144 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 14, 1881. 
and Auditors gave a very gratifying account of the progress of the 
Society during the year. The receipts have been £7045, against £6651 
for the preceding year. The expenses, however, have been heavy, mainly 
owing to new works, such as rebuilding the corridor and greenhouses 
and enlarging the tropical portion of the conservatory or Palm house, 
undertaken during the year ; notwithstanding which the accounts show 
a considerable balance of receipts over expenditure. Exhibitions were sue- 
cessful; especially was this the case with the evening fete, which attracted 
over 8000 people, the receipts being £1818, a sum altogether in excess of 
any previous ones. Special facilities have been given to professors, artists, 
and students engaged in the study of botany and allied subjects ; 743 
free orders of admission were granted of from one to six months each, 
and 48,000 cut specimens of plants and flowers distributed to the various 
hospitals, medical schools, and schools of art in the metropolis for 
examination and demonstration. The lectures on botany given at the 
Gardens by Professor Bentley have been well attended, and cannot fail 
to be of use in diffusing a better knowledge of botany, open as they are 
to all visitors to the gardens. 
-- Hotel Winter Garden and Promenade.— We understand 
that the South-Eastern Railway Company have decided to enhance the 
attractions of the Pavilion Hotel, Folkestone, by the addition of an 
extensive Winter Garden and Promenade for the use, pleasure, and 
comfort of their numerous patrons. This building, which (as far as we 
know) will constitute an entirely new feature in hotels, will adjoin and 
have a special entrance direct from the hotel. We have no doubt it will 
prove an agreeable lounge and rendezvous at all times, but particularly 
in rainy weather and to persons of delicate constitution. The building 
will be 160 feet long by 50 feet wide, and will be fitted up with seats 
and lounges for the convenience and comfort of the visitors. All the 
plants and trees employed for its decoration and adornment will be 
selected for their attractive foliage and hardy habits, none being used 
but those which require a moderate genial temperature, and this will be 
maintained all through the winter by means of hot-water pipes. We 
have no doubt but that the enterprise of the proprietors will meet with 
its reward. With regard to the style and quality of the building, it will 
suffice to say that it is in the hands of Messrs. J. Weeks & Co., Chelsea 
who are erecting it from their own designs. 
- Erratum. —In our report of the Liverpool Show (page 125) 
in the class for four bunches of Grapes the second prize is announced 
as awarded to Mr. G. Middleton, gardener to R. Pilkington, Esq., Windle 
Hall; this should be Rainford Hall. 
AUTUMN-SOWN ONIONS. 
These are the most useful of all Onion crops. We are continu¬ 
ally hearing complaints of the loss of the spring Onion crop, and a 
great loss it is, as in every kitchen of any importance nothing can be 
done without Onions on any day in the year ; but if autumn-sown 
Onions were more extensively and generally grown the supply would 
be more certain and satisfactory. By sowing at once young plants 
will be produced by November, and in the absence of others some of 
these may be employed in the kitchen, and many will use them as 
salad. Here their use begins in November, and by the spring the 
plants are as thick as a thumb and will be much valued by the cook. 
In April, May, and afterwards they will have formed good bulbs, and 
nothing could be better for culinary purposes. Now they are excel¬ 
lent, and they will continue so until well into the autumn. Indeed 
such good sorts as the (riant Zittau, Webb’s Blood Red, and Emperor 
Globe will keep as well throughout the winter as any of the spring- 
sown ones, and anyone may easily keep up an all-the-year-round 
supply of Onions from autumn-sown seed, while there is this important 
advantage that they are not half so liable to be attacked by grubs as 
the spring-sown ones. I intend growing the autumn Onions more 
largely as being the best and most profitable ; and I think cottagers 
and small growers are beginning to find this out too, as at our recent 
show the autumn bulbs surpassed all in numbers and quality. 
The best way of dealing with them is to make two sowings noAv, 
the other about the second week in September. Good ground must 
be given them. It may be deep or shallow, stiff or loose, but it must 
be rich. Firm soil is an advantage, as the plants grow most robust in 
it, and also bulb better than in very loose soil. In the latter good 
Onions will never be produced. 
Although autumn-sown Onions are not so liable to become maggoty 
as the spring ones they are not altogether proof against such, and it 
is best to take a few precautions against the worms. This should be 
done when the soil is being prepared for sowing the seed. In digging 
it up it will most likely require manuring, and besides this a good 
sprinkling of salt and soot should be put in Gas lime is as good as 
either of these for killing the worms. Ordinary lime is also valuable, 
and each or all of them should be thoroughly mixed up with the soil 
as it is turned. The seed may be sown immediately after digging in 
rows from 12 to 16 inches apart, and not more than 2 inches below 
the surface. If the drills opened for the reception of the seed can 
be filled with better material than the ordinary soil of the quarter it 
will benefit the seedlings when they are very small. In covering 
them the surface over the seeds should be trodden down firmly and 
then made smooth. Keeping them free from wmeds is the principal 
late autumn and winter requirements. The White Italian is one of 
the quickest varieties to gain maturity, and New Queen is very good 
in that way too ; but where it is desired that the bulbs should keep 
as long as possible those named above must be included.—J. Muir, 
Margam. 
A HORTICULTURAL OUTING, 
“What a perfect day 1” was the exclamation of our party as we 
emerged from the station at Leatherhead and found brakes awaiting us 
for our trip. But who were we ? Well, some members of the Horti¬ 
cultural Club, who, encouraged by the success of their venture last year, 
had determined to try it again. “Ah ! you will not find it answer ; such 
a summer as you had last year does not repeat itself, and you will be 
doomed to disappointment.” “Perhaps,” was our meek reply, “history 
will repeat itself, and we shall have a different tale to tell,” and so we had; 
and the universal verdict was, that good and pleasant as our last year’s 
excursion was, this was even better. The weather was better, for once 
last year we had a slight shower of rain, but to-day was fine beyond 
expression—not too hot; everything fresh and beautiful after the late 
rains, and just that mist over the landscape which, while it hides 
nothing, gives that indescribable effect which is the despair of artists; 
and while we had not the grand Conifers of Dropmore or the lovely 
grounds of Cliveden to roam through, we had in prospect the gardens of 
two of our most successful orchi lists and two of the most charming 
seats in Surrey to visit. Of our company we will say nothing, for were 
we not horticulturists? and does not that imply (except in rare instances) 
geniality and courtesy, a lively appreciation of the beauties of art and 
nature, and a by no means cynical contempt for the good things pro¬ 
vided for us. We had with us our veteran Chairman, Mr. John Lee, 
the wonder and the envy of younger men ; and with us, too, a fair pro¬ 
portion of the gentler sex, without whom on such occasions things are 
apt to be so flat and selfish ; and now, as we have a good six hours’ work 
before us we are off. Our first visit was to 
ME. WILLIAM LEE’S OF DOWNSIDE, 
A name well known to all Orchid lovers as an enthusiastic grower and 
patron of this marvellous tribe of plants. Of course we knew it was 
about the worst time of the year to see Orchids, and that but little would 
be found in bloom, but we saw enough to repay us for our visit. Some 
of the Masdevallias were in flower—M. Chimera and some of its curious 
allied species, fine plants of Cattleyas gigas and Gaskelliana, some 
spikes of the ever-beautiful O. Alexandras ; but these were but few and 
far between. The whole range of Orchid houses is of a very complete 
character, and during the proper Orchid season must be a fine sight. 
However, we had not time to linger, and so drove on to 
SIR TREVOR LAWRENCE’S, BURFORD LODOE. 
Here, while Orchids are the great piece cLe resistance, yet very many 
other things are done in grand style. The grounds of Burford Lodge 
are charmingly situated inside the towering chalk cliffs of Box Hill, 
while the river Mole runs through it, and grand Elms and other forest 
trees give their delightful shade, and the well-kept turf is a refreshment 
to the eye. Order and neatness reign here. The Orchid houses contain 
probably the most complete selection of rare and valuable Orchids in 
the kingdom—the best strains, the most handsome forms are to be found 
here. To this, however, I must make one exception. There is a poor 
form of Disa grandiflora, similar to that at Glasnevin, which in size and 
colouring is very far inferior to the variety which I grow, and which 
I believe is correctly superba ; in fact, pretty as it is, no one would think 
of growing it when [the other is to be had. In the herbaceous garden 
were all kinds of pretty things. A delightful bed of that charming 
Carnation Mary Morris, of which so much has been said, but is one of 
those things that deserve any praise. Gladioli looked fairly well, and some 
fine spikes were in flower. The same holds good everywhere as far as 
I can see this year, and it goes far to prove what I have all along con¬ 
tended, that the cruse of failure is more to be attributed to climate than 
anything else, and that the theory of exhaustion is altogether erroneous. 
Then Spirfeas, Phloxes, and all kinds of good things were well done, 
while abed of Canna Ehemanni under one of the windows of the dwelling 
house excited the unbounded admiration of some of our party. In one 
of the houses was a beautiful collection of the best kinds of Tuberous 
Begonias, while Lapagerias white and rose-coloured covered the roof. 
One of the natural wonders of the place are the blow-holes, as they are 
called, which, when the river is at a certain heigh'’, .are filled 30 feet 
deep with water, which re.aches them from under ground. Everything 
in this charming p’ace is in the perfection of order, and reflects the 
highest credit on both Mr. Barnes, the head gardener, and the Orchid 
