256 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 23, 1893. 
to be as necessary for other products as for 
Chrysanthemums. Had we in tliis 
country a great representative body or 
congress of all horticultural societies in the 
same wa}^ that all sorts of sports have, 
then we should have a law giving power 
that would exercise authority in the desired 
direction. As it is, our judging is very 
chaotic, and dependent on human fancies 
or bias. That is a condition of things that 
needs a drastic remedy. 
Ts ONDON Allotments.— That the London 
County Council has horticultural ideas 
bej'ond those which govern its parks, 
gardens, and open spaces is very evident 
when it is known that even in such an 
improving district as the County of London 
presents for the purpose the Council has 
been enabled to furnish allotment gardens 
to some of the worker element in its vast 
district. How much should the knowledge 
of this fact serve to bring a blush of shame 
into the faces of those rural or suburban 
authorities, which, surrounded by land in 
abundance and when allotments have been 
eagerly sought for, have done nothing what¬ 
ever to furnish those valuable helps to a 
poor man’s existence. 
In the London County area the Small 
Holdings Committee, for that body has no 
allotment powers, has already, under the 
Small Holdings Act, provided small areas 
as allotments at the Abbey Mills outfall 
works, and now is about to secure some 
ten acres near Woolwich in the same way 
and for a similar purpose. The fact that 
the London County Council can thus 
utilise the Small Holdings Act might well 
stimulate other bodies hampered by the 
various impracticable Allotment Acts to 
put the powers furnished by the former Act 
into operation. W^e are not concerned so 
much with who passes Acts of Parliament, 
but we are with their workability and use- 
fidness, and specially do we desir^ that 
somehow they shall be utilised to the 
utmost to furnish allotments, for these still 
continue to be the great need of the 
■working classes. 
It is understood that the London Council 
Small Holdings Committee, which has such 
a sympathetic nobleman as Lord Carring¬ 
ton for its Chairman, have other open 
spaces in hand which will ultimately 
become allotments also. Several years ago 
Mr. MacDougall furnished a large area of 
allotments in the Isle of Dogs, and these 
have been eagerly utilised. An odd fact in 
the case of London allotments seems to be 
that manure can be had in abundance free 
of cost. That is to some extent a blessing, 
but we hope it may not all the same be too 
freely availed of, as ground may become 
almost poisoned by excess. No am.ount of 
manuring can ever supersede the need for 
deep, good continuous cultivation. 
The Bristol Chrysanthemum Show for 1894 is fixed 
for November 14th and 15th. 
Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. —It affords us 
much pleasure to announce that the Right Hon. 
the Lord Mayor (Alderman Tyler) has kindly con¬ 
sented to preside at the next annual dinner in aid 
of this fund, which will take place in the spring at 
the Hotel Metropole. 
Mr. Lehmann’s Herbarium. — We are pleased to 
learn that the valuable herbarium formed by that 
intrepid plant collector, Mr. F. C. Lehmann, in 
Ecuador and Colombia, is to find a home in the 
Botanical Department of the Natural History 
Museum, South Kensington. 
Edinburgh Botanical Society. — At a meeting of 
this Society, held on the 14th inst. at 5, St. Andrew's 
Square. Dr. Craig, vice-president, in the chair, Mr. 
R. Lindsay read an obituary notice of the late Mr. 
Chas. Jenner, Easter Duddingston Lodge. A number 
of technical papers were also communicated, after 
which Mr. Lindsay read his report on the tempera¬ 
ture, &c., for November. 
The Royal Horticultural Society’s exhibitions and 
meetings during the year 1894 will be held on the 
following datesJanuary i6th, February 13th, 
March 13th and 27th, April lolh and 24th, May 8tb, 
and Temple Show on May 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 
June i2th and 26th, July loth and 24th, August 14th 
and 28th, September nth and 25th, October gth 
and 23rd, November 13th and 27th, and December 
nth. 
The Exhibitionsof the Royal Botanic Society for1894 
will take place as follows:—Spring Shows, March 
14th and April i8th; Summer Show, May 23rd; 
Special Floral Fete, June 20th ; Evening Fete, July 
4th. Musical promenades will be held on Wednes¬ 
days in May, June, and July, with the exception of 
fete days. 
Scottish Horticultural .Association. — Professor 
Ivison Macadam, on the 15th inst., delivered the 
third of his course of lectures in connection with 
the technical education scheme of the Scottish 
Horticultural Association. He first showed how 
the chemical changes in the soil were largely aided 
by burrowing animals, and mentioned that Darwin 
had estimated as the result of his experiments, that 
the worm casts alone on an acre of ground would 
weigh about eighteen tons per year, and as a result 
of the changes going on during the digestion of these 
animals there is at least ijcwts. of ammonia formed. 
He spoke of the effect of this on plant life, and then 
dealt specially with the effect of drainage, and the 
methods of plants assimilating food. 
Complimentary Dinner to Mr. Geo. Cannon.—.A.t the 
Lyric Hall, Ealing, on Friday, the 15th inst., a com¬ 
plimentary banquet was given in honour of Mr. 
George Cannon who is about to leave the services of 
Messrs. Charles Lee and Son. About 75 friends of 
the invited guest sat down to dinner, overcrowding 
the accommodation at command. Mr. Richard 
Dean presided and was supported by G. F. Nixon, 
Esq., the Chairman of the Ealing and District 
Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Society, by seven 
members of the Local Board, and numerous horti¬ 
cultural friends in leading positions. In the course 
of the evening Mr. Cannon said that he had been 
connected with Ealing since 1854 and had been in 
the service of IMessrs. Lee & Son for 29 years, and 
was leaving with the goodwill of his employers, and 
solely for the reason that he considered that it was 
every man’s duty to endeavour to improve his 
position. He had taken over the nursery business of 
Mr. Weedon, and intended to devote his energies to 
the improvement of the same. Mr. Cannon com¬ 
menced his career in the noted nursery of Messrs. 
Osborn and Sens, Fulham, and has therefore had a 
long career in horticulture with all branches of 
which he is familiar, but particularly with fruit trees 
and bushes, Roses and nursery stock generally. He 
has been an active member of the local Horticul¬ 
tural, the Ealing Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
and other societies. An agreeable evening was spent, 
during which the guest received many expressions 
of friendly and encouraging sympathy in his new 
venture. 
HowaWalking Stick is Made.—The raw material 
of the British maker who uses native wood only 
consists of beech, holly, ash, thorn, and oak. Some¬ 
times the size of the timber is such that sticks are 
sawn out of it; but saplings of from fourteen inches 
to forty-eight inches in length, with a good bark on 
them, are more valuable. If they taper pretty 
regularly from end to end, and have a strong root 
attached so much the better. Artificial handles are, 
of course, fitted to sticks, and with such ingenuity 
that it is difficult to detect the joint; but it is better 
for several reasons—strength being the most import¬ 
ant—that the handle should be a natural part of the 
stick. The rough underwood, then, is cut with a 
bill-hook, and when we go to the factory we see it 
lying in bundles seasoning. It is tough ugly-looking 
stuff, and seems valueless; but as we go through the 
place we easily understand how it changes and 
becomes marketable. First of all the sticks are laid 
in wet sand—a process which renders them more 
tough and pliable. Then a workman takes them 
singly, and, securing one on his bench, bends them 
dexterously until he sets them straight. After he 
has done with them, their natural twists and bends 
are gone for ever. The sticks next pass to another 
workman, who. by putting them through a circular 
cutting tool, removes their knots and makes them 
smooth and then they are ready for bending or 
carving. Those which are to have a curved handle 
are again put into wet sand until they become pliable. 
When they are in that condition a portion of each 
stick is bent by means of metal clamps into a crook. 
Then, to set or fix the handle, the stick is turned 
rapidly on a jet of gas until it is dry. We are told 
that some manufacturers have another method of 
making their sticks pliable. They plunge them into 
hot sand, which has the effect of rendering the wood 
so soft that it can be bent and twisted in any direc¬ 
tion. When it becomes cold it will retain such bend 
or twist. In this manner are fashioned those circles, 
double circles, and the like in handles of ladies’ 
umbrellas, as w’ell as many of those oddities in sticks 
that commonly pass for natural curiosities.—C/tKws. 
NEW CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
Several exhibits of Chrysanthemums were staged 
at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on 
the I2th inst., but by far the largest was that shown 
by Mr. Robert Owen, Castle Hill, Maidenhead. The 
two undermentioned varieties in his stands were 
accorded Awards of Merit. 
Mrs. Marian Bourne.— This is an incurved 
Japanese variety measuring about 7 in. to 8 in. in 
diameter. The measurements would demonstrate 
that the florets are long and spread widely before 
they become incurved. They are also tubular and 
of a soft silvery-pink, particularly in the early stages, 
but they assume a shade or two of a deeper tone as 
the flowers get old. The variety is one of Mr. Owen's 
raising. 
Good Gracious. —The blooms in this case measure 
about 6 in. to 7 in. in diameter, and would be wider 
were it not that the florets mostly all take a sharply 
ascending direction before becoming incurved. The 
variety may be described as belonging to the incurved 
Japanese section, but presents a very unusual 
appearance owing to the remarkable form of the 
florets. The latter are long, tubular, slender, more 
or less interlaced, and of a silvery-pink or blush, 
resembling vermicelli as far as the form is con¬ 
cerned. The variety is of American origin. No 
description can give an adequate idea of it. 
At the Floral Committee meeting of the National 
Chrysanthemum Society a Silver Medal was awarded 
to Mr. Robert Owen for a large collection of new * 
Chrysanthemums set up in ten stands besides a large 
number of bunches set up by themselves. The 
committee wished to see W. G. Newitt again ; it is a 
Japanese variety with broad white florets. Secretary 
Farson, a chestnut-buff incurved Japanese sort, was 
commended. It also desired to see John Noble 
again—an incurved Japanese variety with very 
broad crimson florets having a chestnut reverse. 
Henry Ferkins, formerly included in the incurved 
section, was transferred to the Japanese section, 
because its long pointed florets incurved at the tips 
showed that it belonged there. Other meritorious 
varieties exhibited were Mrs. F. L. Ames, yellow; 
H. M. Pollett, rosy-purple; Mrs. Marian Bourne, 
pale silvery-pink; Walker Surman, golden-buff; 
Golden Gate, deep golden-yellow; and Mrs. T. 
Dene, deep purple; all belonging to one or other of 
the Japanese types. Mr. H. J. Jones, Hither Green, 
Lewisham, showed some blooms of W. G. Newitt. 
The committee resolved to order some 500 stands of 
a new pattern for supporting the exhibitors’ cards at 
their exhibitions, an arrangement in which the public 
in general and reporters in particular must acquiesce, 
since it will show the cards at once without having 
to search for them. They often get out of place or 
accidently distributed over the floor. 
Owen Thomas. —After so many fine varieties 
bave made their appearance during the season, 
still another of first-class quality turns up at the end 
of the year. It is an incurved Japanese variety 
measuring about 7 in. to 8 in. in diameter, and of a 
clear yellow slightly darker in the centre. The 
florets are long and tubular, except at the tips which 
are expanded, broad, incurved, or almost hooked. 
While describing it as somewhat in the way of Stan- 
stead White, it is nevertheless more incurved, more 
compact, with a great amount of material in it, and 
very different in colour. A First-class Certificate 
was awarded it when shown by Mr. Owen. 
Good Gracious. —For description of this singular 
variety see above. It received a First-class Certi¬ 
ficate when shown by Mr. Owen. 
