Page 167

598 THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. [NOVEMBER 5, 1881.

— SANDERINGHAM.—We hear that two of
WEEKS & CO.'s Hyrdo-Caloric Coils have been
fixed in the grand saloon at Sandringham for the
purpose of improving the warming and ventilation of
that apartment, which has not been hiterhto deemed
quite satisfactory.

— ANTS IN STOVES.—After trying various
means to rid his Orchid-houses of these pests, Mr.
BULL finds nothing so satisfactory as sugar and water
placed in ordinary ounce physic vials. These are
filled two-thirds full with the solution, and placed
about the plants. The insects readily enter by the
narrow neck, but do not find the exit so easy. It is
a singular fact that ordinary sugar has little attraction
for them: the sugar used must be the best crystallised
kind. From inspection we can testify to the
success of the plan.

— MUSHROOMS.—I have just had a communication
made to me by an experienced doctor, that
several cases have occurred this year of diarrhœa
from eating Agaricus campestris, and one of great
severity. My remark in this, and other cases of supposed
poisoning with undoubtedly good Mushrooms,
is simply that the persons who gather them return
hungry and fatigued, the Mushrooms are badly
cooked and hastily swallowed, so that they are irritating,
tough, indigestible masses in the intestines.
When properly masticated they are, on the contrary,
perfectly wholesome. A schoolmaster who had
been employed by BAKER when preparing his
history of Northamptonshire, and in his intercourse
with his accomplished sister had acquired a considerable
knowledge of natural productions, fed
his family every year for some time during the
autumn months on the fungi with complete security.
It is not an example to be followed without a competent
knowledge of species. A case of fatal
poisoning has lately been reported from Norfolk.
M. J. B.

— MARKET GARDEN CROPS.—On the whole
market gardeners can scarcely complain of the past
spring and summer. There has been a great abundance
of greenstuff; and, indeed, so much is now
being sent to the market that there is quite a glut
of it. The summer-sown seeds for winter and spring
crops have done well. Such a plant of hardy white
Cos Lettuce has hardly been known for some time,
and should the winter be sufficiently kind there will
be plenty of Lettuces in May and June. On the
somewhat light, and always richly manured ground,
of our market gardens, Lettuces generally stand well,
and they are always sown sufficiently thick to allow
for losses. Up to within the past few days the young
plants have grown rapidly, but the recent frosts have
now checked their development. The crops of winter
Spinach are in every respect most promising. Since
the time of sowing the weather has been favourable
to a free growth, and acres of vigorous plants can be
seen with scarcely a break, so regular is the growth.
With the plants have sprung up an abundance of
weeds, and hand-weeding has been resorted to to
keep them under. In like manner the crops of Lisbon
Onion are very good; one piece of 6 acres, sown in
drills, is as regular in growth as a field of grass. The
hoe has to be in constant requisition, but now is the
time for cleaning to be done. On the whole, market
garden prospects are promising, but a great deal will
depend on the severity or otherwise of the winter.

— DACRYDIUM FITZGERALDI.—Baron VON
MUELLER writes:—"Some time ago I obtained
through Mr. FITZGERALD fruiting specimens of
Dacrydium Fitzgeraldi, which showed the fruiting
characters to be those of Pherosphæra, the size and
shape of the fruits being all much like those of
Pherosphæra Hookeriana|P. Hookeriana]]. Whether Pherosphæra is to be
maintained as a genus, or whether it should merge as
a section into Dacrydium, depends much on the latitude
any one wishes to allow to generic limits in
Coniferæ, and I am quite willing also to D.
Fitzgeraldi to Pherosphæra."

— "ICONOGRAPHY OF INDIAN AZALEAS."—
Under this somewhat awkward title M. AUGUSTE
VAN GEERT, of Ghent, has undertaken the publication
of a monthly periodical devoted to the illustration
and description of the Indian Azalea. The introduction
comprises some brief historical details, from which
it appears that the Azalea was first introduced into

Holland about 1680, when it was described by
BREYNIUS. Three quarto coloured plates are given,
with an illustrative text, the English version being undertaken
by Mr. THOMAS MOORE, Jun. The varieties
figured in this first part are A. alba speciosa plena,
which epithet does not apply to three plants, as might
be imagined, but to one only; A. Madame Paul de
Schryver, and A. antigone. Would that all garden
plants of this description had such names as the last,
or at any rate something different from the long string
of Latin adjetives, which LINNÆUS demolished, but
which the horticulturists seek to revive.

— "BRITISH BIRDS."—Another part of Professor
NEWTON'S new edition of YARRELL'S History
of British Birds has been issued (VAN VOORST). It
contains the continuation of the history of the cuckow
(sic) and its allies, the hoopoe, the roller, the bee-
eater, the kingfishers, the woodpeckers. The text
combines with the most accurate scientific descriptions
matter of a more popular character, relating to
the history and literature of the subject. This circumstance
alone, apart from the excellent woodcuts,
keeps YARRELL'S Birds still a favourite, as it has
always been the standard, authority on British birds.

— INSECTS OF MISSOURI.—For ten years Mr.
C. V. RILEY annually prepared a report on the
insects of Missouri of interest to the cultivator. In
this way a vast amount of very valuable information
on the habits of insects and their relation to farm and
garden crops was got together. It was, however,
published in such a form, as a Government report, that
it was not readily accessible to the masses. To
obviate this inconvenience, or, at any rate, to lessen it,
Mr. RILEY has now published a full table of contents
of each of the nine reports and copious indices of
plants, insects, and illustrations, together with supplementary
notes, lists of errata, and descriptions of new
species and varieties. There can be no question as
to the value of this laborious work, for which those
who have access to the volumes will be devoutly
thankful, but it is worth Mr. RILEY'S consideration
whether a popular volume, containing a condensed
account of the several insectes, and the mode of preventing
or remedying the ill effects occasioned by
them, would not be even more generally useful. At
present we have a veritable encyclopædia of information
on the phylloxera, the locust, the Colorado beetle,
and scores of other insects, but from the conditions of
publication it is diffused and scattered ina way that
renders it difficult for a professed entomologist to get
at all he wants, and almost impracticable for an amateur
to do so. In so saying, however, we do not wish
to underrate the valuable aid given in the indices
now published.

— "THE HEREFORDSHIRE POMONA."—The
fourth part of this superb publication is before us, containing
eleven coloured plates of great beauty and
mostly very faithful representations. Twenty-nine
varieties of Apple and thirty-five kinds of Pears are
illustrated and described in the present part. The
literary matter also includes the completion of the
practical treatise on the orchard and its products,
i.e, the manufacture of cider and perry, and
a note on the orchard in its fianancial aspect and its
future by the Reb. C. H. BULMER. The work is to be
concluded in seven parts. The woodcut outlines are
still coarsely executed and not worthy of the remainder
of the volume. Nevertheless, the work must
always rank among the foremost of its class, and reflects
credit on the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club,
under whose auspices it is produced.

— THE SMOKE ABATEMENT EXHITITION.—
We are requested to state that Mr. J. CAVEN FOX,
who was officially employed in the Exhibitions of
1855, 1862, and 1871, and who is so well known to
many of our readers as the agent for the sales made
in the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens, is
authorised to act also as agent for the sale of objects
exhibited in the forthcoming Smoke Abatement
Exhibition, to be held in the Royal Horticultural
Society's Arcades and Annexes at South Kensington.
Mr. FOX'S office is in the East Arcade, and all communications
should be sent to that address.

— NATIONAL ROSE SOCIETY.—We understand
that the dates for the National Rose Society's exhibitions
n 1882 are—for the metropolitan show, July 4,
at the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society;

and for the provincial exhibition, at the Sydney Gardens,
Bath, June 28. As these dates are too early
for the Northern and Midland growers, it is contemplated
to hold a third show about the third week in
July at some town in the Midland Counties.

— CRYSTAL PALACE SCHOOL OF GARDENING.
—The Rev. G. HENSLOW delivered his fifth lecture
on the "The Practical Application of Vegetable
Physiology to Methods of Propagation," on
Wednesday last. The lecturer treated of vegetable
multiplication, and showed, first, how this is the
only method in certain plants, as some algæ and
fungi, and that while conjugation or a union of
different cells give rise to new beings, till the
elaborate processes carried on by stamens and pistils
was reached, yet the vegetative method was never
obliterated, and in higher plants often assumed an
importance quite equal to the reproductive process by
seeds. After enumerating plant organs, viz., roots,
subterranean stem-structures, aërial stems, buds, he
showed how Nature could utilise each of them as
a means for propagating, and that the cultivator
might imitate Nature in doing the same. Though roots
are usually distinguised from stems by not bearing
leaf-buds, yet in many cases they will do so naturally if
exposed to the air, and may even be stimulated to bear
them by artificial treatment. As far as subterranean
stem-structures furnish propagation means there is
little to do beyond separating and replanting;
but with layering and cuttings of aërial shoots several
physiological conditions must be considered, viz., the
concentration of the elaborated or descending sap by
notching, &c., the regulation of light, heat, and
moisture being most important so as to check too
great transpiration on the one hand without reducing
the excitement to form roots. The choice of and
time for making cuttings was then alluded to, and the
importance of knowing what is the usual temperature
at which any plant thrives, as a cutting from it must
be placed at a higher temperature, in order to stimulate
it to produce roots.

— FUCHSIA EDELWEISS.—The new Fuchsia
Edelweiss, of which we have received copious
examples from Messrs. W. HENDER & SONS, of the
Bedford Nursery, Plymouth, is one of the largest and
finest double whites we have yet met with. Messrs.
HENDER themselves say that "grown beside the
best double whites they know, including Grand
Duchess, Clarinda, Miss Lucy Finnis, Snowcloud, &c.,
this beats them all in every point; the purity of the
corolla is unapproached, while the habit is, we think,
equal to that of any of the dark free-blooming kinds.
It often has from four to six flowers at a joint, and is
scarcely ever out of bloom." It is certainly a most
profuse bloomer, and has a noble presence. The
tube and calyx is of a rich carmine-scarlet, the tube
short )about 1/2 inch long), the sepals 1 1/4 inch long and
5/8 inch broad. The corolla is dense and moderately
spreading, showing clear white on the outer surface,
and very slightly streaked with rose at the base of
the petals. The buds are very large, almost globose,
with a short point, about 1 inch long and 3/4 inch wide.
The leaf is ovate, about 2 inches long, and therefore,
as will be seen, not at all coarse for so massive a
flower. It is a very showy and telling variety.

—MESSRS. VEITCH'S NEPENTHES-HOUSE.—A
visit to Messrs. VEITCH'S collection of Nepenthes
just now will fascinate the plant lover and stir the
pulses even of the most indifferent spectator. The
free unconstrained way in which the fling their
branches about, the luxuriance with which they
hang down their goblets, and their remarkable forms
and distinct colours leave an impression of as
great beauty as singularity. Let no one suppose
that there is a monotony either of form or
colour among them. It is very much otherwise.
There are the gigantic blood-red tubes of N. sanguinea,
the long horn-like tubes of N. distillatoria,
the bar-like pitchers of N. Rafflesiana, so richly
spotted with dark red on a green ground, and with
deep wings. To the same general type belong N.
Hookeri, N. Domini, and a host of other hybrids, all
different but acknowledging a common starting point.
Then there is N. bicalcarata, a most robust habited
kind with sturdy foliage and bag-like pitchers
provided with a vicious looking rat-trap-like apparatus
in its lid which renders it very distinct from
its neighbours. N. Veitchii is one of the most distingué
of the series, with its yellowish-green soft pitchers