436 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 9, 1895. 
ciation in land, it is satisfactory and grati¬ 
fying to the average Briton that so much 
energy still actuates the hearts of the nation 
at large to surmount difficulties and act up 
to the modern exigencies of the situation, 
and that British intellect and invention 
still urge forward the march of progress, 
ringing the changes of the time. It is true 
that we occasionally hear a cry that we 
are behind the times, and that our neigh¬ 
bours are in advance of us in education and 
many other social advantages, but the cry 
is only the whipper-in to make the last 
man stand to his duty. 
Horticultural periodicals from time to 
time discuss all sorts of questions in rela¬ 
tion to arboriculture, but that subject 
embraces only the minor aspects of the 
situation, and refers chiefly to the planting 
and tending of trees for shelter, more 
especially in the neighbourhood of mansions, 
and for ornamental effect. Sylviculture 
embraces the larger subject, and refers to 
the formation of woods and forests and the 
production of timber for commercial pur¬ 
poses. The article in our pages upon the 
subject is only an echo of the activity and 
agitation for more in this direction. Allot¬ 
ments and small holdings come more 
directly under the eye of every one, and 
they, together with fruit farming on a larger 
scale, must, in the near future, affect more 
and more the question at issue, namely, 
the increased value of the land and the 
betterment of those upon it. This must 
result largely from improved methods of 
cultivation and a greater number of workers 
in the field. Education and a wider 
diffusion of practical knowledge must aid 
largely in bringing about the consummation 
of this desirable end. It is useless to urge 
that the land is too dear when so much of 
it is represented to be tenantless and going 
to waste. Land is a mine of wealth if the 
necessary labour is brought to bear upon, 
and to cultivate it. If the laws are bad, 
and the ways and means inadequate, then 
the former must be amended and the latter 
brought up to the requirements. Such 
difficulties should act as incentives to the 
exercise of British tact, ingenuity and 
energy to surmount them. 
Complaints about railway rates are often 
loud, and the small holder is more handi¬ 
capped than the large one, owing to the 
proportionally much larger rates for the 
carriage of small consignments. This 
might be surmounted by combinations of 
growers, not for compulsion, but for 
mutual advantage. By making one con¬ 
signment out of many small ones, the rail¬ 
way charges would be reduced in propor¬ 
tion to the smaller division of labour 
necessitated in attending to many small 
parcels from different owners. On the 
Continent there are agents for collecting 
fruits, flowers, and vegetables, and carrying 
out the above principle, so that the plan, in 
the absence of a better, might be adopted 
here to the advantage of all concerned. In 
all cases it has already been proved that 
small tenants pay the landlord better than 
none ; for land on his own hands frequently 
suffers neglect from the fact that he himself 
cannot, or will not, attend to it personally. 
Gardeners cannot be indifferent to any 
or all of the above means which are being 
initiated and extended for the benefit of 
land in general and its proprietors ; for what 
is advantageous to the greatest number, 
cannot but make itself felt amongst the 
few, and gardens must reap the benefits, 
even indirectly, in the shape of more help 
in the garden, better appliances and other¬ 
wise. Nor are we insensible to the part 
which gardeners generally are playing in 
the general struggle for better times. 
There is abundant evidence everywhere 
that gardeners are quietly working out their 
own share of the strife, and urging on the 
claims of the profession to the warm atten¬ 
tion of their fellow workers in the matter 
of general and special education. Gar¬ 
deners’ mutual improvement societies are 
multiplying abundantly throughout the land, 
and industrious workers are labouring for 
the good of the general cause as well as 
their own, as if the national welfare were 
dependent upon them. 
Abroad, we read of the celebration of 
the Carnival or the Battle of Flowers, and 
to us it may seem but extravagance, 
pageant, foolery, and “ the mummery of 
foreign strollers,” but as we form no part 
of them and cannot understand their ways, 
neither can we appreciate their national 
peculiarities, nor sympathise with them. 
They may even regard our peculiarities in 
the same light. On the other hand, we 
can note them in their more sober moments 
and in their steady devotion to business. 
On the other side of the “ silver streak ” 
are those who are contemplating with 
grave apprehension the possibilities of the 
great English colony at the Cape, and the 
likelihood of the colonists to shut them out 
from the English markets by means of 
their huge and extensive consignments of 
fruit grown on the broad acres and under 
the sunny skies of the Cape. 
-•*-- 
The Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution.—We 
have great pleasure in making the announcement 
that the Duke of Fife K.T., P.C., has kindly con¬ 
sented to preside at the 56th Anniversary Festival of 
of this Institution to be held at the Hotel Metropole 
on June 28th next. 
United Horticultural Provident and Benefit Society — 
The annual meeting of this Society will take place on 
Monday next at 8 p m., at the Caledonian Hotel, 
Adelphi Terrace, when Mr. George Gordon will take 
the chair. 
Great Quinquennial Bulb Show at Haarlem.—The 
fifth great quinquennial bulb show will be held by 
the Royal Bulb Society at Haarlem from March 
22nd to the 26th. The competition is open to mem¬ 
bers of the Society only, but most of the leading bulb- 
growiQg firms of the district will be among the 
exhibitors. The schedule of prizes consists of 132 
classes, viz.: twenty for Hyacinths, twenty-two for 
Tulips, and twelve for Narcissi, the others being 
devoted to all kinds of miscellaneous bulbs and 
bouquets. Among the medals offered, there are 
twenty-five gold ones, and some hundreds of silver- 
gilt, silver and bronze medals, and extra premiums. 
The Judges will be experienced bulb growers chosen 
from among those who will not exhibit, and in a 
number of classes the system of judging by points 
will be resorted to. The show will be held in the large 
music hall and annexes of the “ Vereeniging ” Club at 
Haarlem, and will be opened on March 22nd at 1 
p.m. Intending visitors from abroad will be heartily 
welco med. 
The Kew Gu Id.—The second annual meeting of this 
Society was held in the Garden Library on the 
evening of Thursday, March 28th, when the affairs 
of the past season were discussed by the members 
present, and the officers and committee for the ensu¬ 
ing year were elected. A number of old Kewites 
attended, some of whom had journeyed to the place 
of meeting from distant parts of the country, and 
these with the large number of the present staff of 
gardeners employed at Kew, filled the room to over¬ 
flowing. Consequently, although the discussion 
throughout was of the most amicable character, the 
atmosphere was certainly, to say the least of it, some¬ 
what heated. The Society is decidedly much too 
large a one to be accommodated in so small a room, 
and altogether the members will, we think, hail with 
delight the news that next year it is proposed to find 
a more commodious room in which to hold the 
annual meeting. The secretary's report of last year s 
proceedings, and of the financial condition of the 
Society was on the whole of a cheering and satis¬ 
factory character, and augurs well for the future wel¬ 
fare of the Guild. The Editor of the Journal of the 
Guild, Mr Watson, read several extracts from 
letters from old Kewites from well nigh all parts of 
the globe, in which nothing but sincere sympathy 
with the movement and an earnest desire for its great 
success was manifested. Bearing in mind the diffi¬ 
culty experienced by some of the members, whose 
lot is cast in foreign countries, in the forwarding of 
their subscriptions annually, it was decided to allow 
any member who wished to do so to commute the 
annual subscription of one shilling by a payment of 
a lump sum of twenty shillings. Votes of thanks to 
the chairman and committee for their services during 
the past year, terminated an enjoyable and satisfac¬ 
tory evening. 
Shirley and District Gardeners' Improvement 
Association. —An extra meeting of this Society was 
held in the district of St. Denys, Southampton, on 
February 28th, Mr. B. Ladhams presiding, when 
Mr. J. Amys, gardener to the Hon. Mrs. E. Yorke, 
gave an interesting and instructive lecture on “ Rota¬ 
tion of Crops for Cottage Gardens and Allotments.’’ 
Mr. Amys said that a cottager secured three great 
advantages by giving proper care and attention to 
his plot of land—health, pleasure and profit, his 
business that evening being with the latter. He then 
gave a detailed account of the necessary work, 
and a list of the most suitable things for a cottager to 
grow, recommending his hearers to look back each 
December on the past year's work, noting failures 
and successes for future guidance. A valuable 
discussion ensued on various points of culture, 
especially the desirability or otherwise of sowing 
Beans and Peas in the autumn ; the lecturer always 
sowing his under shelter on the 1st of February. A 
hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Amys. 
Spiraea Confusa. —Many of the Spiraeas are de¬ 
servedly held in great esteem as decorative plants 
for the greenhouse or conservatory, and although 
but rarely met with in comparison to its undoubted 
merits, S. confusa is well worthy the cultivator’s 
attention. A native of Northern Asia, it grows to 
a height of from 2 ft. to 4 ft., and when in flower 
is really a handsome plant. The flowers are 
white, and are borne in dense corymbs, the 
leaves elliptic-lanceolate in shape, with their margins 
serrated to a greater or less degree, the under sur¬ 
face of the leaf being hairy. S. confusa is the 
name under which it is most commonly met with 
in gardens, although S. media would appear to be its 
true title ; S. oblongifolia is another name by which 
it is also known among men. 
Greyia Sutherland'!. —A Specimen of the above 
plant is at present a conspicuous occupant of the 
cool end of the succulent house at Kew, where it 
has been flowering for the past few weeks. From 
a gardener’s point of view it is very questionable if 
Greyia Sutherlandi has much to recommend it, as 
its appearance is undoubtedly decidedly more curious 
than ornamental from its gnarled appearance as 
well as its complete freedom from foliage during the 
flowering season. The flowers are dark red in colour, 
five-petaled and disposed in thick terminal racemes. 
To flower it properly, the plant needs to be fully 
exposed to the sun during the growing season. A 
season of rest must, however, be accorded it after 
growth is completed, during which little or no water 
should be given it. It is a native of Natal, from 
whence it was introduced about the year 1859, and 
is named after Sir George Grey, some time 
Governor-General of Cape Colony. 
Rhododendron Arboreum.— Visitors to the Tem¬ 
perate House at Kew can scarcely fail to notice 
in a bed set apart for the cultivation of some 
of the Himalayan Rhododendrons, a specimen of 
R. arboreum, some 15 ft. or 18 ft. in height, 
that is, at the time of writing, in full flower. 
The trusses of bloom are not large, being about 
4 in. in diameter, but they are densely packed 
with a large number of the showy rich crimson 
flowers that cannot fail to arrest the attention and 
claim the interest of even a careless passer-by. From 
the large size which the tree attains it is obvious 
that it is only in establishments where plenty of 
space is available that it can be grown, and it always 
succeeds best when planted out in a specially pre¬ 
pared bed, as at Kew, filled with a suitable compost. 
Like most of the rest of its congeners, a large pro¬ 
portion of peat in the compost is a necessity, and 
abundant and perfect drainage an essential to its 
well-being. R. arboreum has been largely utilised 
by the hybridiser in the production of intermediate 
forms, and many of its offspring are of considerable 
horticultural value. They usually flower early in 
the season, a quality which is not altogether an un¬ 
mixed blessing, as the late spring frosts, which so 
often visit us, play considerable havoc with them 
unless they are protected from their blighting in¬ 
fluences in some way. 
