46 



THE GARDENERS' CHBONIGLE. 



[July 14, 1888. 



had spoken thought it unreasonable that a seller 

 should have the power to forward an article different 

 from that ordered, and that the buyer should be 

 compelled to accept it simply because the non-war- 

 ranty clause was printed on the top of the invoice. 

 As to the question of remedy, he was not in favour 

 of a union; his idea was that the President of the 

 Board of Trade should be approached with the view 

 •of getting a clause inserted in the Mercantile Law 

 Amendment Act, making it illegal for seedsmen to 

 •contract themselves out of liability by a non-war- 

 ranty clause. 



Mr. Robson (Messrs. Smith & Son, Aberdeen), 

 said his firm had not lost faith in their case, and 

 that in the event of their being supported in carry- 

 ing an appeal to the House of Lords they would 

 give a substantial subscription towards it. He con- 

 fessed to their having used the clause themselves, but 

 they had come to recognise it as bad. He advised 

 the formation of an association of all seed growers 

 and merchants who disapproved of the clause, and 

 who would refuse to deal with merchants adopting 

 it. In putting themselves entirely in the bands of 

 those who used the clause they were liable to get 

 any one kind of seed for any other kind. They 

 might not only get Rape for Turnip, but perhaps 

 Cucumber for Carrot. 



Mr. T. B. Park, Haddington, moved :— " That a 

 strong recommendation be made to all the trade to 

 buy from those merchants only who do not use the 

 clause." He had, he said, faith in the honesty of 

 the trade, and he believed that if a wholesale seeds- 

 man came manfully forward and abolished the non- 

 warranty clause he would get the support of the 

 trade. 



Mr. Ireland (Messrs. Ireland & Thomson, Edin- 

 burgh) seconded ; while Mr. Davie, Haddington, 

 said, that as he was bound to purchase under the 

 non-warranty clause he could not sell under any 

 other conditions. He sympathised, however, with 

 Messrs. Smith & Son, and thought the trade should 

 assist them in their appeal. To that end he would 

 be glad to contribute, and meantime he moved : — 

 " That it be remitted to a committee to consult the 

 whole trade on the question of raising a fund to carry 

 forward the appeal." Mr. Carter, Berwick, seconded. 



Mr. Robson did not think a recommendation 

 such as was proposed in the motion would be of any 

 use. Unless there was to be a combination among 

 the retail dealers no attention would be paid to the 

 recommendation. He moved as an amendment — 

 " That an association be at once formed of all seed 

 growers and merchants who disapprove of the non- 

 warranty clause now used by many wholesale and 

 retail firms, and who should agree not to recognise 

 the said clause in any of their business dealings." 

 Mr. Taylor Dalkeith believed something stronger 

 than was contained in the motion was required, and 

 he, therefore, seconded the amendment. Mr. Mather 

 supported the motion, believing that it would be 

 impossible to carry out the combination proposed. 

 Mr. Park concurred with the last speaker, and said 

 his belief was that if the motion were adopted they 

 would get such support from the trade as would 

 influence the wholesale merchants to withdraw the 

 obnoxious clause. Mr. Cross, Leith, suggested that 

 those present should sign the circular embodying 

 the recommendation to the trade, and Mr. Robson 

 said if the meeting agreed to that he would with- 

 draw his amendment. The Chairman said he could 

 not consent to sign such a document. It would be, 

 he considered, boycotting the members of the whole- 

 sale trade, and would place retail merchants in such 

 a position as to appear incompetent to manage their 

 own business. He was prepared to say that under 

 ordinary circumstances he would not deal with any 

 member of the wholesale trade who adopted the 

 clause, and that he would not adopt that clause him- 

 self, but beyond that he could not go. On its being 

 suggested that the terms of the motion should be 

 altered so as to apply to the purchase of " root seeds " 

 only the Chairman signified his willingness to sign 

 the circular so amended. In that form the motion 

 was unanimously agreed to. To the Secretary (Mr. 



David Hunter, S.S.C.) was remitted the question of 

 raising a fund to assist Messrs. Smith & Son to carry 

 their appeal to the House of Lords, with instructions 

 to duly report progress to his Association. The 

 proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the 

 Chairman. 



The Scottish Horticoltueal Association. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of this Association 

 was held in 5, St. Andrew Square on the 3rd inst. ; 

 Mr. Robert Morison first, and Mr. Alex. Milne sub- 

 sequently, occupied the Chair. A paper was read by 

 Mr. Bell, gardener, Morton Hall, on the Tomato. 

 The history and botanical relationship of the plant 

 were sketched. A native of South America, it was 

 introduced in 1596, and was long cultivated in this 

 country merely for the ornamental character of its 

 fruit. Only of late years had its merits as an esculent 

 been recognised in Britain, but so rapidly had it in- 

 creased in favour that it is now an almost universal 

 article of diet, and an important commercial product. 

 Comparing the two classes of Tomatos, viz., those 

 with smooth and those with corrugated fruit, the 

 writer said the latter were perhaps the heaviest 

 croppers, and were consequently more largely grown 

 by those who catered for market, but the former had 

 a better appearance, brought better prices, and were 

 most in favour for the purpose of competition. It 

 was questionable whether the yellow-fruited sorts 

 would ever obtain the same amount of favour as the 

 red-fruited, though some contended that they were 

 superior in quality and flavour to the latter. The 

 cultural instructions were thoroughly practical and 

 excellent. In the discussion that followed, the point 

 as to whether the Tomato is a vegetable or a 

 fruit was raised. It was pointed out 

 by one member that it had been exhibited in collec- 

 tions of fruit at recent flower shows, and by others 

 that it was frequently served up at dessert, but 

 members were pretty equally divided as to the pro- 

 priety of placing it in the category of dessert fruits. 



Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, Warriston Nursery, 

 read a paper by Mr. Hugh Gorrie, gardener, Mauldslie 

 Castle, on " Select Stove Plants," which contained 

 an excellent enumeration of foliage and flowering 

 stove plants, with notes on their culture. Both 

 writers were warmly thanked for their communi- 

 cations. 



Amongst the exhibits a handsome Strawberry, 

 sent in by Mr. John Fraser, station-master, Annan, 

 Dumfriesshire, received a First-class Certificate. It 

 is said to be a cross between Dr. Hogg and Black 

 Prince. Its chief merits are earliness, having been 

 ripened in Annan on June 18, even in such a late 

 season as this ; good size, being intermediate be- 

 tween both parents ; excellent flavour and solid 

 flesh, bespeaking good carrying qualities. It is 

 named John Ruskin. Mr. Charles Buchanan, 

 Pennycuik House, exhibited a spray of Bougainvillea 

 glabra, 3 feet long, the superb colour of which was 

 much commented upon, along with the fact that it 

 was grown and flowered in a Camellia-house. 



Other exhibits were Cattleya Harrisiana(P), which 

 looked like C. Mendelii, from Mr. Grant, St. 

 Leonard's Hill, Dunfermline ; seedling Pansies and 

 decorative Pelargoniums, from Messrs. R. B. Laird 

 & Sons ; Saxifraga cotyledon, with a spike 3 feet 

 long, from Mr. Henderson, of Clermiston ; and 

 branches of Colletia horrida and cruciata from the 

 open air, by Mr. Hugh Fraser, Leith Walk Nurseries. 



Home Correspondence. 



CREEPERS ON A HOUSE. — The southern front of 

 my house is covered with a dense mass of ivy, Ampe- 

 lopsis Veitchii, Gloire de Dijon Rose, Clematis mon- 

 tana, C. azurea, C. Jackmanni, and the variegated 

 Lonicera brachypoda, besides half-a-dozen creepers 

 of less rampant growth. Every year by about mid- 

 summer the mass of branches and foliage becomes an 

 unmanageable wilderness. The young shoots cling 

 to the woodwork of the windows, get behind the 

 spouts and lift the slates, and hang down in long 

 matted bundles that have a most untidy appearance. 

 I should be grateful for advice as to the best way of 

 dealing with them. The most troublesome are 

 Clematis azurea, whose long slender sprays cling to 

 each other and refuse to be fastened up without an 



amount of trouble and time which cannot be given to 

 them ; and C. montana, whose huge snake-like stems 

 have become white and bare, and a large part of 

 whose flowering sprays are obliged to be cut off in 

 the late summer because nothing else can be done 

 with them. If C. montana were cut down to within 

 6 feet of the ground and all its overgrown top pulled 

 out and cleared away, would it shoot out afresh ? But 

 my chief despair is C. azurea. If I cut away the un- 

 ruly growths I get no flowers next year. If I leave 

 them alone they soon shut out the light from the 

 windows. If I tie them up in masses they crush and 

 break, and to separate and nail them up is imprac^ 

 ticable. F. T. M. 



MELON GROWING. — At Orwell Park Gardens, 

 Mr. Wallis, Col. Tomline's gardener, adopts a 

 capital plan of utilising all space over the path at 

 the back of the Pine-stoves, which he covers with 

 Melons during the summer, and gets a double lot to 

 ripen, as directly one batch is over he at once puts 

 fresh plants in, and thus keeps up a regular succes- 

 sion. These are grown in Seakale or bottomless 

 pots, which are stood or plunged on or in the leaf- 

 bed between the Pines, and the pots are filled with 

 strong turfy loam, and when the fruit is set, liberal 

 supplies of liquid manure are given, and plenty of 

 tepid water when required, to help it to swell. The 

 plants are run up with clean single stems, some 3 or 

 4 feet, and are then trained on temporary trellises 

 made of laths of wood, and the fruit is supported 

 by pieces of square board slung up, or Raffia-grass 

 run round and tied. As the roots of the Melons can 

 get through into the leaf-bed, the half- bushel or so 

 of soil the plants have suffices for them to carry 

 three fruits on each, and these being so fully exposed 

 to light and air, are always well finished and of good 

 flavour. In pits and frames Melons follow the 

 Strawberries and Potatos with no other preparation 

 than soil from the kitchen garden quarters being put 

 in ; and the thick leathery foliage the plants have, 

 and the number of Melons fast swelling, show plainly 

 what may be done without spending time and labour 

 in making up hotbeds. J. S. 



CHELSEA QEM PEA. — This variety, which was 

 sent out by Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, is a valu- 

 able acquisition as an early Pea, and is one of the 

 earliest, if not the earliest, of all. It was ready for 

 gathering out-of-doors here ten days before any 

 other early Pea. It is an amateur's Pea, and suitable 

 for small gardens, as it is not only very productive 

 and of good quality, but is only 12 inches in 

 height, of branching habit and requires no sticks. 

 The pods are well filled with large, well flavoured 

 Peas, and it only wants to be known to be appre- 

 ciated. W. Gallop, Bradford Pevercll. 



GREAT PROMISE OF STRAWBERRIES.— I hear 

 many complaints of Strawberries being a non-success 

 this year. I planted 1500 last autumn, and every 

 plant is in good condition as regards foliage and fruit. 

 I picked for the first time on June 24, King of the 

 Earlies. It was fit to gather, and has been followed 

 by Laxton'sNoble ; and the new Strawberry Waterloo, 

 and several other leading varieties are setting their 

 flowers well. The plants had a good mulching of 

 manure after being planted, and the beds were well 

 watered throughout the dry time afterwards. The 

 fruits are thinned to six on a plant. <?. Humphreys, 

 Strcatham. 



WHITE PINKS. — These are among the most valu- 

 able of white flowers for cutting, as, besides their 

 purity and adaptability for bouquet work, and the 

 dressing of vases or glasses, their perfume is very 

 agreeable, and for a long time they have been general 

 favourites in gardens. A few years ago a new one, 

 under the name of Mrs. Sinkins, made its appearance, 

 and a fine thing it is, and when it was first intro- 

 duced it bid fair to drive the old-fashioned one out 

 of cultivation ; but as this is at least a fortnight 

 earlier in bloom it still holds its own, and is likely 

 to do so for some time yet to come. The best 

 examples of this last-named Pink I have ever seen 

 are at Orwell Park, where Mr. Wallis has large beds 

 of it, in such vigour and colour of foliage that one 

 could hardly believe the plants to be those of the old 

 double white without his assurance that they were 

 that variety, as, besides the great strength and rich 

 metallic hue of the "grass," they have stout sturdy 

 stems a foot or so high, and big pink flowers to 

 match. The soil these plants are growing in is a 

 very stiff loam, which not only suits them but Car- 

 nations also, as large numbers of these are in the 

 same gardens, and look equally healthy and vigorous. 



