748 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



Septembj!.r 28, 1912. 



St award brought xip the rear The smaller 

 ccllectioii of six kinds was contested by a 



Mr. G. Ell- 



Mr. 



similar numi>er of exhibitors, 

 wood was first with nice even Si 

 H. Sniit'i followt'd closely, while the Eev. 

 L. v'iialnu'rs Hunt, Willian Eectory, Hit- 

 chin, was third. 



Mr. E. lieck-ett vvas awarded first prize for 

 six kinds of the minor vegetabke, staging in 

 a 1 attractive manner tsaLsify, seorzonera, 

 egg plant, kohl rabi, celeriac, and line capsi- 

 cums. Mr. G. EUwood was second. 



The scarlet runner beans were a very fin? 

 class. Mr. G. f]llw(MMi led off, followe<l by 



Mr. H. Keep, Mr. E. Heckett l)einsr third. 

 The entries in the *singlo dit+h 

 very numerous, especially in the classes, de- 

 voted to carrots, purstrps, Hrutst^els sprouts, 

 tomatoes, and cailitloT^trs. The chief prize- 

 winners were Messrs. E. IJeckett, A. G. 

 Gentle, A, fkisile, H. Smith, G. Ellwood. R. 

 Stawanl, and W. Gaiger, who t^eemed to 

 divuh' t Iw honours pretty evenly between 

 them. 



SCIKN ril- IC (*OMMTTTKE. 



SllprilMMKH 12. 



PRRSENr. 



- Mr. I]. A. l!<>wh>>, M.A., 

 F.L.S. (in the chnir) ; Me-sis. J. \V. Odell, 

 A. Worslrv, .1 . I'ra-^rr. < ; . \\ il -mi ]]. M. 

 Holmes, \\ . Hal.-.. .! . O llrn n. and 1'. J. 

 Chittenden (liou. secretary). 



ERICA CINEREA MA lA 'i ) if M I : F). - Mr. 

 E. M. HolmcH showed a spcciineu of Erica 

 t im r. a from Ringw(KKl in wliich the corolla 

 \va> divided to the \>;\>r so that the flowers 



had thr ;i ppoa ra lur ftf \Ui\^(' of ling. He also 

 show^'d <i >|n ( itnt'u from Studland in which 

 the llovvtMs were rephiced by very numerous 

 bracts almost as in the wheat-ear carnation. 



MALFORMED ARMERIA.— Mr. A. W. 

 Hill reported that he had examined the 

 flowers sent to the last meeting in which the 

 corolla wa« replaced by a calyx ^ so that there 

 were two calyces, and had*^ failed to find 

 vithvv fungus or mite present to account for 

 It- It was suggt^ted that something, such 

 as ct*lworms, had attacked the roots. 



SWEET PEA WITH [MJOLIFKROUS IN- 

 FLOKESCEXCE.— Mr. FrascM- >linwod an in- 



florescence of isweet pea uliidi after flower- 

 ing had elongated and produced leaves and 

 flowers to the number of 14 in all. 



LYSIMACHIA VULGARIS. — He also 

 showed a shoot of Lysimachia vulgaris which 

 had grown out of a shady position in a hori- 

 zontal fashion, and the leaves h;id arranj^'-cd 

 themselves as in a shoot of polygouatuni 



WATSONIA.-Mr. A. Worslev showed a 

 specimen of W^atsonia iridifolia' which dif- 

 fered in some respects, but especially in its 

 extreme robuntness, from the variety 

 O'Brieni (also called Ardeni). It wag thought 

 probable that it was merely a robust form 

 of that variety. 



MUSA BAKERI._He also showed stami- 

 nate flowers of Musa Bakeri from a plant 

 raised by him from seed. 



CERTIFICATE OF APPREriATION.— 



The Council have awarded a Certificate of 



Appreciation to Mr. C. H. Hooper for his 



work in connection with pollination of hardy 

 fruits. 



SEEDS OF PARROT TULIPS.— Some 

 iruits of Parrot tulips were sent from Sussex 

 but on examination the seeds contained were 

 found to possess no embryo. 



Society. 



mum 



A well.attended meeting of tlie committee 

 was he d at Carres iRestauraTit on Mondav 

 September 23, Mr. T. Bevan presiding ^ 



Arrangements were made for holding the 

 annual dinner at the Holborn Restaurant on 

 November 27. In connection with the con- 

 ference to be held at Essex Hall on Novem- 

 ber m at 7 p.m., Dr. Russell, of Rotham- 

 stead, has consented to deliver an illustrated 

 lecture on "Soil Sterilisation.'' 



Some time was occupied in balloting for 

 the judges for the exhibitions at the Crystal 



Palace. Mr. Bevan was elected to act as 

 the society's delegate to attend the Inter- 

 national Congress, to be held next spring in 

 connection with the Ghent Quinquennial Ex- 

 hibition. A statement of accounts showed a 

 balance of £58 Ow. 3d. on the right side. 



ANSWERS TO 



North of Eng;la.nd Horticultura.1 



Society. 



SEPl^EMBER 18. 



The meetings with lecture, and small show, 

 at the Queen's (Midland) Hotel, on the 18th 

 inst., was a great success. The room was 

 filled with a keenly-interested audience to 

 hear a lecture on "Commercial and General 

 Manures," by Mr. W. Dyke, F.R.H.S. Pro- 

 fessor R. S, Seton, B.Sc, of Leeds Univer- 

 sity, was in the chair. The market growers, 

 Leeds rhubarb growers, head gardeaei's, and 

 fellows and members present were delighted 

 with a collection of fruit (grapes^ apples, 

 pears, peaches, etc.), from Lady Nunburn- 

 holme, Water Priory (head gardener, Mr. 

 F. Jordan), which was unanimously recom- 

 mended a large gold medal ; also gladioli 

 from Mr. J. C. Fordy^ Warkworth, Moithum- 

 berland, which were accorded a vote of thanks 

 and a cultural certificate. Gloxinias and 

 coleus were admirably shown by the Rev. 

 Gallacher, Hunslet Vicarage, in the heart of 

 Leeds, and the award of a silver medal was 

 made. First class certificates were conferred 

 on collarette dahlias Prince John and Fro;^- 

 more, from Messrs. Dobbie and Co., Edin- 

 burgh, and on chrysanthemum Crimson 

 Polly, from Messrs. W. Wells and Co.^ Mers- 

 tham, Surrey. 



Broughty Ferry Horticultural 



Association. 



The ordinary monthly meetings were re- 

 sumed on the evening of the 17th inst., when 

 Mr, Thomas W^ilson, Glamis Castle Gardens, 

 gave an interesting and instructive lecture 

 on " The Formation of Fruit Tree Borders.'^ 

 Dealing broadly with the general principles 

 of fruit cultivation, the lecturer confined his 

 remarks mostly to the formation of vinery 

 borders. Of these he had much to say, both 

 of his own method and in criticism of other 

 methods adopted by men who, in their day 

 and generation were considered experts in 

 the art. Unfortunately, their formulae were 

 often followed with disastrous results when 

 a simpler and less expensive method might 

 have been carried out with success. 



A prolonged discussion followed, and many 

 questions were put and answered by the lec- 

 turer, who, on the call of the president, Mr 

 James Bethel, was cordially thanked for his 

 communications. 



The exhibits consisted of cut flowers of 

 Primula japonica hybrida from Mr. George 

 Masson, salpiglossis from Mr. Jas. Slater 

 collarette dahlias from Mr. Wm. Grant and 

 a stand of double begonias and a stand of 

 cactus dahlias from Mr. David Keiller; the 

 latter exhibitor was awarded the monthlv 

 prize for his exhibit. 



The President then presented the silver 

 medal won at the sweet pea exhibition by 

 Mr George Masson^ and reported that the 

 gold medal had been posted to the winner 

 Mr, McOmish, CriefF. 



CORRESPONDENTS. 



Editorial Communications should be addr<^ssed to th 

 E-ditor of the Gardeners' Magazine, 148 and Hif 

 Alders^ate Street, E.G. 



Secretariefi of horticultural societies are invited to 

 send early notific-ation of forthcoming- exhibitioaj 

 an-d meeting-s, and arc requested to advise U6 con 

 ceming chang-es of dateis. 



PEACH CULTURE IN ONTARIO.— L. s. 

 Manchester: Can yon give me some idea of 

 the prospects of peach culture in Canada, 

 particularly in Ontario? I mean the gene- 

 ral cost of production, and the returns.— The 

 chief a^ent to the Ontario Covernment 

 states that good peach laud planted in On- 

 tario costs from £oO per acre upwards; un- 

 planted from .£10 upwards. Trees will hear 

 a commercial crop in the fourth year, and 

 should last 15 years. Ontario produces 99 

 per cent, of all the peaches grown in 

 Canada. No irrigation is needed, the rain- 

 fall being sufficient. The following are offi- 

 cial figures giving particulars of the cost 

 of establishing a peach orchard. Annual 

 cost per acre of bearing trees : Spray- 

 ing, manuring, pruning, and cultivating, 

 £3 15s. ; picking, packing, and packages, 

 ^10 17s. lOd.; hauling to station (depending- 

 somewhat on location), ^1 Os. 8d. ; total 

 cost, £17 13s. 6d. The profits: 700 baskets 

 of peaches (11 quarts), ^71 18s. 4d. ; less the 

 xpenditure, i;17 13s. 6d. ; total net profit 

 per acre, =£54 4s. lOd. In addition to this 

 profit there is an annual advance in value 

 improved peach land, more than sufficient 

 to pay interest on the investment. 



BRITISH 



tell 



FERNS.— J. 



Kindly tell me whether 

 modern book dealing witi 

 their varieties. — " British 



J., Ulverston: 

 there is a good 

 British ferns and 

 Ferns and Their 

 a recent work by 

 : it is freely illus- 



Varieties " is the title of 

 Mr. C. T. Druery, V.M.H. 

 trated, and published by Messrs. Routledge 

 and Sons^ at 7s. 6d. 



THE TULIP MANIA OF 1637. - 

 Gr. A. S. B., Elstree : Could you give me a 

 brief account of the Tulip Mania or Tulip 

 Swindle of 1637?— Accounts of the Tulip 

 Mania are to be found in many old 

 books devoted to the history of flori- 

 culture. Phillips, in his " Flora His- 

 torica,'' writes: "It was towards the 

 middle of the sevententh century that 

 the rap-e for flowers, and particularly 



carried to such an excess 



as to produce 



families; and 

 for so it was 

 into with 



as 



rage 

 for tulips, was 

 both in Holland and France, 

 bankruptcy and ruin to many 

 we are told the Tulipomania, 



justly termed, was entered 



much avidity for a t i me as t he Mi ss iss i ppi 

 and South Sea Schemes, which were at- 

 tended with such ruinous consequences. It 

 would be almost impossible for us to credit 

 the extraordinary accounts handed down re- 

 specting the high prices given for tulips 

 by the Dutch florists of that age, were we 

 not 



Aster Saturn. 



Messrs G. Bunyard and Co. that this beau- 

 titul aster, of which an illustration was given 

 in oiir issue of the 2l8t inst., was raised by 

 Mr Ernest Ballard, of Malvern— the raiser 

 of Beauty of Colwall— who .sold the stock to 

 them. 



"Sweet Peas and Their Culti- 

 vation,'^ by C. H. Curtis, is a compact 

 and very readable Guide to the culture of 

 this lovely and fragrant flower. Mr Curtis 

 who is Hon. Secretary of the National Sweet 

 Pea Society, deals fully and practically with 

 its varieties, culture, and dis»eases. The book 

 IS well illustrated, and can be obtained from 

 our publisher for Is. 2d, (cloth Is, 9d.) uost 

 free. ^' ^ 



acquainted with their gambling specu 

 lations in this bulb, which carried them to 

 much greater excess than their real fond- 

 ness for flowers. Betting to a ruinous 

 amount was often made respecting the even- 

 tual superiority of promising seedling bulbs, 

 and for the possession of breeders of high 

 merit, from which fine seedlings might be 



_ expected, as large a sum wa^5 given as the 



fleetest race-horse of the British turf ever 

 VV e are informed by sold for. 



About the year 1636 this spirit of 

 floral gambling was carried to such excess 

 at^ Haarlem, that during three years it is 

 Raid to have yielded to that city a sum not 

 less than ten millions sterling, for the price 

 of these bulbs rose higher than that of the 

 most precious metal. For a single tulip, to 

 which they had given the fine name of 

 Semper Augustus, 4,600 florins, a beautiful 

 new carriage, two horses, with harness, etc. 

 were given ; and another of the same kind 



T^EST'S PATENT GARDEN SUNDEIES 



; ' have been invented duringr 30 y^ars of prac- 

 tical experience. By better cultivation, and pl«*" 

 sure by which gardens are kept in order, their ex- 

 ?^o*e k doably reoaid. Samples and Ulustrat-ed OfttA. 

 lo^e fret,. C. E. WEST, Higbam Hiil London, 



