952 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



December 14, 1912. 



fruit of first-rate quality is sold at the price 

 of seconds/' By some it is thought that 

 a few fine fruits at the top will be sutficient 

 to ensure the highest price for the package, 

 but more often than not this method of 

 packing has the effect of reducing the valu© 

 of the wliole quantity. W© have on several 

 occasions referred to the importance of 

 fruit growers adopting the more modern 

 methoils of packing and marketing apples, 

 and as much has yet to be aoiomplished to 

 ensure the growers receiving a full return 



work prosper to the advantage of horticul- 

 ture and the town of Shrewsbury. And 

 now these gentlemen have resigned, ami 

 the committee of the Shrewsbury Fete have 

 regretfully accepted their resignation, for 

 Messrs. Adiiitt and Naunton are no longer 

 young, and the work is tremendously 

 heavy. Everyone will wish them long years 

 of healthful rest. Shrewsbury Fete is a 

 monument to their industry and integrity, 

 but it seems to us that there should be 

 some fitting recognition of the service they 

 have r(»ndered to horticulture. What do 



for their products we shall, in our next readers say? 



issue, deal with the subjeci; in greater de- Market Ga 

 tail than is now possible. 



Mr. Ernest Bailard, of Th© Court, 



Cohvall, near Alalvern, has made a name 

 for himself 



Gardeners' Compen- 

 sation. At the meeting of the Standing 

 Conuuittee of the House of Commons, ap- 

 poirrted to consider the Maiket Gardeners' 

 Compensation Bills, the object of which was 

 to guarantee to market gardeners the right 

 to compensation, it was decided that both 

 Bills should be withdrawn, and that an 

 agreed Bill be introduced next year. 

 Speaking on behalf of Mr. Runciman, who 

 was absent at a Cabinet Council, Mr. 

 Cecil Harm^sworth stated that it was the 

 desire of the President of the Board of 

 Agriculture that the two Bills should be 

 dischargcKl from the committee. They 

 were so obviously contentious that he saw 

 no prospect of their being passed into law 

 this season. His suggestion was that the 

 Bills having been withdrawn, an agreed 

 Bill should be introduced in the New Year. 

 Mr. C. Bathurst said that the Market Gar- 

 deners' Committee of the Central Chamber 

 of Agriculture had, at a meeting held on 

 the previous day, decided that the course 

 suggested was the best one to adopt. 

 Motions that the Bills be not fiu'ther pro- 

 ceeded with were submitted by the Chair- 



a raiser of new Michaelmas 

 daisies. It was with some liesitation he 

 acce(l*Ml to our recjuest for his portrait, be- 

 cause, as lie nuKlestly puts it, ''1 really 

 do not think the work I have done in 

 raising new Michaelmas <laisie« is of suffi- 

 cient importance to interest your readers ; 

 at any rate, I seem to have accomplished 

 such a very small amount of what I believe 

 can l)e done, and what I hope to do in the 

 futui e." Mr. Ballard raised the first 

 double Micliaelnuis daisy, named Beauty of 

 Colwall, and he has now a series of double 

 forms in varying shades of colour, as well 

 as maiiy promising seedlings of other sec- 

 tions. He believes there is a great future 

 for these autumn flower,s, but he is equally 

 sure that about 75 jx^r cent, of the varie- 

 ties now listed will have to be turned out 

 of gardens before the general public fully 

 appreciate the value and beauty of Michael- 

 mas daisies. Like many others who look 

 into the future, and work unceasingly to- 

 war(k an ideal, Mr. Ballard has ha<l to 

 bear the criticism of his friends, wht) 

 wonder why he has taken up the improve- 

 ment of Michaelmas daisies &o keenly. Mr, 

 Ballard is an enthusiaust, as are all florists 

 and raisei's, and he considers that those 

 ^vho regar<l perennial asters as '^uninter- 

 esting,'' ha\ (' IK v( r seen a cK)llection of the 



varieties in flower, for he is per- 

 suaded "no real flower lover can t-iil to 

 admire these glorious plants, which, by 

 their hardiness, ease of culture, variety of 

 colour, habit and wild profusion of bloom, 

 can do so much to adorn the autumn gar- 

 den, even into the ciiilly, damp days of 

 November.'* 



Retirement of Messrs. Adnitt 



a.nd Na.unton. — Everybody knows that this title two bulletins lun e recently been 

 Messrs. H. \V. Adnitt and W. W. Naunton issued by the Cornell I'liiversity, itheca, 

 have been the secri^taries of the famous 

 Shrewsbniy Floral P'ete for thirty-eight 

 years, ;ind that tht^ abundant success which 

 has attended the anniuxl exhibition has been 



man, and agreed to, and the committee ad- 

 journed. 



Kniphofia.S.~-Sir Herbert Maxwell 

 writ^^s : Mr. Thomas Smith is in error (p. 

 901) when he describes Kniphofia caulescens 

 as an autumn-flowering species. It flowers 

 in July, and the plants 1 have cannot be 

 described as having " red and greenish- 

 yellow blossoms, for the yellow is clear 

 sulphur colour, and very showy. The 

 variety named ndbilis is no use in the 

 north ; for, although perfectly hardy, it 

 does not flower till October, when it is 

 pretty sure to get cut by frost. A good 

 substitute for it is K. Northi, not men- 

 ioned by Mr. Smith, which grows taller 

 than K. nobilis, and has branching flower 

 stems. 



Pea. Studies. 



I nder 



due chiefly to their untiring efforts, enter- 

 prise, and urbanity. Messrs. Adnitt and 

 Naunton wrre, to all intents and pur])oses, 



mJ ' J 



X.V., and in each case ^ tlio bulletin is writ- 

 ten l>y Mr. Alvin C. Heal, wlu) has charge 

 of the floricultural work ol the Horticul- 

 tural Department. One issue (No. 319) 

 deals with winter-fh)wering sweet peas, dis- 

 cusses cultural uH^thods, origin of the 

 several groups, <lis(^:ises and pests, and in- 

 chules lengthy ilescriptions of the varieties, 

 the Repertoire de Couleurs " being used 

 as a standard for colours. The other issue 



the <u-i;i;inators of the Shropshire Horticul- 

 tural Society, and they have seen the floral 

 fete grow from a small beginning to a 



great national floricultural function. Not (Xo. 320) is devoted to Culture of tht 

 only -so, but by means of the profits accru- Sweet Peas/' and covers sixty-two o-ctavo 



pages. This is a most interesting issue, as 

 Mr. Beal gives the botany of the f^-enus 



ing the soc iety has benefited the town c)f 

 Shrewshurv rnormouslv. The enlargenu^nt 

 of The Quarry drounds, the purchase and 

 planting of the foreshor^v of tlie Sevei ii, the 



liandsomr cntrMnce nates arul InH^e at Tln' 

 Quarry^ ini|>rn\ tMiietrts on St. C'luid's Trr- 

 ra((\ a fint- stntiir in Cliarli's l);u\viu, who 

 was born ;ir Shr* w^ou rv, and gilts to hos- 

 pitals and the pulili<- lil»rarv, liave all be<ui 

 render*Ml [tossihlt* l>y reason of sur]>lus pro- 

 fitvS. Tlir (iarden»'rs' T?oval IJenevoIent In- 

 stitution lias also receiv(Hl on<» or two con- 

 tributions from the so; iety, so that Messrs. 



Adnitt and Naunton have seen their great 



Lathyrus, and deals at leimth in a suc- 

 ceeding <*hapter with tho !)i)t:nnr al and lior- 

 tieultural tiistory of the svv*'ct |}(a. givin<^ 

 an illusttalion of K!)ii)liof's ill iistra turn of a 

 swet^L pea ( 1 7r,7-17()(l), and of Caspar Com- 

 melin's <lrawing (17(10). Kro,n the chapter 

 dealing with cultivation wc cull the follow- 

 ing : Many English growers praetisf. sow- 

 uig in pots mider glass, har(lenin^ tlu^ 

 ])lants Ml frames, and planting out. "From 

 the writer's experience witli three varieties 

 <luruig tluv year under discussion, he is 



inclined to look on this method with favour 

 especially in growing high-priced novelties 

 or varieties for exhibition. In fact, if the 

 results of experience and observation at 

 this station in 1910 are to be relied on, it 

 would appear that the successful exhibitors 

 of the future will obtain flowers from full- 

 grown or pot-grown plants.'' The illustra- 

 tions show in a marked degree the advan- 

 tages cyf pot-sown sweet joeas. 



A Park for Ch earn. —Seven acres of 



land, known as the Orchard Meadow, 

 wh i ch he had laid out as a park, 

 have been bequeathed to Cheam, Surrey, 

 by the late Mr. John Seear, of The Quarrv, 

 Cheam. Mr. Seear was a chartered accoun- 

 lant, and, subject to the life interest of 

 various legatees, he has bequeathed large 

 sums to the Loriners' Company and the 

 Institute of Chartered Accountants for 

 charitable purposes. 



Mr. Ernest Hemming, who suc- 

 ceeds the late Professor John Craig as 

 editor of The National Nurseryman/' an 

 American trade paper, issued monthly from 

 Rochester, New York, is of English birth, 

 and has been associated with the nursery 

 business for the greater part of his life. 

 Serving his apprenticeship in England, 

 where it is necessary to begin at the bot- 

 tom, so that first principles are thoroughly 

 grounded in the young horticulturists, he ac- 

 quired a thorough and broad knowledge of 

 plant life. After leaving the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens at Kew he went to the I'nited 

 States, and for the last fifteen years has 

 been with the firm of Thomas Meehan and 

 Sons. He has an extensive acquaintance 

 with nurserymen and the horticidtural 

 trade in general, and with his ability as a 

 writer makes him pecidiarly fitted to carry 

 on the work of Professor Craig. Mr. E. 

 Hemming and Mr. Meehan were over here 

 for the International Horticultural Exhibi- 

 tion, and visited numerous British and Con- 

 tinental establishments during their trip. 



Cold Weather in Newcastle.— 



From Oakwood Gardens, Wvlam-on-Tvne, 

 Mr. H. J. Chapman writes, on DecembtT 

 8 : " You will not be surprised to hear that 

 nearly everyone is suffering from a severe 

 cold after tlie recent weathei* ex])eriences 

 here. Last week we had stiow. and 27, 26, 

 2o, 19, and 18 degrees of fi'ost resi-»ectively 

 on successive nights. This w is s(^\ pre after 

 the previous mild weather, and now, to- 



day, it is like Aj)ril rather than December. 



The Journal of the R.H.S. 

 Gardens Club for 1912. which is the 



fifth of the series, has just reached us, and 

 it is particularly interesting to those who 

 have been, or .still are. euiplnyed by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society. But though 

 it is primarily to?- old Chiswick men, and 

 past and present Wisleyites, it is neverthe- 

 h>ss of no small interest to all lovers of 

 liorticultiu-e. The R.H.S. Gardens Club is 

 sonunvhjit on tlu^ same lines as the Kew 

 (inild. and helit^\e there are no other 

 similar institutions connected with horti- 

 culture in the United Kingdom. Quaint 

 and not lacking in humour, is the reproduc- 

 tion of the front page of rlu^ first issue of 

 ^'The ChisAvick Bothy and R.H.S. Gar- 

 dener/' a halfpenny journal ])ublished by 

 the Chiswick men in 1882 as a mild protest 

 against the action of the Council in object- 

 ing to books and ])a])ers being removed 

 from the Council Room to he read in the 



Tile e(ln<-nti()jial sith^ of garden- 



Hort icultnral 



botflies. 



ing 



finds e\]M * --Mf))! Ill . . . - . 



Scholarsliips." by Mr. K. J. (liittomliMi, 



F.L.S. ; '"CDinitv Lecturiiiij;," bv Mi'. C. d. 



<^il(vd ; A PU^a" for the K<liu^ation of Gar- 

 ^b'nrrs/' ])v Mr. J. FraMM\ K.L.S. ; nnd 

 • Sehool (hardening/' by Mr. H. IV Terry. 

 There are cultnial notes uruler such head- 

 ings as k Chat about Pinks/' ^" Some 



