

June 22, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE 



413 



R.H.S. Summer Show. — The Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society is to be congratulated on having 

 again obtained permission from Mary Countess 

 of Ilchester to hold its summer exhibition in 

 Holland Park, Kensington. The dates are fixed 

 for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, July 2, 

 3 and 4. Holland House lies due west of Hyde 

 Park and Kensington Gardens, and is within five 

 minutes walk of four railway stations. Visitors 

 from the City and West End will find the Holland 

 Park (Tube) Station, on the Central London Rail- 

 way, very convenient. Those travelling from 

 Kew, Ealing and the western suburbs will find 

 the electrified District Railway a good route, or 

 they may travel by tram to Hammersmith Broad- 

 way, and thence by omnibus to the entrance 



gates. 



station on the Metropolitan and District Rail 



«r&vfl and Addison Road is the nearest railway 



A Dutch View of the -International." now classed as gardeners have not passed the 

 ■We have received a letter from one of the examination of the Royal Horticultural Society, 



Dutch visitors to the Roval International 

 Show, setting forth the general views enter- 

 tained in respect to the display by the numerous 

 visitors from Holland. He states that they con- 

 sidered the Show very magnificent ; that they had 

 never seen anything like it before, nor expected 

 to again. The stove plants, the flowering plants, 

 the Ferns and Orchids were much admired. The 

 Roses caused considerable surprise, especially the 

 ramblers. The Carnations, the Sweet Peas, the 



Kensington High Street is the nearest 



Will- 



den and Richmond. 



A New Horticultural Society.— The first 

 exhibition of the newly-formed West Surrey 

 Horticultural Society will be held on July 10 

 next, at the Camberley Recreation Ground. 

 The President offers an all-comers' cup for the 

 best group of plants and flowers. 



Saltaire and District Rose Society. 



Owing to the National Rose and the National 

 Sweet Pea Societies having fixed their respective 

 shows for July 9, which was the date originally 



displays of Schizanthus, Calceolarias, C 

 and other flowering plants were all of very high 

 quality. The visitors were likewise impressed by 

 the excellence of the fruit and vegetables, includ- 

 ing the fruit trees in pots. Our correspondent 

 says it is not possible to enumerate all the ex- 

 pressions of delight that he heard, but it ought 

 to be stated that the rockeries came in for much 

 admiration. The sun itself, however, is not 

 without specks, and some of the visitors from 

 Holland mingled a little criticism with their large 

 meed of praise. It must be borne in mind that 

 in Holland visitors are never permitted to 

 walk on the grass, and the way the exhibits at 

 Chelsea were put on the grass seemed incompre- 

 hensible to them. They thought the effect 

 would have been better if nicely-kept paths had 

 been provided. At the same time they admitted 

 that visitors could inspect the groups from every 

 side, and this is a privilege not always to be 

 obtained at large exhibitions. Others thought 



as they entered the service and were placed in 

 that rank before the examination was instituted. 

 Under present regulations, their wages would 

 remain stationary. After considering the rela- 

 tive position of these men in the light of the 

 present proposals, which provide for the limita- 

 tion of the number of gardeners to 150, the 

 Committee think that, instead of designating 

 them as under-gardeners, as their wages will 

 practically correspond with those paid to men 

 of that rank, the uncertificated gardeners and 

 gardeners with a third-class certificate should be 

 constituted a class of gardeners by themselves, 

 provided that no vacancies therein be filled, and 

 that the class be permitted to disappear by 

 lapse of time. It is proposed that these men 

 should receive the special allowance of Is. a 

 week after 10 years. Gardeners who now re- 

 ceive 30s. a week will also be granted the 

 special allowance after 10 years' service. In all 

 cases in which a special service allowance is 

 granted, the period of service up to date will 

 be taken into account. The scale of salaries of 

 superintendents of parks has also been revised. 



Alfred 



Wa 



The issue of 



Nature for June 13 is of more than ordinary 

 interest in that it contains a portrait and appre- 

 ciation of Alfred Russel Wallace. As all the 

 world knows, Wallace, who is in his 90th year, 

 is the sole survivor of the distinguished band of 



decided upon for the exhibition of the Saltaire it a pity that efforts had not been made to dis- naturalists whose work shed such lustre on the 

 and District Rose Society, the Saltaire show has tribute the exhibits in such a manner as to pro- 19th ceil tury. That band included Lyell, 



Darwin, Wallace, Galton, Hooker and 



been postponed until Wednesday, July 17. 

 Horticulture at the Essex Agricul- 



tribute the exhibits in such a manner as to pro- 

 vide pieces of well-characterised scenery and 

 suitable backgrounds to the groups. In short, 

 some contended that the decorative side of the 



tural Show. — At the Essex Agricultural Show, snQW na( j b een 60 mewhat neglected. 



held recently at Chelmsford, there was a tent 



Awards atthe International Exhibition. 



Huxley, and it is a remarkable fact that not 

 only was each of these men distinguished in an 

 extraordinary degree by scientific attainments, 

 but also by exceptional literary ability. The 



s^ees: sari it d B p Tciz ■srrssj * *», ■»*-■* res^ te^s s/sss 



mittee, a most interesting series of specimens these columns. 



is from the pen of Professor Osbokk, and should 

 be read by all who admire the splendid contribu- 



Wallace has made to the science of 



shown illustrating diseases in Wheats, holyrooo Palace Gardens.— The King has 



was 



Potatos, &c, and Mr. Wakely, the county 



instructor in horticulture, was responsible for 



a series of excellent examples illustrating 



the effect of cross-pollination in fruit trees. A 



table of varieties was given for the guidance of 



planters. 



Neill Memorial Prize.— We announced in 

 our last issue the awarding of the Neiix 

 Memorial Prize to Mr. J. W. ] 

 prize was presented to Mr. M'Hattie on the 

 13th inst. in the Royal British Hotel, Edinburgh. 

 There was a large attendance, consisting mainly 

 of members of the executives of the Royal 

 Caledonian Horticultural Society and the Scottish 

 Horticultural Association. Mr. David W. 

 Thomson, vice-president of the Royal Caledonian 

 Horticultural Society, presided. The presenta- 

 tion consisted of a silver coffee pot and salver 

 and a cheque, and was handed Over by the 

 chairman, who recapitulated the circumstances 

 which led to the foundation of the Neill Prize. 

 The first award was made in 1864 to the late Pro- 

 fessor Balfour, and, in all, up to the present 

 occasion, the prize had been awarded to seven 

 botanists, one amateur, 15 gardeners, and one 

 superintendent of parks, the latter being the 

 late Mr. M'Leod, Mr. M'Hattie' s predecessor. 



Arnold Arboretum.— An illustrated guide 

 to the Arnold Arboreteum, Jamaica Plain, Mas- 

 sachusetts, U.S.A., containing a map showing 

 the position of the different groups of plants, has 

 recently been published. Copies may be obtained 

 at the Administration Building in the Arbore- 



Hot-water Circulation by Pumping. 



The Bank of England is about to be fitted with a 



commanded that the gardens of Holyrood Palace, The Bank of England is about to be htted with a 



ST should again be open to the public system of heating by hot water, which will be 



jMuiiuuit, , o f he j est and most complete private m- 



from Monday last, the 17th mst., totneaw 



September. They will be open every Monday 

 from 2 till 5 o'clock 



stallations in this country. The heating will be 

 effected by means of hot-water pipes and radia- 

 tors, and, as the building covers an area of 2£ 



L.C.C Gardeners. —For some time past acres , the circulation will be accelerated by elec- 

 the' Parks Committee of the London County 



unde 



The ditions of service of the out-door staff of the 



Parks Department, and they have now prepared 

 a comprehensive scheme of reorganisation, de- 

 signed to secure one day's rest in seven, reduc- 

 tion of overtime and of work on Sundays and 

 other leave-days, more equal distribution of 

 necessary overtime, relief of certain officers in 

 charge of single-man places from excessively 

 long hours of duty, improved basis of classifica- 

 tion of places and staff, improved scales of pay 

 especially for the lower ranks, and recognition of 

 Ion- service, good conduct and maintenance 

 of discipline. As regards the gardening ranks, 

 the present rate of pay of under-gardeners is 

 27s. a week, but those who have passed the 



tncally-driven pumps, so tnat tne radiators at 

 the extreme points of the system will be practi- 

 cally as hot as those close to the boilers. Alto- 

 gether there will be about 600 of these radiators, 

 and they will be supplied from six boilers, some 

 of which can be cut off when the weather con- 

 ditions do not require the whole power. The 

 work will be carried out by Messrs. Mackenzie 

 & Moncub, Ltd., Edinburgh and London. 



The Starling : Friend or Foe ?— In the 



course of his investigations of the food of birds, 

 Mr. J. Hammond reaches the conclusion 

 {Journ. Agric. Sci. IV., 4, June, 1912) that the 

 starling is very beneficial during the late spring,. 



autumn 



many harmful insects. 



noted 



27s. a wee', , the Royal Horticultural ever, that it also devours a number of beneficial 



examination held by the J^ ^ ^ ^ other hand ^ starUng changes 



Society are paid 28s. a week, ™_^P J^_ frora ^.^ ^ £oe during the autumn and early 



spring, since it does much harm in this period by 

 consuming seed corn and particularly wheat ; but 



of promotion to the rank of gardener when 

 vacancies arise. The rate of pay of under- 

 hardeners when entering the service is to remain 

 at 27s. a week, but after five years they will 

 receive a special service allowance of Is. a week, 

 with another Is. after 10 years. Gardeners 



even at this period the work which the bird does 

 is not all evil, for it preys also on harmful in- 

 sects as well as on sown corn. Mr. Hammond 



"^ a le28s a week but he wages of those suggests that, if seed corn cannot be rendered 

 now receive <2os. a weeK, duu "*, . . Aimkmm A m § t a to the birds, the autumn migrants who 



now ic^'" ~ — - * . n 



who possess first or second-class certificates rise 



automatically to 30s. a week. It appears, how- 



turn, and from the secretary of the Massachusetts automd . ^ „ e num ber (90) of men who are 

 .TT/w^-^n,,™! o^u* kl^am Prirtt. 30 cents. ever, tiidL b 



distasteful to the birds, the autumn migrants who 

 are the corn stealers should be killed off in larg* 

 numbers. 



Horticultural Society, Boston. Price, 30 cenU. 



