2]'2 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



March 16, 1912. 



undergoing a c-hange that can hardly fail to 

 have an effect of far-reaching importance 

 upon the dahlia as a factor in garden 

 decoration. 



r. William Hall, Chief Officer of 



the Parks Department under the Borough 

 of Sunderland, is not only an excellent 

 manager, but also a creator of parks and 

 gardens, as since his appointment in 1890 

 he has laid out two new parks for the 

 borough, and laid down six bowling gr 

 and seven tennis courts. Mr. Hall was 

 born at AVark-on-Tyne, and served his ap- 

 prenticeship under his father, who is still 

 head gardener at Par ken d — a position he 

 has held since 1856, probably a reoord. 

 From home Mr. W. Hall prcx^eeded to the 

 well-known gardens at Eden Hall, Cuml>er- 

 land, and from thence to Holkam Hall, 

 where, as also at Wentvvorth AVoodhouse, 

 lie gaine<l considerable experience as a 

 plantsman and as a cultivator of hardy and 

 tender fruits. His first apix)intment as 

 head gardener was at Deight<m (irovo, n(^ar 

 York, and his second at Kirkley Hall, 



he achieved con- 

 Here 



Northumberland, where 

 fiiderable success with phaheno])sis 

 he stayed i\ntil his a]>|K>intment to the 

 charge of Sunderland's parks and ()i>en 

 spaces. Mr. Hall is a busy iiuiu. and ;i<l- 

 mirably managt^ his extensiv*^ < harue. He 

 takes great delight it» the study of plant 

 physiology , landscape work . .■uu 1 ga rden 

 design, and between whiles plays ijowls, at 

 which game he is a champioii. 



New Class for R.H.S. Daffodil 



Show.— Tit connection with the Daffodil 

 Show to be held at the Royal Horticulutral stance, and some of them exquisitely 

 Hall, Westminster, on Aprd l(i and 17, Mr. frineed. A few varieties of ^rreat excel- 



Chester Jav Hunt, of Montclair, New Jer- 

 sey, has offered £1 10s., £1, and 10s., as 

 first, second, and third prizes, in a per- 

 fectly o|>en class for six varieties, distinct, 

 of Leedsi daffodils, three stems of each, 

 the \'.n ifti^^s shown to cost not more than 

 two gimicas per hundred. 



specimen, oft. high and 24ft. in circum- 

 ference. It is on the northern side of a 

 cottage, and has no protection whatever, 

 vet it does well, and has had as nianv as 

 729 perfect heads of bloom in one season. 

 If some of the pot plants now so popular 

 were retained and planted out, in the south- 

 ern counties, and given ample room to 

 develop, they would soon become noble 

 examples." 



Cucumber and Tomato 



Canker.- — -The disease of cucumbers and 

 tomatoes caused by Mycospserella citnUlina, 

 and commonly known as cucumber and 

 tomato canker, has been included by the 

 Board of Agriculture among the diseases 

 vrhich, in pursuance of the Destructive In- 

 sects and Pests Oi-der of 1910, must be re- 

 j>orted to the Board by the occupier of 

 any premises on which they appear. 

 Growers who are in doubt as to whether 

 or not the disease is present on their pre- 

 mises should submit specimens of affected 

 plants to the Board for determination. I'p 

 to the present the disease has been chiefly 

 confined to tomatoes groAvn under glass. 

 Occupiers of gardens in which the disease 

 appeared last year are strongly advised 

 not to plant tomatoes in the same soil, un- 

 less it has been adequately sterilised, and 

 to spray all their plants during the early 

 part of the season with Bordeaux mixture 

 or a solution of livei* of sulphur (one pound 

 to 32 gallons of water). 



Chinese Primula Flowers of 



iifreat beautv have been sent us bv Afessrs. 

 E. Webb and Sons, Wordslev. Stourbridge; 

 the blooms were of excellent size and sub- 



lence are Rose Queen, the pTU'plish-crimson 

 Eclipse, the wliite Avalanche, Ruby Queen, 

 of vivid hue ; Blue Bell, with very bright 

 blossoms; and Meteor, a delightful salmon- 

 rose flower of great effectiveness. 



Lectures 

 Weeds- — 



on 



and 



ervation of Coliey Hill. - 



With reference to the efforts that are being 

 made by the Nat iona I Trust to pre.'<e]'\ e 



M r. S, H . Hamer , 



Coliey Hill, Heigate. 



the secretarv of that body, informs us that 

 the executors of Mr, (Jeorge Taylor, the 

 owners of the land, have agreed to an ex- 

 tension of the option of purchase for a 

 short time. About t'3,(KK) is still required, 

 and of this an anonymous dontu' has pro- 

 mised £1,000 if the remainder of the 

 amount is subscribed by April 13. A shil- 

 ling fund has recently been starte<:l. and 

 has met with much success^ 11,000 shillings 

 having been collectetl in three months. 

 Mr. Hamer points out that to the anti- 

 quary, the botanist, the ornithologist, and 

 the entomologist, Coliey Hill is of peculiar 

 interest; but if this opportunity is allowe 1 

 to go by, and the hill is built over, not 

 only will a stretch of the Surrey Hills lose 

 its wildnes^s and beauty, and an old historic 

 trackway (the Pilgrim s Way) be despoiled, 

 but the whole neighlx)urhood-^and, indee<l, 

 London — will suffer by the loss of one of 

 its chief attractions. For the information 

 of those who may be interested in the 

 matter we would add that the offices of 

 the National Trust are at 2o, Victoria 

 Street, S.AV. 



A Fine Specimen Hydrangea. 



—From ''Amid the Surrey Pines/' Mr. 

 W. H. Franks writes: ''A"^good deal has 

 been written about hydrangeas in the re- 

 recent issues of the Gardexers' Magazine, 

 but not too much, because they are beau- 

 tiful shrubs, and deserving of more atten- 

 tion than they at present receive. Xear 

 here (Witley) there 



5ds/'— On Tuesday, March 19, Mr. 

 H. B. May, V.M.H., who has made life- 

 long study of ferns, and has raised and in- 

 troduced numbers of fine varieties, will lec- 

 ture on " Ferns " at the meeting of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, at 3 p.m. On 

 the same day, following the monthly dinner 

 of the Horticultural CJub, Mr. Harold 

 Long will deliver a lecture on Weeds 

 dinner is at six o'clock, at the headquarters 

 of the club. Hotel AVindsor, Victoria Street, 



Westminster. 



An Important Horticultural 

 Exhibition.— 



Guarantee^] 



Robinson Bros 

 turers. 



Gardenalities/* 

 Lim., are the 



Messrs. 

 niannfac. 



The Royal Gardeners' Orphan 

 Fund Committee is indebted to a 



gentleman, who was unable to be present 

 at the recent annual meeting, for a c-on- 

 tribution which will ensure the payment of 

 OS. per week for one year to one of tie 

 unsuccessful candidates on that occasion-^ 

 an act of thoughtful generosity for which 

 the child's mother is deeply grateful. 



Strelitzia regina. From Mr. W 



Read, gardener to Majox-General Stanmore! 

 Barton Fields, Canterbury, we hare re^ 

 ceived a photograph of a remarkably fine 

 specimen of Strelitzia regina that is under 

 his charge. The development of the haml- 

 some leaves is quite exceptional, and the 

 flower spikes, of which there are four, ri^ 

 well above them. We regret that the 

 photograpli is not suitable for reproduction. 

 Mr. Reed states that he is growing the 

 specimen in a warm greenhouse, in which 

 a temperature rajjging from 50 to oo de- 

 grees is maintained, and has given it liquid 

 manure two or three times weekly. 



Twenty Thousand Lilacs for 

 the international Exhibition.- 



It is said that the nurserymen of the Aals- 

 meer district of Holland will be well repre- 

 sented at the forthcoming International 

 Horticultural Exhibition, and that part of 

 their exhibit will consist of 20,000 lilacs, 

 which the Aalsmeer gi'owers are adepts at 

 raising and forcing. 



Carnation Conference.— Under 



the 



of 



the Peri>etual-flowerinLi 



conference will l>e 



a 



V 



From the schedule now know but it 



before us we learn that Messrs. Robinson 

 Bros., Lim., of We.st Bromwich, will hold 

 a horticultural exhibition of an important 

 character in the Botanical Gardens, Edg- 

 baston, Birmingham, on August 28 and 29. 

 The scheclide is comprehensive, and the 

 prizes liberal, and in the seventy-five classes 

 ample provision is made for the display 

 of the various classes of }>order plants, cut 

 flowers, fruits, and vegetables avaiUible for 

 exhibition at the end of August. The more 

 important of the classes are those for a 

 collection of border flowers, representing, 

 as nearly as possible, a boi-der of growing 

 plants on a ground space of 20 feet by 8 

 feet (prizes, £10^ £8, £0, and £'4) ; roses, 

 H.P.s, 48 blooms (£6, £4, £3); table of 

 choice fruit (prizes, £10, £6, £4) ; grapes, 

 8 bunches (£10, £6, £4),; and collection 

 of vegetables, 12 distinct kinds (prizes, £20, 

 £15, £10, £5). The cash prizes amount, 

 in the aggregate, to £3;50, and in addition 

 gold and silver medals will be awarded to 

 honorary exhibits of merit. The competi- 

 tion will be limited to the users of tlie 

 1^ a wonderfully fine Carmona Fertilisers, of which, with other 



auspices 

 C a r nation So ciety , 

 held at the Royal Horticultural Hall, or. 

 Thursday, March 21, in conjunction with 

 the societv's exhibition. The conference 



• 



avill begin at 3.30 p.m., and Mr. J. S. Briin- 

 ton will preside. Mr. F. Finch, Balls Park 

 Gardens, Hertford, will lecture on '*Culti- 

 ation of Perpetual-flowering Carnations fnr 

 Amateurs"; and Mr. E. F. Hawes, the 

 secretary of the society, will lecture oii 

 Carnations as Bedding Plants." The ron- 

 ference will be open to all \^'ho visit the 

 exhibition. 



Official Catalogue of Sweet 



ames.— The National Sweot Pea 

 Societv has iust published its new Official 

 Catalogue of Sweet Pea Names. This li>t 

 has been brought quite up to date, and 

 it serves to show the enormous number of 

 names recorded for sweet peas. How nianj 

 of these names are synonyiiLs we do not 



ould be very greatly 

 to the interest of the sweet pea trade 

 and popularity if the seedsmen and raisei^ 

 would combine to find out, or place the 

 matter unreservedly in the hands of tho 

 N.S.P.S. to settle. The new cataloguj 

 consists of thirty-one pages, is iiiterleaveii 

 for notes ; a copy is being presented 

 to everyone who newly joins the society 

 this year; and other folks may have it 

 post free, from the hon. secretary. f*>r 

 small sum of 7d. 



The other 



w^ 



evening 



The Flora of Ireland.—^— , 



Dr. T. Johnson, F.L.S., lecture^ 

 in the temporary lectui-e theatre ot t 

 Dublin Museum, on the native plants 

 Irehmd. By means of lantern slides arj^ 

 specimens, he descril>e<l the chief ^^^^"^^ 

 of the flora, and the effect of the Ice ^l 

 on the flora of past ages. The Alpm^- 

 lantic, Americ^in, and other types 

 plants were dealt with, and sources ot p 



sent-day additions to the flora n^^^^^SiB- 

 The flowering plants of Irelaml, Dr. J^^^ 

 son stated, are much the same as ^^^^^ 

 (Meat Britain, but smaller in ^^^^^ ^ 

 about 1.000 out of 1,500. While one-^t 



