832 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



November 2, 1912. 



during the fii'st year, and that at the 

 fii-st annual meeting he was unanimously 

 re-elected. Mr. McKinnon was appointed 

 hy the Earl of Aberdeen to the charge of 

 Haddo House gaidens in succession to 

 the late Mr. Forrest, who retired at the 

 time after thirtv-seven years' service. The 

 gardens of Haddo House are extensive, 

 and the cultivation of the larious kinds 

 of plants, fruits, flowers^ and vegetables 

 that are in request in an establishment of 

 the first class 



grown largely and well. 

 Where everything, both in the open and 

 imder glass, bears the impress of ripe judg- 

 ment and cultural skill of a high order, it 

 is <lifficult to particularise ; but it may be 

 said that Malmaison and tr€^e carnations 

 form one of the outstanding features. The 

 collection is large, and the results obtained 

 eminently satisfactory, the s{>ecial atten- 

 tion given to thes<» flowers being <lue to 

 the high appreciation in which they are 

 held by the Countess of Aberdet^n. In 

 adilition to his duties as heatl gardener at 

 Haddo House, Mr. McKinnon has the 

 supervi^sion of the garden at Hotise of 

 Cromar, a mansion recently built by the 

 Earl of Aberdeen on his estate on Deeside, 

 about twenty-five miles distant from Bal- 

 moral. Previous to entering on the charge 

 of the Haddo House gardens Mr. McKin- 

 non was head gardener at ^Jastwood Hill, 

 near Glasgow, seven years, and before that 

 foreman at Kilnside, in Renfrewshire, for 

 two years, where he had charge of a fine 

 collection of orchi<ls. 



Ca.pe Pela.rg'oniunns appear to be 



regarded with but little favour by horticul- 

 turists in the Jsle of Wight. The other 

 evening Mr, C. Martin gave a lecture on 

 the International Horticultural Exhibition 

 held at Clielsea in iMay last, and, at the 

 close, expressed his regret that tlie Isle of 

 Wight Cup should have bwn awarded to 

 the specimen pMargoniums from the gar- 

 <lfns of Gunnersbury House. Mr. Lining- 

 ton, the chairman of the local committee for 

 the Isle of AVight, also expressed his disap- 

 pointment that tile cup should have been 

 awarded for scented geraniums rather than 

 for something more worthy. We agree the 

 cup might have l>een awarded to some- 

 thing differen t . but it could not have 

 well been awarded to anything more worthy 

 of distinction than the splendidly developed 

 specimens that were shown by Mr. Leopold 

 <le Rothschild. So far as we are aware, 

 the owner of the Gunnersbury House 

 Gardens and his talented gardener have 

 not expressed themselves as being other- 

 wise than jK^rfertly satisfied with the 

 award, but some of the horticulturists who 

 are in a po>ition to fully appreciate the 

 unique chariu ter of the collection, regarded 

 it as d*''*'rviT)ii: mI' a ^f>ni(nvhat higher awiwd. 

 Tlier(^ is fcnllv notliini^ in this differ<Mi -e 

 of opinion, tor su<h difFeren<'es have ob- 

 tained from llio earli<'st days of horticu'- 

 tural exhibitions, and are likely to con- 

 tinue as long as there aie competitive 

 gatherings. 



Orchid Show and Confer- 



The develojjment which orchids 

 have undergone in recent years has been 

 so rapid and considerable that it has now 

 become possible to hold an exhibition spe- 

 cially for those bloom in <r in the autimin. 



C'nuncil of the 

 Royal HorticMltura! Sftcix'ty included ui 

 their proL:;r:nnnie for the current year an 

 orchid s1h)\v. which, as previously an- 



nntinrctl in th*^sp nnues, will b(* held on 

 Tuesdav ;unl Wrdnc^fiay next. tb(^ 5th 

 an<l (irb in>t. Ten years a(i;o such an 

 exhibit inn \va^ unt lionirli t of. an<l had it 

 b(^*'n Mim£t'st*'(! tlieif^ wduM have been some 

 <iifficMlrv in (>r^;aniNi!ig it on sneh lines as 

 would l\a \'». rn^uml an v f()tis!(bM'able de- 

 grtx^ of sn( r('s-s, tlu 



Recognising this fa<t, tin 



hold one being mainly the result of the 

 splendid work that has been accomplished 

 bv the hvbridists, whose numbers have 

 been greatly increased within recent years. 

 Having regard to this fact, it is a matter 

 of some importance that a conference on 

 orchids will be held at the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Hall on the second day of the 

 show. There will be two sessions, one 

 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the other from 

 2 to 4 p.m. At the morning session Pro- 

 fessor Keeble will read a paper on The 

 Physiology of Fertilisation," and this will 

 be followed by a paper by Major C. C. 

 Hurst on The Application of Genetics 



At the afternoon 



[uc^4Mit aliility to 



to Orchid Breeding. ' 

 session papers on "Some Epiphytical Or- 

 chids" and " Albinism in Orchids'' will be 

 read by Mr. H. G. Alexander and Mr. R. 

 (i. Thwaites respectively. Mr. J. Giirney 

 Fowler, chairman of the Orchid Commit- 

 tee, will be the president of the confer- 

 ence. 



National Sweet Pea Trials for 



1913. — The committee of tlie National 

 Sweet Pea Society will hold trials of sweet 

 peas at the Burbage Experiment Sta- 

 tion, Leicestershire, conducted bv Major 

 C. C. Hurst, F.L.S., in 1913. Xo certi- 



r 



ficates or awards will be granted to novel- 

 ties uidess thev are sent for trial. For 

 the novelty trials a charge of 2s. 6d. per 

 varietv will be made, and novelties will 

 be accepted only from the raiser or intro- 

 ducer. Thirtv seeds of each noveltv must 

 reach the hon. secretarv Mr. C. H. Curtis, 

 Adelaide Road. Brentford. Middlesex, be- 

 fore January 4. 11)18. The seeds must be 

 placed in ]>lain ])a('k(*ts. but each packet 

 much benr a number or letter for purposes 

 of identification. AVith the seeds there 

 must be a letter bearing the sender's name 

 at the top, the number or letter of each 

 variety sent, and, opposite such letter or 

 num]>er, the name of the varietv (if any), 

 the colour, section to which it belongs, and 

 (if orange or salmon) whether it should be 

 shaded. Sweet ])eas will also be tested for 

 purity at a charge of lOs. p(M- stock or 

 varietv. Not fewer than two dozen seeds 

 should be sent. In every case the amount 

 due for trial charges must accompany the 

 se^ls. Everv sender will receive the re- 

 port of the Floral Committee in the autumn 

 of 1913. 



Presentation of Fruit to the 



Lord Ma.yor. — In accordance with the 

 annual custom, a ])resentation of fruit was 

 made to the Lord Mayor of London by the 

 Fruiterers' Company on Monday evening 

 last. The presentation was made by the 

 Master of the company, who, with the 

 Wardens and Court, was subsequently en- 

 tei-tained at <liniMM'. The fruit was ac- 

 knowledged to 1)1' th(^ finest lot the com- 

 pany lias y*'t J)resented to the Lor<l Mayor. 

 It was contained in three large ornamental 

 baskets. the centre one having four 

 handles in the Cre<ian style, and Avhen 

 filleil was about four feet high, 

 fciitral feature was a grand pineapple, 

 flanked by Canuoii Hall. Muscat of Alex- 

 andria, and Gros Cohnar grapes, of superb 

 quality and finish, the pyramid being 



highlv- 



coloiiied a])|)les and immense pears, the 

 latter beiiig arranged with due regard to 

 a tasteful contrast of colour. The handles 

 of the basket were charmingly d( r-orated 

 willi Madaiuf' Abel Cliatcnay mid Xi])hetos 



uliifli \ver(^ arraugtMl alternatelv, 

 :mh1 enlivened with richly-coloured proton 

 bsnes and autumnal foliage. Tlu^ ol»l<itig 

 baskets at tho <wid of tlto tablo wrrr so ar- 

 rang(Hl as to |>rt's, nt tlir aiipmrance of 

 trophies of ai)iiles ;ind p.^Mrs. whivh were 

 surniDunhvl liy j^ineajiplcs of large sizo 

 and fiuf^ finish. Cons])icuoiis an>ong the 

 spleudi(I|y-rl<'V(Ooped pears were Dovenne 



A s a 



composed of golden melons and 



du Com.ice, Beurre Diel, and Pitmaston 

 Duchess, and the most noteworthy apples 

 for brilliancy of colouring were King of 

 the Pippins, Gascoynes Scarlet, Cox's 

 Pomona, Emperor Alexander, Cox s Orange 

 Pippin, Twenty-Ounce, and Rival^ and for 

 their golden hues Lord Derby, Xorfolk 

 Beauty, Peasgood's Nonsach, and Stirling 

 Castle were the most remarkable. The 

 tasteful arrangement of autumn-tinted 

 foliage on the table, interspersed witL 

 specimen apples and pears, made a fine 

 setting for the baskets of fruit and con- 

 tributed much to the general effect- The 

 work was ably done by Messrs. Brooks, of 

 Regent Street, the Court fruitorers, under 

 the direction of Mr. George Bunyard. 

 V.M.H. 



Nationa.1 Rose Society's Exhi- 

 bitions, 1913.— The dates of the exhi- 

 bitions that ha-v'e been arranged by the 

 National Rose Society for next year are as 

 follows : Spring Show, at the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Hall, May 1 ; Metropolitan 

 Show, in the gardens of the Royal Botanic 

 Society, Regent s Park, July 5; Provincial 

 Show, at Gloucester, July 15 ; and Autumn 



- _ *^ 



Show, at the Royal H(n-ticultural Hall, in 

 September. The proA'incial exhibition will 

 be held in conjunction with the show of 

 the Gloucester Rose and Sweet Pea Society, 

 wliioh completes its twenty-fifth year in 

 1913. With Mr. Conway Jones as one of 

 the more prominent members of the local 

 society, and the ])romises of the hearty 

 support of the Mayor and Corporation of 

 Gloucester, the exhibition should be of 

 quite exceptional interest. 



Daffodil versus Leeic.- On the 



insurance stamp Wales is represented by a 

 daffodil, which is associated with the rose, 

 thistle, and shamrock, and Welshmen have 

 recently contended that the Welsh leek was 

 really a daffodil. In connection with this 

 controversy it is of interest to remember 

 that the name is pure AnglonSaxon, and, as 

 Canon Ellaconibe points out, it originally 

 meant any vegetable ; then it was re- 

 stricted to any bulbous vegetable before u 

 was finally restricted to the leek of gardens. 

 According to Professor Wright, the '^im- 

 portance " of the leek was considered so 

 much above that of any other vegetable 

 that leac-tun, the leek garden, became the 

 common name of the kitchen garden, and 

 leac-ward, the leek-kevper, ;va.- used to de- 

 signate the gardener. It is an interesti'ig 

 little <'ontroversy, and as we sympathise 

 with the Welshmen, who ^re desirous <jf 

 adopting the daffodil as the floral emblem 

 of Wales, we regret our inability to find in 

 any of the old books relating to plants, that 

 have been published since lo35, any sug- 

 gestion that the plant favoured by Wales 

 was other than our leek. 



Morphoiog^y of the Leaf.— Mr.- 



O. F. Cook has, we learn from Nature/' 

 published an interestiiiir note in the Jour- 

 nal" of the WashingLoii Academy 

 vSciences on the morphology of the h^af ui 

 various members of the Prunus section vA 

 RosacePe, sometimes regarded as a separate 

 family (Amygdalace?e). The leaves of plnm, 

 peach, apricot, etc., have a joint at the 

 l):ise. just above the insertion of the 

 pules, as in many leguminous plants; th^ 

 part below tliis joint does not fall ofi vnth 

 the leaf-stalk, but remains alive and fornis 

 a supplementary bud-scale. This is re- 

 garded as a vegetative character which sup- 

 ports the view that the Amygdalacete are 

 deserving of family rank, and also as 

 strengthening the coutuM tion betw(*eii the 

 rosaceous and leguminmis si^vlos, 'I'he f:i('t 

 tbat ^nnll loafv outgrowths sometime^ re- 

 pbtc(^ tln^ tioctari(w on the upper part of 

 tile l<'af-stalk in \ minus 



Amygdalace^e 



sugo^ests the vieu" that the immediate an- 



