266 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



Maech 30, 1912, 



time should have a supply of fresh loam. 

 Mr. Clark concluded with an admirable de- 

 scription of the foes of the carnation, and 

 how best to deal with them. An animated 

 discussion, taken part in by leading mem- 

 bers, followed, dealing chiefly with the cul- 

 tural difficulties growers of carnations have 

 to deal. Tliereafter a very warm vote of 

 thanks was passed to Mr. Clark for his in- 

 teresting and instructive paper. 



Mr. James Ogg, head gardener, Skene 

 House, Aberdeen, tlien read two short 

 papers, one on " Cottage Gardening," and 

 the other on "Garden Cities." He advocated 

 greater attention being given to the en- 

 couragement of cottage gardening, and the 

 awarding of prizes for the best gardens by 

 local horticultural societies, apart from the 

 awarding of prizes to particular flowers, 

 fruits, or vegetables. Mr. Ogg's eecond 

 paper gave a very succinct account of the 

 origin and development of garden cities and 

 of their value from an economic point of 

 view. 



In the discussion which followed, Council- 

 lor Esfion, a popular member of the City 

 Council, pointed out that Aberdeen might 

 do more than had been done to follow out 

 the garden city idea. Mr. C. R. France, re- 

 tired forester, complained of the "barbarous 

 ruination" wrought by the city authorities 

 in the pruning of the trees in several of the 

 avenues and drives within the city. Hearty 

 thanks to Mr. Ogg for his papers, and the 

 chairman for presiding, concluded a delight- 

 ful evening. 



Bournemouth Gardeners' 



Society. 



At the meeting held in the Avenue As- 

 sembly Eoom on March 19, Mr. J. J. Kettle, 

 Yiolet Nursery, Corfe Mullen, Dorset, gave 

 a very interesting and instructive lecture on 

 "Violets, Past and Present." There wat^ a 

 good attendance of members, and a keen in- 

 terest was taken in the lecture throughout. 



Mr. Kettle is an expert cultivator of vio- 

 lets, both in the open air and under glass. 

 His plants under glas8 are not grown ex- 

 tensively in frames, but in large houses ; 

 several acrci^ are devoted to these fragrant 

 flowers in the open. 



The lecturer referred to the cultivation 

 of violets in Anieriea, Central Asia, China, 

 Japan, and tlu^ S.mlli of France, and quoted 

 many references to the violet by authors 

 both ancient and modern, making one to 

 the fact that is recorded of a golden violet 

 gem being bestowed as a reward of merit 

 in Egypt two hundred and eighty years 

 before Christ, which seemed to prove that 

 this pretty, fragrant flower was grown and 

 appreciated in the distant past. 



Mr. Kettle said that violets did not like 

 sun-heat beyond a certain degree, that the 



flowers only lasted three days under glasc^ 

 as spring advanced before they closed up. 

 He had tried the plants in various kinds of 

 soil; in almost pure sand, in stiff clay, and 

 in a rooting medium chiefly made up of 

 material from old mud walls. The result 

 was that he could grow violets in almost any 

 tind of soil, but he found out that for 

 quality of bloom, a rather stiff soil, well 

 drained, was by far the best. In a sandy 

 soil there were plenty of flowers, but they 

 were small. All plants; grown in a rather 

 poor soil must be fed, and fresh organic 

 manure was the worst for them. Violets 

 grown on ground manured with rather fresh 

 strawy manure suffered most from attacks 

 of red spider. Tlie plants did well, he said, 

 after crops of potatoes, and potash was es- 

 sential to success. Mr. Kettle never en- 

 tirely closed his frames, but placed them 

 on bricks so that plenty of air passed under, 

 Tn the ease of the houses, front air was 

 freely admitted, and abundance of water 

 was given in winter and spring time. So 

 treated 'there was not any trouble from 

 dampingf. Runners, when layered, produced 

 too many runners in turn, and he preferred 

 the suckers which bore the finest flowers and 

 fewest runners. 



Tlie lof'tnrcr recommended the varieties La 

 Franco. PrinceHs of Wales. Wellsiana for 



flowering during a long period, De Parma, 

 and John Eaddenbury. Tliere was a good 

 discussion, and many questions were re- 

 plied to by Mr. Kettle. 



An exhibition of cinerarias, imantophyl- 

 lums, spiraeas, and cyclamen was made by 

 the following members : Messrs. Pearce, 

 Evans, Heath, and Pardy. 



Votes of thanks were heartily accorded 

 the lecturer, and Mr. Evans, who presided. 



roughty 



A 



rry Horticuitu 

 elation. 



ral 



The usual monthly meeting was held on 

 the 19th inst. The*^ President, Mr. James 

 Bethel, presided, and Mr. Alex. Duncan, St. 

 Andrews University Experimental Gardens, 

 Dundee, gave a lecture on " Ferns.'* After a 

 general survey of the family, and_referring 

 to the part played by it in the economy of 

 nature, the lecturer dealt with the life-his- 

 tory, explaining, by the aid of diagrams and 

 models, the interesting life-cycle of ferns. 

 After a short but complimentary discus-sion 

 the lecturer was cordially thanked. 



The exhibits consisted of cyclamen from 

 Mr. D. Eggo, Dunalistair Gardens; a vase of 

 Rose Niphetos, from Mr. John Bell, Tay- 

 park Gardens; va<e.s of iris, from Mr. D. K. 

 Melton, The Lodge Gardens ; Amaryllis, 

 from Mr. Brown, Cambustay Gardens; and 

 one seven-inch pot of Eicliardia aethopica, 

 carrying eight flower spathes, from Mr. 

 James Bethel, Tlie Grange Gardens. On 

 a vote being taken, it was found that the 

 cyclamen were the most meritorious, and 

 consequently Mr. Eggo was awarded the 

 priz-e for the evening. 



Bristol Gardeners' 

 Association. 



The usual fortnightly meeting was held 

 on March 14 at St. John's Parish Rooms, 

 when Mr. A. Perry presided over a large at- 

 tendance. Th.is was the occasion, of the an- 

 nual visit of the Bristol Amateur Horticul- 

 tural Society, and Mr. Board read an in- 

 teresting paper on "The Sweet Pea." The 

 lecturer favourably compared the sweet pea 

 in colour and perfume to other well-known 

 flowers. Speaking on cultivation, Mr. Board 

 recommended sowing in pots, in February, 

 and when two or three inches high pinching 

 out the point in order to induce strong 

 branching growths, and planting about the 

 middle of April on well-prepared ground in 

 shallow trenches. Cut out all weak growths, 

 and apply a dose of nitrate once a week 

 when in full growth. 



For two pots of cyclamen Mr. Jennings 

 waa first, Mr. Springham second. A special 

 certificate was awarded to Messrs. Garaway 

 for three pots of King Alfred daffodil. 

 Measrs. Scott and Woodward referred to 

 the departure of the Chairman, Mr. A. 

 Perry, to take up a new appointment at 

 Northampton. 



Croydon Gardeners 



I 



ion. 



At the fortnightly meeting of this asso- 

 ciation, which was held at the Sunflower 

 Temperance Hotel on the 19th inst,, Mr. 

 John Gregory gave a most interesting lec- 

 ture entitled " Life in our Ponds and 

 Ditches," illustrated by an excellent series 

 of lantern slides, mostly made by himself. 



It was with many expressed regrets from 

 his audience Mr. Gregory concluded his 

 lecture, and the appreciative feeling from 

 the members found ve-nt in the proposal of 

 a hearty vote of thanks to him. 



Some excellent exhibits were sta^'^t^d by 

 members of the society. Mr. T. Butcher had 

 an attractive collection of forced flowering 

 plants. Mr. W. Coles brought from Wallace- 

 field Gardens, Coombe Road, four pots of 

 hyacinths showing good culture; and 

 Messrs. E. W. and S. Eogers staged four 

 bowls of hyacinths and two of narciss'i grown 

 in mos^s fibre, these being typical of this 

 j>opular way of growing them in indoor 

 apartments. 



North of England Horticul 



tural Society. 



On the occasion of the spring exliibit'oB 

 held by the North of England Horticultural 

 Society at Bradford, Mr. W. F. trile« of 

 Messrs. Sutton and Sons, gave a lectuit 

 on Salad Plants : British and Conti- 

 nental." The lecture was illustrated by 

 some sixty lantern slides, and created muci 

 interest. 



In the course of his lecture, Mr. Giles said 

 that great interest had recently been aroused 

 in this country in the various types of Con- 

 tinental vegetables and salad plants, doubt- 

 less partly due to the increasing numbers of 

 visitors to the Continent. He considered, 

 however, we were still a long wiay behind our 

 Continental neiglibours in the productions 

 and use of salads, especially in the winter 

 time. Even in the summer, immediately the 

 temperature falls, so does the demand for 

 salads. He was well aware that English pri- 

 vate gardeners can, and do when required, 

 produce tender salads during a considerable 

 portion of the year, but as this produce does 

 not, as la rule, find its way to the markets, 

 it is not to be obtained by the general public. 

 Until quite recently, however, few English 

 market gardeners did much in the forcing of 

 such things as lettuces, carrots, radishes, 

 etc., with the result that the produce, being 

 of slow growth, was often anything but 

 tender. 



On the Continent, however, many market 

 gardeners make a speciality of producing 

 "primeurs," that is, forced salads and otki 

 vegetables by the means of hotbeds, frames, 

 and cloches, and it was the tender produce 

 from these gardens which, obtaining such 

 good prices in our markets in early spring, 

 started the boom in England in what is now 

 generally known as " French gardening." 

 The Continental idea of a salad does not en- 

 tirely agree with the British view of the 

 same, for there one frequently has such 

 things as potatoes, beans, cauliflowers, and 

 other vegetables suitably dressed and served 

 up. 



Mr. Giles explained in detail the methods 

 adopted by the French maraicheres in mak- 

 ing up the hotbeds and growing the various 

 vegetables by means of irames and cloches, 

 pointing out that quick growth induced by 

 the hotbeds, accompanied by copious water- 

 ings, was the secret of producing the tender 

 crops. The French gardener usually has 

 three or four crops growing together, but 

 different stages of growth. Radishes and 

 carrots are usually sown together, and W 

 same beds are then planted with lettuces and 

 cauliflowers, and by the time the radishes and 

 lettuces are cleared (these being the quickest- 

 growing crops) the carrots and ^^^^^^^^^^ 

 are well established, and making goo^ 

 growth. The hotbeds are never vacant all 



the season. 



Mr. Giles illustrated the special wa;^ 

 which early crops are grown in Holland, n --'j 

 salads in ItaW, and fully described 

 methods of culture at Brussels for the pro- 

 duction of witloof. He mentioned the lan 

 that Continental salads were usually 

 pared with oil, which is often at first dis- 

 liked bv many English people, but that om_ 

 the taste for"^ it is acquired the salads ar 



He described the cor- 



much more enjoyed. 



lad, 



rect Continental method of preparing a saia ; 

 which should always be served freshly niaue^ 

 lettuce, if washed, should be dried wini 

 soft cloth, the leaves should either be v 

 into the bowl whole or torn, and no si 

 knife should touch them. Oil and 

 are used in moderate quantities and aa^^^ 

 tional flavouring is secured by adding 



quantities, finely chopped, ^^/^^"^^i^^reat 

 various plants he had referred to. ^J? ^ 

 art of preparing a salad is to so J"^^^^!\„e 

 mix the ingredients that the taste oi^^^^ 

 does not overpower the remainder. .-^ 

 should fall into their places like note^ 

 music, in which there is nothing lu^^"^'^ 



grating. , ^lui'^ 



Besides dealing with all the salad p'^^^'^_ 

 usually grown in England, such as i)eei. 

 cumber, tomato, celery, radish, , 'a„d 



dive, onion, cress, etc., he ^^^"^^1" ,,iture 

 fully described, amongst others, tlie 



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