May 8, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
568 
SPECIAL NOTICE. 
OF 
ORCHIDS, 
Stove and Greenhouse Flowering 
AND 
Foliage Plants. 
&IT Open to the Public 
From MAY 12th to JUNE 26th, 
from 9 a.m. [to 6 p.m. daily. 
ADMISSION FREE to those who have 
received invitations, or upon presen¬ 
tation of card. 
A LARGE SHOW HOUSE, 100 feet long by 22 feet wide, will 
be especially devoted to the ORCHID EXHIBITION, and visitors 
may rely xtpon seeing these beautiful Plants with the greatest degree 
of comfort, the ventilation, means of ingress and egress, as well as 
the great width of the paths being all that can be desired. THE 
LARGE WINTER GARDEN, 100 feet by UO feet, and the other 
SHOW HOUSES, will be gay with our large collections of STOVE 
AND GREENHOUSE FLOWERING AND FOLIAGE PLANTS, 
which have figured at the LEADING SHOWS both at home and 
abroad for many years with uninterrupted success. 
B. S. WILLIAMS, 
VICTORIA AND PARADISE NURSERIES, 
UPPER HOLLOWAY, LONDON, N. 
Orchid Exhibition, 
One of the most beautiful sights 
in London. 
VARCHIDS.— Mr. William Bull’s ORCHID 
EXHIBITION.—The Private View to Patrons of the 
Establishment is held every TUESDAY, THURSDAY, and 
SATURDAY, 10 to 5 o’clock, throughout MAY, JUNE and 
JULY. 
Establishment for New and Rare Plants, 536, King’s Road, 
Chelsea, London, S.W. 
YARCHIDS.— Mr. William Bull’s EXHI- 
BITION is OPEN to the Public every MONDAY, WED¬ 
NESDAY and FRIDAY, 10 to 5 o'clock, throughout MAY, 
JUNE and JULY. Admission, each day, 2s. 6d. 
VARCHIDS.—A vision of loveliness unparal- 
\-f leled in Europe. 
QRCHIDS, 
-“Must be seen to be realised. 
O RCHIDS.—“A scene of the greatest Or- 
chidic beauty, baffling description, and, we had almost 
said, defying exaggeration.”— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
VARCHIDS. — Specimens in Flower from 
VA Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Madagascar, Assam, 
Peru, Costa Rica, Venezuela, West Indies, Burmah, Borneo, and 
various other parts of the Eastern Archipelago. 
VARCHIDS.—Private Yiew to Patrons of the 
Yy Establishment every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 
10 to 5 o’clock, throughout May, June and July. 
YARCHIDS.—Public Exhibition every Mon- 
V-/ day, Wednesday and Friday, 10 to 5 o’clock, throughout 
May, June and July. Admission, each day, 2s. 6 d. 
/"ORCHIDS.—The Exhibition is worth going 
N-r any distance to see at Mr. William Bull’s Establish¬ 
ment for New and Rare Plants, 536, King’s Road, Chelsea, 
London, S.W«j ’ ’ ’ 
120 Plants for 5s. 
W ILLIAM BADMAN offers his 5s. box 
of plants, containing 50 Geraniums of sorts, 15 blue 
Lobelia, 10 Fuchsias, 10 blue Ageratum, 15 Calceolaria, 10 scarlet 
Tropaeoium, 10 sweet Heliotrope. Well rooted and sure to give 
satisfaction. Half the above for 2s. 6 d. Post free 6 d. and 9 d.. 
extra. P. O. O. with order 
Cemetery Nursery, Gravesend. 
Q uince—the Missouri mammoth, 
only Quince endorsed by the Missouri Valley Horticul¬ 
tural Society as adapted to the West, $2 each. Prince 
Albert, $1. Meech’s Prolific, $75 per 100. Reliable Salesmen 
always wanted on salary or commission.—MID-CONTINENTAL 
NURSERIES, Kansas City, Mo. 
/N OOSEBERRIES, TRIUMPH, direct from 
vOT the originator, at $5 per dozen, or $40 per 100. To get 
lowest prices, and keep posted on new and desirable novelties, 
subscribe for the Nurserymen’s Trade Journal, Palmer's Monthly. 
Kansas City, Mo. 
R oyal " horticultural society^ 
SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 
NOTICE !—COMMITTEE MEETINGS, Fruit and Floral, at 
11 a.m., in the Conservatory ; Scientific at. 1 p.nr., in the Lindley 
Library, on Tuesday next, May 11th. 
FIFTH PROMENADE SHOW. 
/CRYSTAL PALACE GREAT FLOWER 
\J SHOW of season, May 21st and 22nd. 
For Schedules, apply W. G. HEAD, Superintendent. 
CONTENTS. 
PAGE 
Amateurs’ Garden. 567 
Anemones, St. Brigid’s_ 571 
Auriculas, alpine . 573 
Auriculas at Rough Bank . 573 
Begonias . 564 
Birds and Gooseberries .. 571 
Cattleya Mossise. 572 
Charcoal “ Nuts ’’. 571 
Cinerarias at Forest Hill.. 573 
Collinsia verna . 571 
Floriculture . 573 
Gardeners’ Calendar, the .. 572 
Hardy Plants, choice .... 567 
Hedges, patenting. 572 
Hyacinths in Derbyshire.. 566 
Indian and Colonial Exhi¬ 
bition. 564 
Melons, on setting. 572 
PAGE 
Orchid Flowers . 571 
Orchid Growers’ Calendar. 572 
Orchids, mossing the stems 
of. 572 
Orchid Show, Mr. Bull’s .. 564 
Peas not Vegetating. 571 
Practice with Science .... 563 
Primulas, best hardy .... 566 
Primula rosea and obconica 571 
Pruner, a new tree . 572 
Scottish Gardening . 567 
Scottish Hort. Association 564 
Sheffield, new park for.... 564 
Strawberry,Keen’s Seedling 571 
Tiger Flowers. 571 
Turnbull, the late Mr. A... 574 
Violets . 571 
11 Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1886. 
Practice with Science.— We have on more 
than one occasion recently drawn attention to 
the formation at Birmingham of a Mutual Im¬ 
provement Society, the members of which are 
the gardeners of the locality. The society has 
been in existence only a few months, and is 
consequently still in its infancy ; but there are 
many indications visible to the quiet observer 
that there is abundant vitality in it, and every 
reason for hoping that it will be long-lived. 
There are already 200 members, who subscribe 
2s. 6 d. annually ; and contributions amounting 
to upwards of £50 have already been received 
from friends of the society for the purchase of 
hooks, so that in a very short time the gardeners 
of Birmingham will be in possession of a library 
of their own, which will, no doubt, consist of 
books of special interest to them, as there 
■will he no need to spend anything on general 
literature, the free lending libraries of the town 
supplying such books in ample abimdance to 
meet every inhabitant’s requirements. 
So far the meetings of the society have been 
chiefly occupied with lectures delivered by local 
men ; the average attendance of members being 
about 100. The first was by Mr. A. W. Wills, 
a well-known amateur, and a man of science, 
his subject being “ The Mutual .Relations of 
Plants and Insects.” The next by Professor 
Hillhouse, M.A. (Mason’s College, Birmingham), 
on “ The Scientific Value of Gardeners’ Ex¬ 
perience.” The third was by Mr. J. AY. Oliver, 
on “ Leaves and Roots—their Relations to the 
Air and Soil.” The fourth was by Mr. AY. 
Dean, entitled “A Fifty Years Retrospect of 
Horticulture.” The last lecture for the session 
was delivered by Mr. Edward W. Badger, 
F.R.H.S., his subject being “Practice with 
Science.” The lecture was chiefly addressed to 
the younger members, in the hope of stimulating 
them to be something more than mere routine 
gardeners. The value of theoretical knowledge 
was forcibly set forth, and the way to obtain it 
indicated at some length. The merely practical 
gardener, familiar with the “how” of gardening, 
was urged to strengthen his position, and en¬ 
large the range of his knowledge by learning the 
the reasons for all his operations ; in other words 
to make himself as familiar with the “why” as 
lie is with the “ how ” of gardening. The 
value of such knowledge was illustrated by 
explanation of the uses of and reasons for a 
series of the most familiar instances of garden 
operations, the aim of the lecturer apparently 
being to enforce his recommendations of com¬ 
bining practice with science, by showing that 
a scientific principle underlies every practice of 
the gardener’s art; and how much more interest 
will be taken in his work by an intelligent man 
who does everything as the result of reasoning 
rather than merely because it is the usual way 
to do it. Uo attempt was made to glorify 
scientific at the expense of practical knowledge ; 
on the contrary, the value of practical experience 
was fully recognised, though at the same time 
it was shown how much light is thrown upon it 
by sound scientific knowledge. A very useful 
part of the lecture was the list of hooks recom¬ 
mended to the young student, Mr. Badger not 
contenting himself with the hare mention of 
their names, but giving a general notion of their 
contents, and suggesting the order in which 
they should be studied. 
AA T e understand that when the meetings of 
the society are resumed in the autumn the 
business will include the reading of practical 
papers on cultivation by the members, and the 
exhibition of specimens illustrative thereof. 
Discussions on these papers will invariably 
ensue, and the results will no doubt he very 
beneficial. AA r e heartily congratulate the mem¬ 
bers of the Birmingham Society on their success 
so far, and on the bright prospects of their 
future. 
—-—- 
GARDENING MISCELLANY. 
Meetings for next week. —Tuesday : Royal 
Horticultural Society, meeting of Fruit and Floral 
Committees. — Wednesday : Exhibition of Orchids in 
the Birmingham and Edgbaston Botanical Gardens 
(two days).—Opening of Mr. B. S. Williams’ exhibition 
of Orchids and other plants, at Holloway. 
Messrs. AY. Richardson & Co., Darlington, 
were awarded a Silver Medal by the Society of 
Architects, at the recent Architectural and Building 
Trades Exhibition in London for their Patent System 
of Ventilation applied to Horticultural Buildings. 
Mr. Angus MacLeod, late foreman at Wemyss 
Castle, Fifeshire, has been appointed gardener to the 
Marquis of Headfort, Headfort House, Kells, Co. 
Meath, in succession to Mr. Ireland. 
Mr. B. S. AVilliams will open his annual exhi¬ 
bition of Orchids and other flowering and fine-foliaged 
plants on AVednesday next, and from that date to June 
26th will maintain a display which, judging by his 
previous achievements, will be at any time worthy of a 
visit. 
Late Daffodils. —The blooming season is this 
year being considerably extended. Recently, when 
looking over some large patches of the common Poeticus, 
growing in a market garden under trees, it was seen 
that though there were plenty of buds there was not 
an indication of one of them expanding, and the double 
white Narciss is later still in the same garden. 
Doubtless the cold weather—treacherously cold at 
nights—is having a retarding influence, indeed, it is 
keeping many things hack. There is a danger that it 
will dry up some of the blossoms of the fruit trees, from 
