November 8, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
153 
Government grants to the extent of £40,000 per annum 
for the three institutions, and are, therefore, able to 
carry out scientific work from which we are precluded 
by want of means. On the other hand, we do important 
work here which the three establishments to which I 
have referred leave untouched. I mean the holding of 
Floral and Horticultural Exhibitions, upon which our 
society has, during the last twenty-five years, expended 
over £30,000. The practical benefits which have 
already resulted from this branch of the society’s 
labours are undeniable. It is well known that the 
fruit, flowers, and vegetables now brought to the 
Manchester market are not only in greater abundance, 
but of superior quality to those formerly exhibited. 
For several years past special exhibitions of hardy 
fruits have been held, having for their object the 
restoration and improvement of orchards and the 
gardens, to show what excellent fruits can be grown 
in this country, and to afford information respecting 
the best kinds to plant and how to cultivate them 
advantageously. 
“Very much 
remains tohe done 
in this direction. 
In point of fact, a 
beginninghasonly 
been made. It is 
our desire that 
the society should 
become increas¬ 
ingly useful in 
direct educational 
effort. A series of 
lectures are given 
during the sum¬ 
mer. Students 
from the School of 
Art spend a deal 
of their time in 
the gardens ; also 
pattern designers; 
and the medical 
students become 
better acquainted 
with the various 
features of medical 
plants than they 
could possibly do 
in the absence of 
such an avenue of 
instruction. Now, 
seeing that Parlia- 
mentin its wisdom 
has seen fit to ex¬ 
tend local govern¬ 
ment, and to place 
in the hands of 
the newly-created 
governing bodies 
means for useful 
instruction of the 
community, and 
seeing that the 
Botanical and 
Horticultural 
Society of Man¬ 
chester is the only 
institution of the 
kind in Lanca¬ 
shire, Yorkshire, 
Cheshire, and Derbyshire, it will, I think, be obvi¬ 
ous to the most superficial observer that this society 
merits increased encouragement and support, on the 
broad public grounds of public service for the public 
benefit, and for good work done during the last half 
century. It seems that an institution of this kind 
comes within the scope of the grants placed at the 
disposal of our County Councils. Our local rulers 
would be doing for Lancashire what the Imperial rulers 
do for London, Edinburgh, aud Dublin. 
“Few people have any idea of the cost of keeping a 
large collection of plants like we have here in perfect 
health and vigour, and also the keeping of sixteen 
acres of land in a high state of cultivation. Then 
there are the large glass and other buildings, which 
have to be kept in good order, and few have any idea of 
the toil and anxiety to get the means to carry on our 
work. I may add that but for the kindness and public 
spirit of several ladies and gentlemen in Manchester 
and other parts of the country in coming forward to 
assist the executive to erect and maintain the buildings 
which have been put up during the last ten years 
for the preservation of the grand specimens of th 
vegetable kingdom to be seen now at Old Trafford, this 
important work could not have been done; but I am 
sure that it is a source of great satisfaction to the 
persons referred to to know that they have been the 
means of preserving more beautiful monuments than 
artist can paint on glass or sculptor can engrave on 
stone. 
A short time ago I received a letter from Mr. W. 
Mather, M.P., on this subject, in which he said, 
‘ There is no kind of technical education which would 
better repay the cost and trouble of imparting it than 
the cultivation and spreading abroad of information 
among the people on the important subjects of botany 
and horticulture. ’ ” 
-. >!< -- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM, SUN¬ 
FLOWER. 
Although only two years have elapsed since this 
variety was sent out, nevertheless it is now to be 
found in nearly every collection. It is golden yellow, 
and may be described as the best Japanese variety of 
that colour which we possess. 
Judging from the grand flowers we have already 
seen this year in different collections and exhibi¬ 
tions, the accompanying illustration hardly does it 
justice. Prizes offered for stands of yellow Japanese 
varieties alone have brought out some marvellous 
exhibits of Sunflower, which could hardly have been 
expected when the variety first made its appearance on 
the show boards. The outer florets are long, drooping, 
and bright, while the inner ones, which are straight or 
nearly so when the plant has been but indifferently 
grown, become more or less twisted or curled, especially 
at the points. 
Owing to the drooping habit of the outer florets, 
the variety has been compared to a golden Mademoiselle 
Lacroix. It has a good constitution, and vigorous 
habit, but only attains medium height, while it 
can be dwarfed by growing it on the cut-back 
system. We are indebted to Messrs. H. Cannell & 
Sons, Swanley, Kent, for the opportunity of figuring 
it in our columns. 
PLANTING FRUIT TREES. 
I no not know why Mr. Proctor, who wrote last week 
on planting fruit trees, should assume that the majority 
are planted too deep, for the statement is not now in 
accordance with facts. Pieally the impression which 
prevails now, and has been held for a long time, is 
that whilst deep planting is injurious, shallow planting, 
when consistent with safety, is productive of early 
fruitfulness. We have got to understand now that 
cold clay soils are very undesirable for fruit trees, and 
that it is better to plant them on ridges or mounds 
than in deep holes. 
I am not so much in favour of rigidly supporting 
young trees against the action of the wind. Some play 
is good for both tops and roots, and is conducive to 
fruitfulness, because checking too strong an upward 
rush of sap. We can always in planting take as a fair 
guide the soil-mark on the stems from the nursery, 
and if that be regarded we shall hardly go wrong in 
replanting. Even in that case it is wise to keep a 
little under it than 
above it, as roots 
will inevitably 
strike downward 
in time. Fruit 
trees in these days 
are usually planted 
by persons who 
know what they 
are about, who 
take some pains to 
do their work 
well; therefore 
one has good 
ground for objec¬ 
ting to the liberal 
charge that the 
majority of fruit 
trees are too 
deeply planted. 
Generally it is 
well to plant early 
in the winter, but 
still it is not un¬ 
wise to allow the 
usual November 
gales to pass over 
before the work is 
done, especially if 
the trees are 
standards and the 
site is exposed. 
Positions for fruit 
orchards should be 
carefully selected 
to ensure some 
wind protection, 
both from the 
north, east and 
west. Once trees 
havebecome estab¬ 
lished a little 
blowing about will 
not hurt them, 
but, of course, 
that usage must 
be only in moder¬ 
ation. A little 
of it seems to be 
as beneficial to 
trees as athletics are to humanity— A. D. 
Dn. Lindley’s Fossil Types of Plants.— During 
the past long vacation the accommodation at the disposal 
of the botanical department in the University College, 
London, has been greatly augmented. By the transla¬ 
tion of the School of Technological Chemistry from the 
old Birkbeck building to another portion of the College, 
that building has become available for other purposes, 
and a considerable portion of it has been allotted by 
the Council of the College to the chair of Botany. The 
old laboratory in the North Cloister has been entirely 
refitted, and serves admirably the double function of a 
museum and general elementary botanical laboratory, 
in which accommodation is provided for forty-five 
students to dissect plants and investigate their tissues 
microscopically. Dr. Lindley, who died in 1865, was 
a recognised authority on fossil plants, and it was 
suspected that somewhere among his collections there 
would be a series of fossil types. It was only during 
building operations, just concluded, that they were 
discovered by the workmen, after twenty-five years, 
stowed away in three large chests .—Daily News, 
