712 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 11, 1891. 
gardener to grant]] except with the special 
permission of his employer, but we may well 
hope, so far as is possible, that sanction will he 
freely obtained. 
The gardener too often is an ill-paid 
employe; he has great demands upon his 
products, and is too often put to his wit’s 
end to know how to satisfy them. Still 
there are others more highly favoured, whilst 
there are myriads of amateurs and traders 
who have, of their ample means, much of 
flowers that can be spared, and being sold 
to the public may help to bring very tangible 
assistance to the Fund. Apart from the fete 
the Crystal Palace is in the summer always 
a gloriously attractive place of resort. To all 
who love gardening it should be especially 
attractive next Wednesday, when we hope 
for the Orphan Fund Fair and Fete a 
glorious success. 
ardy Fruit Culture. —We have never 
been very warm admirers of the Fruiterers 
Company, hut it is certain that since the advent 
to the Mastership of that really liberal-minded 
and enthusiastic horticulturist and Alderman, 
Sir James Whitehead, something practical has 
been done by the Company, and it has now 
other and more worthy aims than those of 
mere feasting. The great show of hardy fruits 
held in the Guildhall last autumn was a 
product of the Company’s newly aroused 
activity, and we have to direct attention to the 
fact that certain medals and certificates 
awarded at that show to various exhibitors are 
to he distributed at a public meeting in the 
Egyptian Hall of the Mansion House on 
Monday next. These we are at liberty to say 
might well have been provided much earlier, as 
such a lengthened interval between the award 
and the receipt of the medals greatly minimises 
their value in the estimation of the recipients. 
The special object of the meeting is stated 
to be the promotion of fruit culture in home¬ 
steads and cottage gardens. With that we 
have the warmest sympathy. In all previous 
agitation too much attention has been bestowed 
upon the market aspect of the question, just 
as though fruit culture .existed only for the 
purposes of providing material for sale and 
profit. We are thus glad to see that the 
domestic aspects of the question are to have 
consideration, because these are the objects 
most needing encouragement. So far as the 
fruit-producing trade is concerned it can very 
well look after itself. Those who embark in 
it usually have considerable practical knowledge, 
and it is often absurd as well as ludicrous for 
even the most advanced enthusiast to attempt 
to instruct them. 
It is rather the cottager and small grower or 
farmer class of cultivator whom it is desirable 
to influence, but that must be done tentatively 
and progressively. Much of what has been 
said in relation to hardy fruit culture has been 
too “ tall.” Estimates of profit based upon a 
fertile imagination simply mislead and dis¬ 
appoint. It.is wiser to induce people to grow 
fruit for the fruit’s sake and their own, rather 
than because of some' fanciful pecuniary profit. 
T|>ook Prices.— The prices realised at the 
late Mr. Hibberd’s book sale wree very 
satisfactory so far as they related to standard 
works, hut those paid for serial publications in 
a bound form could hardly have been termed 
either complimentary or satisfactory. When 
forty volumes of the Gardeners' Magazine, 
with which Mr. Hibberd was so intimately and 
so long associated, sold for hut 27s. ; and fifty 
volumes of the Journal of Horticulture returned 
only 16s., we may well ask what is fame, that 
it should be thus pecuniarily estimated. What 
a wealth of contributed knowledge may have 
been stored up in those bound publications, 
and yet how lightly it seems to have been 
regarded! Still, if we calmly look at the 
present condition of gardening serial literature, 
we shall have to admit that it is published 
chiefly for the day, and that the next issue 
supersedes in interest that of the previous week, 
until finally that of some Aveeks old seems to 
have lost interest absolutely. Just as is 
to-day of ten times more moment than the 
day which is past, so is the serial of to-day 
of far greater interest and value to us than was 
the preceding number. Yet it must be admitted 
that gardening publications have great intrinsic 
value, even if kept for purposes of reference. 
It doubtless is the case that the work of 
yesterday compares not in importance with the 
work of to-day, but a perusal of what was done 
yesterday often helps materially to the more 
successful performance of to-day’s labours. 
Gardening is a life-long labour which is 
never perfect, never fully learned or under¬ 
stood. It is progressive, and the methods of 
to-day have largely superseded those of a 
quarter of a century since, perhaps. Still, we 
should be unwise did we totally disregard 
what were the practices of our fathers, who 
Avith their means and knoAvledge were hut less 
practical than the gardeners of to-day, and Ave 
can hardly doubt Avere as successful in their 
labours. Just as it is Avell for most men 
occasionally to take a keen retrospect of their 
lives, so is it Avell for us to occasionally 
examine the records of the Avork and labour of 
past gardeners. 
oxgloves. —Very much, perhaps, because the 
Foxglove is a native wild flower it does 
not find that favour in gardens to Avhich it is 
so Avell entitled. Those Avho have seen in 
Avoods and dells, growing in Avild profusion, 
big masses of Foxgloves of the ordinary 
coloured Purpurea, have freely admitted that 
very beautiful effects Avere produced. The best 
Avild forms, however, are poor compared with 
the fine, beautifully spotted and various coloured 
forms found in gardens ncrw. We saAv a big 
mass of these the other day, the fine spikes 
standing up several feet in height and having 
a very noble appearance, such as to command 
our Avarmest admiration. The pure Avhites are 
very attractive, hut all are not less beautiful. 
The floAvers are so large as to resemble those 
of drooping Gloxinias, and rival them in 
beauty. Foxgloves are ordinarily best treated 
as biennials. They seed Avith Avonderful 
prolificacy, and it is only needful to keep 
one year’s seed under another to have plenty of 
plants, from a spring sowing, to dibble out in 
June, and thus ensure very fine spikes of bloom 
> the folloAving year. Where, as is often the case, 
the stocks stand through the Avinter, several 
fine spikes are thrown up the following year 
with marked results. But because seed is so 
plentiful, it is easy to mark a few of the best 
forms, and save seed from them, cutting aAvay all 
the spikes from others as soon as the bloom is 
over. If sown either under glass or outdoors 
towards the end of April, plenty of young 
plants may be had to dibble out every year. 
It is not always safe to entrust fine seeds to 
outdoor soils, especially if the Aveather be too 
Avet or too dry. A .pinch eoAvn in a broad 
shall oav box Avill enable many scores of plants 
to be assured by being raised under glass, and 
these, after exposure, may easily be dibbled 
out Avhere they are to bloom. Seed soAvn at 
once after saving produces excellent plants for 
dibbling out in the Avinter, hut they rarely 
bloom well the first year, and may thus result 
in disappointment. We are sure that those 
Avho will groAv fine Foxgloves Avill not be 
disappointed Avith them. 
-- 
The Fruiterers Company.—At a Court of the 
Fruiterers Company held on June 25th, Mr. Samuel 
Barlow, J.P., Stakehill House, Castleton, Manchester, 
was, in consideration of important services rendered to 
hardy fruit culture in this country, elected a member 
of the guild. 
Cambridge Florists’ Society.—The annual Rose 
Show in connection with this society was held on the 
1st inst. 
Death of 3Ir. H. J. Buchan.—We regret to learn of 
the death, on the 1st inst., of Mr. H. J. Buchan, J.P., 
Wilton House, Southampton, aged 77 years. Mr. 
Buchan was a great lover of Orchids, and for 
many years kept up a very interesting collection. 
The Gardens at Hardwick House, Bury St. Edmunds, 
which are in charge of that enthusiastic gardener, Mr. 
D. T. Fish, were opened to the public on the 1st inst., 
at a small charge made in aid of the Gardeners’ Orphan 
Fund. 
Cardinal Havnald, Archbishop of Kalocsa, a zealous 
Hungarian botanist and patriot, and a most liberal 
promoter of science and art, in whose honour the late 
Prof. Reichenbach named one of Wallis’s discoveries in 
the Philippine Islands (Cypripedium Haynaldianum), 
died on Saturday afternoon last. 
The Kingston (Surrey) Horticultural Society, which 
has had a very narrow escape of dissolution, is to be 
resuscitated by the aid of some local supporters, and 
will hold its annual show in a few days, when Ave hope 
the financial results will enable the committee to put 
the society on a sound foundation. 
Ripley Rose Show will be held near Derby on 
Saturday, August 1st. 
The Brighton Rose Show, held on the 3rd inst., 
suffered materially in consequence of the lateness of the • 
Rose bloom, and curiously enough the local growers 
seemed to be worse off than those at a distance. The 
first prizes for forty-eight singles and twenty-four 
doubles in the open classes both went to Mr. C. 
Turner, Slough ; and Mr. Percy Bernand, Wray Park, 
Reigate, secured similar honours among amateurs. 
Miscellaneous exhibits were as usual a good feature. 
Death of a Norfolk Gardener.—We regret to hear of 
the death on June 27th, in his 68th year, of Mr. Brown 
Woodhouse, for thirty years gardener to W. H. Cozens- 
Hardy, Esq., of Letheringest Hall, Norfolk. The 
deceased was a good all round gardener, and a frequent 
exhibitor at the Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural 
Society’s shows, at which he always carried away some 
of the most coveted prizes. 
Gardening Engagements.—Mr. G. Cypher, recently 
gardener to Mrs. Studd, Bath, as gardener to Sir J. 
Dorington, Bart., M.P., Lypiatt Park, Stroud. Mr. 
W. Seabrook, foreman at Aston Clinton, as gardener to 
Lord de Ramsey, Ramsey Abbey, Hunts. Mr. H. Dowd- 
ing formerly gardener at Little Gaddesden House, Berk- 
hamsted, as gardener to the Bishop of Winchester, 
Farnham Castle, Surrey. 
Smith's Weed Killer.—A few weeks ago we received 
for trial from Mr. Mark Smith, Louth, Lincolnshire, a 
sample tin of his weed-killing composition, which we 
placed in the hands of an experienced practical gardener, 
who, like all his brothers, has this season a greater 
share than usual of weeds to contend Avith. Our friend 
reports most favourably of the result of his trial of the 
liquid, and rejoices in there being no weeds to be seen 
now where the Weed Killer was used. We have much 
pleasure in publishing this testimony to the value of 
what is evidently a most useful article. We must add, 
however, as a word of caution, that it is a dangerous 
poison, and under no circumstances should be used 
otherwise than as directed by the manufacturer. 
The National Carnation and Picotee Society’s 
annual exhibition will be held in the Drill Hall, James’ 
Street, Westminster, on Tuesday, July 21st. A 
luncheon will be provided at the Hotel Windsor, 
Victoria Street, at 1.30 p.m., for members and their 
friends, and tickets can be obtained from the secretary, 
Mr. Douglas, or any member of the committee. Mr. 
Martin R. Smith, vice-president of the society, will 
preside. The hon. treasurer, Mr. T. E. Henwood, 
Auricula Villa, Hamilton Road, Reading, will be glad 
to receive unpaid subscriptions. 
The Gardeners’ Orphan Fund: A Gardeners’ 
Outing.—At the last meeting of the Croydon Gar¬ 
deners’ and Amateurs’ Mutual Improvement Society the 
members decided to have an “outing,” and elected to 
visit the Crystal Palace on Wednesday, the 15th inst., 
on the occasion of the fete in aid of the Gardeners' 
Orphan Fund. Mr. Baxter, hon. secretary, 40, 
Woodside Road, Woodside, S.E., does not believe in 
doing things by halves, and is determined that as the 
society has undertaken the matter the programme shall 
be thoroughly carried out. The following gentlemen 
have been elected to assist him in the disposal of 
tickets :—Mr. T. Butcher, South Norwood ; Mr. J. R. 
Box, West Croydon ; Mr. G. W. Cummins, The 
Grange, Carshalton ; Mr. W. Carr, Croydon Lodge ; 
Mr. G. H. Cooper, Sydenham Road, Croydon ; Mr. 
F. C. Frost, Tale Cottage, Old Town ; Mr. J. Newbury, 
