December 2S, 1912 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE 



1003 



EXHIBITIONS AND 



MEETINGS. 



Beckenha.m Ho rti cultural 



Society. 



All excellent lecture on Perpetual Flower- 

 ing Carnations was given before this 

 society by Mr. Leech, of Dulwich, a few 

 day.^ ago. Mr. Leech pointed out that the 

 American varieties were responsible for the 

 beginning of the present popularity of car- 

 nations. The plants required such simple 

 treatment that it was in. this very simplicity 

 the stumbling block wa*s so often found. 

 Cuttings should only be taken from gfood 



healthy plants; they should be neither too 

 hard or too soft, or from tile bottom of 

 plant, as thes-e latter had a tendency to go 

 to growth. 'The cu tings should be insei^ted 

 in pure sand in a bottom heat of 50 or 60 

 degrees, while the house temperature should 

 be a few degrees lower. "When rooted they 

 must be potted on in a mixture of loam and 

 a little sand in small thumb pots, and as 

 soon asr^stablished theyeirr-^ be given cooler 

 conditions, for th-^y must on no account be 

 coddled. TTie next potting would be into 

 go's, and it is here they are first" stopped, 



rather low down, to get a good number of 

 growths on them^ emphasised on account of 

 its importance in providing a '^e'ood foimda- 

 tion. The next shift should be into 32's. and 



J- 



here the plant is stopped again, and a good 

 plan advised was to stop at intervafs. ta 

 give a succession of blooin 



The ideal loam Mr. Leech recommended 

 was from some good old pasture land, but 

 where the soil was poor the addition of 

 bone-meal^ wood ashes, lime, and a sprinkling 

 of soot would enrich it. The plants sln»iud 

 be grown outside all the summer, preferably 

 in^frames, as they can then be covered OA^er 

 during wet periods. In the winter the car- 

 nation house must.be kept dry by the aid of 

 a little heat, about 50 degrees, as the flowers 

 will then open much better, and be of goo^ 

 colour. In connection with the dis-eases of 

 carnations, the lec'urer strongly advised pre- 

 ventur^ by spr:nklii>g the plants w^ith lime 

 and sulnhur. 



Bournemouth Gardeners' 



Association. 



Mr. J. Smith, gardener to Lady de Tabley, 

 Bei^ry Court. Bournemouth, gave a ver\ in- 

 teresting and instruc'ive lecture, illustrated 

 by lantern views, on "The Cultivation of 

 Currants" on Tuesdav December 17. 



Messrs. Evans, Pearce, and Hea^h staged 

 some nice plants of crotons, dracsenas, and 

 Primula sinensis for the " points prizes. 

 The primulas wera wel] grown, profusely- 

 flowered plants. 



Mr. Smith first dealt with the preparation 

 of the soil and the planting of the ycning' 

 bushes. He advi-ed deep trenching, men 

 the applu'ation of *i lieavy dressing- of manure 

 placed on tlie surface and thorouffhlv mixed 

 With the top soil only. He also advised 

 cultivators to add a fair quantity of old lime 

 rubble and salt. He would have the bushes 

 planted 4ft. apart each Avay. Dealing with 

 the young plants of red and white currants, 

 he said it was a mistake to allow anv young 

 basal shoots to grow after >^uffieient had been 

 secured to form the bush itself. All main 

 branches should be so trained as to allow of 

 a man's hat being freely pass-ed between 

 them after the winter pruning had been 

 done. For standards, the lecturer advii^ed 

 the Red Dutch mainly. He described the 

 method of forming a standard from the cut- 

 ting stage. Mr. Smith showed on the screen 

 standards growing alternately wi':h bushes, 

 with strawberries in front. ' He advocated 

 early pruning. 



Having referred in detail to the treatment 

 of black currants, and named varieties that 

 had succeeded well in the neighbotirhood, 

 M». Smith answered a number ot questions, 

 and a free discussion took place. Mr. King, 

 gardener to W. W. Moore, Esq., presided, 

 and hearty votes of thanks were accorded 

 both the chairman and the lecturer. 



ANSWERS TO 



CORRESPONDENTS. 



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EXHIBITIONS FOR 1913.— S. B., Watford : 

 Where can I obtain a good list of the princi- 

 pal horticuitarai exhibitions, etc., for 1913 r 

 We shall present our annual Almanac 

 with the iscsu? of the Gardeners Magazine 

 ol January 4^ and this will contain the best 

 available list of horticultural fixtures. 



PRICES OF TIMBER.— J. G., Gloucester: 

 I shall be glad if you will tell me Avhat price 

 good Aiustrian pine timber should fetch, and 

 also the usual priee of holly tiniberr — tAus- 

 trian pine is not likely to fetch more than 

 4d. per foot, . probably less. Holly is not 

 quoted as it is sO seldom offered, and tliere 

 i^ no regular supply. If someone wanted 

 holly timber for ebonising or other special 

 purpose a fair price would be offered, but, 

 with such exception,' the wood has only a 



firewood value. 



INCURVED 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



M. E, M., Lincoln : I gather from the reports 

 given and remarks made in the Gardeners' 

 Magazine^ that fewer incurved chrysanthe- 

 munio have been shown this j-ea^on than in 

 previous years, and the inference is tliat this 

 section is experiencing a decline in public* 

 favour. I am loth to believe that this is so, 

 but perhaps you could say what the position 

 is. — As an exhibition flower on the show.-, 

 board there has been a decline in the popu- 

 larity of incurved clirysanthemum.s during 

 the last few years, and we much regret this 

 is so, a^s we have a great admiration for 

 hnely-grown and finely-shown blooms of this 

 type. Raisers are devoting less attention to 

 the section, and, as competition los-eus. so- 

 cieties reduce or withdraw prizes for inc-nrved 

 flowers. However, on the other liand, the 

 market growers appreciate the value of in- 

 curved varieties* and grow many of them 

 for the production cf cut flowers; tlie l)]oonis 

 are, of course, not so tsolid and formal 

 those grown for show purposes. Mr, W, 

 Higgs, of Fetcham Park Gardens, Leather- 

 head, our foremost exponent of the culture 

 and exhibition cf incurved chrysanthemums, 

 drew attention to these matters at a Con- 

 ference held b^' the National Chrysanthemum 

 Societv at Et^sex Hall, in the late autumn of 

 1910. In concluding a lecture given on th;it 

 occasion, Mr. Higgs said: I ^llould lik? to 

 remark that of late years fewer incurveds 

 have been exhibited at our allows. The true 

 cause of this is rather difficult to determine. 

 It may be that they recpiire more care and 

 attention, more skill in staging and dressing 

 than Japan. or it may be that they are 

 losing favour with the public. W> have now 

 reached a period when popular sympathy is 

 with the Japanese, and the single is rapidly 

 gaining the admiration of flower-lovers. A 

 great many people prefer decoration fo tlie 

 formal incurved blooms on tlie sliowboard. 

 But in spite of thcso drawbacks. I f:>o\ sure 

 that if incurved cliryisanthcniunis do gradu- 

 ally assume the fourtli ])laci\ it will be due 

 to lack of interest, not ainong.-t the public, 

 but amongst the growers. Personally, I 

 should like to see many more entries in the 

 incurved classes of our exhibitions. Interest 

 in them would then revive, their culture 

 would advance more rapidly, and raisers 

 would be encouraged to produce more new 

 sorts every season. At the present time the 

 number of new varieties brought out each 

 vear is lanientablv small. I believe I am 

 right in saving that the Floral Committee of 

 the X.C.S. has labelled only one new incurved 

 F.C.C. this se ason — Ethel Thorp. If w^ go 

 on at this rate, fhe progress of cultivation of 

 incurveds will be much slower than that of 

 Japanese and singles. Therefore, let us do 

 all we can to further the advance of one of 

 the most beautiful flowers it is possible to 

 cultivate;' " 



JUDGING SWEET PEAS.— F, F. C, New- 

 castle: Is tlierc anv recomiiscd code of iudo^- 

 ing for sweet peas? If so, I shall l>e glad if 

 you will publish it in your "Answers 

 column. — The Royal Horticultural Society 

 deals with this matter, but we fancv thei 



enthusiasts. Following its annua] meeting a- 

 year ago, the National S\veet Pea Society held 

 a conierence^ at which the question of judg- 

 ing sweet peas was discussed, and at the 

 conclusion of the discussion, Mr. William 

 Cuthbertson proposed, and Mr. R. Bolton 

 seconded, that the following code of judging 

 sweet peas be recommended for general use. 

 The motion was carried unanimously : (a) 

 When starting, count the exhibits in eacli 

 class witli tlie secretary's assistant, to make 

 sure none is omitted, (b) Count the number 

 of vases, (c) See that the exact number of 

 varieties specified in the schedule are present 

 in each exliibit. (d) Make a preliminary sur- 

 vey, an rule out those stands that are 

 palpably defective, in order to be able to 

 concentrate attention on the eligiblcs^ (e) 

 Look through the vases in the selected stands 

 for mixed typos, (f) Be prepared to make 

 the awards on freshness, number of flowers 

 per stem, size of flowers, disposition, and 

 blending of colours. Compare vases of the 

 same varieties side by side, (g) Give a maxi- 

 mum of 6 points per bunch. This maximum 

 to be allocated to the best bunch, or bunches 

 in the stands, and then point the other 

 bunches, bv half points if necessary, working 



NEWS FROM HEADQUARTERS. 



A GIFT APPRECIATED BY ALLr 



Although unable to change the s.'a nn^. we 

 can help to brighten the dull and <tfteu de- 

 pressing days which occa--ionally occur 

 during even the most favtnirable autumn 

 and winter months, by creating an atmo- 

 sphere reminiscent of those summer days 

 when the honeyed fragrance of garden favou- 

 rites was Avafted through open window-. 



The judicious use of our night-scented 

 stock or sweet pea perfume will quickly 

 dispel an atmosphere of ]>essimism, and sug- 

 gest the sweetness of wnnd-borne fragrance 

 from your summer garden; so true to the 

 natural aroma are the perfumes w^e offer. 

 The^e extractions from the natural blossoms 

 are so subtle and delicate, that they convey 

 to the mind the actual flowers rather than 

 suggest a perfume. Instead of being over- 

 powering and productive of langour. as is 

 usual with so many perfumes, tlieir fra- 

 grance is crisp and invigorating, and has 

 an exhilarating effect upon the olfactory 

 senses. To fully realise the delicate fra- 

 grance of these concentrated es>er.c?s. they 

 must be used sparingly, so that they sug- 

 gest ratlier than define the flower they re- 

 present. Where a sweet perfume, without 

 the exhilarating (qualities of the alwve is 

 preferred, we advise our Gardenia Extract, 

 which possesses this quality without sug- 

 gesting th? heaviness characteristic of many 

 Ea'^tern scents and bouquets. For evening 

 use it is particularly pleasing- 



In the distillation of these perfumes, our 

 foremost object is to pi^oduce the natural 

 fragrance of the blossoms. They are, there- 

 fore, always suggestive of that reHnem?nt 

 wdiich is so important to tho:-e who are [and 

 of delicate perfumes, but cannot tolerate the 

 heavino.-..-, so ]nevaliMit in many kind, in 



frequent use. 



Are you in a quandary concerning a 

 Christmas or Xew^ Year Gift for members of 

 your family or friends!' The selection of 

 suitable presents is always an anxiou- 

 ])ro]>lem, and the fear that you may s-rd a 

 similar gift to one already received is a'w:.v>! 

 present. Save yourself this extra littl ■ 

 worry by sending some Night-scented St -ck. 

 Sweet Pea, or Gardenia Perfume, which we 

 particularly recommend. 



JAMES CARTER & CO. 



S^dMiieu to His Majesty the King, 



I 



code is not generally adopted by sweet pea RAYNES PARK 



I 



LONDON 



S.W 



