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IN OTHER LANDS.
Professor Fyson, in his new work, the
"Flora of the Nilgiri and Pulney Hill-top«,"
remarks that in the beautiful climate of
the South Indian mountains numerous
plants from many parts of the world have
succeeded in acclimatising themselves. Aus-
tralian trees, chiefly eucalyptus and'acacia,
have replaced many of the indigenous woods.
The visitor may now see the gorse and
broom, the calla "lily, zephyranthts, pelar- '
goniums, species of ozalis, the foxglove,
verbenas, fuscbia fulgene, -cassias, and seed-
ling dahlias of every shade of'red and yel-
low all growing near each other.
A hardy climber, seldom seen in Austra-
lian gardens, is the Celastrus articulafcus.
It is a native of China and Japan, and it
is closely allied to the Euoay muses, or
"spindle trees," and. like them, lias an or-
namental fruit which, when ripe, opens, dis-
closing richly coloured seeds. The colour of
the fruit» ls yellow, and the seeds orange
scarlet. The . plant produces long, slender
branches, which may bo trained over
boura, or allowed to climb at will among
the branches of trees, where they will at-
tain a height of EOft. or more. In summer,
though the flowers are small and inconspicu-
ous, the ovate leaves are ornamental, {urn-
ing to « rieb., clear yellow.in autumn be-
fore they fall.
Germany has decided to prohibit, the im-
portation of luxuries. These .Include cut
flowers, and the trade in "enemy flowers
through Switzerland will be brought ter a.»
end. The prohibition, lt is said, will deal
a severe blow to the Dutch florists. Slnee
the Mediterranean flowers were practically
unobtainable in Germany, large consign-
ments were taken from Aalsmeer, whore
the prices roBe to an unusual height: ? _Ae
Dutch horticulturists largely depend op
I their export trade, much anxiety prevails
among them, for there" is. In the present
circumstances, little hope of finding any
other foreign market.
Most growers of asparagus have had
trouble with tho growth of seedlings, which
in some oases, come up like weeds, but riot,
-all have noticed that the seeds are borne
br. separate plants. A writer in the "Gar-
deners* Chronicle'' (London) says!-^TJiere
is, I think, no doubt that the male and
female flowers of the asparagus ere borne
on. separate plants. Th!« it,, at --«n'y ~*ate,
vie «ase with rall the plants ini'my. own
garden and & «tose of jnyitielgJibouw. "I.
bave been interested In the question for
several years past, for it occurred to me
that ttose who raise their own plants from
seed would do well not to plant thean in
their ' permanent positions: *mtfi Qftr bad
flowered «nd shown their ser, «nd then to
plant only male plants, No seeds would
thea ba formed, and no amount of careless--:¡
ness ëMâ »elf «HW to bècojm» ».
thick forest of seedlings-« frequent
cause of toe diminution of the size ot the
shoote." ? -
It is understood that a company is about
to be formed combining Australian, New
Zealand, and British capital, to establish a
farm Jor the production of flower, vege-
table, ~ and other seeds in Tasirania on a
large scale. An area of about 100 acres of
suitable land bas been secured within 30
mile's of Hobart, and it is expected that
this will Be increased. It is also within
the scheme that the company wi*l seek the
co-operation of farmers, supplying them
with certain seed, which will be planted
and grown under the supervision of the
company's expert manager, the~ com-
pany undertaking to purchaoe the whole Of
the .resulting crop. The project includes.es
.a matter of course, the erection of ma-
chinery for cleaning the seeds, and the
whole establishment will be of an up-to
date character.
Over MW trees, shrubs, and herbaceous
plants introduced into Britain from China
by Mr. E. H. Wilson have been giyen first
class certificates - or awards of infc'rit by
thc Royal Horticultural Society of Eng- !
land. This is a remarkable record of Mr. ¡
Wilson's success as a plant collector. As j
there are still many of his introductions!
which have not yet reached the flowering |
stage, the number is sure to be consider-
ably augmented in the near future. The!
London "Garden" remarks that if is safe j
to say that both in quality and in quan-
tity of new introductions, Mr. Wilson has
surpassed the-achievements of any previous
plant collector.
Spring flowering bulbs, like hyacinths,
crocuses, and daffodils, are grown on board
of some of the British warships. A vase
.of white narcissi grown in-moss fibre ac-!
tually bloomed on boar-d of H.M.8. Kent I
during the battle Sf the Falkland Islands, j
while hyacinths flowered recently on board j
of H.M.S. Iron Duke. In a recent issue ;
of 'the London "Garden" there is a photo-1
fraph 'of à hyacinth bloom grown on the j
ron Buke. The height af the flower j
above the fibre was lljt inches.
The Persian cyclamen is the only mem-
ber of the family commonly seen about
Melbourne, and it is also the besi 'fsays
a Victorian exchange). When in full leaf
it is a very pretty plant, and when in
flower it is still moro desirable. Still,
it ia strange that we do not more often
see other'species of cyclamens about, for
they ere all very pretty, and all are bardy,
provided they are grown in cool and fairly
moist places. C. europaeum, or hederae
foliuoi is a native of many parts of Eu-
rope. It is very plentiful'in eome woods
in Cornwall-planted 'there, of course. It
blooms after midsummer, and is very vari-
able in foliage. C. repandum flowers in
the- spring. Its flowers var» in colour,
fi om while to . pink and red-purple, aid
they are fragrant. C. neapolitanum is
similar, except that it flowers in the' Au-
tumn. Both it and repandum have tooth-
ed, lobed - leaves, prettily marked with
grey on the upper surface, tinged with red
on the lower. They grow wild in France,
Italy, and Greece, preferably in mountain-
ous regions. C. coum is found . wild in
Turkey and Greece, and is one of the most,
delightful of all dwarf hardy plants where
it is happy. It has small, roundish leaves,
and smallish Sowers, which catch the eye
directly.
It is a commonplace of botany that na-
ture provides plants with flowers and fruit
solely for .the sake of the seeds. The flower
is needed to get' the seed fertilised' and
the fruit to protect it and at the same
time get it distributed. We have every
reason to believe that the ..expanded petals,
the sweet smell and the store of nectar
are merely offerings made in exchange for
pollen, and when this has neen obtained
the flower generally fades. ? But the in-
terests of 'the tree would not be served
if the seeds all fell beneath its branches
and it became choked by the growth of
its own offspring. Therefore eome trees
enclose their seeds in a sweet pulp, which
is clothed with a bright skin, when the
seeds are ripe, in order that .they may be
carried away hy birds, animals, or men,
and so distributed. How is it, then, that
certain trees, for instance the navel or-
ar ge, Zante currant and the banana, pro-
duce Sowers and fruit, but no seeds? We
are guite familiar with the phenomenon'
ol' dropping, when* the embryo fruit in
which tue seeds have not been fertilised
are cast off by the parent tree, because
they are of no use to it. Why the trees
abovementioncd do not act in a Eimilar
way. but bring their seedless fruit to per-
fection^ cannot be accounted for. They
are abnormal, aud, in a way, unnatural,
¡and would never haye survived the first
feneratioa had not mau perpetuated them
y means bf buds and cuttings. Partial \
fertilisation of the blossom ofteu results in
misshapen fruit. When a one-sided ap-
ple or pear is cut open it will mo6t likely
be found that there are no seeds on the
undeveloped side. In the seedless sul-
tana grape there are seeds to start with,
and the form of them cen be distinctly
seen until the berries are almost half
grown ; but instead of maturiug. thev be-
come absorbed in the pulp and completely
disappear.
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