282 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
t September 29, 1892. 
Events of the Week. —The usual Committee meetings of the 
Royal Horticultural Society will be held at the Drill Hall on Tuesday, 
October 4th, when prizes will be given for hardy herbaceous perennials, 
and a paper on Michaelmas Daisies will be read by Mr. D. Dewar. On 
the 5th, Gth, and 7th, a great Show of Fruit and Potatoes will be held 
at the International Horticultural Exhibition, Earl’s Court. On the 
evening of the 5th the annual dinner of the United Horticultural 
Benefit and Provident Society will take place at the Cannon Street 
Hotel at 6 p.m., J. Fraser, Esq., of Lea Bridge, presiding. On Friday, 
September 30th, there will be a great sale of Cattleya Rex and other 
Orchids at Messrs. Protheroe & Morris’ rooms by order of Messrs. Linden. 
For particulars of other sales see advertisements, 
- The Weather in London. —Although the weather has been 
less settled during the past than it was during the preceding week there 
has been no appreciable amount of rain, only a few light showers having 
occurred to break the generally fine and warm weather. On Tuesday 
evening the cyclonic disturbance which reached the north-west coast 
appeared to have touched London, as a somewhat high wind prevailed 
and a little rain fell, but at the time of going to press the weather is 
calm, clear, and promises to be fine, while the barometer is rising. 
- Royal Horticultural Society —At the next meeting of 
the Royal Horticultural Society, which will take place in the Drill 
Hall, James Street, Westminster, on October 4th, prizes will be offered 
to amateurs for hardy herbaceous perennials, and a paper on Michaelmas 
Daisies will be read by Mr. D. Dewar, which should be of much interest. 
- New Work by Mr. William Paul.—W e have received a 
copy of Mr. William Paul’s “ Contributions to Horticultural Literature,” 
being a selection of articles written for gardening periodicals and papers 
read before various societies from 1843 to 1892. An admirable portrait 
of the author adorns the work. We shall take another opportunity of 
referring to this instructive volume. 
- Carnations as Annuals.—I herewith send you a few flowers 
of Marguerite Carnations, from seeds sown on February 11th this year. 
The plants have been blooming for about ten days. They were estab¬ 
lished in 5-inch pots by the end of May, at which date they were 
plunged in the open, and placed in a co d Peach house as they came into 
bloom. No doubt better blooms could be produced in the same time by 
giving larger pots.—R. I, [Bright, varied, and sweet. With the improve¬ 
ment in the flowers that is likely to be effected, we shall have a very 
valuable class.] 
—— A Welsh Funeral —Mr. William Wright, gardener and 
bailiff to G. T. Clark, Esq , Talygarn, South Wales, who died on the 
21st inst., was interred on Saturday last. It appears to be a custom in 
Wales to show respect to deceased friends by assisting in carrying the 
bier. About sixty persons, the majority being workmen on the Talygarn 
estate, preceded the coffin, four of these taking the bier in turn for 
short distances, till most or all shared in the mournful duty. The 
changes were done with such order and regularity that there was 
scarcely a pause in the procession. There was also a large number of 
followers. The coffin was laden with beautiful wreaths from Mr. and 
Mrs. Godfrey Clark, Miss Wyndham Lewis, the officers of the United 
Horticultural Benefit and Provident Soc'ety as a token of respect 
towards a deceased bro’her and ex-member of Committee ; Mr. A. 
Petrierew, Cardiff Castle Gardens; Mr. G. W. Cummins, Hackbridge 
Gardens ; the family of the deceased, and from his brother, Mr. J. 
Wright of the Journal of Horticulture. The family of the late C. M. 
Major, Esq., Cromwell House. Croydon, to whom the deceased was 
formerly gardener, also sent flowers. Mr. William Wright (who had 
only had twelve birthdays, having been born on the 29th of February) 
was a highly competent gardener, also a good farmer, and he had a 
wide and intimate knowledge of estate work generally. His services 
were much appreciated by his employers, whose kindness during a 
protracted illness was unbounded. The deceased had been an unusually 
strong and healthy man, described by Mr. Pettigrew as a “ Hercules.” 
Bright s disease, which followed a severe attack of the influenza last 
autumn, was the cause of death. 
-Death of Mr. Lupton of Wakefield.—H orticulturists in 
Yorkshire, and particularly those interested in the Wakefield Paxton 
Society, will hear with regret of the death of Mr. Lupton, host of the 
Saw Hotel in the town named. He took a great interest in gardening, 
and was a sincere friend to the Society. 
- Fine Muscat Hamburgh Grapes.—W hen at the Kingswood 
Show I saw the three best bunches of Muscat Hamburgh that I have 
ever seen. They weighed collectively 9J lbs., were very regular, and as 
black as Sloes. The owner, Dr. H. Grace (a member of the great 
cricketing family), was very proud of them.—W. I. 
- Maggots in Peach Trees. —Can anything be suggested that 
will prevent maggots boring into the stems of Peach trees, causing them 
to gum badly ? They attack one after the other, and I very much fear 
they will go all through the house. If any of your readers have had 
anything of the kind to deal with they may be kind enough to help 
me.—J. B. 
- Aster novi-belgii Lady Trevelyan.—F or free flowering: 
it would be very difficult to find any variety of the Michaelmas Daisy 
family that excels the one here named. It is a somewhat tall grower 
and of ample proportions, covering itself with a dense cloud of small 
white flowers. It forms one of a large collection in the nursery of 
Messrs. Laing & Sons at Forest Hill. 
- Fruit Evaporation. —Visitors to Earl’s Court on the occasion 
of the great fruit and vegetable Show, which opens next Wednesday, 
may be interested to hear that demonstrations of fruit evaporating will 
be given in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Chiswick 
on October 5th and 6th by Messrs. Ph. Mayfarth & Co. The process is 
very interesting, and as the gardens, which possess many other features 
of interest, are easily and quickly reached from Earl’s Court, some may 
like to “ do ” both functions. 
- IxiAS.—Among early summer-flowering bulbous plants Ixias 
are deserving of a prominent position. When cultivated in pots they 
are very ornamental and attractive for greenhouse and conservatory 
decoration. They bloom most profusely, are invaluable as cut flowers, 
and possess a variety of colour rarely seen in any other class of bulbous 
flowering plants. They require similar treatment to Freesias, with the 
exception that they do not require much heat—in fact, they succeed 
best without any. The best plan is to keep them in a light airy 
position throughout, taking care to avoid draughts.—G. P. 
- The Blue Pimpernel.—W hen I saw this very charming old 
garden flower, called where growing at the London Road Nursery, 
Reading, Anagallis grandiflorus Phillipsi, the other day, I could not but 
feel surprise that so lovely a blue flower was not employed by those who 
have to furnish bedding displays in the summer. Not perhaps of 
itself would it do, but intermixed, as an edging for instance, with 
Mesembryanthemum cordifolium variegatum how beautiful it would be. 
Blue flowered plants are somewhat scarce in gardens, especially of 
that rich deep blue which characterises the flowers of this Pimpernel. 
The large red variety is als > pretty, but the blue naturally seemed to be 
the most striking. The variety would also make an effective ground¬ 
work for rich coloured Begonias. It is a natural ground creeper, and 
requires very little aUention. It can be propagated by Beed, for it 
comes very true, and also by cuttings kept through the winter.—A. D. 
- Freesias. —Freesias are among the most beautiful and hand¬ 
some of all the Cape flowering bulbous plants, possessing grace of form 
and being admirab'y adapted for greenhouse culture in pots. The 
plants attain to a height of from 9 to 12 inches, according to the variety, 
F. refracta alba being rather taller than Leichtlini. The flowers are 
very attractive and deliciously fragrant, one pot of five or six bulbs 
being sufficient to perfume a whole house, and when cut and placed in 
water they retain tht-ir perfume for a long time. If the bulbs are not 
already potted no time should be lost in performing that operation. 
A compost of good fibry loam, leaf soil, and dried cow manure, with a 
sprinkling of silver sand, will suit them admirably. Use 5 or 6-inch 
pots, placing six or eight bulbs in a pot. The different sizes should be 
placed together, in o Her to have plants uniform in strength when 
flowering. Water sparingly until growth commences. A frame where 
frost can be excluded will be best till the young shoots appear, when 
they should be remove i to a greenhouse, as plenty of air and a light 
position are most conducive to a dwarf sturdy habit. When the flower 
spike3 appear the plan's should be removed to where more heat can be 
applied, as a much finer display can be obtained than is possible if 
grown in a cooler temperature.—G. P. 
