January 11, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
203 
and November, affording a large quantity of cut blooms. 
The plants are shifted on in spring, and flower all 
through the summer months. B. fuchsioides is treated 
somewhat similarly, and follows B. Weltoniensis in 
flowering. B. Knowsleyana is the third in succession, 
and bore a quantity of flowers when we recently saw it, 
while the others had quite finished blooming. B. 
Digswelliana is a garden form that produces small but 
brightly-coloured flowers in great quantity, while the 
unexpanded buds are of a deep carmine. B. Ruckeri 
looks like a hybrid between B. ascotensis and B. 
Knowsleyana, so far as the leaves and flowers are con¬ 
cerned. The former are obliquely oblong and slightly 
hairy, while the flowers are light pink, and therefore 
between those of B. ascotensis and the white B. 
Knowsleyana. Somewhat after the style of B. fuch¬ 
sioides is a form named B. hybrida multiflora, with 
small oval leaves and an arching habit. It is also very 
floviferous when at its best. B. Adonis and John 
Heal we have described in former issues, and therefore 
need not revert to them here. The small plants of 
B. Knowsleyana, in 60-sized pots, are treated similarly 
to those of B. Weltoniensis, by being placed in 6-in. 
pots in February, when they come away freely again, 
and flower all through the summer. The small size of 
the above-mentioned kinds renders them more suitable 
for cut-flower purposes than the large-flowering and 
more perishable or frail sorts. For autumn flowering 
young stuff is depended upon. 
-- 
WANTED, A PUBLIC HALL FOR 
HORTICULTURE. 
On the 13th of November, 1888, a meeting of ex¬ 
hibitors and others interested in the work of the Royal 
Horticultural Society was held in the Council Chamber 
at Victoria Street, to consider the expediency of any 
further occupation by the society of the Drill Hall in 
■Westminster. The meeting was of a satisfactory 
character, both as regards numbers and the character of 
the persons present, for all present were workers in the 
concern, and any decision arrived at by such a meeting 
was felt by all to be sufficient for the immediate pur¬ 
pose. Acting on a conviction that I believed was 
shared by many, I made a definite declaration to the 
effect that the Drill Hall had proved unsuitable for the 
society’s purpose, and might, with advantage, be vacated 
at the close of the first year’s tenancy. Having moved 
a resolution to this effect, Mr. Harry Veitch sprang a 
mine beneath my feet by stating that the society could 
not legally hold floral meetings in the offices in Victoria 
Street, because anything in the nature of an exhibition 
was forbidden by the terms of the tenancy. The show 
of hands placed myself and my seconder in a minority 
of six. I have had such a run of good luck in carrying 
proposals, that it was an enlivening change to be so 
completely beaten, but, like the compliant one whom 
Butler sets forth in a suppositious case, I was “of the 
same opinion still,” and to this hour I sigh for a place 
of meeting in which the flowers can be seen, and to 
which the public will resort to admire them. 
Immediately after that meeting I proposed to friends 
interested in the affairs of the society the desirability 
of obtaining a hall of our own for our meetings, and 
from that day to this I have occasionally discussed the 
matter ; but quite rarely have I met with any encour¬ 
agement, for the dread question always appears to 
block the way—How is the thing to be paid for ? The 
question of primary importance is as to the need for a 
place of meeting that will be under our own control, 
and if not absolutely, at least in some part, the pro- 
perty of the society, or of some corporation operating in 
harmony with it, and with a view to mutual interests 
for the public good. The thing having been talked 
about vaguely—as must happen in such a case—it 
appears to me in the nature of a duty to place before 
the horticultural public an outline of the thing that 
appears to me to be wanted, and of the means that 
appear to me suitable to bring it into being. 
We want a hall for horticulture. It should be in a 
central position, convenient of access from leading 
roads and railways, and the construction should adapt 
it for flower shows, dinners, and other festivals, com¬ 
mittee meetings, offices, and perhaps a general mart or 
exchange for miscellaneous business, as, for example, 
the display of plants for sale ; the accommodation of 
trading firms for meeting customers, and for housing 
samples, models, drawings, and other materials required 
in business transactions in connection with agricultural 
and horticultural industries. There would be needful 
two or three (or more) well-lighted rooms adapted for 
public meetings, in addition to one spacious and noble 
hall, lighted in the way of a picture gallery, with 
orchestral platform and such other necessary features as 
would render it complete for the convenience of flower 
shows and festivals. Should the idea take shape, it 
will grow as the plan is developed, and it should bo 
comprehensive as a place of resort for horticulturists, 
who only need some such centre of operations to 
assemble in thousands, where, as the case now stands, 
the habitues meet only in scores, and fresh faces are 
rarely seen. Country gentlemen, participating in the 
pleasures of the London season, would make a place in 
their list of things to be done for such an attraction as 
the hall would offer them, provided only the thing 
obtained success commensurate with the purpose in 
view. 
One of my friends, who has heard of my proposals, 
has made a public offer of a subscription towards the 
project. As a thing to be initiated by eleemosynary 
contributions, it should have no help from me, and I 
cannot imagine that many of my friends, to whom 
from time to time I have spoken on the subject, would 
put their hands to anything of that kind. There is 
only one foundation proper for a horticultural hall, and 
that is the commercial foundation. It must pay its 
way, or prove itself a mocker} 7 , a delusion, and a snare. 
I have not attempted any estimate of the amount of 
capital that would be required, but not having in view 
a cheap shanty ora bad imitation of a railway terminus, 
a considerable sum would have to be invested, and 
business must be looked for to ensure reasonable 
returns. The £100 per annum now paid by the Royal 
Horticultural Society for occupation of the drill hall, 
ought not to be taken into account in this connection. 
I may be out-voted any number of times, but I feel 
sure, that were a door to open leading to something 
better and within the society’s means, the exodus 
would be speedy and unanimous. The society is 
growing, and should grow. If it can pay one hundred 
pounds now for a year’s accommodation, the day should 
be near when it could as easily pay a thousand. It is 
now, what it has not been for fully thirty years, a 
horticultural society ; and the public are now taking 
a new interest in its work, and are daily more and more 
disposed to assist it, as is ever the case with a good 
thing that inspires confidence. The activities of the 
horticulturists carry them to all ends of the earth for 
places of festivity and business. There may be a good 
side to the discursive system that fixes an exhibition in 
this spot and a dinner in that, but a recognised and 
generally acceptable central home would be an in¬ 
calculable advantage to horticulture at large in the 
metropolis, and many sources of income would arise 
for a central hall that could afford accommodation for 
exhibitions, dinners, public meetings, and official 
correspondence for various institutions, both of London 
and the provinces. 
This letter is not to be regarded either as a pros¬ 
pectus or as a preliminary t) any distinct proposition. 
The subject has been lightly discussed in an erratic 
way, and the time appears to have arrived when I 
should give something like definite expression to my 
views, that I may obtain the sympathy and aid of 
practical men in formulating a plan, should opinion 
tend favourably that way. For the present it is 
an idea that I should be quite content to see carried 
out independent altogether of any interest, sentimental 
or commercial, I may be supposed to have in it. I am 
fully occupied and happy in my work, and in no haste 
to make a mountain for the pleasure of piling a cairn 
on its summit .—Shirley Hibbcrd, Kew, Jan. 7th, 1890. 
-- 
BERRIED AUOUBAS. 
I WELL remember hearing the late Mr. John Standish 
describe, with great pride and joy, the consternation 
caused and the interest displayed in horticultural circles 
when he exhibited in London the first green-leaved 
Aucuba covered with berries. He afterwards sold this 
specimen to a Belgian nurseryman for the sum of £50, 
and it was subsequently exhibited at the First Inter¬ 
national Exhibition, held in Brussels. Mr. Standish 
believed that in consequence of the introduction of 
the male plant, there would be obtained a number of 
green-leaved varieties of both sexes, which he regarded 
as likely to prove much more handsome and be more 
generally acceptable in gardens than the old variegated 
type ; and he pictured to himself the arrival of the 
time when the London squares and other public 
gardens would be lit up with such plants—loaded with 
their coral-coloured fruit from Christmas until June. 
My old friend possessed a very sanguine temperament, 
and in some respects he was a far-seeing man, but in 
this particular case his prediction has not been verified, 
for it would, 1 fear, be very difficult to find a berried 
Aucuba in many of the London squares or public parks. 
The planting of the male Aucuba, for the purpose of 
fertilising the blossoms of the old female form, and so 
producing berries, has, I think, only been carried out to 
a limited extent. I have on the north front of my 
residence several bushes of the female type, and with a 
view to fertilising the flowers of these and so produce 
berries, I three years ago placed near them a male 
plant, but up to this time I have not seen a single 
berry on the former. 1 think the difficulty lies in this, 
that the male plant blooms too early and the female 
plants too late to secure perfect fertilisation, and yet it 
is singular to note what a distance the pollen grains of 
the male Aucuba are carried by the atmosphere. I 
have seen female Aucubas fertilised 300 yards away 
from a male plant. 
"With all its usefulness the Aucuba is after all only 
an indifferent-berried plant for the winter. The fact is, 
the growths that are put forth in spring and summer 
quite hide the berries formed in the summer, and if 
they are exposed to view the young growths have to be 
cut away, and then the bloom of the succeeding spring 
is lost. Notwithstanding this, as the Aucuba does so 
well in London and large towns, I should like to see 
larger attempts made to get the plants to bear crops of 
berries as suggested by my old friend.— R. T>. 
-» >X< —- 
VINE BORDERS. 
While we are corresponding with junior cultivators of 
the Yine, we have read of the success of those who 
favour the practice of growing Vines in inside borders, 
and have noted that others hold tenaciously to the idea of 
outside borders. Probably the system of inside borders 
to begin with, the roots being allowed to extend outwards 
through arches after having monopolised the whole 
of the soil under glass, receives most favour. It is 
well known to many old hands that many of the finest 
Grapes which have ever been grown have been cut 
from Vines with roots entirely outside, and many Vines 
we know, doing capital service, are probably older than 
the most experienced Grape-growing veteran with 
whom we are acquainted. 
It must be remembered that in some positions, such 
as the valley of the Thames, some parts of Kent, 
Worcestershire, and other favoured localities, Vine 
roots can find all they require from the natural soil 
much better than is generally supplied in artificial 
borders. On the other hand it is well known that 
there is no safety in allowing the roots to have their 
liberty in the natural ground. So diverse are circum¬ 
stances in some localities that we have seen in a Suffolk 
garden, in charge of a clever old hand, a famous Grape 
grower applying nourishment, solid and liquid, to his 
Vine roots far out into his vegetable garden. Late and 
early Grapes had all their roots outside, and perhaps 
because there was no room inside to form proper borders. 
In the neighbourhood of the gardens referred to it was 
impossible to get Vines to thrive at all it their root- 
space was not restricted, the natural soil being an inert 
clay. It may b 9 remembered that roots outside are 
under the natural influence of the sun. We would not 
oppose any system of border making, but would always 
arrest the progress of roots outward and downward 
were they in danger of running into unwholesome 
material. — Stirling. 
-- 
TREE PLANTING. 
A note of warning to non-practical cultivators (and 
the ranks of these are being augmented yearly by 
enthusiastic amateurs) who are anxious to get the 
planting of trees and shrubs out of hand before the 
busy season arrives. Judging from what we have too 
extensively witnessed, there is a great destruction of 
trees every season through unskilful planting. A hole 
is formed (it may be wide and deep), the tree is thrust 
into it, and the roots spread out in the most unskilful 
manner. The soil may be rough sodden clay or wet 
sand,and is placed over the roots as if to form the bottom 
of a receptacle for holding water. The whole is made 
firm, and the tree stands, to all appearance, secure and 
likely to thrive ; but when the growing season arrives 
a brown shade comes over many of the plants. They 
stand stunted and unsightly until death shows that 
they are encumbering the ground, and woe be to the 
nurserymen who supplied them ! They have to be 
replaced, and some censure is gratuitously given as well. 
This often happens when it is entirely the fault of 
the inexperienced planter, who encased the roots as if 
in cement, performed the work when the land should 
not have been touched, did not put soil through the 
fibres, and it may be that undrained land did the rest. 
