AprU 25, 1895. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
357 
came up from the pod of seed sown in 1893, and up to now nine of 
them have flowered in 7-inch pots in the greenhouse. 
This particular one, I thought, when expanding ita flower, would 
have a “ blind ” centre. But first of all it opened one set of petals, 
*-nd then from the centre of this appeared another flower, perfect in 
every way, forming a kind of “ hose-in-hose ” Carnation, the bottom 
part being about 4 inches in diameter, and the centre 2 inches. Another 
rather curious thing was one side of the “ hose-in-hose ” was a very 
deep crimson ground shaded lake, the other being buff ground shaded 
scarlet. Several other flowering shoots are spindling up now ; is it 
probable that the blooms from them will be the same as the first 1 
We have only just commenced raising our own seedlings, and perhaps 
some of our “ big growers ” will say how far seedlings are likely to 
follow their parents, and if they often break away to entirely different 
colours. Of the above mentioned plants that have flowered two are 
crimson seifs, the remainder being all fancies of different shades.— 
John Ettle, Glais House Gardens, Sioansea Valley, S. Wales. 
Weather in London. — A decided improvement has taken 
place in the weather during the past week, and in consequence vege¬ 
tation of all kinds in metropolitan districts is now growing rapidly. 
Bright spring-like days have for the most part prevailed, with warm 
sunshine interspersed by genial showers. Yesterday (Wednesday) was 
particularly agreeable. 
- The Weather in the North. —With less sunshine than in 
the preceding week the weather has notwithstanding been pleasant 
enough for the season during that ending the 23rd. Somewhat cold 
easterly winds prevailed in the earlier part, but Friday and Saturday 
were fine and mild. Monday was drizzly, and rain fell copiously during 
the night and again on Monday evening. Tuesday morning was dull, 
with the thermometer at 53°. Vegetation has progressed rapidly during 
the last few days.—B. D., S. Perthshire. 
- Shirley and Districts Gardeners’ and Amateurs’ 
Mutual Improvement Association. —A meeting was held at the 
Parish Rooms, Shirley, Southampton, on Monday, the 22nd inst., when 
the President (Mr. W. F. G. Spranger) presided over a fair attendance 
of the members. Mr. W. Frank Perkins gave an interesting and 
instructive lecture on “Seeds: Their Composition, Growth, Structure, 
and Germination.” “ Curiosities of Seed Life ” was also dealt with in 
an instructive manner, showing how winged and hooked seeds are 
adapted for distribution. A large collection of seed was shown by 
Mr. Perkins and Messrs. Toogood & Sons in illustration, and a very 
curious and unknown pod of seed was contributed by Mr. W. H. 
Rogers, containing hundreds of flat winged seeds, each an inch square. 
A vote of thanks to the lecturer and the exhibitors, and a resolution to 
pay a visit to Kaw Gardens as an outing early in July, terminated the 
proceedings. 
-Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution—The Wol¬ 
verhampton AND Staffordshire Auxiliary.— It has been decided 
to hold a floral fair and promenade concert in the Wolverhampton Drill 
Hall on April 30th and May 1st. All the artists have been engaged, and 
many florists have promised to assist in the decorations. Exhibits are also 
expected from Shrewsbury, Sheffield, and other parts. The promoter, 
Mr. G. A. Bishop, is very anxious that gardeners and others in the 
county and friends outside should render all the assistance they can by 
sending cut flowers, buttonholes, sprays, bouquets, or any exhibits, 
which will be considered a gift to the Institution. Gardeners could 
greatly help the Floral Fair by sending, at a very small cost, boxes of 
cut flowers for the ladies to sell. The principal gardeners in the county 
will act as Stewards of the Auxiliary. A working Committee has been 
appointed, and the Chairman has already collected nearly £30, and anti¬ 
cipates, with the co-operation he hopes for, to raise treble that amount. 
Friends wishing to take part in the undertaking should write G. A. 
Bishop, Netherton Farm, Wightwick, Wolverhampton, or send flowers 
and others things to the Drill Hall, not later than April 30th. We are 
asked to commend this co-operative effort on behalf of a splendid charity 
to the attention of our readers, but think it will commend itself, and 
trust the result will be in the highest degree satisfactory. 
- The Temple Show. —Her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales has graciously consented to attend the Society’s Great Flower 
Show in the Inner Temple Gardens on May 21it, and the show will be 
open for three days. 
- Mr. H. Shoesmith, who is well known as a Chrysanthemum 
grower, has taken a business—the Claremont Nursery, Woking, an 
improving town in Mid-Surrey, and the home of some ardent amateurs 
in horticulture. The nursery contains good ranges of glass, Mr. Shoe- 
smith intending to turn them to the best account, and to be heard of 
again. 
- Truffles.—O f all the delicious species of the Fungus family 
the Truffle probably heads the list. They are found chiefly in Oak forests. 
Growing wholly underground they can only be found by the aid of dogs 
carefully trained to scent them. The dogs indicate where they are, and 
the hunter digs them up. There is no reason why they might not be 
introduced into America, says a contemporary; but it is said to be 
difficult to get the dogs. 
- Seakale. —When at Dropmore recently Mr. Herrin showed 
me a large breadth of ground prepared and set apart for the reception 
of Seakale root cuttings. He mentioned that he planted some 5000 
yearly, because the demand for this excellent vegetable was so great. 
“ We can practically put it on the dinner-table every day of the winter,” 
he said. “ It is only needful to have good roots, not necessarily large 
ones, in abundance, and the rest is easy.” A large stock of roots has 
been of great value to any gardener during the past winter. How 
much better is it to grow Seakale in this way, practically treating it 
an annual, than by the old, untiJy method, still seen in many gardens, 
and which gives such poor control over the roots during the dead of 
winter. Those who grow on the old bed system seem now rather out 
of date.—D. 
- The Construction of Rockeries. —I fear I must plead 
guilty to having sent an unsatisfactory diagram with my articles on 
the construction of rockeries for Alpines. Your very able contributor, 
“ Saynor ” (page 342), is too complimentary to me in other respects, but 
I confess that the diagram is not what it should have been. Unfor¬ 
tunately, the art of drawing is one of the many accomplishments which 
the lack of the natural talent prevented me acquiring. The diagram 
was made a little more obscure by the omission from it of the letter F, 
which in the key pointed to the body of soil which had not been put 
into terrace form. As your contributor says, the outline is not a hard 
and fast one, but is merely to give a general idea of how to proceed. 
Alpines have to be grown in our gardens under purely artificial con¬ 
ditions, but it is wonderful to see how soon they modify the appearance 
of the rockeries on which they are placed. Prune away, Mr. “ Saynor ! ’ 
We are all delighted to read your “ Prunings,” and shall all be benefited 
thereby. May the whetstone be always at hand, so that the edge of the 
knife may be sharp enough to cut out all the useless growth to the great 
advantage of what is left.—S. Arnott. 
-Liverpool Horticultural Association,—T he sixth and 
last meeting of the session was recently held in the Free Library, 
William Brown Street, the Chairman being Mr. T. White. Mr. Jno. 
Cowan of The Vineyard, Garston, read a paper on “ How the Useful¬ 
ness of Horticultural Societies and Associations might be Extended," 
At the outset he spoke of the great advance of education, in which 
horticulture played a prominent part. For one exhibition held twenty 
years ago we had now ten or twelve, and he was in favour of having 
more still. To make associations more useful he advocated the 
foundation of properly constituted committees in popular centres, who 
could grant certificates or awards to new and meritorious plants and 
products, which would carry the same weight as those of the R.H.S. 
Such committees should also be able to conduct horticultural exami¬ 
nations. In concluding, Mr. Cowan spoke of the stereotyped way 
in which our exhibitions are arranged, with scarcely any departure 
from year to year. Mr. White agreed that exhibitions were too 
monotonous. Mr. R. G. Waterman in the main coincided with what 
Mr. Cowan had said, saying that there ought to be something done 
80 as not to let northern gardeners, who were quite as capable as 
any in the kingdom, have to be always a year behind in new and 
rare plants. Mr. R. Pinnington said he would for the present like 
to see each large association in a position to send at least two of 
its members to London twice in the year to report on new and note¬ 
worthy plants and other products. Mr. Stoney, Mr. Massey, and 
Mr. Foster also added interesting remarks, A hearty vote of thanks 
‘ was proposed to Mr. Cowan for his admirable paper.—R. P. R. 
