260 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 25, 1886. 
at Liverpool last summer. Tlie effort was not 
only well intended, it was an ambitious one; but 
unhappily failed so utterly, that we cannot 
hope to see any provincial shows held under 
the auspices of the society again, much as we 
should like to see the society go to the pro¬ 
vinces every year as the Eoyal Agricultural 
Society does. 
"Within its own immediate domain, the 
Royal Horticultural Society has been, with the 
assistance of the Colonial Exhibition Com¬ 
missioners, doing useful work at South Ken¬ 
sington ; its series of shows held there during 
the year—and especially the later ones— 
showing not only remarkable success, but also 
exceptionally high quality in the products dis¬ 
played. The Fruit and Floral Committees 
have done much to re-habilitate themselves in 
the estimation of the gardening community, 
though the feeling undoubtedly still exists 
among provincial horticulturists that the in¬ 
terests of the provincial nursery and seed trade 
are not sufficiently represented on either of 
those bodies. Still, we have no hesitation in 
saying that whatever may happen to the society 
in relation to its domestic arrangements, at 
least it null never lack reputation so long as it 
maintains its Fruit and Floral Committees, and 
does its utmost to secure the confidence of the 
horticultural world in those bodies. Ordinary 
exhibitions are good, and gardeners rarely tire 
of them ; but, still, the honorary exhibitions 
created by the labours of the Fruit and Floral 
Committees are of exceeding interest, and we 
sincerely hope will be not less so in years to 
come than they have been in the past. 
It is easy to aver that the committees make 
mistakes, but then there exists no mortal bodies 
of a similar character who are inf allible. On the 
other hand, there is so much careful and meri¬ 
torious Avork done by these honorary bodies, that 
even for their maintenance alone, if for nothing 
else, the Royal Horticultural Society merits the 
respect and support of the gardening community. 
"We know well the good and useful Avork it 
does, and cordially wish it Avell out of its 
present difficulties, especially as regards its 
London habitation. Happily, South Ken¬ 
sington is no more London than London is 
England, and if South Kensington fails, other 
places may be found Avhere the society will find 
shelter ; and heartily glad should we be for a 
change, for we have no faith Avhatever in the 
South Kensington connection bringing any 
prosperity to the society. 
In most other parts of the kingdom horti¬ 
cultural societies seem to have fairly Avell 
prospered, and there does not appear to have 
been any special lack of support shoAvn towards 
them on the part of the public. Flower shows 
in their remarkably varied aspects have become 
recognised public institutions, and we can but 
Avish for them all a prosperous year in the one 
Avhich will so soon be Avith us. To gardeners, 
on the whole, the passing year has not been 
altogether ungenerous. If we have had some 
bad weather, Ave have also had very much that 
has been truly pleasant and delightful; and 
under such benign influences, gardening has 
been very enjoyable. Crops, generally, have 
been A'ery good, and market groAvers haA r e foimd 
them to have been almost too abundant, the 
market returns being relatively so poor. Still, 
there has been plenty for the poor, as for the 
rich, and that has been consolatory. We will 
not attempt to dive into the future of market 
gardening, and its ultimate position in relation 
to ordinary trade. It Avill be pleasant if, after 
the close of the folloAving year, we can report 
good crops and remunerative prices, because 
Ave Avish to see all the trade thriA'e and prosper. 
Not only does a big prosperous trade mean 
Avealth to the groAver, it means also ample em¬ 
ployment for the labourers, and plenty to the 
vast body of consumers. 
Beyond the fact that some fruit crops Avere 
exceptionally good, Ave cannot place the passing 
year higher than as of a good average character 
in all things. The Aveather has, indeed, been 
of fairly even character, Avith very little that 
Avas of a phenomenal nature. Gardening thrives 
best under average Aveather, and any sensa¬ 
tional meteorological features rarely conduce to 
its Avelfare. It is interesting to be enabled to 
mark a year for its exceptional heat and 
drought, for its coolness or loAvness of tempera¬ 
ture, or for its storms and tempests, its frosts 
and snowfalls. But visitations of this kind, if 
remarkable, are undesirable ; and, therefore, it 
is far pleasanter to refer to the year’s Aveather 
as being of a fair average rather than of an 
exceptional character. 
With 1886 there have disappeared from the 
gardening muster roll not a few men who made, 
during their ltoes, honourable entries on its 
pages. Their memories we cherish, feeling 
sure that no monuments mortals can erect to 
them can excel in fitness that monument of 
warm esteem Avhich is found in the human 
heart. Even the poorest in his sphere has left 
footsteps on the sands of time, in AA-hich the 
rising generation of gardeners Avill do well to 
walk. If the young can make as good men 
and gardeners as some of those who have so 
recently passed away, they will do well; it will 
be hard, indeed, to excel them. Whilst not 
a feAv cherished friends and faces have passed 
away, others have sprung up, and, in a sense, 
filled their places; and so is it said of Father 
Time, that men may come and men may go, 
but he lives on for ever. 
The number, 121, on the front page of our 
issue to-day, shows that The Gardening 
World has passed out of the stage of baby¬ 
hood, and is fast growing into the age of robust 
youth. The passing year has not been unkind 
to it, and Ave have no reason to resent its con¬ 
duct towards ourselves. Slow and sure is an 
excellent motto, and it invariably means in¬ 
creasing prosperity and inevitable success. 
That such is the destiny of The Gardening 
World Ave feel assured, and in wishing our 
readers a happy Christmas, we realise that on 
their part the wish to us is heartily reciprocated. 
-- 
H.R.H. The Prince of "Wales has been elected an 
honorary member of the Linnean .Society. 
Mr. George Goodfellow, who was for many years 
gardener to the Honble. Mrs. Mure, Caldwell, Ayrshire, 
has succeeded Mr. Macdonald as gardener to E. A. 
Stuart Gray, Esq., Kinfauns Castle, Perth. 
The exhibitions of the Chisavick Horticultural 
Society for 1887 will be held as follows:—Summer 
Show, July 14th ; and Autumn Show on Nov. 17th. 
We have received from Messrs. John Weeks & Co., 
King’s Road, Chelsea, one of their Horticultural Pocket 
Books Avith Diary for 1887. A serviceable and useful 
present for a gardener. 
Mr. H. Peavtress, late of Waddesdon Manor 
Gardens, Aylesbury, has succeeded Sir. R. G. Water¬ 
man, as gardener to Alfred Tate, Esq., Eoseleigh, 
Woolton, Liverpool. Mr. Waterman is seeking another 
engagement. 
Mr. W. Brittain, late of the Eoyal Horticultural 
Society’s establishment at South Kensington, has been 
engaged as gardener to Lady Pollock, at Hatton Park, 
Feltham. 
In the eleven months ending November, the total 
number of gardeners, florists and nurserymen gazetted 
Bankrupts, was sixteen, as compared with fifteen 
during the corresponding period of last year. 
Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, have just issued 
their Pocket Garden Calendar for 1887, a neatly 
got up and useful little pocket reference for amateurs. 
The First Floral Exhibition of 1887 will be 
that held by the National Chrysanthemum Society on 
January 12th and 13th, at the Royal Aquarium, 
Westminster. The executive of the society being 
laudably desirous of encouraging the production of 
good Chrysanthemum blooms in January, offer money 
prizes in seven classes for cut blooms, besides Cer¬ 
tificates for new or rare varieties, and it is sincerely 
hoped that all who have blooms Avill do their best in 
assisting to make the show a success. We may add 
also that the Royal Aquarium Company offer prizes for 
Cyclamens, Primulas, Solanums, Hollies, Ivies and 
Conifers in pots, tubs or baskets, and that schedules 
may be obtained from Mr. W. Holmes, Frampton Park 
Nursery, Hackney. 
-- 
THE NEW CATALOGUES. 
Messrs. James Yeitch & Sons’ new seed catalogue 
contains a coloured plate of some fourteen varieties of 
Chinese Primulas. They also announce a novelty in 
Zinnia elegans robusta grandiflora plenissima (Phoebus, 
what a name!), a Continental novelty which grows in the 
form of large bushes 3 ft. high, Avith flowers 5 in. and 
6 ins. across. Another floral novelty is a new perpetual 
ten-week Stock named Princess Alice, a variety of good 
branching habit, and pure white. In the vegetable 
section we note the new Mammoth Scarlet Runner 
Bean, a most desirable acquisition ; the Chiswick 
Favourite Potato, a new round white, which came Avell 
out of the ordeal of trial at Chiswick ; and the four new 
Peas Prodigy, Chelsea Gem, Sturdy and Gladiator, all 
of which have been highly tried and found worthy of 
recommendation. 
Messrs. James Carter & Co.’s Vade Jlecum for 
18S7 is as bulky as ever, and contains showy coloured 
plates of various flowers, vegetables, &c., besides a host 
of engravings, and a large sheet representing their new 
Pea “Anticipation,” natural size. Amongst other 
noA T elties, we notice a new Pea named Lightning, 
which the firm considers “ the earliest Pea in the 
Avorld ”; the Jubilee Runner Bean, “the largest- 
podded variety in cultivation” ; a new Beet, named 
Crimson Ball; the Phcenix Kale, “a Avinter necessity 
for gardeners ” ; the new Tennis Ball Onion ; Carter’s 
Cetewayo, a A'eritable black Potato, both in skin and 
when cooked, &c. The firm’s Tobacco field, in Kent, 
is also spiritedly illustrated. 
The novelties of which Mr. "William Bull offers 
seeds for the first time include two of Mr. Eekford’s 
seedling Peas, Magnificent and Victor, the first named 
of which has received the First Class Certificate of the 
Royal Horticultural Society; five new sweet Peas, viz., 
Duchess of Edinburgh, Imperial Blue, Isa Eckford, 
Orange Prince and The Queen ; the handsome and 
elegant Aristolochia elegans ; the Sikkim Rhubarb, 
Rheum nobile, a very remarkable plant; and Pyrethrum 
aureum selaginoides, &c. 
Messes. Sutton & Sons’ Amateurs Guide on Horti¬ 
culture for 1887, which reached us on "Wednesday 
morning, is the finest of the long series of annual seed 
catalogues which they have issued. For style and 
beauty nothing better could be desired, for it is, in 
all respects, admirably turned out. The coloured plates 
represent beautiful strains of double Petunias ; double 
and semi-double Chinese Primulas ; three new Potatos 
to be sent out next season, and named respectively 
Sutton’s Twenty-one, Thirty-six and Forty-four ; two 
new Peas, 11 Royal Jubilee, ” offered now for the first time, 
and Satisfaction, one of the 18S5 novelties ; and half-a- 
dozen varieties of Lettuces, Cos and Cabbage. The work 
is also profusely illustrated Avith excellent engravings, 
specially noticeable being those of the Michaelmas 
White Broccoli, the new Onion Abundance and the 
Imperial Green-fleshed Melon. 
Messrs. John Laing & Co.’s new catalogue contains 
novelties in flower seeds, besides well-selected lists of 
annuals, vegetable seeds, &c. In the plant section, the 
lists of general stove and greenhouse plants are Avell 
chosen ; the florists’ flower lists are select and good ; 
while the list of named Begonias, mostly of their own 
raising, is A'ery complete. 
The spring catalogue issued by Messrs. Webb a 
Sons, Wordsley, Stourbridge, is one of the handsomest 
of the annuals that have yet come to hand. It has all 
the appearance, at first sight, of a Christmas Annual, 
but displays an amount of artistic elegance and finish 
that would put many of those publications to shame. 
The design of the cover is exceedingly tasteful, and the 
two coloured plates by Severeyns, of Gloxinias and 
other choice strains of flowers, are admirable examples 
of colour printing. The colouring of the Gloxinias and 
hybrid varieties of Mimulus is most A-ivid. V e note 
the appearance of several novelties, especially in the 
A-egetable section, of Avhich good illustrations are given; 
and for the amateur Avho has not much practical know¬ 
ledge, the various pages contain information of a helpful 
ami instiuctive character. 
