January 22, 1898. 



fn, information on their cultivation. The author, who has long devoted special 

 for mformation o of hardy perennials, tells us in the admirably- written 



orefe a ?o hi s work Sa? « its objecf is not to give scientiGc information, but to fur- 

 P Lh rL names and descriptions of really useful and reliable hardy perennial 

 Snts suitable for all kinds of flower gardens, together with cultural hints on 

 E£h olant " This object the book has fully accomplished, for within its pages 

 <ome three or four hundred of the more beautiful species are enumerated and 



bribed and their cultural peculiarities fully discussed. The course of procedure 

 acs-nL^v . . , j r ... t v_ in a careful 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



57 



can reaaily find all the information tnat couia possibly be desired with rega 

 cultivation. Every detail essential to success is fully described, and with re mark- 

 able clearness, the latter being a point of considerable importance to those who 

 have had but little experience in hardy plant culture. The plants are arranged 

 alphabetically in the body of the work, and to still further facilitate reference to 

 ihem there are two indices, in one of which the plants are arranged in alphabetical 

 order, and the other they are grouped according to their colours. A few plants 

 aie not mentioned which we expected to find, and it is interesting to observe that 

 while reference is made to the Chinese and Japanese chrysanthemums the hardy 

 and free-flowering Chrysanthemum maximum and C. pallens are wholly omitted. 

 The selection of early-flowering chrysanthemums at page 6 1 consists chiefly of 

 generally-grown varieties ; but it might be materially improved. Michaelmas 

 daisies are briefly dismissed, for very few are mentioned, and of these two only 

 are described ; the selection of these useful hardy flowers should be extended in 

 the next edition, and fuller particulars given with regard to the habit of the plants 

 and the colour of the flowers. In the matter of nomenclature Mr. Wood has 

 ignored the authorities and employed capitals in the specific as well as in the 

 generic names without reference to their derivation. The use of capitals in this 

 way does not impair the practical utility of the work, but as correctness is desir- 

 able in this as in other matters, they should have been avoided. Apart from this, 

 the book is so thoroughly sound that we can strongly recommend it to those of 

 our readers who are desirous of obtaining the fullest information on the most 

 beautiful of the hardy plants that have been introduced to British gardens. 



Law. 



ORCHID SALE. 



The case of A5:ii\vorth v. Wells, heard in the Court of Queen's Bench on the 

 1 8th inst., before Mr. Justice Day and Mr. Justice Lawrence. This was an appeal 

 from the Manchester County Court. The facts were these : The plaintiff, an 

 amateur orchid-grower, had bought an orchid at a sale of the defendant s collection 

 of orchids by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris on June 26 and 27, 1895. The orchid 

 was warranted by the defend xnt to be a Cattleya Acklandioe alba, a great rarity, if 

 not unique. It had never fbwered while in possession of the defendant, and it 

 turned out after two years' cultivation by the plaintiff to be not an alba or white 

 variety of Cattleya Acklandix, but the ordinary purple form, which was only 

 worth 7s. 6d. The plaintiff then brought an action for damages. The defendant 

 admitted liability and paid into Court twenty guineas and two guineas for interest, 

 which he said was sufficient. The County Court Judge thought that the sum paid 

 in was enough, and gave judgment for the defendant. He also found that if the 

 orchid had really been an alba it would have been worth more than ^50 at the 

 time of the sale. 



Mr. C. A. Russell, Q.C., who appeared for the plaintiff, said that the County 



Court Judge was wrong in thinking that enough had been paid into Court. He 



practically had only given back to the plaintiff the amount he had paid. He should 



have considered the value at which the orchid would have arrived at by this time. 



The claim was reduced to ^50 in order to give jurisdiction to the County Court to 

 try the case. 



Mr Montague Lush, who appeared for the defendant, said that as the hale of 

 the orchid had taken place at a largely-attended auction the price given was the 

 real market price. It was wrong to assume that if the orchid had been a white 

 one it would have flowered by this time. It might never have flowered at all. 

 Un the question of measure of damages he cited several cases, and contended that 

 the cla m by the plaintiff was speculative, as no one had ever seen a white orchid 

 of this class. 



The Ccurt held that the matter must go back to the County Court Judge, and 



IT \l UStl l e ^ ay Said he had come to this conclusion with considerable reluctance, 

 lie tnougnt that the plaintiffs real cause of complaint was that he had had to pay 

 we costs of the County Court action. The defendant admitted that he was 

 wrong in his warranty. The plaintiff had spent time and trouble and money in 



^k* C ^ ttIe ? a - - The J ud S e of the Count y Couit had apparently con- 

 if fhl P, 1 ? 8 }? 1 the on g inal Price of twenty guineas. It was very likely that 



bu tuZ 1 C ? a . Whke orchidit mi g bt hive been worth more than £50, 

 nart r,n aS ° n y - s P eculatloa a *er all, because such a thing as a white orchid of this 



particular species was really unknown. 

 Court Judge. " - ' 



^ . . — The matter should go back to the County 



broth*; ,. Mr 'J ustlce Lawrance said he did not disagree with his learned 



UtoSl vZSSS ? C ° aSe baGk ' thou ^ h he thou S ht that the Court had sufficient 

 the d?rTerln, C K f thC °f 6 themselv es. The true measure of damages was not 

 ^M^rS^I!^ 1 tl «^.^P rificof the orchid and the priced which it 

 of t£ !SL!! ? L"S u pUt u ng lt S enerall y> the measure was the difference in value 



th the defect warranted against and the value of the thing 



what it w a « rV~7" > H f* e the , e y idenc e was all one way. If the orchid had been 

 i h^ b2en worth P erha P 3 ^ If the County 



** u & JUIU 



without the defect. 



Court had i>,ric^: •• ,"7 ,u .""" : uccu p^uays ^ioo. it tne County 



difference. ° deal with that amount the P ,ai ™«" might recover the 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



J'.AkiTANDS 0 LAN 5? roiiT > Somerset.— Seeds, Plants, and Bulbs. 



M. CUTHB.KTsfm S2 St *< E * \CoVENT GARDEN, Lo* DON.- See J Gtlide, 



Hkrd B r oT«n N ' p ^ 1 HESA v, N B.~ Seeds and Plants. 



' hos I \ " N ^ EN K",H.-Garden Seeds. 



k. Stoixham % Hale c Fa ™. Tottenham. — Seed-*. 



W M . SEl^Ss S £ REET > km ingham. — "Seeds. 



Wm. Cmbran :^ N q! R ?. ad ' Chelsea.-, eed«. 



Akmitage BpotJIo /i' Market Street, Manchester.— Gar Jen Seeds. 

 1»«cksos AN n o HERS (Limited^ N ottingham . — Seed Manual. 

 Ciiari es ShIrm ? BINSor J> Manchester. — Seeds and Sundries. 

 Kobert Veitth * A n c ' X L,MIT£ d). Sleafokd.— Standi rd Seeds. 

 xv 'm. Paoi av,) £ HlGH St «eet, Kxeter. — Serds. 



Urfnz ' Pi harden Diary. 



' ' B *' WI Gki:manv. Miuide for Amateur Gardeners. 



&c 



Exhibitions and Meetings. 



GARDENERS' ROYAL BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. 



The annual meeting of this useful and ably-managed charity was held on Thurs- 

 day, January 20, at Simpson's, 101, Strand. There was a fair attendance, 

 and Mr. Harry J. Veitch, presided. After the usual preliminaries, the secretary, 

 Mr. G. J. Ingram, read the report for the year 1897. 



Committee's Report. 



It affords the committee much satisfaction to submit their annual report for the 

 year 1897, together with an audited statement of accounts, and in doing so they 

 are thankful to be able to record the continued prosperity of the institution, and 

 its increased benefit to those old and needy people in whose behalf it was founded. 

 With great pleasure the committee have to report that the fifty-eighth anniversary 

 festival dinner in aid of the funds, held in May last, was most successful, and they 

 desire to express their gratitude to the Right Hon. Lord Rothschild for so kindly 

 occupying the ch.ir on that occasion. They would also gratefully acknowledge 

 their indebtedness to those gentlemen who so kindly served as stewards, to those 

 who sent flowers and fruit, and to other friends who in any way assisted in making 

 the festival a complete success. 0 



During the past year nineteen pensioners have died, seven of them leaving 

 widows, of whom five whose cases on being carefully investigated and found to be 

 in every way satisfactory, have been placed on the pension list at ^"16 a year in 

 succession to their late husbands in accordance with Rule III., 13. The committee 

 have now the pleasure to announce that they have decided to add nineteen addi- 

 tional pensioners to the number at present on the funds, ten of whom, having been 

 accepted under Rule III., 5, they recommend the subscribers to place on the 

 pension list without the trouble and expanse of an election ; the remaining nine to 

 be elected by vote from the approved list of candidates in the usual way. This 

 addition will make the total of pensioners one hundred and sixty seven, the 

 largest number of beneficiaries receiving permament aid since the founda- 

 tion of the institution. Yet there will be thirty-five unsuccessful candidates 

 who will perforce have to wait for that assistance which they so 

 much need. The commictee sincerely wish it were possible for them to 

 render aid to the larger number, but with the financial responsibility to those now 

 on the funds, which it is impossible to accurately calculate, they do not feel in a 

 position to recommend a greater increase in the annual expenditure, than 

 ihat entailed by the addition of the number already stated. In the past year there 

 have been held in aid of the charity an amateur operatic performance at St. 

 George's Hall, kindly organised by Mr. H. Morgan Veitch ; a flower and fruit 

 stall at Richmond Horticultural Exhibition, kindly arranged by Mrs. Algernon 

 Chancellor ; garden fetes at Reigate and other places ; conceits at Altrincham, 

 and various other functions in different parts of the country, to the promoters of 

 which, one and all, the committee tender their very hearty and sincere thank?. 

 They would also gratefully recognise the self-denying labours of the hon. secre- 

 taries of the several auxiliaries, which are still attended with marked success, and 

 are the means of creating an ever-widening interest in the good work of the 

 institution. 



It will be remembered that the committee at the last general meeting suggested 

 the sending to each unsuccessful candidate at the 1897 election, the sum of on 

 June 21, in honour of the Diamond Jubilee of her Majesty the Oueen. This they 

 are happy to say was done, and the giatefal letters of acknowledgment received 

 from the recipients showed how greatly appreciated were the welcome and, in 

 many cases, timely gifts. The committee likewise announced that they had 

 inaugurated a fund to commemorate the long and beneficent reign of our beloved 

 Queen, the patroness of this charity. This fund, by her Majesty's gracious per- 

 mission, is called the "Victorian Era Fund." They are now gratified beyond 

 measure to s'ate that the appeal issued in its behalf was most generously responded 

 to, the sum of ,£4,075 being received, which amount has been invested in the 

 names of the trustees in the Great Western Railway 5 p*r Cent. Guaranteed Con- 

 solidated Stock, and the interest derived therefrom will be annually divided pro 

 lata among those unsuccessful candidates who formerly were subscribers to the insti- 

 tution, in order to render them some temporary assistance while waiting election ; no 

 candidate to receive more than £10 in any one year. The committee would like 

 to mention the names of all who have so liberally and kindly contributed to this 

 special object ; but, whilst gratefully thanking all who did so, they hope it may 

 not seem invidious if they particularise a few generous and munificent donors who 

 greatly helped to secure the substantial amount raised: His Grace the Duke of 

 VVestminster, Lord Rothschild, Messrs. N. Rothschild and Sons, Baron Schroder, 

 Mr. H. J. Veitch, Mr. N. N. Sherwood, Mr. C. Czarnikow, Mr. A. W. Sutton, 

 and Mr. G. Monro. 



The committee are happy to announce that the following legacies have been 

 received : £457 5s. nd. from the late Mr. J. M. Thomson, formerly a gardener 

 to his Majesty King George III., the interest to be devoted to the special benefit 

 of a widow or widows ; and £100 from the late Colonel Thomas Page, formerly 

 a life member of the institution. They also thankfully acknowledge the 

 receipt, just before the close of the year, of special donations to the 

 general fund of £50 from the Royal Scottish Horticultural Society, and 

 £26 $$. from the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society. In common 

 with other charities, the committee have to deplore the removal by death of 

 several friends and supporters, amongst whom may be mentioned the late Dr. 

 Hogg, a vice-president and trustee, who for many years took a warm and practical 

 interest in the institution, and the late Mr. Richard Chrimes, who for upwards ot 

 thirty years had been a liberal subscriber to its funds, the late Lord Hindlip, and J. 

 Travers Smith, Esq., both of whom had been annual subscril>ers for many years. 

 They have also to record that, in consequence of advancing age, Mr. John Lee 

 has felt compelled to relinquish his position as a trustee of the institution. From 

 its foundation Mr. Lee has been one of its warmest friends, and whilst accepting 

 his resignation with the deepest regret, they know that, as long as he may 

 be spared, he will ever continue to take a special interest in its welfare. It 

 is a source of much gratification for the committee to notify that the Hon. Walter 

 Rothschild and Bruno Schroder, Esq., have consented to fill the vacant trustee- 

 ships, and they desire to express their sincere thanks to these gentlemen for so 

 kindly giving their services in this way to the institution. 



In concluding their report, the committee have to make the welcome announce- 

 ment that the filty-ninth anniversary dinner in aid of the funds will be celebrated 

 on June 8 next at the Hotel Metropole, w T hen his Grace the Duke of Portland has 

 kindly undertaken to preside, and from a long experience they are encouraged to 

 hope that all those friends who have the well-being of the charity at heart will 

 again do, in this sixtieth year of its history, all in their power to ensure the success 

 of the anniversary. And, whilst rejoicing in the solid prosperity of the charity, 

 they still earnestly invite the kind co-operation of its present supporters in pro- 

 curing new subscribers, especially amongst gardeners and those who may, at some 



