JfoVEMBER 16 



1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



^cond prize; and Mrs A . K, Wood and 

 ^j. 4. Warburton equal thirds. 



NON-COMPETITIVE. 



This section was one of great merit and 

 the various contributions added greatly to 

 the interest and value of the show. The fol- 

 lowing awards were made: 



Gold Medals.-To Messrs. J. Cypher and 

 «nfls for a fine bank of orchids, including 

 ; Irand display of cypripediums m which 

 C insigne Harefield Hall and C msigne 

 S;iiderl were prominent ; to Messrs. Charles 

 ;.orth and Co., for a beautiful display of 

 orchids in which odontoglossums and catt- 

 kvas in great variety and rare excellence 

 were the most noteworthy ; to Mr K. \\ . 

 Lee for a l>eautiful display, in which the 

 catt'leyas and cypripediums were of excep- 

 tional merit; to Messrs. Dickson, Brown, and 

 T'lit for a collection of fruit, chiefly apples, 

 of excellent quality; and to Messrs. Cli- 

 brans, for an attractive display ot begonias. 



Silver-gilt Medal.— To Colonel Euther- 

 ford for a pleasing contribution of orchids, 

 ill which were maaay fine varieties of catt- 

 leyas and cypripedium 

 Silver Medal. ""^ 



To Misa Wood, for a ^roup 

 of orchids, in which Vaiida cserulea and 

 cattleyas were of much merit; to Mr. War- 

 burton, for well-growii orchids. 



Tlip arrano-omeuts were carried out bv Mr. 

 P. Weath^'rs with his arcustom^^d ability. 



Horticultural Club. 



On Tuesday, the oth incstant, at the Hotel 

 Windvsor, this club held its monthly dinner 

 under the chairmanship of Sir Harry J. 

 Veitch, a good number of members and guests 

 being present. Subsequently a most interest, 

 ing kcture was given by Mr. F, Kmgdon 

 Ward, F.E.C.S., entitled "A Natur- 



alist in Western China and Tibet," and illuc^- 

 trated by a large number of very beautiful 

 lantern slides from photographs taken by the 

 lecturer. 



Mr. Ward, who shortly returns to China on 

 another botanical expedition, accompanied 

 the exhibition of the slides by explanatory re. 

 marks concerning the nature of the moun- 

 tainous r-egion which he traversed, and the 

 wonderfully vari-ed character of the plant life 

 which all 'but pervaded it, the exceptions 

 being considerable areas of arid waste which 

 alternated cunourily with adjacent regiou^^ 

 where heavv rains fell for six months in the 

 year 



The lecture was peculiarly interesting in 

 the light it threw upon the reasons of this 

 variation. A range of mountains, 18,000 to 

 20,(XX)ft. in height would, for instance, act 

 as a rain screen by intercepting the rain- 

 bearing winds from another range but a few 

 miles distant, the result being that on the 

 windward side the rainfall would be enor- 

 mous but on the leeward all but nil. This 

 in its turn naturally greatly affected the cha- 

 racter of the vegetation, as did also the 

 winds engendered by different conditions and 

 accentuated by the" geographical contour of 

 the land, tree growth being suppressed or 

 encouraged, so that, while one side of a valley 

 was only clothed with scrub o'* dwarf rlunlo- 

 deudrons, the other nide might be chMisoly 

 wooded. The differeiict^ in shelter tlins in- 

 duced also altered the j)huits of smaller 

 growth, which, however, in the shape of 

 Alpine flora, particularly of the Saxifrage, 

 Androisaee, and Meconopsis or Poppy tribe, 

 constituted a general and particularly rich 

 field for research, and a source, it was hoped, 

 of many new additions to our hardy flower 

 borders. Some slides, showing specimens of 

 such growing in. situ^ evoked particular in- 

 terest, Yiews of the great river Yangtse 

 Kiang and some of the affluents sliowed some 

 magnificent gorges through which they had 

 eroded their way, between cliffs of several 

 thousand feet elevation. Happily, despite 

 I'umours of dis^sension between the various 

 sections of tlie inliabitants of the widely-ex- 

 tended region traA-crsed, and oven of English 

 invasion. Mr, Ward found hospitality of a 

 rough kind to prevail throughout his travels, 

 and met with no serious adventures. 



In the subsequent discussion, however, iii 



which Sir Harry J, Yeitch and Messrs. Barr, 

 Druery, and others participated, some very 

 gruesome accounts of sights seen and perils 

 encountered by other explorers in the same 

 regions were quite sufficient to demonistrate 

 that the plant hunter practically took his life 

 in his hand, and had need to possesc^ plenty 

 of pluck and diplomacy in addition to the 

 all-essential botanical knowledge required in 



such pursuits. 



A very hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Ward 

 and wishes for a " bon voyage," and success 

 at the end of liis pendins: jourmy^ concluded 

 a most interesting function. 



Reading: 



Garden 

 iation. 



FORTNIGHTLY MEETING. 



held 



The usual fortnightly meeting was 

 in the Abbey Hall, and the President (Mr. 

 F. B. Parfitt) occupied the chair. The lee- 

 turer announced for the evening was a 

 delegate from the kindred society at Bristol, ^ 

 who at the last moment was unfortunately 

 prevented from journeying to Eeading. His 

 place was. however, admirably filled by a 

 brother Bristolian, Mr. I. House, who is 

 alwavs welcomed by the Reading Association. 

 The Subject selected was "Hardy Peren- 

 nials,'' and the lecturer prefaced his address 

 by a humorous reference to propagation, 

 stating it was his intention to say nothing 

 on the point, nor to reply to any question, 

 as he was always in doubt as to how much 

 information he was expected to give, and 

 how little, for his own sake, he ought to 

 divulge, which was unsatisfactory to both 

 himself and his audience. 



In the first part of his paper Mr. House 

 defined the term "hardy perennial herba- 

 ceous plants," and expressed regret that com- 

 pilers of show schedules were not clear m 

 their stipulations. Bulbous plants should 

 not, in his opinion, be admissible in a class 

 for hardy herbaceous plant<s, neither any of 

 doubtful hardiness, nor others treated as 

 greenhouse plants, for the purposes of com- 

 petitive exhibition. He instaiiced plants 

 which are not easily propagated, among 

 others commending Ostrowskia magnihca, 

 and giving his experience with it. Another 

 list comprised those which are not generally 

 successful, as Romneya Coulteri, supplement- 

 ing it with cultural details. Mr. House also 

 gave the names of a number of the newer and 

 hner forms of better-known plants, such as 

 phloxes, pyrethrums, niontbretias, etc. In 

 another section of his paper he gave the 

 names of plants which are undesirable occu- 

 pants of the herbaceous border on account of 

 their predatory habits. He advised his audi- 

 ence as to the kinds of plants which are best 

 left undisturbed for several years, like the 

 forms of Aster amellus, Dictamnus Fraxi- 

 nella, paeonies, etc., and enumerated other.-, 

 which are letter for annual or biennial re- 

 planting. Mr. House also pointed out the 

 iniurv which might follow the premature re- 

 moval of stems, particularly where of large 

 size as in delphiniums. The lecturer's wide 

 knowledge and enthusiasm for his subject led 

 to very numerous queries l>eing put to him. 



On the motion of the President, an ex- 

 ceedingly hearty vote of thanks was accorded 

 Mr. House. 



FLOWER SHOW. 

 The Reading Gardeners' Association held 

 its annual exhibition on Thursday week in 

 aid of the gardening charities. No prizes 

 are awarded, everyone exhibits of his best 

 on this occasion, and a grand display i> 

 produced. 



Bv the courtesy of the secretary ot tiie 

 Association, we have received the following 

 li^t of exhibitors and exhibits: Sir Rufus 

 Isaacs, Fox Hill, Reading (gardener, E 

 Blackwell) group of chrvsanthemunis and 

 fruit- F B. Parfitt, Esq.. Elmcroft, Caver- 

 shaml president of the Society, twelve dislies 

 of fruit; L. G. Sutton, Es({., llill-ide, IJead- 

 ing, vicc-]n'esident (g^ardener. V. U owusend). 

 o-roiip of >eedling chrvsantlKMniuns and cir- 

 cular group of primulas; Messns. Sutton and 

 Sons, group of chrysanthemums; University 



College, Reading (per Mr. F. G. Drew), group 

 of chrysanthemums and collection of triiit; 

 Mrs. Noble, Park Place ^ Henley (gardener, 

 T. J. Powell), collection of fruit; Mrs. Cra- 

 croft Wilson, Bill Hill, Wokingham (gar- 

 dener, R. A. Hatton), collection of fruit; J. 

 Walter Esq., Bear Wood (gardener, J. T. 

 Tubb). collection of fruit); S. B. Joel, Esq., 

 Maiden Erlegh (gardener, F. Johnson), group 

 of plant> and colhction <d fruit; 'l\ H. Har- 

 man, Sindh'sham Ilou^e (gardi'iier, T. 



Neve), twenty-live di-iies ot trnit ; Mr>, Bland 

 Garland (gardener, H. W il-oni, twehi^ dishes 

 of fruit; M. H. Foquet Sutton, Esq., Er- 

 legh Park (gardener. H. C. Loader), group 

 of seedling chrysanthemums and collection of 

 vegetables; S. Griifitli. V.si\., (;i)rdon Lodge 

 (gardener, G. Carter), groii]) of (Jloire de Lor- 

 raine begonias; T. Also])]), Es(i., Downham 

 Lodge (gardener. G. H inl on), colled ion of 

 vegetables; H. Collins, Ivsfp, Leopi)ld Hou>e, 

 iReading (gardener, A. F. Bailey i. 1 welve 

 dishes of fruit; G. Bryant. Esq. six dishes 

 of fruil ; I".. Parker, Esq., twenty dishes of 

 fruit; Mr. G. Stanton, Upper Ciilham. dried 

 grasises, leaves, etc.; Leighton Park School 

 (gardener. W. G. Tovey), zonal pe1arg<niiums, 

 vegetables, and fruit : Eric Palmer. l>q., 

 Shinfield (irano^e (gaidener, (I. Smilln. col- 

 lection of vegetables and fruit ; Mr. A. We])b, 

 fifteen dishes of fruit; P. Keevil. Esq., 

 (gardener, D. Turner), collect i(m of vege- 

 tables ; Mrs. Fiii:'li, Hur^t (irove (i^ardener, 

 G. West), collection of viurt-tablcs ; J. Okey 

 Tnvlor, l^sq. (sfardener, T. Browu t. nine 

 dishes of fruit ; Mrs. Collin-<, Stonelr.im 

 House (gardener, H. Gnodger), collection of 

 vegetables and apples ; Mrs. Austen, Whitley 

 Lodge (gardener, W. Bennett), eisrhteen dishe^ 

 of fruit: W. Howard Palmer, Esq., Heath- 

 lands, Wokingham (gardener, W. C. Moles), 

 collection of dwarf-growintr chrysanthemums: 

 Mrs. Bird (gardener, A. Abraham), collection 

 of vegetables; L. R. Erskine, I>(^., IJinfield 

 :\Iano.' (gardener, C. Earle), collection of vege- 

 tables ; Capta;u Miller, Blandfovd Lodge 

 (gardener, II. Piceves)^ display of pelareo- 

 niums and collection of fruit ; Br. C. M. 

 Powell, Caversham (gardener. (J. Boxall\ ten 

 dishes of fruit; Mr. E. J. Dcr^'. Heading, 

 potatoes and lettuce; Mr. W. Smith Cann, 

 Shaftesbury, Dorset, two vases of violets. 



Eccles. 



NOYKMBER S and 9. 



The twentv-si>;ith annual show of this 

 Society was held in the Town Hall under 

 somewliat dismal conditioi]>. :i> tlie light was 

 bad, and there was continuous rain. The 

 entries, as usual, were excellent, filling to 

 the utmost the limited space at command. 



And Limewashing Machines 



In every gur- 

 den and on 

 t^very estate 

 one of these 

 • Four Oaks ' 

 m a c h i n es 



r re i di 9 - 

 pen sable. 



Will spray 

 the Fruit 

 Trees, Lime- 

 was li the 

 Stables, Ken- 

 nels. Out- 

 build i ngs, 

 Ac., in a 

 fraction of 

 the time 

 ta k e n by 

 brushes. 



Cora plete 

 Catalogues 

 of Spraying 

 and Lime- 

 w a s U i n K 

 Machines A 

 Syringes free 

 on applica- 

 tion to Sole 

 Manfactrs. : 



' i our Oaks *LimewaHhin£r Machine, ] 

 **Roval Pattern " £3 18s. 6d. I 



FOUR OAKS SPRAYING MACHINE CO.. 



No. 3C, Sutton Coldfleld, Birmingham 



The 



