612 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 26, 1888. 
to pushing growths, they are almost like soft 
halls of water, and in such condition very 
subject to rot should the soil he cold or the 
season adverse. The recent rains and warm 
nights have so materially helped Peas that 
we look forward to a productive and profitable 
season with fair reason for confidence. 
-- 
The Manchester Botanical and Horticultural 
Society.—¥e learn from Mr. Bruce Findlay that it 
is intended to hold two fruit shows in the gardens at 
Old Trafford during the ensuing autumn, the first for 
choice fruits and autumn flowers in September, and the 
second specially for hardy fruits in October. 
Veitch’s Manual of Orchidaceous Plants. —Part 
III. of this publication, which includes Dendrobiums, 
Bulbophyllums, and Cirrhopetalums, has just been 
issued by Messrs. James Veitch & Sons. We can only 
announce the fact of its publication to-day, leaving a 
more extended notice to a future number. 
The Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.—It has been 
definitely arranged that the evening fete or promenade 
in the wholesale flower market, Covent Garden, which 
is being organised in aid of this fund, shall take place 
on Wednesday, June 6 th, between the hours of nine 
and twelve o’clock p.m. The necessary preparations 
are well in hand, and it is v expected that this will 
prove one of the most novel and pleasurable events of 
the London season. 
Gardening Engagement. —• Mr. William Gibson, 
late foreman at Ffarington House, Preston, as gardener 
to H. Harris, Esq., Steventon Manor, Micheldever, 
Hants. 
Tulip Show at Haarlem.—We learn from Messrs. 
E. H. Krelage & Son, Kleinen Houtweg, Haarlem, 
that their beds of late Tulips will be at their best 
during the next three weeks. For the present season 
four large beds have been planted, and these will be 
covered with two spacious tents. The display 
promises to be unusually fine—such an exhibition, 
deed, as has never before been seen in Holland, and 
the Messrs. Krelage will be pleased to see anyone 
interested in these fine old florists’ flowers. 
Potatos at a Discount.—The North British Agri¬ 
culturist states that in the Montrose district the greater 
part of the Potato crop of last season is still in store. 
The market is glutted, and buyers cannot be found on 
any terms. Farmers have invited dealers in the neigh¬ 
bourhood to purchase at low figures, but the dealers 
have declined. The stocks in hand are so heavy that 
it is difficult to say what can be done with them. 
New Plants Certificated in Ghent.—At the last 
meeting of the Chamber of Belgian Horticulturists, 
held on the 14th inst., Certificates of Merit were 
awarded to Messrs. Yervaet & Co. for Cattleya Law- 
renceana, Cypripedium Sanderianum and Odontoglossum 
Pescatorei alba; to Mr. Jules Hye for Cypripedium 
Godefroyse ; to Mr. J. Bray for Odontoglossum Alex¬ 
andra; var. ; and to Mr. Ed. Pynaert for Dichorisandra 
toniensis. 
Carters’ Universal Bird Seed.—The subject of bird 
seed can hardly be regarded as a strictly horticultural 
one, and yet there are so many gardeners who have 
valuable birds under their charge that we need make 
no apology for mentioning the fact in these columns 
that Messrs. James Carter & Co. are now sending out a 
prepared mixture of bird seeds, which, on account of 
their purity and general excellence, will doubtless be 
much appreciated by lovers of birds. Our own feathered 
favourites seem to like the mixture very much. 
Kent County Chrysanthemum Society.—This new 
society, of which F. W. Prior, Esq., Gordon House, 
Blackheath, is president, and Mr. H. A. Needs, 35, 
Ringstead Road, Catford Bridge, S.E., secretary, has 
issued a schedule of prizes for its first exhibition, to be 
held at the Rink, Blackheath, on the 14th and 15th of 
November. There are fifty-six classes, sixteen of which 
are open, and the remainder devoted to amateurs and 
gentlemen’s gardeners, and amateurs who grow their 
own productions without the assistance of any gar¬ 
dener. 
The Secret of Success in Rose Growing.—The 
writer does not grow Roses, although he sees them 
occasionally, but he cannot refrain from giving the gist 
of a little discussion heard among some practical Rose 
men. It was to the purport that, after expensive and 
extensive experimenting indulged in, with several 
reputed “mascot" soils and mixtures, by one prominent 
grower, it was not Philadelphia or Nvack or Madison soil 
that brought the results, but work and attention. 
Given any good soil, and then intelligent attention 
sixty minutes in the hour, twenty-four hours a day, 
and 365 days in the year, by skilled men with plenty 
of help, and the Roses will come all right. So think 
Siebrecht, Harris, Farson, and so must think Keystone, 
in American Florist. 
The Royal National Tulip Society.—The annual 
exhibition of this society will take place in the gardens 
of the Manchester Botanical Society, on Saturday, June 
9th. The fixture is arranged in this manner : The 
growers are called together about a month previous—it 
is what is known as the “ making up ” meeting—and 
the opinion of the growers is taken as to the best time 
to hold the exhibition. All w T ho cannot attend are 
entitled to vote by letter ; the date finding most favour 
is accepted. June 9th is quite a week later than usual, 
but it is thought the flowers will be generally at their 
best at that time. Much will depend on the weather; 
that it varies in Lancashire was shown by the fact that 
while the 17th was a stifling hot day, the 21 st found 
the wind in the east, and the rejected great coat was 
gladly donned once more. 
Hooper & Co., Limited.—We learn from the report 
of the directors, presented at the recent general meeting 
of the company, that the accounts show the company’s 
affairs to be in a satisfactory condition. The nett 
profits for the six months ending December 31st 
amounted to about nine per cent, upon the capital of 
the company, and a dividend of six per cent, was 
declared, the balance being carried forward. The old 
and well-known business of Messrs. E. G. Henderson 
& Son, Pine Apple Nursery, Maida Yale, has been 
acquired by the company, as also the wholesale seed 
business of Mr. James Farrer, formerly carried on at 
Primrose Street, Bishopsgate. The branch establish¬ 
ment in Paris is to be developed, and the company has 
also acquired the shop adjoining their old one in the 
Central Avenue, with a view to extending their local 
trade. 
The Temple Show last week brought out some 
curious information in the daily press, but for down¬ 
right ignorance and absurdity nothing beats the follow¬ 
ing, w'hich was sent to the Manchester Examiner and 
Times by its London correspondent:—“The flower 
show to-day was fairly successful. But there are really 
only two gentlemen in England who can grow Orchids 
to any advantage—Sir Trevor Lawrence and Mr. 
Chamberlain. Whenever amateurs touch the culti¬ 
vation of a flower which is almost human in its instincts 
—some Orchids, for instance, will die in a night if they 
are even stroked the wrong way—they can only succeed 
in spending a good deal of money with very little 
good result.” 
Orchid Prices : The Selborne Collection.—Owing 
to the great pressure on our space last week we were 
unable to give particulars of the sale of Mr. J. South¬ 
gate’s collection of Orchids, at Protheroe & Morris’s 
Rooms, on the loth and 16th inst. As at most of the 
recent sales, good and well-marked forms realised their 
value, and we add the prices made for the principal 
lots :—Aerifies Fieldingii, £28 7s. ; Cypripedium 
Morgan*, 19 guineas ; Cattleya exoniensis, 30 guineas ; 
Cattleya Mossi® Southgatei, £36 15s.; Yanda suavis 
(Veitch’s var.), £22 and 16guineas ; Oncidium macran- 
thum, Southgate’s variety, 17 guineas ; Cypripedium 
grande, £20 9s. Gd. ; C. cenauthum superbum, 20 
guineas ; Dendrobium nobile nobilius, 16 guineas; 
Aerifies Williamsi (certificated last Tuesday under the 
name of Aerifies Fieldingi alba), £63 ; Cypripedium 
euryandrum, £22 ; Oncidium tetracopis, £21 ; Laelia 
flammea, 16 guineas ; Cattleya Mendelii Selbornensis, 
£27 6s.; Phajus tuberculosus, 19 guineas ; and Cattleya 
Warnerii, 15 guineas. 
Royal Agricultural Society.—The annual meeting 
of the members of the Royal Agricultural Society was 
held on Tuesday, Lord Cathcart presiding. The chair¬ 
man said that it gave him the greatest satisfaction in 
announcing that the fiftieth president of the society 
would be Her Majesty the Queen, which he felt was a 
noble climax to the career of the society. Mr. Freebody 
recommended that the society should engage a special 
commissioner to obtain reliable information relating to 
the agriculture of New Zealand and Australia, in regard 
to the probable food supply raised for and its transit to 
the English market. Mr. W. Lipscomb suggested that 
the society should distribute diagrams to schools in 
the agricultural districts explaining the thermometer. 
There was, he said, great ignorance among children 
with regard to the thermometer, and he also regretted 
to say that that ignorance extended to dairy fanners, 
not one in fifty of whom used thermometers. He also 
proposed that diagrams should be circulated showing 
the number of injurious weeds and the best method of 
extirpating them. 
Teddington and District Horticultural Discussion 
Society.—This new society, of which D. Furze, Esq., 
is president, has been established to promote social 
intercourse and the exchange of useful practical in¬ 
formation among the gardeners employed in the 
district of which Teddington forms the centre. It is 
intended that papers shall be read and discussed at the 
periodical meetings, and members are invited to bring 
with them any object of interest they may have, 
and wfhich will be judged by the members for the 
award of Certificates of Merit. A very pleasant 
gathering took place on the 14th inst., when Mr. 
Coombs, gardener to the president, read an instructive 
paper on Primulas, which promoted a good discussion. 
The subjects exhibited included some Orchids in flower 
and sixteen varieties of Japanese Maples from Mr. 
‘William Gordon, Amyand Park Road, Twickenham ; 
some rare Orchids from the president’s garden ; a grand 
plant of the fine old Oncidium sphacelatum from Mr. 
Bishop, The Grove Gardens, Teddington ; and some 
excellent show Pelargoniums from the collection of 
"W. Clay, Esq. 
Pomology iu the Principality.—The North "Wales 
and Border Counties Pomological Society, whose head¬ 
quarters are at "Wrexham, has just issued, at the modest 
price of 2d., a list of the hardy fruits grown in the 
district which obtained the largest number of votes at 
a recent election, and which should prove of great 
advantage to intending planters, especially if they 
will act upon the valuable advice given to them by 
the Committee, viz., only to purchase a few va¬ 
rieties, and only those of the best kind. The society 
has only been in existence three years, yet the 
committee in their last annual report are able to take 
credit for the accomplishment of much good work 
iu awakening the local landowners and occupiers to a 
sense of the importance of extended fruit culture. 
“Fruit planting continues to make steady progress in 
many parts of the society’s district, and the committee 
are pleased to learn that in the formation of new 
orchards, the planters of such are exercising more care 
than formerly, in procuring those varieties of fruit 
trees which experience has found to be best suited to 
their respective localities, and to employ persons 
skilled in pomology in the execution of the work of 
planting.” The society’s next exhibition is announced 
to be held at Wrexham, on November 21st and 
22 nd. 
Hull and East Riding Chrysanthemum Society.— 
The schedule of this society, which holds a leading and 
important position in the north, has just been issued, 
and we are pleased again to be able to direct the atten¬ 
tion of growers to the liberal character of the prizes 
offered, especially in the open classes. The Champion 
Prize is again a Silver Challenge Cup, value 15 guineas, 
and £15 in cash, for forty-eight blooms, twenty-four 
incurved and the same number of Japanese, with not 
less than eighteen varieties of each, but the conditions 
have been made easier in favour of the exhibitors. It 
will be remembered that the last Cup, which was woii 
in November, 18S7, by Mr. Mease, gardener to the 
executors of the late C. "W. Neumann, Esq., of Wyn- 
cote, Liverpool, had to be won twice in succession, or 
three times altogether, wdiereas the new trophy, given 
by Lieut. -Col. Gleadhow, has only to be won twice, and 
not necessarily consecutively to become the property of 
the successful competitor. The other prizes in the 
same competition are £10 for the second, £5 for the 
third, and £2 for the fourth. A Veitch Memorial 
Medal and £5 is the first prize offered for twenty-four 
blooms, twelve Japanese, and the same number of 
incurved (nurserymen excluded) ; a Silver Challenge 
Cup, value £10, given by R. Falconer Jameson, Esq., 
and £3 3s. in money, is offered in a similar class for 
exhibitors residing within twenty miles of Hull; and 
another cup of the same value, given by the society, 
with £5 in cash, is the first prize offered for a group of 
Chrysanthemums and foliage plants occupying 100 
square feet. 
The Flower Sermon. — On Tuesday evening the St. 
Katherine-Cree Church, Leadenhall Street, was filled 
with a large congregation to hear the annual “Flower 
Sermon” of the Rev. "W. M. Whittemore, D.D, the 
rector. This sermon is addressed to young people, but 
many adults, and even the aged of both sexes were 
present. Nearly all carried bouquets of flowers. Dr. 
"Whittemore, preaching his thirty-sixth “Flower 
