540 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Jane 20,1895. 
Events of the Week. — At the Drill Hall, Westminster, on 
Tuesday next the Committees of the Royal Horticultural Society will 
meet, and on the same day the Isle of Wight Ruse Show will be held 
at Cowes, On the Wednesday the Richmond show will be held in the 
Old Deer Park. 
- Weather in London. —For another week we have had 
fine weather, though on Friday and Saturday last the mornings and 
evenings were rendered cold by the prevalence of easterly and north¬ 
easterly winds. During the early hours of Wednesday morning rain 
commenced to fall steadily, and at the time of going to press it had 
ceased. 
- Weather in the North. —The drought continued till late 
in the evening of Monday, when gentle rain began to fall and con¬ 
tinued the greater part of the night. Tuesday morning was fair, but dull, 
and more rain seemed probable. On the morning of Wednesday the 
12th, and again on the following Friday, Potatoes were blackened by 
sharp frosts. On the former morning 17° frost on the grass is reported 
from Blair Athole.—B. D., S. Perthshire. 
- The next meeting of the Royal Horticctltdral Society 
will be held in the Drill Hall, James Street, Westminster, on Tuesday, 
June 25th, when special prizes will be offered for hardy herbaceous 
flowers. Mr. Dyer is unable to lecture, and instead thereof a conversa¬ 
tional lecture will be given on some of the most interesting plants in 
the day’s exhibition by Professor Henslow. 
-Watering Newly Planted Trees, — The earlier in the 
season trees are transplanted the less need there is of watering them, 
but as the season gets late and the weather warm and dry it is unsafe 
to transplant trees without first wetting their roots or watering them 
as soon as they are planted. Deciduous trees and shrubs can be handled 
with tolerable certainty, the later and drier the season is when they 
are planted the harder we cut in their tops. But we cannot very well 
do this with evergreens. Instead, we sprinkle them with water twice 
a day for a few days after planting, then once a day till we are sure 
the plants have “ taken to the soil,” 
- Propagating Hardy Perennials. —Many perennial her¬ 
baceous plants are propagated by taking up the roots and dividing them 
in the fall of the year. Others are easily propagated by sowing the 
seeds; but even these methods of propagation are not always rapid 
enough for the desired increase of any particular plant. It is not 
generally known, says a writer in a transatlantic contemporary, that 
plants can be made by cutting up flower stems. For this purpose the 
flower stem is allowed to grow up to a blooming point; but when that 
is reached the flower buds must be entirely cut away. This throws 
more vital energy into the flower stem, and well-developed buds form in 
the axils of the leaves. In a few weeks, after the flowering heads have 
been pinched out, the flower stalks may be separated for cuttings. 
Pieces with two or three buds are sufficient. In this way such plants 
as the hardy Phlox may be very rapidly increased. The various kinds 
of Lilies can be propagated in the same manner. 
- “ Men and Manners.”— Under this heading, on page 513, 
“ Observer” details a few remarks which I read with interest, and as I 
happen to be one of the craft whom his remarks directly concern, I 
feel constrained to ask him a question on a point on which he omitted 
to touch—that is, which is the proper way for a gardener to salute his 
employer ? I see a good many gardeners raise their hat to their 
employer or members of his family ; but I have it on the authority of a 
French governess that they ought not to do so, because by so doing they 
place themselves on the same social level as their employer himself. 
By merely touching their hat or cap with their finger they make the 
distinction between employer and employed. Is this so? I myself 
am a gardener, and daily meet friends and relatives of my employer, 
both within the precincts and on the public road, hence I am anxious 
to know if I commit a serious breach of etiquette by raising my hat 
when I meet them, or if I should simply touch it and no more. If 
“Observer” or any reader of the Journal will enlighten me on this 
point they will greatly oblige an— IGNORAMUS, 
- Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. — At the 
instigation of N. N. Sherwood, Esq. (Renter Warden), the Worshipful 
Company of Gardeners has given a donation of £5 5s. to the funds of 
the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. 
-The Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm.—A bout thirty 
gentlemen visited the extensive series of experiments on Tuesday last 
on the invitation of his Grace the Duke of Bedford and Mr. Spencer 
Pickering, F.R.S. They were greatly interested and hospitably enter¬ 
tained. The publication of a report of the work in progress must be 
deferred till next week, 
- Newcastle and District Horticultural Mutual 
Improvement Society. —At the last monthly meeting of this Society 
there was a good attendance, and Mr. Larke, North Dene, Gateshead, 
occupied the chair. Mr. J. Holmes, of the Fleming Memorial Hospital, 
Newcastle, read an instructive paper on “ Hardy Herbaceous Plants,” 
which was very much appreciated, illustrating and adding interest to 
his remarks by numerous specimens. 
- London Rainfall.—S ince the commencement of the present 
year the total rainfall in London has been very little over 5 inches, or 
only half the average quantity. Last month the rainfall in London 
was only 0’34 inch, or little more than one-sixth of the normal 
amount. From the beginning of June up to last evening the total fall 
in London was only two-hundredths of an inch, the average quantity 
for the expired portion of the month being rather over an inch. 
- Hampshire Strawberries. — The Strawberry season in 
Hampshire is now at its height, as indicated by the fact that 2000 
baskets of Strawberries were received at Waterloo Station on the 
7th inst. from the Swanwick district. The Hampshire growers now 
send the greater portion of their fruit in neat cross-handled baskets, 
with the result that it reaches the market in good condition, and con¬ 
sequently commands a more satisfactory price than was frequently the 
case when a more rough and ready system of packing was adopted. 
Immense quantities of Strawberries are also being received from France. 
On one day, says a contemporary, 3000 packages from Havre and 
St. Malo were placed on the London market. 
- Sale of Plants, —The well-known collection of specimen 
stove and greenhouse exhibition plants grown by Mr. J. Dyer for Mrs, 
Marigold, Park House, Edgbaston, was disposed of under the hammer 
on the 12th ult. by Mr. John Pope, King’s Norton Nurseries, as Mrs, 
Marigold contemplates leaving her present residence shortly. For 
several years past this collection of plants has figured prominently 
amongst the local shows. Mr. Dyer, who has been for about eleven 
years in his present situation, is about to enter business on his own 
account at Northfield, and has already erected two or three glass 
structures. It is somewhat remarkable that within the space of a few 
weeks two of the most prominent local exhibitors should be lost to the 
Birmingham and Midland Counties Horticultural Society ; firstly, in 
the person of Mr. J. Palmer, late gardener to W. Bown, Esq., Beech 
Lane, Harborne, and whose fine collection of Orchids was sold a few 
weeks since, as notified in the Joiernal of Horticulture. It may be 
mentioned that amongst the several fine specimens of Palma sold at 
Park House a magnificent plant of Kentia Fosteriana, 12 feet high, 
passed into the hands of a well-known ducal exhibitor of plants in the 
Midlands.—G, 
- Horticultural Club. —The last dinner and conversazione 
for the season 1894 and 1895 was held on Tuesday last at the Club 
Rooms, Hotel Windsor, Victoria Street, Westminster. The chair was 
occupied by Mr. Geo. Gordon, and amongst those present were Messrs, 
Geo. Paul, George Laing Paul, James Walker, A. H. Pearson, J. Edward 
Cockett, H. Selfe Leonard, T. W. Girdlestone, the Rev. J. H. Pemberton, 
and the Secretary. The subject for discussion was “ Single Roses for 
Garden Decoration,” and was opened by an interesting paper by Mr. 
Geo. Paul, jun., who dealt with some of the most valuable Roses for this 
purpose, both species and hybrids. A very animated discussion followed, 
in which most of those present took part; and a desire was expressed 
that more prominence should be given to this class at our earlier Rose 
shows, as the Roses belonging to it are mostly over by the beginning of 
July, except it may be in the north of England. A cordial vote of 
thanks was given to Mr, Paul for his paper, which will, we believe, 
appear in the “ Rosarians’ Year Book,’’ 1896. We believe there is in 
contemplation to revive the excursion, and it was proposed that it 
should this year embrace one or two of the market gardens in North 
Finchley, and a visit to Hatfield House and gardens. 
