February 5, 1898. 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE 



Exhibiti ons and M eetings, 

 oxfordshire chrysanthemum and fruit society. 



ruv thirtv-fifth annual general meeting was held at the Roebuck Hotel, Oxford, 

 on Tuesday evening, January 25. Mr Alderman Cooper presided, there being 

 Ztv one other subscribers present. The report, which had been printed and 

 Sated stated that the society had had a mosc successful season, the best for 

 thP nast five years, the show held on November 11 last being remarkable for the 

 krge number of specimen blooms and nearly three hundred dishes of high-coloured 

 Doles &c The vegetable classes, introduced for the first time, contained 

 choice 'collections, but the competition was not as keen as was hoped for. The 

 accounts showed that the receipts for the period had been £92 2>. 3d., and 

 exceeded the payments by £6 i6i 4d., thus enabling the committee to clear off 

 /6 Ks. debt from 1896, and start afresh with a small cash balance of £1 12s. 

 Before passing the accounts a lively discussion arose (a) as to the definition of the 

 term "Amateur"; (b) what powers do committees possess in using the funds for 

 luncheons; and (c) the power to offer prizes for vegetables without a speciil 

 authority in the rules ; the result of the arguments was that [ihe new committee 

 are to define an "amateur" in the schedule for the current year, and either to 

 amend the rules giving them power to offer prizes for vegetables, or obtain the 

 funds as special donations. G. II. Morell, Esq., M. P., was elected president; 

 Montague Wootten, Esq., treasurer ; the Rev. R. Hi Charsley, hon. secretary ; 

 Mr. W. Greenaway, acting secretary (thirty-first year) ; W. S. Carver, Esq., 

 auditor; and Messrs. G. Salter (thirty-sixth year), J. Fortescue, M. Jefferies, 

 T. W. Jacobs, G. Neal, H. Smart, J, Skuse, and L. McGreal as committee. 

 The next show was fixed to be held on the second Thursday in November. 



THAME HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The forty-eighth annual meeting was convened on the evening of January 25 

 in the Council Room, Town Hall. P. J. D. Wykeham, Esq., presided over a 

 goodly attendance of members. The secretary (Mr. C. J. Plim) submitted the 

 report, which stated that the show held on September 2 last was not a success, 

 although held in conjunction with a fire brigade competition. The weather, the 

 day and night previous, was stormy, rblowing down the tents, but by a special 

 effort the exhibition was opened at the usual hour ; still the attendance was much 

 less than the average, causing a loss on the year of about £3 j.. The entries for 

 the show manifested a considerable falling off, owing to a number of exhibitors 

 having ceased to compete. The chrysanthemum show held on November II was 

 well patronized, the chief attraction being the music, as the exhibits were but few, 

 and the question of continuing the winter event would have to be seriously con- 

 sidered. The president was re-elected, as were also ten vice-presidents ; 

 Mr. J. E. D. Ostrehan, treasurer ; Mr. Plim, secretary, and a committee of four- 

 teen. Mr. S. Walker resigned the office of collector, which he had held for a 

 quarter of a century, the duties being relegated to the secretary. It was decided 

 to discontinue the chrysanthemum show, and substitute a live-stock exhibition to 

 be held in conjunction with the September flower show. 



HEADINGTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The seventeenth annual meeting was held at the British Workman Institute, 

 under the presidency of R. H. Dockray, Esq., Stoke House. The report, submitted 

 by the secretary (Mr. W. Greenaway) congratulated the members on a fair record of 

 success during the past year ; the income had been ^"uo 9s. 2d., which sum 

 exceeded the payments by £2 18s. 3d. Referring to the show held on August 2 

 last, it pointed out that the competitive display was very largely helped by a 

 number of exhibits not for competition, foremost of these being the wonderful 

 arrangement of lilies, tea, garden, and perpetual roses set up in & vases, wreaths, 

 chaplets, and single and triple trusses of blooms ; a grand bank of tuberous 

 jegonias sent by Thomas Arnall, Esq. ; and a collection of picotees and carnations 

 from Mr. G. Chaundy, jun. The main features of the competition were the 

 groups of plants for effect, roses, table decorations, bouquets of perennials and 

 annuals, hardy fruits, and, and for a somewhat dry season, the grand collections 

 r 1 allo 1 tI Vf nt 1 Produce. The attendance proved the largest yet experienced. 

 UMonel Hoole was elected president ; R. H. Dockray, Esq., treasurer ; Mr. W. 

 Oreenaway, secretary : the committee to include Messrs. A. Griffin, T. Stringer, 

 C. Bodimeade, II. Parker, G. Tolley, W. T. Mattock, [. R. Mattock, C. Ricke'ts 

 ana j. bkey. The next show was fixed for Monday, August 1. A vote of thanks 

 to the chairman concluded the business. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM 



F.iSf a £ nUa x mee . t ! n g was held at the White Lion Hotel. The Mayor (A. 

 anH mn'- i q 'L pre ^ lded - From the re P° rt ^bmitted it appeared that the show 

 IJlti^T ^ dCnd , a °? Novem ber 17 and 18, proved an unqualified success, re- 

 iThMH ^^T^^r 0 ^ 12 IS ' Ild -> and gi™g the society a cash balance 

 reasurer W T% ^ 3± r ^° rd North was re ' elected President ; Mr. S. J. Mawle, 

 ISSE H ep J? Ce ^° f ^ H ' A ' Stran S e ' resi g^d); Mr. W. H. Walkely 

 Si E : £ Ushy ' assistant secretar y; * committee of fifteen 



Sred DJ; y ^ ^ balIot ' The chairman and several others volun- 

 17 Scat PnZC? ' lt WaS dedded t0 hold the shovv on November 16 and 



LIVERPOOL HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



the I- >w n SS th w^ 1 5 eneral meeting ° f the above ass ^iation was held in 

 vice-chairman ™»iam Brown Street, on Saturday evening last, Mr. T. Foster, 



The fiiSSS?^? d ™% u thC absenCC ° f Mr ' T\ White trough indisposition 

 its state ?k ° f th \ so f iety showed a sli ^ ht fallin g off as compared with 

 to this. SevlrlT ag °' r C holdin g of the summer show contributing principally 

 Dickson 7 vSt nc . W ™ emlers w «e elected on the committee. Mr. William 

 sub-treaiurer Tk? u tf ? as re " elected secretary, and Mr. G. Blackmore, 

 spring show f ^ n f nu ^oer of exhibitions for the present year will be two, the 



November A v ♦ r u , about the . end of March ' and the autumn one in 



■ vote o! thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings. 



, J. V. T. 



The a ^ lNDS °R CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 



the presKcv rfr^ feting of this society was held at the Castle Hotel, under 



*port strcd that tk. ^ ^ Sq : There ****** a Iar S e attendance. The 

 £S U. the resu,t of the y«r's work had given a cash balance of 



New Books. 



The English Tulip. Price is. 6d. (Messrs. Barr and Sons, 12 and 13, King 

 Street, Covent Garden, W.C.)— Under the title of the •< English Tulip and its 

 llistory, Messrs. Barr and Sons have published the papers read at the Conference 

 held by the National Tulip Society in the Royal Botanic Society's Gardens, 

 May 12, 1897, and thereby placed the lovers of the English Tulip under a great 

 obligation to them. The papers read at the Conference were : " The History and 

 the Properties of the Florist's Tulip," by Mr. J. \V. Bentley ; 44 Seed and Seed- 

 lings of the Florist's Tulip," hy the Rev. F. D. Horner ; and 44 The Cultivation of 

 the florist's Tulip," by Mr. C. W. Needham 5 and the three are given in full in 

 the brochuie before us. 



Comprehensive Guide to Printing and Publishing. (W. II. and L. Colling- 

 ridge, City Press, 148 and 149, Aldersgate Street, EC.)— This excellent guide 

 was issued some years since by Messrs. W. II. and L. Collingridge, who, from 

 long experience, were persuaded that a manual containing detailed information on 

 subjects connected with printing and publishing would be useful both to authors 

 and persons engaged in commercial and professional pursuits, and its value is indi- 

 cated by the fact that it has passed through ten editions. The eleventh edition, 

 which is now before us, has been thoroughly revised and greatly improved, and 

 can hardly fail to greatly enhance the popularity of the work. Everything relating 

 to preparing, printing, and publishing books, and other publications, is fully 

 described, and the advice throughout is so clearly stated that even those with but 

 little experience of literary work will have but little difficulty in acting upon it. 

 The manual contains much that should be useful to those who contribute to 

 periodical literature, and we would direct special attention to the following 

 extract: 44 There are writers who, though fully aware of the objectionable 

 characteristics of their handwriting, can no more do away with them entirely than 

 they can rid themselves of their idiosyncrasies. Hence the importance of their 

 attention to our suggestions respecting the careful preparation of 4 copy.' The 

 neglect of the simple precaution of dotting i's and crossing t's, and plainly writing 

 u's and n's— and, we must add, of placing the dots directly (vertically) over the i's 

 — occasions numerous errata, which sometimes escape notice until it is too late to 

 correct them. ^ Many gentlemen who write for the Press fall into an error that 

 appears inconsistent even with common reasoning, viz., that the worse the manu- 

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 the more difficulty the printer meets with in reading it, the more pains he is obliged 

 to take to understand the subject ; and, of course, he will print it more accurately 

 than if he could pass it over in a cursory manner. In refutation of this prevalent 

 error, we would ask those gentlemen if they have never received letters from their 

 friends, so hastily and carelessly written, that their utmost efforts to decipher every 

 word have been baffled, although they might arrive at the general meaning of the 

 whole? (We have ourselves seen letters which set at defiance all attempts to read 

 them.) We would ask those gentlemen whether, in examining ancient MSS., 

 they have not often been perplexed in making out the subject, and, after all their 

 endeavours, have at last risen from the task in many instances rather guessing at 

 the meaning than being certain of it. Even so, and worse, is the case of the 

 printer with ill-written manuscript, who frequently is ignorant of the subject on 

 which he is engaged. How, then, is it probable that he should produce a proof 

 as correct as if the manuscript were written in a fair legible hand ? It is neither 

 probable nor possible." In the case of periodical literature the copy is overhauled 

 by the editor, who, although endowed with more than the usual amount of 

 patience, consigns considerable quantities of MSS., dealing with subjects of 

 interest, to the waste-paper basket, simply because they are so badly written that 

 no compositor could decipher them without extreme difficulty. 



Knowledge. Price 6J., monthly, i Knowledge Office, 326, High Holborn, 

 London W.C.) — The issue of this excellent magazine for the current month is so 

 thoroughly good throughout as to suggest that the volume for the current year will 

 surpass in interest and utility even that of 1897. Science, literature and art 

 receive full attention in the pages of 44 Knowledge," but science somewhat pre- 

 dominates, and as it is dealt with in an interesting manner, those who are desirous 

 of keeping themselves well informed upon scientific questions without engaging in 

 the serious study of the several branches ol science could have no more useful 

 periodical than this. Natural history is welh represented, and the British Ornitho- 

 logical notes are invariably of much interest, those for the current month being of 

 special interest. In the January issue Mr. A. B. MacDowall, M.A., asks, 44 Is 

 weather affected by the moon ? " and in his reply he contends that a certain 

 definite relation to the moon's phases appears from time to time and persists 

 perhaps half a year or more, and states that the half-year ending with November 

 last is a good example. 



i Pastures and Pasture PLnts. By William Toogood. (Macmillan and Co. 

 (Limited), St. Martin's Street, London, W.C.)— Having regard to the immense 

 importance of pastures in the economy of the farm at the present time the publica- 

 tion of this work is most opportune, and we have much gratification in stating that 

 the work is one which those responsible for the management of grass lands may 

 consult with advantage. The opening chapter is devoted to the preparation of the 

 land and the application of manures previous to its being 1 laid down to grass, and 

 the details are so arranged that information upon any particular point can be found 

 with the least possible difficulty. In the second and third chapters the grasses 

 and leguminous plants most useful in the formation of pastures are described and 

 their peculiarities pointed out. In the remaining sections of the work, details 

 relating to the sowing of seeds, the care of new and established pastures, and hay 

 making, are fully described, and the advice is clear and concise throughout. The 

 work is illustrated, and the numerous figures materially assist in the elucidation of 



the text. * 



The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers. By SUTTON and SONS. Price 5s. 

 (Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and Co., 32, Paternoster Row, London.)— 

 On the appearance of the first edition of this important work/we felt it our duty 

 to speak of it in appreciative terms, and to counsel our readers to purchase it, and 

 make themselves familiar with the contents of the well-stored pages. We are 

 therefore gratified to receive a copy of the seventh edition, for no better evidence 

 could be desired that our advice has been acted upon, and our opinion with regard 

 to its utility fully endorsed by those engaged in gardening pursuits. The work 

 has been revised with a view to place it abreast with the present state of our 

 knowledge of the cultivation of vegetables and flowers from seeds and roots, and 

 can be strongly recommended to both amateur and practical gardeners. The 

 chapters on the chemistry of garden crop?, and on insect pests and plant diseases, 

 should receive careful attention, as, with an acquaintance with the information 

 embodied in them, the cultivator will experience much less difficulty in maintaining 



practical details. 



garden 



knowledge is limited to an acquaintance 



