November 24, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
197 
decided to make no mention of trailing shrubs and 
those which must be grown as wall plants; that 
section of the subject being sufficiently numerous to 
require an evening to themselves. The paper was 
divided into four parts, spring, summer, autumn, 
and winter. For winter the best shrubs and flowers 
were the Laurustinus, a shrub (known to botanists 
as Viburnum Tinus), and another shrub is the 
native Furze, and known to Devonshire as “ Vuz." 
Ulex Europaeus flore pleno, a double-flowered gorse, 
was a very pretty plant for winter ; when out in full 
bloom its masses of golden flowers completely 
covered the plant. The Cornelian Cherry was a 
pretty flower which bloomed in February ; it was a 
small tree about 13 ft. in height, and bore a pro¬ 
fusion of bright yellow flowers. Erica carnea was 
another flower which was not nearly so well known 
as perhaps it ought to be. The flower was a red 
one and flowered early in January and frequently in 
December. The Daphne was a shrub, and gave 
sweetly-scented flowers from January to July. D. 
Mezereum was probably the best known and most 
popular. The flowers came early in February, and 
varied in colour from pinky-white to red. D. 
Laureola, the Spurge Laurel, gave a greenish-yellow 
flower in January. Mr. Bartlett also referred to 
numerous other plants, giving valuable particulars 
with regard to each. At the close of his paper he 
was heartily thanked. 
WAYSIDE IRELAND.* 
Our enthusiastic Daffodil friend at Cork, Mr. 
William Baylor Ireland, in company with his son, 
took a holiday in September last, leaving the " City 
by the Lee" on the 10th of that month, and has 
just published in a pamphlet of sixty pages his 
impressions of what he saw on the tour through the 
south-western part of the Emerald Isle, including 
Connemara and Achil Island. The two latter 
places are extremely interesting on account of the 
primitive condition in which they still remain, not¬ 
withstanding their beauty and natural advantages. 
The peasantry engrossed Mr. Hartland’s attention 
most largely, but we should have liked if he had 
been mere free with his descriptions of the natural 
features of the country, the possibilities of agricul¬ 
ture, and the beauties of the wayside flora. It is 
true that he gives a list of the rare plants to be 
found in that part of the country, and which would 
be an interesting guide to the botanist who had time 
to go in search of the same; but for visitors and 
tourists generally a description or frequent mention 
of the more showy members of which he was an 
actual eye-witness would have been more calculated 
to attract tourists to that distant and beautiful part 
of the country. Agriculture does not seem to have 
improved during the last thousand years in certain 
districts. Turnip and Mangel seeds are bought in 
penny and twopenny worths to sow small patches, 
while the cattle feed upon the mountains, thus 
robbing the cultivated land of manure. Peat turves 
are put on the top of the chimneys to hinder the 
escape of the smoke so that the turves may get 
impregnated with soot and so constitute manure 
for the plots. We hope this is either exaggerated or 
not general, even in the poorer districts. 
The parson’s garden at a certain place near 
Letterfrack Bay, as is usually the case in rural 
districts, was (like an oasis in the desert with red 
Fuchsias, torch plants, Dahlias, etc. Fuchsia 
Ricartoni has run perfectly wild in several places in 
the West of Ireland, and if Mr. Hartland had 
attributed its dispersal to the agency of birds we 
should have believed him, but we turn sceptical 
when he speaks of the seeds of Rhododendrons, 
Ash, Oak, and Birch being dispersed by the way- 
sides and over the mountains through the agency of 
birds. The Aster maritimus mentioned should 
have been A. tripolium, even although the former 
name is very appropriate to the only native Aster 
we possess. Agriculture, even if it deserved the 
name of allotment gardening, is very primitive on 
Achil Island, as all the work is done by the women 
who use spades, shovels, and rakes instead of ploughs, 
cultivators, and harrows for the cropping of the 
land, while manure and other things are carried in 
panniers slung over the backs of small horses. 
Potatos are grown on the old lazy bed system, while 
Rye, Turnips, Mangels, and possibly Oats are grown 
in small plots. The Letterfrack Industrial School 
sets a bad example in cultural matters, yet Mr. 
Hartland thinks a big State Agricultural School on 
Achil would be productive of great reform in teach¬ 
ing the craft and practice of agriculture. 
Wayside Ireland, its Scenery, Agriculture, and Peasantry ; 
trip from Cork, through Connemara, Achil Island, etc. 
GRAPES FROM CANADA. 
We have recently had our attention called to a very 
interesting consignment of Grapes received in 
Liverpool from Canada. The consignment con¬ 
sisted of two baskets sent by Mr. Lowe, Deputy 
Minister of Agriculture at Ottawa, to Mr. Ennis, 
Manager of the Allan Steamship Co., Liverpool, 
and were dispatched by steamer from Montreal on 
October 13th. They reached Liverpool on the 23rd 
of the same month, and when opened were found to 
be in perfect condition, well coloured, sweet, and for 
open-air grown fruit both tempting in flavour and 
attractive in appearance; at least such was the 
condition of the sample we saw in London several 
days after its arrival in Liverpool, and v.e are 
assured that all were alike. The consignor, it 
seems, has experimented before in sending Grapes 
from Canada to this country, but made the mistake 
of packing the bunches in cork dust, which destroyed 
the flavour. Those we saw had simply been put 
carefully into ordinary fruit baskets as the bunches 
were cut off the vines and protected by having a 
piece of cloth sown over the top of the basket, and 
in this way they certainly travelled admirably. 
There appeared to be some half dozen sorts in the 
basket, but the major portion consisted of the 
variety known as the Salem, a brownish-looking 
Grape with a thickish skin, which seemed to us to 
be the sort most worthy of attention as a shipping 
Grape 
Writing to Mr. Ennis on October 12th, Mr. 
Lowe remarked that the Grapes in Canada at that 
time were good and the flavour as fine, he thought, 
as could be obtained from any Grapes. Experts, who 
have seen Grapes in all four quarters of the globe, 
also state that Canadian grown fruit is amongst the 
finest they have seen ; and, indeed, there can be no 
doubt, the climatic conditions of Canada are 
eminently favourable to the development of high-class 
quality. Grape culture in Canada is, we understand, 
already a considerable industry, and has made a 
fairly rapid growth. The Government statistician of 
the Department has shown that while the imports of 
Grapes in 1881 amounted to 3,697.555 lbs., and the 
weight of home-grown fruit was 424,848 lbs., in 
1891 the imports had fallen to 1,081,792 lbs., and the 
home growth had increased to 12,252,331 lbs.—over 
twelve and a quarter million pounds of Grapes in 
one year; and it is possible that the yearly increase 
since has been in a proportionate ratio. If, as it is 
believed, such Grapes as we saw can be grown in 
Canada as a paying farm crop at a penny per pound, 
and they can be shipped here in such condition as 
we have seen them, then, undoubtedly, a considerable 
trade in them is certain to be developed in the near 
future, and our growers of cheap Grapes would do 
well to look to the prospect ahead. 
--- 
GARDENERS’ MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT 
SOCIETIES. 
In the highly interesting and exceedingly instructive 
article upon the above subject, appearing upon page 
164 of the last issue of the Gardening World, for 
which we are indebted to C. B. G., some very 
pertinent and suggestive remark 1 : have been given 
to the public. The idea that he there puts forward, 
viz., that of asking questions at one meeting to be 
answered and discussed at a subsequent gathering is 
to me a new one. However, I am open to confess 
that it is a thoroughly good method of procedure, 
and one that is certainly fraught to a very large 
extent with possibilities for good. 
With regard to impromptu discussion I certainly 
did not advocate it as a perfect plan of working, I 
merely threw out the suggestion as an idea, the 
adoption of which I have seen attended with great 
success at the meetings of various improvement 
societies. As I have before remarked there is often 
a good deal of sameness in the programmes of 
associations of this kind, and, therefore, a little 
break in the monotony of the proceedings, a slight 
alteration in the bill of fare if you like, often proves 
of the greatest service in the infusing of new life 
among, and the imparting of an increased stock of 
enthusiasm to, the members. I also advocated this 
system as being eminently calculated to bring 
actively into play any readiness in public speaking 
that any of the members may possess. 
Doubtless, the system has its disadvantages, but 
at the same time I think C. B. G. will admit that it 
has its advantages also. The point he particularly 
urges in its disfavour is, in my humble opinion, 
just a little beside the mark. He states that nothing 
is to be gained by discussing subjects which one 
knows nothing about. This is perfectly true ! But 
might not the subjects so debated upon be closely 
related to the practical side of gardening, and as 
such quite within the range of ordinary gardeners to 
intelligently and advantageously discuss. In such 
cases the opportunities of comparing practice with 
practice are quite as numerous as those which result 
from the reading of an essay. On such occasions as 
these various small topics of interest can be easily 
brought upon the tapis and threshed out. However 
much we may differ upon the question as to which 
is the best and most advantageous way of eliciting 
information, and of both gaining and imparting 
knowledge, C. B. G. and myself are thoroughly at 
one about the aim and object of these and kindred 
associations, viz., that of supplying accurate informa¬ 
tion to enquiring minds. 
With regard to the selfish motive entering so 
largely into the reasons for the willingness of many 
people to read a paper before the Society when asked 
to do so, C. B. G. thinks I am a little ungenerous 
in making such a statement. Of course, as he 
anticipates me by saying I did not mean to generalise 
and I certainly did not intend to convey the idea that 
the selfish motive was always the most prominent 
one. Men who are able and willing to oblige the 
society by the reading of papers on suitable subjects 
are certainly great acquisitions, and as he 
rightly says, there are many secretaries of similar 
associations that would be only too glad to be able 
to lay their hands upon such men and to enlist their 
services as essayists to enable them to produce a 
tempting and instructive annual programme. 
Accordingly, we should not detract one iota from the 
tribute of thanks due to such men for their pains¬ 
taking exertions. However, as far as my personal 
experience goes, the selfish idea of “ how much good 
shall I do myself does enter very largely in many 
instances into the calculations of many writers of 
papers, and I doubt not that the experiences of many 
more habitues of meetings of Gardeners' Mutual 
Improvement Associations will, if carefully analysed, 
fully bear out what I have said in this respect.— G. 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
By John Fraser, F.L.S., Kew. 
The Orchids described hereunder were certificated 
according to merit by the Royal Horticultural 
Society on the 13th inst.:— 
Odontoglossum crispum Frantz Masereel, 
Nov. var .—The sepals of this very striking variety 
are heavily blotched with velvety-crimson-chocolate 
on a white ground. The petals are slightly ragged 
or cut at the edges and similarly coloured. The lip, 
on the contrary, is marked with fewer and smaller 
blotches. The cut flowers exhibited by MM. 
Vervaet & Cie, Mont St. Amand, Ghent, were 
moderate in size, but handsome. First-class Certifi¬ 
cate. 
Cypripedium Cyris, Nov. hyb .—The parents of 
this hybrid were C. villosum Boxalli atratumand C. 
Argus, the latter being the pollen bearer, and has 
influenced the progeny to a large extent. The upper 
sepal is large, white, shaded with green and heavily 
blotched with dark markings. The petals are some¬ 
what deflexed and, if anything, more brightly 
marked. The distinctive feature of the spotting is 
due to C. Argus. The dull green lip is heavily 
suffused with brown. First-class Certificate. Exhi¬ 
bited by Norman C. Cookson, Esq., Oakwood, 
Wylam-on-Tyne. 
Cattleya Fabia, Nov. hyb .—This is the product 
of C. labiata crossed with the pollen of C. Dowiana. 
The leaves are oblong and red beneath, whether the 
colour may be permanent or not. The sepals are 
lilac and the elliptic, slightly wavy petals a shade 
darker. The outer face of the tube of the lip is deep 
purple, while the lamina is of a rich dark purple of 
another shade with a lilac or nearly white edge. The 
tube internally is orange, striped with purple. 
Award of Merit. Exhibited by Messrs. J. Veitch & 
Sons, Chelsea. 
Epilaelia Hardyana, Nov. hyb. bigen .—The 
parent of this bigeneric hybrid was Laelia anceps 
and the pollen bearer Epidendrum ciliare. The 
pseudo-bulbs at present are 3 in. to 6 in. long and 
bear two leaves at the apex. The sepals and petals 
are linear-oblong and palest pink or tinted with buff 
