entire  satisfaction.  \Yhat  I  wish  to  do  in  writing  you 
is  to  caution  your  readers  against  the  indiscriminate  application 
of  this  deadly  gas.  I  personally  do  not  recommend  its  general 
use  in  private  establi-shments.  The  u.sual  insecticides  must  con¬ 
tinue  to  be  used  in  tho.se  places,  because  expense  is  not  so  mnch 
a  consideration  as  in  commercial  establishments,  in  which  I  am 
princiiially  interested,  and  wheie  it  is  necessary  that  every 
economy  should  be  practised  in  face  of  the  keen  competition  of 
the  present  times. 
In  cases  where  it  is  necessary  to  use  this  gas  to  clear  Vines, 
Stephanotis.  Ac.,  of  mealy  bug  or  scale,  the  ivork  should  be  done 
by  one  who  is  thoroughly  versed  in  the  application,  of  the  gas, 
and  who  knows  fully  its  deadly  character.  Hydrocyanic  acid  gas 
is  a  deadly  poison,  and  if  a  human  being  were  subjected  to  its 
vapour,  the  result  would  be  the  general  collapse  of  every  muscle 
and  nerve,  and  finally  death.  Cyaniding  as  applied  at  the 
gardens  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Society  is  an  immense  boon  to 
gardeners,  both  private  and  commercial,  but  there  must  be 
absolute  care  exercised  in  its  use,  and  the  application  of  the 
gas  must  on  no  account  be  lightly  undertaken  by  the  novice. — 
"NY.  F.  Emptage. 
- - 
Fruit  Prospects  in  Warwickshire. 
The  .slight  frosts  experienced  at  intervals  during  the  last  few 
Aveeks  seem  to  have  done  no  harm  vhatever  to  fruit  trees  in 
blo,ssom  ;  and  although  it  is  yet  too  early  to  speak  definitely 
about  fruit  generally,  with  some  kinds  a  .splendid  crop  seems  to 
be  assured.  Plums  have  set  very  freely,  but  rain  is  badly 
Avanted  to  enable  the  young  fruits  to  SAAnl'l,  and  unless  it  comes 
soon  many  of  the  fruits  Avill  inevitably  drop.  This,  hoAvever, 
should  not  be  altogether  a  disadvantage,  for  many  trees  Avould 
be  far  too  heavily  cropiied  if  left  as  they  are  at  present.  Green 
aplns  lias  already  put  in  an  appearance,  and  copious  rains  Avould 
be  of  immense  advantage  in  keeping  them  in  check  and 
invigorating  the  trees.  If  dry  Aveather  continues,  those  trouble¬ 
some  pests  Avill  undoubtedly  do  much  harm  to  the  trees,  nnle.ss 
tliej  aie  sprayed  or  syringed  with  insecticides,  as,  of  course 
they  should  be,  but  too  often  are  not.  ^ 
Gooseberries  and  Red  Currants  promise  to  be  a  splendid  crop 
as  the  majority  of  varieties  are  cropping  freelv.  Black  Currant.s 
are  floAvering  abundantly,  and  look  most  promi.sing.  In  some 
districts  bad  attacks  of  the  mite  may  be,  seen  :  in  others  the 
bushes  are  quite  free  from  the  pest.  There  is  an  excellent 
opportunity  tor  a  great  increase  of  area  under  this  crop  in  the 
county. 
Strawberries  are  flowering  .splendidly,  and  the  plants  look 
paiticnlarly  Avell.  Pears  are  just  noAv  casting  numbers  of  their 
imperfectly  fertilised  fruits,  but  there  is  every  appearance  that 
quite  enough  aviU  be  left  to  form  a  good  crop.  The  blossom  has 
keen  nio.st  abundant.  Apple, s  are  in  full  and  glorious  blossom; 
out  "hat  the  crop  aviII  be  is  at  pre.sent  uncertain.  I  have 
alieady  found  a^  fcAv  grubs  of  the  sawfly  in  unopened  blossoms. 
Liieirie,s  are  but  little  grown  in  the  countv.  The  feiv  isolated 
trees  I  have  met  "-itli  appear  to  have  .set  "“ell,  and  Morellos  on 
wa  Is  have  yet  scarcely  .shed  their  petals.  Peaches  and  Apricots 
will  be  a  good  average  crop.  After  two  “  lean  ”  vears  in  regard 
to  truit,  there  i.s  in  pre.sent  prospects  much  to  be  thankful  for 
and  I  hope  a  little  later  on  the  general  verdict  Avill  be  that  our 
once  more  proving  their  marvellous 
rapacity  for  fruit  production,  and  that  throughout  the  land 
there  will  bo  no  lack  of  the  “  fruits  of  the  earth  ’’  in  due  season 
British  Forestry. 
I  shall  feel  mnch  obliged  if  you  Avill  allow  me  to  a,sk  throngli 
your  columns  for  the  assi.stance  of  landowners,  land  agents,  and 
foresters,  and  all  others  interested  in  woodlands,  with  re,gard  to 
details  concerning  the  available  dimensions  of  individual  trees, 
and  the  yield  in  timber  per  acre  of  tree  crops. 
For  i)t(Uri<lual  trees  the  details  desired  are:  — 
1.  Total  height  of  tree. 
2.  Height  of  .stem  up  to  first  branch,  and  approximate  h  ng'Ji 
of  bole. 
3.  Girth  at  breast  height  (4ft)  or  at  any  other  iicight 
specially  mentioned  if  breast  height  cannot  fairly  be  taken. 
For  timber  crops  the  information  desired  is: — 
1.  Total  quantity  of  timber  (of  each  kind  of  tree)  per  acre 
in  square  of  quarter  girth  cubic  contents,  and  stating  if  l.h.- 
timber  is  measured  dovn  to  Gin  or  Sin  diameter  and  also  if  top 
and  tip  not  reckoned  as  timber. 
2.  Age  of  crop. 
3.  Number  of  stems  per  acre  forming  final  crop. 
4.  Average  height  and  girth  (at  brea,st  height)  of  the  trees 
forming  the  final  crop. 
■3.  Soil  and  situation  on  Avhich  crop  has  been  groAvn. 
6.  Any  information  Avhich  the  OAvner  may  permit  to  be  given 
as  to  the  gi'oss  and  net  price  received  for  the  Avhole  crop  of  Avood. 
IHy  object  in  asking  for  the  above  a,ssistance  is  to  try  and 
obtain  data  (not  othei’Avise  available)  regarding  the  growth  of 
trees  and  timber  ciops  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  so  tlmt  it 
the  neAv  edition  of  “  The  Fore.ster,”  noAV  in  cour.se  of  prepara¬ 
tion,  .some  endeavour  may  be  macle  to  tabulate  the  results  o 
timber  groAA  ing  here  for  comparison  Avith  the  yield  tables  shoAv- 
ing-  the  returns  in  continental  fore.sts.  I  Avould  invite  the 
co-operation  of  the  members  of  the  Royal  Scottish  Arboricnl- 
tural  Society,  the  English  Arboricultural  Society,  and  the  Irish 
Forest]’."  Society,  in  order  that  the  noAv  edition  may  all  the 
better  ansAver  the  requirements  noAV  felt  for  a  practical  text¬ 
book  and  compi’ehensive  AA  ork  reference  on  British  Fore.stry,  and 
not  mei’elv  (oi’  mainly)  a-  compilation  from  German  Avorks  apply¬ 
ing  to  economic  conditions  and  AA’Oodlands  entirely  diffeient 
fi’om  tho'^p  in  tlie  United  Kingdom. — I  am,  Ac., 
John  Nisbet. 
c/o  'VYm.  BlackAvood  and  Sons,  publishers,  Edinburgh. 
