508 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 19, 1890. 
- Fruit Prospects. —Mr. John Austen writes from Witley 
Court Gardens, Stourport :—“ Our fruit prospects about here are very 
bad again. Apples, Pear.®, Plums, and Damsons almost nil. Straw¬ 
berries promise to be abundant and fine; we have gathered a few of 
Noble. Peaches, Nectarines, and Morello Cherries are also good crops.” 
- The Tunbridge Wells Horticultural Society will hold 
their thirty-second annual Show on Wednesday, July 9th next, in the 
Spa Grounds, Tunbridge Wells. Prizes to the total value of £180 are 
offered in numerous classes, and two of the principal are for eight stove 
and greenhouse plants and eight foliage plants, the first prizes being £8 
and £6 respectively. The Secretary is Mr. W. E. Brampton, 21, Cul- 
verden Park Eoad, Tunbridge Wells. 
- Cardiff Horticultural Society.— The second Exhibition 
of this Society takes place in the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on August 
13th. The Glamorganshire Horticultural Society, which formerly held 
its Exhibitions at Cardiff, was dissolved two or three years ago, and the 
present Society has taken its place. At its next Show prizes, open to 
all, are offered for stove and greenhouse and foliaged plants. Ferns, 
Fuchsias, and Zonal Pelargoniums. 
- Greenhouse Shading. —I see you allude (page 484) to a 
summer greenhouse shading that answered its purpose well. Permit me 
to draw your attention to a new preparation from Messrs. Clibran, 
Altrincham, which I have used on my greenhouse. The colour is light 
green, and so far ve’'y pleasing to the eye, a point of some importance. 
It is made by merely pouring boiling water on the cakes, which can be 
diluted of any consistency. It remains permanently on, but can be 
rubbed off at any time. A peculiar merit of it is under rain the glass is 
almost transparent.—W. J. M. 
- Fruit Trees and Caterpillars in Belgium.— The follow¬ 
ing extract from a letter of an extensive grower of fruit in Belgium has 
been sent to us for publication “ All the Pear crop has been destroyed 
by the Cheimatobia, so has the Apple crop. Half the fruit buds had 
already been killed by the Anthonomus (the beetle) larvm. The lackey 
moth’s larvaj have bred by millions this year. In the country lots of 
trees are bare. In our low-lying plantations we can destroy this pretty 
well. I am also visited by the scab on the Pears—that is, on the half- 
dozen that remain on 3000 trees. Fruit growing is getting akin to 
studying for the medical profession ; one has to deal with nothing but 
diseases.” 
Anthracite Coal. —We are reminded by a circular from the 
United Anthracite Collieries that the present is the most favourable 
time to purchase fuel for gardens. We are told that this smoke¬ 
less coal has been proved to give off much more heat than coke, 
requires very little attention, and is free from the sulphurous fumes 
usually given off by coke and inferior kinds of coal. It is now sold in 
suitable sizes for all classes of boilers or stoves, being broken and 
screened. A gentleman of our acquaintance has, by the use of this 
instead of ordinary coal, reduced his fuel bill more than £100 a-year, 
aud has been enabled to spend that amount extra on plants and trees 
for his garden. 
- Cherry Houses. —The cheap, plain, profitable Cherry house 
o! Mr. Rivers at Sawbridgeworth at this season of the year, and earlier, 
gives rise to a feeling of wonder that Cherry houses are not as common 
as Peach houses in the gardens of the sflluent. It is really nothing 
more than a boarded shed with a glass roof, perhaps 10 feet wide and 
not twenty times as long, yet it contains more Cherries than are to 
be found in half the gardens in Britain, individually of course, not 
collectively, and the clusters are finer and the fruit larger than are, 
with very rare exceptions, to be seen on the best grown trees in the 
open air. The Sawbridgeworth trees are in pots, plunged to the rims 
in the borders, two rows on each side of the central path, and they 
are laden with huge bunches of amber, crimson, and nearly black fruit, 
such as, perhaps, are not to be seen elsewhere. The extraordinary crops 
and healthy growth are due, no doubt, in a large measure to the top 
dressing of kiln dust and manure which is permeated by a mass of 
fibrous roots that gather nourishment for the trees. This appears to be 
equally efficacious for Peaches and Nectarines in pots, for the trees 
from 3 to 9 feet in height are laden with fruit, except those from which 
the crops have been gathered during the past two months and sold for 
very high prices. The crop of Grapes is remarkable, and Sawbridge¬ 
worth is very instructive at this season of the year under glass, for 
here is very little fruit on open ground trees in this nursery. 
- The death of Mr. John Rawlings, one of the two brothers 
trading as Messrs. Rawlings Bros., florists, at Romford, took place on 
the 4th inst., at the comparatively early age of thirty-five years. He 
was the third son of Mr. George Rawlings, for so many years a well- 
known Dajilia cultivator, raiser, and exhibitor, of Bethnal Green and 
afterwards of Romford. He was apprenticed to a builder, and not 
liking the business, his indentures were cancelled at the end of five 
years, and he returned home in 1878. In 1879, Mr. George Rawlings, 
the father, retired from business, and it passed into the hands of his 
second and third sons, John the deceased, and Arthur. The brothers 
were very successful in raising a number of very fine seedling Dahlias, 
and the first batch of seedlings they sent out in 1879 comprised such 
fine varieties as Mr. George Harris, Shirley Hibberd, Mrs. N. Halls, 
Frank Rawlings, and William Rawlings, followed by J. T. West, Mrs. 
Douglas, Mrs. Glasscock, Mr. George Rawlings, Mr. John Walker, Queen 
of the Belgians, R. T. Rawlings, T. J. Saltmarsh, Frank Pearce, one of 
the very best Fancies, and others. The cause of death was pleurisy, 
brought on by a severe cold. In 1888 a heavy flood visited Romford, 
and John Rawlings, in endeavouring to save the life of a man who had 
fallen into the river, was pul’ed in, with the result that he caught a 
severe cold, which appears to have undermined his constitution, and 
hastened ’nis death, to the great grief of his relatives.—R. D. 
- The Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.—A special meeting of the 
Committee was held at the Caledonian Hotel, Adelphi, on 13th inst., 
Mr. John Laing presiding. The Hon. Secretary, Mr. A. F. Barron, 
reported that the Chairman, Mr. George Deal, was in a very critical 
state of health, an announcement received with the greatest regret by 
the Committee. The minutes of the last meeting having been read, the 
balance at the bank was stated to be £518 123. 4i., Mr. Barron report¬ 
ing that annual subscriptions were being paid much better than last 
year, the sum of £400 having been received to date. A financial state¬ 
ment in reference to the late Covent Garden Fete was then submitted, 
showing that the total receipts amounted to £262 ISs., and the expenses 
£91 153. 5d., showing a clear gain of £170 173. 7J. The sum received 
by means of collecting boxes was £20 33. It was unanimously resolved 
that thirty-four special life votes in accordance with the amendment 
in rule 12 be placed at the disposal of the Sub-Committee of stand- 
holders appointed to assist in carrying out the Fete in May, 1891, and 
that Mr. Asbee be requested to obtain the names of the standholders 
selected to receive the same. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to 
the standholders for making such an admirable display. Several details 
connected with the coming annual dinner were considered and arranged. 
Later on in the evening a meeting took place of the joint Committee 
for carrying out the Fete, Mr. Assbee presiding over a good attendance 
of members. Mr. Barron having made a statement as to the receipts 
and expenditure, it was unanimously resolved that a letter of thanks 
be sent to the Lord and Lady Mayoress, the Duke and Duchess of 
Bedford, Sir Julian and Lady Goldsmid, and to all the standholders who 
assisted in making the display. Hearty votes of thanks were passed to 
the young ladies who took charge of the collecting boxes, and to others, 
which brought the proceedings to a close. 
- The excursion given annually by Messrs. Sutton & Sons, 
Reading, to their employee, took place on Tuesday, June 10th, to 
Bournemouth. A special train was engaged by the firm to convey the 
party, numbering upwards of 500, and in consequence of the excellent 
arrangements the journey both ways was accomplished in remarkably 
good time. Each employe received a free railway ticket and a liberal 
sum of money for refreshments, boating trips, &c., and in addition each 
married man was allowed a railway ticket for his wife. Mr. Martin 
Hope Sutton, Mr. Martin J. Sutton, Mr. Herbert Sutton, Mr. A. W. 
Sutton, with several members of their respective families accompanied 
the party,, and everything was done to insure the comfort and enjoy¬ 
ment of the many hundreds who took part in this annual outing, which 
Messrs. Sutton have given for more than thirty years. 
- Successful Culture of Peas in Pots.—S ome of the very 
finest crops of early Peas I have ever seen were grown this season by 
Mr. A Miller, gardener to W. H. Long, Esq., M.P., Rood Ashton, Trow¬ 
bridge. The variety grown was my old favourite. Carter’s Stratagem, 
and it is not often finer or better filled pods are seen of this popular 
exhibition variety. It was not merely one or two small dishes that were 
grown, but good gatherings were ready by the second week in May, and 
on and about May 21st two or three pecks of perfect pods were avail¬ 
able. Some of these, or two large dishes, were shown at the Bath Spring 
Show, and proved altogether superior to any other exhibits of the same 
