August 15, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
797 
The home of Palm-istry.—Kew Gardens.— Punch. 
Double Delphiniums are compared to great spikes 
of azure Banksian Roses by a contemporary writer. 
Comparisons are sometimes odd, even if not odious. 
The Shamrock has been the national flower of 
Ireland from very ancient times. It is also the 
flower of the Bismarcks who use it in conjunction 
with the motto, " In trinitate robur.” 
Gooseberries, Currants, Plums, and other acid 
fruits are good for bilious people. They should not 
be made too sweet either before or after cooking. 
A syrup of sugar and water may be made, and the 
fresh fruits stewed in it. 
Cattleya dowiana aurea in Court.—In the Queen’s 
Bench Division before Justice Grantham, on the 
ioth inst., Mr. A. Jensen, Orchid collector, sued 
Messrs. Charlesworth & Co , Heaton, Bradford, for 
£402 in payment for consignments of the above 
Cattleya sent the defendants. Their plea was that 
the plaintiff had supplied other buyers with this 
Cattleya. The judge could not accept that explana¬ 
tion and gave his judgement in favour of the plain¬ 
tiff with costs. 
Flower Show at Barnsley.—The California Cottage 
Gardeners' Society held its fifth annual exhibition in 
the Tower Field, Park Road, Barnsley, on Thursday, 
August 6th. Special prizes were offered for the neatest 
and best kept garden, the competition resulting in 
the first award falling to the lot of Mr. H. Pickering. 
Mr. J. R. Parker was adjudged to have the best 
greenhouse, and Mrs. Howe the prettiest front 
gardeo. About /50 was given away in prizes. 
Tywardreath Gardening Society.—Tywardreath 
boasts of the oldest horticultural society in Cornwall, 
and the sixty-ninth annual show, held under its 
auspices at the end of July, proved a conspicuous 
success. Mr. J. Rashleigh, of Menabilly, the presi¬ 
dent, contributed a quantity of flowering and foliage 
plants. Messrs. Smith & Son, of St. Austell, and 
Mr. Hodge, of the same town, were also prominent 
exhibitors. The entries in the classes according to 
schedule were not so numerous as usual, owing no 
doubt to the recent drought, and the quality likewise 
showed some deterioration from the same cause. 
--f*- 
RHUS COTINUS. 
The Venetian Sumach, a fine old flowering shrub, is 
from its striking inflorescence, one of the most 
beautiful and unique plants we have. At the same 
time there are very many, who know it, who have a 
very inadequate idea of its superb beauty when seen 
under the most advantageous circumstances. It is 
too generally stuck into shrubbery borders among 
other things, where it gets crowded out; and if it 
blooms at all it is at the best most sparingly so. 
There is little wonder, therefore, that it gets 
neglected and forgotten. The best place when 
space permits is out on the lawn. A well developed 
plant in full flower in such a position is a sight not 
easily forgotten. The foliage and style of growth is 
so unlike the other species of Rhus generally found 
under cultivation, that a stranger to the plant may 
well wonder where the relationship comes in. R. 
typhina and its varieties are very favourite plants 
among suburban residents, and with their fern-like 
foliage and dwarf habit of growth, are far better 
adapted for small places than many of the large 
coarse growing things, too often found in small 
places ; but beautiful as they are they must, at least 
during the flowering period of the subject of this 
note, take a second place to it.— W. B. G. 
-- 
A SUCCESSFUL STUDENT. 
Mr. Ernest Trevor Hearn was born in Kilburn on 
December 27th, 1879, and is therefore only seven-' 
teen years of age. He attended St. Augustine’s 
Schools till he left Kilburn for Brentwood in 1891. 
He was a scholar and afterwards appointed a pupil 
teacher at the Brentwood Boys’ National School. 
He is still a pupil teacher at the same school, and is 
in his foutth or last year of apprenticeship. His 
schoolmaster, Mr. F, W. Bittles, gives him a high 
character, both as a teacher and student. He has 
always taken great interest in botany and horti¬ 
culture, and has attended during the past year the 
normal classes in those subjects under Messrs. 
Houston & Webb He was the youngest pupil at 
these classes. 
Mr. Hearn's first systematic botany course was 
gone through in the session of 1894-95 under the 
tuition of Mr. Wilfred Mark Webb at the Brentwood 
local class for technical instruction; and, at the 
suggestion of Mr. Webb, he went to the normal class 
on horticulture, at the Technical Laboratories, 
Chelmsford, during the session of 1895-96. He sat 
at the examination in horticulture held by the Royal 
Horticultural Society in May last, with the result 
that he headed the list’ for the whole of Great 
Britain, as is now matter of common knowledge. Out 
of a maximum number of 300 marks obtainable, he got 
255, and stood at the top of the sixteen students who 
passed first-class. The next in position to him got 
240 marks, and the sixteenth student in order of 
merit got 200 marks. Of the 152 students who sat 
at the examination, 16 passed in the first class, 53 in 
the second, and 49 in the third. It is undoubtedly 
an honour for so young a student as Mr. Hearn to 
secure the leading honour in so strong a competition. 
We could almost have wished that he had been a 
gardener, so that his science and practice might have 
been placed to the credit of the " art which does mend 
Nature.” 
--^ 1 — 
VIOLA CONFERENCE. 
A conference meeting, of which the Viola was the 
subject, was held in the Museum in the Royal 
Botanic Society’s Gardens at Regent’s Park on 
Saturday, August 8fh. A very attractive programme 
had been drawn up, including seven papers from 
different cultivators dealing with various phases of 
Viola culture. Mr. A. J. Rowberry occupied the 
chair. It is a matter for great regret that the atten¬ 
dance was not greater, for the proceedings were 
highly interesting throughout. 
The Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Cuthbertson, was called 
upon to give the balance-sheet for the past season. 
This represented an expenditure of £7 12s. nd., as 
against an income, chiefly derived from advertise¬ 
ments in the journal of the conference, of £8 17s. 5d., 
thus leaving a balance in hand of £1 4s. 7d. This 
report was received with evidences of general satis¬ 
faction. 
The conference proper opened with an address by 
the chairman, Mr. A. J. Rowberry, who said 
that when he was elected chairman on the 20th 
of May, in last year, at the Birmingham conference, 
he wished that the honour had fallen upon someone 
worthier, although no one had a greater love and 
esteem for this grand decorative flower than he. A 
great advance had been made of late in the improve¬ 
ment of the Viola, and the National Viola Society has 
assisted greatly in the work of the conference. A 
number of varieties had been submitted to a searching 
test in the gardens of the Royal Botanic Society, 
and considering that the surroundings in the heart 
of London were not exactly favourable, excellent 
results have been obtained. The idea of the trial was 
to fully test the decorative properties of the Viola, 
and after an inspection which lasted six hours the 
committee of inspection had drawn up a list of the 
varieties which had done well. He would ask them 
to remember, however, that there were numbers of 
good varieties that did not find a place in this list, 
simply because they had not done well enough this 
year to warrant their inclusion. 
Mr. R. Dean then proceeded to give the report of the 
committee, which was as under. It will be noted 
that the varieties are arranged according to colour 
under two sections based upon their habit. 
Violas Certificated by the Investigation 
Committee. 
Princess Louise 
Rosea Pallida 
Wm. Niel 
217, S. A. Irvine 
Ardwell Gem 
Duchess of Sutherland 
Countess of Wharncliffe 
Lemon Queen, 
Luteola 
Countess of Kintore 
Pencaitland 
Rose Queen 
Border Witch 
Princess Ida 
Bullion 
Princess Beatrice 
Bridegroom 
J. B. Riding 
Acme 
Lord Elcho 
Niphetos 
Countess of Hopetoun 
Sylvia 
Snowflake 
Norah May 
True Blue 
Marchioness 
The Mearns 
Archie Grant 
Rosine 
Mrs. C. Turner 
Ivanhoe 
Selection of Violas in Colours. 
White, dwarf growing. —Marchioness, Countess of 
Hopetoun, Pencaitland, Snowflake. 
White, tall growing .—Countess of Wharncliffe, 
Gigantea. 
Creamy-white, dwarf growing. —Sylvia, Lemon 
Queen. 
Creamy-white, tall and spreading. —Sulphurea, 
Primrose, dwarf .—Ardwell Gem, Luteola. 
Primrose, tall and spreading. —Sulphurea. 
Deep yellow, dwarf .—Princess Louise, Lord Elcho, 
Bullion. 
Deep yellow, tall .—Mary Gilbert, A. J. Rowberry. 
Dark blue or violet, dwarf .—True Blue, Mrs. C. 
Turner. 
Deep blue or violet, tall and spreading . —Archie Grant, 
Max Kolb. 
Blue, dwarf .—Roland Graeme, 
Blue, tall or spreading. —Ivanhce. 
Light blue, dwarf growing. — Diana, Bluegown. 
Light blue, tall and spreading. —Favourite. 
Lavender or lilac, dwarf growing .—Rosea Pallida, 
Lottie McNiel. 
Lavender or lilac, tall and spreading .—Duchess of 
Sutherland, Bridegroom, Nabob. 
Purple, dwarf growing.— Acme, Mrs. Gordon. 
Purple, tall and spreading. — J. B. Riding, Dorothy 
Tennant. 
Rose, dwarf growing — Princess Ida, Rose Queen. 
Rose, tall and spreading. —Wm, Niel, Rosine, 
Maggie. 
Blush, tall growing.— Charm, Norah May. 
Edged or bordered, dwarf .—Duchess of Fife, Border 
Witch, Blue Cloud. 
Edged or bordered, tall and spreading .—Cissy Thornley, 
Colleen Bawn. 
Fancies—Countess of Kintore type, dwarf.— The 
Mearns, Bethune, Cissy Mellowes, Columba. 
Fancies, tall .—Countess of Kintore, Isabel Spencer, 
Princess Beatrice, Lady Amory, Mrs. Bellamy. 
Striped .—Lillie Langtry, H. W. Stewart. 
At the conclusion of the reading of the report 
various members of the audience proceeded to give 
their experiences as to the varieties that they had 
found to succeed best in their respective localities. 
Mr. Sinclair, of Highgate, N., stated that Lady 
Isabel, Ardwell Gem, Goldfinch, Lemon Queen, 
Charm, Duchess of Fife, Countess of Kintore, J. B. 
Riding, and White Duchess, had done best with him. 
None of the new varieties had given satisfaction, 
He planted his Violas during the last week in March, 
but never twice in the same position in consecutive 
years. Mr. Cuthbertson remarked that it was a very 
gratifying occurrence that the decision of the com¬ 
mittee should receive such a valuable independent 
confirmation, as the list of varieties mentioned by 
Mr. Sinclair included all those specially recommended 
by the committee of inspection. Dr. Shackleton 
spoke of the behaviour of certain varieties with him 
in the south of London. His experience was similar 
to that of Mr. Sinclair. He thought it very curious, 
and indeed unaccountable, that some sorts, such as 
Duchess of Fife, should stand all through the winter 
but go off in the spring and summer. He hoped 
that some of the gentlemen present would throw 
some light upon this, to him, mysterious occurrence. 
(To be continued.) 
