October 19, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
101 
All plants, in trebles, should be sent in not 
later than the end of November, and the colour 
of the flowers specified. This would enable 
all the various colours to he grouped for 
comparison. It is in such ways as these that 
Chiswick exacts the support and the admiration 
of all genuine horticulturists. 
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The Railway Rates Inquiry.—With regard to the 
inquiry to he held by the Board of Trade into the 
question of railway rates to be sanctioned by that body, 
a large gathering of those interested took place on 
Tuesday at the Westminster Town Hall, for the imme¬ 
diate purpose of settling a mode of procedure. Lord 
Balfour of Burleigh, who will conduct the inquiry, 
presided, and after some discussion it was decided that 
the inquiry should begin on the 29th inst., at 10.30. 
Gardening Engagements.—Mr. W. Grace, late of 
Shipton, Andover, as gardener to W. R. Heave, Esq., 
Bickton, Fordingbridge. Mr. John McLennan, fore¬ 
man at Scone Palace, Perth, as gardener to the Earl of 
Kenmare, Killarney House, co. Kerry. Mr. F. Capp, 
late of Northcroft, Englefield Green, as gardener to J. 
Gardiner Muir, Esq., Newport House, Eardisley, 
Herefordshire. 
A Splendid Specimen of Aralia Sieboldi.—“ R. L.,’’ 
Edinburgh, writes Some time ago, when calling at 
St. Ann’s Lodge, Ascog, Bute, Mr. Lamb, the gardener, 
pointed out an immense tree of Aralia Sieboldi. It is 
10 ft. high and 18 ft. through, is beautifully furnished 
to within 3 ft. of the ground, and the foliage is in 
splendid health and colour. The tree is planted at the 
side of the house facing the south-east, and during the 
winter receives no protection whatever. Anyone on a 
visit to the island should not fail to give Mr. Lamb a 
call. A hearty welcome will be given. 
The Birmingham and Midland Counties Chrysanthe¬ 
mum Society.—“A. 0.” writes:—The twenty-ninth 
annual exhibition of this society will take place in the 
Town Hall, Birmingham, on Nov. 20th and 21st, when 
I shall hope to see a grand competition for the handsome 
centenary prizes which the society offers, and which 
should induce our best growers to compete. The prizes 
are as follows:—First, £25 ; second, £15 ; third, £7 ; 
fourth, £4 ; fifth, £2 ; sixth, 30s., and the competition 
will be with forty-eight cut blooms—viz., twenty-four 
incurved and twenty-four Japanese, open to the United 
Kingdom. 
A Simple Moth Trap.—During the desultory dis¬ 
cussion which followed the reading of the papers at the 
meeting of the British Fruit-growers’ Association last 
week, a gentlemen present, who took no part in the 
proceedings, told us of a very simple but efficient trap 
which he had employed to catch moths at night in his 
garden. He painted the insides of some bottles with 
luminous paint, corked them up and then stood them in 
shallow plates of petroleum. The moths, attracted by 
the light, fly against the bottles, drop into the petro¬ 
leum, and are killed at once. 
Mr. Lewis Castle’s Orchids : Their Structure, 
Histoi’y, and Culture.—A French translation of this 
work has been prepared by Mons. A. de Meulenaere, 
secretary of the “ Orchidophiles Beiges,” and has just 
been published in Ghent by F. & R. Buyck Fieres, 
13, Rue de la Tour Rouge. It comprises 189 pages, 
the list of Orchid illustrations having been extended 
by the addition of numerous references to continental 
works, and the list of Orchid amateurs includes the 
names of those in England, Germany, Austria, 
Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, and Switzerland. 
The English list, which was taken from the third 
edition of Mr. Castle’s book (published nearly two 
years ago), requires revision, but the directory altogether 
will be found useful. 
Gishurstine.—There can hardly be a gardener in the 
land who is not as familiar with Gishurst Compound 
as with the name of its inventor, an enthusiastic lover 
and cultivator of hardy plants. With Gishurstine, the 
invention also of Mr. G. F. Wilson, they are not, 
however, so well acquainted, and the receipt of a 
liberal supply of this most valuable dressing for boots 
from Price’s Patent Candle Company, Limited, reminds 
us that a word in season may be useful. As a water¬ 
proofing composition, we have used nothing else since 
Gishurstine was first brought under our notice, and 
never found anything better. It is a cleanly compound, 
easily applied, takes a polish a few hours after applica¬ 
tion, and does keep water from working through sound 
leather, and thus keeps the feet dry, the benefit of 
which is only thoroughly appreciated by those whose 
occupation keeps them on the land for any length of 
time in the winter. 
The Drowning Fatality on the Clyde. — At a 
recent Orchid sale at Messrs. Protheroe & Morris’s 
Rooms, Mr. W. H. Protheroe alluded in feeling terms 
to the late sad accident on the Clyde, whereby Mr. R. 
C. Fraser, of Arddarroch, and Mr. W. Hall, the well- 
known Orchid commission agent, of Upper Tulse Hill 
Road, lost their lives, and a sympathetic vote of 
condolence with the widows was unanimously passed by 
the buyers present. It has been thought, however, 
that something more tangible than mere sympathy is 
required, and we are pleased to hear that a committee 
has been formed to collect subscriptions in aid of a fund 
for the benefit of both families, with Mr. H. J. Veitch 
as chairman, Mr. W. H. Protheroe as treasurer, and Mr. 
Fred. Horsman, Hollybrook, Colchester, as secretary. 
A circular has been prepared and will be issued in a few 
days—in the meantime any of the gentlemen named 
will be happy to receive subscriptions. Mr. R. B. 
White, we may add, has most generously headed the 
list with £59, independent of what he may consider 
himself otherwise bound to do for the families of the 
deceased men. 
The Floral Decorations at Colonel North’s Ball, 
given at the Hotel Metropole on the 11th inst., to 
celebrate the coming of age of his daughter, Miss 
Emma North, were entrusted to Messrs. Wills & 
Segar, and were carried out in a style that even these 
The Tuberose. 
renowned decorators have seldom, if ever excelled. To 
describe all the delightful combinations which Mr. Wills 
arranged, would take up more space than we can afford, 
without giving any adequate idea of the wealth and 
richness of the plants and flowers that were employed. 
The grouping of the noble Kentias, which this firm 
employs on such occasions, was simply magnificent in 
its simplicity and grandeur. The wreathing, of which 
some three-quarters of a mile was employed, was most 
gracefully disposed, while the medallions on the walls, 
made of white Chrysanthemums, with the initials 
“ E. N.” set in scarlet Pelargoniums, gave a delightful 
finish to the walls. In the principal ball-room, the 
columns were relieved by tall well-feathered stems of a 
very graceful Bamboo (probably Arundinaria falcata), 
springing out of small groups of flowering plants at 
the base. The effect produced by their use was 
singularly charming, giving the immense room a 
beautifully light and elegant tropical appearance. 
National Chrysanthemum Society.—At a meeting 
of the General Committee held on Monday evening, 
E. C. Jukes, Esq., presiding, the honorary secretary, 
Mr. Holmes, reported (1) that the prize money awarded 
at the recent September show had all been paid; 
(2) that he had received a communication from the 
secretary of the newly-formed National Chrysanthemum 
Society of America, asking for information on various 
subjects, which he had replied to ; (3) that the 
secretary of the Soeiete Royale de Agriculture et de 
Botanique of Ghent had invited several members of 
the committee to act as judges at the exhibition of 
Chrysanthemums and plants of China and Japan, to be 
held in the old Flemish city on November 24th ; (4) 
that the Catalogue Committee had recently completed 
a supplementary list of new varieties, which would be 
sold with the original catalogue at Is. each, or at 3 d. 
each separately ; (5) that he had been to Hull, and 
had completed all arrangements necessary for the 
forthcoming joint exhibition in that town ; (6) that 
arrangements had been made for holding a conference 
there, over which Mr. Jukes had kindly consented to 
preside ; and (7) that the prospects of good shows 
being held at the Aquarium and Hull were of a very 
encouraging character. The committee received with 
regret the resignation of Mr. Gilbey, who has gone to 
Sheffield, and elected Mr. Briscoe Ironsides to take his 
place on the General Committee, and Mr. W. E. Boyce 
to the vacant seat on the Floral Committee. Eighteen 
new members were elected, and the usual stewards 
appointed to assist the secretary at the November show 
at the Aquarium. 
Church Decorations.—A Lancashire correspondent 
writes :—Amongst other prominent features in the 
decoration of Bamber Bridge Church, near Preston, on 
the occasion of a recent harvest thanksgiving festival) 
were the pulpit adornments, carried out by Mr. Roberts, 
of Cuerden Hall Gardens. The pulpit is of white stone, 
with a 6-in. ledge on either side of the book rest, and 
on these ledges rested shallow tins, 2 ins. wide, filled 
with Lycopods, bunches of scarlet Bouvardias and 
Violets, with single flowers of Chrysanthemums Mons. 
J. Laing and James Salter inserted in the moss. 
Highly-coloured leaves of Cissus discolor inserted into 
the surface of the sand formed a border, and by the 
Sunday they had sufficiently flagged to fall slightly 
over, exhibiting their exquisite hues to the audience. 
Dozens of wired flowers of Lapageria rosea, hooked to 
the edge of the tins, formed a fringe round just below 
the points of the Cissus leaves, the latter serving to 
hide the wires. Several bunches of fine Red Currants, 
three in a bunch, also of Rivinia humilis, wired and 
suspended like the Lapagerias, were arranged equi¬ 
distant from these. For effect and neatness the 
decorations were pronounced to be the best ever seen 
by those who make the round of churches—of which 
there are several near by—on harvest festival occasions. 
-» >X< -- 
THE TUBEROSE. 
The Tuberose is one of our most useful flowering 
plants, and perhaps its most valuable characteristic is 
its adaptability to bouquet and button-hole making. 
For this purpose a few blooms of the excellent American 
variety, Excelsior Pearl, cannot be surpassed by any¬ 
thing that I am acquainted with. Considering how 
much the delicious fragrance of the Tuberose is appre¬ 
ciated, and the comparative ease with which it can be 
cultivated, one cannot help remarking that it is 
surprising that its culture is not more extensive than 
it is at the present time. A continuous display of 
these powerfully scented flowers may be had almost 
throughout the year by successional plantings. 
To start them into growth some growers recommend 
potting them into 60-sized pots, in which they are 
allowed to remain until full of roots, and afterwards 
transferring them to 48’s to flower. But as this method 
is not strongly adhered to by many successful 
cultivators, I do not consider the plan worthy of 
recommendation. Results equally satisfactory are 
obtained from bulbs potted into 48 s at first. I 
attach more importance to a brisk bottom heat in 
which to start growth, and even this is not strictly 
essential to their successful cultivation. Reference has 
been made to the mistake made by the majority of 
people in throwing away the bulbs as useless after the 
first year’s flowering, as they can be re-potted and will 
flower again satisfactorily. My experience with them 
prevents me from corroborating this statement. 1 am 
under the impression that the bulbs of the Tuberose are 
very similar to those of the Hyacinth, as they 
degenerate very much after the first flowering. Newly 
imported bulbs produce by far the most satisfactory 
results. 
Amateurs will experience little or no difficulty in 
producing often handsome spikes of these magnificent 
flowers if they procure a few bulbs and cut away 
all the roots, and pot singly in 48-sized pots, using a 
compost consisting of nice loam, a small quantity of 
sand and a few pieces of charcoal. Plunge the pots in 
a bottom heat of 70°. If the soil is moderately moist at 
the time of potting no water will be required until they 
are started into growth, after which they must never 
be allowed to suffer for want of the same. To those 
with limited accommodation it may not be superfluous 
to remark that the month of March will be a convenient 
time to make up a hot-bed in which to plunge the pots, 
and after they have made growth about 1 ft. in length, 
they may be removed to a lower temperature, and will 
ultimately flower satisfactorily in the conservatory 
during the month of August.— J. Peebles. 
