616 
THE GAEDENING WOELD. 
May 30, 1891. 
he Proposed Horticultural Hall. —The 
Council of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
taking advantage of the interest felt in the 
society, arising from the holding of the Temple 
Show, has issued another appeal to the Fellows 
for promises of loans of money to enable the 
promoters of the proposed Horticultural Hall to 
carry out their project. The sum promised so 
far towards the £40,000 required is just one- 
half of the total sum, but it is added that a 
friend offers £5,000 if the remaining 
£15,000 he early forthcoming. That is un¬ 
doubtedly a liberal offer, and no one can 
complain that the donor should attach the 
conditions imposed, as in that way only is it 
possible to stimulate interest in the matter. 
Now that so much of success has attended 
the effort, it would be a pity that it should fail; 
hut we should greatly prefer to see the moneyed 
men of the society taking up the challenge, and 
thus save the Council the necessity of making 
these appeals to the poorer Fellows, many of 
whom could not possibly, were they ever so 
warmly inclined, afford to lend the society even 
£5, much less larger sums. 
Of course the promoters of the Hall simply 
ask for a loan of the money, but in the absence of 
much more information than we can at present 
obtain, we must say that, so far we can see, the 
chances of repaying it are very remote The 
debenture venture at South Kensington was at 
the first as full of promise as at the last it was 
full of disappointment. As to the proposed 
site, and the character of the building to be 
erected, we are yet completely in the dark, but 
we note that nothing is now said as to the 
costly and restricted site on the Thames 
Embankment. If the promoters can find a site 
in a much more retired, suitable and quieter 
situation at one-half the cost of that on the 
Embankment, they will do wisely to secure it. 
There is really no earthly reason why the 
society should seek a home in the City of 
London. The citizens are in the daytime far 
too deeply immersed in business to have any 
time to devote to flowers. A good site in the 
West-end would be far more desirable. 
She Pea Crop. —We have been assured 
by a veteran market grower of Peas, 
that we shall have jrone in the market 
for consumption before the 20th of June, 
from the metropolitan area. It may he 
possible that some districts are earlier, but 
generally it is found that the London district 
is about as early as most, and as many 
hundreds of acres of the best and earliest 
land are devoted annually to Pea culture, 
it may be taken for granted that what has 
been stated is about the truth. At the 
present moment the earliest breadths are 
just showing bloom, and in a few days will 
be full of bloom. 
As a rule, three weeks have to elapse 
before pods fit to gather follows, and 
the swelling up of them depends materially 
upon the weather, as if cold, then they 
fill slowly, whilst warmth helps the filling 
appreciably. It seems very difficult to re¬ 
alise the fact that a dozen or so years ago 
we had the early Peas, not only in good 
bloom, but many of the breadths had well 
slatted so early as April 28th. The season 
was an exceptionally early one, as may 
well be assumed, especially as compared 
with the present very backward one, but 
it was marked by a special calamity to 
Peas, for on the morning of the date 
named, an intensely sharp frost fairly des¬ 
troyed large breadths wholesale, and the 
consequent loss was excessive. We shall 
doubtless have an abundant Pea crop this 
season, but the time of its duration must 
of necessity be short. Really about the 
metropolis it rarely extends over a month 
or five weeks, because very late Peas are 
rarely grown. 
The grower has to consider the after crops, 
and very late Peas rarely admit of profitable 
after cropping. Farther also, let the crop 
be ever so good, the fancy of the London 
consumer for any one thing, except perhaps 
Potatos, does not long endure, and when 
Runner Beans are well in, Peas soon have 
to go out. The lateness of the Pea season 
is especially accentuated by the fact that 
all sorts of green stuff are - exceptionally 
scarce and dear. We have now little of a 
hardy nature to use, but apologies for 
Cabbages and some early sown Spinach; 
this comparative scarcity will last until Peas 
are in. 
hododendrons.— We are very near to the 
height of the blooming season of the 
Rhododendron. Really we have so many 
glorious early varieties that some bloom so 
early even as February and continue the suc¬ 
cession until it finally culminates in one truly 
grand burst of flower in the month of June. 
Ordinarily we see their final burst early in 
June. This year it seems probable that the 
height of the bloom will be about the middle 
to the end of the month, for generally the 
season for all things is late, and American 
shrubs are no exception. 
Probably we have no more gorgeous or 
beautiful flowering shrub than is the Rhodo¬ 
dendron. If we see it at some specially 
provided exhibition or show, or in a nursery, 
or, best of all, in one of those fine old private 
gardens where the plants have been allowed to 
grow to enormous dimensions, and as it were 
tolerably wild, we find it universally magnifi¬ 
cent, producing the most wonderful masses of 
colour and of very brilliant and varied hues. 
We have few hardier shrubs than is the Rho¬ 
dodendron ; few, perhaps, more accommodating. 
AVe have seen Ponticum and many of its 
hybrids thriving luxuriantly in stiff clay and 
in the best porous peat. Still there can be no 
doubt but that where Nature has not furnished 
a peaty soil it is wise, especially for the choicer 
varieties, to endeavour to furnish this soil 
desideratum so far as possible. 
The late bloomers, as a rule, escape injury 
from frosts best because they make their 
annual growths later. It is the very early 
bloomers which sometimes find the late severe 
frost to be harmful to the young shoots. 
Still, on the whole, the plants suffer little, and 
a glorious bloom, more than ordinarily, follows. 
AA r e shall doubtless see a grand bloom again 
presently; the buds formed were numerous and 
strong, and it is but natural that a fine bloom 
should follow. Apart from the glory of its 
inflorescence, the Rhododendron is always a 
fine evergreen shrub, and in that respect has 
an advantage over the not less florally beautiful 
Azalea. AYhen both are in magnificent bloom, 
however, the effect is indeed one of singular 
beauty. 
-- 
Heigham (Norfolk) Horticultural Society.—The 
annual show of this society is fixed for Thursday, July 
23rd. 
Ramsgate and St. Lawrence Horticultural Society. 
—The annual show of this society will be held in the 
grounds of Effingham, Ramsgate, lent by Mrs. Fox Tom- 
son, on August 19th. 
The Bath and West of England Association.—The 
annual exhibition of this association opens at Bath on 
AVednesday next, and on the following day, Thursday, 
at 4 p.m., Mr. T. Francis Rivers will lecture in the 
Horticultural Pavilion on “ Fruit Growing.” On 
Saturday, Mr. George Paul will lecture at the same 
hour and place on “ Hardy Plants, with a special view 
to Cottage Gardening.” 
Flower Culture in the Alpes-Maritimes.—The 
Annalcs de lx Societe d’Horticulture de VHirav.lt gives 
some statistics which show the importance of flower 
culture in the department of the Alpes-Maritimes, 
France. The annual production represents a sum of 
16,000,000 francs. Nearly 2,000,000 kilogrammes of 
Orange flowers, 1,000,000 kilogrammes of Roses, 157,000 
kilogrammes of Violets, 147,000 kilogrammes of 
Jasmine, and smaller quantities of Tuberose, Jonquils, 
and so forth, are grown for the market. 
The Temple Show.—As we go to press the Inner 
Temple Gardens is a scene of great activity, floral 
treasures from all quarters of the compass being rapidly 
placed in the positions assigned to them. So great is 
the demand for the limited space at command that the 
greatest difficulty is experienced in accommodating the 
exhibitors. AVhen we say that 2,000 square feet of 
staging will be filled with flowering Orchids some idea 
may be gleaned of the importance of that feature. The 
exhibition promises to be much the finest that has been 
held in the Temple Gardens, and fine weather only is 
wanted to ensure success. 
Midland Counties Pansy Society.—The committee 
have found it necessary to postpone their exhibition 
from June 10th to AVednesday, June 24th, in con¬ 
sequence of numerous intending exhibitors stating that 
owing to the lateness of the season, their plants will 
not be in bloom by June 10th. AVill intending 
exhibitors and visitors please note change of date, and 
that the exhibition will be held in the Central Hall, 
Corporation Street, close to the railway stations, 
Birmingham. Schedules can be had from Mr. AV. 
Dean, Dolphin Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham. 
Remains of the Ancient Flora.—At Hailes, some 
three miles south-west of Edinburgh, in a thin seam of 
silt resting on the boulder clay, Mr. J. Bennil, of 
the Geological Survey of Scotland, has lately found 
numerous remains of Arctic and sub-Arctic plants. In 
general they indicate a climate 15° to 20° colder than 
that of the Scottish lowlands to-day. The AVillows 
are all of the dwarf species ; two of them (Salix herbacea 
and S. reticulata) still survive on the highest of the 
Highland mountains, but a third (Salix polaris) is now 
extinct in Britain. The only tree found was a species 
of Alder. 
Trees Uprooted by a Waterspout.—Rain, hail, snow 
and thunder storms have been rife, not only in Britain, 
but also on the Continent last week. On Friday, the 
22nd inst., during a storm which was raging over 
Paris, a waterspout formed about the centre of the 
Champs Elysees, and whirling westward over the 
Place de la Concorde, burst in the Jardin des Tuileries, 
close by, where it tore up three of the largest Chestnuts 
in the garden, and injured several other trees. A 
thunderbolt fell upon the Esplanade des Invalides 
during the height of the storm, but apparently did 
little or no harm. 
Clivieucliaris pulclira.—Under this provisional name 
an interesting garden hybrid is noticed by M. Emile 
Rodigas, of Ghent, in L'Illustration, Horticole. In so 
naming it he has followed the rules adopted by the 
English Commission, instituted two years ago for the 
nomenclature of Orchids. Clivieucharis pulchra, he 
states, is a remarkable hybrid between two genera of 
the Amaryllideas, which has recently flowered for the 
first time in the establishment of Louis Van Houtte, 
at Ghent, and which is the result of the artificial 
fecundation of a Clivia with the pollen of Eucharis 
grandiflora. That product is quite intermediate between 
the two parents ; nevertheless, he considers that it is 
convenient to see a second flowering of it before 
publishing a description. 
The Storm on May 24th.—During the early hours 
of Sunday rain fell steadily in the metropolis, and in the 
afternoon a prolonged thunderstorm was experienced, 
with heavy falls of hail in the southern and south-eastern 
suburbs. The amount of rain measured on Monday 
morning proved that as regards severity the storm 
varied considerably even in closely adjacent districts, 
for while Greenwich had an aggregate of only 0’41 inch, 
and Clapham only 0'56 inch, a gauge at AVandsworth 
Common registered as much as 0’90 inch, half of which 
fell during the evening and night of Sunday. The 
raw air which came from the northward and north¬ 
western, coupled with an entire absence of bright 
sunshine, rendered the day particularly unpleasant, 
and the-thermometer in the southern suburbs at no 
time succeeded in rising above 47°. As a maximum 
temperature this agreed fairly well with the average for 
the month of February, while it was as much as 15° 
below the normal for May. 
Plant Life on the Globe.—Mr. AV. Carruthers, 
F.R.S., head of the botanical department of the 
British Museum, gave on the 22nd inst. the concluding 
portion of his lecture on “ The Story of Plant Life on 
the Globe,” before a large number of Fellows and 
visitors to the gardens of the Royal Botanic Society. 
Tracing the evolution of plants through the Pine trees 
and Cycads of the lower rocks to the cretaceous series, 
where plants similar to those at present existing first 
appear, he showed how unbroken had been the con¬ 
tinuity of vegetable life from the first dim traces of 
