July 30, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
759 
Chiswick Committee, ( f) A Publication Committee ; 
and any other special committees which they may see 
fit ; provided always that a certain proportion of each 
committee — one in ten for instance — be members 
of Council for the time being ; and that the Council 
have the power of veto over any name selected as 
member of any committee, but not of substituting any 
other name, the General Committee in the case of such 
a veto proposing a new name until the Council and 
committee are agreed. (9) The General Committee 
and the Special Committees shall have executive 
powers, including that of spending such sums of money 
as have been granted by Council, annually or other¬ 
wise ; but any expenditure beyond such grants must be 
previously sanctioned by Council, and, in general, the 
conduct of the General and Special Committees shall 
be governed by regulations approved of by Council. 
(10) The chairman of the General Committee shall 
be re-eligible for election, and shall be a permanent 
member of Council. In other words the Council will 
retain its hold upon the finances, and upon the general 
policy and conduct of the Society, but many of the 
administrative details will devolve on the Committees. 
“ Many details', of course, require to be filled in, as 
to the meetings of the General Committee, the relations 
of the Fruit and Floral Committees to the Nomencla¬ 
ture Committee, instituted to ensure correct nomen¬ 
clature, the duties of the Chiswick Committee, and the 
like; but these may be left for the present. Thus a 
system of regulations would have to be drawn up for 
the conduct of the General and Special Committees, 
and had better, perhaps, be incorporated in the bye¬ 
laws of the society. At the beginning of the year the 
committees wonld be appointed, and the Council would 
apportion grants of the funds of the society to the 
several committees, to enable them to carry on their 
annual work. The General Committee would probably 
meet, say, quarterly, and report quarterly to the 
Council, who would issue the reports to the Fellow’s. 
Within the lines of their regulations, and at an ex¬ 
penditure not exceeding the sum allotted to them, the 
committees would have power to act independently 
of the Council, and there would be no necessity for 
the Council to revise the acts of the committees, 
such as the granting of medals, &c. ; but all action 
leading to extra expenditure, and all matters beyond 
the regulations, would have to be referred to the 
Council. 
“ C. The Secretary. —Though I do not share the 
views of those who desire to have a paid secretary to 
manage the society, and so eventually to become the 
master of the society, but think that the Fellows 
ought to manage their affairs themselves, I have always 
been of opinion that a paid secretary is necessary—that 
the secretarial labours ought to be so great as to require 
the whole time of some one man. If the foregoing 
plan were adopted, and the society flourished, it might 
become a question whether we did not need two paid 
officers—one a horticultural or internal secretary, and 
the other a business or external secretary ; but this 
may be left for the present. 
“ IV. Subscription's. —There is no doubt whatever 
in my own mind that we ought to have £1 Is. sub¬ 
scribers as well as £2 2s. and £4 4s. subscribers. I see 
no difficulty in making most of the privileges (votes, 
admission, &c.) of the £2 2s. subscribers double, and 
those of the £4 4s. subscribers four-fold those of the 
£1 Is. subscribers. We might, with advantage, also 
revive the Associates— that is to say, grant to suitable 
persons the privilege of Fellowship (except the right of 
voting) upon the payment of a very small subscription, 
or without any payment at all. On the whole, it does 
not seem to me desirable to make any distinction, as 
regards subscriptions, between provincial and metro¬ 
politan Fellows. We ought to make it worth the while 
of horticulturists in the provinces to join the society, 
but leave it to each one to determine for himself, or 
herself, what subscriptions he or she shall pay. 
“If we obtained a new charter, it might be worth 
while to discuss the question whether it would be 
desirable to make a distinction between Fellows and 
Members, reserving the former title for those who served 
on the General Committee. 
“V. Accommodation. —According to the above 
scheme, wo should want (1) offices, with secretary’s 
room, &c., &c. ; (2) a room large enough for the fort¬ 
nightly shows, with power, if possible, to use the room 
between the fortnightly shows ; (3), committee-rooms, 
at least three, one large enough to be used for meetings 
of Fellows ; (4) library and reading-room, with arrange¬ 
ments for the housing of the records of the society, 
drawings, herbarium, &c. ; (5) conversation and refresh¬ 
ment-rooms. 
“This accommodation, in my opinion, had much 
better , in the first instance, be of a temporary nature ; 
we should then have time to find out what we really 
wanted. 
“Such, dear Sir Trevor, is a brief sketch of my notions 
of what we want, and what we ought to aim at.— 
Yours truly, M. Foster.” 
Shelford, Cambs., July 6th. 1887. 
ARDENING IJoTES FROM 
‘fcOTLAND. 
Strawbarries on Trenched Land. —Never 
have we seen the advantages of trenching so well 
exemplified as this season. Peas, Potatos, Onions, 
and other crops tell a forcible tale on behalf of trench¬ 
ing ; but we are more supported in our long-conceived 
notions in favour of this by the behaviour of Straw¬ 
berry crops on various plots—two trenched and one 
only dug over. The Strawberries planted early last 
September, chiefly with the object of securing runners 
for forcing, have produced extra fine fruit. The plants 
being small, and placed in threes—a favourite system 
of our grandfathers—had not the best of chances ; but 
they have served well the purpose of providing early 
runners, while neither fruit nor plants suffered from 
drought, the land being well manured and deeply 
turned up after a previous crop. Another plot close 
by, which was not mulched, but the plants firmly 
rooted into the well-manured deeply-trenched ground, 
have stood the drought—-such as has not been equalled 
for many years—and produced Strawberries of the 
finest quality we have ever seen. A third plot, part of 
which was dug over and well manured, has suffered 
from drought, and though the crop was large, the fruit 
was small and very hard. The roots rested on 
the hard unbroken bottom, and, therefore, suffered. 
To have good crops for another year, the plants cannot 
be too soon placed out, as they then get established 
before winter, and those which have fruited should be 
trimmed and manured as early as possible, in order to 
get a strong growth completed in good time. Cow- 
manure with some soot answers well.— Caledonian. 
Vegetable Sowing. —This has been performed 
under much difficulty by many cultivators, and though 
we have had some refreshing showers after a long and 
severe drought, the ground underneath is dry and 
hard. To sow small seeds on such land is almost a 
waste of seed and time, but success may be depended 
on by breaking the ground over with a spade or fork, 
giving the whole space a good watering the night 
before the seed is to be sown. Thedayfollowing .it 
may be trodden (if not of a clayey texture) and raked 
preparatory for the seed. Onions, Spinach, Turnips, 
Carrots, Lettuce, Cabbage, Chervil, Endive, Parsley, 
Radishes, and American and Golden Cress may be 
sown before the month is out, as they will likely have 
to contend with frost, and generally severe weather ; 
those which have been recommended as hardy and 
suitable for the purpose should be sown. All planting 
previously recommended for autumn and winter 
supplies should be done with care ; draw drills, puddle 
the roots in soil mixed with a little cow-manure, and a 
pinch of soot, and the plants will be prepared to resist 
drought and vermin. Spinach, Lettuce, and Carrots 
may be sown on the ground which is to be planted 
with early Cabbage, leaving the rows for the Cabbage 
untouched. The economy of ground being of much 
moment in many places, especially with suburban 
amateurs, the most should be made of it. — Caledonian. 
Madreafleld Court Grapa. —We have seen 
this excellent Grape in as good form this season as we 
ever remember noticing it, and up to the present time 
cracking is comparatively unknown. The extra dry 
season may have had something to do with this ; but 
where the roots are entirely inside, and heavy soakings 
given to the other vines in the same structure, a deal 
of the theory of dryness at the roots is removed. On a 
heavily cropped vine under our charge we have only 
noticed one berry split. Last season, too, when extra 
thinning was practised, split berries were very few; 
the previous season they were very numerous, nicking 
or boring having no effect whatever in arresting 
the progress of the evil. Certainly we have observed 
that the most mischief has been done by “ cracking ” 
where the berries in the bunches have become jammed 
tightly together. We have had a few berries destroyed 
by “spotting” this year, but extra airing with in¬ 
creased fire-heat stopped the mischief very promptly. 
We notice that the proclivities of Madresfield Court 
and Lady Downes Grapes are much alike as to spotting; 
a low damp temperature is very conducive to the evil. 
Air on during the night, and increased early in the 
morning, generally acts as a preventive, but this alone 
will not save “spotting” if a low temperature ac¬ 
companied with damp is allowed. — Caledonian. 
The Am ateurs’ Garden. 
Carnations. —To keep up a supply of strong healthy 
flowering stuff, such things as Carnations, Picotees and 
Pinks should be propagated annually. They may all 
be propagated from seed, but recourse is had to that 
process chiefly for the sake of obtaining new varieties, 
or as a method of obtaining a large quantity of cut 
bloom for ordinary decorative purposes, as they usually 
flower very profusely from seed the second year. But 
to obtain named varieties true they must be propagated 
either by layers or cuttings. 
The most satisfactory results are given by layering 
Carnations and Picotees, which may be accounted for 
by their longer and thicker stems being more easily 
manipulated than those of Pinks. As soon as possible 
after the flowering is over, or even in some cases before 
that time, the young and flowerless shoots, generally 
found in abundance around the base of the flowering 
stems, should be layered. Previous to this prepare a 
quantity of light rich soil in which to embed them, as 
this greatly facilitates the process of rooting, especially 
if the soil in which they are growing is naturally heavy, 
or in droughty seasons such as the present. A small 
quantity of loam mixed with sifted leaf-soil and a 
quantity of sharp river sand will answer all the require¬ 
ments admirably. Having thus made preparation, 
draw a small quantity of the loose soil from around the 
base of the plant to be operated upon and substitute a 
quantity of the compost. Next strip off the leaves 
from the base of the shoot to be layered, and on the 
underside of it make a cut with a sharp knife, passing 
the blade inwards and upwards from a joint for a 
distance of about half-an inch. Peg down the shoot in 
such a manner that the cut will be open. This will 
induce the emission of roots, owing to the arrest of the 
downward flow of the sap by the cut. Cover the 
layers, when the whole plant has been thus treated, 
with a good surfacing of the prepared soil ; then give 
a heavy watering through the rose of a -watering-pot 
to settle the soil about the cut stems, and the operation 
is complete. Continue the watering at nights if the 
weather is dry, till the roots are formed. Strong 
young plants will be the result in a much shorter time 
than if cuttings had been taken. It may be necessary 
in some instances to take cuttings, if the available 
shoots are produced too far up the stems than is 
convenient to bring in contact with the soil; this is 
more likely to happen in the case of Tree Carnations. 
Pinks may be propagated in the same way, but 
cuttings are generally more satisfactory or practicable, 
from the barren shoots being shorter and slender. Cut 
them off immediately below a joint with a sharp knife, 
and after removing a few of the lower leaves carefully, 
insert them in light sandy soil under a handlight or 
cold frame. Water to settle the soil, and shut them 
up close, shading them when the sun is strong till 
rooted or about to do so, which may generally be 
known by their commencing to form fresh growth. 
Pansies and Bedding Violas. —It is customary 
with some growers to put off the propagation of these 
things till autumn ; but a better practice is to do it 
about this time, provided a sufficient quantity of 
cuttings are available. Others, and amateurs especially, 
trust to their supply of plants by simply dividing the 
old ones, but such will never find out the secret of the 
large-flowered plants seen in the nurseries and markets 
in early spring till they commence propagating for 
their annual requirements. As the plants get old the 
quality of the bloom deteriorates, and such inevitably 
fail to give satisfaction, leading to their abandonment. 
Do not attempt propagation in greenhouses, vineries, 
or similar places, which are too hot in summer for 
members of this genus ; but insert the cuttings in 
frames or handlights, either temporary or otherwise, 
which may be removed altogether in autumn if the 
cuttings are inserted in sheltered places at the foot of a 
wall or otherwise. The choice kinds may receive 
protection till spring. 
Phloxes and Pentstemons. —As in the case of 
Pansies, so here again the best panicles of bloom, 
whether for decorative or exhibition purposes, are 
obtained from young plants that have been struck from 
cuttings the previous year. Short, moderately firm 
lateral or radical shoots, after being prepared in the 
usual way, may be inserted in boxes of sandy soil, and 
put in a pit, frame or similar structure, where they 
may be kept close till rooted, and afterwards given all 
the air possible on every favourable occasion throughout 
the winter.— F. 
