768 
I'HE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 6, 1892. 
•Mpples at Swanmore Park.— Whether 
* due to the soil which is a reddish stony 
loam, on chalk; whether due to a lofty 
breezy situation, where wood ripens well, 
or to these two elements allied to some 
artificial shelter furnished by trees and 
high hedgerows, certainly a finer crop of 
Apples than Mr. Molyneux has on the 
trees in his garden < rchard, cou'd hardly be 
found anywhere. Those gardeners who 
have furnished such dolorous reports as to 
their comparatively poor Apple crops this 
season, may well envy Mr. Molyneux, 
just as that gardener has found it very 
difficult to realise not one but so many 
cases in which Apples figure so badly in the 
fruit returns. 
The orchard at Swanmore is on grass. 
The trees are evidently from 12 to 20 year 
old ; some of standard form, some feathered 
to the ground yet tall. Of kitchen sorts 
Echlinville gives a grand crop, and the 
fruits are already unusually coloured. 
Warner’s King is another heavy cropper. 
So too is Lord Grosvenor, Waltham Abbey 
Seedling, Mere de Menage, now red as 
Quarrendens,Keswick Codlin, LordSuffield, 
New Hawthornden, and some other good 
varieties. Then of dessert sorts Cox’s 
Orange Pippin, King of the Pippins, Golden 
Pippin, Irish Peach, Red Quarrenden, 
Worcester Pearmain, Wormsley Pippin, 
are all heavy croppers ; indeed the crop is 
a splendid one, clean and fine. 
With such good results no wonder Mr. 
Myers, athisgardener’s instigation,haslaid 
down in the more open part of the estate 
as an experiment some five acres with 
Apples. Now in the second year’s growth are 
the standards at 30 feet apart,and which are 
chiefly of Bramley’s Seedling, Cox’s Orange 
Pippin, and Worcester Pearmain, whilst 
dwarfs planted 15 feet apart are Warner’s 
King, Ecklinville, Cox’s Orange Pippin, 
Mere de Menage, &c. Belts of Larch and 
Fir have been planted round this orchard 
to furnish shelter. 
avender.— To the ordinary flower lover 
or grower who values anything, how¬ 
ever beautiful or sweetly perfumed, for its 
colour or smell, it seems far fetched to 
assume that any plant grown with so little 
care and concern ordinarily as'is Lavender 
should become so very important in many 
districts, and always so very interesting an 
article of commercial value. Of course the 
plants are cheap enough. Any number of 
them may be purchased for a mere trifle 
each. Even bunches of the flowers when 
cut obtain no very great pecuniary return, 
although somehow made profitable; but 
were it not for the inherent perfume of the 
flowers derived from the possession of an 
oil which is of an enduring nature—thus 
preserving the perfume of the flowers, even 
when dried for a long period—it is doubtful 
whether bunches of the flowers would 
obtain even a trifling profit. 
The great secret of the commercial nature 
of Lavender flowers however lies in the 
possession of this sweetly perfumed volatile 
oil, which,extracted by distillation,becomes 
one of the choicest of chemically obtained 
perfumes and thus also an article of much 
commercial importance. The assumption 
that even Lavender culture may be more 
profitable than it is seems an absurd 
one; but there is good reason to believe 
that on proper soils and positions it may 
present features of profit- to which even 
wheat may not aspire. Mr. Molyneux, so 
well known as an eminent Chrysanthemum 
grower, is with the approval of his employer, 
Mr. Myers, M.P., testing on this gentle¬ 
man’s estate at Swanmore, East Hants, 
the capacity of Lavender to produce 
profitable results, and judging by the fact 
that on a very open exposed site and on a 
calcareous soil that is rather poor than 
otherwise, plants have in a couple of years 
developed into bushes from 24 to 30 
inches across, and flowering profusely, 
there is good reason to hope not only that 
the experiment will be an entire success, 
but that Lavender culture may soon become 
a profitable industry in the distiict. 
f arden Visits. —Formerly, and when the 
Ro} r al Horticultural Society was en¬ 
joying anything but a prosperous time, the 
council of that body gave to all the 
members of its various committees some 
needful refreshment at the meetings, though 
not at considerable cost. Still it just 
possibly did cost the society some 20/- to 
25/- per head for the year, so that by fore¬ 
going that much of hospitality something 
appreciable was saved. In those days also 
the members of these committees were not 
necessarily fellows of the society; now 
that they must be so, it is very probable 
that not only has the society by its own 
economy saved perhaps £60 per year, but 
it has further added an equal sum to its 
annual income through the adoption of the 
compulsory payments by members thus 
pointed out. 
Now that the society gives to the members 
nothing whatever for their services but 
bare honours, it does seem that it might 
make them some recompense by organizing 
an outing for the members of the com¬ 
mittees during each summer, of a kind that 
should be at once instructive and enjoyable. 
If the committee of the National Chrysan¬ 
themum Society can do so much and so 
well for their members and friends why 
not the council of the Royal Horticultural 
Society ? 
Lest the council should in alarm think 
that we suggest their doing so much out 
of the society’s funds we would say at 
once that such is not our contention. The 
council might organize the outing and 
pay some of the expenses so that all the 
rest might be met by a very moderate 
charge, levied upon each member of 
a committee attending. An outing of 
this description might, in the hands of 
experienced caterers for garden enjoyment, 
be made of exceeding interest, and thus 
become to each one attending a red letter 
day in their horticultural year. 
--j.- 
Mr. C. Wool ford, formerly gardener to Wm. Lee, 
Esq., at Downside, Leatherhead, and more recently 
Orchid grower to the Right Hon. J. Chamberlain, 
M.P., at Highbury, Birmingham, has been engaged 
as gardener to H. Grose Smith, Esq., The Priory, 
Ryde, Isle of Wight. 
Miss Orraerod, who, as honorary Entomologist to 
the Royal Agricultural Society, has rendered such 
valuable services to agriculture and horticulture, has 
resigned her official appointment on the ground of 
ill-health and the enormous increase in the work of 
her department, but we are glad to know that Miss 
Ormerod still hopes to be able to reply to the 
enquiries of agriculturists on subjects directly con¬ 
nected with agricultural entomology. 
The National Co-operative Festival.—This now well- 
known co-operative event, which this year enters 
upon its fifth anniversary, will be held at the Crystal 
Palace on Saturday, August 20th. The promoters — 
who are representatives of working men’s co-operative 
societies throughout the kingdom—intend to a great 
extent to follow their programme of previous years, 
and provide a flower show, under the auspices of the 
Agricultural and Horticultural Association ; an ex¬ 
hibition of co-operative productions from profit- 
sharing workshops ; a great choral concert upon the 
Handel orchestra of 6.000 voices ; athletic sports for 
adults; children’s sports, games, and dances, in 
which there is a long list of events open to all comers 
for both boys and girls; a choir contest for gold and 
silver medals; a public meeting, and many Crystal 
Palace attractions. The general secretary is Mr. 
Wm. Broomhall, 49, Bedford Street, Strand. W.C., 
who will provide full details of the society’s work to 
inquirers. 
" The Coming Flower.”—At a recent meeting of 
the New York Florists' Club, Mr. Griffin, of the 
Oasis Nursery, Westbury, Long Island, exhibited 
some specimens of his new sweet-scented Begonias, 
and Mr. John H. Taylor, the president, in proposing 
a vote of thanks to Mr. Griffir, for bringing them to 
the club, said that he foresaw the day when the now 
popular Chrysanthemum would be dethroned in 
public favour by the tuberous Begonia. 
Large Tree Fern Stems.—A shipment of Tree Fern 
stems received recently by Messrs. Pitcher & Manda, 
of Short Hills, New Jersey, contained some of the 
largest stems ever seen in any importation. The 
entire lot was unusually large, but those measuiing 
17 ft. to 19 ft. in length, and with a circumference of 
over 7 ft at the largest part, have attracted consider¬ 
able attention since their arrival at Short Hills. 
The Giant Birthwort, Aristolochia gigantea, the 
largest flower known, if we except the Rafflesia 
Arnoldi, has recently flowered under the care of Mr. 
Latham, in the Botanical Gardens, at Edgbaston, 
Birmingham. It is a native of the West Indian 
Islands, Brazil, and parts of South America. The 
flowers measure, including peduncle and tail-like ap¬ 
pendage, 4 ft. gj in. This plant was introduced by 
the Royal Horticultural Society of London, 50 years 
ago, and soon after was lost to cultivation till re-in- 
troduced to the Royal Gardens, Kew, about two 
years since. 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. —At a meeting of the 
executive committee, held on the 29th ult., the 
following special receipts during the month were an¬ 
nounced Proceeds of a sale of flowers at the Croy¬ 
don Rose Show, per Mr. W. G. Cummins, £8 is. ; 
proceeds of sale of flowers at the Moseley Rose 
Show, per Mr. W. Dean, £3 3s. ; collected by two 
little girls at Weybridge Flower Show, 15s.; Mr. 
Ilerbst, £2 2s., second donation ; and Mr. W. 
Marshall, £2 2s. At the conclusion of the usual 
routine business, the Committee adjourned until the 
last Friday in October. 
Value of English Oak—Messrs. Richardson, of 
Stamford, recently conducted a sale of Oak in 
Burghley Park, when extraordinary prices were 
realised. Trees made /80, ^81, £72, £66, £64, two 
trees each £61, /50, £44, £32, £ 26, £24, and twelve 
more trees averaged/22 each. One brown Oak, con¬ 
taining 150 ft., made £80. The same firm sold an 
Oak last season for /no. 
The Weather in July. —Taken as a whole the month 
of July undoubtedly added another to the already 
long run of unsettled Julys, the mean temperature 
in London being nearly 3 degrees below the normal. 
For five consecutive years the weather in July has 
been cooler than one has any right to expect at this 
time of year, the least unpleasant month in this re¬ 
spect being that of 1891, and the worst that of 18SS. 
In comparison, however, with many previous Julys, 
the past month showed a very bad record. This year 
there was only one day with a maximum temperature 
in London exceeding 80 degrees. With regard to 
rainfall the past month exhibited a rather striking 
deficiency, the total amount in London being rather 
over an inch and a half, or less than two-thirds of 
the average. 
Azalea indica Germaine Pynaert.—A beautiful 
illustration of this equally beautiful Azalea appears 
in the Revue de VHorticulture Beige for the present 
month. The flowers are of large size, regular in 
shape, semi-double and of a beautiful pink flushed 
with rose in the centre. It is one of a series of 
three sports originating from a fourth, and itself 
arose as a natural sport or freak from Charles 
Pynaert, as did another one named Leon Pynaert, 
having beautiful pure rose flowers. On the other 
hand Charles Pynaert originated from the pure white 
Louisa Pynaert. All four constitute a beautiful set 
of late flowering Azaleas that bloom in May and 
June, when all the other varieties are out of bloom 
and forgotten. Louisa Pynaert was sent out in 1S79, 
and has already obtained great distinction in France, 
Germany, England, and to some extent in America. 
The Society of American Florists will hold its annual 
convention at Philadelphia on August 16th ai d 
three following days. A heavy business programme 
has been arranged and provision made on a large 
scale to make the visit to the capital an enjoyable 
one to the members who may attend. 
