400 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
[ May SO, 188«. 
recognition of his valuable services to the Committee of the Mayor’s (I. 
Hart, Esq.) Subscription Promenade Concerts.—March 30, 1886.” 
- Gardening Appointments. —Mr. James Child, late head gar¬ 
dener and bailiff to Mrs. Torr, Garbrand Hall, Ewell, has been appointed 
head gardener and bailiff to W. Bailey Hawkins, Esq., Houndswood, St, 
Albans. Mr. J. Silver, late head gardener to the Right Hon. Lord Trevor, 
has taken the Norbury Nurseries, South Streatham, S.W.. lately in the 
occupation of John Parker Sc Sons, where he intends carrying on the 
business of a nurseryman, florist, seedsman, and hardy herbaceous plant 
grower. Mr. Wm. Wenman, after having been foreman at Hickleton, 
Doncaster, for six years, has been appointed to take charge of the gardens 
there, succeeding Mr. Harris. 
-The Committee of the Pbeston and Fulwood Hobticul- 
ttteai/ Society with a number of friends met together on Saturday 
evening, May 15th, for the purpose of presenting Mr. Atherton, the Hon. 
Secretary, with a most beautiful drawing-room timepiece, also for Mrs. 
Atherton a tastefully hand-painted tea and coffee service in china, in 
recognition of his much-valued services. Mr. Atherton has worked hard 
for the Society for upwards of seven years as Secretary, for which be has 
received nothing more than an annual vote of thanks. J. Garlick, Esq., 
J.P., very kindly consented to preside and make the presentation, which 
he did with a few well-chosen remarks. Mr. Atherton replied, expressing 
his sincere thanks to those present. Mr. Swan and others remarked that 
Mr. Atherton well deserved the presents, also continual sympathy from 
the members at all times. 
- The usual monthly meeting and conversazione of the Horticul¬ 
tural Club took place on Tuesday last, when there was a good attendance 
of members, including Messrs. Cousens, Girdlestone, Geo. Paul, J. D. T, 
Llewelyn, H. J. Pearson, C. Pearson, Wheatstone, Professor Sanders of 
Ontario, Canada, P. Crowley, &c. The discussion was opened by an 
interesting paper on the Bog Garden, by Mr. Geo. Paul, who detailed his 
experiences at High Beech, and gave many interesting illustrations of 
the mode of making one, and of the plants which had succeeded or failed. 
The paper appears in another column. The discussion was continued 
by Messrs. Llewelyn, Cousens, E. Jenkins, Professor Sanders, and others, 
and many interesting facts were elicited. A cordial vote of thanks was 
unanimously given to Mr. G. Paul for his interesting paper. 
-The monthly meeting of Belgian Horticulturists was 
held in Ghent on the 10th inst., the following being present:—MM. 
Moens, Closon, Hye-Leysen, Em. Decock, B. Spae, Ch. Van Geert, 
Cuvelier, Rosseel, Desmet-Duvivier, Blancquaert, Arth. Desmet, Peeters, 
A. Van Geert, p6re. M. Moens presided, and Jules Closon was Secretary. 
Certificates of merit were awarded for Odontoglossum Alexandra var. 
Helenianum from M. Halkin of Brussels ; Davallia foeniculacea, from M. 
Aug. Van Geert; Rhododendron hybridum, The Strategist, from M. B. 
Spae ; Masdevallia Chelsoni, Cypriped'um microchilum, and Cypripedium 
Curtisi, from M. Hye-Leysen. A cultural certificate was awarded for 
Ptychosperma Alexandra, from M. Emile Decock, and honourable men¬ 
tion for Cattleya Mossim var., from Madame Yeuve Van der Swaelmen ; 
Pescatorea cerina var., from M. Louis Yan Houtte ; Impatiens Sultani 
aureo-variegata, from M. Aug. Van Geert; Tillandsia hieroglyphica, from 
M. Louis Van Houtte ; and Dendrobium thyrsiflorum, from M. James 
Bray. 
AMERICAN BLACKBERRIES. 
Allow me to add my testimony to that of “ A Kentish Gardener.” 
I also bought a dozen of the advertised plants with a still worse result : 
not one survived. I doubt if the dried-up twigs I received were in a 
condition to grow.—A Dorset Parson. 
As requested by a correspondent in your last issue, I give my 
experience of the much-advertised variety of the American Black¬ 
berries. I ordered a dozen. Each had a single stem, except one, 
which had two, of about a foot in length, and of the thickness of a 
quill. Seven are dead, two are weakly, and three are growing well, 
though still small, in fact about the size of a small Gooseberry bush.— 
W. R. 
We have read that in certain trades when the public demand is abat¬ 
ing, adverse criticism is brought to bear upon the articles that the dis¬ 
pensers are desirous of ridding themselves, purposely to again awaken the 
public interest, so that the parties who have the goods to dispose of can 
advertise the same gratuitously. In case, therefore, such a reflection 
should be brought to bear upon the subject of these remarks, we can 
readily answer the Editor and the readers of the Journal of Horticulture 
that such is not tbe case in this instance. 
In reply to “ A Kentish Gardener,” we may observe that when we 
introduced the Wilson Junior into this country we were not oblivious of 
the difficulties in the way of establishing the culture of this American 
Blackberry here. Of course, the primary obstacle is transit. To cover 
this point we undertook to replace any plants that might fail, and advised 
11 A Kentish Gardener ” and other purchasers of our willingness to 
do so, fully knowing tbe value of what we were introducing. The first 
importation that we received was in the spring, 1S85, and being delayed 
by the severe and late frosts on the other side, did not reach us until 
April, and on arrival were distributed far and wide at once. 
May we suggest to “ A Kentish Gardener” that before he imputed an 
attempt at imposition (1) he should, in common English fairness, have 
written for an explanation and rectification ? Had he done so—agreeable 
with our circular sent to him—we should have willingly replaced the 
canes that had failed. There are, of course, other contingencies, such as 
prejudice, &c. ; but notwithstanding them all, we predict, and with good 
reason, that in less than ten years the Wilson Junior, along with some 
other seedlings we are raising, will be known and appreciated throughout 
the country. 
We are well aware that all this correspondence serves to indirectly 
advertise us, and although not at all desirous of abusing the privilege 
kindly afforded us by the Editor, we consider it only right to reply.— 
Yiccars, Collyer & Co. 
[The last paragraph in a printed circular sent with the above com¬ 
munication contains the following sentence :—“We undertake to replace 
any plant that may happen to fail.” Purchasers now know what to do, 
and there appears no longer any necessity for prolonging the discussion on 
this subject.] 
BEDDING OUT. 
The bedding-out time is a busy and anxious one in many places. 
The business is caused by the work of planting many hundreds or thou¬ 
sands of plants, and the anxiety is produced lest frost or adverse weather 
should come and injure them. In some parts of the south we have 
planted the whole of our flower beds in the second week in May, but 
further north we were afraid to do this, and deferred operations until the 
middle of May. From the middle of May to the commencement of June 
is a safe time to bed out in most districts, and with good plants and care 
the beds will soon be furnished with abundance of foliage and a profusion 
of blossom, 
The most important matter of all is to have the plants well hardened 
off and quite accustomed to the open air, especially at night, before they 
are placed in the beds. No plants can be expected to be an immediate 
success that are brought out from a warm humid atmosphere under glass, 
placed in cold soil and under the influence of a drying wind or hot sun. 
If there is not enough of space under glass to allow the plants being pro¬ 
pagated early and hardened in good time it would be better to give up 
bedding of this character. Where, however, the plants were propagated 
from seed and cuttings in March, kept moderately warm until the middle 
of April, and then gradually withdrawn from the heat until they were in 
the open air altogether early in May, there will now be no danger of their 
being checked. 
Golden Feather, Calceolarias, and similar plants should be placed out 
first, Pelargoniums may follow, but Dahlias, Alternantheras, Tuberous 
Begonias, and other plants which are easily checked should be left until 
the last. By following a system of this kind we place out many hundreds 
of plants annually without ever having any blanks to fill. Before any 
attempt is made to lift the plants from the box in which they are growing, 
or turn them out of the pots, the soil should be thoroughly saturated at 
their roots, then each plant will be transferred with a good quantity of 
soil attached to the roots. Small plants for carpet beds can often be 
planted with the hand, merely making a small hole with the two fora 
fingers and pressing the soil back again ; but any too large for this should 
be planted with a trowel. No matter what size the roots may be, the hole 
for their reception should always be a little larger, so as to admit them 
freely. We have had some men planting who made the holes very shallow, 
and after the plant was in they pressed the roots down hard, which broke 
many of them as well as loosening all the soil about them. All plants 
with long stems must be planted deeply, and those with rather long top 
growths should be planted on their sides. Petunias, Verbenas, and Ivy¬ 
leaved Pelargoniums are amongst these, and as soon as they are planted 
they should be pegged down. As a rule wet weather is preferred for 
planting, as it agrees best with the plants and saves watering. One 
thorough watering after planting is more beneficial than repeated surface 
sprinklings. When the soil has been watered once and is getting dry 
again, the Dutch hoe should be run through it to break up and level the 
surface, and a hoeing now and again during the season is all the attention 
they require to keep them in good condition.—M. 
THE MAKING OF A BOG GARDEN. 
[A paper read by Mr. George Paul at the Meeting of the Horticultural Club, Tuesday, 
11th inst.] 
Given— you have a piece of squashy, water-charged bog land, on which 
you dare not tread for fear of going in over your shoetops, worthless 
except to produce a few Rushes, and mayb9 an Alder or Willow stub— 
Can it be made into an attractive garden P Yes —but it takes two or three 
years to do it, to get rid of its old indwellers and fully establish the new- 
