November  19,  1903.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
461 
posers.  No  doubt  many  gardeners  who  are  readers  of  the 
J ournal  of  Horticulture  have  ideas  in  relation  to  such  an  organi¬ 
sation  as  is  proposed.  If  they  cannot  come  to  the  meeting  on 
December  15,  I  wish  they  would  kindly  send  me  their  ideas,  as, 
when  thei  meeting  is  held,  the  more  leasons  offered  for  the  for¬ 
mation  of  a  gardeners’  association,  the  more  likely  is  it  that 
such  a  body  may  take  shape. — A.  Dean,  62,  Richmond  Road, 
Kingston-on-Thames. 
Apple,  Annie  Elizabeth. 
In  answer  to  E.  D.,  page  442,  I  would  say  that  with  us  at 
Crawley  it  is  not  a  very  certain  cropper,  but  the  fruits  are  un¬ 
doubtedly  solid,  handsome,  and  very  long  keeping.  It  would  be 
useful  to  have  further  reports  about  Annie  Elizabeth. — C.  S. 
■  •  t - 
Violet,  Lady  Clifford. 
In  the  last  issue  of  the  Journal  I  note  a  mention  of  this 
new,  single-flowered  Violet.  Early  in  November  I  saw  the 
batch  of  plants  growing  and  flowering  in  the  open  in  Lord 
Clifford’s  garden  at  Ugbrook  Park,  near  Ciiudleigh.  I  was  much 
impressed  with  the  variety,  and  Mr.  Abraham,  the  gardener, 
informed  me  how  much  more  freely  it  flowers  than  Princess 
of  Wales.  It  is  certainly  distinct  from  that  variety  in  colour, 
being  distinctly'  shaded  with  purple,  and  has  a  more  clearly  de¬ 
fined  white  eye.  The  flower  is  shapely,  borne  on  stiff  stems 
fully  lOin  long.  For  early  autumn  outdoor  flowering  this 
Violet  should  be  valuable  as  well  as  for  frame  culture. — M.  X. 
Protection  for  Fruit  Trees. 
It  is  time  to  think  if  valuable  fruit  trees  in  the  open  can  be 
protected  against  frost  during  the  blossoming  period ;  and  what 
is  the  best  means  of  doing  it.  I  remember  last  year  I  had  a 
profusion  of  promising  bloom  on  Coe’s  Golden  Drop,  Transparent 
Gage,  Denniston’s  Superb,  Magnum  Bonuan,  and  Belle  Louvain 
Plums,  young  pyramidal  trees,  and  one  morning  the  blossoms 
were  quite  blackened.  This  was  owing  to  a  quick  shifting  of  the 
wind  tO'  the  north,  with  a  clearing,  olondless  sky.  I  should 
like  to  know,  from  anyone  who  may  have  tried  it,  would  thick 
meshed  netting,  tiffany,  or  any  other  material  that  might  have 
been  spread  over  those  trees,  have  protected  them  from  tliat 
killing  frost?  A  week’s  or  ten  days’  covering,  over  the  critical 
flowering  period,  would  not  seriou.sly  injure  the  foliage,  even 
though  there  was  a  partial  exclusion  of  sun  and  light.  It  is 
plain  our  fruit  trees  must  be  protected  if  we  are  not  to  suffer 
the  loss  of  the  crops  year  after  year.  Would  not  Messrs.  Rivers, 
Bunyard,  or  other  large  growers  of  extensive  experience,  deeply 
interested  in  the  success  of  fruit  culture,  and  in  the  realisation 
of  the  hopes  of  their  clients,  still  further  enlighten  us  ?  I  can 
easily  protect  my  wall  tree®,  but  it  is  different  with  Cherries, 
Pears,  Plums,  Apricots,  or  Peaches  grown  as  bushes  in  the  open 
garden.  Successful  culture  is  easy  in  favourable  seasons,  at 
least  in  the  South  of  Ireland  :  but  growers  should  be*  prepared 
for  the  worst,  and  take  precautions  accordingly. — W.  J.  Murphy, 
Clonmel. 
The  Autumn  Flower  Trade. 
The  “  M'estminster  Gazette  ”  says  ;  “  Seldom  has  the  autumn 
flower  trade'  opened  with  such  a  varied  supply  of  flowers  as  has 
been  on  show  this  year.  In  the  wholesale  markets  are  to  be 
seen  some  very  pretty  noveltie.s.  Amongst  them  are  Orange 
trees  in  pots  in  fruit,  costing  from  3s.  to  5s.  each,  and  along 
side  of  them  Orange  blossoms,  worth  from  Is.  to  2s  6d.  a  spray. 
Scotch  Heather  has  met  a  good  reception,  selling  from  6s.  to 
12s.  a  dozen  hunches.  The  white  flowers  are  exceedingly 
delicate,  and  contrast  nicely  with  the  feathery  sprays  of  Acacia, 
with  their  j'ellow,  pollen-like  bloom,  from  the  South  of  France. 
Soleil  d’Or  Narcissus  has  made  its  appearance  again,  and  the 
dealers  are  getting  from  3s.  to  6s.  a  dozen  bunches  for  it.  The 
Narcissus  trade  will  be  unusually  extensive  this  year.  The 
Orchid  more  than  maintains  its  position  as  a  commercial  flower. 
We  noticed  .some  exquisite  blooms  of  Odontoglossum  crispum, 
priced  from  3s.  to  4s.  a  dozen  wholesale.  Lily  of  the  Valley  is 
making  high  prices,  specials  commanding  from  15s.  to  18s.  a 
dozen  bunches.  Chrysanthemums  are  worth  from  12s.  to  36s.,  a 
dozen  bunches.  In  pot®  the  plants  secure  from  6s.  to  36s.  a 
dozen.  Lilium  lancifoliums  in  pots  made  from  18s.  to  40s.  a 
dozen.  Orchids  in  bloom  from  2s.  6d.  to  21s.  a  pot  ;  whilst  fine, 
free-flowering  Rose.®  sell  from  6s.  to  20s.  a  dozen  pots.  Hydran¬ 
geas  and  Gape  Heaths  are  high  priced ;  values  here  range  from 
12s.  to  18s,  a  dozen  pots.  Roses  are  cheap  at  Is.  and  2s.  a  dozen 
buds,  and  market  bunches  of  Wallflower^jman  be;  had  from  2s.  6d. 
to  8s.  a  dozen.” 
The  Dublin  Naturalists’  Field  Club.- 
The  nineteenth  winter  session  of  the  club  was  inaugurated  on 
November  3  with  a  conversazione  in  the  house  of  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy,  Dawson  Street,  Dublin.  It  was  a  pleasant,  i'ilformal 
but  instructive  gathering.  "‘Just  tea  and  talk,  and  tailed  coats 
optional,”  as  the  genial  vicc'-president  said  in  his  kind  Yiiyita- 
tion,  otherwise  the  solitary  member  of  thh  common-  gardener 
species  who  went  in  under  his  wing  carrying  a  m-ysterious  papei\ 
bag,  would  hardly  have  ventured  where  scientific  professors  and 
learned  ladies  forgathered  galore.  On  that  particular  day  a  lively 
sample  of  the  English  snake  had  been  captured  in  the  College 
garden,  where,  thanks  to  our  patron  saint,  they  are  rare,  and  that 
was  the  mystery  of  the  paper  bag  which  had  his  (or  her)  snake- 
ship  wriggled  out  of,  en  route,  whil.st  in  charge  of  its  bearer  in 
the  crowded  tram  car,  would  probably  have  ended  its  tale,  and 
this  one,  too.  However,  it  was  safely  staged  in  its  glass  jar 
amongst  the  many  interesting  exhibits  of  Irish  and  exotic  flora 
and  fauna,  and  finally  sent  to  the  “  Zoo.”  The  vice-president’s 
paper  on  “  Common  Things,”  which  he  readj  to  an  ultra  attentive 
audience  was  short,  pithy,  and  to  the  point ;  Mr.  Burbidge 
exhorting  the  younger  members  of  the  club  to  avoid  the  mis¬ 
taken  ambition  of  seeking  great  discoveries  in  their  initial  re¬ 
searches,  and  to  note  the  beauty  and  interest  xiertaining  to  the 
common  things  around  them.  With  the  aid  of  some  well-mani¬ 
pulated  lantern  slides,  the  lecturer  further  showed  the  natural 
instinct  inherent  in  the  bird  world  to  concealment  at  nesting- 
time,  as  well  as  Nature’s  extraneous  helps  to  the  same  end.  The 
wonders  of  the  microscope  were  well  exemplified  by  instruments 
and  specimens  on  the  tables  about  the  rooms,  and  many  were 
delighted  with  an  exposition  by  Mr.  Gunn,  who,  in  showing  a 
skin  section  of  the  seed  of  Collomia  coccinea,  which,  under  the 
microscope,  looked  like  a  piece  of  roPgh  bark,  touched  it  with 
water,  when  innumerable  spiral  springs  were  seeiii  tO'  shoot  out 
in  all  directions.  This  gentleman  also  showed  a  novelty  in  the 
way  of  seeds  of  Anthoxanthum  (Sweet  Venial  Grass)  placed  on  a 
heated  cardboard  box  lid,  which  immediately  hopped,  skipped, 
and  jumped  in  a  manner  that  Mr.  Walter  Rothschild’s  fleas  might 
have  envied  in  their  liveliest  moments.  Such  is  animated  nature 
in  the  great  kingdom  of  silent  life.  A  small  group  of  interesting 
subjects  from  the  plant  wealth  of  Glasnevin  was  contributed  by 
Mr.  F.  W.  Moore,  including  various  Sarracenias,  the  elegant 
Trichinium  Manglesi,  too  seldom  seen  in  private  gardens.  Very 
noticeable  in  this  group  were  plants  of  Mammillaria  pusilla,  a 
dwarf  Cactus  with  elongated  coral-like  berries;  Gonioscypha 
eucomoides,  with  Arum-.shaped  leaf  and  curiously  dull  inflores¬ 
cence;  a  good  potful  of  the  Australian  Nardoq  plant,  and  the 
distinct  and  graceful  Pilea  spruciana.  More  tea  and  talk  wound 
up  an  evening  so  pleasantly  instructive  that  the  gardener-vi.sitor 
cannot  but  heartily  wish  all  success  to  the  Dublin  Naturalist®’ 
Field  Club,  whose  members  in  their  unobtrusive  studies  “Trace 
in  Nature’s  most  minute  design  the  signature  and  stamp  of  power 
Divine.” — K.  -  . 
Water  and  Bog  Plants. 
Mr.  Townsend,  Sandhurst  Lodge  Gardens,  recently  read  a 
paper  on  “  M^ater  and  Bog  Plants  ”  before  the  Reading  gardeners. 
The  lecturer  has  made  a  study  of  these  plants,  and  a  visit  to 
the  gardens  under  his  care  is  always  a  source  of  pleasure  and 
delight.  'The  first  portion  of  the  paper  was  devoted  to  the 
Nymphgea,  which,  of  course,  forms  the  principal  feature  of  the 
water  garden.  It  was  pointed  out  that  a  fine  Water  Lily  can 
be  grown  in  a  tub  or  earthenware  pan.  This  should  be  sunk 
in  the  ground  in  any  sunny  position,  put  in  6in  of  good  garden 
soil,  plant  your  Lily,  and  fill  with  water.  Make  the  water  over¬ 
flow  a  little  about  twice  a  week  with  rain  water  or  water  from  a 
well  that  has  previously  stood  in  the  >sun  for  a  few  hours.  Ponds 
with  cement  bottoms  were  dealt  with,  but  the  most  suitable 
position  for  a  water  garden  is  where  there  is  a  small  spring  in 
a  sheltered  position  in  the  full  sun,  or  one  that  can  be  made  so 
by  planting  flowering  shrubs  and  trees  for  shelter  and  effect. 
Varieties  were  then  given,  and  the  deptli  of  water  most  suitabh' 
to  flower  them  freely.  The  collection  at  Sandhurst  include®  all 
the  leading  varieties,  and  too  numerous  to  mention  here.  Other 
plants  touched  upon  were  Aponogeton  distachyon,  Hottonia 
palustris,  Anagallis,  Villarsia  nymphseoides.  Ranunculus  aquati¬ 
ons  Caltha  palustris,  Pontederia  cordata,  Sagittarias,  Cyperus, 
Miniuli,  Calthas,  Iris  Ksempferi,  Lobelia  cardinalis,  Gunnera 
manicata,  herbaceous  Spiraeas,  Senecio'  japonica.  Daffodils,  and 
Wood  Anemones.  The  lecture  was  made  doubly  interesting  by 
a  series  of  lantern  slides  reproduced  from  photographs  taken 
by  Mr.  Townsend  himself.  A  good  and  profitable  discussion 
followed,  in  wliich  Messrs.  Judd,  Lever,  Neve,  Hinton,  Alex¬ 
ander,  Durfitt,  E.  Dore,  D.  Dore,  Fry  Herridge,  Prince  and 
Stanton  took  part.  A  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was  a^orded  Mr. 
Townsend  for  the  enjoyable  tveiiing  he  had  afforded  the 
'members.  -  '  -  ■  _ 
