356 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 8, 1890. 
rugged demeanour, he sheltered a warm heart 
and broad-minded ideas. He ever made all 
comers welcome to Heckfield. ; indeed, it is no 
secret that his open-handed hospitality cost 
him far more than anyone occupying the 
position of a gardener should have to sustain. 
But as he would only do his beautiful garden 
well—and he loved it with the staunchest 
affection—so would he also only he hospitable 
literally and heartily. 
If Heckfield became a prominent show 
place, and it was the chief show garden in the 
south, it was his pride that it should he so, 
although it laid upon him a pecuniary burden. 
If, because of that, he has not set aside for 
those left behind so much of this world’s 
goods as could be desired, it is somewhat 
satisfactory to know that he leaves no little 
ones to mourn the loss of one who would have 
been a kind father. To many of his friends 
not privileged to attend the melancholy 
ceremony of Tuesday last, it will be a source 
of satisfaction to learn that he died supremely 
reconciled and happy. Having ever since a 
lamentable accident in 1881 suffered intensely, 
physically, he had undergone a baptism of 
pain such as few men have to endure, and 
through all this physical weakness he was 
sustained by an unconquerable energy and 
spirits that were almost always buoyant. And 
yet having endured so much, it was no matter 
for surprise that at the comparatively early age 
of tifty-two he should have so gladly welcomed 
eternal release. 
To few men in his position has it been given 
to leave behind a larger circle of mourning 
friends. The letters we have received from 
gardeners who knew him and his great good¬ 
ness so well, literally bubble over with warm¬ 
heartedness and loving sympathy. Few gar¬ 
deners were ever so willing, none perhaps 
more able to assist others—and young men 
especially—into situations than he did. 
Myriads of letters in his time did he write for 
others, pleading for and urging kindly con¬ 
sideration for their merits. Not one of all 
those who had through the twenty-three years 
of his headship at Heckfield been his juniors 
but were found good places later, and have 
through many succeeding years retained a 
warm friendship, which failed not to bring 
them to the grave-side on Tuesday last. 
Mr. Wildsmith was happy, at Heckfield, in 
having an employer in Viscount Eversley, who 
rivalled his gardener in genuine garden senti¬ 
ment. Together they perpetually studied how 
to extend the garden, and to develop those 
beauties which the place has naturally in 
an eminent degree. If Heckfield had been 
a show place only, we should have left it alone 
in its glory, but so far from that being the 
case, there was no department in it which was 
not well done. Fruits, flowers, and vegetables 
found there the keenest attention, and received 
the very highest cultivation. Mr. Wildsmith 
has been written of as an all-round man—that 
is faint praise. He was a first-class gardener, 
and that is the estimate which is universally 
made of him. 
It was a happy thought put forth at the 
funeral that one who had in life been so 
generous a helper of the Gardeners’ Benevo¬ 
lent and Gardeners’ Orphan Funds, should 
have originated to his memory a special 
memorial in connection with the Orphan 
Fund, and which we earnestly hope to see 
successfully carried out. Certainly, no me¬ 
morial Avould be more to the liking of the 
good man who is gone, and whose all too 
early death we so greatly deplore. 
7jThe Season.— What is to be the outcome of 
the present season 1 Gardeners in all 
directions are in great tribulation. We see 
trees, fruit trees especially, displaying their 
buds with a boldness that is truly alarming. 
Pears, Plums, Cherries, bush fruits—indeed, 
everything is so fully at the burst that but a 
littlemore of thereeent open soft weather, and we 
may have myriads of tender blossoms expanded. 
What is to be done 1 Alas, we can do nothing ! 
We have had April almost as it were tumbled 
into January, and unless there is a great change 
to a cold temperature February will be a 
facsimile of May. And yet we feel assured 
that we shall have cold later, because we 
know we always get it just when it is not 
wanted. 
One of our correspondents the other day 
prayed for a deep snow covering. That would 
of course serve to check sap development, but 
then if it does not come soon its advent may 
do more harm than good. Two or three sharp 
white frosts a few days since only meant 
more softness and moisture, of which we have 
had too much already. Our chief hope lies in 
the belief that the hardness or coldness of the 
Avinfer Avas experienced before Christmas, and 
that although the Avinter may drag, yet it Avill 
not be cold. If Ave could but have an early 
and general spring our hopes of a good season 
Avould then be realised. 
Gardening Engagement. — Mr. Thomas Plumb, 
formerly gardener at Swinfen Hall, near Lichfield, 
as gardener to Lady Prescott, Isenhurst Park, Cross-in¬ 
hand, Sussex. 
Railway Rates and Charges.—We understand that 
at the meeting of the trade, held on the 31st ult. at 
the Hotel Windsor, Mr. J. Han-ison, of Leicester, pre¬ 
siding, the witnesses to be called in support of the 
various objections lodged by the Nursery and Seed 
Trade Association were selected. 
Harborne Road Nurseries, Birmingham.—Every¬ 
thing has been sold by auction here, and the nurseries 
have passed into the hands of Messrs. Hewitt & Co., 
Solihull Nurseries, as a town branch of their establish¬ 
ment. The Chad Valley Nursery is still in the market. 
Everything is to be sold by auction, excepting the 
glass, nursery, and dwelling-house, which are to be let 
for the remainder of the lease. 
The Blenheim Orchids.—Our Birmingham corre¬ 
spondent writes :—A large sale of a selection of plants 
from the Duke of Marlborough’s Blenheim collection 
of Orchids took place in Birmingham on the 29th ult., 
Mr. John Pope being the auctioneer. There was a 
good attendance of purchasers. The plants were in 
good condition, and fair average prices were obtained 
throughout. 
The Grand Yorkshire Gala.—We have just received 
a copy of the schedule of prizes offered for competition 
in the Bootham Field at the annual fete to be held 
from the 18th to the 20th of June next, and which is 
on the same liberal scale as of old. The classes number 
110, and the prizes offered in each case are such as 
should again result in a great exhibition. Mr. C. W. 
Simmons, 13, New Street, York, will be happy to send 
a copy to anyone who may apply to him. 
The Kent County Chrysanthemum Society.—The 
second annual meeting of this society was held on the 
30th ult., S. S. Bryant, Esq., presiding. The annual 
report and statement of accounts, which were unani¬ 
mously adopted, showed the society to be in a healthy 
condition, and the sum of nearly £20 was added to the 
reserve fund. The officers and committee were again 
re-elected, and it was also decided to take steps to 
celebrate the centenary year by offering a challenge 
trophy. 
Field Mice and Grapes.—When mice are driven 
from the corn fields by the cutting of the cereals and 
want of food, they often betake themselves to houses 
and the haunts of man, where they sometimes prove a 
pest by eating roots of various kinds, such as Carrots, 
as well as fruits, including Grapes, Peaches, Apricots, 
Apples, and others. The Bulletin d’Arboriculture, de 
Floriculture, Ac., is responsible for the statement that 
the use of carbolic acid or a small quantity of camphor 
will keep the marauding little enemies at bay. The 
latter are of a greyish fawn colour on the back and 
whitish beneath. 
Japan Lilies.—Some idea of the enormous quantity 
of Lily bulbs that are annually grown in Japan for 
export may be gathered from a report given in Sempcr- 
virens. This report states that during the months of 
August and September last there were shipped from the 
only port of Yokohama, 722 cases for Hamburg ; 5,079 
cases fgr London ; 456 cases for San Francisco ; 223 
cases for Singapore ; 120 cases for Hong Kong ; 112 
cases for x New York ; and 61 cases for Bombay. In 
October one house alone sent out 419 cases of Lilies. 
The greater part of the above consists of Lilium auratum. 
The numbers of this fine Lily that are annually killed, 
destroyed or lost must be very great. 
Mr. Thomas Boyd, of Callendar Park, near 
Falkirk.—The portrait of this well-known gardener, 
who has won in all 233 first, 60 second, and 6 third 
prizes in horticulture, was published in the Edin¬ 
burgh Evening Dispatch of January 27th. He is 
well known over Scotland and in England as one of the 
most successful exhibitors. Bred to gardening at 
Hopetoun House, he has since served in England and 
in the South of Scotland, and at the Royal Caledonian 
Horticultural Society’s Show in Edinburgh two years 
ago he won the principal prize (the silver tea set) for the 
best collection of fruit, and a few years since secured 
the Veitch Memorial Medal at the national shows in 
Manchester and Dundee as exhibitor of the best 
Muscat Hamburgh Grapes. He has invariably taken 
first honours wherever he has exhibited, both in 
Scotland and in England. Mr. Boyd is about forty-three 
years of age, and is a native of Lochaber. 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.—Atthe usnalmonthly com¬ 
mittee meeting, on the 31st ult., Mr. Barron announced 
the receipt of donations during the month amounting 
to £122 17s. 3 d., and which included £56 4s. from 
Worksop, £50 from the Reigats Chrysanthemum Show 
Committee, £5 from the executive of the late Edinburgh 
Chrysanthemum Centenary Show, £1 Is. from the 
committee of the Market Harborough Chrysanthemum 
Show, and £10 12s. 3d. collected in some half dozen 
money boxes, amongst the number being that most 
industrious of local secretaries, Mr. J. Hughes, of 
Birmingham, with £5 8s. The usual vote of thanks 
was accorded to all. A letter was also read announcing 
the death of Mr. Wildsmith, one of the local secretaries, 
who had taken a very active interest in the fund since its 
foundation, and whose valued co-operation the com¬ 
mittee deeply regretted to lose. On the motion of the 
chairman, a vote of condolence with his widow was 
unanimously passed. 
The Weather in the Isle of Raasay.—“W. M.,” 
writing on February 3rd, says :—“ It may interest some 
of your readers to know that the rain-fall for the month 
of January on Raasay was 16’67, a heavy fall, which I 
am inclined to think was local. For the six months 
previous, the total fall was 24’21. We have had several 
strong gales recently, accompanied with three or four 
smart thunderstorms ; rather an unusual occurrence at 
this time of the year. Newly planted shrubs have got 
somewhat disturbed at the roots, otherwise little 
damage was done. The season Avithal has been a mild 
one as far as the absence of frost is concerned, 28° being 
the minimum. Consequently fruit trees on south 
walls, notably early Pears, are bursting their buds, 
which will cause us to apply covering in the shape of 
Spruce branches, to ward off spring frosts. Snowdrops, 
Crocus, Polyanthus, Auriculas, and Wallflowers are 
coming into flower. Winter Aconites and other spring¬ 
flowering bulbs are coming through the surface of the 
soil.’’ 
A Planting Machine.—The description of a planting 
machine is included in the annual report of the 
Department of Forests at Washington for 1888. The 
machine is drawn by horses, and consists of a knife, 
which opens the soil to a depth of 16 ins. to 20 ins,, 
followed by a ploughshare, which removes the soil to a 
width of 8 ins. A rotating apparatus of the machine, 
holding cuttings, then moves forward, and places the 
latter in the soil successively. Two curved plates 
relift the soil, and two bent wheels or rollers come 
finally into position and press against the plant. With 
this machine one man can plant from 10,000 to 15,000 
cuttings a day. Operations have been carried on for 
the last two years with the machine, and the experi¬ 
menters are now able to report that seven-eighths of the 
cuttings inserted in this way succeed and become 
plants. 
Temperature of Water for Plants.—Experiments 
have been carried on for many weeks under the 
instructions of M. J. Dybowsky at the school of 
Grignon and at Paris, with the view of testing what is 
the best temperature at which water may be applied to 
the roots of plants grown in pots, or whether plants 
are in any way influenced by the same. Different 
batches of plants were put under exactly similar 
conditions, and while some were supplied with water 
at the same temperature as the surrounding air, others 
received water heated successively from 2° to 50° 
