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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



plants. Many other very good varieties could be named that were well 

 worth a place in every garden ; but as many have only moderate-sized 

 gardens, we have confined our list to those which stood out as especially 

 valuable. 



Royal Horticultural Hall. 



Fellows, of course, are aware that it is most earnestly to be hoped 

 that we shall be able to let the new Hall from time to time for bazaars, 

 concerts, and such like. There is no better place of its size for the 

 purpose in all London. It was so used on Tuesday, November 22, on the 

 occasion of a special concert by the St. Margaret's Musical Society. 

 Vocalists and orchestra together numbered nearly 300 performers, and 

 there was an audience of 1,000. The acoustic properties of the Hall were 

 thus fully tested and the result was eminently satisfactory. There was 

 no trace of an echo, the voices being effectively heard in every part of the 

 hall. The lighting, heating, and ventilation were also considered to be 

 admirable. The programme of this first concert in the new Hall included 

 the greater part of Handel's " Messiah," Schumann's Advent Hymn " In 

 lowly guise," a selection from Mozart's Symphony in E flat, and Gounod's 

 " Nazareth." 



Ericaceous Plants. 



A very frequent question put by visitors to the Society's Gardens at 

 Wisley is, " Why do Ericas, Kalmias, Pernettyas, and similar things grow 

 so well with you, and yet are entire failures with us ? " adding that no 

 expense has been spared in preparing sites for them with the best soil 

 procurable. The answer is, that where lime is found in any quantity 

 naturally in the soil, it is almost impossible to grow Ericaceous plants. 

 They may exist for a number of years, but scarcely any growth is made ; 

 flowers are conspicuous by their absence, and eventually the plants grow 

 less and die. Some say, " Oh, but I had all my beds dug out two or three 

 feet deep, and filled up with good peat, and yet the plants are a failure." 

 And so they usually will be, because the water passing through the soil 

 from the ground adjoining is so charged with lime that in a very short 

 time the new soil you put in becomes impregnated with lime and thus 

 forms a very unsuitable rooting medium for the plants. Where Rhodo- 

 dendrons and other Ericaceous plants refuse to thrive, the best plan is to 

 make a raised bed above the ground level, so that the water constantly 

 filtering through the surrounding earth only rises very slightly, if at all, 

 into the soil made up above the usual level. Even then the beds should, 

 if possible, be watered only with rain-water, and, if there is any risk of 

 drought, should have a mulch of thoroughly decayed manure, which will 

 not only enrich the soil, but assist materially in keeping the soil cool and 

 moist during hot weather. Leaf-mould, again, is a most excellent mulch 

 for all Ericaceous plants, and always looks neat and tidy, whereas birds 

 are very fond of scratching even well-decayed manure off the beds, and 

 making the margins untidy. We have seen such beds made, and the 

 sides and bottoms cemented for these plants. Not only is this costly, but 

 it is not always the success anticipated. 



