THE 



GARDENERS 



MAGAZINE. 



SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1898. 



R*Anwr HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY SUMMER SHOW, 

 F SnAY fuiv 14. Three Challenge Cups. £*<*> Prizes for Foyers and 



JS! — TZ^Zr^iK^ON —OPEN SHOW.— POULTRY, PIGEONS, 



Wfffi^cSK TSgE BIRD? and CHRYSANTHEMUMS on TUESDAY 

 j wpn^FSDAY NOVEMBER ist and 2nd, 1898. Open Classes for Chrysanthemums, 

 and W^.^ 1 ^: * close Monday, October 24th. Schedules now ready. 

 Liberal W^ g^ggj^ and J. G. Randall, Jun.. Hon Sees,, Stratford-on-Avon. 



7^55~7^EEN AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



«th ANNUAL EXHIBITION, 9 th July, 1898. 



i3 th aha SPECIAL NOTICE TO NURSERYMEN. 



The Silver Medal of the Society will be awarded to Exhibits of sufficient merit, also £t is. to 

 .*rh Trade Exhibitor towards the cost of Staging a Group. 



eacn 1 raoc,»* SPECIAL PRIZES. 



Three Special Prizes *ill be awardrd for 12 SPECIMEN PLANTS. 



First Prize, £10 10s. ; Second Prize, £6 6s. ; Third Prize, £3 3s. . . 



imrme, x, , ^ made tQ Ronorary Secretaryj before the 2nd July next. 



E. J. Wickenden, F.R.H.S., Heckfield, Clarence Road, Wood Green, N. 



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3 



appl 



weed b J irag,C ' Concurrentl y with the destruction of the tap rooted 

 lib 1 grasses s P read ov er the surface, and with the assistance of 

 oeraj applications of bone meal and moderate dressings of sul- 

 P a je of ammonia, the finer grasses, such as Cynosurus cristatus, 

 estuca ovina tenuifolia, F. duriuscula, F. rubra, and Poa pratensis, 

 pread with great rapidity, and these and other grasses now form 

 °e of the most satisfactory lawns that has yet [come under our 

 notice. We do not suggest that the course here briefly described should 

 be followed in making lawns, but we regard the experiment as of 

 immense interest and of some importance, as a proof of the highly 

 beneficial influence exercised by phosphatic manures upon the finer 

 grasses and the indication it gives of their great value as aids in the 

 maintenance of turf in the best possible condition. 



W. I. Neal, Claremont Avenue, Woking. 



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OLVERHAMPTON FLORAL FETE, July 12, 13, and 14, 1898. 



HARD-WOODED PLANTS. 



Latest Dates on which Entries can be receiv-d : — 



For Plants ... ... ... ... ••• ••• 



For Flowers, Fruit, and Vegetab'es ... ... ... 



Prize Lists and Entry Forms, from the Secretary, 



"William E. Barnett. 



Snow Hill* Wolverhampton. 



July 5 

 July 8 



HORTICULTURAL SHOW ADVERTISEMENTS are inserted in this 

 column at One Shilling per line, the minimum charge being Five Shillings* Advertise- 

 :nt Office, 148 and 149, Aldersgate Street, London, E.C. 



IT is not without a feeling of regret that we ari co npeUed to acknow- 

 ledge the fact that the hard-wooded plan's, which include some of the 

 most beautiful of the tender exotics with which our glass structures are 

 embellished, are so little appreciated at the present time as to reader it 

 practically impossible to arouse some degree of enthusiasm in them, how- 

 ever successfully they may be cultivated. Within a comparatively short 

 period, a finely flowered specimen of heath or pimelia created much 

 interest at a public gathering, and the cultivator seldom failed to obtain 

 a full measure of praise, but of late years the fashion has so changed that 

 there is a difficulty in awakening an interest in them otherwise than of a 



Owing to continued increase in circulation, the « Gardeners' Magazine " very lan £ uid character. We had a conclusive proof of the indifference 

 now goes to press on Wednesday. No advertisement can be guaranteed t0 hard-wooded plants grown for their flowers at the meeting of the 



Royal Horticultural Society on Tuesday, when plants that were quite 

 unique as examples of high-class cultural skill, failed to obtain recogni- 

 tion from those responsible for making the awards to miscellaneous con- 

 tributions. Messrs. Balchin and Sons, who have achieved so much 

 success in the cultivation of these plants for decorative purposes, sent 



NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS. 



insertion, or altered, unless received before Four p.m. on that day. 



Notes of the Week. 



AN EXPERIMENTAL LAWN. 



A well-kept lawn is one of the great charms of British gardens, and 5™ their nuf8C ?f a * H assocks ; ten plants of the surprisingly beautiful 

 the verdant turf, soft and velvety to the tread, which results from high Ph ^ nocoraa prohfera Barnesi, which at one time was seldom absent from 



I BAB _ 



collections of stove and greenhouse plants exhibited during the summer 



keeping, presents a striking contrast to that usually met with on the , _ . , . . , , , . . 



Continent, where the climatic conditions are not, speaking generally, m ° nths - , From * having been so frequently shown in specimen form, It 



favourable to the growth of the finer grasses. The chief points in the Came t0 be re S arded as sultabIe onI y for lar £ e spec.mens, but by means 



management of grass lawns have had full attention given to them in the of the plants shown on Tuesda y> Messrs. Balchin proved to demonstra- 



pages of the Gardeners' Magazine, for we were the first to fully re- tlon that when P ro P erl y F 0 ™ lt possesses much value for decorative 



cognise the fact that the judicious application of fertilisers are not less P ur P oses ' The P lants exhibited were grown in six-inch pots with single 

 necessary to the lawn than to the quarters of the kitchen garden The StemS ' which were dothed wlth healthy S rowths from the base > 

 success achieved in our endeavour to effect an improvement in the and surmounted h V lar & e heads of flowers, remarkable alike for their size 

 management of grass lawns has been sufficient to give us considerable and hlgh colourin &- Havin S re S ard t0 their V1 & 0ur and profusion of 

 satisfaction ; but the thin and otherwise indifferent turf still met with is a flowers > the P lants have had no ec l uals ' We have not spen ^ that 

 proof admitting of no question that the influence of fertilisers upon could a PP roach them > nor can we find an y record in the Gardeners' 

 grasses is not properly appreciated. Hitherto we have diiected attention MA GAZlNEofsimilarexampleshavingbeen presented to public notice during 

 chiefly to the use of manurial agents as a means of maintaining the fer- the sixt y- five y ears that have elapsed since it was founded, 

 tility of the soil ; but our object in referring to the matter at the present these facts ' k is unfortunate the & rou P should not have received 

 time is to show the remarkable assistance fertilisers are able to eive award ' wh en other subjects, certainly not more beautiful, but represent- 

 in the formation of the lawn. Five years ago a gentleman of our ac- in S &r less cultural skill, should have obtained distinction. We would 



quamtance became the tenant of a house that had been built upon land fain hope that they were overlooked > owin S to the crowded state of the 



t»io» v, n A „ , . f. Drill, and we shall be pleased to hear that this was the case, for under no 



other circumstances, except the unpopularity of hard-wooded plants, can 



Considering 



some 



hat 



tn r 7 m ~y o '"""> U3CU »» A niarisei garaen, and had been allowed 



cov C a u SCVeral yearS - Left to itself the land «l uickl y had surface 

 J!"!? W ' WCeds ' the grasses Predominating. When the tenancy was 



danlt UP ° n \ h A herbage consisted of the coarser grasses, thistles, docks, 

 nae i 0ns and dais]eS) and some weeds Qf m . nor importance Rather 



quesiiln a qUa ? Cr ° f an acre was marked off f °r a lawn, and the 

 turf w neCessanl y arose as to the best method of obtaining a good 



iaytglVnT u :; ted Th and r perly so ' the digging k " ' 



pense a advice was not accepted on 



in K with ^ alternative we recommeded deep digging and seed- 

 datio 6r grasses and 



the?mm!!L aCtCd Up ° n> and had we not been ^miliar with 

 of grasses T. k ^u exercised b y Phosphatic manures upon the growth 

 » ClesT u , haVC rCgarded the format ion of a creditable lawn 

 should sd Jj " aP f y ° Ur friend was ame nable to the advice that he 

 m °wnatinter^ d ° ck \ thistles > and dandelions, and have the grass 



h < should havl i W a SC> thC and thCn With a machine ; also that 

 wi th conside^Hi gr ° U dr6SSed wUh Suhable artificials. He entered 

 have I C . spint mt0 carrying out the 



we understand their failing to obtain recognition. 



SHEAVES OF ROSES. 



Although but few rose shows have as yet been held, we have 

 received several letters referring to the methods of staging garden 

 roseS) and complaining of the excessive number of trusses used in the 

 the ground of ex- formation of the bunches. One of our correspondents speaks of these as 



nave watched * w we ex 



Stained over thi imereSt ' a ° d when Some master y had be en • . u , , . - ■ 



*« hollows T \n P rCOtmg weeds ' the s P ud was discarded and all that it does not appear desirable to compel the exhibitor to stage tl e 



r ,„— ^"e filled with fine soil to obtain a level surface. Subse- u of each vanetv. At the nresent time the Natioral 



huge sheaves of roses," and proceeds to point out the disadvantages 

 trefoil ; but this "recommen- under which exhibitors with limited resources are placed under existing 



conditions. We are not able to agree with our correspondent in his 

 estimate of the size of the bunches in collections of garden roses ; but we 

 are in full sympathy with his views with regard to the necessity of 

 imposing some limit to the number of trusses staged of each variety. A 

 reduction is necessary in the interest of good taste, as well as that of the 

 growers of a limited number of plants, for the large crowded bunches 

 duce an ything but a pleasing and tasteful display. The varieties 

 experiment "which" we belonging to the category of garden roses differ so materially in the size 



of the individual blooms, and the number of flowers in the spray or truss 



_ same number 



*** our ~~"adT U T nS ' thC thistle s> and the docks, were, in accordance Rose Society stipulates, in its classes for garden roses, that not less tlan 



Ccntr es, and th' •. Pt " nder by dro PP in g a little petroleum into their three trasses of each variety shall be shown ; as the necessity of a 



wis oil proved so dpstnirtiv** thot j- j- j • • u„o k««»n nrknowledffed.it mav be hooed that a maximum 



o'l proved so destructive that these weeds disappeared 



min irum 



been acknowledged 



