90 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
February 1,1894. 
- Violets in Ireland. —A Golden Vision. —I cull a note 
from the garden department of the “ Irish Farming World,” page 830. 
It is on Violet growing in Col. Clements’ garden in Kildare, 
gardener Mr. Sime. After describing the modus operandi of culture, 
the writer goes on to say :—“ There is no mystery in the cultivation. 
Attention to a few simple details, and the reward is thousands of 
Violets, none less than a shilling apiece.” As this statement was not 
contradicted in a subsequent issue, are we to take it as correct, or is it 
blarney ? Twenty Violets to the pound sterling I What say you for 
the ould country 1 “ Hurroo ! ” says— Paddy. 
- White Sweet Peas. —Does any grower in this country know 
anything of the merits of the American white Sweet Pea Emily 
Henderson, as compared with the best pure whites that we already 
have in such varieties as Queen of England and Old White ? These are 
good forms, and it would be interesting to learn if in any way Emily 
Henderson is superior. No doubt there is room for the production of a 
purer white, but some flowers lack substance and entirely fail to give 
that purity which is so much to be desired in white flowers. That the 
Sweet Pea should be so popular for sale shows how important such 
a hardy summer flower is to those who cultivate for market. The 
most favoured hues are white, pink, and scarlet. We have so many 
hues and markings in Sweet Peas, all beautiful enough, but yet are of 
little service to the market grower.—D. 
- The Wakefield Paxton Society. — Mr. J. Campbell, 
gardener to Mrs. Micklethwaite of Painthorpe, who is one of the oldest 
members of the Wakefield Paxton Society, gave an essay on “ The 
Primula ” at the weekly meeting on the 2l8t ult. The table was 
tastefully decorated with the bloom of red and white Primulas, arranged 
in various devices upon Asparagus foliage, with a fine specimen plant 
in bloom as a centrepiece. Mr. Campbell has successfully grown the 
Primula for over twenty years, and in his paper he gave his fellow 
Paxtonians the benefit of his long practical experience, clearly and fully 
explaining how to treat the plant, from the sowing of the seed about 
the middle of February to the blooming period in winter. A long and 
interesting discussion ensued on the paper, in which Mr. Jesse Hardwick, 
Mr. J. Thomas, Mr. Pitts (Walton), Mr. Vere (Milnthorpe), and Mr. 
Wardman took part. Mr. Campbell replied to a number of questions, 
and adhered to his opinion that February is to be preferred to May for 
sowing of Primula seed. 
- Storage op Bulbs and Tubers. — The time of year has 
arrived for many bulbs, tubers, and corms to be brought out from their 
winter quarters for a fresh start, and there will be some little anxiety 
as to whether they have come through the winter safely. In how far 
does the result rest with ourselves ? Do we store them away in the 
right temperature 1 Caladiums, Gloxinias, and Achimenes are often 
stored in too cold a temperature. The first named I have stored where 
the temperature never falls much below 70'’, and every tuber came 
through the winter safely and started well. Gloxinias and Achimenes 
are sure to keep well if the temperature does not fall below 40®, and even 
tuberous Begonias keep best when the temperature does not fall much 
lower than 40°. Too often they are stored away in the potting shed 
or other frost-proof shed, and I know from past experience the result 
of such storage is far from favourable. In modern glass houses it is 
not easy to find a place where they can be stored without looking 
unsightly, but with a little scheming it can generally be managed.— 
John Milne, 
-— A Gardener on Thrift. — Members of the Exeter and 
District Gardeners’ Association met under the presidency of Mr. 
Andrew Hope, in the Guildhall, on the 24th ult., to hear one of their 
Secretaries (Mr. T. E. Bartlett, gardener at Knightleys, Exeter) read 
a paper on “ Thrift, or How to be Independent.” In the discussion 
which followed, Mr. A. George, lecturer on horticulture under the 
Devon County Council, spoke strongly on behalf of the Gardeners’ 
Koyal Benevolent Institution. If all gardeners, he said, would join 
that Institution they would not want any Government pensions. They 
could pension themselves. Mr. Weeks, head gardener at Stoke House, 
thought it would be one of the grandest things the Association had 
ever done if they could manage to get a few old hands on the Royal 
Benevolent Institution. Mr. Hope drew attention to the United Horti¬ 
cultural Benefit and Provident Society. For fid. a week, he said, could 
be drawn lOs. fid. per week in time of sickness, and a larger amount 
for a larger subscription. The membership was about 600, and the 
amount of sick pay paid in 1892 was only £88. The fundi were 
invested in 3 per cent. Corporation Stock. 
- Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums and Heliotropes at Coombe 
Warren. —Amongst the large number of excellent plants which will 
at these gardens soon be offered for sale are very many tall Ivy-leaved 
Pelargoniums and Heliotropes specially trained for the formation of 
large floral pyramids on the lawn in summer, and for covering trellis- 
work on walls bordering the pleasure grounds. These plants are chiefly 
on two or three stems, and range from 2 feet to 7 feet in height, all 
being neatly tied to sticks. Pyramids of these plants formed a 
striking feature at Coombe Warren, as they usually do at Mr. 
Bertram Currie’s place, Coombe Wood. They are not readily produced, 
but once obtained can, planted for the particular object, soon produce 
charming effects. There is a very large stock of Carnations of all sorts 
in pots and planted out also, for these flowers formed one of the late 
Lady Wolverton’s very special fancies.—D. 
- Mr. G. Woodgate. — A very wide circle of friends of this 
excellent gardener and Secretary of the Kingston Chrysanthemum 
Society will, we are assured, learn with deep regret that, because of the 
death of Lady Wolverton, whom with a former Lord Wolverton Mr. 
Woodgate had so faithfully served at Coombe Warren for fourteen 
years, an entire clearance of all in the gardens at Coombe Warren will 
shortly take place. Whilst Mr. Woodgate has received the customary 
month’s notice, the rest of the garden staff, with the exception of a 
couple of young men, have had but a week’s notice, and many who had 
long been employed in the gardens left absolutely on Saturday last. It 
is indeed bad enough for good and faithful servants when death inter¬ 
venes and robs them of an esteemed employer, that misfortune, however, 
is greatly intensified when, as in this case, not only has there been not 
the least provision made, but all are almost summarily sent adrift. We 
hope that Mr. Woodgate may soon secure another engagement. All the 
plants are to be sold. Should the necessities of the case compel his 
transference elsewhere the Kingston Chrysanthemum Society will have 
to deplore the loss of one of the most active and estimable as well as 
popular of secretaries, one whose place it will not be easy to fill. This 
we trust may be avoided, but still there is the possibility. We learn that 
the work of arranging the present year’s schedule is well forward, and 
Mr. Woodgate hopes to soon complete it. 
- The Fruiterers’ Company and the Agricultural De¬ 
partment. —Thursday last being the feast day of the conversion of St. 
Paul, the patron saint of London, the Fruiterers’ Company elected its 
Master and Wardens for the ensuing year, while in the evening the 
members of the Company were entertained at dinner. The festivity was 
held at the Albion, Aldersgate Street. This festival day has a celebrity 
peculiar to itself. During the middle ages, and even down to quite recent 
times, it was an article of constant belief that the whole character of 
the coming year is prognosticated by the condition of the weather on 
this day. For the sake of Londoners generally, however, it is to be 
hoped that this tradition does not hold good in the present day, for the 
weather on Thursday may be described in one word—miserable. But 
the weather apparently did not affect the attendance of the members of 
the Company and the guests, as the room was well filled. The Lord 
Mayor occupied the place d'honneur on the immediate right of the 
new Master (the Commendatore Camillo A. Sperati), on whose left sat 
the Italian Ambassador (Count Tornielli). The remaining company 
included Alderman Sir J. Renals (Upper Warden), Sir F. Evans, M.P., 
Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Moore, the Italian Ambassador (His Excel¬ 
lency Count Tornielli), Count Hierschel de Minerbi (first Secretary to 
the Embassy), Principe A. C. Corsini, Duca di Cosigliano, Marquis 
Paulucci di Calboli (Attache to the Embassy), the Hon. Robert Reid, 
Alderman Sir J. Whitehead, Bart., M.P., Alderman Sir H. E. Kn'ght, 
and others, horticulturists being represented by Messrs. G. Bunyard, 
T. F. Rivers, and J. Wright. Following the loyal toasts the Master 
proposed, in eulogistic terms, the health of the Italian Ambassador, 
Count Tornielli, who replied in French, alluded in the course of his 
speech to the importance of fruit growing in every country, and 
declared that his own country was as greatly interested in fruit culture 
as England, and that both countries ought to cultivate it to the fullest 
extent. Sir James Whitehead was the only other speaker who made 
reference to fruit. He said it was to him not a very agreeable thing 
to see that some of the fruit on the tables, though it could have been 
grown in this country, had not been grown by us at all. Since the 
Company started its scheme of fruit culture in 1889, however, great 
progress had been made in the matter of fruit growing. He trusted 
that when the Upper Warden (Sir Joseph Renals) came to the Mayoral 
chair he would make the increased cultivation of fruit one of the 
features of his mayoralty. He (the speaker) had received a letter 
