498 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 9, 1892. 
cultural Society, fixed for the present 
month, should come without a week's 
interval between them. Probably through¬ 
out the whole month, having regard to the 
demands usually made upon gardeners at 
Easter, it was impossible to select a worse 
time for meetings than the Tuesday pre- 
ceeding and the Tuesday following Easter 
Monday. But whilst the first meeting is 
of less importance, the second is much 
greater, not only that it is thus fixed to 
follow the Bank Holiday, Out also that it 
is the show of ihe Southern Section of the 
National Auricula and Primula Society. 
Now, apart from the fact that it is dis¬ 
tinctly inconvenient to have two meetings 
thus close together, and further that Easter 
Tuesday is a very bad day, there is the 
further fact that the Auricula Show, for 
some occult reason, is brought forward a 
week at least earlier than usual, whilst we 
are, as all must admit, having a very late 
spring. Those who can give their plants 
the advantage of artificial heat may rejoice 
at this earlier date, but it militates greatly 
against the interests of growers who can 
only grow their plants under what may be 
termed natural conditions. 
Then, so far as relates to other sections 
of Primulaceae, there will hardly be any 
in bloom out-doors at the date mentioned 
unless the weather continues as warm and 
fine as it has been during the early part of 
the present week ; but even under such 
circumstances it is well nigh out of the 
question to expect any Polyanthuses to be 
in bloom in the open air. So far as the 
northern growers are concerned the show 
will be all too early for them by quite a 
fortnight, and the exhibition must materi¬ 
ally suffer by their absence. 
Wern Poaching.— We venture to hope 
— that through the exemplary punish¬ 
ment awarded the other day to a wild plant 
poacher in the west of England, that to 
some extent the progress of the fern fiend 
has been arrested. We cannot too strongly 
sympathize with all lovers of the beautiful 
in nature in their earnest protest against the 
wholesale denudation of woods and hedge¬ 
rows of ferns, which has so long been 
proceeding, as well as of other beautiful 
hardy plants. d he peripatetic plant 
marauder is one of the worst of depredators. 
He works a beautiful district systemati¬ 
cally, and literally sweeps all before him, 
carrying away to the towns, and especially 
to London, myriads of fern and other 
roots, which are sold to dupes only to exist 
for a few months and then die. It is high 
time we took steps to preserve our wild 
flowers. 
“T>eal Jam!”— It was oddly suggestive 
0 f a canard that our usually sedate 
contemporary the Daily News should on 
April ist have inserted a few lines intima¬ 
ting that a large fruit jam factory was about 
to be established in Kent. We had thought 
that similar factories had been in existence 
in that county for some time, and that the 
business was getting a little overdone. 
That at least is the verdict of some associ¬ 
ated with it. Certainly jams are now so 
plentiful, so cheap, and generally so good, 
that it would seem impossible to make 
them either better or cheaper. It is still 
possible that the demand for them may yet 
be enormously extended. That remains to 
be seen, but the tastes of consumers of 
these things are apt to be erratic. Very 
cheap jams may not always mean the best, 
and after all the best is of course the 
cheaper in the end. 
Awards to English Seeds.— The Launceston Examiner 
of .February 20th states that no less than thirteen 
First-class Awards were gained by Messrs. Sutton & 
Sons, Reading, at the Tasmanian Exhibition ; a far 
larger number than has been awarded to any other 
seed house. 
A Rose Fete at the Mansion House. —We understand 
that the Lady Mayoress is organising a Rose Show 
and Fruit and Flower Fete, to beheld at the Mansion 
House on Friday, June 4th, on behalf of the Royal 
Hospital for Children and Women, Waterloo Bridge 
Road, S.E. 
The Weather in Yorkshire. —" N. H.,” writing from 
the neighbourhood of Leeds on the 31st ult., records 
the following temperatures as taken at 3 p.m :—North 
exposure and shade, 65°; 3 ft. from a south wall, 
86°; on a south wall, gi°; sky clear blue. “We 
shall have to pay for this," adds our correspondent. 
The Annual Dinner of Salesmen and Growers con¬ 
nected with the London Fruit and Vegetable 
Markets took place at the Holborn Restaurant on 
the 29th ult. Mr. George Coleman presided, and 
about 150 sat down, the Spitalfields and Borough 
Markets being perhaps the best represented. 
During the evening a proposition to start a Benevo¬ 
lent Fund for the trade was received with acclama¬ 
tion, and a provisional committee at once appointed 
The International Horticultural Exhibition — The 
schedule of prizes offered for competition at the series 
of exhibitions to be held at Earl's Court, during the 
ensuing season, and the first of which takes place on 
May 27th and 28th, is now published, and can be ob¬ 
tained by intending exhibitors on application to the 
secretary. The exhibitions have been so arranged as 
to bring out thoroughly representative displays of all 
the products of the gardeners’ art in the way of 
flowers, fruit, and vegetables, as they come in season. 
The classes are exceedingly numerous, and so framed 
that every grower,whatever the extent of his produc¬ 
tive resources, may be tempted to enter the competi¬ 
tive arena. 
International Fruit Exhibition, 1892. —The schedule 
of prizes of this Exhibition, which is to take place 
on the Thames Embankment, and which will be 
opened on September 28, is now rapidly approaching 
completion, and will be issued shortly. It contains 
several novel and interesting features, among them 
nurserymen are invited to contribute collections of 
fruit trees, showing the various types, and also 
modes of training ior different purposes, so as to 
have an educational value. It is thought desirable to 
give intimation of this in advance of the issue of the 
full schedule, that nurserymen may make the 
necessary preparations. Other classes for nursery¬ 
men have been arranged as follows :— 
Collection of Trees Bearing Fruit, in pots, with 
dishes or baskets of Hardy Fruits, artistically 
arranged on a space 24 ft. by 6 ft. 
Collection of Hardy Fruits, in baskets or dishes, 
arranged on a table 15 ft. by 6 ft. 
Collection of English Market Fruits, including 
Tomatos and Cucumbers, arranged on a table 12 ft. 
by 6 ft. 
It is intended to award medals in each of the above 
classes at the discretion of the judges. The secre¬ 
tary of Exhibition is Mr. Richard Dean, Ranelagh 
Road, Ealing. W. 
“ Turner Memorial " Prizes.—Mr. J. Douglas 
writes :—“ The following prizes are offered by the 
trustees for the present season, viz., a Silver Cup, 
value £5, for 12 single tuberous Begonias in flower, 
to be exhibited at the Conference on Begonias to be 
held at the Chiswick Gardens of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society on August 23 and 24. A Silver Cup, 
value £5, is also offered for nine double tuberous 
Begonias in flower on the same date and at the same 
place. Two Silver Cups, each of the value of £5, are 
also offered through the National Dahlia Society at 
the exhibition at the Crystal Palace on September 3, 
1892, viz., one for 24 show and fancy Dahlias, and the 
other for 12 bunches of Cactus and decorative 
Dahlias The prizes are open to amateurs only 
The cups will be in the custody of the late Mr. Chas. 
Turner’s family, at Slough, and may be seen at the 
Royal Nurseries there by intending exhibitors.” 
Pansies for the Chicago Exposition. —The Depart¬ 
ment of Horticulture, realizing the prominent 
position which Pansies hold as spring and summer 
flowering plants, is desirous of having them displayed 
to the very best advantage during the early months 
of the Exposition in 1893 ; and with this end in View 
the Department solicits donations of seed from 
growers, in order to carry out their plans and show 
to the vast number of people who will visit the 
Exposition during these months the immense strides 
that have been made in the cultivation of this flower 
during the past few years. Seeds of only the very 
best strains are desired, in quantities to insure at 
least 250 plants of each at the time final planting is 
made. Two sowings of each kind will be made, one 
in July and one in August. All seed should arrive at 
Chicago not later than July ist, 1892, addressed to 
Department of Horticulture, World's Columbian 
Exposition, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A. 
Seeds for Exchange. —We have received the " List 
of Seeds for Exchange,” sent out by the authorities 
of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. 
The list is rather a lengthy one, as it runs to seven¬ 
teen pages with three columns of names on each 
page. They are classified in their natural orders 
and arranged alphabetically in the orders. As a 
matter of course there are many subjects mentioned 
which are of no value for ordinary garden decoration ; 
but those who have a fairly wide experience and 
knowledge of hardy plants, particularly of the 
herbaceous type, would be able to make a selection 
of paramount importance to outdoor garden decora¬ 
tion. 
Indian Corn (Maize) was the subject of a paper 
read at the last meeting of the Bradford Gardeners’ 
Mutual Improvement Society, by the Rev. F. D. 
Horner. There was a very good attendance of 
members and friends, the latter including several 
members of the Batley Paxton and the Bradford 
Naturalists’ and Microscopical Societies. Mr. 
Horner first dealt with the mode of cultivation of 
the Maize plant, as practised by himself at Kirkby 
Lonsdale, and detailed the various processes 
necessary to secure good specimen cobs such as it 
had been his ambition from his earliest years to 
grow. He then proceeded to what he considered 
the most interesting feature in connection with his 
study of this plant, namely, “ crossing," or hybridi¬ 
zation. He mentioned many curious results in 
regard to colour and shape of the seeds which he 
had obtained by “ crossing.” Mr. Horner exhibited 
about 100 specimens of cobs, straws, etc., the 
majority of which were very varied in colour, and 
had been ripened at Kirkby Lonsdale. A very 
hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Horner 
for his excellent and interesting paper. 
The Ealing and District Gardeners’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Society. —The annual dinner of this society 
took place on the 29th ult., and during the evening 
the prizes were distributed which had been won by 
members during the year. Mr. Denison, gardener 
to T. Gladstone, Esq., Manor House, Acton, secured 
the premier award for specimens exhibited at the 
weekly meetings; and Mr. A. Pentney, Mr. E. 
Pentney, Mr. Gates and Mr. Green took the highest 
awards in the Essay Competition. The members 
recognising the most useful services rendered to the 
society by Mr. A. Wright, formerly of Devonhurst, 
and now of Falkland Park, also took advantage of 
the occasion to present him with Nicholson's 
“ Dictionary of Gardening,” in six volumes. 
Arsenic in American Apples. —Mr. Frank T. Shutt, 
chemist to the Dominion Government, states that the 
suspicion that Canadian Apples are poisonous, owing 
to the presence of Paris green used in the operation 
of spraying for the Codlin Moth, recently raised in 
one of our contemporaries, is entirely without 
foundation. In proof of this Mr. Shutt states that 
Mr. James Fletcher, Dominion Botanist and En¬ 
tomologist, procured a sample of Apples that 
undoubtedly had been sprayed, and submitted them 
to a careful chemical analysis. The Apples examined 
(Rhode Island Greenings) were twice sprayed last 
June with Paris green of the strength of x lb. of 
the material to 200 gallons of water. The Apples 
when received were just as they had come from the 
trees, i.e., had not been rubbed, so that any arsenic 
left from the spraying v'ould still be on the skin. 
The quantity tested for arsenic was 9 lb. 7 oz., 
measuring about one peck. The process to which 
they were submitted is one that affords extremely 
accurate results, and is considered the most delicate 
of all for the detection of arsenic. It is capable of 
revealing the presence of one fifty thousandth part of 
a grain of arsenic. If the amount of the minimum 
fatal dose of arsenic, 2J grains, were spread over 
23,000 bushels of Apples, the poison could be detected 
by this method. Though the analysis was conducted 
with the greatest care, not a trace of arsenic could 
be detected, thus proving the complete absence of 
this poison in the Apples that had been twice sprayed 
with Paris green. 
