July 20, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
55 
- Gardening Appointments.—M r. W. C. Davis, for upwards 
of four years Mr. Clayton’s foreman at Grimston Park, Tadcaster, has 
been appointed head gardener to Sir Andrew Fairbairn, Bart., Askham 
Hall, York. Mr. Richard Moore, the Gardens, Llanwern Park, has been 
engaged by Wm. Henderson, Esq., as gardener, at Berkley House, Frome, 
Somerset. 
-- COLEOS Distinction.—T wo beds of this distinct Coleus are 
Mow to be seen in grand condition at Messrs. Veitch’s, Chelsea Nursery. 
The rich, dark, substantial foliage produces a very striking effect, it 
being next to impossible to walk through the nursery without giving it 
more than a passing glance.—H; W. 
- Propagating the Wistaria.—I t is not generally known, 
remarks an American contemporary, that the Wistaria grows from root 
cuttings. Layering, however, is a very good method where there is room 
for it. The trailing shoots root by being buried in the ground a little, 
but better if a slit is first made in the shoot. 
- Wakefield Paxton Society. —At the meeting of the above 
Society on Saturday evening Mr. W. E. Corden, who is well known as 
an amateur hybridiser, read a practical and interesting paper ©n “ The 
Pelargonium.” There was a collection of fine plants and cut blooms, 
and these were sold on behalf of the Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. 
- The Weather in Scotland. —At a meeting of the Edin¬ 
burgh Botanic Society on July 13th, the Curator (Mr. R. Lindsay) 
observed that the past month was remarkable for the excessive heat 
and dryness which prevailed. The continued want of rain having 
lasted throughout nearly the whole ot spring the marvel was that its 
effects had not been more serious on vegetation. A heavy fall of rain 
took place on the 23rd of the month, after which all danger from 
drought was at an end. The lowest reading of the thermometer during 
June was 40°, which was registered on the 2nd. On the night of the 
16th the thermometer did not fall below 62° ; the lowest day tempera¬ 
ture was 50° on the 23rd, and the highest (89°) on the 18th of the 
month. Hardy herbaceous plants flowered freely, but went quickly 
past owing to the drought. The early flowering kinds had ripened from 
seeds abundantly. On the rock garden fewer plants came into flower 
last month than for any June during the last eleven years, the largest 
number having blossomed this year in May. In all 294 species and 
varieties came into flower last month. 
-Japanese Gardening. — In a highly tasteful number of 
“ The Studio ” for July appears an interesting article upon the gardens 
of Japan by Mr. Charles Holme. The writer seeks to impress his readers 
with the fact of the intense admiration for Nature possessed by the 
Japanese. Their gardening is intensely artificial in the sense that they 
try laboriously to reproduce in miniature real, and in many cases ideal 
landscapes, differing in this respect from the Chinese, who stock their 
gardens with vegetation distorted into the shape of junks, pagodas, and 
other bizarre objects. He says, “ Foreign plants, with the exception, 
perhaps, of a few characteristic ones from China, are not favoured by the 
Japanese ; for they do not look upon their gardens as places to collect 
and display a variety of botanical specimens as in a nursery or arbo¬ 
retum ; their idea is that the garden shall appear as a picture, complete 
in itself, each thing being in harmony with the rest, and forming, as it 
were, a part of a whole. The gardener in Japan is a sort of landscape 
painter, w'ho uses actual trees, rocks, and water, instead of canvas, 
paints, and brushes. The picture he may form may be in imitation of 
some natural, well-known scene in his own country, or in China ; just 
as though, if an Englishman, he might strive to reproduce the beauties 
of the Strid in Bolton Woods, or the Fairy Glen at Bettws-y-Coed. But 
often he takes for himself a theme of an abstract nature and endeavours 
in his arrangements to express a sentiment, as of ‘ retirement,’ ‘ medi¬ 
tation,’ ‘long life,’ or ‘fidelity.’ In the majority of cases simplicity 
is aimed at rather than redundancy, as lavish display and vulgarity are 
synonymous in the Japanese mind.” The perfect Japanese garden 
would seem to be one in which there is a waterfall, hills and glens, lakes 
and islands ; stone lanterns incrusted with lichen, moss and leaves, shaped 
like a hat, a milestone, or a temple, and containing small oil lamps ; a 
stone washing basin ; bridges ; curiously winding pathways of stepping- 
stones, and summer-houses. In the absence of sufficient space, this multum 
in parvo style will, one must suppose, somewhat resemble that of the 
Chelsea pensioner or the Broxbourne amateur. “ The Studio ” is a 
truly high art magazine, but we trust that it is not trying to imbue 
our aestheticised Englishwomen with a craze for Japanese gardening, other¬ 
wise unfortunate husbands who cannot extend their limbs in the 
drawing-room on account of the knick-knacks, gew-gaws, and bric-a- 
brac, will soon find such relief equally impossible out of doors. 
- We are informed that Mr. M. Cdthbertson of the Public 
Park Nursery, Rothesay, was awarded a silver medal for 125 bunches 
of hardy flowers at the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society. Also at 
Paisley, two days after, Mr. Cuthbertson had the same honour conferred 
for a similar exhibit. 
- Fuchsias and Begonias. —One of the most attractive houses 
at Messrs. Veitch’s at the present time is that containing some excellent 
Begonias, Zonal and Ivy-leaf Pelargoniums, and Carnations on the 
stages, with Fuchsias of various types trained up the roof. On entering 
the house one is met with a truly gorgeous display of colours which 
cannot fail to attract attention and admiration from all who see it 
—H. W. 
- The Weather in June.—J une was a dry month, but not so 
bad as the preceding, as we had three good showers. The wind was in a 
northerly direction twenty-one days. We had sixteen bright days, 
three of which were clear. Barometer varied considerably. Highest 
reading 30’44, at 9 A.M. on 18th ; lowest 29’35, at 9 A.M. on 23rd. Total 
rainfall 1 inch, which fell on nine days, the greatest daily fall being 
0‘31, on 22nd. Highest shade temperature 87°, on the 19th ; lowest 
36°, on 1st; lowest on grass 26°, on the 11th. Mean daily maximum, 
7D90° ; mean daily minimum, 48‘43°. Mean temperature of the month, 
60'13°. The garden spring ran 20 gallons per minute on the 30th.— 
W. H. Divers, Ketton Hall Gardens, Stamford. 
- The annual banquet of the Worshipful Company of 
Gardeners was held at the Hotel M4tropole on the evening of the 
12th inst. The Master, the Rev. W. Wilks, assisted by the Upper 
Warden, Mr. Beaumont Shepheard, received the guests, who numbered 
about eighty, half of whom were ladies. After the usual loyal toasts 
had been given by the Master, Sir Trevor Lawrence proposed that of 
“ The Ladies ” in glowing language. He commented on the pleasing 
innovation betokened by their presence, and hinted that considering 
man owed to woman his exclusion from the finest garden ever known— 
to wit, the Garden of Eden—man was very forgiving. Colonel Dampier 
Palmer, M.P., responded, and incidentally remarked that it was usual to 
select a bachelor in preference to a married man for this purpose, because 
on the principle followed in the House of Commons, he spoke from 
imagination rather than from knowledge. Consequently the Master 
could have discharged the function better than himself. Mr. Harrison 
Weir then proposed the toast of the evening, “ The Worshipful Company 
of Gardeners.” He dwelt, among much else, on the pleasure received 
in perusing the old authorities on English horticulture, on the con¬ 
nection between the plant world and decorative art, on flowers as a 
medium for expressing amatory sentiment, and the modern craving after 
excitement as shown in the cultivation of the unrestful Orchid. The 
Master, the Rev. W. Wilks, whose name was coupled with the toast, 
replied stating that the Company dated its origin from the reign of 
James I., that it was doing good work in the promotion of horticultural 
education, and viewed gratefully the generous donation of scholarships 
for this purpose by Sir Trevor Lawrence and Baron Schroder. Other 
coasts were honoured, and the proceedings of the evening agreeably 
diversified by both instrumental and vocal music. 
EEVIEWS OF BOOKS. 
The Garden's Story. By George H. Ellwanger, London ; William 
Heinemann. 
From Mr. Heinemann there has come to hand an English edition of 
this very agreeable book. It is somewhat in the nature of an edition de 
luxe, prettily bound in light green, and well suited for display within 
the boudoir or the drawing-room. Not the least interesting portion of 
the volume is the introduction by the Rev. C. Wolley Dod, a careful perusal 
of which is indispensable to the understanding of the following pages. 
Indeed so interesting is it that we venture to reproduce a considerable 
part of it here, feeling quite sure that the terse and picturesque summary 
of the contrasts between the Old England and the New will excite a 
relish for the body of the work. 
The scene of the book is the neighbourhood of Rochester, in the State 
of New York. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, about 
sixty miles due east from the Falls of Niagara, and separated by less than 
that distance from the Dominion of Canada across the lake ; a line of 
150 miles may be drawn to Toronto. Canadian territory extends some 
hundred miles to the south of the latitude of Rochester, so that what wo 
read in this story may be applied to a considerable part of British America. 
Our friends in that region have to deal with hardy plants under different 
conditions from those which prevail in our insular climate. Theirs is always 
a real winter, and the ground is not fully thawed until our spring flowers 
have been flowering in driblets for about two months. Hence it happens 
that spring flowers across the Atlantic come in a heap, and though there 
may be for a day or two a relapse into winter the early flowers there have a 
