JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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Society of Arts to offer a prize to be provided by me. His Council 
agreed last year to offer a medal and a prize of £5. The reason 
why the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society was not 
applied to in preference is that horticulturists had already tried 
their hands on the subject, while to the large body of members of 
the Society of Arts, many of them with mechanical and inventive 
power, it was new ground. 
Numerous labels were sent in competition—some quite new, to 
me at least, others of different degrees of merit, others showing 
great ingenuity but equal ignorance of what labels for hardy 
plants are exposed to when in use. There was none wdfich the 
Committee, composed of some of the best known hardy-plant 
growers in the country, considered sufficiently to fulfil the con¬ 
ditions to justify their awarding the medal or prize. The medal 
and prize have been again offered for labels sent in before May, 
1882. The labels sent in last year have most of them been exhi¬ 
bited in the arcade of the Royal Horticultural Society. We have 
some zinc labels made by Yates, I believe, on Rose trees, which 
are perfectly legible after fifteen years’ exposure, while some in 
the cool Orchid house have become indistinct in less than two 
years. We have tried heating the labels after writing, the better 
to fix the ink, and have varnished them afterwards, but the 
writing still is not as clear as could be wished. 
One of the most serviceable upright zinc labels I have seen was 
at Mr. P. Neill Fraser’s near Edinburgh. He uses them exten¬ 
sively. They are made of stout zinc 9 inches long and three- 
quarters wide ; they stand well up from the ground, and are not 
pushed out by frost : they were not exhibited. Among the best 
which were shown were ordinary zinc labels hung on galvanised 
iron stout wire. Mr. Wolley Hod gave me an ingenious label 
which I have tried with success, and which is useful when you 
have Hazel in the hedges. A stick is cut into about 1-foot lengths, 
and a slice at the top taken off sufficiently long for the writing. 
Mr. Ewbank has improved on Mr. Wilson Saunders’ good old 
label. He uses a small wooden label with two galvanised iron 
supporters. The label is painted white, and when used a thin 
coating of black paint is put on. The writing is done with a 
pointed stick ; this, by removing the black, shows the letters in 
white. Col. Trevor Clarke has a small wooden label stuck into 
an Elder stick to raise it up, the point of the label sticking in the 
pithy centre of the Elder. There appear to be a number of 
serviceable labels for permanent use ; but what is required in 
addition is a cheap rough-and-ready label to be used when putting 
in a number of plants with little time to do it in, and this is, I 
think, to be sought in some modification of the present wood 
labels. 
Among the wooden labels exhibited which were new to me were 
teakwood labels from Mr. Johnston of Renfrew, and holly and 
boxwood labels from Messrs. Wolstenholme & Son of Manchester. 
These two last were cheap and found favour with the Committee 
as far as appearance went. Mr. Joad, whose death we have 
lately had to deplore, was much taken with them, and I know 
that 'many orders have been sent to the manufacturers. I have 
been trying these labels carefully in frames, and have exposed 
them to the severest test in a cool damp Orchid house. The holly 
wood; is more affected by damp than the box, soon becoming 
mouldy ; the box is discoloured after a longer time. Remember^ 
ing that the Committee in their report had suggested that some 
preparation should be used to make labels waterproof, the words 
of the report were these—“ Wood is probably the cheapest and 
best material for cheap labels. It is at present liable to the 
objection that the part in the ground rots and the writing on the 
label becomes illegible. If by some process, such as perfect 
kyanising or treatment with paraffin, these objections could be 
removed, an excellent cheap label would be the result.” In 
accordance with this suggestion I induced some friends to dip for 
me in their laboratory some of the holly and boxwood labels in 
hot paraffin. I should say, as it has been confused with paraffin 
oil, that paraffin is a hard white substance, which, as its name 
denotes, does not change, and can have no injurious action on 
plants. The result was promising, but the small quantity of 
paraffin absorbed showed that the labels could not have been dry. 
Some thoroughly dried boxwood labels have since been soaked 
for forty-eight hours in hot paraffin, of which they absorbed about 
12 per cent. These have so far stood the severest tests in the cool 
Orchid house and have the merit of not requiring any paint, the 
writing both in ink and gardener’s pencil being easy and showing 
clearly. Having plenty of gardening work I cannot undertake 
the label experiments, but strongly recommend label manufac¬ 
turers to take them up. Paraffin is not now an expensive material. 
As it is not always easily procurable, I have ascertained that 
Price’s Patent Candle Company will supply it to label makers of 
sufficiently hard quality at 5 il. a pound. I send specimens of 
[ February 16, 1882. 
labels—holly wood and box as supplied by the makers, holly wood 
exposed in damp Orchid house unprepared, box wood exposed 
after being paraffined. The subject excites interest abroad as 
well as at home. I have received a paper by M. Ch. Joly of Paris 
on “ Les Etiquettes Horticoles,” which carefully sums up the 
merits and demerits of the labels now in use.—G. F. Wilson. 
[The writing on the unprepared hollywood label is practically 
illegible ; that on the paraffined boxwood label is quite clear, and 
it is highly desirable the suggested experiments be made. A 
simple, cheap, and durable label is a great desideratum, and Mr. 
Wilson merits the thanks ot horticulturists for the efforts he is 
making to produce it.—E d.] 
ROSE SHOW FIXTURES FOR 1882. 
The following dates have already been fixed— 
National Rose Society, Bath . June 28th. 
Farningham. June 29th. 
Crystal Palace. July 1st. 
Reigate. July 1st. 
National Rose Society at South Kensington. July 4th. 
Canterbury . July 6 th. 
Brockham . July 6th. 
Alexandra Palace . July 8th. 
Cardiff . July 12th. 
Birkenhead . July 15th. 
Leek . July 18th. 
Helensburgh . July 20th. 
National Rose Society, Darlington . July 21st. 
The dates for Maidstone, Eltham, Horsham, Hereford, Oxford, 
Ludlow, and East Anglian not yet arranged.—D., Deal. 
POTTING MATERIAL. 
In the following notes it is not intended to deal with the ortho¬ 
dox part of the subject, as that has been amply discussed, but to 
give a few observations in an economic point of view. The first 
heresy is to recommend—but only to those who cannot readily 
command ample supplies—employing a good part of old potting 
soil. In our district there is plenty of some kinds of potting 
material, especially sphagnum and peat. Loam, too, is obtainable, 
but it is merely decayed quick grass, though very suitable for 
many plants. Leaf soil can also be occasionally procured. But 
in several cases the old soil is used again, and with benefit too. 
Recently in repotting some plants the first taken were Dracaenas, 
and to these fresh soil was given. Next some Pandanus Yeitchii, 
Cyperus alternifolius variegatus, and Curculigo recurvata were re¬ 
potted. As these plants are better grown in somewhat poor soil, 
that shaken from the Dracaenas mixed with a little fresh soil was 
employed for them. It is not always good practice to use the best 
soil. 
Although in a peat district, we are like sailors whose water tanks 
have become dry. It is plentiful enough, but almost useless for 
pot plants, although very fair for Rhododendrons. Suitable ma¬ 
terial for hardwooded plants can only be obtained at a distance of 
nearly ten miles, so it is somewhat precious. Leaf soil is also 
rather scarce. For Ferns I find the rather decayed sphagnum 
from our Orchids when dried, rubbed fine, mixed with loam and 
sand, a very good substitute for peat and leaf soil. It is more 
porous than peat, and it maintains its porosity longer, while it 
induces the plants to root very freely. Indeed for large plants I 
do not hesitate to use a good proportion of fresh sphagnum with 
the loam. Sometime ago a few Marantas were potted in the half- 
decayed sphagnum from the Orchids, and they succeeded better 
than in any other soil; liquid manure is, however, rather liberally 
supplied to all those plants. 
Peat or leaf soil may be altogether dispensed with in the culti¬ 
vation of Ferns. For small plants to furnish fronds for cutting 
or plants for decorative purposes loam is really very good, with 
plenty of sand to make it porous, and careful drainage. Indeed, 
heresy though it be, the mixtures of peat and loam usually recom¬ 
mended are not the best. For strong-rooting kinds good loam and 
sand alone is perhaps the best soil ; for delicate-rooting kinds a 
proportion of partially decayed sphagnum may be added with 
benefit, and will generally be found better than peat. 
It is usually recommended to mix loam with decayed manure 
for a large number of plants. Manure in decaying loses its best 
properties and becomes poor, especially if not protected from the 
rain. The manure should always be mixed in perfectly fresh, but 
in order tc have such a mixture in condition for using it must be 
prepared six or eight months before, and the heap so prepared 
should be protected. It must be remembered that good loam is 
better prepared for holding manurial matters than is the manure. 
Decayed straw or animal droppings hold ammonia and other valu¬ 
able matters much less securely than clay does, which is always 
