708 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 9, 1887. 
pensions than they conltl provide for; there 
were at present eleven waiting election. That 
no money was wasted was seen in the fact 
that not a penny was paid as commission for 
collection. The speaker concluded by eulo¬ 
gising Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild as an 
amateur gardener, and saying that all who 
had not seen “ JYaddesdon” had missed a 
beautiful sight. 
Sir Robert Peel followed with “The Health 
of the Chairman,” remarking that the Roths¬ 
childs had given over £600 to the institution 
during the past fifteen years. That was 
noble generosity—an example which might be 
well emulated. The chairman briefly replied, 
and again appealed on behalf of those who gave 
them such beautiful feasts of fruits and flowers. 
Mr. J. R. Bourne proposed, “ The Corpora¬ 
tion of the City of London and its Guilds,” 
and Major Lambert, prime warden of the 
Goldsmiths’ Company, replied. The chairman 
proposed “The Secretary and other Officers,” 
to which Mr. E. R. Cutler, Mr. Christopher 
Sykes, M.P. and Mr. B. S. Williams replied, 
Mr. Cutler stating that the subscriptions were 
£1,460, £714 of which had come from the 
gardeners themselves—a remark which was 
received with a round of applause. 
——- 
"We understand that Messrs. John Laing & Co., 
Stanstead Park Nurseries, Forest Hill, intend making 
a large display of Double axd Single-Flowering 
Begonias at the Royal Horticultural Society’s meeting 
on Tuesday next. 
Messrs. Baron & Son, of Elvaston, and Mr. Milner, 
of Sydenham, have been declared the winners of the 
prizes offered for the best plans for laying out a New 
Public Park of some twenty-two acres in extent at 
Bilston, Staffordshire. 
Mr. "W. Steivart, late foreman in the gardens at 
Hartsholme Hall, Lincoln, has been engaged as 
gardener to Lord Monson, at Burton Hall, near 
Lincoln. 
Mr. James S. Brown, after a good schooling in the 
Nurseries of Messrs. Low, at Clapton ; Messrs. "W. 
Thomson and Sons, at Clovenfords ; and in the gardens 
at Syon House, has been engaged by Mr. "White for his 
new Orchid establishment at Winehmore Hill. 
The Queen, prior to the review of Volunteers on 
Saturday last, proceeded to the grand terrace in the 
gardens of Buckingham Palace, and, in the presence of 
the Crown Princess of Germany, Princess Beatrice, and 
other members of the Royal Family, planted a tree in 
commemoration of her Jubilee. 
The Societe des Agriculteurs de France sent a 
Commission to the Boitiers Show to adjudge a number 
of special prizes, and they have awarded a Gold Medal 
and a money prize of £40 to M. Malapert for the 
excellence of his stud-farm pasturages. The Com¬ 
mission state that seventy-five acres of new grass land 
have been laid down ; that they now look so well that 
it would be impossible to tell the old from the new ; 
and that the seeds used were supplied by Messrs. 
James Carter & Co., of High Holborn. 
We again beg to call the attention of all who are 
interested in the establishment of the Gardeners’ 
Orphan Fund, to the fact that a public meeting will 
be held on Tuesday afternoon next, in the con¬ 
servatory of the Royal Horticultural Society at 
South Kensington, to adopt rules and regulations for 
the management of the fund, and to elect officers, &c. 
We understand that Sir Julian Goldsmid, Bart., M.P., 
who has kindly consented to become president, if 
elected, will take the chair at this meeting, and will 
be supported by a number of gentlemen of influence 
and position in the horticultural world. It is eminently 
desirable that the meeting should be well attended by 
gardeners, and the committee cordially invite the 
attendance of all friends of the movement. We are 
authorised to say that anyone attending this meeting, 
will, by the kind permission of the Council of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, be admitted free. 
At the annual meeting of the Midland Union of 
Natural History Societies, held on Wednesday, at 
Malvern, the Darwin Medal, which is this year set 
apart for Archaeology, was awarded to Mr. Edward W. 
Badger, M.A., of King Edward’s High School, Bir¬ 
mingham, for his paper on “ The Monumental Brasses 
of Warwickshire.” The Darwin Medal was founded in 
1880 by the Midland Union of Natural History and 
other scientific societies for the purpose of encouraging 
original research by members of the societies forming 
the Union. The subjects for which the Medal is 
awarded are Geology, Archaeology, Zoology, and Botany, 
and this is the first time it has been presented to an 
archaeologist. 
We have received a printed protest against a state¬ 
ment, reported by The Times to have been made by 
Mr. Martin J. Sutton on June 17th, when giving 
evidence before the Select Committee of the House of 
Commons on Sunday labour in the Post Office. The 
statement objected to is as follows :—“Competitors in 
the trade, though they did not ostensibly keep open, 
did receive letters and despatch goods on Sunday”: 
and the protest is signed by Messrs. Barr & Son, 
London ; James Carter k Co., London ; Drummond & 
Son, Dublin ; Drummond & Son, Stirling ; Daniels 
Bros., Norwich; Charles Fidler, Reading; Harrison & 
Son, Leicester ; Hooper & Co., London ; Kent & Bry- 
don, Darlington; Lamoureux & Co., Plymouth; Little 
& Ballantyne, Carlisle ; and Oakshott k Millard, 
Reading. In justice to Mr. Sutton, we deem it only 
fair to say that immediately the paragraph appeared, 
he wrote to us pointing out its inaccuracy, and 
requesting that it might not be repeated in our 
columns. We published a paragraph on the subject, 
on p. 676, but clearly to the statements there made 
the protest does not apply. We may further state that 
Mr. Sutton also wrote to the Editor of The Times ask¬ 
ing for a correction of the inaccurate observation, and 
stating that when he was questioned as to the practice 
of other seed firms, he was careful to say that he did 
not know that any single firm worked on Sunday. 
Evolution and Advertising are two very in¬ 
congruous subjects, but they come readily together in 
a retrospect of the last fifty years as regards horti¬ 
culture. Fifty years is but an hour or a second in 
connection with evolution; but what marvellous 
changes have been effected by the skill of the horti¬ 
culturists in that comparatively short time ! The flowers 
we have now would scarcely be recognised by the old 
gardeners, so much have they been improved or altered. 
What, then, must be the result of fifty centuries of 
cultivation and trying what can be done ? Fifty years 
ago the old firms of seedsmen and horticulturists con¬ 
sidered it - infra dig. to advertise ; but more enter¬ 
prising rivals arose, took another course, and, by 
persistently telling the public what they had to sell, 
they gradually drove the old firms out of the market. 
We believe only one of the pre-Victorian “large firms” 
in the seed trade still exists as a leading house, though 
some of those which have since risen to the top of the 
tree had an existence in a small way fifty years ago. 
Certain it is that the present leading firms have 
accomplished their elevation primarily by persistent 
advertising, and secondarily by supplying good articles, 
for it is no use keeping the latter unless you let the 
public know that you do keep them, and can supply 
them. Fifty years, after all, tells much in favour of 
the evolution theory, and a great deal more about the 
advantages of advertising.— Echo. 
-- 
IVY-LEAVED PELARGONIUMS 
AT CHISWICK. 
Improvements are steadily being made in this class 
of plants, notwithstanding the comparatively small 
circle of growers by whom they are esteemed. The 
times change, and every era has its fancies and fashions ; 
thus the day may not be far off when Ivy-leaved 
Pelargoniums — both single and double — will be 
reckoned amongst the indispensable ornaments of the 
conservatory, just as those of the zonal class are. 
Hitherto one of the chief hindrances to their popularity 
was their straggling loose habit, requiring close 
attention to keep them within due bounds in a mixed 
collection of plants. The old-fashioned varieties even, 
with the best horticultural skill, required the closest 
attention to restrain their rambling habit, and keep 
them to orthodox shapes. This, however, is gradually 
being effected by the production of better-habited 
seedlings, and the selection of dwarfer short-jointed 
forms, giving a maximum of bloom with a minimum 
of growth. 
To what extent this is being effected growers may 
determine by an examination of the collection at 
present cultivated in the gardens of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society, Chiswick, for the purpose of com¬ 
parison, and for determining their merits. Doubles 
seem to be the greatest favourites judging from their 
representatives, which far outnumber the singles. This 
to a great extent is no doubt owing to the irregularity 
of the flowers, and the narrowness of the petals, which 
have not yet departed from the original or parent type 
as the zonal Pelargonium has ; nor can the former 
boast of so many different and decidedly distinct 
colours. Of course, this may be owing to the com¬ 
pound origin of the zonal class—that is, the varieties 
in cultivation are the result of the intermixture of the 
blood, so to speak, of different species. The under¬ 
mentioned are a selection of the more distinct, and 
considered best from the clearness of their colours, size 
and quantity of bloom, and dwarf compact habit. 
Doubles. 
Taken all round, Sarah Bernhardt seems the best 
and most nearly pure white. The flowers are large, 
freely produced, and marked with a few purple lines at 
the base of the petals ; growth is moderately rampant 
and the foliage of a deep shining green. The calycine 
spur has almost become obliterated in most of the 
flowers—a very interesting fact botanically. Mont 
Blanc has small deep green leaves, and might be 
classed among the white varieties, but has a decidedly 
blush tint. The same applies to Jean d’Arc, a rather 
rampant or free-growing form. The flowers of Massent 
are very large, freely produced and very telling from 
their large size, although not very full. Fiirstin J. 
Yon Hohenzollern is noticeable for the size and intense 
red colour of its flowers ; the latter are also freely 
produced, and have nearly lost their spurs, as in Sarah 
Bernhardt. This, in itself, is a tendency towards 
regularity. 
With regard to habit, Gloire d’Orleans is a de¬ 
cided acquisition, being dwarf, compact and very 
floriferous, with medium - sized deep rose - coloured 
flowers, and comes into bloom earlier, possibly, than 
most of the others. Alice Crousse is an erect-habited 
variety, with large rich rose fairly double flowers, and 
otherwise possesses some merit. The flowers of Abel 
Carriere are large, deep rose, slightly suffused with red, 
and borne in bold trusses ; the deep green leaves are 
furnished with a distinct purple zone. A. F. Barron 
is a splendid variety, with large trusses of distinct 
rosy lilac flowers produced iu great abundance, and the 
leaves are furnished with a purple blotch. Mrs. 
H. Cannell has flowers a shade darker than the last, 
and Mrs. Moore has somewhat larger ones with a more 
decided pink tint; hut the colours of all three may be 
classed in one group. A very floriferous variety named 
Abundance, has lively rosy pink flowers of medium 
size, and the habit is as dwarf as Gloire d’Orleans. 
Lucy Lemoine might be reckoned a useful variety with 
an abundance of fairly double blush-coloured flowers, 
but growth is rather rampant. A floriferous variety is 
Daniels Bros., with large rosy pink flowers borne in 
bold trusses. Madame Crousse has large soft pink, and 
Comte Horace Chassent large rosy salmon flowers, 
while those of Congo are rosy pink, almost white on 
the back of the petals, and are borne in large bold 
trusses. 
Singles. 
These are few indeed, Innocence, Masterpiece, and 
Gem being three of the best. The flowers of Master¬ 
piece are conspicuous for their large size and deep rosy 
red colour, furnished with two white spots, surrounded 
with a crimson line on the two upper petals. Amongst 
its class it is a very distinct variety. Gem has large 
flowers of a lively blush-pink, with deeper veins and a 
rose-coloured blotch on the upper petals. It is also 
desirable on account of its dwarf habit ; but the foliage 
is rather light with a pale bronzy zone. Innocence is 
the best white, with very long petals and two feathered 
purple stripes on the upper ones. If somewhat less 
ornamental, Colonel Boudaire is desirable on account of 
its large, deep, brick-red, distinct-looking flowers fur¬ 
nished with two crimson lines. The trusses are large 
and rather freely produced. The above is far from 
exhaustive ; but would form an admirably repre¬ 
sentative collection for anyone inclined to give this 
distinct and exceedingly useful class of plants a trial. 
