90 



THE GARDENERS^ MAGAZINE- 



January 13, 1912. 



(I 



The crchids are, of course, the predominant 

 feature at Gatton Park, and it is therefore 

 of interest to reeall the fact that the fame 

 they have s^o long enjoyed ha.s been fully 

 maintained since they have been under Mr. 

 Collier\s charge. During this period two 

 ^old medals have been awarded by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society for collections 

 of dendrobiums from Gatton Park. Last 

 year the society's gold medal was awarded 

 at the Temple Show for a general collec- 

 tion, and in 1910 the Sherwood Cup wsls 

 won at the Temple Show, and a gold medal 

 at Holland Park by collections which were 

 ;teatiy admired by visitors, and in our re- 

 ports w ere referred to in highly apprecia- 

 tive terms. Before assuming charge of the 

 Gatton Park gardens Mr. Collier v/as head 

 gardener at Camden Court, Cnventryj and 

 at Manningham Thorpe, Bradford, and in 

 both establishments orchifls were strong 



featurtv^. 



Another £1,000 for Sweet Peas. 



— Those who are interested in the cult 

 of the sweet pea, whether owners of ducal 

 or cottage gardens, will this year have suf- 

 ficient encouragement to sustain their in- 

 terest in their favourite flower. We have 

 received information from various parts of 

 the country to the effect that sweet peas 

 will bo more liberally encouraged by the 

 various societies than has yet been the case, 

 and now comes the announcement that 

 Mr. Henry Eckford, of Wem, whose great 

 work in connection with sweet peas is 

 known to ail, offers £1,000 in cash prizes 

 to be competed for in the month of July. 

 Mr. Eckt'ord has very wisely so arranged 

 this large amount that, while the prizes 

 will be more than sufficient to secvn^e an 



enormous competition^ the various sections 

 of cultivators will compete on equal terms. 

 There are three classes, in each of which 

 the first prize is £200, with fifty prizes of 

 £1 each for the next best fifty bunches. 

 In each of the other two classes the first 

 prize is £100, and there are twenty-five 

 j^rizes of £1 each for the next best twenty- 

 five bunches. The first three classes are 

 as follows: A, open to a lady or gentleman 

 employing regularly one or more gar- 

 deners ; B, open to professional gardeners ; 

 C, open to amateurs, i.e., a lady or gen- 

 tleman not employing a gardener or only 

 occasional help in the garden. In each of 

 these classes the stipulation is ^'For the 

 best bunch of sweet peas containing twelve 

 stems of blooms, each stem a distinct 

 variet}'." Class D is open to cottagers or 

 single-handed jobbing gardeners, and all 

 others whose rent does not exceed £16 per 

 annum^ and Class E is open to a girl or 

 boy under 16 years of age^ irrespective of 

 status, who must grow the flowers witli- 

 out assistance. The show will be held at 

 Weill, unless further notice is given, and 

 the judging will take place on Thursday, 

 July 18, and each competitor must send 

 the bunch by parcels post to reach Wem 

 on We<lnesday, July 17. The conditions 

 governing the r*ompetition are fuMy sot 

 forth in Mr. Eckford's catalogue, %vhich 

 has just been published. 



Natural Science at Oxford. 



It is interesting to observe that the natural 

 sciences w^ill receive a full share of atten- 

 tion at Oxford during the term Avhich com- 

 mences on the 22nd inst. 



will le: tnre on 



l^cofes-or 



Tion 



Mr. Vaughan 

 Palaeontology and evolu- 



V'nes, F.R.S., will give 



coiuses on !K)t;i!iy for students of forestry 

 and aj^rieultnre respectively, and a pre- 

 liminary course for elementary students. 

 Practical instruction at the liotanic Gar- 

 den will be given by Dr. Chnrch and Mr. 

 H l.-y. l*ri)frs<or Sf)nH-r\ ill.', F.R.S., w:ll 

 Irctiii on tiie pr iiu-iplos of an;i i,'-nltin'e and 

 on forest botany. Mi. Curtler on the his- 



tory and economics of agriculture^ and Mr. 

 Morison on agricultural chemistry. 



Royal International Horticul- 

 tural Exhibition. — We are asked to 



remind intending exhibitors that applica- 

 tions for space for non-competitive exhibits 

 must reach the secretary, T. Geoffrey W. 

 Henslow, Esq., 7, Victoria Street^ West- 

 minster^ S.W., on or before January 15. 

 Also that entries for the competitive classes 

 must reach Mr. Henslow not later than 

 February 1. A conference of horticul- 

 turists will be held, by the permission of 

 the Mayor, in the Council Chamber, Town 

 Hall^ Preston, at 6 o"clock p.m. on Thurs- 

 day, the 18th inst. His Worship the 

 Mayor will preside, and E. White, Esq., and 

 other gentlemen will address the meeting 

 on the Roval International Horticultural 

 Exhibition. 



Weather in December, 1911 — 



With regard to the climatic conditions that 

 obtained during the month, December 

 proved in every way worthy of a record 

 year. It was one of the mildest and wet- 

 test Decembers that has been experienced 

 within the past quarter of a century, and 

 the duration of sunshine recorded, if not 

 quite equal to that of 1893 and" 1909, was 

 more than double the average for the pa'st 

 quarter of a century. In London the 

 highest temperature was 55 degrees, the 

 mean of the maximum readings 50.5 de- 

 grees, and the mean of the night minimum 

 readings 40.8 degrees. There was no day 

 on which the maximum temperature was 

 less than 40 degrees ; the lowest tempera- 

 ture was 30 degrees, and two frosts were 

 recorded in the screen. The duration of 



sunshine at Westminster amounted to 

 28.6 hours or more than double the aver- 

 age. In the corresponding month for 1893 

 this amount was exceeded by 1.2 hours, and 

 in 1909 by .80 hours. The^rainfall for tRe 

 month was at Westminster 3.9in.j nearly 

 twice the average, and .75in. greater than 

 in any year since 1870. In the Royal 

 Botanic Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, 

 there were in December 21 rainy days, 

 and 4.18in. of rain were registered. 



Education in Horticulture.—^ 



The papers read by Mr. F. G. Drew and Mr. 

 W. B. Little before the North of England 

 Horticultural Society on ''The Ideal Edu- 

 cation of a Gardener" and ''A National 

 Diploma in Horticulture^" respectively, 

 have been published in pamphlet form 

 (price 6d.) by the Horticultural Education 

 Association, and may be obtained from the 

 hon. secretary, The Grey HousOj Lyminge, 

 Folkestone. 



The Importation of Bananas 



of. West Indian growth into the United 

 Kingdom has assumed such large propor- 

 tions that the North Western Railwav 

 Company ,has found it necessary to make 

 special provisions at their Stalbridge Dock 

 at Gorston for dealing witli the cargoes of 

 these fruits that are landtxl by the weekly 

 service of steamers. The company has 

 built and fitted up a banana, warehouse, 

 400ft. long by 90ft. wide, and to facilitate 

 the handling of the bananas some ingeni- 

 ously constiucted elevators have been pro- 

 vided for the landing of the fruit. By 

 means of endless chains fitted with canvas 

 pockets and worked by machinery, the 

 bunches are canveyed from the hold of the 

 vessel to the deck, thence to the quay and 

 along the quay to the doors of the railway 

 vans. For the conveyance of the bananr.s 

 from the dock to various parts of Eng- 

 hmd, the rail-way company has had built 

 500 insulated vans fitted with stoam-lu'.*it- 

 ing appliances and vacuum brake pipes. 

 What has been aone by the London and 

 North Western Railway is of interest as 

 evidence that tlie railway companies are 



beginning to appreciate the importance of 

 the fruit trade. With this evidence be- 

 fore us there is some justification for die 

 hope that in the near future provisions wi!l 

 be made for the carriage on the railways of 

 this country of home-grown fruit and vege- 

 tables in such manner as to ensure their 

 reaching the consumer in the best possible 

 condition. 



Memorial to Stephen Hales.— 



Within the past few days a tablet^ erected 

 in the old parish church of St. Mary's 

 Church, Teddington^ has been dedicated to 

 the memory of the Rev. Stephen Hales, a 

 former vicar of the parish, who lived in 

 the 18th century, and specially distin- 

 guished himself by his investigations in 

 animal and plant physiology. For some 

 years past a number of scientists, who ap- 

 preciate the importance of Hales' inves- 

 tigations, have been endeaA^our!ng to dis- 

 cover his burial place in order to preserve 

 his memory, but not until a short time since 

 were they successful. The stone record- 

 ing his death was found in the floor of the 

 porch of the church, with nearly the whole 

 of the lettering obliterated. The tablet 

 has been placed on the wall of the west 

 porch beneath the tower of the old ehurcli, 

 and bears the following inscription '^Be- 

 neath is the grave of Stoplien Ha^.es. The 

 epitaph, now partly obliterated^ but re- 

 covered from a record of 1795, is here in- 

 scribed by the piety of certain botanists, 

 A.D. 1911. ' Here is interred the body of 

 Stephen Hales, D.D., Clerk of the Closet 

 to the Princess of Wales, who was minister 



He died 14th 



his 



of this parish 51 years. 

 January, 1761, in the 81th year of 

 age.' " Stephen Hales has been called the 

 father of physiology/* and he well de- 

 serves this title in regard to both animaU 

 and p^.ants. Mr. Francis Darwin describes 

 his experiments in the blood pressure of 

 animals as second only to Harvey's work 

 on the circulation, and expresses his 

 opinion that in the domain of plant physi- 

 ology, he is equally great. That his in' 

 vestigations in connection with plant lif^ 

 were of far-reaching importance there can 

 be no question, and there is full justifica- 

 tion for considering him the founder of a 

 knowledge of phmt physiology and of a 

 rational science of biology. 



Floral 



Commit- 



the 



The N.S.P.S. 



tee. — The Floral Committee of 

 National Sweet Pea Society for 1912 is as 

 follows: Mr. Robt. Bolton, Warton Carn- 

 forth ; Commander Humphery, R.N., 

 Caversham ; Mr. George Herbert, Twy- 

 ford; Mr, Andrew Ireland, Marks Tey; 

 Mr. Thomas Jones, Ruabon ; Mr. A. Mal- 

 colm, Duns; Mr. A. G. Stark, Great R}'" 

 burgh; and Mr. W. J. Unwin, Histon. 

 Cambs. 



Sootfali of London.~The result> 



of the investigation which has been ni:i<l'' 

 by the '^Lancet" as to the amount, q^'*^' 

 lity, and effects of the soot falling in Lon- 

 don, have been published, and from these 

 it is calculated that the deposit falUn? 

 annually upon tlie Administrative Count}' 

 of Lomlon, inchiding the City, amouni^^- 

 on the ])asis supplied by the soot gaugo 

 the City station, to the enormous quantity 

 of 75,050 tons. The investigations wen' 

 made at four stations; two were situateil 

 in the S.W. district, near Westminster, 

 one in the City area, and one at Sutton- 

 Surrey. The collections were made eaoJ> 

 month through the year June-May, 191^^; 

 1911, and a soot gauge was installed 

 ench istation. which cairaht both soot 

 rain. Takinc: the Citv station as the b;K^ " 



of calculation as to tbo ainomit <if 

 falling a 11 nun 11 y upon t!i(^ Admin istial 

 ('ountv of Loiulon, iru'ludinu iho Citv. i''^ 



deposit amounted to 75,050 tons. In tli!> 



