414 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



June 1, 1912. 



examination of nursery stock, garden 

 produce, etc., at the port of entry is not 

 an efficient protection. His reasons are 

 stated in the summary of the first part of 

 his paper which is given in our report, and 



need 



carefully studied hy 

 in cultural methods, 

 or in the garden. 



all who 



whether 



are engaged 

 on the farm 



He, however, did not suggest that nothing 

 should be done with a view to the preven- 

 tion of plant diseases, but, on the contrary, 

 he strongly advocated the examination of 

 the plants, etc., in the country of origin. 

 In referring to the question of inspection 

 and of granting a certificate of health be- 

 fore exportation, he expiessed the opinion 

 that in no other way could the importation 



iseases 



ted 



stock 



But this inspection can, in Professor Rit- 

 zema Boss's opinion, only give what is rea- 

 sonably required of it— a guarantee for the 

 health of the stock when a well-equipped 



service 



xist s 



111 



1 1 1 the 

 Holland 



]>hytopathological 

 country from which it comes 

 there is such service, and the account that 

 was given of its method of procedure 

 formed an important and interesting part 

 of the paper, and we hope to have an 

 opportunity of making some reference to 

 it at no distant date. Much is being d 

 in this country in the direction of facilitat- 

 ing commercial intercourse between this 

 and other countries, and by means of active 

 co-operation between nurserymen and seeds- 

 men, and the officials of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, some at least of the difficulties that 

 ari^ in connection with exports of plants, 

 etc., might be brushed away. It was pointed 

 out by Mr. Rogers, of tbe Intelligence De- 

 partment of the Board of Agriculture, that 

 the utmost the Board can do under existing 

 conditions is to afford nurserymen facili- 

 ties for complying with the regulations that 

 require some invspection or report as regards 

 the freedom of products from disease of 

 that part of Enghmd in wliich they are 

 grown. Arrangements have accordingly 

 been made for such inspection, and the 

 issue of such certificates and a memorandum 

 setting out what the Board are prepared 

 to undertake ha^; been sent to all the prin- 

 cipal nurserymen in England . This has 

 been done in order that the Board's inspec- 

 tors may be in a position to enter on pre- 

 mises where disease may exist, and search 

 all places where it may be foimd that cer- 

 tain pests have been scheduled, for in some 

 eases it is necessary to examine not only the 

 premises or the plants in respect of which 

 an application for a certificate has been 

 made, but the adjoining premises also. 

 Mr. Giissow, the botanist of the Canadian 

 Government, who also contributed a paper 

 to the conference, expressed the opinion 

 that the only method by which the spread 

 of diseases and insect pests could )>e pre- 

 vented was by the examination of stock in 

 the country of origin, and the issue of cer- 

 tificates for that found free from them. 

 Mr. H. M. Lefroy, the Imperial entomolo- 

 gist for India, in dealing with insect pests 

 of plants in the tropics, showed very clearly 

 that there was ample room for a consider- 

 able improvement in the methods of pro- 

 cedure. But to effect these a much wider 

 knowledge of the pests w^as necessary before 

 it would be possible to adapt the regula- 

 tions to existmg conditions, and all who 

 have paid any attention to the question will 



be in full agreement 

 case. They will also feel w^ith us that both 

 insect nests and d'seases should be more 



that 

 of 



is a financial success also, 

 been the attendance, 



Sir Harry J. Veitch, V.M-H., 



F.L.S., ha^, in the course of his long and 

 active life, rendered such splendid services 

 in the cause of gardening and gardeners 



we are f ul ly assured the w^hole 

 our readers will join with us in 

 tendering him our heartiest congra- 

 tulations on his having had the honour 

 of knighthood conferred upon him by 

 the King. The pleasure that w^e, in 

 common with other horticulturists, feel, 

 is all the greater from the fact that it has 

 long been felt by those who take an active 

 interest in horticultural affairs that services 

 such as those which have been rendered by 

 Sir Harry J. Veitch during the past fifty 

 years well merited the highest honours that 

 could be conferred upon him by his 

 Sovereign. Expression was given to this 

 feeling at the dinner in his honour at the 

 Royal Horticultural Hall on January 24, 

 1910, when Mrs. Veitch w^as presented with 

 a duplicate of his portrait which had been 

 painted by Mr. Hugh C. Riviere, and pre- 

 sented to the Royal Horticultural Society 

 by his many friends. One of the speakers, 

 who had taken an active part in raising 

 the necessary funds which by the way, was 

 a very easy matter, said that he hoped 

 some day the King and State might see fit 

 to honour horticulture by honouring such 

 a man as the guest of the evening. This 

 expression of hope was received with ac- 

 clamation, and we now rejoice in no uncer- 

 tain manner in the fulfilment of this hope. 

 It would give us pleasure to write at length 

 on Sir Harry J. Veitch's achievements,but it 

 would be superfluous. It is well known to 

 all who are interested in horticulture that 

 throughout the half-century or so that he 

 has been associated with the firm of which 

 he has long been the head, he has been un- 

 remitting in his endeavours to enrich 

 British gardens with ornamental plants and 

 useful fruits, and as exemplified by the 

 large collection of plants that had been 

 recently introduced from China , w^hieh 

 formed so interesting a feature of the Inter- 

 national Horticultural Exhibition, he is now 

 not less keenly interested in this branch of 

 his firm's activities than at any previous 

 period. His work in this direction would 

 fully justify the high honour that has now 

 been conferred upon him, but he has done 

 so much^ both as a worker and supporter, 

 in the cause of the charities associated w^ith 

 gardening as to give him a unique position 

 among horticulturists. Moreover, as a 

 member of the Council of the Royal Horti- 

 cTiltural Society, since 1887, Sir Harry J. 

 Veitch has accomplished w^ork of such 

 immense value, that it w^ould be diffi- 

 cult to set a proper estimate upon 

 it. It may be mentioned that he 

 had the Victoria Medal of Honour 

 ill Horticidture conferred upon him in 1906, 

 but he would have been included among 

 the sixty original recipients in 1897 had 

 not the Council then resolved that no mem- 

 ber of the Council should receive it, and in 

 1908 he receiVed from the King of the Bel- 

 gians the distinction of Chevalier of the 

 Order of iLeopold. Our portrait of Sir 

 Harry J. Veitch is reproduced from the 

 fine presentation portrait painted by Mr. 

 Hugh C. Riviere in 1910, which now 

 hangs in the Council Chamber at the Royal 

 Horticultural Hall. 



Roya.1 International Horticul- 

 tural Exhibition- — It is with very 

 great pleasure we are able to state that 

 not only is the grtat exhibition at Chelsea 

 Hospital Gardens a great horticultural 

 success, a^ we have already shown, but it 



So great has 

 and so keen the in- 

 terest created during this second week 

 of the show that the desirability of 

 extendmg the period of the exhibition 

 until and including Saturday, June 1, 

 was heartily suggested on all sides on 

 Tuesday, May 28, and received the 

 fullest consideration of the directors. Of 

 course, the Chelsea Hospital authorities 

 and the exhibitors are the chief persons to 

 be considered in this connection, but at the 

 moment of going to press, we believe there 

 is not the slightest possibility of the exten- 

 sion being arranged. The attendance and 

 takings for the several days, so far as 

 available, were as follows : AVednesday, 

 May 22: admission^ two guineas until 5 

 p.m., one guinea after 5 o'clock; takings 

 at the gates, £690. Thursday, May 23 : ad- 

 mission, one giiinea until 5 p.m., 10s. 6d. 

 after 5 o'clock; takings, £1,932. Friday, 

 May 24: admission 10s. 6d. until 5 p.m., 

 OS. after 5 o'clock ; takings, £2,150. 

 Saturday, May 25 : admission 5s. until o 



2s. 6d. after 5 o'clock; 



p.m 



takings. 



£1,899. Monday, May 27 (Whit-Monday): 

 admission 2s. 6d. all day ; visitors, 20,000; 

 takings, £1,593. Tuesday, May 28: ad- 

 mission, Is . all day ; visitors, 40,000 ; 

 takings, £1,720. Wednesday, May 29: ad- 

 mission, Is. all day; by 12 noon, over 

 10,000 had passed the turnstiles, and at 

 3 p.m. visitors were crowding in at all the 

 entrances. 



Problems of Propagation " is 



the title of the eighth Masters Memorial 

 Lecture, to be delivered by Professor Isaac 

 Bayley Balfour, at the Royal Horticultural 

 Hall on Tuesday, June 4. Professor Bal- 

 four is director of the Royal Botanic Gar- 

 dens, Edinburgh, where the most difficult 

 plants to deal with are propagated with 

 comparative ease. The Edinburgh exhibit 

 in the Science Section of the Royal Inter- 

 national Horticultural Exhibition was evi- 

 dence of the skilful way in which plant 

 propagation is conducted in the tamous 

 gardens there, and, possibly, afford some in- 

 dication of the lines which Professor Bal- 

 four's lecture w^ill follow. 



The Gardeners' Magazine' 

 and the Royal International 

 Horticultural Exhibition. In on 



efforts to give our many readers the tuiiesj 

 possible account of the great inteinat-ondi 

 exhibition at Chel^a, we have sparea 

 no pains, time, or expense during the tm^ 

 weeks now closing, and we have deyo «c 

 three special issues to this ^^nparalle^ 

 horticultural display and its attendant con 

 ferences and functions- By means ot 

 productions from photographs talsen on 

 spot, and descriptive text, we ^'^^^^^^.j^i 

 our readers an account that has met 

 unbounded success and admiration, x 

 sonal thanks and congratulations have u 

 heaped upon our editorial and l^jb h^nm^ 

 staffs, and each post continues to ,, 

 dozens of congratulatory 1^^,^^^^; . "J „f tk 

 and believe that this issue, the thira u 



meet with 



exhibition numbers, wilj 'r'^^" , we 

 same hearty approval that the o^f^^^; |v 

 enjoyed. The success achieved is iarg^^- 

 due to the fact that the whole ot t 

 ports are the work of our own reguiai 

 expert staff. 



• its 



r^«w Guild Seldom, if ever, m 



hisixjry lias the annual gathering or 

 and pr^ent Kewites been so la'Sfi^ 

 representatively attended as on ly^ y 

 at the Holborn Restaurant. Ihe . 

 meeting, presided over by Mr. K 

 Pearson, was well attended. .jjjig 

 report notified a somewhat serious 

 off in annual subscriptions, and a s > ^ 

 mittee was aupointed 'to consider anti 



