656 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 15, 1889. 
Under such conditions it is obvious that 
town dwellers never have that perfect en¬ 
joyment from freshly picked Peas which 
those who have gardens can. 
The earliest of home-grown market Peas 
come into London chiefly from the Chertsey 
district, where the soil is drier and warmer than 
it is in Middlesex. The first consignment 
obtained 20s. per bushel, but of course the 
slats were very thin, and an entire bushel 
afforded after all hut a moderate dish. The 
following week the Peas dropped down to 
10s., and then to 5s. or 4s. 6 d. per bushel, 
and now are perhaps even so low as 3s. 6 d., 
there being, in spite of the comparative thin¬ 
ness of the earlier sowing, a large crop, as 
the warm days of last week forced on the 
plants rapidly, and bloom set profusely. In 
another week or so no doubt thousands of 
bushels will sell at about 2s. 6cf. each. On 
the whole that is enough to pay for such 
quality as is found in early market Peas. 
It is not until the wrinkled Marrows 
come in that decent quality is obtainable. 
White round Peas so soon become dry and 
hard after gathering. Of course the grower 
has to pay as much for the gathering even 
if the selling price be ever so low, and not 
unusually the women-pickers, who gather 
from six to nine bushels per day, get more 
real profit out of the Pea season than the 
growers do. 
hododexdrons. -— The recent hot weather 
pushed out the flowers of Rhododendrons 
somewhat rapidly this year, and because the 
bloom was rather sparse, it was of a more 
fleeting nature than usual. But whilst it 
endured there was a superb richness of colour 
about the flowers that was very marked, and 
showed how strikingly the moisture of the 
past year has influenced the roots of these 
beautiful shrubs for good. Last year the lack 
of the necessary moisture did very appre¬ 
ciably check bud development, as the wood 
then failed to ripen. This year’s growth is 
early, and it is robust, hence, should all go 
well, we ought, in due course, next season to 
see a very grand display of flowers. It must 
be admitted that of all out-door or common 
hardy shrubs, the Rhododendron is the most 
brilliant. We have many that are wondrously 
beautiful, but none that gives grander flowers, 
newer colours, or greater variety. 
A garden in which Rhododendrons thrive 
well, and are profusely planted, becomes, in 
the proper season, literally a fairy-land, if it 
be not even too brightly coloured. Still, the 
foliage is dense and somewhat sombre, which 
furnishes a capital foil to the brilliancy of 
the bloom, whilst in the whites, pinks, and 
other soft hires, there is toning of colour which 
amply compensates for the wealth of scarlet or 
crimson. We could wish that the choicer 
forms of the Rhododendron would thrive 
freely in ordinary soil, but to them peat is 
an indispensable adjunct, hence the cultivation 
of choice varieties must be limited to those 
who can furnish the needful soil preparation. 
Al l the same, common forms thrive almost 
anywhere, and their dense clothing of ever¬ 
green foliage alone makes them valuable 
winter shrubs. 
-->3C<-- 
Gardening Engagement.—Mr. A. Methven, gar¬ 
dener to T. Lange, Esq., Heathfield, Gateshead-on- 
Tyne, as gardener to the Baronesse Adolphe de 
Rothschild, at Geneva, Switzerland, in succession to 
Mr. Bethel. 
Presentation to Mr. Methven.—On leaving Heath- 
field—the original home of Dendrobium nobile Cooksoni 
—to enter upon his duties at Geneva, as above noted, 
Mr. A. Methven was presented with a valuable gold 
watch, bearing the following inscription :—“ From the 
Messrs. Lange, to A. Methven, as a souvenir of fifteen 
years faithful service at Heathfield. ” 
The St. Albans and District Horticultural and 
Cottage Garden Society’s third annual exhibition will 
take place on Wednesday, August g4th, wfien Mr. 
Sander’s famous Orchid establishment will he thrown 
open to visitors holding half-crown tickets. 
The Chiswick Vegetable Conference.—At a meeting 
on Tuesday of the executive committee appointed for 
carryiug out the conference to be held at Chiswick in 
September next, it was determined that the products 
exhibited should be exclusively such as are generally 
recognised as garden vegetables. The schedule of 
classes as issued by the Council was thoroughly revised, 
and several new classes added. It was also agreed to 
group the various classes, so that all the Brassicas, the 
bulbous, tuberous, and fusiform-rooted subjects, salading 
and so on will be exhibited in separate sections, to 
facilitate the work of comparison. 
The Gale in East Kent.—A very violent gale broke 
over Kent early on Monday morning, doing much 
damage to trees and crops. Rain fell in torrents during 
the night, and the sea in the Channel was very rough. 
In East Kent immense destruction has been caused in 
the Hop and fruit plantations, huge branches of Apple, 
Cherry, and Pear trees having been torn off. Enormous 
damage has been wrought to the Hop plants, and the 
rain has flooded the low-lying ground. At Folkestone 
a number of trees were blown down, and the flagstone 
pavement around them was torn up for a considerable 
distance. 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.—At a committee meeting 
held on 7th inst., Mr. G. Deal in the chair, the secretary 
reported the following receipts:—From Mr. Whillans, 
gardener to His Grace the Duke of Marlborough, £73, 
from the opening of the gardens at Blenheim Palace 
on May 22nd and 23rd; £14 16s. 10 d. from Mr. D. 
T. Fish, from the openiug of the gardens at Hardwicke 
House, Bury St. Edmunds, on May 30tli; £9 5s. 
collected by Mr. Crawford, Coddington Hall Gardens, 
Newark ; and £200 4s. 6d. as the nett result of the 
CoventjGardenFete. The receipts, including £7 9s. 9 d. 
from money boxes, amounted to £314 11s. 3d., and 
the expenditure to £114 6s. 9d. The chief items of 
expenditure being nearly £40 for advertising, £25 for 
canvas erections and furniture, £15 for music, and £17 
for printing, smaller amounts being disbursed amongst 
porters, police, and other necessary assistants on the 
occasion. A letter was submitted from Mr. Bourne, 
stating that His Grace the Duke of Bedford proposed 
to make a donation of £500 to the charity. Votes of 
thanks were accorded to the Duke of Bedford, the Duke 
of Marlborough, Mr. Fish, and Mr. Crawford, for their 
generous aid, and to the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, Mr. 
Assbee, the market stand-holders, Mr. Dickson, and 
others for their interest and labours in connection with 
the Covent Garden Fete. 
Carter's Provident Sick Fund.—The fourth annual 
meeting of this society was held on Friday last in the 
warehouse of Messrs. James Carter & Co., High Holborn. 
The chair was occupied by the president and managing 
partner of the firm, Mr. E. J. Beale, who opened the 
proceedings with a few well-chosen remarks, empha¬ 
sising the advantages derived from co-operation, 
exemplified in the success which had attended the 
formation of this society. He had in the first instance 
suggested its formation, feeling sure that the benefit 
derived from similar societies in other large industrial 
establishments would be appreciated by his employes. 
He looked upon these societies as a step in the right 
direction, but only a step, and hoped some day our 
legislators would follow the lead of Prussia, and bring 
in a scheme of a national character which would benefit 
not a few, but all the men and women in the country. 
He was informed that the annual premium in Prussia 
was only about 2s. 11(7. per head per annum for the 
whole population, and the benefits included a comfort¬ 
able sustenance when old age or infirmity compelled 
retirement from active work. The statement of affairs 
was then presented, showing a substantial balance in 
hand, £100 of which was set aside as a reserve fund. 
A donation of £10 was then voted to the Hospital 
Saturday Fund, as in previous years. A bonus was 
announced to be distributedat Christmas. The executive 
officers were re-elected with remarkable unanimity, and 
a hearty vote of thanks to the chairman brought to a 
very pleasant close the fourth annual meeting of this 
flourishing institution. 
-- 
OVERHEAD HEATING. 
Most of us are satisfied with the fact that the sun’s 
heat gets here in some way, and the question of 
how is not of general interest, but as a corre¬ 
spondent raises the question it may be well to state the 
case correctly. The sun’s heat is generated in the body 
of the sun itself, and is radiated in all directions into 
space. As far as we can see most of that radiated heat 
is lost. The earth receives a small portion of it, which 
is absorbed to some extent by objects exposed to its 
influence ; these objects become warm and radiate back 
into space any heat in excess of the temperature of the 
surrounding air. If an object is held near a hot stove 
the same process takes place. No one would care to 
assert that the heat did not come from the stove, or 
that it was generated in the exposed object. The 
statement made at the convention was “ The heat does 
not come from overhead, but is generated wherever the 
sun’s rays strike inside the greenhouse.” 
"We build greenhouses and heat them in order to 
make the most of the short winter days, when Dame 
Nature is certainly very “stingy” in her supply of 
heat, and we are obliged to help her out. It seems but 
natural that this auxiliary heat should come from the 
same direction as the main supply. What we want is 
a short but perfect summer day. At night all is 
different, and any imitation of a summer night is and 
always will be impossible so long as our houses are 
surrounded by what is practically a thin sheet of ice 
whenever the temperature drops below freezing. We 
must adjust our conditions to the daytime, and the 
night must accept them. 
If the overhead system had nothing behind it but a 
theory or an opinion, it would not be worth so much con¬ 
sideration, but practical experience seems to show that 
it possesses great advantages over other methods. 
Those advantages have already been described in these 
columns. 
During the past winter the overhead system has heen 
tried on a large scale at South Sudbury, Mass., by 
Mr. F. C. Fisher. He built two houses about 40 ft. by 
300 ft. each, very flat, and the glass all sloping to the 
south ; one house is planted with Carnations, the other 
with Lettuce. The plants are all in the ground, no 
benches and no excavated paths. Steam heat is used, 
and the pipes are, of course, all overhead. The whole 
arrangement is a new departure in greenhouse work, 
and has attracted much attention. The crops were 
first class ; the Lettuce took a premium from the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and the Carnations 
were unusually healthy and vigorous, though rather 
small, owing to late planting. 
It would be going too far to attribute this success to 
overhead heating, and it might be difficult to show 
that it had anything to do with it ; but the experiment 
certainly demonstrates that unusually good results are 
possible under that system. An interesting experi¬ 
ment in heating greenhouses has been conducted during 
the past winter at the Hatch experiment station of 
the Massachusetts Agricultural College, under the 
direction of Prof. S. T. Maynard, of the division of 
horticulture. 
“Two houses were constructed during the summer 
of 1888, 75 ft. by 18 ft., as nearly alike as possible in 
every particular. Two boilers of the same pattern and 
make were put in, one fitted for steam and one for hot 
water ; the steam for heating the east house, and hot 
water for the west and most exposed one * * 
The two boilers and fittings were put in so as to cost 
the same sum, and were warranted to heat the rooms 
satisfactorily in the coldest weather.” The temperature 
of the two houses was taken five times a day, and the 
coal was carefully weighed. The experiment was con¬ 
tinued during January and February. The record is 
tabulated in bulletin No. 4. The result shows a saving 
of nearly 20 per cent, of coal to the credit of the hot- 
water boiler, with an average temperature l - 7° higher 
than given by the steam boiler. “ The temperature 
was more even where heated by hot water, and conse¬ 
quently there was less danger from sudden cold weather. 
This was strikingly shown on the night of February 
22nd. The average outside temperature for the day was 
34°. At 9 p.m. it was above 32°, and proper pre¬ 
cautions not having been taken for so sudden a change 
as followed, at 6 o’clock on the morning of the 23rd the 
temperature of the room heated by steam was 29 , 
while in that heated by hot water it was 35°.” 
“ Conclusion : "While this test is conclusive for the 
two boilers employed in these two houses as constructed 
and for this unusual winter, in a larger house and in a 
winter where the temperature runs lower and with 
greater extremes, different results might possibly be 
obtained : but this can only be settled by carefully- 
made and accurately-recorded tests, which we hope 
another year to make. We would suggest that if those 
who have kept accurate records of the temperature of 
their greenhouses, together with the amount of coal 
consumed, will send us the figures, giving size of house 
and kind of heating apparatus, we shall be glad to put 
them on record in our bulletins for the benefit of those 
who are thinking of building new houses or refitting 
old ones.” 
While future experiments may modify the above 
results, it is not probable that they will reverse it. 
In regard to the piping of these houses, Prof. 
Maynard writes that the flow-pipes are overhead, well 
towards the ridge, two of the six return pipes are in the 
angle formed by the glass and the top of the benches, 
and the other four returns are below the benches at 
