April 17, lt90. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
327 
lectures in country districts. He remarked also that it would be 
desirable to make it known that all applications should be sent to Mr. 
L. Castle, Hotham House, Merton, Surrey. Hearty votes of thanks 
were accoixled to Mr. Brownlow Tower for the trouble he had taken in 
arranging for the meeting, to 5Ir. J. Wright for his excellent lecture, 
and to Messrs. Baillie and Bunyard for attending and assisting. 
The Secretary also reported that favourable replies had been received 
from the gentlemen proposed at the previous meeting as Local Secre¬ 
taries throughout Great Britain and Ireland, and many encouraging 
suggestions were made showing the deep interest being taken in the 
work of the Association and the general approval of the programme 
adopted. I^etters were also read from several societies and gentlemen 
proposing that meetings and lectures shall be held in their districts, 
which were referred to the Secretary for arrangement. The pro¬ 
grammes for the June and August meetings were considered and 
advanced a stage, and will shortly be reaiiy for publication. 
The Wobksop Rose and Horticultural Society. 
A Society has been formed under the presidency of His Grace the 
Duke of Portland, and with Henry Vessey Machin, Esq., .J.P., as Vice- 
President, to encourage the cultivation of Roses and other flowers, fruits 
and vegetables in Worksop and the surrounding district. It is intended to 
hold a Show annually in the month of July, when a thoroughly represen¬ 
tative collection of the national flower may be looked for—several of the 
leading growers in the country having promised to exhibit—and when 
it is hoped to bring together a good display of fruit and other garden 
produce. The terms of membership are :—For amateurs employing one 
or more professional gardeners permanently, payment of £1 Is. or 
upwards. For amateurs cultivating their own gardens or employing 
occasional labour only, payment of 5s. or upwards. For cottagers, pay¬ 
ment of Is. or upwards. The above subscriptions giving the right to 
compete for any of the prizes assigned to the members’ class, without 
further payment by way of entrance fee or otherwise, and also giving 
certain tickets for admission on the show day. Mr. George Baxter is 
the Hon. Sec. 
Rose Lamarque. 
It would be difficult to find a better white Rose than this variety 
for flowering during March and April in the greenhouse. Seldom do 
we see this old variety cultivated as its merits deserve, when the rapid 
growth it will make under favourable conditions and the freedom with 
which it will flower are taken into consideration. In the bud and half- 
expanded state the blooms are seen at their best, in contrast with the 
dark green foliage with which this Rose is so well furnished. When 
the blooms are fully developed the centre of each exposes a faint tinge 
of yellow in the petals which somewhat spoils its appearance. Lamarque 
is easily increased from cuttings taken in a half-ripened state with 
a heel attached about the middle of April. Dibbled into sandy soil, 
plunging the pots in a gentle bottom heat, the cuttings will quickly make 
roots, and when growth is established numerous stout sucker-like shoots 
will burst from the main stems growing from 3 to 6 feet long in one 
season. From the eyes belonging to stout growths numerous side buds 
will start and produce from one to five blooms at the points. Such 
growths as I have described should be encouraged and allowed to grow 
without check. This variety is not so liable to be pestered with either 
green fly or mildew as some others, a point in its favour.—E. M. 
Rose Catalogue Commentary. 
Under the impression, I hope an incorrect one, that Mr. Raillem’s 
Rose commentary has come to an end, I write to express my own 
feeling, and that, I am sure, of many others, of regret that it should be 
so, and of hope that it will be published separately. Many have been 
looking for it from week to week with the greatest interest. The 
criticisms, so far as I could judge, have been most admirable. It will 
make a little book, which persons beginning to exhibit should make 
a point of getting, and is full of advice valuable also for old stagers.— 
A. C. 
THE SPARROW PEST. 
Your correspondent “ B.,” page 300, asks. Is there any way to keep 
down sparrows I Yes, there are several ways of doing so—trapping, 
shooting, and destroying the nests ; but to poison them is not advisable. 
I have no great antipathy to sparrows, as though they are numerous 
with us I am not able to lay any great damage to their account. They 
never, as with “ B.,” trouble our Currants or Strawberries. They were 
this year for the first time rather hard on my November-sown Peas, but 
it was because I had neglecte<l to put a few strands of small twine over 
them, and the weather was harsh at the time, but as I had some ready to 
transplant I soon made good the damage done,. They seldom interfere 
with my Peas when in bearing. The worst damage they do is to 
destroy the flowers of the bedding Primroses and Polyanthuses, fos 
which I have to hang up swinging bright coloured pieces of rag—red 
and blue, &c., and which seem to answer the purpose very well as a 
scare. In the winter season many persons, as an act of seasonable kind¬ 
ness, feed sparrows with bread crumbs and house refuse, thus keeping 
them in the vicinity all the year round, and when the house supply stops 
they pay the gardener a visit, who has to deal with them as best he can. 
Of course it is always necessary to net small birds. 
Your correspondent “ W. T.,” page 301, under the heading “Birds 
and Fruit Trees,” complains of the numerous sparrows and tomtits. I 
feel sure in many cases both sparrows and tomtits are blamed for the 
mischief done by the bullfinch. Only on Friday last, 11th inst., I was 
on the look out for bullfinches with a gun in my hand, and came close 
to some titmice at work in Apple trees, and how daintily they were 
sorting over the partially expanded trusses of bloom for caterpillars, 
I saw two or three varieties of them at the same work, but in no case 
could I see that they had damaged the blossom bud, but I noticed in 
some cases they pulled out some of the small leaves surrounding the 
flower truss. Birds of all kinds with us are very numerous, but as 1 
have a liberal supply of netting I only destroy bullfinches, as nearly all 
the other varieties at some season of the year do good to garden crops. 
—R. Maher, Yattendon Court. 
Your correspondent “B.” should get a bird net, commonly used at 
night, with a lantern at the end of the purse. The body of the net is 
attached to two long poles, which when open will cover 6 to 8 feefi. 
FIG. 48.— ONE OF DEAN HERBERT’S HYBRID NARCISSI (see page 321)1 
Spread this gently over Ivy on walls, hayricks, or thatched buildings or 
old hovels or sheds with a pigeon hole in, and by moving gently from 
place to place in the dark he will soon clear himself of the sparrows. 
I have caught fifty at a draw, taking them out at the end of the purse 
where the light is attached.—T. H. R. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Peaches and Nectarines. —Earliest Forced House .—Continue 
syringing until the fruit commences to soften, as it will during the late 
stages of ripening, and if syringing is persisced in it will cause the 
fruit to crack in the skin, and if only slightly it will give the fruit a 
very unpleasant mouldy flavour. It is very important, therefore, to 
have the trees quite clean by the time the syringing ceases, as it must 
when the fruit commences ripening. If there be the least trace of red 
spider apply an insecticide, repeating it so as to thoroughly free the trees 
of the pest. It is only the very early varieties, such as Alexander and 
Early Beatrice, that will be ripening; the others must be well syringed, 
and have abundant supplies of water with good surface mulchings. 
Raise the fruits with the apex to the light, shortening or drawing the 
leaves aside, so as to let the fruit have the full benefit of the sun for 
colouring. 
Secotul Early Forciny House .—Trees started at the new year are not 
so advanced as usual, being much retarded by the cold. They are ncoj 
