JVNE 1, 1912. 



rHE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE, 



415 



upon the financial situation. 



pears 



be no need 



the Guild caiTies forward a balance of 

 £27 4&. 6d., and has a capital account of 

 £330 lis. 6d. The benevolent fund started 

 last year has already been of great assist- 

 ance. The business meeting was followed 

 by the annual dinner, and Lieut. -Col. 

 D. Prain, Direc'tor of the Royal Gar- 

 dens Kew, presided over one hundred 

 and eighte^en members gathered from all 

 parts of the Ignited Kingdom, the Conti- 

 nent, and almost- all the ends of the earth. 

 A particularly pleasant evening was spent, 

 the only regret being the absence of Mr. W. 

 AVatson. Lieut. -Colonel Prain becomes 

 president for the ensuing year, and Mr. 

 A. W. Hill, Assistant Director at Kew, is 

 elected chairman of committee for the en- 

 suing three years. Among those present 

 from other lands we noticed Mr. Burkill, 

 from South Africa; Mr. AV. J. Fletcher, 

 from Hong Kong ; Mr. Kobson, from Mont- 

 rat; Mr. A. Hemmino;. from Philadel- 



There ap- comes apparent. With almost equal force, 

 r alarm as however, is an idea of the extent of the 



trade emphasised in " Castle's Guide to 

 the Fruit, Vegetable, and Allied Trades,'' 

 a volume of over two hundred pages, neatly 

 bound in blue cloth board, and containing 

 a directory of all who come under its title 



phia; Mr. Sillettoe and Mr. Patterson, 

 from the West Indies; Mr. Harry Davis, 

 from India; and Mr. Benbow, from La 

 Mortola. 



Larch 



the Lake 



Saw-fly in 



District.— We learn that the larch saw- 

 fly is working havoc among the larch plan- 

 tations that clothe the lower slopes of the 

 fells in the Lake District. Great efforts 

 have been made to vstamp out the pest, but 

 so far they do not seem to have been very 

 effective. Tits are being encouraged, as 

 they eat the saw-flies, and so help to keep 

 the pest down. 



Grand Yorkshire Floral 



and Gala.— ^The dates of this great Nor- 

 thern flower show are June 19, 20, and 21, 

 and, as usual, the display -will take place 

 in Bootham Park York. 



dule 



A splendid sche 

 and the 



has been arranged^ and the prizes 

 should attract the best of exhibitors. The 

 Archbishop of York is offering a special 

 prize for the most meritorious and attrac- 

 tive exhibit in the show, and gold medals 

 are ofi^ered respectively for the best trade 

 displays of orchids, stove and greenhouse 

 plants, ornamental trees and shrubs, and 

 decorative plants and cut flowers. 



Pot 



Fruit Trees 



House. 



from Gun- 



- Few exhibit® 



nersbury 



attracted more attention at the great In- 

 ternational Horticultural Exhibition, espe- 

 cially from the foreign visitors, than the 

 splendid display of forced fruits in pots 

 staged by Mr. Jas. Hudson, V.M.H., 

 gardener to Leopold de Rothschild, Esq., 

 C.V.O., Gimnersbury House, Acton. We 

 have already referred to it, but it may he 

 of special interest to state that the group 

 mcluded three varieties of grapes, twelve 

 of clierries, three of nectarines, six of 

 peaches, six of figs, eight of plums, four 

 of melons, two of strawberries, two of 

 tomatoes, the Seville orange, the logan- 

 berry, the newbe'-'-y, and The Holman 

 raspberry. We understand that all the 

 fruits exhibite<l by Mr. Leopold de Roth- 

 5»child have been distributed among the sick 

 nd aged pensioners at the Royal Hospital, 

 Chelsea. The great merit of this excep- 

 tionally fine exhibit was recognised by the 

 award of a large gold medal and the special 

 trophy (Prix d'Honneur) offered by the 

 National Horticultural Society of France. 



♦ ^"'^^ *o Fruit and Vege- 



table Trades — It is only when one is 

 f^onversant with the business done in the 

 gre^t fruit, vegetable, and flower markets 

 ^1 London and the large provincial cities 

 jncl towns, that the immense amount of 



a 



in the Ignited Kingdom. 

 London . the counties 



Beginning with 

 then taken in 

 alphabetical order, and in each county the 

 names of dealers and growers are also ar- 

 ranged alphabetically, while the particular 

 kind of business conducte<l by the pei^on 

 or firm is in every case indicated. Even 

 horticultural builders and 



chants 



manure mer- 

 as well as nurserymen and se<Kls- 

 men are included, so that the directory is of 

 outstanding importance and usefuhiess to 

 all who do business in the world of horti- 

 culture. It is published by Castle's Direc- 

 toiies, Lim., Truro. The index of towns, 

 showing their counties, is not the 



least 



le produce oi 

 gardener, be 



valuable part of a good work. 



Protection of Rare Birds. — Mr, 



Montagu Sharpe, chairman of the Royal 

 Society for the Protection of Birds, writes : 

 This season the Watchers' Committee of 

 the Royal Society for the Protection of 

 Birds is employing and paying 22 watchers 

 in various parts of the country to safe- 

 guard the rare birds which are in danger 

 on account of the greed of collectors and 

 from other causes. It is a curious fact that, 

 although many people are aware of the 

 life-long pleasure and enjoyment whi< h they 

 derive from the existence of birds, it is only 

 a few whose appreciation and gratitude 

 takes the form of adequate contributions 

 to the society without whose strenuous 

 efforts during 20 years many species of birds 

 would in all probability have been utterly 

 destroyed. This inadequate support is pro- 

 bably due to the fact that bird protection 

 is not sufficiently sensational to appeal 

 powerfully to the ordinary person's pocket. 

 AVe therefore appeal to all those who are 

 able to realise the importance of the pre- 

 servation of what is beautiful and useful 

 in nature, and venture to express a hope 

 through your columns that some will come 

 forward to help by joining the Royal So- 

 ciety for the Protection of Birds as a fellow 

 or member, or by sending a subscription to 

 one or other of its special funds, of which 

 full particulars can be obtained of the 

 secretary, 23, Queen Anne^s Gate, London, 



W. 



New Open Space for Bacup.— 



The trustees of the late Edward Hoyle 

 have presented to Bacup the Moorlands " 

 Estate for use as a public park, and a site 

 for a new school. The estate is worth up- 

 wards of £10,000, and includes a fine man- 

 sion, which is vacant, and is situated in a 

 healthy part of the town. 



The National Hardy Plant 



iety has received some additions to 



its schedule of prizes for Wednesday, June 

 19. Two extra classes are annoimccd. one 

 for six bunches of pink, and one for six 

 bunches of scarlet Sweet Williams, and ni 

 each class Messrs. Sutton and Sons are pro- 

 viding cash prizes of 21s., 10s.. and os. re- 

 spectively for first, second, and third prizes. 

 Mr \ J Macself, 52, Beechwowl Road. 

 Finsburv Park. N.. will supply schedules 

 and particulars to intending competitors. 



Rose Klllarney Brilliant.— Under 



this name Messrs. Alex. Dickson and Sons, 

 of Newtownards, have registered m 

 America a new sport of KiUarney which 

 originated in this country. The blooms of 

 the variety are described as being more 

 double than Double Pink KiUamey and 

 the colour brighter than the <)ngmal Pink 

 Killarney. The form of the flower an^ ^h^ 

 habit of growth are like the ongmal Kil- 

 larney, 



NOTES FROM SCOTLAND. 



The Season and the Crop 



I 



Not for many years past has such a 

 favourable spring-time as that now end- 

 ing been experienced in the South-west 

 of Scotland, a fact generally confinned by 

 all classes depending upon the produce 

 gained from the soil for a livelihood. 



Frosts, since the early part of April, have 

 been less frequent than usual, and but little 

 damage has accruiHl thereby to crops ; 

 while the amount of bright sunsjiinc by 

 day, and generally mild conditions by 

 night, have assisted forward vegetation, so 

 tJiat at present — May 15 — the crop© are 

 quite a fortnight earlier than usual, and 

 the promise for the future all that could 

 be wished for. The total amount of rain- 

 fall for April just exceefled one inch, tlius 

 providing the happy medium between the 

 drought in the South of England and the 

 excess in the noithcrn part^ of S<^otland. 



The Fruit Crops. 



With the exception of strawberries and 

 raspberries, which are now in full bloom, 

 a plentiful set of most kinds of friiits seems 

 now assured^ plums and pears being in this 

 respect particularly goml, and as the em- 

 bryo fruitts an* now so well protecteil by 

 the foliage, but little damage from incle- 

 ment weather, should it come, is now 

 feared. The earlier kinds of apples have 



mostly shed their bloom-petals, while those 

 somewhat later, and orchard standards are 

 pictur(« of l)eauty, and form striking ob- 

 jects wherever they may be pla<'<Hl. Bush 

 fruit<^ in general are heavily cropped, goose- 

 berries and red currants being especially 

 so, while black currants, though scarcely 

 so' profusely laden, will likely provide an 

 ample supply. Owing to the absence of 

 any very inclement weather, more parti- 

 cularly cold winds, the foliage of all fruit 

 trees is remarkably fresh, and free from 

 insect pests; and so far the gooseberry 

 caterpillar, which is often the scourge of 

 the season, has not made an appearance. 



Vegetables. 



The genial atmospheric conditions have 

 also had a most beneficent effect upon all 

 green crops, whicli of their respective kinds 

 were readv for use from ten days to a fort- 

 night earlier than is usual. Asparagus, 

 which, as a rule, thrives well here, being 

 near the sea, has quite surpassed all pre- 

 vious records, both for size and quality. 

 Cabbages were more prone to running to 

 seed than one cares to contemplate, but 

 later plantings are almost free from this 

 <lefect, and fine succulent hearts have been 



liable. The various 



for a long time 

 summer crops, as peas, cauliflowers, and 

 potatoes, promis*^ w(^ll. and should the 

 weather durinc: the imim^diately succeed- 

 in^- weeks prove favourable to growth, 

 bountiful crops of nearly all kinds may 

 rea<sonably be exp(H*t(Hl. 



Early Potato Crops in Scotland. 



The genial weather of late has proved of 

 immense l)enefit to the early potatoes so 

 o\t(>nsivelv cultivated along the south- 

 western coasts of Scotland, lollowmg upon 

 a long period of almost incessant rainfall, 

 some difficulty was cxj>erience^l in getting 

 the tul>ers committed to the ground at 

 tlio usual time; but as the sproutuxg pro- 

 cess wa^ wrll advnneed. and tlie nimospheric 

 conditions ni general quit<' favourable to 

 crrowth, the effects of the delay were not 

 long noticeable. With one exception, frosts 



of any degree of intensitv have been con- 

 spiououslv absent, so that in most cases a 

 riit.nrkablv frcsh. healthy appearance is 



