188 



THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 



[March 23, 1912. 



Royal International Horticultural 

 Exhibition. — The " Western Counties of Scot- 

 land " Cup (see fig. 81) is presented by sub- 

 scribers in the counties of Ayr, Argyll, 

 Bute, Dumfries, Dumbarton, Lanark, Kirk- 

 cudbright, Perth, Renfrew, Stirling, and Wig- 

 town for competition at the forthcoming Inter- 

 national Show. Mr. Jas. Whitton, Secretary 

 for the West of Scotland, kindly informs us 

 that the cup is 21£ inches in height, with- 

 out plinth, weighs 120 ounces, and is in 

 Georgian stylo, with richly chased floral 

 decoration, having on one side a large shield in 

 high relief with the arms of the different sub- 

 scribing counties engraved thereon. A replica 

 of this shield is shown on the opposite side with 

 the title of the cup and an appropriate inscrip- 

 tion engraved on it. 



The bowl illustrated in fig. 82 is pre- 



_ rf BUNYAKD 



Maidstone. It will be award I for the best ex- 

 hibit in the open class for a collection of nine 

 dishes of fruit of distinct kinds. 



Austria and the Royal International 



Horticultural Exhibition. 



The Vienna 



Horticultural Society is arranging a 10-day ex- 

 cursion to London for the International Exhibi- 

 tion. The party will start on May 22, and will 

 proceed straight to London. In addition to \ it- 

 ing the exhibition, visits will also be made to the 



principal nurseries, Kew, the R.H.S. gardens at 

 Wisley, Hampton Court, and other places. On 

 the return journey, a halt will be made at Rotter- 

 dam, and a day or two spent in Holland and Bel- 

 gium, the programme terminating at Frankfort- 

 on-Main, after a visit to the celebrated Palm 

 garden in that city. 



Echo of the Brussels International 

 Exhibition. — The medals and diplomas awarded 

 the members of the jury of the Brussels Interna- 

 tional Horticultural Exhibition, held in 1910, have 

 just been distributed. The British jurors, namely, 



Messrs. William Watson, A.L.S., Stuart H. 

 Low, and R. Hooper Pearson, have been sent 

 the mementoes through the Exhibition Dej rt- 

 ment of the Board of Trade. 



L.C.C. Parks Committee.— In the Gar- 

 deners 1 Chronicle of March 16, the list of 

 members of the Parks Committee of the London 

 County Council for the coming year was pub- 

 lished. The committee have now met and 

 appointed as their chairman Mr. J. W. Lorden, 

 who was vice-chairman last year. Major H. B. 

 Lewis-Barned was elected as vice-chairman. 



Mr. Thomas Lewis.— Friends of Mr. Thomas 



Lewis, of Messrs. John Waterer k Sons, Bag- 

 shot, will learn with regret that he has recently 

 sustained bereavement in the death of his 



BATSFORD. 



(Concluded from p. 164.) 



The Rockery. 



Batsford is the home of the ideal material 

 for making a rock garden; for here is quar- 

 ried the sandstone amongst which so many 

 Alpine plants luxuriate. Recent visitors to 

 Kew will have aeen tons of it being placed 

 in a portion of the rockery there, which has 

 been so skilfully and artistically re-made. The 

 Batsford rockery is a splendid example of the 

 unostentatious structure. The run of the 

 ground has been followed, and the boulders so 

 cunningly placed, that the rockery suggests a 

 rather low hill-side, which has been acquired for 

 the cultivation of Alpine and allied plants. As 

 is proper, neatness and order prevail; the plants 

 possess legible though inconspicuous labels. No 

 useful purpose would be served by giving any- 

 thing approaching a complete list of the great 

 variety of rock plants which may be so easily 

 seen and admired, but it will be interesting to 

 note a few of the rarer and more than usually 

 luxuriant plants, taken very much in the order 



Fig. 8i. — royal international horti- 

 cultural exhibition. 



(Cup presented by the Western Counties of Scotland.) 



daughter. 



W 



been felt for the 



•Considerable anxiety has 

 safety of Mr. Purdom, 



who is engaged in plant collecting in China for 

 Messrs. Jas. Veitch & Sons, and has encoun- 

 tered serious perils during the revolutionary war. 

 We are glad to learn from a telegram just re- 

 ceived from Pekin that Mr. Purdom has suc- 

 ceeded in reaching that city. 



Publications Received. — Meteorological 



Nctes and Remarks upon the Wemther During 

 the Year 1911, with its General Effects upon 



Vegetation, by James Whitton. 

 Robert Anderson.) — Outlines of Evolutionary 

 Biology, by Arthur Dendy, D.Sc., F.R.S. (Lon- 

 don : Constable & Co , Ltd.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 

 The Garden at Home, by H. H. Thomas. 

 (Cassell & Co., Ltd., London.) Price 6s. net. 



in which they occur. Daphne Blagayana seems 

 perfectly at home, as also does the difficult 

 dwarf Rubus arcticus, which is growing along- 

 side the commoner R. australis, with yellow 

 branches and spines. Hypericum reptans carpets 

 the ground between a couple of boulders, just 

 below a good specimen of Dahpne Cneorum. 

 Gentiana acaulis, the despair of some gardeners, 

 is very healthy, as also are Saxifraga Aizoon, 

 S. longifolia, and S. Clibranii. The useful little 

 Arenaria balearica draws ample nourishment 

 from the porous sandstone, and serves as an 

 attractive carpet for a double crimson-flowered 

 Helianthemum, which flowers with great free- 

 dom. A large clump of Sempervivum arachnoi- 

 deum has found an ideal home under the shelter 

 of an overhanging boulder, and the silvery tips 

 (Glasgow : f a j un ip erus prostrata, which hugs a flat 



boulder, are very striking in appearance. 



The Glasshouses. 



In the glasshouses, which are on the other aide 

 of the path, the same indications of high culti- 



was 



vation and careful attention are at once appar- 

 ent. The vineries contain clean canes of such 

 varieties as Black Eambro', Madresfield Court 

 Lady Downes, and Muscat of Alexandria. The 

 variety Barbarossa bore some enormous bunches 

 last season, but, as Mr. Gardiner succinctl 

 remarked, " Very nice to look at, but that's 

 all." The season of indoor Peaches 

 over, but the ripening growths of Royal 

 George, Bellegarde ; ^ Pineapple and Lord 

 Napier Nectarines all indicated good crops for 

 the next season. Several houses are devoted to 

 the culture of Melons, which are in dailv 

 request over a long period, and Figs are also a 

 favourite fruit. In a heated pit the dwarf 

 Beans were already making good progress, and 

 other pits w r ere being prepared for the forcing 

 of various high-class vegetables. The plant 

 houses all contained fine healthy batches of use- 

 ful subjects. Carnations are grown on a large 

 scale, and so, of course, are Chrysanthemums; 

 while the ever popular Begonia Gloire de 

 Lorraine was full of health and vigour. 

 Bouvardias are found to be valuable, for many 

 buttonholes have to be supplied, and house de- 

 coration is practised on an extensive scale. Poin- 

 settias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) and Cleroden- 

 dron fallax furnish the rich bright colour which 



is so telling in the dark oak-panelled rooms of 

 the mansion. 



The kitchen garden forms a long square facing 

 east-south-east, and is very attractive with its 

 ornamental pond in the middle, where the chief 

 paths, with their flower borders, meet. The 

 various vegetables necessary for supplying the 

 needs of a large establishment are to be found 

 here, and indicate again good culture, com 

 bined with intelligent anticipation of future 

 requirements. The hardy fruit is, of course, an 

 important feature of this large garden ; for the 

 most part the standard varieties are relied 

 upon, but a trial is given to promising novelties. 

 A. C. B. 



SCOTLAND. 



THE SCOTTISH FRUIT TRADE AND THE 



INSURANCE ACT. 

 A meeting, of the members of the Glasgow 

 fruit trade was held on the 13th inst. in the City 

 Hall for the purpose of considering the desira- 

 bility of forming an approved society under the 

 Insurance Act among members of the Scottish 

 fruit trade. Councillor Gardner presided, and 

 said that there should bo no difficulty in securing 

 the minimum of 5,000 members among the trade 

 in Scotland, with centres in different parts of 

 the country. It was decided that the question 

 be considered by the executive of the various 

 trade associations. 



EDINBURGH AND LEITH FRUIT AND 

 FLOWER TRADERS AND THE SHOPS ACT. 



A meeting of the Edinburgh and Leith Fruit 

 and Flower Trade Association was held in Edii 

 burgh on the 14th inst. to consider the Shops 

 Act, 1911, and a proposal to apply for a closing 

 order for a weekly half-holiday every Wednesday. 

 A motion in favour of the proposal was carried 

 by a large majority, and it was agreed to take 

 a plebiscite of those interested. 



DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 

 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 A meeting of the directors of this society, 

 which has held no show since 1910, was held 

 recently and a statement of the accounts pre- 

 sented. At the end of the last show there was* 

 deficiency of £76 14s. lid., but this had been 

 reduced by special subscriptions. There was no 

 nothing unpaid but the prize money. T he * 

 counts showed an income of £185 6s. Id. and a 

 expenditure of £185 17s. 9d., leaving a baia ji 

 due to the secretary of lis. 8d. and to the pr 

 winners of £39 lis. 6d. The chairman, Mr. 

 Henderson, Elmbank Gardens, and others p^ 

 sent expressed satisfaction with the state 

 It was decided to hold no show this season. 



