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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Jantiary 22, 1821. 
- The Shieley Hibberd Memorial. — We notice in the 
advertisement of the above which appears in the Journal of Horti¬ 
culture of last week that our name is not down as approvers and 
supporters of this memorial. At the invitation of the Koyal Horti¬ 
cultural Society, sympathising with much of Mr. Hibberd’s work, and 
wishing to put on record our sympathy and support, Mr. Wm. Paul 
attended the meeting that was held to initiate the movement, and is 
under the impression that our name was put down about fifteenth in 
rotation in the preliminary list of subscribers signed in the room. As 
there are thirty-four names advertised, nineteen after where we believe 
ours should appear, this omission seems to us, to say the least of it, 
irregular. Has this happened to any others of your readers present on 
that occasion ? If so, it will not be strange if the result of the move¬ 
ment is not so good as might otherwise have been expected. — 
Wm. Paul & Soy, Paul's Nurseries, Waltham Cross. 
-The annual Nursery dinner given by Messrs. Pope & Sons, of 
the King’s Norton Nurseries, Birmingham, took place at Mr. John Pope’s 
private residence on the 15th inst., to which all the heads of departments 
in the various branch establishments were invited, and several horti¬ 
cultural friends were of the party. It is always a pleasant meeting, 
and tends to good will and pleasing recognition of services. 
- The annual general meeting of the Brighton and Hove 
Chrysanthemum Society will be held to-day (Thursday), having 
been postponed from January 13th, and it is proposed that the next 
Show be opened on Monday afternoon, November 2nd, the judging to 
commence at 2 p.m., thus giving exhibitors extra time for staging. 
This is an innovation, but it is said the additional expense will be small, 
and there will be an extra afternoon and evening for visitors. 
- East Grinstead Horticultural Society.— Mr. F. Dunn, 
gardener to Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott, Oakleigh, has won the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s silver medal presented for the highest number 
of points obtained during the year 1890 for general produce exhibited 
at the various meetings. Mr. W. Simmonds, gardener to K. R. Murchi¬ 
son, Esq., was second, securing the bronze medal. 
- A CIRCULAR has been issued calling a meeting to consider the 
desirability of forming a Floral, Fruit, and Vegetable Society 
FOR Brighton and Sussex. The meeting is to take place to-day 
(Thursday) in the Odd Fellows’ Hall, Queen’s Road, Brighton, at 3.30 
P.M., and many gardeners and amateurs are expected to attend, as it is 
generally felt that a well conducted and comprehensive horticultural 
society is much needed in Brighton.—M. 
- Deutzia gracilis. —I had not noticed a mistake in my notes 
on this plant on page 564 until I read the remarks of “ E. M.,” page 28. 
On psge 565 the word “Deutzia” has been introduced instead of 
Azalea. If “ E. M.” looks at the article again he will see that the first 
paragraph refers to Deutzia gracilis, the second to Azalea amoena, and 
the wmrd Deutzia has been accidentally introduced by the printers 
or myself. The sentence “ It grows freely in good soil (where 
lime does not abound) ” refers to the Azalea, and not to Deutzia gracilis. 
—W. B. 
- The Teddington Horticultural Society, which has of 
recent years been noted in the metropolitan district for excellent 
summer shows, nearly collapsed this year owing to the unfavour¬ 
able weather on the occasion of the last exhibition. Fortunately 
several friends, amongst whom Mr. W. Furze has taken a promi¬ 
nent part, have combined to prevent the loss of a really useful 
Society, and starting with a small balance in hand, it is hoped that, 
with well deserved local support and finer weather on the next show 
day, the Society will again be placed in a satisfactory position. 
- Euphorbia jacquinijeflora.—F ew plants flowering at this 
time of the year last so long in perfection as this Euphorbia. One of 
the finest displays that I have witnessed was in a small span-roofed 
stove in the garden belonging to Captain Robinson, Acrefield Road, 
Woolton. The plants varied in height from 2 feet to 3 feet 6 inches, or 
perhaps more. They were grown from cuttings inserted early in June, 
the current year’s growths rooted in a brisk bottom heat, and finally placed 
in 4-inch and 6-inch pots. Each plant carries one stem, many of the 
shoots being wreathed thickly with the intensely bright flowers quite 
18 inches or more in length. As the plants were arranged on both sides 
of the centre path forming an arch the full length of the house the effect 
produced can easily be imagined, and very creditable to the gardener in 
charge, Mr. C. Osborne.—E. M, 
- A Large Tree. —Ten workmen are now engaged in taking 
out a section of a gigantic Redwood tree in the Mammoth Forest, 
California. The section removed will be divided into three cuts, each 
9 feet in length. The tree is situated 6325 feet above the level of the 
sea. It measures 99 feet in (circumference, and 33 feet in diameter- 
The saw used in the work is 22 feet long, and requires eight men to 
handle it. The divided sections of this big tree will be conveyed to 
Chicago on three flat cars for the exhibition at the World’s Fair in 
1893. The total weight of the three cuts will be 20 tons.—J. H. 
- Hardy Fruit Exhibitions.— I hope the excellent sugges¬ 
tion of Mr. G. Bunyard on page 44 will induce secretaries and com¬ 
mitteemen to adopt the plan of limiting a dish of .Apples or Pears to 
five fruits. They can be staged in much less time, look better, as witness 
the Guildhall Show, and many an exhibitor knows that with six fruits 
to arrange on a dish he has one too many. AVith respect to Mr. Bun- 
yard’s further remarks on excluding orchard house fruit, I cordially 
agree they not only deceive the public, but also heavily handicap hona 
fide exhibitors of hardy fruit, who will be grateful for the practical 
letter.—S. T. Wright. 
- National Rose Society. —A meeting of the General Com¬ 
mittee of the Society was held at the rooms of the Horticultural Club 
on the 14th inst. Dr. Hogg, a Vice-President of the Society, was in the 
chair. The Executive Committee for the year was chosen, that for last 
year being re-elected, with the exception of the Rev. Alan Cheales, who 
retires, and who is succeeded by R. E. Knight, Esq , of Bobbey Court, 
Sittingbourne. The Committee thus elected then considered the 
schedules of prizes for the metropolitan Show at the Crystal Palace and 
the provincial Show at Hereford, which was arranged very much on 
the lines of those of 1890. Q lestions with regard to judges’cards and 
the examination of the stands for duplicates were then discussed, and 
decisions were given on them. The question also of the gold medals 
was under consideration, and it is hoped that on all these matters the 
decisions of the Committee will approve themselves to the general body 
of subscribers. A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded a very 
hearty and successful meeting. 
-Sparrows versus the Caterpillar Plague in Cheshire. 
—Under this heading on page 46, I observe an opinion expressed that 
caterpillars were more abundant than usual in Cheshire in 1890. 
Caterpillars of some kind or other are always a plague in gardens, but 
1 did not observe that in this part of Cheshire they were more abund¬ 
ant in 1890 than usual ; they were certainly less of a plague than in 
the preceding year 1889. But I write to complain of another plague 
less under control in gardens even than caterpillars, and becoming in¬ 
tolerable in this neighbourhood, I mean the sparrows. These have so 
entirely cleared the Currants and Gooseberries of buds that the crop 
of 1891 must be a failure. I have no doubt about the authors of the 
mischief, and they had not even the excuse of hunger. The buds were 
all pulled off in November and left under the trees. When the hungry 
bullfinches came they found nothing left, and it might be supposed that 
the sparrows had forestalled them out of spite. The time is past when 
gardeners can be convinced that the sparrow has any compensating 
use or redeeming virtue, and they ought to join with farmers in trying 
to exterminate such an odious pest. Sparrow clubs are an excellent 
institution, which I would do all in my power to encourage, and I 
should like to ste the practice restored of paying out of the rates for 
sparrows’ heads. I may add that the sparrow is one of the few birds 
that are quite indifferent to snow and frost, as their impudent bold¬ 
ness always enables them to get food. Indeed it is useless here to 
attempt to feed the blackbirds and robins, which have been dying of 
starvation all over the country, as the harpy sparrow gives warning to 
his friends as soon as the food appears, and snatches it all away before 
less impudent birds have a chance of coming near it.—C. Wolley 
Dod. 
A JOURNEY TO BURMA. 
[A paper by Mr. A. Winkler IVIlls, read Ht a meeting of the Birmingham Grrdenera’ 
Association.] 
It had long been one of my day dreams to see something of 
the tropics with their cloudless skies ; their teeming inhabitants, so 
different in appearance and manners from ourselves, and above all 
their lovely vegetation. Yet for years it was a dream which 
seemed utterly unlikely to be turned into sober reality. But tho 
Fates ordained that some four years ago my only daughter should 
become the wife of a man whose lot was cast in the far East, and 
after two or three years of separation I became possessed of a 
strong yearning to see this child of mine once more in the flesh, 
