The Scientific Notebooks of German Orchidologist Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Kränzlin

242 THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. [February 20, 1892.

native of the mountains of Java, at an elevation of from 8,000 to 9,000 feet, and may be serviceable for hybridising purposes.

Hydnophytum Forbesi, t. 7218, is one of those curious plants whose tuberous root-stocks afford a home for ants. The plant does not seem to be injured by the ants, which repay their obligations by keeping off undesirable visitors. The plant in question is cultivated in the Royal Gardens, Kew, where it flowered in 1889 and again in 1891.

Begonia glaucophylla, t. 7219.—A plant of unknown origin—possibly a garden hybrid. In any case, a very beautiful form, with spotted stem, oblong-lanceolate leaves, and pendulous short-jointed clusters of pink flowers. Grown as a basket plant it is very handsome. Kew.

Vicia narbonensis, tab. 7220.—The chief interest attaching to this species is that it has been supposed to be the origin of the common field Bean (Vicia Faba). Judging from the figure here given, those who indulged in that supposition must have had an extraordinarily vivid imagination, for it is scarcely possible to have imagined two plants of the same genus more different in appearance.

Neo-Benthamia gracilis, t. 7221.—A coloured figure of the very singular terrestrial Orchid, described and figured by Mr. Rolfe in our columns in 1891, vol. x., p. 272. It is a native of Zanzibar.

FORESTRY LECTURES: UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. —The Council of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society announce to the members and others interested, that the course of lectures on "Forestry" is about to be resumed in the University by COLONEL BAILEY, R.E., a distinguished forest officer. The Council urge landowners, foresters, and all interested in forest education to take advantage of these lectures, which began on the 10th inst. Landowners would do well to send one or more foresters to attend the course, and they would thus derive immediate benefit by the employment of men instructed both in the art and science of forestry. The Council point out the excellent opportunity which these lectures provide to intelligent youths for acquiring a thorough scientific knowledge of their profession. To enable them to take advantage of the lectures, the Council have arranged that young men who desire employment while attending the course can obtain it in the nurseries, or elsewhere, near Edinburgh, on applying by letter to W. J. MOFFAT, Esq., Secretary and Treasurer, 5, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh.

GHENT HORTICULTURAL MEETING.—Certificates of merit were awarded at the last meeting for the following plants:—1st, Odontoglossum pulcherrinum ×, a new hybrid of the Alexandræ type, shown for the first time; the form is beautifully rounded, the colour white, the edges slightly yellowish, and the entire flower evenly spotted with brown. 2nd, Odontoglossum Holfordianum leopterum, a rare variety with large flowers, the ground golden yellow with large brown spots. 3rd, Masdevallia ignea perfecta, an entirely new variety, imported from Columbia and flowering for the first time; it has never before been shown. The flower is exceedingly beautiful and very large, in colour purplish flushed with dark blue; this is one of the most beautiful forms of ignea. 4th, Masdevallia ignea aurora, another novelty from Columbia, and flowering for the first time; the habit is very distinctive, the colour flame-orange. 5th, Amaryllis flammea ×, a new hybrid remarkable in habit and form, deep red with very fine wavy lines of white. These five fine novelties were from M. CH. VUYLSTEKE, of Loochristy. 6th, a species of Odontoglossum from M. JULES HYE; a magnificent flower, the ground pink, the sepals and petals fringed, bordered with white, the mid-rib whitish, each sepal and petal having a large brownish-red spot surrounded and underlined with smaller spots of the same shade; the lip has a golden-yellow ground, with tiny spots, the edge white, very finely fringed—the flower is robust. 7th, Odontoglossum Pescatorei album, from the same Orchicist, the flowers very fine, pure white, numerous and very fresh. 8th, Odontoglossum sulphureum,

also from M. J. HYE, flowers sulphur-yellow and very distinctive, the several parts of the flower have a small circular spot of brownish-red, which is repeated on the lip. 9th, Pteris Wallichianum, from MM. DURIEZ FRÈRES, of Wondelghem, a plant interesting among the many novelties recently introduced. Certificates of Merit were awarded for:—1st, Adiantum venustum, to M. SPAE, Vandermeulen, a very pretty species in vigorous health; 2nd, Nephthytis picturata, from the Congo, to M. L. DESMET DUVIVIER, a dwarf plant, with fine leaves of unusual size; 3rd, to MM. E. VERVAET ET CIE, for Cattleya Masereelii, a white-flowered variety. Honorable mention was awarded for:—1st, Cattleya Trianæ, to MM. VERVAET ET CIE., the lip very dark in colour; 2nd, Cattleya Trianæ, to the same exhibitors, the lip fringed—very pretty; 3rd, Miltonia vexillaria, to M. ALF. VAN IMSHOOT, flowers large and dark; 4th, Microlepia hirta cristata, to MM. DURIEZ FRÈRES; 5th, Cœlogyne Lemoniana ? delicata, to M. J. HYE.

ACREAGE OF FRUIT IN GREAT BRITAIN.— Prominent attention has lately been called to the extending cultivation of fruit in different forms in Great Britain. A relatively large advance is now reported in the Agricultural Returns of Great Britain for 1891. The area under small fruits now exceeds that used for Hops, 58,700 acres being returned, compared with 46,200 acres in 1890, and 36,700 acres in 1888, the last year when this form of cultivation was first separately recorded. By the introduction of a newly-arranged table this particular area has been more closely analysed than has hither been possible, and it will be seen that on 23,416 acres small fruit is grown in plots already returned as orchards—that is doubtless under the larger fruit trees; while 22,510 acres in market gardens, and 12,778 acres of ordinary farm land are now returned as carrying Gooseberries, Strawberries, Currants, and other small fruit. The small fruit area has increased in every county of England and Wales, and in some counties by a remarkable percentage, although nearly a third of the English small fruit area is still to be found in Kent. The changes are not so uniform in Scotland, although there also a larger fruit acreage is reported. The ordinary orchard surface in Great Britain in likewise greater, covering, in round numbers, 210,000 acres. The area, ten years back, was given as under 185,000 aceres. A still larger advance appears in the returns of land used by market gardners for the growth of vegetables, and other garden produce. These were reported as covering 46,604 acres in 1881, while the figures for 1891 make the market garden area 81,368 acres.

TOOPE'S FOG-ELIMINATING PLANT-HOUSE.— As suggested in our issue for November 28, p. 650, when making mention and giving a small illustration of Mr. Toope's invention for mitigating, if not altogether eliminating, the injurious effects of London fog on plants, we have made two visits, and on both occasions have had our previously-formed favourable opinion verified. Situated in the corner of his factory-yard, in one of the foggiest districts in London, viz., Stepney Green, Mr. Toope has erected his experimental house in two divisions. Heated on his own plan, fitted with his chemically-charged air-filters, his charcoal-filters for the water used, and a new and perfect plan of ventilation, it must be said that the plants in the houses, which, it will readily be supposed, could not exist under ordinary circumstances, are in the best health, and progressing well, although the experimenter has fairly enough only begun with small, and in many cases, weak specimens, Orchids being the plants chiefly grown. The evidence of the production and duration of the flowers is a great point; and both in November and December a good show for so small a collection was found. Last week we found some Cattleya Trianæ in bloom, C. citrina, showing flower strongly; several Dendrobium Wardianum, a fine D. crassinode, Cœlogyne flaccida, Zygopetalum Mackayii, Odontoglossum Rossi majus, with seven blooms; a fine O. maculatum, which to our certain knowledge,

has been in bloom since the middle of December, and in one corner was a small case in which were plants of Anæctochilus petola and Goodyera discolor, besides others. If regarded only as a system of perfect ventilation, the invention is a good one, and deserves a trial by those who try to grow plants in large cities and smoky manufacturing districts.

SHREWSBURY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.— At the annual meeting on the 11th inst., the Mayor presiding, a balance-sheet was produced, showing the income of the society for the past year to have been £3334 10s., as compared with £2963 in 1890— the highest amount ever reached by the Society in one year. The subscriptions for the year amounted to £428 7s., and the receipts at the exhibition in August last were £2796. The amount of prize-money was £428 7s. 6d.; amusements and fireworks cost £421; bands, £253; and the profits on the year's exhibition was £970. A sum of £500 has been added to the invested capital, which now amounts to £3500. Since the Society started, the annual balances have been expended in the improvement of the public grounds in the Quarry, the Free Library, and some money has been given to the charitable institutions of the town, last year £753 being so expended. The balance in the banker's hands amounts to £747.

BIRMINGHAM GARDENERS' ASSOCIATION.—At the last meeting, and admirable paper on "The Gloxinia, 1739 to 1892", was read by Mr. J. MARTIN (Messrs. SUTTON & SONS), in which the history of its introduction and improvements were sketched, and instructions given as to culture. Anyone who has visited Messrs. SUTTON & SONS' nurseries when the Gloxinias are in flower, will know full well that Mr. MARTIN is an excellent cultivator and crossbreeder of them. On the following evening, the second annual social meeting of members and their wives took place at one of the largest hotels, and about 140 persons were present, Mr. W.B. LATHAM, of the Botanical Gardens, presiding.

THE WEATHER IN THE MIDLANDS.—Mr. J. W. WOODFORD, Atherstone, says that "On February 15, it was snowing hard all day, with gale from north-east, thermometer 26[degrees]; altogether, the most winterly day we have had."

A VENERABLE CAMELLIA.—Probably there is no exotic tree or shrub in West Cornwall with a more interesting pedigree than the Camellia at Penalvern, Penzance, writes the Western Morning News; and, like so many other things with a glorious past, its future is an unknown quantity, except in the rapidity of its decay. It is but a wreck of its former self, and the merest imitation of the blizzard of last March will completely settle it. Half-a-century ago there were scarcely any Camellia trees in West Cornwall, and for a very long period, up to last year, the one in question maintained its reputation as being the largest in the county. When in full bloom, its magnificence could not have been excelled by any single specimen in its native country, Japan. It reached an altitude of nearly 20 feet, and possessed a circumference of nearly three times its height. It was, at its prime, so densely covered with flowers that to photograph it was impossible. The young tree was brought about half-a-century ago by the late Mr. T. S. Bolitho from the gardens of his father-in-law, in North Cornwall, and the vigour with which it grew and thrived in the genial locality of Penzance was little short of marvellous.

"NATURAL SCIENCE."—Messrs. MACMILLAN & Co. announce the publication of a new monthly scientific review—Natural Science—devoted more especially to the interests of biology and geology. The first part of Natural Science will be published on March 1, 1892.

BRUSSELS BOTANIC GARDEN.—A member of the Belgian Parliament has denounced as excessive the sum expended on the Botanic Garden, which sum we believe is ridiculously small. He pro-

20 THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE [January 6, 1883.

the circumstances that many of the appointments and fixtures for the new year are not made till some weeks or months have elapsed, we have not been able to insert many of the dates of the smaller provincial exhibitions. The dates of all the more important exhibitions, whether in London or the provinces, have been included, as well as the usual Calendar information. The table of mean temperatures is taken from Mr. GLAISHER'S reduction of the Chiswick observations, and, representing the average of forty years, may be taken as an indication of the probable temperature in the vicinity of London. In the Southern Counties, and by the sea, the winter temperature is usually a little higher, in the North a little lower, than that of London and its vicinity. In spring, especially on the eastern side of the island, the temperature rules lower than about London.

— PALM SEEDS.—We hear from Mr. JOSEPH STEVENSON, Honorary Secretary, Agri-Horticultural Society's Garden, Madras, that he experiences great difficulty in making exchanges of Palm seeds. At the present time the garden authorities possess qualities of seeds of the following Palms:—Corypha umbraculifera, Livistona mauritania, Elæis guineensis, Caryota urens, Areca catechu, and several varities of Phœnix, and would be glad to receive offers in exchange from some of our readers.

— THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW.—The total number of visitors to the Royal Gardens, Kew, for the year 1882 was 1,244,167. This is 407,491 in excess of the number for 1881, which in its turn was greater by 111,254 than the number of visitors in any previous year. As in 1881 the Sunday visitors (606,935) were about equal in number to those on all the other days of the week put together (637,232).

— INDIRECT EVIDENCE.—The fact that the American Vines resist or do not succumb to the Phylloxera is being acted on in a large scale in France, the American Vines being used as stocks whereon to graft the better Vines of France. At first there was some doubt as to the real efficacy of the process for practical purposes, but that doubt is now settled, and, as if to prove it, thefts of American Vines from nursuries have become frequent. Thus, near Montpellier one night 850 plants were stolen, and from another nursery a number of cuttings, valued at £200. The variety most affected by the marauders is one namked Othello.

— — JAPANESE VINES.—In view of the everincreasing losses caused by the Phylloxera it is said that the French Government have despatched a Commission to studty the Vines of Japan, and which are cultivated in that country up to the snow line. M. PLANCHON is about to publish a description of the species, of which several are known in herbaria, and some are in cultivation.

— — ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.— The following is a summary of the privileges of Fellows and members for the current year:— A Fellow paying four guineas a year is entitled:— I. To two tickets, both of which are transferable, and will admit the Fellow or the bearer without payment to the Gardens and to the Great International Fisheries Exhibition to be held therein, and to all shows in connection therewith. Each ticket will also entitle the bearer to a season ticket holder's place at the opening ceremony of the Fisheries Exhibition, to be held in the Royal Albert Hall, for the reduced payment of 5s. 2. To admit daily (Sundays excepted) eight friends by written order to the garden at Chiswick. 3. To visit the shows at 12 o'clock, being an hour earlier than the general public. 4. To receive forty orders giving free admission on all occasions until April 15, from which date till May 1 the Gardens will be closed, except to Fellows. These orders will be available on the payment of 6d, during the Fisheries Exhibition on all shilling days. 5. To a share of such seeds, plants, and cuttings of Vines and fruit trees as the Society may have in sufficient numbers for distribution by ballot or otherwise. 6. To purchase the flowers, fruit, and vegetables grown at Chiswick, which may not be required for scientific purposes by the Scientific, Fruit and Floral Committees. 7. To receive a copy of the publications of the Society. 8. To the right of voting at all meetings. 9. To be relieved (on giving previous notice in writing) from the payment of subscriptions while resident abroad. 10. To free admission to the reading room and Lindley

Library. A fellow paying two guineas a year is entitled to one ticket giving the same privileges of admission as in No. I; half the privileges mentioned in Nos. 2, 4, and 5; the same as Nos. 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Present guinea members are entitled to one ticket, not transferable, giving the owner admission on all ordinary occasions, and to all shows at Chiswick and South Kensington, but not to the annual or special general meetings or fêtes or conversazione of the Society, and which does not entitle the member to vote on any matters relating to the affairs of the Society. Entrance fees of new Fellows joing are suspended for the present.

— TITHE COMMUTATION: SEPTENNIAL AVERAGES. — Mr. MONTAGUE MARRIOTT, Editor of Willich's Tithe Commutation Tables, writes:—As the result of the corn averages for the seven years to Christmas, 1882, published in the London Gazette of this evening—viz., Wheat, 5s. 10 1/4d. per imperial bushel; Barley, 4s. 4 1/2 d. per imperial bushel; Oats, 2s. 11 1/4d. per imperial bushel—I beg to state that each £100 of the tithe-rent charge will, for the year 1883 amount to £100 4s. 9 3/4d., or about 2 1/2 per cent. less than last year. The following shows the worth of £100 tithe-rent charge for the last seven years:—For the year 1877, £109 16s. 11 1/2d.; 1878 £112 7s. 5 1/4d.; 1879, £111 15s. 1 1/2d.; 1880, £109 17s. 9 1/2d.; 1881, £107 2s. 10 1/2d.; 1882, £102 16s. 2d.; 1883, £100 4s. 9 3/4d. The average of £100 tithe-rent charge for the forty-seven years elapsed since the passing of the Tithe Commutation Act is £103 2s. 0 1/2d.

— ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF IRELAND. —The dates of this Society's exhibitions for 1883 are as follows:—Spring exhibitions, Thursday, April 19, and Thursday, May 17; Summer show, Thursday July 5; Autumn show, Thursday, Sept. 6; Winter show, Thursday, Nov. 22.

—THE FLORA OF BRITISH INDIA.—We are glad to welcome another instalment (the ninth) of this very serviceable work, published by Sir JOSEPH HOOKER, with the assistance of other botanists (REEVE & CO.) The present part contains, among other orders, the Ericaceæ, Sapotaceæ, Oleaceæ (Jasminum) and various other orders elaborated by Mr. CLARKE, while Sir JOSEPH enumerates the Primulaceæ and Apocynaceæ. Rhododendrum lovers will be interested to see the latest revision of the Indian species by Mr. CLARKE, who has had the advantage of Sir JOSEPH's materials and co-operation, in addition to his own extensive collections and personal experience. The Malayan species (from which originate the so-called greenhouse species of gardens) are grouped together under the sub-genus, Vireya, characterised by the thin walls of the capsule twisting after dehiscence, and with very long-tailed seeds. Here come R. malayanum, jasminiflorum, javanicum. The true Rhodendrons are distinguished by a woody capsule, the valves of which do not twist, and by wingless seeds; here are placed R. arboreum and all the Sikkim species. The R. argenteum of gardens is referred to R. grande of Wight. R. æruginosum is reduced to R. campanulatum, R. Aucklandi to R. Griffithianum. Of the Primroses we have already spoken, but we add that P. imperialis is referred to R. prolifera. We may add that this part concludes the third volume, and as it has brought the record as far as Apocynaceæ it may be presumed that the work is now about half finished. The work comprises an immense geographical area, including the whole of India and Malaya.

— LONICERA STANDISHI.—A fine specimen of this—probably the earliest flowering of all the Honeysuckles —trained to the front of Museum No. 1 at Kew is now bearing numbers of its creamy-white very fragrant flowers. Though perfectly hardy it delights in such positions as the one just noticed, and although not a climber produces longer growths and flowers more freely against a wall than in the open. This species (figured in Bot. Mag., tab. 5709, and in Gard. Chron. 1878, vol. ix., p. 106) is sometimes confounded with the similarly fragrant L. fragrantissima and L. brachypoda. The two former were sent from Shanghai to the Horticultural Society by FORTUNE.

—BILBERGIA NUTANS.—A considerable number of Bromeliads are highly ornamental and desirable stove plants; but, in this country at least, the whole order is comparatively neglected, except in a few establishments. On the Continent the case is to a considerable extent reversed, and private collections of these interesting plants are not uncommon. Heat and moisture are the principal requirements of most of the showy species—where these can be given the cultivation is remarkably easy. Bilbergia nutans is not by any means one of the handsomest species, but its narrow bright green leaves, the central peduncle clothed with the large bright red bracts, the drooping flowers with bright green ovaries, sepals flushed pink, and petals green with deep blue margin, form a peculiarly pleasing combination. It is now in flower at Kew, and a good figure from Kew specimens is given in the Botanical Magazine, vol. 105, tab. 6423.

— TREATMENT OF FROZEN PLANTS.—In a climate like that of Britain, where in winter one week may be summer-like in its mildness, and the next almost arctic in character, bundles of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants sent by goods train must sometimes fare rather badly. As some of our readers might be puzzled how best to treat a frozen mass of vegetation, the following extract from vol. xvi. of the Iowa Horticultural Society may prove of interest:— "Two or three years ago I received, about the 1st of April, a bale of choice plants from Painesville, Ohio. The last of March had been summer-like, and all promised so fair, my order was packed and sent. By some mishap, I did not find the goods until they had been in the express office three or four days. The day they came the express man set the bale in an open coal-shed. That night a new winter came on. I received the package and brought it home as solid as a boulder. These were the choicest of plants: Strawberries, Raspberries, Roses, Peaches, flowering shrubs, &c. They had been nicely packed in wet moss. When I opened the bundle it was with difficulty I could break the packages apart. The ground was frozen 4 inches thick, so that nothing could be set out. I dug a pit and buried the plants in the earth. When the ground was fit for setting-out, I found the plants in the pit in good order; and setting them out I never lost a plant. A. D. Field, Indianola, Iowa."

— VEGETABLE PESTS.—As an instance of the rapidity and thoroughness in which several of the Cactaceæ naturalise themselves in many countries, the following clipping from a leading daily affords striking evidence:—"A Bill has been introduced into the New South Wales Legislative Assem- bly for the purpose of empowering the Government to devote a certain sum to the eradication of the wild Cactus plant, popularly known as the 'Prickly Pear.' So rapid has been the spread of this vegetable pest that whereas, according to the statement of one member, £50 would have sufficed thirty years ago to rid the colony of it, a million sterling will, before many years, be required for such a purpose. It was stated that one proprietor of land in the colony had spent £1000 on his property in trying to destroy this mischievously prolific plant, but had not yet succeeded."

— THE PHYLOXERA IN SOUTH-WEST FRANCE.—The Vigne Américaine gives the following statistics for the Department of Hérault, which may suffice to give our readers some notion of the extent of the disaster in one Department only. The number of hectares destroyed annually (a hectare = rather less than 2 1/2 acres) was as follows:—In 1880, 19,000; in 1881, 20,427; in 1882, 26,267. The number of hectares treated by submersion during the same years was respectively, 1588, 1626, and 2283. The number of hectares treated by carbon sulphide for the same period was 1875, 4632 and 3541 respectively. The number of hectares treated by sulfo-carbonate of potash was 868, 1578, and 751 for the years before mentioned. The number of American Vines used as stocks whereon to engraft the finer Vines has increased from 2624 in 1880 to 10,918 in 1882 in the Department in question.

— SENECIO MACROGLOSSUS.—Of the enormous genus to which it belongs this is, probably, with the single exception of the handsome New World species, S. pulcher, the largest flowered one. It is a striking plant with evergreen Ivy-like glossy leaves borne on long slender twining stems. Its large pale yellow flower-heads are produced in midwinter, and afford a fine contrast to the dark shining foliage. The plant is admirably adapted for trellis-work and well fitted for dwelling-room culture. At Kew a fine specimen trained to one of the rafters is, at present,