December 12, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
225 
NURSERY AND SEED 
TRADE ASSOCIATION. 
The annual meeting of this association was held at 
25, Old Jewry, E.C., on Tuesday evening, the Presi¬ 
dent, Mr. N. N. Sherwood, occupying the chair. The 
report of the committee and statement of 
accounts for the past year were unanimously 
adopted. Some discussion then took place as to the 
advisability of altering the date fixed by the articles 
of association for holding the annual meeting, and it 
was ultimately resolved that in future it be held in 
the month of December, and during the cattle show 
week. It was also resolved that in future the "com¬ 
mittee should meet quarterly on the fourth 
Tuesdays in the months of March, June, September 
and December. 
The election of officers resulted in the unanimous 
adoption of the following list:—President, Mr. 
N. N. Sherwood. Treasurer, Mr. W. J. Nutting. 
Trustees : Messrs. T. A. Dickson, J. Hayes and 
H. J. Veitch. Committee: Messrs. P. Barr, G. 
Bunyard, H. Cutbush, T. A. Dickson, J. Harrison, 
J. Hayes, — Jefferies, Wood Ingram, J. Laing, 
W. Paul, E. H. May, — Protheroe, T. F. Rivers, 
H. Simpson, H. Turner, H. J. Veitch, — Wood, 
T. S. Ware, — Watkins, and H. Williams. 
Auditors: Mr. H. J. Cutbush and Mr. T. S. Ware. 
Solicitor: Mr. Charles Butcher. Secretary: Mr. 
G. Worrell. 
Mr. Butcher announced that next week he would 
change his office from Old Jewry to 30, Wood 
Street, Cheapside, and it was agreed that in future 
the office of the association should be at the same 
place. 
A number of members and friertds afterwards sat 
down to dinner at the Guildhall Tavern, Mr. Sherwood 
again presiding, and Mr. W. J. Nutting occupying the 
vice-chair. The usual loyal toasts having been duly 
honoured, Mr. David Syme, of Edinburgh, proposed 
“ Success to the Association,” which, he said, in the 
past had been of the greatest possible benefit to its 
members, in supplying all who sought it with infor¬ 
mation which resulted in the avoidance of making 
many bad debts, and in collecting considerable sums 
of money which the members might otherwise have 
lost. The association was not merely a combination 
of gentlemen interested in the nursery and seed 
trade for the enjoyment of ” little dinners,” but had 
for its object the protection and promotion of their 
common interests as nurserymen, florists and seeds¬ 
men, and as such the association deserved the support 
of every honest member of the horticultural trading 
community. 
The President, in responding, congratulated 
the members on the growth of the association, 
the steady increase in its roll of membership 
and its enchanced usefulness as a means of 
preventing fraud, and of promoting unity of 
action and good feeling throughout the trade gener¬ 
ally. The association enabled them to meet for the 
discussion of subjects affecting both branches of the 
trade, and for combining together to attain their 
objects when that could best be done by unity 
of effort. In this way they had been able 
to do much good in connection with the 
railway rates question, and also with regard 
to the very important matter of the rating of 
nurseries, etc. He felt that the association was a 
most useful one, but was still capable of extension, 
and hoped that the members would do all in their 
power to extend their numbers, and particularly to 
assist one another by communicating with the secre¬ 
tary any information they may obtain with regard to 
the operations of long firms, and other persons un¬ 
worthy of trust. 
Other toasts of a complimentary character fol¬ 
lowed, including the health of the Chairman, which 
was received with great cordiality, and suitably 
acknowledged by Mr. Sherwood. 
LAWNS. 
I have during my gardening experience often thought 
that we had more occasion to be gratified with the 
possession of smooth, well-mown, clean grass lawns 
in winter than in the summer. That may seem some¬ 
what paradoxical, but it is a fact all the same. In 
summer we have everything green, and the rich ver¬ 
dure of the lawn is often discounted by the universal 
existence of green all around, even if that richness 
of hue be not somewhat marred by the heat and 
drought of summer. It is not green that we care for 
so much in the summer as the brighter hues of flowers, 
because one perpetual aspect of green would be 
so monotonous as soon to become unendurable. 
There is no more acceptable or fitting setting for 
flowers of every hue than is green , no matter what 
the colours of the flowers, it harmonises with them 
all. Very often we mar the harmony or balance 
of colours in Nature when we create big blocks of 
bright glowing hues, and the eye turns to the greenery 
of foliage with a strong sense of relief. Whilst a sum¬ 
mer garden without flowers would be little less than a 
green desert, one excessively laden with colour, especi¬ 
ally of garish hues, is hardly less objectionable. It is 
in the summer that we find green foliage and herbage 
acting as a delightful foil to bright colours. It is in 
the winter, when there are no flowers and little 
enough of foliage, that we find the deep green of the 
smooth, clean lawn to be so acceptable and refresh¬ 
ing. There is not a foil but the one bright cheerful 
object in Nature. How poor indeed would our 
pleasure gardens be in winter without grass. How 
tempting does it then appear when, in the form of a 
perfectly kept lawn, smooth, clean and dry, it seems 
as if it were a beautiful carpet inviting us to walk 
upon it, and rarely ('even stormy time) in winter 
open weather is not a smooth lawn beautiful and 
inviting to walk upon. 
We did wonders towards making the keeping of 
lawns easy when the mowing machines were intro¬ 
duced, and what was once a specially laborious occupa¬ 
tion has now become one of exceptional pleasure and 
ease. Everybody having gardens can now have some 
lawn and keep it clean and nice at the most trifling 
cost. Thus we find the charm of a lawn in winter 
more than ever appreciated.— A. D. 
-—t—- 
WEATHER PROGNOSTI¬ 
CATIONS. 
Preparedness for Eventualities. 
Here is cheering intelligence for gardeners ! Pro¬ 
fessor Walter H. Smith, the best-known meteor¬ 
ologist in Canada, states that Europe will experience 
another severe winter. And so, after a wet season, 
aim ist unparalleled in its duration, followed 
by one of the moistest and mildest autumns 
we have known for years—(to-day, December 5th, I 
am sitting writing in my shirt sleeves with the win¬ 
dow of the room open, and voting the fire a nuisance 
rather than a comfort, as it invariably is at this sea¬ 
son of the year)—we are to have a frosty visitation, 
that if it comes quickly and with severity must be 
terribly destructive. Many had begun to comfort 
themselves with the anticipation we should pass 
through a winter of exceptional mildness, and now 
our buoyant hopefulness is frowned upon by Pro¬ 
fessor Smith. There is no armour against fate, and 
we must bear what is in store for us and what we 
cannot avoid. 
All that gardeners can do is to prepare as best they 
can for what appears to be the inevitable. At present 
Roses are flowering and quite evergreen; only 
yesterday I cut in the open air a handful of charming 
buds of Reine Marie Henriette and Marie Van 
Houtte. My neighbour has a standard tree of Gloire 
de Dijon beautifully in flower. Nasturtiums are still 
growing and blooming in the open ; and only yester¬ 
day I saw in a market garden a line of plants of the 
blue Cyan us minor, from which a posy of blue blos¬ 
soms might be cut. One might enumerate other 
subjects to show how kindly Nature is treating us by 
bestowing in December such unusually mild weather. 
But Nature is wayward, and has her moods of pas¬ 
sion as well as placable ones, and she may at any 
moment turn upon us with something akin to fury in 
her dealings, and let loose upon us frost, snow, win¬ 
try winds, and killing coldness. It therefore behoves 
the gardener to be watchful and prepared for contin. 
gencies. 
Let him have in reserve mats and straw with which 
to cover up, on walls, pillars, &c., anything having 
a suspicion of tenderness, and such preparedness is 
all the more necessary, because everything in the way 
of summer wood-growth is so soft and succulent. 
Let him more particularly pay attention to root 
protection, the experience of last winter taught that 
many plants are vulnerable through their roots. The 
branches or stems may be seared by frost as with a 
fire, as in the case of the Dahlia, but if it can be kept 
from the roots there is great hope of the plant sur¬ 
viving, but let the frost penetrate to the roots, and it 
is then beyond the reach of human aid, therefore 
heap up ashes, Cocoa fibre, short manure and leaves, 
soil, anything that will serve as a protector about the 
roots. Remember the old proverb,—“Safe bind—safe 
find,” 
All plants in pots that have to be wintered in cold 
houses should be kept only moist about the roots, 
nothing more. And, if there is a suspicion that frost 
may injure, stand them together in groups, and stuff 
straw, coarse hay, leaves, old matting, or anything 
among the pots, as a matter of precaution. Small 
plants which cannot be cared for in this way, should 
go upon the shelves in the warmest parts of the house, 
anything of a specially tender character plunge in 
boxes of Cocoa-fibre for a time. A little labour must 
be undergone and trouble borne; but, in the struggle 
with nature, and very often with the odds largely in 
her favour, it is glorious to win. 
In some greenhouses constructed in these days the 
floor is raised, and it is open beneath, and so the frost 
can attack from below as well as at the sides and top 
Here, too, one can take precautions. Stand plants 
in pots in those of the latter two sizes larger, 
stuff some Cocoa-fibre round the inserted pot, and 
then, by means of inverted flower pots raise them 
something above the ground level. As a matter of 
course I am treating of plants grown in unheated glass 
structures—houses and frames of which there are 
hundreds about the country. In a house heated by 
artificial means, provided the heating apparatus is 
in good working order, there should be no difficulty 
in watering plants in safety with ordinary care, and 
if the frost gets the upper hand it is generally the 
fault of the gardener, for there are negligent gardeners. 
There is another peril of the autumn and winter, 
and that is damp, and when the days are foggy, raw, 
cold, and damp, it works many evils. So long as 
there is no frost to injure it is best to secure a flow 
of air about and above the plants, so long as it can 
be done with safety. The lights should be tilted so 
as to admit air without allowing rain to fall upon the 
plants ; if there are side ventilators open these, so long 
as a cold draught of air does not play directly upon the 
plants, and let the toplights be raised a little also. 
I can but throw out suggestions, for it is impossible 
to give directions to meet each case. As necessity is 
the mother of invention so the pressure of circum¬ 
stance should suggest to the gardener what he can 
do by way of precautions. If he cannot devise and 
work out methods to meet contingencies likely to 
arise, he is wanting in one of the qualifications 
essential to the composition of a successful gardener. 
—R. D. 
-->*»- 
NATIONAL CHRYSAN¬ 
THEMUM SOCIETY. 
A meeting of the Committee of this society took 
place at]Anderton’s Hotel,Fleet Street.ontheyth inst ., 
Mr. R. Ballantine in the chair, there being as usual, 
a large attendance. It was agreed that certain extra 
awards recommended by the Floral Committee at 
their meeting on October 28th, and by the judges 
at the great show on the 10th of November, be ap¬ 
proved. A letter was read from Mr. S. Chigwell, 
secretary of the Havant Chrysanthemum Society, 
the winners of the challenge trophy at the No¬ 
vember show, acknowledging the receipt of 
the Trophy, which they will hold for the space of 
one year. The secretary read some corres¬ 
pondence he had had with the Rev. W. Wilks, the 
secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society, in 
reference to the clashing of dates of the meetings at 
the Royal Aquarium and Drill Hall on November 10, 
the Rev. W. Wilks stating that for the future the 
meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society would be 
fixed for the third week in December, instead of the 
second as heretofore. 
It was resolved that three exhibitions should be 
held at the Royal Aquarium during 1892, the early 
show in September including Dahlias, one in October, ■ 
and the usual exhibition in November, all to be held 
for two days. The fixing of the dates for the 
September and October shows was left to the sche¬ 
dule revison sub-committee to suggest. Twenty-five 
new members were elected, including one fellow ; 
and the Tenby (South Wales) and Havant Chrysan¬ 
themum Societies were admitted to affiliation. A 
hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Bevan for 
his services in connection with the annual dinner 
The proceedings closed with the usual vote o 
thanks to the committee. 
