420 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 6, 1886. 
that the work sent is purely the labour, unaided 
and singular, of the essayist himself, and not 
that of some other person. Something may be 
. trusted to personal honour; but it is noticeable 
that in all similar examinations and competitions 
little or nothing is so trusted, but ample pre¬ 
cautions are taken to ensure that the work done 
in the competition is genuine and bond fide. 
The Society of Arts was, some twenty years 
ago, moved to institute, in conjunction with its 
annual examinations in various scientific and 
other subjects, certain examinations in Fruit and 
Vegetable Culture, and in Plant Culture and 
Flower Gardening. These competitions proved 
successful in bringing together a fair number of 
young gardeners, who, no doubt, gained much 
from the studies needful for any prospective 
chance in the examination; hut they too soon 
collapsed. This result arose first from general 
apathy on the part of the young gardeners, and 
secondly, from the difficulty experienced in 
securing available centres for examination, be¬ 
cause gardeners, as a rule, reside thinly all over 
the kingdom rather than in urban communities ; 
but the system upon which these examinations 
were based was, sound and absolutely prevented 
collusion. In the first place, the young gardener 
had to become a member of some local Insti¬ 
tute ; then the syllabus published some months 
previously gave a general outline of the peculiar 
branches of the subjects to he examined in, and 
the best text-books for consultation. At the 
time and place appointed for the examination, 
the students assembled, in charge of a local 
committee, who placed them at the tables of 
the room in which the actual work of exam¬ 
ination took place, and so mixed up that no 
two having the same subject sat near each 
other or could overlook each other. Then, at 
the appointed hour, the envelopes containing 
the set questions to be answered by the students 
were opened in the presence of all in the room, 
and copies handed round according to the re¬ 
spective subjects taken. Three hours was the 
limit of time for each examination, and every 
student was prohibited from taking in with him 
books or notes of any kind; hence it was abso¬ 
lutely certain that whatsoever work was done 
was that of the student himself and no one else. 
It will be seen that in this case the exam¬ 
ination consisted of set questions, and, of course, 
definite replies were essential. The papers 
gathered up after being signed, were then for¬ 
warded nnder seal to the Society of Arts for 
distribution to the examiners. Naturally, the 
giving of set questions kept the subjects con¬ 
sidered within reasonable bounds, and the time 
permitted only the accomplishment of so much 
Avork and no more. Essays may be of illimit¬ 
able length, some competitors, perhaps, being of 
the opinion that the longer the yarn spun the 
better the chance of winning. In the exami¬ 
nation to which we have alluded, a feAv queries 
Avell and truly answered Avere held to be of 
much greater value, and exhibiting better prac¬ 
tical as Avell as theoretical knoAAdedge, than 
all the questions attempted but not accurately 
replied to. There is one good result fioAving 
from competitions of this kind—viz., that 
inquiry is stimulated even if nothing else be 
obtained. All cannot AA r in, but all may rise 
from their intellectual labours much Aviser gar¬ 
deners. 
Very desirable is it that young gardeners — 
and specially those who are looking fonvard to 
obtaining good status in their profession— 
should aspire to some higher form of theoretical 
knoAvledge than they now possess. There is 
amongst us ample ability; there is a vast 
amount of that form of knowledge Avhich goes 
by the appellation of enlightenment. Indeed, 
we have an abundance of practice, but very 
little of science ; not that Ave avouIcI advocate 
too much of the latter at the expense of the 
former. At the same time there are too many 
gardeners AA'ho know that such-and-such results 
folloAV from certain acts of cultivation, but 
little or nothing of the Avhy and the Avherefore. 
It is true that our best practical gardeners—the 
men Avhose lives are spent in the laudable Avork 
of raising food for the people, are men of no 
scientific attainments, and rather apt AAdien they 
see the work of those Avho are “ all science and 
no practice,” to ask, what is the good of it? 
But such questioners would find it difficult to 
say Avhat the lack of scientific knowledge may 
have cost them. The supremacy of England 
—shall Ave say Britain—depends as much upon 
the intellectual capacities and technical know¬ 
ledge of her people as upon their practical or 
constructive capacities. We have much to do 
to hold our oavu in the Avorld’s competition, and 
quite as much in gardening as in anything else. 
Our young men must learn to realise their 
position and their responsibilities, and if the 
competitions we haA r e referred to will help in 
that direction they will accomplish much good. 
-- 
GARDENING MISCELLANY. 
The Chiswick Gardens. —Mr. Shirley Hibberd 
and a few friends, members of the Fruit and Floral 
Committees, on the 26 th ult. invited the employes of 
the Royal Horticultural Society at ChisAvick to a 
supper at the Bolton Hotel, as a testimony of their 
appreciation of the uniformly attentive and careful 
manner in Avhich the young men do their Avork in 
connection Avith the trials and experiments carried on 
in the garden. A very enjoyable evening Avas spent, 
and it Avas suggested that the event should be made an 
annual one. 
Professor Edouard Morren, the Avell-knoAA-n 
Belgian botanist and horticulturist, died at Liege on 
the 28th ult., aged 53 years. The Professor Avas born 
at Ghent in 1833, and succeeded his father as Professor 
of Botany in the University of Liege, and during his 
tenure of office greatly improved the Botanic Gardens 
in that city. He Avas also for many years editor of La, 
Belgique Horticole. 
The Taunton Chrysanthemum Show has 
been fixed for November 18th next. 
The New Park at Exeter. —We understand 
that Messrs. Lucombe, Pince & Co.’s tender for the 
supply of the ornamental trees and shrubs required for 
the Belmont pleasure grounds at Exeter, has been 
accepted by the Exeter Toaatl Council. 
Warwick Horticultural Society. —The 
annual exhibition of this society will take place later 
than usual this season, namely, on Bank Holiday, 
August 2nd, and will be held in the pleasure grounds 
attached to Warwick Castle. 
Pansies from Seed. —What a supply of Pansies 
can be kept up from seed ! Only it is important to 
soav seeds of a good strain. A batch of seed soavii in a 
cold frame in August or September, or even later, the 
seedlings planted out in the open ground as soon as 
they are ready in well prepared beds, will, in the south 
of England, and in some of the midland and northern 
parts, give a grand display of floAvers in April, May, 
and June ; while another batch from seed soAvn in April 
and May, will yield another display from August till 
December, according to the character of the autumn. 
The plants are most easily raised from seeds, and 
seedling plants are invariably strong, and bloom 
profusely. We often Avonder that Pansies are not more 
frequently used for making floAver beds gay from March 
until the time comes round to bed-out for the summer 
in June ; then the plants can be throAvn away, save 
and except a few select varieties it may be advisable to 
preserve. 
Sowing Seeds of Cyclamen persicum.— 
Mr. H. B. Smith, the manager of the St. George’s 
Nursery Company, at HanAvell, and a noted Cyclamen 
groAver, is now adopting the practice of soAving his 
Cyclamen seeds individually in thumb-pots, and not 
collectively in seed-pans as heretofore. He thinks this 
to be a much better arrangement in this respect. He 
states that at the time of pricking-off from the seed- 
pans into store-pots, and then singly into thumb-pots, 
a great deal of time Avas lost in addition to the plants 
receiving a great check. The labour of soAA'ing the seed 
singly in thumb-pots is not greater than the pricking- 
off of the young plants in the same way ; and as the 
seedling plants raised in thumbs are not shifted until 
they need it, there is no appreciable check, and the 
plants, provided they are well cared for, come to 
maturity more quickly. As Cyclamens are produced 
in very large numbers at Han well, it may be assumed 
that Mr. Smith’s new method is found to answer. 
The Birmingham and Midland Counties 
Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Asso¬ 
ciation, Avhich was formed a few weeks ago, appears 
to be making excellent progress, about 180 members 
having been already enrolled. The managing body 
consists of a President, T. Martineau, Esq., Mayor of 
Birmingham ; three Vice-Presidents, viz., A. W. Wills, 
Esq., Wylde Green, Birmingham ; E. Tonks, Esq., 
PackAvood Grange, Knorvle ; and A. Coleman, Esq., 
Hayley Road, Edgbaston ; and a Committee of sixteen, 
including the following officers :—Mr. W. B. Latham, 
Botanical Gardens, Chairman ; Mr. G. Page, The 
Gardens, Maple Bank, Edgbaston, Vice-Chairman ; 
Mr. W. Spinks, 46, Harborne Road, Edgbaston, 
Treasurer ; and Mr. J. Hughes, Northwood Villas, 
Metchley Lane, Harborne, Honorary Secretary. At 
the meeting held on Wednesday evening last, the 
subject of the lecture Avas, “The Mutual Relations of 
Plants and Insects ” ; the lecturer being one of the 
vice-presidents, A. W. Wills, Esq. On the 17th inst, 
W. Hillhouse, Esq., Professor of Botany, at Mason 
College, AA'ill lecture on “ The Scientific Value of Gar¬ 
dener’s Experience” ; and on the 31st, the Professor of 
Botany at the Midland Institute, J. W. Oliver, Esq., 
Avill speak on the subject of “Leaves and Roots—their 
relations to the air and soil.” On April 14th, Mr. 
William Dean has undertaken to give “A Fifty Years’ 
Retrospect of Horticulture ” ; and on April 28th, the 
lecture will be on “ Practice Avith Science,” by E. W. 
Badger, Esq. 
Fish. Manure. —A limited liability company has 
been formed with a capital of £130,500, to take over 
the business of the firm of J. Jensen & Company, which 
Avas established by the late Mr. R. S. Hudson, of 
Chester and West Bromwich, and by Mr. Alfred Bor- 
Avick and Mr. A. G. Meissner of Lloyds, to make Fish 
Manure from the refuse of the great Cod and Herring 
Fisheries of the Lofoden Islands, Norway. We learn 
from a circular before us, that both Cod Fish and Her¬ 
rings are reduced to a dry poAvder, Avith an average of 
only six per cent, of moisture. The Manure is clean, 
easily applied,' and AA’ith its combination of Potash 
forms a normal and complete fertilizer, Avhich has won 
for itself the approval of the best cultivators throughout 
the kingdom. After much trouble and delay, suitable 
sites were obtained, Avorks built, and operations com¬ 
menced. With the AVorks came an increasing popula¬ 
tion, and it Avas found necessary to organize a Store to 
supply the people, which proved a profitable addition 
to the business. With the Fish refuse (the heads and 
backs of Cod Fish) the fishermen brought fresh livers, 
and thus the department for making “Medicine Oil” 
originated. The disposal of semi-used livers led to the 
establishment of a branch for producing Cod Liver Oil 
for leather dressing, AA'hich has become of considerable 
importance. When the Cod fishing is over the Herring 
season usually commences. Herrings are offered in 
such abundance, that it has been found necessary to 
develop a special department for the manufacture of 
Manure and Oil from Herrings, AAdiich in this the first 
season has exceeded all anticipations. The offices are 
at 10, St. Helen’s Place, E. C., and both Mr. Borwick 
and Mr. Meissner Avill join the board after completion 
of the purchase, the former as managing Director. 
Hardy Fernery. —Inconstructinga hardyFernery 
use anything of the nature of stone, and the more 
porous this is the better ; but on no account use old 
tree stumps, or anything that is deca}’'ed. Upon old 
tree stumps and branches, especially in moist and shady 
places, Avill soon be developed imperfect and rudimentary 
forms of fungi, the presence of which is exceedingly 
detrimental to the health of a Fernery. We saAV 
recently a Fernery of this character that had been 
pulled to pieces solely on account of the unhealthy 
character of the Ferns planted on it. The evil principle, 
which did not appear much on the surface, Avas revealed 
as soon as the foundations were disclosed to vieAv ; there, 
mingled Avith the rotting wood, &c., were quantities 
of the Avhite threads that constitute the mycelium 
of the fungus, corresponding to dry-rot, and which 
were the real sources of the mischief. 
