212 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 1, 1894. 
ing of the above might be looked upon as a 
continuation of the summer and autumn 
display, but there are other cases where the 
seasons have been forestalled. Huge 
bushes of Laurustinus are as conspicuous 
as they could be in spring ; but this happens 
so frequently that we look upon the 
phenomenon as natural in the south of 
England. Noisettes and certain other 
garden Roses are more or less laden with 
buds and blossom owing to continued growth. 
Spring has been anticipated, however, by 
beds of Polyanthus and by Auriculas in 
frames. The Rush or Spanish Broom 
flowers normally from July to September, 
but a large number of bushes in a shrubbery 
at Taplow, Berks, w'ould appear to have 
dropped seven months out of their calendar 
for they are now conspicuous with golden 
blossom. Many wild plants are in a similar 
condition including the white and purple 
flowered species of the White Dead Nettle. 
--- 
Royal Eotanic Society's Shows, 1895 —The following 
are the dates as at present arranged for the Royal 
Botanic Society’s Shows next year :—Spring shows, 
March 20th and April 24th: summer show, May 
15th; special floral fete, June 12th; evening fete, 
July 12th. 
The Decoration of Railway Stations.—The Midland 
Railway Company annually distribute £150 among 
the stationmasters throughout their system as prizes 
for the best kept platform flower beds and borders. 
This year the first prize has been again awarded to 
Matlock Bath, the popular Derbyshire health resort. 
Edgerston Horticultural Society, Jedburgh.— The 
members of the committee of this Society, and a 
few friends recently met and presented their 
Secretary and Treasurer, Mr. Richard McAndie, 
with a family Bible handsomely bound in Morocco, 
in acknowledgment of the valuable services he has 
rendered to the Society. The presentation was 
made by the President, Mr. McNair, and suitably 
acknowledged. 
Yew Trees in Churchyards. —Many have wondered, 
says the South Wales Daily News, why Yew Trees 
are always to be found in parish churchyards. It 
is because the old long and cross bows were made 
of Yew, and the parishioners got their wood from 
the parish acre. The Welsh of the Middle Ages 
were very expert with their bows, which, in the 
twelfth century, however, were made of wild elm. 
It was in the reign of Edward III. that most of 
the Yew trees were planted. The Welsh bowmen 
did yeoman service at Crecy, Poictiers, and Agin- 
court. 
Flowers for the Queen from New South Wales —By 
the Peninsular and Oriental steamer, the “ Arcadia,” 
which arrived in dock on the 17th ult., the Sydney 
National Horticultural and Pomological Society 
have sent some fine specimens of native flowers for 
presentation to Her Majesty the Queen. They 
comprise Clematis, Rock Lily, and Waratah. They 
were set in a vase and fastened with plaster of Paris, 
and were frozen by the Sydney Fresh Food and Ice 
Company in a block of ice weighing almost 7 cwt. 
In this state they were packed in an insulated box 
and placed in the refrigerating room of the steamer, 
and have arrived in splendid condition. They were 
sent on to Windsor on the 20th. No specimen of 
these flowers have previously been sent to Her 
Majesty, and they are the first of their kind which 
have ever left the colonies in a frozen state. 
Manuring of Hops. —It is proposed to hold a con¬ 
ference at the South Eastern Agricultural College, 
Wye, near Ashford, Kent, on Wednesday next, on 
“ The Manuring of Hops.” The object in calling the 
conference is twofold :—(1) To enable growers and 
scientific men to exchange opinions and experience 
on Hop cultivation. (2) To consult with the growers 
in what directions scientific work is likely to be of 
most service, and what investigations would be most 
useful. At the meeting, Mr. Monson, who has been 
carrying on experiments on Hops under the Kent 
County Council for the past two years, will give a 
summary of the results obtained, and the growers 
on whose Hops the experiments have been con¬ 
ducted will be invited to give their experiences. 
Professor Percival will also describe his recent in¬ 
vestigations into the cause of the disease known as 
" Nettle-heaJed Hops.” The conference commences 
at 3 p.m. 
National Auricula and Primula Society (Southern 
Section). —We learn from the Secretary that the 
annual general meeting of this Society was held in 
the room of the Horticultural Club, Hotel Windsor, 
Victoria Street, Westminster, on Saturday, Nov. 
24th, Edmund Charrington, Esq., presiding. The 
President, Vice-President, etc,, were re-elected, and 
the members of the Committee were re-elected with 
the exception of Mr. Lakin, who has withdrawn 
from the Society, Mr. M. Rowan being elected in 
his place. Mr. G. W. Wheelwright was elected one 
of the auditors. The financial statement by the 
Treasurer showed a balance in hand of £20 gs. 4d. 
The National Carnation and Picotee Society (Southern 
Section).— The annual meeting of this Society was 
held at the same time and place. Edmund 
Charrington, Esq., presiding in the unavoidable 
absence of the President. The President, Vice- 
President, and office bearers were re-elected with 
the exception of D. Bogue, Esq., Vice-President. 
J. S. Hedley, Esq., being elected in his place. Mr. 
J. Lakin and Mr. H. Headland having withdrawn 
from the Committee, Mr. Aubry Spurling and Mr. 
Ben Simonite were elected in their place. The 
financial statement by the treasurer was considered 
eminently satisfactory. The amount of £107 was paid 
in prizes, and the balance in favour of the Society is 
£159 3s. yd. 
The Lincolnshire Flora.—Writing to the Spalding 
Guardian, the Rev. E. Adrian Woodruffe-Peacock, 
Cadney Vicarage, Brigg, appeals for help for his 
“ Flora of Lincolnshire.” “ In working out the 
distribution of our common plants—to say nothing 
of the rarer ones—I find there are huge gaps in my 
‘register of localities ’ for the Kirton, Donington, 
Pinchbeck, Spalding, Holbeacb, and Long Sutton 
neighbourhoods and the Parts of Holland lying 
between these places. Will any local botanist send 
me a list cf the flora, including the commonest 
plants and trees, and where the specimens are at all 
rare giving the parish and date. A sketch also of 
the flora of the Wash shore in the parishes of 
Holbeach and Gedney would be most valuable to me. 
No botanist seems to have made a study of the 
neighbourhood since John Ray passed through it in 
1660 ; and since the drainage the flora has changed 
considerably. Next ;eason, I hope to study the 
district personally with a view especially to its rarer 
species; but lists such as I have suggested would be 
most valuable to determine the direction of future 
work. 
Damage to Plants by Parasitic Fungi. —The third of 
a series of lectures on horticulture for gardeners 
arranged by the Lancashire County Council was 
given in the Memorial Hall, Manchester, on the 
22nd inst., by Professor Weiss, whose subject was 
“Damage to Plants by Parasitic Fungi.” Mr. A. 
Stansfield presided, and in introducing the lecturer 
said the subject was of great importance to horticul¬ 
turists, for the enemies of plant life were numberless. 
Professor Weiss remarked that in his first lecture he 
dealt with injuries done to plants by climatic con¬ 
ditions such as fog. In his present lecture he desired 
to speak of the injuries caused by vegetable parasites 
to plants and to crops. Fungi, he pointed out, 
attacked living as well as dead tissues, animal and 
vegetable. On that occasion, however, they had to 
consider more particularly the fungi which attacked 
the living tissues of plants and absorbed their nutri¬ 
ment. The lecturer proceeded to draw attention to 
some parasitic forms and to suggest means for their 
extinction or modification. He urged that it was of 
the greatest importance to horticulturists to know 
the life history of any particular fungus from a 
scientific point of view, and remarked that in supply¬ 
ing this knowledge the botanist was in a position to 
assist the horticulturist. 
At the Middlesex County Sessions on the 24th, 
William Kemp, gardener of South Norwood, was 
indicted for obtaining by false pretences divers sums 
of money from his employer, Mr. Alexander, of 
Teddington, and goods from Messrs. Protheroe & 
Morris, of Cheapside, and Messrs. John Laing & 
Sons, of Forest Hill. The jury found the prisoner 
guilty, and Mr. Loveland-Loveland sentenced him 
to twelve months hard labour. 
AN EARLY GARDENING BOOK. 
I have just come across a very interesting article in 
an old gardening wo-k, entitled: “ The Earliest 
Gardening Book,” published in the city. This was 
Paradisi in Sole ParadisusTerrestris, of which, no doubt t 
many of the readers of The Gardening World have 
heard, as copies of it can still be purchased, though it 
commands a good price, as it is very scarce. This book 
was written and published by a citizen of London, 
namely, John Parkinson, apothecary, of London, in 
1629, and printed by Humphrey Lownes and Robert 
Young at the Starre in Bread Street Hill. In addi¬ 
tion to the Latin title of the book, it is termed, “ A 
garden of all sorts of pleasant flowers^ which our 
soil will be allowed to be nourished up with, a kitchen 
garden of all manners of herbs, roots, and trees, for 
meat and sauce used with us ; and an orchard of all 
sorts of fruit-bearing trees and shrubs fit for our 
land, together with the right ordering, planting, and 
preserving of them, and their uses and virtues ; with 
an engraved title page representing the Garden of 
Eden; In 612 pages, and with 100 wood cuts of 
flowers and fruits, 17 wood cuts of gardens, and 
a portrait cf the author, dedicated to the Queen 
(Elizabeth).” What an important book this must 
have been, and, indeed, still is. And the London of 
that day ! If this old citizen gardener could come to 
life again and see London as it is in our times, he 
would be as nonplussed as Rip Van Winkle was 
when he awoke from that long sleep upon the Cats- 
kill Mountains. 
I am always deeply interested in the representa¬ 
tion of the Garden of Eden. Adam is there, 
apparently gathering a fruit from some standard 
tree, and Eve is busy tending some flowering plant. 
Plow quaint the scene is, and the prospective utterly 
disproportionate. Various trees are there, and in 
the centre one laden with fruit—does it represent 
the Tree of Life, or the tree of Knowledge of Good 
and Evil ? There is a Tulip in the foreground, 
apparently half the height of Adam ; there is the 
Pineapple, Colchicum Lily, Dogtooth Violet, Cacti, 
etc. A vine bearing fruit has twined itself about a 
tree, and the Baromete or Vegetable Lamb. The 
serpent which beguiled the woman has not yet 
appeared upon the scene, the grand old gardener and 
his wife have not yet “ by man’s disobedience and 
the fruit of that forbidden tree ” gained the fateful 
knowledge of good and evil. Adam was told he 
might eat freely of every tree in the garden except¬ 
ing only the Tree of Knowledge. We may, there¬ 
fore, suppose that he would be sure to partake of 
the Tree of Life, which from its prominent position 
“ in the midst of the garden ” would naturally attract 
his attention. Like the sacred Soma Tree of the 
Hindus, the Tree of Life probably yielded heavenly 
ambrosia, and supplied to Adam food that 
invigorated and refreshed him with its immortal 
sustenance. So long as he remained in obedience, 
he was privileged to partake of this glorious food, 
but when yielding to Eve’s solicitations he disobeyed 
the Divine command, and partook of the fruit of the 
Tree of Knowledge, he found it had given to him the 
knowledge of evil—something of which he had 
hitherto been in happy ignorance (“ Folkard’s 
Plant Lore”), and so the story of a traditional fall 
goes. 
This we do know—that gardens were cultivated in 
England at an early period, and Fitz Stephen, the 
historian, who flourished about the time of Henry 
11,(1154), informs “ that those citizens who dwelt 
in the suburbs of London, had large and beautiful 
gardens surrounding their villas," but we also learn 
that these paradisi are rare instances and contained 
scarcely anything besides a few useful herbs and 
medicinal plants, or a profusion of trees frequently 
cut and tortured into fantastic shapes, so that 
gardens approximating to our present ideas and for 
the cultivation of rare and beautiful flowers, scarcely 
can be said to have existed prior to the reign of 
Elizabeth. About that time fresh impulse was given 
to their cultivation, and a number of elegant exotics 
were brought to this country by merchants and 
travellers from all parts of the world. Sir Walter 
Raleigh introduced a variety of new plants from the 
countries he visited ;—from Flanders, the South of 
France, and also from Virginia, and South America, 
and many persons of learning and distinction directed 
their attention to the subject, and among these none 
were more celebrated than the Duke of Northumber¬ 
land, at Sion House, under the care of Dr. Turner. 
