August 11. 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



165 



Baumann. The best twelve blooms of a light variety 

 were Her Majesty, from Messrs. A. Dickson & Sons ; 

 Messrs. Harkness & Sons being 2nd, with Merveille 

 de Lyon. Prizes werp also offered for the best 

 arranged box of Roses, Fern fronds being also 

 employed. Mr. T. B. Hall was 1st, and Mr. H. 

 Pewtress 2nd. The best collection of eighteen 

 varieties of stove and greenhouse flowers came from 

 Mr. A. Heine, Manchester ; Trentham Gardens sup- 

 plying a remarkably good 2nd. Hardy flowers, shown 

 in bunches of twenty-four and twelve, were good and 

 numerous. Pansies, Carnations and Picotees, 

 Dahlias, &c, were below the average. 



Bouquets and Vases. — Messrs. S. Perkins & Sons, 

 Coventry, had the best two bouquets ; Mr. A. Heine 

 being 2nd. The latter had the best in the class for 

 one, and also the best epergne ; but the stands in 

 this class were scarcely worthy of Liverpool. 

 Bouquets of wild flowers were a good feature. 



Fruit. — Of this there was a satisfactory display, 

 the bunches of Grapes were very fine, but lacked 

 finish owing to the absence of sun-heat. The best 

 collection of eight dishes came from Mr. R. Dawes, 

 gr. to the Hon. Mrs. Meynell-Ingram, Temple New- 

 8am, Leeds, who had Madresfield Court and White 

 Muscat Grapes, Royal George Peaches, Lord Napier 

 Nectarines, Pigs, Strawberries, &c. ; 2nd, Mr. W. 

 Pratt, The Gardens, Longleat, Warminster. Mr. T. 

 Elsworthy, gr. to A. R. Gladstone, Esq., Court Hay, 

 had the best six dishes — a good lot ; Mr. D. Lind- 

 say, gr. to Sir T. Edwards-Moss, Otterspool, being 

 2nd. 



The best Pine-apples in both classes, came from 

 Trentham Gardens. 



Mr. R. Pilkington, Liverpool, had the best four 

 bunches of Grapes, staging fine examples of Black 

 Hamburgh, Madresfield Court, Muscat of Alexandria, 

 and Buckland's Sweetwater. 2nd, Colonel W. W. 

 Pilkington, Roby Hall, with Buckland's Sweetwater, 

 Foster's Seedling, Black Hamburgh, and Madresfield 

 Court. 



Black Hamburgh, Madresfield Court, Muscat of 

 Alexandria, Foster's Seedling, and Buckland Sweet- 

 water were the leading varieties in the classes for 

 two bunches. Peaches, Nectarines, Melons, and 

 Strawberries were also good. 



Vegetables. — It must suffice to say that these were 

 numerous and very fine, Potatos being a great 

 feature. Messrs. Sutton & Sons' special prizes for 

 six distinct varieties of vegetables brought a very 

 keen competition. 



Aero Plants. — First-class Certificates of Merit were 

 awarded to Messrs. R. P. Ker & Sons, Aigburth, 

 for Crotons aigburthensis and Aigburth Gem, two 

 narrow-leaved varieties of great distinctness of 

 character, the latter being brilliantly coloured ; and 

 to Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, nurserymen, Swanley, 

 Kent, for white Begonia Octavie, the blossoms of 

 which are like those of a Gardenia, and singularly 

 pure. 



Miscellaneous Contributions. — Among these was a 

 group of decorative plants, and three large circular 

 groups of Roses in pots from the Liverpool Horti- 

 cultural Company (John Cowan), Limited ; a group 

 of Crotons and other stove and greenhouse plants, 

 from Messrs. R. P. Ker & Sons ; a large collection 

 of Ferns, from Messrs. W. & J. Birkenhead, of Sale ; 

 plants, wreaths, &c, from Messrs. Jones & Sons, 

 florists, Liverpool ; cut Begonias, &c, from Messrs. 

 Rodger McClelland & Co., NewTy, Ireland ; cut 

 bloom of zonal Pelargoniums and single and double 

 Begonias, from Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons ; and a 

 group of plants, and also cut flowers, from Messrs. 

 Dicksons, of Chester, all of which were highly 

 commended. 



Great praise is due to Mr. E. Bridge, the Secretary, 

 for his excellent arrangements, but the rain, which 

 fell all Saturday afternoon, prevented many visitors 

 from witnessing the exhibition, and it is feared a 

 financial loss will accrue to the Association. 



ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICTJLTTTRAL. 



The thirty-fifth annual meeting of this Society 

 was held in the class-room of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Edinburgh, on the 7th inst., Mr. Malcolm 

 Dunn, the Palace Gardens, Dalkeith, in the chair. 

 On the motion of the Chairman, the Earl of Hope- 

 toun was elected President of the Society. 



The Chairman, in his opening address, glanced at 

 some of the more prominent topics of the day in 

 connection with forestry. Looking back to the year 

 1854, when the Scottish Arboricultural Society first 

 sav the light, they might, he declared, say that the 

 forestry of the present time was, like the Society, 



then in its infancy. In 1854 their esteemed ex- 

 President, Dr. Cleghorn, was engaged in working in 

 the midst of his busy official duties, that great sys- 

 tem of forest conservancy which he began to put 

 into execution two years later, and which at the 

 present time was such a remarkable feature in the 

 economy of the Government of India, and so full of 

 promise in the future of that magnificent country. 

 In that same year the Society was instituted by a 

 few able and enthusiastic foresters, with a view to 

 promote a better knowledge of the science and 

 art of forestry, and the adoption of better 

 methods for the management of their woods 

 and forests. Following up the scheme thus 

 laid down by the pioneers of 1S54, the Royal 

 Scottish Arboricultural Society had diligently perse- 

 vered in the path so well laid out for it, and had 

 striven by every legitimate means to foster a love of 

 the profession among its members, to promote a 

 correct knowledge of the various systems and details 

 of modern forestry, and especially to establish for 

 young men a suitable education and the best possible 

 method of training, to qualify them for carrying out 

 with credit and success the many important func- 

 tions of a forester. The Chairman then recalled the 

 part taken by the Society in organising the Forestry 

 Exhibition of 1884, and afterwards gave an outline 

 of the proceedings of the Parliamentary Committee 

 on Forestry, which resulted in a recommendation 

 that a Forest Board should be created by the 

 Government with the view of establishing schools of 

 forestry throughout the country. It was believed 

 that such a Board would be formed in connection 

 with the new Department of agriculture which it 

 was the intention of the Government to institute. 

 The Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society would be 

 entitled to a representative on that Board, along 

 with other kindred societies, and if the various 

 bodies took care to elect really efficient represen- 

 tatives, they might look forward with confidence to 

 the establishment of proper institutions for the 

 training of all grades of forestry that the necessities 

 of the country might require at home and abroad. 

 As to the prospect of foresters receiving remuner- 

 ative employment after they had fully qualified 

 themselves for their profession, he said he had looked 

 into that aspect of the question with some care, and 

 it appeared to him that there would be no lack of 

 employment for all duly qualified men, and that the 

 remuneration would be at least equal to that received 

 in any other profession in qualifying for which the 

 same amount of time and money had been expended. 

 The owners of large estates were every day be- 

 coming more alive to the fact that their woods 

 and waste lands must be managed with the 

 best skill and intelligence, so as to make 

 them a permanent and valuable source of in- 

 come, instead of the worthless burden they 

 had been in the past. There were about 

 12,000,000 of acres, nearly all included in the large 

 estates of the United Kingdom, the annual value of 

 which did not exceed an average of Is. Set. an acre. 

 Allowing a deduction of one-third for high altitudes 

 of land unsuitable for the growth of forest trees, 

 there still remained 8,000,000 of acres of land which 

 might be covered with forests to the mutual advan- 

 tage of the owners and the benefit of the country. 

 Land at annual value of Is. 3d., or, adding the 

 value of the one-third deducted, as useless for grow- 

 ing timber — say, ls.8d., — could not be of much use for 

 grazing purposes. After it was once planted it would 

 in all probability afford as much grazing for stock, 

 except under Pines and Spruces, under proper regu- 

 lations, as it had furnished before being planted, and 

 it would give far better shelter and cover for deer 

 and other game, which would still be a source of 

 considerable income. The greater portion of this 

 land, lying at an altitude of 300 to 1500 feet above 

 sea-level, was well adapted for the growth of forest 

 trees, and only required to be properly laid out, 

 planted, and managed by duly qualified foresters to 

 quadruple at least the annual income derived from 

 it, after paying all expenses and allowing for all 

 contingencies. In addition to all this, the working of 

 the forests and the manufacture of their products 

 would supply well-paid work to a larger rural popu- 

 lation than now inhabited those districts, and would 

 thus help to solve one of the greatest social problems 

 of the day — how best to retain in rural districts a 

 happy and industrious working population. Nor was 

 there the slightest danger of overstocking the country 

 with forest, even if all these 8,000,000 acres were 

 planted. The total area now under woodlands in the 

 United Kingdom was about 2,788,000 acres, the 

 smallest proportion tothe total acreage of the country 

 that was to be found in any well-regulated European 



State. With the 8,000,000 added, the woodlands 

 would only cover 14 per cent, of the total area, a pro- 

 portion which was exceeded by several of the northern 

 countries in Europe. There was thus a sufficient field 

 for a greatly extended system of forestry in this 

 country and a consequent demand for well-educated 

 and trained foresters. The owners of the land might 

 have the will to enter on those extensive enterprises, 

 but some of them might not have the means. That 

 difficulty could, however, be met, either by Govern- 

 ment loans or by forming public companies to supply 

 the money. 



Awards for Competitive Essaus. — Mr. D. F. Macken- 

 zie, Morton Hall, submitted the report of the judges 

 on the competitive essays, the following being the 

 awards : — " Report on the Giant Thuia"— Bronze 

 Medal, A. D. Webster, Hollydale, Holwood Park, 

 Kent ; " Report on the Old and Remarkable 

 Trees of Holwood"— Silver Medal, A.D.Webster; 

 " On the Comparative Value of Exotic Coniferae 

 as Ornamental or Timber Trees in Britain " — No. 2 

 Silver Medal, A. D. Webster ; " Landscape and 

 Economic Planting" — Bronze Medal, Charles S. 

 France, Ash Cottage, Bridge of Dee, Aberdeen ; 

 " Botany of Hampshire " — Bronze Medal, John 

 Smith, surveyor, Romsey, Hampshire ; " Old 

 and Remarkable Trees, with Photo Album" — 

 No. 1 Silver Medal, James Barrie, forester, Ste- 

 venstone, Torrington, Devon; "Plans and Specifi- 

 cations for the Erection of Foresters' Cottages " — 

 No. 2 Silver Medal, B. B. Keay, forester, Redcastle, 

 Ross-shire ; " On the Comparative Value of Exotic 

 Conifera as Ornamental or Timber Trees in Britain " 

 —No. 1 Silver Medal, Thomas Wilkie, Tyninghame, 

 Prestonkirk ; " Report on the Advantages of Form- 

 ing Belts of Plantations on Hill Pasture Lands " — 

 Bronze Medal, Thomas Wilkie; "Report on the 

 Rearing of Underwood for Game Coverts in High 

 Forests " — Bronze Medal, Thomas Wilkie ; " The 

 Best Approved Collection of Dried Specimens of 

 Leaves of Hardy Trees " — George Dodds, Went- 

 worth, Rotherham. 



Forest Board. — The Chairman invited suggestions 

 as to the appointment of a representative on the 

 Forest Board, which, it was hoped, would be estab- 

 lished this year in connection with the proposed new 

 Department of Agriculture. 



Dr. Cleghorn said he would much have preferred 

 that forestry education should have been kept sepa- 

 rate from agriculture. It was a very important 

 matter, and he thought the Parliamentary Com- 

 mittee might have given a stronger expression of 

 opinion than they did ; but so far as their report 

 went, it was in a right direction. 



Mr. James Watt, Carlisle, while looking upon 

 the proposal to appoint a representative as prema- 

 ture, thought there could be but one opinion as to 

 the gentleman who should be selected when the 

 time came. He hoped they would, when the appoint- 

 ment became practicable, send Dr. Cleghorn to the 

 Board. 



The Universities Bill and the Botanic Gardens.— 

 The Chairman stated that the Council had petitioned 

 Parliament against the clauses in that bill trans- 

 ferring the Botanic Gardens from the Crown to the 

 University, and desired the meeting to give an 

 expression of its opinion on the matter. Mr. 

 McKenzie, Edinburgh, said the proposal of the 

 Government was injurious to foresters, gardeners, and 

 the public at large. The gardens were invaluable 

 as a source of technical education, and he urged 

 strenuous opposition to any change that would impair 

 their usefulness. 



Professor Bayley-Balfour said he was of opinion 

 that it would be a mistake to transfer the garden, 

 not only in the interests of the garden itself, but in 

 the interests of the general public, of the University, 

 and of scientific and general education. The only 

 reason given by the Treasury for the proposal was 

 that it wanted to get rid of the expense of both the 

 Arboretum and the Botanic Garden. The Arboretum, 

 however, was not included in the bill, so that the 

 Treasury would still have to keep it up. No one 

 wanted the change, and he was glad to see that the 

 public were moving earnestly in opposition to it. 



Visiting the Arboretum and Inverleith Nurseries. — 

 The business of the meeting over, the members were 

 conducted around the Arboretum by Mr. Lindsay, 

 Curator, Botanic Gardens. The various groups of 

 trees and shrubs, which are arranged chiefly in their 

 natural orders, were inspected with much interest. 

 The party then proceeded to inspect the several 

 Inverleith nurseries belonging respectively to Messrs. 

 Jas. Dickson & Sons, Messrs. Thomas Methven & 

 Sons, and Messrs. R. S. Robertson & Co. Mr. John 

 Methven directed the attention of the party to the 



