346 



THE GARDENERS MAGAZINE. 



sets at the end of the third season. The 

 flower stems were very 'brittle, and soon 

 snapped off, and if care was not taken after- 

 wards, the collar of the plant split up and 

 decayed. When the plants were hrst started, 

 said the lecturer, they should have a rather 

 high temperature to grow in, but directly 

 the flower stems appeared, a greenhouse tem- 

 perature was the most s-uitabSe. Green 

 fly soon attacked the young growths, and 

 the latter must be kept free from the pest. 



There was a free discussion at the conclu- 

 sion of the two lectures. Some beautiful 

 plants in pots, and cut flowers in vases were 

 staged, namely : cinerarias, crotons, genistas, 

 roses, narcissi, and zonal jDelargoniums. Mr. 

 Heath, gardener to G. G. Ruasell, Esq., ably 

 presided, and was accorded, with the lec- 

 turers, a hearty vote of thanks. 



Norwich 



Exhibition 

 Flowers. 



of Spring: 



ITie spring show of the Norfolk and Nor- 

 wich Horticultural Society, held in St. An- 

 drew's Hall, Norwich, on the 18th inst., may 

 be regarded as a success. In the outside 

 bulb classes a shortage of exhibits was 

 noticeable, due, of course, to the fact that 

 these flowers are so very early this season. 

 The quality of the other hardy flowers, 

 greenhouse flowers, and pot plants was high, 

 and both as regards the quality and quan- 

 tity, were of a high degree of excellence. 

 The public evidently thought the show was 

 a good one, as may be gathered from the 

 fact that there was an increase of £20 upon 

 last years gate money. 



ITiere was only one circular group set up 

 for the challenge cup presented by Colonel 

 Petre, this coming from Mr. T. Notley, 

 gardener to E. G. Buxton, Esq., Catton Hall. 

 It consisted mainly of Stellata cinerarias, 

 lilies, and roses, with suitable foliage plants. 

 Mr. Notley is an adept at arrangement, as 

 was made evident on this occasion. 



In the cut flower section Mr. Lewis Smith, 

 gardener to Robert Fellowes, Esq., Shotes- 

 ham Park, achieved a great success, winning 

 first for twelve bunches exotic, and first for 

 twelve bunches hardv flowers. He had fine 

 bunches of orchids in the first-mentioned, 

 whilst among the hardy flowers the attrac- 

 tive feature was the bold bunch of gentians 

 and the beautiful hardy irises of several 

 kinds. Mr. George Davison, gardener to 

 Colonel Petre, West wick House, Norwich, 

 had lead in the narcissi section. His stand 

 of thirty-six varieties was a wonderful ex- 

 hibit. The substance and freshness of the 

 flowers was an education. Mr. Davison has 

 been working for some years in hybridising 

 the trumpet varieties, and he has ra'sed 

 some splendid things. He had one or two 

 shown here under number, and it would have 

 needed a bold bid to have secured the stock 

 of either of them. Mr. Woodhouse, gardener 

 to the Master of the Rolls, staged in this 

 section some fine blooms of the most up-to- 

 date sorts. S. Cozens Hardy, Esq., J. Cator, 

 Esq., M.P., Mr. Frank Neave, and Mr. W\ 

 Chettleburgh, gardener to Colonel Rous, 

 W^orstead, were also prominent exhibitors 

 and winners for narcissi. 



Violets were well represented, and it was 

 a grand half dozen bunches which Mr. F. J. 

 Ender.sby, gardener to J. H. Gurney, iE^q., 

 Keswick, took first place with. Pansies, 

 polyanthus, flowering shrubs, and tulips all 

 had their devotees, and contributed largely 

 to the brilliant display of cut flowers. 



In the pot plant section first mention is 

 due to the orchids from Miss V, Fellowes, 



first in both 



Shotesham. She was placed nrst in 

 classes, and the exhibit was awarded a 

 R.H.S. medal for the best exhibit in the pot 



plant section. 



Next to these, we think, came the six cal- 

 ceolarias stag;cd by Mr. F. Williams, gar- 

 dener to iLouis Tillett, Esq., Catton. ITiey 

 were shown just in the best of condit'on, 

 with well-balanced heads of bloom. Cine- 

 rarias of the stellata type made a bold show, 

 but the award of the judges was open to 

 much doubt. Mr. E. Greene, gardener to 

 E. Reeve, Esq., was certainly not distinctly 

 beaten by those from Dr. Osburne's gardener. 



Mr. A. Coombe, gardener to Lord de iElamsey, 

 Haverland, easily took first for cyclamen, 

 and deserved all the praise that his fellow 

 gardeners bestowed upon him for plants 

 which were so fresh for such a late date. 

 Pelargoniums (zonal and regal), primulas, 

 lily of the valley, mignonette, and other sea- 

 sonable subjects were also staged. 



Strawberries were the only fruits shown, 

 and the primary awards went to Mr. F. J. 

 Endersby and Mr. W. Chettleburgh. Vege- 

 tables were fairly well represented, and in 

 the section Mr. W. Chettleburgh achieved 



the greatest success. 



The trade made a very effective display. 

 Messrs. Dan 'els Bros., Litm., Town Oiose 

 Nurseries, Norwich, were well to the fore 

 from an educational point of view, with a 

 varied exhibit, comprising forced shrubs of 

 all kinds, roses of the newest and best, car- 

 nations, and hardy rockery plants in pots, 

 which went to prove that at any time buyers 

 can obtain these for immediate plant "ng and 

 effect. Awarded silver medal. Hobbies, 

 Lim., Dereham, made one of their unique 

 displays of roses, us'ng ramblers for the back 

 rows and the newest H.T.'s for the front. It 

 would 'be futile to start giving names; suffice 

 it to say that the best were there. (Silver 

 medal.) 



Messrs. A. J. and C. Allen, Hergham, Nor- 

 wich, had a large and varied collection of 

 roses in pots. Tliey secured certificates for 

 Duchess of Westminster and Edward Maw- 

 ley. Juliet was well shown, both as stan- 

 dards and bush plants, whilst a good thing 

 in yellow ramblers was Shower of Gold. 



(Silver medal.) 



Mr. R. C. Notcutt, W^oodbridge, made a 

 great feature of flowering shrubs, forced 

 I'lacs, genistas, viburnums, and wistarias 

 being very attractive. 



A word of praise is certainly due to the 

 energetic hon. secretary, Mr. C. E. Pilling, 

 for initiating new ideas of arrangement, and 

 giving the Norwich Spring Show a start 

 under improved conditions. 



Reading: Gardeners' 



Association. 



The final meeting of the present session 

 took place in the Abbey Hall on Monday, 

 when the President occupied the chair. 

 There was a good attendance, including a 



number of ladies. 



By special request, Mr. T. J. Powell, of 

 The Gardens, Park Place, Henley-on-Thames, 

 had consented to give another of his " Prac- 

 tical Demonstrations in Artistic Floral 

 W^ork." As is well known, Mr. Powell is 

 inimitable in the art of floral decoration, and 

 his efforts on the present occasion were of 

 the same high order as his previous demon- 

 strations. As a preliminary, Mr. Powell gave 

 examples of the different methods to be 

 adopted in the display of cut flowers, first in 

 a vase, afterwards in a bowl. The sub- 

 jects used were spiraeas, magnolias, and for- 

 sythias, each in turn being most cleverly 

 handled. Mr. Powell then gave two ex- 

 amples of the way in which a dinner table 

 should be decorated. "VV^ith a table of suffi- 

 cient size to seat about twelve or fourteen 

 persons, he first gave a most artistic and at 

 the same time delightfully simple example, 

 making use of only delicate young beech 

 foliage as a setting to the blossom of wild 

 cherry. A centre bowl, with subsidiary bowls, 



was brought into service, and the whole 

 produced a really delightful effect. 



In his second example, Mr. Powell dis- 

 pensed with the bowls, but requisitioned wire 

 arches with striking effect. The arches 

 were first covered with Asparagus Sprengeri, 

 among which bunches of Pelargonium Fire 

 Dragon were afterwards studded. The tab!e 

 under the centre arch was embellished with 

 L bertv silk in a soft eau-de-nil shade, this 

 in turn being covered with foliage and gera- 

 nium blooms. Mr. Powell suggested, too, 

 that the same arches covered in season with 

 the foliage and flowers of the climbing rose, 

 Dorothy Perkins, would give a charming 

 effect. At the conclusion of his demonstra- 

 t'on, Mr. Powell received a very hearty vote 

 of thanks. 



Members were at this meeting invited to 

 contribute flowers for use at the Royal Berk- 

 shire Hospital and Reading Union, and a 

 fine display of spring blossoms was staged. 

 The flowers, contributed by a large number 

 of members, consisted of schizanthus, wall- 

 flowers, arabis, auriculas, polyanthus, nar- 

 cissi of sorts. Cineraria stellata, berberis, 

 arums, tulips, spiraea, myosotis, begonias* 

 ferns, roses, asparagus, stocks, fuchsias^ 

 primulas, rhododendrons, etc., and were duly 

 forwarded to these institutions the following 

 morning. A collection taken during the even- 

 ing on behalf of the funds of the hospital 

 amounted to £2 10s., and this sum, with the 

 Society's annual subscription, will be for- 

 warded to the secretary through the Reading 

 W^orkpeople's Hospital Association. The 

 tables, etc., were kindly lent by Mr. J. E. 

 Phillips, London Street, Reading. A speci- 

 men orchid Dendrobium densiflorum 

 exhibited by Mr. H. Sims. 



was 



North 

 tural 



of Scotland 

 and 



Horticul- 

 Arboricultural 



I 



ion. 



A most successful opening session of this 

 recently resuscitated society has just been 

 brought to a close. It has extended from 

 November, 1911, to April, 1912, during which 

 period some capital papers were read. Dr. 

 James W. H. Trail, Professor of Botany in 

 Aberdeen University, gave the first paper, 

 dealing in a most admirable manner with 

 the subject of "How to obtain improved ram 

 of Cultivated Plants," and then there fol- 

 lowed papers on Vegetables and Fruits, the 

 Sweet Pea, Meteorological Lessons, the Car- 

 nation, Garden Cities, Cottage Gardening, 

 and Hardy Spring Flowers. All of these 

 subjects were dealt with in a most interest- 

 ing and instructive manner, and an out- 

 standing feature of the session was the enor- 

 mous attendances. 



It was exceedingly gratifying to see meet- 

 ing after meeting in the Botany Classroom, 

 Aberdeen University, where the society met, 

 crowded to the doors with intelligent and en- 

 thusiastic audiences. The discussions, too, 

 were warmly entered into, and a wealth of 



information extracted. 



To the officials the warmest congratula- 

 tions are due for the fine way in which every- 

 thing was engineered, and it is no mere lip 

 service to say that to the president, Mr. 

 John McKinnon, Haddo House Gardens; the 

 vice-president, Mr. A. Robson, Aberdeen; the 

 secretary, Mr. William Reid, 8, Hadden 

 Street, Aberdeen; and the treasurer, Mr. 

 William W^yllie, 18, Market Street, Aberdeen, 

 the members feel deeply indebted for their 

 unwearied efforts — efforts ungrudgingly and 

 whole-heartedly given. 



At the closing meeting, Mr. Robson, 

 through the unavoidable absence of iMr. 

 McKinnon, took the chair. The subject for 

 the evening was a paper sent by Mr. Josepn 

 Sangster, Lissadell Gardens, Sligo, Ireland, 

 on " Hardy Spring Flowers." Mr. Sangster, 

 who knows it well, dealt with the climate ot 

 the north of Scotland and its suitability for 

 the cultivation of spring flowers. iManJ 

 spring flowers, Mr. Sangster contended, 

 which would make progress in the nortn-eas 

 of Scotland during the winter months wouia 

 succumb to the rigours of a winter in 

 midlands of England. He also dealt in an 

 instructive manner as to the time buio^ 

 should be planted, how they should ^ 

 planted, their cultivation and flowering, etc. 

 A hearty vote of thanks was given the secr^- 

 tarv, Mr. Reid, for reading the paper, anu 

 he was instructed to convey the warm than^ 

 of the meeting to Mr. Sangster for his valu- 

 able contribution. r r ^ 



It was agreed, on the motion of Mr. i^- 

 France, F.B.S., to remit to a committee 

 consider the question of a summer excuTsiv 

 to gardens in the vicinity of Aberdeen. ■ 

 France also moved that it be ^j^l^f^^ntv 

 the committee to consider the advisao 

 of promoting an exhibition of spring floj ^ 

 next year. Undoubtedly there has "^eei.^ 

 growing interest in tlie cultivation ot d 

 and spring flowers in the north-east ot ^ 



