Feirauy 8, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUSB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



105 



Mb. Edwaed Bennett, Rabley Nurseries, Herta, haa 



been appointed Floral Decorator at the Eoial Aquarium 

 Wentminster. Mr. Bennett waa formerly gardener at Hatfield, 

 Enville, and Osberton, and haa conBetxaently had great expe- 

 rience in ornamental gardening. We understand that some 

 ehauges in the mode of decoration are to be adopted, and 

 which experience has suggested will be aa far as possible 

 suitable to the peculiar nature of the building. 



Mb. Dadds, North Devon Fernery, Ilfracombe, says 



that he knows more than twenty places within nine miles of 

 the coast of Ilfracombe where the Maiden- hair Fern grows 

 wild. He has seen at Boscaatle and the neighbouring coast 

 more than would load a railway truck. Another correspondent 

 states that he can remember when the Maiden-hair grew 

 amoDg some rocks called the " Giant's Chair," on the Titter- 

 stone Clee Hill in Shropshire, but he believea it has all dis- 

 appeared from there now. 



We are informed that Mr. Charles Turner, The Royal 



Nnrseriee, Slough, has purchased by tender the whole of 

 Mb. Laxton's stock op Koses, including both named and 

 UDoamed seedlings. 



A MEETING of the Committee of the National Rose 



SociETT waa held yesterday at the Horticultural Club, Adelphi 

 Terrace ; Hon. and Rev. J. T. Boscawen in the chair. The 

 business consisted in the preparation of the schedule and 

 making preliminary arrangements with regard to the Show 

 which is to be held in St. James's Hall in July next. 



In reply to an address lately presented by a distin- 

 guished deputation from the Royal Horticultural Society 

 OF Ireland the Duke of Marlborough, after expressing his 

 pleasure in receiving the address, remarked that " the pursuit 

 and the science of horticulture and the diffusion of a love for 

 plants and flowers amongst the population are objects which, 

 in my opinion, will tend to embellish a country already highly 

 favoured by nature, to beautify the parks and gardens of the 

 wealthy, and to cheer and render attractive the cottages of 

 the poor." His Grace promised to give whatever aid he 

 could to the Society, and should have pleasure in attending 

 its exhibitions. 



We have received the schedule of prizes offered by the 



Newcastle, Northumberland, and Durham Botanical and 

 Horticultural Society. Thia old Society (establiehfd in 

 182i) is unusually vigorous, having as the result of special 

 efforts and energetic management admitted no fewer than 1300 

 new members during the brief space of two months. The 

 Society now numbers two thousand members, and haa a sub- 

 scription income of upwards of £700. Three exhibitions are to 

 be held during the season — namely, on March 2l8t and '22nd, 

 July 12th and 13th, and September 12th and 13th ; the aggre- 

 gate value of the prizes offered being £.'530. About eighty 

 donors have contributed to the special prize fund. The sche- 

 dule is divided into sixty-seven classes, and the following 

 fiummary of leading prizes is announced : — Ornamental plants, 

 £125; Table decorations, &c., £90; Ferns, £25; Azaleas, 

 Rhododendrons, and Camellias, £25 ; Pelargoniums, £38 ; 

 Roses, £40 ; Dahlias and Hollyhocks, £30 ; Fuchsias and 

 Ericas, £25 ; Liliums and Gladioli, £15; Hyacinths, Tulips, 

 Cyclamens, Primulas, etc., £35; Hardy spring plants, cut 

 flowers, &o., £50 ; Fruit, £35. The Society is deserving of 

 encouragement and success. The Hon. Sees, are Mr. J. Taylor, 

 Eye Hill, and Mr. J. H. French, South Benwell House; the 

 acting Secretary being Mr. J. A. Stephenson, 1, Queen Street, 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 



A correspondent writes to ua that a weak aolution of 



carbolic acid (about halt a dozen drops to a gallon of water) 

 will destroy worms and c.rubs in floweb roTs without injur- 

 ing the planta. Paraffin (diluted) ia also said to have the same 

 effect. We have not tried these remedies, having always 

 found perfectly clear lime and soot water effectual without 

 being injurious. 



We have not to travel far in any direction to perceive 



mistakes which have been made in planting shrubs and 

 Conifers, and especially in small gardens. However small the 

 lawn may be, it eeems to have been thought the right place 

 for a WelUngtonia and a Deodar. These deservedly popular 

 trees, with Pinus excelsa, P. Douglasii, and others of com- 

 manding growth, have been planted "where they could be 

 Been " when young at the fronts of borders and a few feet only 

 from the walks. For a year or two after planting these 

 Conifers look very well in such poaitions, bat eveotualiy they 



become too large and have to be mutilated just when arriving 

 at their greatest beauty. Such strong growers should always 

 be planted more or less in the background, even at the risk of 

 veiling their beauty for a year or two, and the advantage of 

 doing so will in the end be decisive and permanent. Very 

 small lawns should be occupied with proportionally small- 

 growing Conifers, and the choice of these is great. Junipers, 

 Cupressuses, Thujopses, Biotas, Retinosporas, etc., are all suit- 

 able for suburban gardens, and are not planted nearly so freely 

 as is desirable in small enclosnrea. On small lawns small- 

 growing Conifers increase in beauty yearly, but large-growing 

 kinds in such places are incongruous and are not permanently 

 ornamental. 



The representative of a leading firm of seedsmen has 



sent us the following forcible comment on the letter referring 

 to the purchase and the sale or seeds which appeared on 

 page 84 and headed, " Doing as He Would be Done By: " — 

 " The more one thinks of the present system of the seedsman's 

 journey sales in the summer — brought home to us by the losses 

 we must sustain this year by the reckless gambling prices at 

 which aeeda were sold — the more insane does that system ap- 

 pear. Is there any other trade in trading England where sales 

 are made at a stated price of goods which may perchance 

 never be produced at all ? The old system of waiting to see 

 what the harvest would yield was the legitimate one ; was fair, 

 honest, and far more profitable to all parties, and more worthy 

 of such a trading country as England." 



The following modes of destroying scale and mealy 



bug which have been fouud successful by Mr. Kerr at Netherby 

 as recorded in another column, are worthy of being tried by 

 others who are troubled with these destructive insects : — Scale 

 on Peach trees, two wine-glassfuls of paraffin oil to three gal- 

 lons of water ; mix thoroughly and syringe the trees. Mealy 

 bug, two table-spoonfuls of paraffin to one pint of water : apply 

 with a sponge. 



The " Garden Oracle," by Mr. Shirley Hibberd, for 



the present year is now published, and contains a great deal of 

 useful information and many illustrations. 



The Council Meeting of the Bath and West of England 



Society was held ou January 30th, at the Grand Hotel, Bristol, 

 the Marquis of Lansdowne, president, in the chair. The 

 Finance Committee presented the annual statement, which 

 showed that the pecuniary loss sustained by the Society at the 

 Hereford Meeting (1M7G) was less than anticipated, being only 

 £160. It was unanimously resolved that "the Mayor and 

 Corporation of Bath having expresEed a strong hope that the 

 Patron of the Society, H.K.H. the Prince of Wales, and the 

 Princess of Wales, would honour the city of Bath on the occa- 

 sion of the hundredth auniversary, and the Council being 

 assured that the visit would be most gratefully appreciated 

 through the entire west of England as well as highly con- 

 ducive to the interests of the Society, the President be retiuested 

 to submit an invitation to their Royal Highnesses for any day 

 of the week (Wednesday being the best day), and in any 

 manner which may bo most convenient." 



In the course of a lecture delivered on the 2nd inst. 



by Mr. A. Burrell at the Society of Arts on Indian Tea culti- 

 vation, it was urged that the soil and climate of India were in 

 every way admirably adapted for the culture of the Tea plant, 

 the produce sent out by the Indian Tea-growers being in no way 

 inferior, and in many instances much superior to the Teas of 

 China. To convey an idea of the steadily increasing con- 

 sumption of Indian Tea in our own country, it was mentioned 

 that the imports of this article during 187G had amounted to 

 27,000,000 lbs., or 10 per cent, of the total consumption of the 

 year ; while it was anticipated that the imports of the present 

 year would amount to at least 32.000,000 lb., or 25 per cent, of 

 the probable total consumption of the year in the United 

 Kingdom. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND WORK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



kitcuen garden. 



There will be plenty of work in thia department by-and-by. 

 So far we have done but little, but it was well that a good propor- 

 tion of the digging and trenching had been done in the autumn. 



A succession of Asparagus and Seakale must be kept up by 

 introducing a fresh batch of plants fortnightly, the quantity to 

 be regulated by the sufijily. The heat can be retained in the 

 frames by covering the glass at nights with mats ; but Aspara- 

 gus, unlike Seakale, requires plenty of light in the daytime; 



