170 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
I March 1, 1888. 
ground is sunk by treading in the spaces, whilst where the plants or 
rows are it is not ; therefore the ridges are more pronounced in practice 
than they would appear to be from the heights given. 
I would take the opportunity afforded of stating that another season 
has proved the advantage of growing Asparagus on the ridge-and- 
increased-distance system. It is the only way to grow heads of the 
size and quality enabling the grower to compete successfully with 
imported produce. Its cultivation on the lines indicated, with the 
utilisation of material within the reach of all, would result in as fine 
Asparagus being grown in England, particularly in the sandy semi- 
alluvial soils of Beds and Hunts, or the light fen soil of Lincolnshire, 
as in any part of the world, size, nutritive quality, and freshness 
being the tests of merit.—G. Abbey. 
Events of the Week. — To-day (Thursday) the Royal Society 
meets at 4.30, and the Linnean Society at 8 P.M. On Monday, March 5th, 
the General Committee of the National Chrysanthemum Society will 
hold a meeting at Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street; and on Wednesday, 
March 7th, the Society of Arts has a meeting. 
- Pbofessoe I. Baillie Balfour of Oxford has been elected 
to the Chair of Botany in the University of Edinburgh, vacant by the 
death of Dr. A. Dickson. Mr. Balfour is a son of Dr. J. Hutton Balfour > 
who filled the same chair for so many years prior to Mr, Dickson. 
- In the South of England the weather has been extremely cold 
and dull with keen north-easterly winds, and last week snow fell on 
several days, accumulating in some districts to a considerable depth. On 
Friday last week in several gardens around the metropolis a temperature 
of 16° was recorded. 
- The Weather.—“ B. D.,” writing from Scotland, says—“ The 
week ending the 27th inst. has been the coldest of the season. There 
has been no intense frost, from 1° to 4° nightly, [and last night the 
thermometer stood at 33° ; but a piercing N.E. wind has prevailed, and 
snow showers has been occurring over the country. In some places 
roads are still blocked, and in the south-eastern counties drifts of 6 feet 
are reported. The low grounds in South Perthshire are all but clear, 
and there is but little on the lower hills around.’’ 
- The Weather in France. —Mr. Peter Barr writes to us from 
Bayonne, in the south of_France :—“ I am here in the midst of a winter 
that would be no disgrace to Scotland, and such, as I understand, has 
not been experienced at this time for fifty years.” 
- Brussels International Exhibition, 1888.—On February 
22nd a meeting of British exhibitors was held at the Mansion House^ 
London, the Right Hon. Polydore de Keyser, Lord Mayor, presiding. A 
l3tter was read from M. le Comte d’Oultremont, Commissaire General of 
the Belgian Government, recommendingi that ani official Commissioner 
should be appointed to facilitate the transactions between English 
Exhibitors and the Belgian Commissioner. After a short discussion it 
was resolved that Mr. S. Lee Bapty should be officially appointed as 
representative of the exhibitors in the British Empire section. It was 
stated that the Exhibition is expected to be a very comprehensive and 
successful one, 
- Paris Exhibition, 1889.—On the same day a meeting was 
held in the rooms of th? British Chamber of Commerce, Eastcheap, to 
consider what steps should be taken with regard to British exhibits at 
Paris next year. After considerable discussion, in the course of which 
several expressed themselves as opposed to taking part in the Exhibition) 
a motion was carried to the effect that ‘-the meeting considered it 
desirable the British Empire should be adequately represented at the 
Paris Exhibition of 1889.” 
- The Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. —The ordinary monthly 
meeting of the General Committee of this Fund was held on Friday 
night last. Present : Mr. G. Deal (Chairman), and Messrs. Barron 
Wynne, Woodbridge, Nicholson, Wright, Laing, Roupell, Dean, Richards, 
Goidring, Head, Bates ; also Mr. G. W. Cummins, a provincial Secretary. 
The eminent Belgian horticulturist, Mr. Pynaert, attended the meeting, 
and was cordially welcomed by the Chairman. Since the last meeting 
amounts of £46 11s. 6d. in donations and £18 16s. in annual subscrip¬ 
tions were added to the Fund, including £5 from the Horticultural 
Club. The total sum promised to the date of the meeting is 1449 14s. 4d., 
of which £1168 2s. fid. has been received. The Secretary (Mr. A. F. 
Barron, Chiswick) will be glad to receive contributions with the view of 
preparing for the first election of orphans, some of which are nominated. 
On the advice of the sub-Committee appointed to consider the matter it 
was decided to have a popular dinner in connection with the first 
election on July 13th, and it is hoped a large number of provincial 
secretaries and their friends will be able to attend on the occasion'- 
Their co-operation is much valued, and their presence will be highly 
appreciated. Mr. J. Lyne was unanimously appointed Secretary for the 
Wimbledon district. Gardeners who are willing to help in districts 
where local secretaries are not appointed are invited to communicate 
with iMr. Barron. The subject of money boxes for placing in suitable 
positions was considered, but more samples were thought necessary before 
arriving at a decision. The question of collecting cards will also receive 
careful attention. The sub-Committee was re-appointed to formulate 
arrangements for the annual meeting. At the close of the proceeding* 
Mr. Pynaert expressed the pleasure he had derived in being present at 
the deliberations, and trusted that an object so good, which had no 
parallel in Belgium, would be well supported in Great Britain. 
-A CORRESPONDENT sends US some Cineraria blooms to “ let 
us see that he does not lag behind other bumptious growers.” We may 
suggest that the woid “ bumptious ” appears to be somewhat misapplied 
if it refers to persons who have sent us much better Cineraria blooms 
than those before us, the florets of which in all the large examples do 
not overlap. A laced Primula accompanying them is very attractive. 
- Referring to the reductions in the schedule of the Liver- 
ROOL Horticultural Association “A Committeeman” writes;— 
“ Respecting fny report of the annual meeting, I must remind Mr. Bard- 
ney (see page 149) that it was not written in a ‘ hurry,’ as he suggests, 
to which the date of its publication will testify, but was the outcome of 
a few notes taken at the meeting. I distinctly heard a member inquire 
of Mr. Bardney the amount he would deduct from the summer schedule, 
to which he replied £105. This is how the mistake originated, as I now 
learn this is the total amount proposed to be deducted from the three 
schedules. The resolution handed to the Chairman reads thus :—‘ That 
the prize money offered by the Committee for the three Shows to be 
held this year (1888) be reduced by £105—namely, £17 on the spring 
Show, £50 from the schedule of the summer Show, and £35 from the- 
autumn Show.’ A total by the way of £102 only.” [We doubt if 
further communications on this subject would be of general public 
interest.] _ 
GARDENEKS’ EDUCATION. 
I HAVE been thinking over what “ Experientia docet ” had to say io 
a recent number on the educational deficiencies of gardeners. Whilst 
there can be no gainsaying the facts which he places before the reader* 
of the Journal—my own experience coinciding with his—I do not think 
gardeners are as a class so bad as we may find in many other trades. I 
receive many well written communications from gardeners, and those 
instances which are of a nature which would fail to satisfy the inspector 
of an elementary school are almost entirely lapses and mistakes in little 
things, which I suppose every imperfectly educated man is at time* 
liable to fall into. They are as nothing when compared with notes I 
occasionally receive from other head servants, and whose relations to 
their masters and mistresses are closer than those of gardeners. 
Accounts and estimates from local tradesmen are also composed in a. 
style far inferior to what I should expect from a gardener. Only last 
summer I received an estimate so bungled that I was ashamed to present 
it at headquarters, and had to point out to the person estimating the 
necessity of expressing himself at least with clearness. These facts do 
not, of course, make the case of gardeners a whit better, and if it will 
in any way conduce to the improvement of the rising men who have not. 
yet taken so much pains to improve their English as they might do, I 
shall be very glad to place the following remarks at their service. 
By way of introduction, it may be noted that board school education, 
is, of itself, insufficient. These schools turn out good penmen, but that 
is the only part of their code of instruction to which the expressiorr 
“ good ” will apply. It therefore becomes incumbent on men whose 
education has been derived from that source to see to it that the other 
necessary elements of a fair education are made good. Your corre¬ 
spondent is hard on men who will not take the trouble to learn to spell 
the name of a plant correctly, and who fail to pick up knowledge that 
is lying directly under their eyes. But it is just this question of seeing. 
