602 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



August 3, 1912. 



toast of " Prosperity to the xVesociation/' and 

 in doing so, he referred to the hearty re- 

 sponse which had been made to the appeal 

 which he had sent out for new members. 

 The toast was acknowledged by Mr, Massie, 

 who said that the future euccet^s of the asso- 

 ciation was already assured by the result of 

 the appeal, and that Captain Stirling's year 

 of office would be remembered a red-letter 

 one in the annals of the association, and he 

 conveyed to Captain and Mrs. Stirling the 

 hearty thanks of the party for their splendid 

 hospitality. Thereafter Captain and Mrs. 

 Stirling conducted the party over the prin- 

 cipal apartments of Keir House, and the 

 weather, which, unfortunately, had broken 

 down early in the afternoon, having improved 

 somewhat, the fine gardens and grounds were 

 next inspected. On leaving, three hearty 

 ( lieers were, on the call of the President, 

 given for Captain and Mrs. Stirling, and, 

 but for its being somewhat marred by the 

 weather conditions, the outing was a most 

 enjoyable one in every respect. 



Melksham and District 

 Gardeners' Society. 



The niemhcrs of the above society had a 

 most enjoyable outing to Reading on Tues- 

 day, July 23, when they paid a visit to the 

 well-known seed establisnment of Messrs. 

 Sutton and Sons. 



Mr. Ijeonard Sutton welcomed the party, 

 and two repivsentativea of the firm took them 

 over the whole of the offices and warehouses. 

 Before inspecting the trial grounds the party 

 enjoyed an excellent luncheon, provided by 

 the firm, and presided over by Mr. Castle. 

 Mr. Le.gg, on behalf of the society, thanked 

 the Messrs. Sutton for their kindness. Some 

 two hours 



profitably spent at the trial 

 grounds, and at 3.15 a brake conveyed the 

 party to Southcote Manor, some four miles 

 out, where was to be seen a large breadth of 

 sweet peas, in the finest varieties, the soil 

 being of greater depth here than at Eeading. 

 The party also explored the fine old manor 

 house, rich in oak panelling, etc. A drive 

 back to Heading, and a cup of tea, com- 

 pleted a very pleasant day's "arrangement. 



y ward 



IHeath Show 



The twenty-fourth annual exhibition of the 

 Haywardd Ileath Horticultural Society was 

 held on July 24, and it was a great success. 



This society is one of the most flourishing 

 in the south, and the fact that it drew a 

 gate of ^115 indicates how well it is sup- 

 ported. Even the rule that compels handing 

 over half the gate money, above ^50, to the 

 local Athletic Club, does not prevent the 

 society from keeping a reserve and balance 

 of about ^50. 



The recent show was favoured by beautiful 

 weather, and, as the local conditions had been 

 more favourable to plant growth than in 

 some districts we know of, the exhibits were 

 of high quality all through. 



The sweet peas were wonderfully good, 

 although some of the competitors have much 

 to learn in the art of staging. Mr. F. Beal, of 

 TJckfield, again won the James Box Challenge 

 Cup for eighteen bunches. His blooms were 

 remarkable for size, and we have never seen 

 Mrs. Hardcastle Sykes in such good form. 

 No one ventured to try conclusions with Mr. 

 Beal, and unleiss someone outside the district 

 ventures to give him battle next season, the 

 cup will be his. Although numerous exhibi- 

 tors contested the smaller classes, no one 

 had flowers to match Mr. BeaFs eighteen. 

 For twelve bunches Mr, C. Lucken had a 

 clear win. 



The rose classes were rather weak, very few 



really good flowers being on view. Border 



carnations and dahlias were w^ell shown, and 



hardy flowers were splendidly staged. Mr. 



J. E. Shirley, gardener to the Rev. T. G. 

 Wvatt, 



[y won the Kleinwort Challenge 

 Cup for eighteen bunches of hardy flowers, 

 and here again, unless some newcomer puts 

 in an appearance, a fine cup will depart for 

 good, as Mr. Shirley has two claims upon it. 



The plant classes brought out so 

 exhibits, and we have not seen better fruit 

 and vegetables staged at any district show 

 this season. Giant gooseberries are a feature 

 at Haywards Ileath, and anyone who desires 

 to know what big berries really are should 

 visit this show. Black currants, too, were 

 almost as big as Morello cherries, even the 

 cottagers being able to shine in this direc- 

 tion. Messrs. Sutton and Sons, Messrs. 

 J. Cheal and Sons, and Messrs. Daniels Bros, 

 offered prizes for vegetables, and these were 

 hotly contested. 



The combined competition, open to all hor- 

 ticultural societies in Mid-Sussex, brought 

 Lindfield and Balcombe into close contest, 

 and the former gained the challenge trophy, 

 reversing the award of last year. The Bal- 

 coml>e collection was richer in flowers, but 

 it was not so artistically staged, nor were 

 the fruits and vegetables so fine in quality 

 as those of -Lindfield. On the latter exhibit 

 we noted some of the most gigantic goose- 

 }>erries we have seen, while the grapes, 

 I3eaches, etc., were all of high class. 



OBITUARY. 



♦ 



ME. JAMES MITCHELL. 



One of Forfarshire's oldest and most re- 

 spected gardeners, Mr. James Mitchell^ who 

 for forty-five years was head gardener to the 

 Earl of Dalhousie at Panmure House, has 

 passed to his rest. Coming to Panmure sixty 

 years ago, he had the honour of rt niodelling 

 the old gardens, laying out and viaating new 

 ones, and erecting commodious glass struc- 

 tures, to the great satisfaction of the four 

 successive Earls with whom he served. Born 

 in Arbroath district eighty-nine e&rs ago, 

 he was a noted local historian, and an 

 antiquarian of no mean order. A natural 

 student of botany and geology, a good all- 

 round gardener, and a competent jr.dge, his 

 services were often requisitioned in various 

 ways. He retired from active work fifteen 

 years ago, and went to live :n Carnoustie, 

 but latterly he resided in Dundee. 



One of Nature s gentlemen, he was gener- 

 ous, kind, sympathetic, and sincere, and 

 quickly found out the good J( 



Billies," as he always called his young men. 

 These he encouraged, ruling with g-entleness 

 and firmness^ for harshness was not in his 

 nature. Many of his men now hold good 

 positions in the world of horticulture, in 

 almost every land where the art is prac- 

 tised to any extent, and these will recalil 

 his good qualities and cherish his memory. 



nts in his 



TRADE NOTES. 



Messrs. Webb and Sons, of Stourbridge, 

 have been awarded gold medals for exhibits 

 of their specialities at Bath, Wolverhampton, 

 Southampton, and Birmingham shows Other 

 recent awards include gold medals at York 

 and Eichmond. 



Messrs. Eobinson Bros., Lim., West Brom- 

 wich, are organising an exhibition of horti- 

 cultural produce for the benefit of their cus- 

 tomers, and a glance through the schedule 

 before us shows that the firm is entering 

 into the venture in a spirit of commendable 

 enterprise. £350 in all is divided between 

 seventy-five classes, the largest individual 

 prize being ^20 for the best collection of 

 vegetables. The show will be held in the 

 Botanic Gardens, Edgbaston. Birmingham 

 on August 28 and 29. Schedules may be had 

 on application to Messrs. Robinson Bros. 



At the leading horticultural shows at 

 which Messrs. Sutton and Sons, of Reading 

 have been recently exhibiting, they have re~ 

 ceived the highest award, a gold medal, viz, 

 on July 9, Wolverhampton, for sweet peas;' 

 July 10, Bath, for flowers and vegetables; 

 July 17, Cardiff, for sweet peas; July 19, Bir- 

 mingham, for flowers and vegetables; and 

 July 23, at Brighton, for flowers and vege- 

 tables. ^ 



GARDENERS AND 

 GARDENING. 



THE DIPLOMA AND THE GARDENEE. 



Mr. J. W. Bamber, Lecturer on Horticul- 

 ture and Nature Study to Herts C.C., has 

 contributed the following article to the 

 " Monthly Magazine " of the North of Eng- 

 land Horticultural Society : 



It may be too early to criticise the pro- 

 mised Diploma in Horticulture, so little of 

 a definite nature being known by the crowd 

 — of which I am one. It is to be hoped the 

 last gathering for conference and discussion 

 on this urgent and overdue subject has not 

 yet been convened. Up to date there has 

 been too much Professor in evidence and not 

 enough Worker, and till this error is cor- 

 rected, matters are not likely to be satisfac- 

 tory to all. If the way the wind blows tells 

 anything, the diploma is not for the working 

 gardener, but for those at the top of the pro- 

 fession. Viewing it so, it is commendable, 

 desirable, and useful ; but if this is to repre- 

 sent the sum total of horticultural education 

 and award, then it is insufficient, and does 

 not meet a great need — perhaps the greatest 

 need — in the profession. What is wanted is 

 something to meet the working gardener. It 

 is useless saying we will leave the gardener 

 out for the present. This cannot be. If the 

 diploma is to represent real training, then 

 all those who obtain it will have been gar- 

 deners somewhere in their training. 



Leaving school will represent the beginning 

 of the training, and the diploma will repre- 

 sent a finish. W^hat the gardener requires is 

 an award somewhere intermediate between 

 beginning and finish. The education for the 

 award cannot be undertaken by mutual im- 

 provement societies. A competent teacher is 

 required, and the work must be undertaken 

 by educational authorities. Courses of study 

 at a college, or long-continued courses at a 

 secondary school, are not es-sential to train 

 the gardener. Asr a matter of fact, most 

 young gardeners have 

 time to attend costly 

 and if such courses of study are insisted on, 

 then the opportunity for obtaining the 

 diploma will be limited to a favoured few. 

 What the diploma should represent is know- 

 ledge and practice in combination, and 

 where this has been obtained raatters little; 

 it may be in some obscure garden, or it may 

 be in some college with a shining reputation. 

 To infer that knowledge and truth can be 

 found only within college walls is to infer 

 a fallacy, and to think that gardeners who 

 work small gardens are all ignoramuses is 

 another fallacy, and both are fatal to pro- 

 gress. The college does not make the gar- 

 dener. The true gardener is born and not 

 made, and what the college gives is the best 

 opportunity for educing all that is good 

 within him. 



All educational systems represent means 

 to an end, the end being the making of good 

 and beautiful citizens, each after his own 

 particular line. Elaborate collegiate systems 

 of education are no better than simpler 



— — - — — — — — — — ^ 



ne ither money or the 

 courses of education. 



^ 



Eyery gardener knowa that the very 

 bent Syringes the world has ever seeui 

 or can ever hope to see, are the 

 FOUR OAKS," which are 



^^ W^ the only Syringes ever 



Gardeners' ^H^^ awarded a Cold Medal. 

 Ideal Syringe ^^^^ 

 is No.l Four Oaks 



Undentable,ljx20in. 

 21/.; or with Angle Jo 



27/- For Spraying.— No 9 

 Un^lentable Syringe, IJ x 2J in. 



12/6 or with Angle Joint, 18/- 

 Complete Oatalognes o( Spraying 

 and Litnewaaliing Machines and :3yringe3 

 of every description free on application to 

 the Sole Manataotnters:— The FOUR OAKS 

 SPgAYINQ MAOMIME Co., No. 3C, Sutton Coldfleld 



Any "Four Oaks" 

 Syringes willingly 

 bent on approval 

 to Head 

 Gardeners 



