232 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
[Fepruary 23, 1895, 
of the a ae e and many of which have become 
specialise take up a single branch of agri- 
culture a Pac husbandry, fruit-c — or the 
like. The most noteworthy fact brought out in the 
announcement was, that although this iastitute was 
truction 
alled the practical 
orticulture or 
1 one afternoon was to be occupied 
of manual 8 and this time, perat 
lar to 
principles 3 er 
The course was e 8 exclusive ely to the 
fundamental prin ultural science, 
Thus, the subject 1 ae * balay’ s session was, 
“ How ts Live and Grow b 
th the —— yo Professor 
Another half-day’s topic was a brief on the 
the theory of tillage and the productivity of land; 
another to the subject of fungi, with stereopticon 
. Thie t tendency ha rd strict science is some- 
thing like an innovation on the ordinary Farmers 
peer lee work, but, plainly, it was the proper course 
to pursue, and it promised to furnish the students 
57 
bserva- 
tion, At one session the subject to be studied was 
twigs, at another fruit-buds, and again, seeds, 
leaves, flowers, fruits, a last of all, the Apple. 
This peared to us to be a feature full of 
pleasing promise, and we dan, therefore, made Aare 
sicians, a clergyman, and others who had adopted 
the pursuit of pag rant either as a business or a 
diversion. terest increased as the sessions 
went on, and re all the students took notes upon 
the lectures, and passed satis ry examinations on 
them afterwards, Perhaps this is the first school or 
institute of the kind which was ever held in this 
country, and it seems to have been unqualifiedly 
successful, The observation-lessons were remark- 
* 
7 ki every. 
equally stri 
there was n 
the ate of some e 
to the 
parts of the flowers gers evident, “ter wonder of 
many members of the class 
information to then as very mani 
Of course. „it is not to expected that ce! 
culturists will be graduated fro 
school like this after four days of instruction, 15 
whenever a man learns new fundamental scientific 
truth, he iiias to this extent more intelligent in 
was novel 
the practice which rests upon this truth. Certainly 
a man will caltivate his land more efficiently after 
he has listened to the explanation of Professor 
Roberts, who showed in what way tillage promoted 
capillarity of the soil, and how it brought fertility to 
the plant, set free mineral nutriente, hastene 
nitrification, presented new sur 
conserved moisture, and did 
With some — of these fundamental princi- 
ples, any horticulturist would be better able to Senay 
when to cultivate and how to cultivate, It is 
jez assumed that Professor Caldwell in his Ne 
or —4 in * T afternoon Professor Rowlee mad 
plain earers all the intricate processes in 
the nutrition of plants. Nevertheless, on these and 
other ects alert, level-headed men and women 
familiar with all the phenomena of plant-growth, 
will very r me fundamental 
rially in their every- 
ideas throw new light on the reasons for their 
practice, but it will lead them to enquire for more 
knowledge as they attempt to adjast their practice 
to their new-found knowledge ; and, more than that, 
the substantial and indisputable truths here acquired 
will probably avail to 
pr 
© 
— 
ee. which to the 15 uninstructed might 
eem promising 
We are glad that the mal 1 seers 
of this sort has been h uch f pree 
auspices 
of popular instruction, 11 ‘ads 
knowledge is not a pl a tor thing when it is rudi- 
mentary and fundam 3 ee a danger- 
ous kind referred to “A sagt superficial 
smattering.“ . was 5. 
NURSERY NOTES, 
MR, JAMES MASON, ASHTON-ON-MERSEY, 
Tue surroundings known as Oak Villa have been 
transformed into nursery quarters, for ior purpose of 
feeding the progressive business in e t-flowers and 
plant decorations carried on by Mr. 
toria Street, Manchester, 
along to the forefront at the Manchester Royal 
Botanic Exhibitions, with assortments of ae 
which, for style 
grown for marketable urposes. — 
stile great size, and even th 
uses xte 
re biquitous Hodgins, —— 
as the ubiq Shepherdi, — laurifolia 
Hollies. 
more 
fancy beauty. The main 
feature is that light is not obscu red, and heat is pro- 
vided for by ample piping rene, to suitable boiler 
power, There is little “ cut to was i 
of promenading room 
d 
t, 
was just getting an 
but there were be of the | 
ate - flow. 
Madame Marchand which Mr. Smith, the r, 
finds to be one of the most useful for late season 
flowering, = veryw else, w ke 
nce, then yellow, then some of the bro 
2 as Mons. C. Morel, and such re "Val 
Andorre, The best h re in quantity 
were e Marchand and M dam 
The best yellows for x 
market are Sunflower and St. 
L 
Michael’s, and it was said that if you have plenty 
ack-end you want no others, Of 
r best. apye mir: 
although aa, vi look upon a stand, are 
ff and formal in cities to please 
piama alls 
There are large quantities of the white Lilies, L. 
candidum and Harrisii, forced, taking the pl, 
of the Chr eee when 
with heat at comman 
does not need to conduct his oe on the profit 
system so closely as the nursery 
There seems to be an endless Pie for“ Arum 
Lilies,” the quantities here are astonishing, and 
the flowers are continuously in demand for making 
wreaths, crosses, and such 
n 
manure, Eucharis, too, are largely grown, and so 
are Gardeni By he best one for return 
here is G. florida, and it is grown in great 
and kept clean by doses of 
e “mealy” aphides, which soon 
stroy the flowers and injure 
growth. What quantities of Lily of the Valley are 
forced, and still a use is found for them! They are 
uses here, where they come 
away nicely from Christmas o . Hyacinths, 
oman and la Tour d’Auvergne, look lovely in 
heir 2 2 and dispense their fragance within 
these confined areas, and one relish these 
useful . of spring before spring has arrived, 
and at a , too, when outdoor’s vegetation is 
covered ae a mantle of whiteness. The scarlet 
flowers of the Dac Van Thol Tulip contrast grandly 
with these, nestling o of the bu me ; and 
d 3 etti 2 telling 
checks the gee of the milky juice; hence the longer 
life of the e 
valuable for 3 and sometimes, if the deman 
at the festive season is good, they pa ne well, Other 
ames Sela age are not much in dem Camel- 
lias o be moving a little, but her have a lot 
of lost. 3 to make up. Bouquetists that have 
a large business can manage to intersperse a few of 
the reds and pinks in ee — White is always 
to the fore, although it a discount wish the 
ladies for personal decoration: There are amani ge 
in pots. 
Good whites, ifin Romer mee — 
sale; at le s found a the Lan f 
and Cheshir. prea Reds of the stamp, too, 0 
its curious twisted peduncle and its red and 
wise flowers, takes we t is grown in goodly 
numbers here, and seems to be run upon for 
glasses and other modes of atylish 1 
istata in its various forms is 
here e ; indeed, it would be PE to 
a better lot, a in easur tide over 
what might a called pushing-forward 400 k 
back difficulties, As there are several hundred large 
