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THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 14, 1894. 
Mr. Alfred Lodge, late gardener at Brougham 
Hall, Penrith, has been engaged by Lord Iveagh, as 
gardener at Elvedon Hall, Thetford, Suffolk. 
Mr. R. Hope, lately foreman at Weston Park, has 
been engaged as gardener to Viscount Valentia, 
Bletchington Park, Oxford. 
Mr. E. 0 . H. Pideleyhas left the service of Mrs. 
Wilson, Westbrook, Sheffield, where he so long had 
charge of a rich collection of Orchids, and has been 
engaged by R Ashworth, Esq.,Ashlands,NewChurch, 
near Manchester, as his gardener and Orchid 
grower. 
Begonias at Antwerp.—Messrs. John Laing & Sons, 
Forest Hill, gained the gold medal at the Antwerp 
exhibition on July ist and 2nd, for their group of 
single and double Tuberous Begonias. 
The National Pink Society.—The fifth annual 
exhibition of the Northern Section of this society 
will be held in the Botanical Gardens, Old Trafford, 
Manchester, on July 21st, in connection with the 
annual exhibition of Roses. 
Effect of late frost on the price of Potatos.—At the 
Chester Potato marketon thejth inst.,the priceof new 
Potatos was 123. to 13s. per hamper of i261b. This 
is the highest price ever recorded at Chester market 
for new Potatos. These remarkable quotations are 
entirely due to the recent frosts, which practically 
destroyed the early Potato crop in the county. 
Death of Mr. Hugh Austin.—With deep regret we 
have learnt of the death on the 30th ult., at Home 
Cottage, Cathcart, of Mr. Hugh Austin of the firm of 
Messrs. Austin and McAslan, Nurserymen and 
Seedsman, Glasgow. The deceased, who was in the 
prime of life, and who had had charge of the nursery 
branch of the business since 1873, was a genial and 
most kindly natured man, and was greatly respected 
in the trade. The business he was connected with 
is one of the oldest in the country, having been 
established so far back as 1717. 
Testimonial to Mi’. Wm. Dean.—At the request cf 
the Midland section of the Committee interested in 
getting up this testimonial, the presentation has been 
delayed till August. The Hen. Treasurer, however, 
sent last Monday to Mr. Dean a substantial instal¬ 
ment of the amount collected, it being the occasion 
of his 70th birthday. The original intention was to 
make the presentation on that day. Any further 
subscriptions, however small, will be gladly received 
and acknowledged by Mr. George McLeod, 46, 
Cannon Street, London, E.C., or Mr. Wm. Cuth- 
bertson, Springfield, Rothesay. 
United Horticultural Benefit and Provident Society. 
—The quarterly meeting of this Society was held at 
the Caledonian Hotel on Monday evening last, Mr. 
G. W. Cummins presiding. It was announced that 
forty-five new members have been elected this year, 
that three deaths have occurred, and that two 
members only are on the sick fund at the present 
time. The Treasurer reported that he had 
purchased /200 worth of South Indian Railway 
3j per cent. Stock guaranteed by the Indian Govern¬ 
ment. The usual business of the Society was 
transacted and a vote of thanks to the Chairman 
ended the meeting. 
The Elvaston Fruit Stores.—The Earl of Harring¬ 
ton has opened a fruit and vegetable store in 
Parliament Street, Westminster, for the sale of the 
produce of his estate at Elvaston Castle, near Derby, 
the experiment having been undertaken, it is under¬ 
stood, on the advice of his chief agent, Mr. Gilbert 
Murray. This is the first attempt made by any 
great landed proprietor to place himself in direct 
contact with the fruit-consuming public, though 
many of them have been doing so privately for a 
long time past, and it is not uncommon for them to 
supply London dairies with dairy produce, which, 
however, can only be done, in the case of milk 
especially, through the agency of the large middle¬ 
men companies which supply the small local retailers 
in the metropolis. 
Wild Flowers at the Brighton Museum. —An inter¬ 
esting department has been started at the Brighton 
Museum, and it may be commended to the notice of 
those in charge of similar institutions in other parts 
of the country. It is the display of a collection of 
wild flowers belonging to the county, which are set 
out with iabels giving their names in Latin and in 
the popular form, as well as the locality from which 
they have been brought. The flowers are kept 
in water as long as they will last, and then make way 
for other specimens. The collection is kept going by 
voluntary gifts from botanists, amateur and other¬ 
wise, whilst professional men who live in tne coun¬ 
try near Brighton take pleasure in adding to the 
store. The wildflower table is proving one of the 
most attractive portions of the Museum. 
The May Frosts.—A list of low temperatures for 
the May of this year has been issued by Mr. 
Symons. Thus in forty-six counties in England and 
Wales the thermometer fell below the freezing 
point between the twentieth and twenty-second of 
the month, and in six counties minima of twenty-five 
7 degrees or lower were recorded, while on the grass 
readings of ten degrees were registered in Notting¬ 
ham, and nineteen degrees in Stafford. May, how¬ 
ever, has always a cold period about the middle of 
the mouth. The May of 1891 exceeded these low 
temperatures by about one degree. Yet it would 
appear that the widespread damage to vegetation 
was caused, not so much by these low temperatures 
of the present summer, as by the radiation which 
was facilitated by the clearness of the sky. ‘More¬ 
over, the vegetation being fuller of sap than usual, 
the frost burst the cells by expansion. 
Roses from a Persian Poet’s grave.—In 1884, cut¬ 
tings from the Roses on the grave of Omar Khayyam 
were brought to England. Some of them were pre¬ 
sented to the Royal Gardens at Kew. A yej,r ago, 
cuttings from the bush which grew from them were 
planted on the grave of Edward Fitzgerald, the trans¬ 
lator of Omar, in Suffolk. But the bush has just 
now flowered for the first time. The plant proves 
to be a form of Rosa centifolia, the sweetest scented 
of all the Roses, from which the Cabbage Rose, the 
Moss Rose, and the pompon are derived. Its native 
country is not known with certainty, but it was con¬ 
sidered by Bieberstein to be truly wild in the Cau¬ 
casus, and was found by Haussknecht in a semi¬ 
double form at an elevation of 3,500 ft, in Assyria. 
Omar Khayyam’s plant has fully double flowers, and 
evidently belongs to a long cultivated race. 
The Potato Season in the West. —It may be 
regarded that the present week closes the Potato 
season in Cornwall. Taken all-round, prices have 
ruled high—commencing at 133. and closing at 8s. 
per cwt. The Midland markets took the largest 
quantities. The consignments to the London 
markets were below the average, on account of the 
large importation of foreign produce. The total 
value of the early Potato crop of Cornwall this 
season is estimated at /'i50,ooo. There is an 
inclination in Cornwall to follow the example of 
Jersey, by way of having a competition for the 
largest grown Potato, for it is believed that many 
growers in the west could show greater averages 
than the one which this year took the prize—Mr. 
Phillippe Da La Perrelle, of Angres Farm, Trinity, 
with a tuber weighing i lb. 14 ozs., grown with 
Hale's guano. 
The Flora of Tibet. —Mr. W. B. Hemsley, of Kew. 
reports that Captain Bower’s and Dr. Thorold’s 
collection of plants made during their recent expedi¬ 
tion to Tibet numbered 115 species. Most of them 
were gathered at an elevation of 15,000 ft., though 
one, Saussurea tridactyla, was found at 19,000 ft. 
Even this great elevation was surpassed by the 
Schlaginweits finding a flower at 20,000 ft,, and in a 
higher latitude also. However, not a tree or shrub 
was seen by Captain Bower’s party during the four 
months they spent at an altitude of 15,000 ft. Red- 
coloured flowers formed a quarter of the whole, then 
yellow, white, and blue, and many of the plants were 
protected from the cold by a thick fleece of wool-like 
hair. Butterflies were seen at 17.000 ft. But apart 
from the fact that they heve been met with as far 
north as the eighty-third parallel of latitude, 
Humboldt records these insects on Chimborazo, 
at an elevation of nearly 17,000 ft ,and flies at over 
18,000 ft. 
Birmingham Amateur Gardeners’ Association.— 
There was a very fine exhibition 'of cut flowers at 
the meeting of this Association, held at 116, Colmore 
Row, on Wednesday, the 4th inst., the exhibitors 
being Messrs. Hy. Beech, C. Daniell, S. Dascombe, 
W. H. Peake, A. Stanford, and W. H. Twist. There 
was a fair competition for a special prize of a photo 
Album, offered for six blooms of Roses by Mr. A. 
Stanford. The winner was Mr. S. Dascombe, of 
Upper Bentley, Bromsgrove, whose blooms were re¬ 
markable for their colour and quality, being far 
ahead of the other exhibitors. Mr. W. H. Twist 
was the winner of a special prize offered by Mr. W. 
A. Gabb, Small Heath, for six sprays of Violas, his 
blooms were perfect in size, and were nicely 
arranged. Mr. S. Dascombe was the winner of the 
second prize offered by Mr. Gabb. The first two 
special certificates ever won were gained by Mr. A. 
Stanford, King's Norton, for a superb stand of her¬ 
baceous blooms, and Mr. W. H Peake, Handsworth, 
for a very fine specimen Cucumber. The results of 
the competition for the special prizes were very en¬ 
couraging to the donors, and will no doubt lead to 
further offers next year. Mr. W. B. Child exhibited 
a fine stand of herbaceous blooms not for com¬ 
petition. 
Gardening in Canada.—A young English gardener, 
Mr. Ernest Pentney, formerly of Ealing, writing 
lately from north-west Manitoba says :—" You will 
be sorry to hear that my first venture in gardening 
here is an utter failure, and through no lack of 
energy or want of precaution on my part. I have 
had everything—Onions, Carrots, Parsnips, and all 
else eaten clean out of the ground by grubs. You 
never saw such a clean sweep in your life. The 
things came in millions, and the only thing that has 
been known to stop them is plenty of rain, a com¬ 
modity we have not been troubled with lately. 
During the past month we have had the dryest and 
hottest period I ever remember, and not a drop of 
rain. The sun is very strong, but worst of all are 
the hot winds, than which even the Arabian Sirocco 
cannot be much worse. I raised about 3000 
Cabbage plants in a hot-bed, besides Celery, Cauli¬ 
flower, &c., but the weather has been such that it 
is an utter impossibility to plant them out with any 
chance of success. I had nearly two acres of Onions 
eaten off completely, not one left, and which, with 
only a fair crop, would have been worth 500 dollars. 
But as everything has been eaten oft, I have 
'jumped the job,’ and next week will, I hope, find 
me on the far side of the Rockies. It is rather 
disappointing, as everything cams up so nicely, and 
for two or three weeks the chances of success were 
very great. Still it is no use pining over it. I am 
going to try again, but somewhere else.” 
The Birkbick Building Society.—The forty-third 
Annual Meeting of the Birkbsck Building Society 
was held on the 5th inst., at the offices, 29 and 30, 
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane. The 
Report adopted states that the receipts during the 
year which ended 31st March last reached 
/lo,014,003, making a total from the commence¬ 
ment of the Society of more than one hundred and 
seventy-three millions (/■173,311,217). The deposits 
received were ;f9,io2.698, and the subscriptions 
£218,^66. The gross profits amounted to £220,8^^. 
The Surplus Funds have been augmented by 
/i 76,I48, and now stand at ^5,903,479, of which 
/i,732,248 is invested in consuls and other securi¬ 
ties guaranteed by the British Government, and the 
cash in the hands of the bankers is /■449.814. A 
further sum of ^25,000 has been added to the 
Permanent Guarantee Fund, thus bringing up the 
amount to ^175,000, and the balance £155,‘iZg, 
making together ^330,439 in excess of the liabilities, 
The whole amount being invested in consols. The 
subscriptions and deposits withdrawable on demand 
amount to /6,o53,68i. The fourteenth Triennial 
Bonus on Investing Shares has been allotted, and 
the amount placed to the credit of all shares in 
existence at the close of the forty-third year is 
^52,237. The Surplus Funds (which are invested 
in convertible securities) are sufficient to pay the 
depositors iii| per cent on the amount of their 
deposits. 
Market Gardeners’ Compensation Bill.—After two 
failures, due to the lack of a quorum, the House of 
Commons' Standing Committee on Trade on the 3rd 
inst. disposed of this measure.—Mr. A. O'Connor 
took the chair at half-past twelve instead of mid-day, 
the intervening period having been spent in waiting 
for the twenty gentlemen necessary to the transaction 
jf business. It was agreed, at the instance of Sir E. 
Lechmere, prompted by the President of the Board 
of Agriculture, that the vexed question, “ What is a 
market garden ? ” should be settled by the insertion 
of this definition in the Bill, “ The expression 
‘ market garden ’ shall mean a holding cultivated as 
a garden or orchard exclusively or mainly for the 
sale of the produce thereof.” Clause 9, which 
forbade the application of the measure to any ” land 
cultivated as nursery ground ” was struck out. So 
