548 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 30, 1887. 
One of the most important questions with 
which the Commission will have to deal is that 
relating to certain local market privileges, by 
the existence of which it is found possible to 
prevent needful market extension. It is in¬ 
tolerable that any one person, or body of 
persons, should hold a monopoly of market 
rights in any one locality, thus preventing other 
essential markets being opened. This is a 
direction in which remedial legislation is 
specially needed. We know of no rights—■ 
personal, municipal, or otherwise—which can 
prevent anyone from opening an ordinary shop 
for the disposal of garden produce Avherever he 
may please. It seems, therefore, peculiarly 
monstrous that any one or more persons should 
have power to interpose with their antiquated 
and monopolising privileges or charters, and 
prevent others from doing in markets what they 
may, at least, do in shops. The metropolis is 
in much worse plight than other towns in 
regard to public markets ; for such as they 
are—and relatively they are very few—they 
are the greatest of monopolies. There is hardly 
a populous part of London—each section a huge 
town in itself—in which a large open market is 
not a matter of necessity; yet the number of 
markets—and all heavily taxed ones—remain 
the same as fifty years ago. The Smithfield 
Market for garden produce has had a chequered 
career since its opening a few years ago ; but 
that replaced the old Farringdon Market. 
Covent Garden, Borough and Spitalfields are as 
old as the hills ; but since their establishment 
not only has the population increased incal¬ 
culably, but railways have brought to them 
immense quantities of produce, so that the 
normal condition of things is quiet. 
It by no means follows, were new public 
markets established, that either dealers or pur¬ 
chasers would at the first be largely attracted to 
them. Traditions cling around markets closely, 
and are hard to shake off. Still, the crowding 
of enormous masses of the coarser produce into 
one or two already overcrowded centres seems 
very absurd as well as costly ; indeed, this plan 
leads to the charging on the public of prices 
twice or thrice more than has been given to the 
unfortunate growers. The Chancellor of the 
Exchequer said the other day, in his Budget 
speech, that amidst all the depression in trade 
the middle men had not suffered. That is so, 
the heaviest burthen having fallen upon the 
grower or raiser of food products. JN T ow, if 
markets are to have any tangible value, they 
must enable the grower and the retail purchaser 
to come into immediate contact, so that one can 
sell profitably and the other purchase fairly and 
reasonably. To that end not only should 
numerous open markets be established in 
London, but in all large towns, and every 
encouragement be given to growers of garden 
produce to use these markets for their own and 
the public benefit. In London that great 
monopoly, Covent Garden, needs relieving from 
its coarser elements, retaining it as a centre for 
the disposal of flowers and the more costly of 
garden products. If the heavier fruits and 
vegetables were relegated to the new district 
markets, the vast consuming population would 
then be enabled to obtain their garden food far 
more cheaply than now, and in a fresh and 
healthful condition. 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. —At the meet¬ 
ing of the committee, held on Tuesday last, 
it was reported by the secretaries that they 
had received promises of support in donations 
and annual subscriptions to the amount of 
A4 30, which was considered a favourable 
result, seeing that the circulars calling attention 
to the scheme had only been issued a few 
days previously. It cannot be too strongly 
urged upon gardeners that the success or 
failure of the scheme really rests with them, 
for it is upon the result of the appeal made 
directly to them at this juncture that the 
committee will decide whether it will be 
advisable to carry the matter' further or 
allow it to drop. 
If gardeners, as a class, show that they 
appreciate the scheme, and are prepared to 
help it to the best of their ability, the 
committee have no doubt but that a large 
amount of outside aid will be forthcoming; 
but this cannot be asked for if any indifference 
or lukewarmness is displayed by those for the 
benefit of whose orphans the fund is intended. 
What is wanted from gardeners is not so 
much large donations or subscriptions as a 
large number of annual subscriptions—say, 5s. 
each; and, to secure this result if possible, 
the committee have decided to extend the 
date fixed for sending in the circulars to 
May 21st. We published in our last issue 
a portion of the circular letter which has been 
sent out, and shall be happy to send copies 
of the original to anjr reader who may not 
have received one, or who may be desirous of 
ventilating the subject among their neighbours. 
-- 
We understand that Mr. J. Horton, who was 
foreman at Welbeek for twelve years, has been 
appointed by the Duke of Portland to succeed the late 
Mr. Carr. 
Mr. Thomas, who as a young man served under the 
late Mr. Bailey at Shardeloes, some thirty years ago, 
has been engaged to succeed him. 
We regret to hear that through the recent death of 
Mrs. Pembeton Heywood, of Norris Green, Liverpool, Mr. 
William Bardney is obliged to seek another engage¬ 
ment. A man of such great ability as a gardener 
should not be long in finding a suitable engagement. 
Mr. Robert McHandy, for the last ten years with 
Mrs. Croall, of Southfield, Liberton, has been appointed 
gardener at Moredun, Midlothian. 
We understand that Mr. B. S. Williams, of the 
Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloway, 
London, N., has been awarded a large Gold Medal for 
a collection of Orchids, Himantophyllums, Amaryllis 
and Cyclamen, exhibited by him at the Horticultural 
Show held in Amsterdam, from the 2nd to the 7th of 
this month. 
Mr. William Wadds, who was for over twenty-five 
years gardener at Queenby Hall, Leicestershire, died 
on the 26th inst., aged 77 years, He was elected a 
pensioner of the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Insti¬ 
tution in January last, and has left a widow aged 76 
years, who, in accordance with the rules, will be placed 
on the pension list without the trouble of an election. 
At the meeting of the Scientific Committee, held on 
Tuesday, Mr. McLachlan drew attention to the curious 
fact that flowers of Clerodendron were sometimes 
inhabited by a species of plant bug allied to the Tingis 
pyri, which is so injurious in France, where it is called 
“le tigre.” He found remains of pupa at the base of 
the corolla, and occasionally a perfect insect. The 
effect of the irritation set up by the insect was to cause 
hypertrophy to take place, so that the tube becomes 
much thickened, likewise the filaments and style ; 
while the flower assumes a regular or “pelorian ” form 
instead of being “ zygomorphic ” as usual. The speci¬ 
mens were received from Baron von Muller, from 
Australia. 
Messrs. Nieman & Cornish, 29, Orchard Street, 
Portman Square, sent to our office, the other day, 
a magnificent cone of Encephalartos Lehmanni. It 
measured 18 ins. in length, 5 ins. to 6 ins. in diameter, 
and therefore 15 ins. to 18 ins. in circumference. The 
massive scales were of a fine yellow colour, and bore 
two seeds each on their under-side. As the cone 
approaches maturity, the scales become separated a 
little way, so that the large, handsome, angled scarlet 
seeds show themselves conspicuously. The beauty and 
striking appearance of such a collective fruit needs to 
be seen to be fully comprehended. Unfortunately, 
male and female flowers are borne on separate plants, 
so that although the seed attains a great size and 
appears perfect, it rarely, if ever, happens in this 
country that it contains an embryo. All the other 
contents necessary for the growth and well-being of a 
germinating seedling is present in the seed. 
THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 
It is not often that I venture to ask for space in 
any of the horticultural journals as a correspondent, 
but I cannot refrain from expressing my appreciation 
of your remarks in last iveek’s issue on this subject. 
The thanks of the entire Chrysanthemum world are 
due to you for so plainly directing the attention of the 
council of the Royal Horticultural Society to the—to 
use a mild expression—unfortunate fixture they have 
made for the proposed show and conference, viz., 
Nov. 8tli and 9th, 1887. There need be no surprise 
at the fortunes of the Royal Horticultural Society 
having fallen to so low an ebb, as I understand they 
are at the present time, if the schemes promulgated by 
the council, during the past few weeks, relating to this 
proposed conference and exhibition, may be considered 
as an example of their business tact and competence 
for the position they occupy. 
The original suggestion, it will be remembered, was 
to hold a Grape and Chrysanthemum Conference, 
simultaneously, early in October. Fancy the executive 
of the leading horticultural society of Great Britain, 
proposing such a date as suitable for obtaining a 
representative collection of Chrysanthemums, such as 
the occasion of a conference would require ! This 
proposal having been found to be untenable, the next 
move is to hold a Chrysanthemum Conference only on 
the 8th and 9th of November, and so clash with the 
exhibitions of two of the largest and most meritorious 
Chrysanthemum Societies in the metropolitan district; 
the first being at Kingston on the 8th and 9th of 
November ; and then the National on the 9th and 10th 
of November, each of whose fixtures have been for 
months past published. 
I do not believe it is either necessary or desirable 
that the R. II. S. should trouble itself in any way 
with the Chrysanthemum, its interests being already 
looked after—aye, and well maintained by a large 
number of efficient and successful societies throughout 
the kingdom, there being scarcely a town now of any 
pretensions but that can boast either of its Chry¬ 
santhemum society or its autumn exhibition, at which 
the “ Mum ” is a prominent feature ; and besides this, 
I think it may, at least, be claimed for the National 
that it has already accomplished a sufficiently successful 
series of work as not only to merit, but to receive, such 
a share of support from the public generally as any 
special florists’ society has rarely before attained. 
Surely, the functions of a society such as the Royal 
Horticultural should be—would that I could say, is—to 
take lip specially such branches of horticulture as 
require particular development, and not, as in this 
instance, to adopt a cuurse absolutely antagonistic to 
kindred societies, and calculated to discourage and 
dishearten those organisations, which have not only 
undertaken work, but have accomplished it with a 
large measure of success, and happily, unlike “the 
Royal,” are still in a flourishing condition. 
With you, sir, I do not believe for a moment this 
proposed show and conference will be such a success 
as the flower deserves ; although it is possible that by 
wielding the remnants of influence “ the Royal ” may 
still have left, it may be able to command a tolerable 
display, but only at the expense, of course, of those 
societies 11410 have borne the “ heat and burden of the 
day,” for many years past, in popularising the Chry¬ 
santhemum. I have endeavoured in vain to satisfy 
myself as to what objects the council can possibly 
have in view in proposing to adopt this antagonistic 
line of action, unless it be to demonstrate to those 
Fellows who, like Mr. Little, are not in ecstacies with 
the year’s arrangements as recently published that 
something is being attempted. 
The only answer I have seen advanced to Mr. Little’s 
complaint as to the paucity of attractions for the current 
year, is that the unfortunate condition of the funds 
would not permit of it, &c. This being so, the Chry¬ 
santhemum is about the worst subject, from a pecuniary 
point of view, that the Council could have decided to 
fete, for the simple reason, if they are desirous of at¬ 
tracting a representative display, they must offer prizes 
equal in value, if not in excess of those already offered 
by other societies for the current year, and many of 
whose prizes now are so liberal, that one-third the 
total required would serve to attract a first-class compe¬ 
tition with many other subjects. 
I do hope the council will in time see “ the error of 
their ways,” and at least modify their programme, if 
