372 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



Mat 11, 1912. 



are more or less closely associated w.th the 

 Metropolis, that in presenting our readers 

 with his portrait there is no oeca-sion to 

 refer otherwise than briefly to the work 

 he has accomplished. As the superinten- 

 dent of the horticultural department . of 

 the Crystal Palace, at Sydenham, he has 

 contributeil in a marked degree to the at- 

 tractions of this well-known place of public 

 resort, and as the manager of the flower 

 shows he has, by his judgment, tact, and 

 courtesy, added in no small degree 

 to their success. It is now many yeat.s 

 since Mr. Caselton succeeded the latt^ Mr. 

 AV. Head in the i>osition he now holds, ■ 

 and throughout the i>eriod he has annually 

 been successful in providing displays of 

 summer flowers that have given great 

 pleasure to visitors, and reflected much 

 credit upon himself. Recognising the 

 trend of public taste in relation to the 

 garden, Mr. Caselton adopted a much 

 bolder style of arrangement than had pre- 

 viously predominated in the embellishn-ent 

 of the terraces and the more highly -dressed 

 parts of the grounds, and th© bold groups 

 of dahlias, fuchsias, roses, phloxes, fine 

 foliage plants, rtc, nn^ ccrtniiily ix^tter 

 adapted to lar^c mioms tliari tlu^ style of 

 l^eddiii^i tliMi was previously in vogue. Mr. 

 Caselt(»n is a MUMtilxM' of the committee of 

 the Royal ( ia i dnicrs' Orphan Fund, and 

 in the (lis Itar^t^ of the <iutios in connec- 

 tion tlierewitli. as in the other movements 

 with which hv s associated he evinces the 

 same zeal and judgment as that displayed 

 in his ordinarv avocations. 



Certificates at the Royal 

 International Horticultural Ex- 

 hibition.- Certificates and awards of 

 merit will he awanled at the International 

 horticultural exhibition, just as they 

 usually are at the shows of the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural vSociety. An arrangement has 

 been entered into between the Directors of 

 the Inteniatl;)iial and the Council of the 

 Royal Horticidtural Society, by which the 

 latter society agrt^es to regard such awards 

 granted at the International exhibition as 

 the same as R.H.S. awards. Anyone 

 showing i>Iants for certificate must send 

 their entrie^s to Mr. A. J. Gaskell, R.H.S. 

 Hall, Vincent Square, at least two days 

 before the opening of the exhibition. 



Kew Guild Dinner. The anmud 



dinner of the Kcw (iuild will l>e held at the 

 Holborn Hcstaurant in the Venetian Cham- 

 ber, on Tuesday, May 28, at 7.30 p.m. The 

 dinner will be preceded by the annual 

 general meeting at 6.45 p.m. Lieut. - 

 Colonel D. Prain, C.M.G., Director of the 

 Royal Gardens, Kew, has kindly consented 

 to preside at the dinner, and as many 

 Kewites from home and abroad will then 

 be in London for the International Exhibi- 

 tion, there is every reason to ant'cipate a 

 good gathering. Members who intend 

 being present are asked to notify the Secre- 

 tary, Mr. Her»)ert Cowley, South Side, Kew 

 Green, as early as jxi.ssible. 



.H.S.'s New Inspector of 



Fellows' Gcirdens. — The work of in- 

 specting the gardens of Fellows of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, and advising 

 thereon lias increased so much of recent 

 years, and has necessitated Mr. S. T. 

 Wright's absence from the Wisley Garden 

 so often, that the Council of the R.H.S. 

 have long felt the desirability of appoint- 

 ^ an inspector, who should be entirely in- 

 dependent of the Wisley staff, thus leaving 

 Mr. Wright free to devote his whole time 

 to the society's garden and shows. The 

 very great difficulty of finding an inspector 

 who should not only be as efficient and 

 capable as Mr. Wright, and one who is 

 also in constant touch with a fine garden 

 and all the newest additions to horticul- 

 ture has at last been overcome by the kind- 



ness of Miss Willmott, of Warley, who has 

 consented to her head gardener, Mr. C. R. 

 Fielder, V.M.H., being appointed inspec- 

 tor to the society, and at the same time 

 allowing him to remain in constant daily 

 touch with her celebrated garden at War- 

 lev Place. From May 1, Mr. C. R. 

 Fielder, V.M.H., so well and honourably 

 known ' in gardening circles, has been 

 the Roval Horticultural Society s inspector 

 to visit Fellows' gardens, and to advise 

 thereupon. All requests for the inspector s 

 services should be made to the secretary, 

 R.H.S. Office, Vincent Square, Westmin- 

 ster. S.W. 



Blue Bells at Kew 



Just now 



Kew may be said to have an embarrassment 

 of riches, for attractive features reveal 

 themselves on all hands. The gorgeous 

 display of tulips in front of the Palm 

 House, and the equally showy masses of 

 flower in the greenhouse arrest attention 

 by reason of their brilliant and varied' col- 

 ours, but for quiet beauty the blue bells in 

 the woods, especially in the Queen's Cot- 

 tage grounds, will fully hold their own. 

 In many places they form wide, spreading 

 stretches of blue, which, under the varying 

 degrees of light that filter through the 

 overhanging trees, appear to be of many 

 shades, from a light coerulean blue to a 

 depth almost approaching purple. This 

 effect is, of course, considerably heightened 

 when the sun shines, as some blue bells are 

 then in full sunshine and others densely 

 shaded. Such an attractive feature well 

 serves to show that from even common 

 British plants as charming an effect can be 

 obtained as when exotic subjects are em- 

 ployed. The conditions at Kew St 

 favourable to the increase and develop- 

 ment of the blue bell, the quiet beavity of 

 which now accoimts for the constant 

 stream of visitors to the more remote parts 

 of the gardens. 



The Driest April on Record. — 



In an interesting communication to the 

 " Times " of the 2nd inst., Dr. R. H. Mill, 

 the Director of the British Rainfall Or- 

 ganisation 



states : There is no 

 that April, 1912, with .04in. of rain, is the 

 driest April on record at Camden Square, 

 where observations began in 1858, and it is 

 very nearly the driest month^ less rain 

 li:iviiig fallen only in February, 1891, when 

 the amount was .Olin. In the whole period 

 there were only five months with less than a 

 quarter of an inch of rain, all of them in 

 the spring, viz., February, 1891, with 

 .Olin. ; February, 1895, with .12in. ; April, 

 1893, with .24in. ; May, 189(5, with .14 n. ; 

 and April, 1912, with .04in. Last month 

 there was an absolute drought of 18 days 

 at Camden Square, commencing on the 

 10th ; though at Mill Hill, and probably 

 at other stations nearer London, the 

 drought commencing on the 10th still con- 

 tinues. While a rigid comparison can 

 only be made with records at the same sta- 

 tion, it is interesting to glance at the 

 records of London rainfall before 1858 back 

 to the ^^ai liest which have been pieserved. 

 The earliest commenced in 1729. and, ex- 

 cept for the years 173(5-73 and 1780, there 

 had been at least one rainfall record in 

 London ever since. These are sometimes 

 of dubious value, because of luisatisfactory 

 instruments and bad exposure, very often 

 on roofs, as in the case of the Royal So- 

 ciety's record, and in every instance they 

 probably tend to read too low. No April 

 in the whole series appears to have had 

 so little rain as that of 1912, and only 19 

 individual months are known to have had 

 less than one-tenth of an inch of 



doubt 



patterns of rain gauge in use a hundred 

 years ago, I think that it would scarcelv 

 be prudent to assert the absolute rainless- 

 ness of December, 1788, or July, 1800. The 

 absence of rain in September, 1804, and 

 February, 1857, depends on unsatisfactorv 

 records, and is contradicted by others oii 

 which more reliance can be placed." L 

 a table given in his communication. Dr. 

 Mill states that in April, 1817, the rain- 

 fall registered at Greenwich was .06in., 

 and in April, 1840, the rainfall at Chiswick 

 was .06in. 



Canadian Alpine Flora. 



On 



Tuesday evening next, following the special 

 house dinner of the Horticultural Club, at 

 the Hotel Windsor, Mrs. Henshaw, hon. 

 secretary of the Alpine Club of Canada, 

 will give a lecture to the club members, 

 entitled, Trails in the Canadian 

 Rockies." The lecture will be illustrated 

 by coloured lantern slides, representing 

 some of the more interesting features of the 

 Canadian Alpine flora. Sir Frank Crisp 

 will preside. 



and 



Gardening and Drought,- 



This subject cannot fail to be of the 

 greatest possible interest to all who are 

 engaged in horticultural pur^suits for plea- 

 sure or for profit, consequently there should 

 be a large attendance at the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Hall on Tuesday, Mav 14, when 

 Professor J. B. Balfour, F.R.S., V.M.H.. 

 Kee per of t he R oy a 1 Botanic Ga rde n s . 

 Edinburgh, will deliver the seventh Mas- 

 ters' Memorial Lecture, his subject being 

 ''Gardening and Drought." 



Spring Flowers at Madres- 



field Court. Earl Beauchamp very 

 kindly allowed the beautiful gardens and 

 pleasure grounds of Madresfield Court to 

 be thrown open to the public on Thursday 

 for the benefit of the Gardeners' Royal 

 Benevolent Institution. Owing to rain ;ii 

 the early morning fewer vivsitors than 

 usual took advantage of this opportunity 

 for inspecting the splendidly-kept garden^ 

 and the wonderful spring display so sk 1- 

 fully provided liy Mr. W. Crump, Y.M-H. 

 Tulips, primulas, goise, flowering shnil)^. 

 alpines were very much in evidenc*^ ; "wln'e. 

 under glass, the schizanthuses, carnations, 

 eucharis, peaches, strawberries, mclnis. 

 and early grapes proved immensely attrac- 

 tive. Earl Beauchamp and Mr. Crump are 

 to be congratulated upon the fine appear- 

 ance of Madresfield Gardens, and their 

 interest in the Gardeners' Benevolent In- 

 stitution, while a word of praise is due to 

 the many members of the Worcester Auxi- 

 liary, who acted a,s stewards durmg the 

 time the gardens were open to the publi-c. 



mherstia 



Cf 



long 

 of the 



ra n. 



The . . . oniy montUs drier than 

 April, 1912, are August, 1730, December, 

 1788, July,' 1800, September, 1804 (possi- 

 bly)/ and February, 1857. Considering the 



Piowe „ 



nobillS.-The amherstia has 

 joyed the reputation of being one 

 most gorgeous of all tropical trees, ana 

 this is fully borne out by a large spe:niien 

 which is in full flower in house Xo- L 

 to the main entrance gates at Kew. *^ 

 tree in question (for tree it is) is ]>li^»p 

 out in a prepared bed, and so thorrmii'i', 

 has it made itself at home there that 

 reaches almost to the roof. It has aire 

 flowered several times at Kew, yet |^^^^|^ 

 so rarely seen in ganlens. aiiil has 

 at different times so mii;-li talked ot. ^^j 

 it always attracts a considerable ^^^^^ . 

 attention. One reason that we do^^ 

 see it more frequentlv is that it ^'^^*1\ ^^j 

 a large structure for its development. ^ 

 that, too, in which a stove tenii)eratuit 

 -----tained. The long, pinnate le. 



are nnfolduig, ^fl^^^^^^ 

 in a peculiar manner, siiggest ve . 

 browneas, are decidedlv handsome, ou 

 flowers form the c<uitre of i^^-J. 

 colour they are a bright vernuhon 

 with gold, and are borne in wide, sp^*^^' 



which, just as thev 



