THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 14, 1895. 
^86 
For Index to Contents see page 244. 
" Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man ”— Bacon. 
Edited by J. FRASER F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , DEC. i tfh, 1895. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Thursday, December 19th.—Sale of Greenhouse and Hardy 
Plants by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Friday, December 20th.—Sale of Orchids by Messrs. Protheroe 
and Morris. 
Whe planting season. —The Chrysanthe¬ 
mum tournament has practically been 
completed for a season as far as the general 
public is concerned; but the excitement 
which it caused still leaves an afterglow 
which will keep the fire smouldering, if not 
warm, till the annual contest again 
commences. Other work could not be 
ignored by the British gardener, however, 
and in many a garden throughout the 
country, work of an entirely different 
character has been in progress for some 
time past. The open character of the 
autumn and early winter months has been 
propitious to the special work in hand, and 
fortunate will those gardeners be who have 
taken full advantage of it. In speaking of 
the planting season we refer to a variety of 
subjects that may be placed under three 
leading divisions—namely, fruit trees and 
bushes, ornamental trees and shrubs, and 
herbaceous and alpine plants. At different 
places or establishments, both public and 
private, one or other, or all, of these sub¬ 
jects will have to be taken in hand and 
carried on contemporaneously or nearly so. 
After the experience of 1893 an d 1895 it 
is well to remember that subjects which 
have been planted in the autumn, while a 
little warmth still remained in the ground, 
are in a better position to withstand drought 
(should any such occur in the early part of 
summer) than are those which have recently 
been transplanted. In the case of nursery¬ 
men who raise stock to supply their 
customers, it is impossible to re-arrange 
their plantations till the planting season is 
over; and in that respect they cannot find 
a remedy or a solution for the difficulty. 
The gardener is in a better position as a 
rule to fix his own planting season and has 
himself to blame if he does not take full 
advantage of it. Against this, however, 
there is a large body of amateur cultivators 
with numbers joining their ranks annually, 
who through inexperience neglect the proper 
time to plant, and therefore meet with more 
than a due share of disappointment. With 
the spread of technical education amongst 
all classes of the community this matter 
will right itself in the near future, we admit. 
Independently of the utilitarian aspect of 
gardening, the beautifying of parks and 
pleasure grounds in the lordly demesne, as 
well as around the less pretentious but, 
nevertheless, beautiful villas is not the least 
important aspect of gardening. By means 
of ornamental trees and shrubs, both ever¬ 
green and deciduous, a home can be rendered 
more inhabitable and enjoyable at every 
season of the year. They are, practically, 
the skeleton or framework of ornamental 
gardening out of doors, round which we fill 
in the details of Roses, spring and summer 
bedding, and all other items upon which we 
lay stress at the different periods of the year. 
Newly-laid-out establishments, according 
to size, require the aid of the landscape 
gardener; but there are few places that 
may not be bettered or improved by annual 
increments to the already existing shrub¬ 
beries and plantations. 
In large establishments where much 
planting has to be accomplished in the 
course of the year, the work has to be 
carried on all through the autumn, winter, 
and spring; but the earlier it can be 
completed now the better. The reasons 
are manifold, but one good incentive for 
having it well advanced is that hard-wooded 
and deciduous subjects especially make a 
considerable extension of their root system 
even after the fall of the leaf. Many writers 
talk of the dormant season, but it is really 
a misnomer and more often misleading than 
otherwise. Nature has no actually dormant 
season, in our northern climate at least, 
except the ground and the roots it encloses 
are actually frozen. The abundance of 
moisture in the soil renders it more pro¬ 
pitious to the development of the root 
system than during the drought of summer 
when the heat is urging everything into top 
growth. Buds are gradually developing 
during the so-called dormant season. 
Herbaceous subjects below ground, and to 
some extent above it, are slowly extending. 
This they are enabled to do from the stores 
of reserve material which they have laid 
up through the influence of sunlight playing 
upon the green leaves in the proper season. 
The temperature so far has been sufficiently 
high to enable a considerable amount of top 
growth to be made by soft-wooded subjects. 
How then can nature be considered asleep 
or dormant ? The cessation of growth is 
therefore only partial, but sufficient^ so to 
enable the gardener to carry on the impor¬ 
tant work of planting and transplanting at 
the present time with little danger of severe 
checks to growth or permanent injury. 
Large subjects when newly transplanted 
require proper staking till another season, at 
least, of growth has been completed. The 
more delicate of the Roses, such as hybrid 
perpetuals, Teas, and allied kinds require 
mulching. 
-+>- 
The White Marechal Niel Rose in Germany seems 
to meet with considerable favour. 
Chrysanthemum Robert Owen is doing well as an 
early variety at Baltimore, U.S A. 
Although the Cucumber is nothing if not cool. I 
have discovered that it requires inside warmth to 
develop its coolness.— Snaggs. 
Chrysanthemums should be a plentiful crop next 
year ; they have been well fertilised with printer's 
ink, than which there is none better for garden 
produce of all kinds. 
The Chrysanthemum Show of the Scottish Horti¬ 
cultural Association in Edinburgh, in 1896, has been 
fixed for November 19th, 20th, and 21st. There had 
been some idea of holding the show somewhat 
earlier in the week by way of a change, but as will 
be seen on reference to the calendar, the usual days 
are again fixed for 1896. 
Woolton Mutual Improvement Society. —The usual 
meeting of this society was held on Thursday of Iasi 
week, Mr. J. Stoney in the chair. The subject for 
consideration was “ Winter Flowering Plants,” by 
Mr. W. Disley. The selections were of a suitable 
character, whilst the details were full and accurate, 
given in a clear and lucid manner, making the essay 
one of considerable value. A discussion followed, in 
which Messrs. Todd, Carling, Corlett, Haigh, Water¬ 
man, and the chairman took part. A well-flowered 
Oncidium was shown by Mr. R. Todd, for which a 
Certificate of Merit was granted. 
King Humbert of Italy is a vegetarian; his diet 
consists chiefly of bread, Potatos, and fruit. 
Erratum. —On p. 227, in the twenty-ninth line 
from the bottom, for American Cranberry, read 
Russian Cranberry. 
A Competitor.—Ludus : “ ‘ When Adam delved and 
Eve span,’ there were no lady gardeners to keep a 
fellow waiting in the nurseries for a job.” Jocus: 
" O yes ! There was Eve in the fruit department.” 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. —We are 
requested to state that the committee have gratefully 
received the sum of £257 3s. 5d., being a propor¬ 
tionate amount of the Fund raised to perpetuate the 
memory of the late Mr. Wm. Thomson, of Cloven¬ 
fords ; to be invested and known henceforth as the 
“ Wm. Thomson Memorial Fund.” 
Societe Nationale des Chrysanthemistes. —After the 
Chrysanthemum show at Lyons, several members 
of the jury and exhibitors resolved to put into 
execution a project which had been formed for a 
long time, namely—to found a National Chrysanthe¬ 
mum Society like that of England. The objects of 
the society are as follows :—(1) The formation of a 
committee of examination whose duty will be to 
study, judge and classify the varieties of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums. (2) Exhibitions and congresses in the principal 
towns of France by rotation. (3) Publications relative 
to Chrysanthemums ; detailed reports of the works of 
the committee of examination. (4) Appreciation of 
foreign novelties for the purpose of guiding the 
choice of buyers amongst the very numerous 
varieties announced every year which it will very 
soon be impossible to settle from general collections 
(5) The exact determination of the names. The 
annual subscription for members will be five francs. 
The founders include the names of many well-known 
men. The provisional secretary is M. Phillippe 
Rivoire, seed merchant, 16, Rue d’Algerie, a Lyon. 
Messrs. Carter at the London Cattle Show. —At 
Stand No. 65 Messrs. James Carter & Co., the 
Queen's Seedsmen, of 237, 238, and 97, High 
Holborn, had a remarkable display of all that is 
choice in agricultural and horticultural produce, at 
the show which opened on Monday last and closed 
yesterday. The extreme drought in the early 
part of the season was very unfavourable for the 
growth of the root crops, but the highly beneficial 
change later on enabled Messrs. Carter to bring to¬ 
gether one of the finest collections of Mangolds, 
Swedes and Turnips that it has ever been their good 
fortune to secure from their numerous customers in 
the root-growing districts, and as they have not been 
grown specially for the purpose of exhibition, but 
taken from field crops, the results are more re¬ 
markable. Some marvellous examples of vegetable 
produce were also shown, a fine heap of Carter's 
Record Onion being very conspicuous. Some bulbs 
of this novelty exhibited recently reached the great 
weight of 4^ lb.; some enormous specimens of Im¬ 
proved Magnum Bonum Potatos and a new' Seedling 
Potato not yet in the market, attracted attention, and 
also Messrs. Carter's special strain of Mushroom 
Spawn in full growth. 
Bute Horticultural Society.—The annual general 
meeting of the Bute National Rose and Horticultural 
Society was held in the institute on the 25th ult. 
Provost Milloy, as president of the society, occupied 
the chair, and stated that the printed report was in 
the hands of all the members, and might be held as 
read. Mr. A. M. Burnie, in speaking to the 
treasurer's report, stated that they began the year 
with a balance in hand of £25 is. id., and closed it 
with £32 2S. nd. to their credit, being an addition of 
£7 is. rod. The increase would have been consider¬ 
ably greater but for the fact that the prize money 
came to a good deal more this year, more of the 
classes being competed for. The subscriptions were 
a little less, but the drawings at the door were a long 
way up. The balance in hand would enable them to 
attempt greater things in the future. The chairman 
said the report was very satisfactory, particularly 
when they considered that they had paid away a 
great deal of money in the way of extra prizes to 
amateurs. It was the most successful year in the 
history of the society, and he hoped that next year's 
show would prove even a greater success. Mean¬ 
while the society had every reason to congratulate 
themselves on their prosperity. 
