788 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August loth, 1885. 
THE TURNER MEMORIAL. 
At the meeting held at South Kensington on 
Tuesday, over which Mr. Shirley Hibberd presided, 
it was generally felt among those present that 
it was not desirable to interfere in any way with 
the Memorial Prize, which the Dahlia growers 
intended to offer for competition at the forth¬ 
coming Crystal Palace Dahlia Show, but that a larger 
scheme should be carried out; consequently, on the 
motion of the Chairman, seconded by Dr. Masters, it 
was resolved unanimously that in consideration of the 
eminent services rendered to horticulture by the late 
Mr. Charles Turner, a fund be raised, the interest on 
which shall be devoted to a series of Turner Memorial 
Prizes for florists’ flowers, in a manner to be subse¬ 
quently decided upon. It was also resolved that those 
present should form themselves into a committee, 
with power to add to their number, to carry out the 
project. Mr. H. M. Pollett was appointed Treasurer, 
and Mr. James Douglas, Honorary Secretary, to either 
of whom subscriptions may be paid. The “ Prince of 
Florists ” was so universally respected, and through¬ 
out his career rendered such good suit and service to 
floriculture, that we trust the memorial to be raised 
will be worthy of the man, and of the great 
floricultural brotherhood who honour his name. As 
will be seen on p. 787, the committee who have charge 
of the affairs of the National Dahlia Show have de¬ 
cided to give a Turner Memorial Challenge Cup, of 
the value of ten guineas, to commemorate his connec¬ 
tion with that body; and we trust that the appeal 
which will now be made in aid of the larger scheme 
will result in such a fund being raised as will permit 
of medals being given annually for the best new addi¬ 
tions that may annually be made to the flowers he 
loved so well besides Dahlias—Auriculas, and Carna¬ 
tions and Picotees. 
— a_» ^-rD < xrr>-_s> — 
STARVED WELLINGTON IAS. 
From experiments I have made this year on a 
specimen of Wellingtonia gigantea, which has only 
just managed to live for several years, making but 
very little growth, and looking very shabby all the 
time, I have little doubt that a great number of those 
in a similar condition which I have seen in different 
parts of the country, and of which it is generally said 
the situation does not suit them, are really like mine 
was, simply languishing because they cannot get 
enough water to enable them to grow vigorously. 
My specimen, some 10 ft. in height, at length became 
so brown and unsightly that last spring I thought I 
would cut it up, but before doing so I resolved to 
try what a thorough drenching of water would do. 
Accordingly, early in June I had a bank put round it 
at about 4 ft. from the stem, and within the circle I 
laid the hose on until the whole of the ball must have 
been thoroughly soaked. 
I continued the waterings at intervals, and in the 
course of a fortnight or so I was pleased to see the 
whole tree—points, branches, and even the main stem 
—bristling with young growths. At the same time the 
wood seemed to expand, and the old hard bark has 
now peeled off, and the new bright brown one takes 
its place. The tree, which is now perfect in every 
respect, I am sure would not have recovered from its 
former misery without the frequent drenehings of 
water. Another scrubby Wellingtonia in this neigh¬ 
bourhood, which has been treated to the same simple 
prescription, has also made great progress, and I 
should advise all whose Wellingtonias do not grow 
well to serve them in the same way, but it is of no use 
giving them a canful or two of water—you must try 
to drown them.— James Naylor, St. Hilda's Nursery, 
Iloxeth, Harrow. 
— o_. ^r;_ -<> CT‘ ■ _ o — 
The American Exhibition of 1886. — We learn from 
The American Eagle that the site selected at West 
Kensington will furnish ten or twelve acres of ground 
for these purposes, and afford ample space for the 
display, in climatic sequence, of exclusively American 
Conifers, and other plants, shrubs, and flowers, in¬ 
cluding an avenue commencing with those found 
in the Northern and Eastern States, and ending with 
those of the Southern and Western States. The Exhi¬ 
bition will include a Californian wine-shop, Florida 
fruit stores, an Indian village, and Indian canoe-makers 
and mat-weavers. Restaurants, with the products of 
the Eastern and Pacific coasts and of the Northern and 
Southern States, characteristically prepared and served 
by white and coloured male and female cooks and 
waiters, will help to mark the peculiarities and variety 
of American social development. 
FERNERY AT SHIPLEY HALL. 
I must compliment you on the cleverly-executed 
engraving of the Shipley Hall Fernery, at p. 761. 
Being an old lover of Ferns I recognize many of the 
plants, including the graceful Adiantum amabile, 
which is so pretty when grown as represented. Of the 
Nephrolepis, which hang over so effectively from the 
right-hand side, I am not certain, and I should be 
pleased if you would give me their names. The com¬ 
plete list of the plants growing in the Shipley Hall 
Fernery, and also the temperature at which it is kept, 
would be acceptable to me, and I cannot help thinking 
to many others.— H. Bennet. 
Having forwarded our correspondent’s note to Mr. 
Elphinstone, at Shipley Hall Gardens, he has kindly 
replied “ For the information of your correspondent, 
and others whom it may concern, I send you a list of 
the Ferns growing in the Fernery, of which I consider 
you gave a magnificent illustration. The temperature 
kept in this house in winter is 55 degs. Fahr., but I 
have known it for a week to be as low as 47 deg. In 
summer we have no fire-heat.” 
Adiantum Capillus-Yeneris 
„ amabile 
„ assimile 
„ Bausei 
„ Brasiliense 
„ concinnum 
,, „ latum 
„ curvatum 
„ Farleyen.se 
„ Flemmgii 
„ fulvum 
,, formosum 
„ gracillimum 
„ hispidulum 
„ macrophyllum 
,, pentadactylon 
„ reniforme 
,, Victoria; 
„ Lathomii 
„ rubellum 
,, Sancta Catherinse 
„ setulosum 
„ speciosum 
„ tenerum 
„ trapeziforme 
,, Veitchii 
„ Williamsii 
Alsophila excelsa 
Asplenium Yeitehianum 
„ bulbiferum 
„ diversifolium 
,, fiaccidum 
Balantium culcita 
Blechnum brasiliense . 
„ corcovadense 
„ occidentals 
Cibotum Schiedei 
„ spectabile 
Cyathea dealbata 
„ Smithii 
Cyrtomium falcatum 
Davallia elegans 
Davallia Tyermannii 
Dicksonia antarctica 
Didymochlfena truncatula 
Doodia aspera 
,, media 
Goniophlebium subauricula- 
tum 
Gymnogramma decomposita 
,, tartarea 
Litobrochia leptophylla 
Lomaria chilense 
„ gibba 
Marattia elegans 
,, fraxmea 
Mierolepia hirta cristata 
„ platyphylla 
Neplirodium molle 
Nephrolepis exaltata 
„ davallioides furcans 
„ pectinata 
„ tuberosa 
Onyehium japonicum 
Phlebodium aureum 
,, sporodocarpum 
Polypodium eftusum 
Pteris argyrea 
„ cretica 
„ „ albo lineata 
„ hastata 
„ serrulata 
„ ,, cristata 
„ „ major 
,, straminea 
,, tremula 
„ umbrosa 
„ Ouverardii 
Stenochlama scandens 
Woodwardia radicans 
Selaginella Martensii 
„ dentieulata 
„ stolonifera 
THE SEASON AND ITS EFFECTS. 
The month of July, 1885, will long be remembered 
as one of the driest on record. We have now had 
four dry summers in succession, though those of 
1882 and 1883 were not so excessively dry as that of 
1884 and the present have been, and readers in some 
parts of the country will very likely be surprised to 
see them specified as such, as the rainfall varies con¬ 
siderably in different parts of the country. I think 
that many of us who have to deal with light shallow 
soils would gladly welcome a wet season for a change. 
These very dry soils reduce the produce of the kitchen 
garden by fully one half, and with the exception of 
fruit, which ripens badly under a cloudy sky, all garden 
crops, perhaps excepting Beet, were abundant with us 
during the wet summers experienced a few years 
back. Our soil being stony and resting on a sub¬ 
stratum of sand and pea-gravel, any excess of rain 
is quickly drained away. If water at a proper tem¬ 
perature could be put on it in sufficient quantities, it 
■would not matter how dry and sunny the season was, 
but there are, I fear, comparatively few who have 
either the water or the means of applying it in 
unlimited quantities, and often where the supply is 
abundant, if it has to be drawn from deep wells or 
is supplied direct from the mains of the water com¬ 
panies, it is at far too low a temperature to apply 
without its paralyzing to some extent the vegetable 
growth by the sudden reduction of temperature. 
Water from ponds and lakes or sluggish streams is 
not open to this objection. 
I have before advocated mulching the ground in a 
liberal manner as a safeguard against drought, and 
being convinced by the experience of this summer of 
the superiority of this system, as against the giving 
of mere driblets of water, which is the most that 
many can do, however willing they may be, because 
they lack material and time to do better. As an 
instance of this, I may mention that we are at 
present, and have been during this long drought, 
gathering Peas which have not had a drop of water 
artificially applied to them, and this in soil where 
some Chestnut trees close by are perfectly denuded of 
foliage, and till this last rain many other trees were 
flagging. On clearing off some of the crops of Peas, 
the soil between the rows was still moist, whilst the 
ground unprotected from the sun’s rays had scarcely 
a particle of moisture in it, and I do not know if 
baking it in an oven would have made it dryer. 
Mulching, as generally practised, is not done soon 
enough, and then only half done. We mulch our 
Peas when we sow them, covering the whole of the 
ground, and let them grow up through the Utter, or 
whatever material is used. I may say that for the 
earliest sowings, long straw, should the season be wet, 
will perhaps be found too heavy over the rows, and 
some half-decayed leaves or other similar fight material 
will be better. Ours never get earthed up, and we 
find no difficulty with the birds, as they do not find 
the Peas out till after they get above ground. Pea 
guards and scare-crows are quite unnecessary. 
Quarters intended for later crops should be got 
ready in good time, and before the soil gets dry have 
the mulching put on. It can easily be drawn aside to 
admit of the seed-sowing, and be replaced over the 
rows. This entails (as we put on not less than 
3 ins. thick) a considerable amount of labour, but 
seeing the saving of time effected in other directions, 
it is labour well expended, for it saves all hoeing, and 
there is but little weeding required. All small annual 
weeds cannot get through the dressing, and this alone 
compensates us for the trouble ; and when the crops 
come off, the decayed mulch remains as a dressing 
for the ground, which will also be in better order to 
receive a crop in a season like this, because all the 
moisture will not be dried out of it.—IF. B. G. 
ANOTHER NEW EUCHARIS. 
Edcharis Mastersii.— Yet another species of this 
beautiful genus has been added to our fist of garden 
plants, and once more we are indebted to the energy 
of the well-known firm of Messrs. F. Sander & Co., 
of St. Albans. It has been named, at their request, 
in honour of Dr. M. T. Masters. The figure and 
description appears in the August number of The 
Botanical Magazine. It it intermediate in character 
between the well-known E. grandiflora and E. Sanderi. 
It has entirely the same habit and leaf, and the same 
large pure white perianth segments, but is different 
from both of them in the corona, or staminal cup, 
for such it really is and not a corona. In the present 
plant the free portion of this cup forms a narrow but 
united collar-like rim to the perianth tubs, with two 
detoid teeth between the base of each filament. The 
colour is white with pale green stripes. It flowered 
at St. Albans in February of the present year. As 
the plant is not yet in commerce, it is impossible to 
speak of its value from a decorative point of view, 
though no doubt it will prove as useful as E. Sanderi, 
if not more so. As the flower is a little smaller than 
those of E. grandiflora, it is not likely to be quite 
equal to this highly decorative plant. 
NOTES FROM GARDENS. 
Croydon Lodge, the residence of Stephenson 
Clarke, Esq., is situated only a few minutes’ walk from 
the West Croydon Station, and few people, we imagine, 
would expect to meet with such a well-kept garden in 
a busy town ; but the place is surrounded by tall forest 
trees, and thus all eyesores are shut out from view. 
The house is a fine building of ancient date. On the 
front, facing the carriage drive, is a handsome verandah, 
supported with pillars, which are clothed with various 
sorts of creepers; between each baskets are suspended, 
containing various summer-blooming plants, and on 
the ground are large specimens of Agapanthus urnbel- 
latus and Hydrangeas, one mass of bloom. Adjoining 
the house is a large conservatory, recently built, and 
as the doors of some of the rooms open into the house 
it makes a nice promenade in the evening. 
There are three groups of plants down the centre, 
the middle one including a large Latania borbonica 
and the end ones fine plants of Cyathea dealbata 
