612 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 28 , 1887. 
more there is of it boiled down in the private 
house, so that for another year the public 
demand for jam is decreased. This year, 
with the prospect of enjoying a great Apple 
crop, our energies shordd he bent as far as 
possible on its profitable utilisation. In the 
home districts chiefly early prolific kinds are 
grown, and these soon glut the market at low 
prices. Later ones show a less fine sample 
usually, and come from remoter districts, where 
care in gathering, storing, and selecting is too 
little exercised. We need complete change in 
our Apple market methods to enable us to 
grapple with a difficulty which this season 
promises to be specially emphasised. 
-- 
The Council of the Royal Horticultural Society 
have decided to call a special meeting of the Fellows, to 
be held at South Kensington shortly, to take into con¬ 
sideration the present position of the Society with a 
view to future arrangements. 
At a meeting of the provisional committee of The 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund, held on Tuesday, the 
result of the appeal that has been made to gardeners 
and nurserymen was considered sufficiently satisfactory 
to warrant the committee in calling a public meeting 
to establish the fund, and it was decided that such 
meeting shall be held on July 12th. 
By the kind permission of Mr. A. H. Smee, “My 
Garden,” The Grange, Hackbridge, near Carshalton, 
will be thrown open to the inspection of visitors every 
day next week. The garden is only seven minutes 
walk from Hackbridge Station, and contains many 
features of interest, not least of which, at the present 
time, is the good display of varieties of Cattleya 
Mossise. 
The Royal Grand National Tulip Show is 
announced to be held at Manchester next Saturday, 
June 4th. 
At a meeting of the Hawarden Horticultural 
Society held recently, it was resolved to wdnd up the 
affairs of the Society in consequence of a difference with 
Mrs. Gladstone as to the terms on which Hawarden 
Castle grounds are granted for the annual show. The 
funds, after discharging liabilities, will be given to 
local charities. 
The important question of the Rating of Nur¬ 
series is to he fully discussed at a public meeting 
announced to be held at the Horticultural Club, 
Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, on June 28tli, under 
the auspices of the Nursery and Seed Trade Association. 
The chair will be taken at 4 p.m. by Mr. J. "Wood 
Ingram, of Huntingdon. Further particulars will be 
found in our advertising columns. 
The Richmond Yestry declared by resolution on 
Tuesday night that the earlier opening in the day 
of Kew Gardens and the use by the public of one of 
the existing closed gates between Cumberland-gate and 
Lion-gate would he of great public advantage. A 
committee was formed to draw up a memorial to the 
First Commissioner of "Works, to be presented by a 
deputation which Sir J. Whittaker Ellis, M.P., will 
be asked to introduce. 
On Tuesday afternoon the ninety-ninth anniversary 
meeting of The Linnean Society was held at Bur¬ 
lington House, when Professor Allman moved : “That 
a humble address be presented to Her Majesty the 
Queen on the occasion of the completion of the fiftieth 
year of her reign, and that the Council he requested to 
prepare the same.” He (Professor Allman) observed 
that they lived in the fiftieth year of their gracious 
Sovereign’s reign, while this year completed the 
hundredth year of that society. That institution 
obtained its charter from George III., and Her Majesty 
the Queen was its patron. He thought that—in ac¬ 
cordance with all their feelings of patriotism, and out 
of regard for the best interests of the nation, to the 
furtherance of which the learned and scientific societies 
had contributed an important part—the present was a 
fitting occasion for the adoption of such a resolution. 
Mr. Jenner Weir seconded the resolution, which was 
passed with enthusiasm. A motion was also adopted 
requesting the Council to arrange for a special general 
meeting in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of 
the founding of the society. 
STRAWBERRIES AT HOUNSLOW 
I kept last week a promise long made that I would 
call in at Messrs. W. & E. WeU’s gardens, and see what 
Mr. Thompson is doing with pot Strawberries. I 
found several thousands doing wonderfully well, the 
late ones blooming profusely, the earlier ones fruiting 
finely ; in fact, a grand crop, the kinds chiefly Napiers, 
hut some were Paxtons and President, and a few of 
Viscomtesse Hericart de Thury, had been forced early. 
This latter here fails to give more than one picking of 
really fine fruit, the rest being below par. Several 
long span houses are devoted to Strawberries, as also 
are shelves in Tomato houses ; on top shelves where 
there is abundant light and air, the plants stand fairly 
close in single file, but on the broadside stages beneath 
they stand thinly, eacn plant having at least a foot 
area to itself. It is so important to admit between 
the plants ample light and air, not only to enable the 
fruit to colour well, hut also to prevent mildew —the 
chief curse of Strawberries. President and Paxton 
seem peculiarly amenable to that affection when grown 
in bulk, whilst Napier is far less liable, and if evidence 
of the mildew is seen, it is the sooner checked. In 
every case the fruit stems are supported by a tie of 
matting held up by two or three small sticks, the fruit 
being thus kept out of the soil and from contact with 
water, and are always clean. 
Fruit is gathered every other day now, but later 
every day ; the sun so far has not been forcing, and 
fruits have come on slowly. Now it is found that as 
a rule a better sale is experienced in the month of 
June than in April; thus early work is not encouraged, 
and the plants coming on gradually under glass often 
prove the most profitable. In one of the later houses, 
a big hatch of very strong plants in pots have been 
lifted from the open ground and potted this spring. 
The plants were layered into small pots as usual, and 
in the autumn transferred to some good soil, on a 
warm border in the open ground, about 9 ins. apart; 
then in March lifted with good roots attached and 
potted ; they do not seem to have felt the lifting, 
and are as fine as the best kept plants in pots could 
be. 
In frames a fine lot of similar plants are planted out 
a foot apart, and as near the glass as possible. These, 
when I saw them, had just had the blooms thinned, 
and the soil was white with the flowers. There are 
but some seven or eight houses here, all are long and 
good ones, and what is done is done well ; and private 
gardeners would often pick up wrinkles if they visited 
places devoted specially to the production of market 
stuff. One long lean-to is devoted to Grapes, chiefly 
Madresfield Court ; the berries are now just colouring, 
the bunches of good size, just such as suit the market 
work, and will, when ready, »be finely finished. Mr. 
Thompson always does this really grand market Grape 
well, and also without being appreciably troubled with 
cracking. He attributes that trouble chiefly to lack of 
ventilation, or a damp atmosphere. Another long lean- 
to is devoted to Peaches—three huge trees covering the 
trellis right up to the top, and are laden with fruit ; 
two of these are Violet Hative, and one Gros Mig- 
nonne. The wood is a bit too densely crowded, as is 
so often the case, hut fine highly-coloured fruits always 
result. 
Two long lean-to houses—one east and one west, or 
hack to back—are devoted almost entirely to Tomatos. 
The east house, 100 ft. long by 10 ft. wide, has Straw¬ 
berry plants on two front shelves ; then, on the ground, 
three rows of Tomatos planted out, the plants averaging 
3 ft. in height, being wondrously stout, sturdy, and 
just throwing out large trusses of bloom. Behind the 
alley is a row of Tomatos in pots, to run up the back 
wall. In the west house there is a row of Tomatos, 
put out close in the front to train up the roof-trellis, as 
Vines are. About the middle run two rows of other 
plants in 12-in. pots ; and on the wall behind are per¬ 
manent Alicante Vines, to run up along the top ; 
while below are Vines in pots, run along horizontally, 
meeting each other, and showing fruit admirably. The 
house is fully utilised, and will produce an enormous 
crop of fruit during the season. 
The Tomatos chiefly are a fine, selected, smooth form 
of the old Market Red, w’hich produces large clusters 
of excellent fruit, setting well ; also some of Trophy 
and Sutton’s Perfection, the latter kind not having 
been giovn previously. There may be plenty of 
Tomato plants as good as these are at Hounslow ; but 
none could be finer or more promising. In the garden 
orchard {Apples and Pears are blooming*finely, Lord 
Suffield of the former, and Souvenir du Congres of the 
latter, showing garlands of bloom. Evidently there 
will be fruit as fine outdoors as that being grown 
within. — A. D. 
--- 
MR. KIMBALL'S ORCHIDS, 
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK. 
It is only a year or two ago since Mr. Kimball 
commenced to form a collection of Orchids, but the 
satisfactory progress he has made during that period 
must indeed be very gratifying to him. The credit for 
the good cultivation of the plants is due to Mr. George 
Savage, whose English training and practical experience 
of the culture of plants in America, stamp him as one 
of the very best gardeners in the United States ; and 
Mr. Kimball must consider himself most fortunate in 
securing the services of such a gardener, for where 
satisfaction is given on the one hand, and liberal 
encouragement is forthcoming on the other, success is 
the certain result. Mr. Kimball is a thorough lover of 
plants, and derives great pleasure from his collection 
himself, as well as in seeing others enjoy them, for he 
very kindly throws open his houses to the public, and 
many hundreds of visitors take advantage of the 
privilege, which is greatly appreciated ; for it is such a 
treat as can only he seen at a very few places in the 
United States. 
The houses are all good examples of the horticultural 
builder’s skill, and were erected according to designs 
prepared by Mr. Kimball and his gardener. They are 
well adapted to the purpose for which they were in¬ 
tended, ample proof of which can he seen at a glance in 
the number of fine healthy examples which they contain. 
I will endeavour to enumerate the principal houses and 
their contents. No. 1 is 60 ft. long, 24 ft. wide, with 
a circular roof. The centre stage is filled with Vandas, 
Aerides, and Saccolabiums of all the leading sorts in 
grand specimens, among which a fine example of Vanda 
Lowii is very conspicuous, as also are healthy specimens 
of the grand Angracum sesquipedalis. The side stage 
contains the most unique collection of Cypripediums in 
the United States, most of the species and varieties in 
commerce, including all the novelties up to date, and 
the most rare ones too, being represented. These are 
favourites of the enthusiastic owner, and he spares no 
pains or expense to secure everything in the Cypripedium 
way. I need not enumerate them, hut must add that 
the plants vary in size from fine specimens 3 ft. 
through to the smallest plants imaginable, and all are 
in grand condition. From the roof of the house fine 
well-pitchered Nepenthes are suspended in baskets, 
including N. Morgame, N. Mastersii, with very fine 
pitchers ; N. lanata, and many others are represented 
by plants, many of which are carrying as many as fifty 
fine pitchers. 
No. 2 is the Cattleya house, and it contains a 
magnificent collection of healthy plants, including a 
huge mass of C. Skinnerii with over 300 flowers, which 
was very attractive ; man} 7 C. Trianie and C. Mendelii 
of good form, also met the eye ; while C. intermedia, C. 
elegans, C. Forbesii, C. Loddigesii, C. Mossiae, and 
Lielias in many forms of the most popular sorts were 
in flower, making a grand display. No. 3 is the Detf- 
drobium house, and here D. suavissimum, D. Vard- 
ianum, D. Jamesianum, D. eburneum D. densiflorum, 
D. thyrsiflorum, D. albo-sanguineum, D. lituiflorum 
(the grandest variety I have ever met with), D. 
crassinode, D. nobile (many varieties), D. transparens, 
D. Devonianum, D. Pierardi and a host of others 
were flowering well. In this house, too, I noted a 
fine collection of Epidendrums, among which E. 
rhizophorum, E. 'Wallisii and E. evictum were well 
in flower, and grand things they are when seen as 
grown here! Catasetums and Cycnoches are also 
well cared for, and an interesting collection has been 
got together. 
Then comes the cool Orchid house, and at the time 
of my visit, April 29th, it contained a fine display of 
flowers. It was said when I first visited the States, 
eleven years ago, that cool Orchids could not be grown 
in America, but thanks to the enterprising spirit of 
lovers of these handsome plants, any difficulties there 
may have been are now overcome. The house con¬ 
tained hundreds of Odontoglossum Alexandra and O. 
Pescatorei spikes in fine forms ; and O. Hallii, 
O. Kossii (many grand types), O. membranaceum 
O. triumphans, 0. Andersonianum, 0. cirrhosum, 0. 
