June 22, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
677 
very profusely. Among the finest in blossom were 
the single and double Cherry, Pear, Apple, Horse 
Chestnut, Laburnum, and Pavia. No frost having 
occurred when the tress were in blossom a heavy 
fruit crop might safely be anticipated. The rock 
garden was very attractive during the month, many 
more plants having come into bloom than was 
usually found in May. No fewer than 346 specie s 
and varieties come into flower, as against 227 for 
May of last year. Mr. R. L. Harrow, in his “Notes 
on Plants in the Plant-houses,” stated that about 
220 plants had flowered since last meeting, rather 
more than 200 of these being species. This exceeded 
the number recorded for 1894 by nearly 100 species. 
Of these a large number were new to the collection, 
to which they had recently been added. The exhibits 
displayed included a fine series of Alpine plants from 
the Botanic Garden, and an interesting series of 
modern forms of the Viola, the result of crossings, 
shown by Mr. Grieve. 
Arbor Day in the United States.—A day has been 
fixed upon annually for the planting of trees, by a 
great number of the states of the American Union. 
The law which has established Arbor Day in the 
State of New York dates only from 1888, and in 
three years it has planted on a fixed day more than 
25,000 trees. 
SUMMER SCHOOL OF HORTICULTURE. 
Prospectus. 
A short course of elementaiy instruction in horti¬ 
culture will be given at the County Technical 
Laboratories, Chelmsford, during the first three 
weeks in July, 1895. The classes will be held daily 
from nine till five o’clock for lectures, laboratory 
practice, and garden work. Twelve scholarships 
are offered by the committee for competition. 
Candidates must be residents in the county, be 
between the ages of fourteen and twenty-five, and be 
either already employed in a garden, or seeking 
such employment. Selected candidates working 
satisfactorily will receive free instruction, use of 
instruments, tools, etc., and a maintenance allow¬ 
ance of fifteen shillings a week during the course. 
One railway fare to and from Chelmsford will also 
be allowed. A limited number of applications are 
invited from persons interested in the study of horti¬ 
culture, and desirous of attending the course with a 
view of teaching the elements of horticulture in 
evening classes or continuation schools. These will 
be admitted to the classes free, upon conditions that 
may be ascertained by writing to the secretary. 
Applications must be made on printed forms which 
may be had on application to the Secretary, County 
Offices,Chelmsford. The application forms must have 
been filled up and sent in on or before Friday, the 
14th inst. The staff-lecturer on biology (D. Houston, 
County Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford), will be 
pleased to give intending candidates any information 
respecting the course. 
Syllabus. 
The proposed course of study is intended to give 
sound elementary instruction in the cultivation of 
plants, based upon a knowledge of plant physiology. 
The teaching throughout will be practical: every 
lecture will be abundantly illustrated and immedi¬ 
ately followed by demonstrations and individual 
practical work by the students themselves. There 
will be weekly revision and tutorial classes at which 
questions may be asked and answered, and puzzling 
or obscure matters more fully discussed or explained. 
Students will be required to attend each class meet¬ 
ing, to keep a daily record of the work done, and 
will be expected to devote two hours beyond class 
time each day, to writing up notes, etc. The course 
will include :—(1) Three lectures on chemistry as 
applied to horticulture, with demonstrations in the 
chemical laboratory. (2) Fifteen lectures on the 
physiology of plants, with garden demonstrations 
and individual practical work in the biological 
laboratory. (3) Nine lectures on horticultural 
operations and practices by Mr J. Fraser (late of 
Kew Gardens), editor of The Gardening World, 
accompanied by greenhouse and garden demonstra¬ 
tions and individual practical work by the students. 
(4) Two lectures and demonstrations on diseases of 
plants due to fuDgi. (5) A lecture and demonstra¬ 
tion on injuries to plants due to insects. A perusal 
of the time-table will give the best idea of 
the scope and arrangement of the subjects intended 
to be taught in the proposed course. 
EARLY PEAS. 
Mr. Cockerill’s note last week on this subject is 
not so serviceable as it might have been, had he 
given us the date on which his Peas were sown, 
together with the aspect and the nature of his soil. 
That emanating from Mr. Pentney on “American 
Wonder” is far from more instructive, showing as it 
does how this useful variety should be treated to ensure 
satisfactory results. The same remarks will apply 
with equal force to " Chelsea Gem,” for it is in their 
adaptability for forcing that the true value of these 
dwarf kinds are to be found. That there are other 
early varieties more satisfactory for sowing in the 
open there can be no question about. Experience 
has taught me too, that some sorts do much better 
in certain soils and localities than do others, so when 
I have discovered a good thing, suiting my require¬ 
ments and conditions, I stick to it, however old- 
fashioned its name, for novelty alone is no recom¬ 
mendation to me. 
I give you herewith a list of a few varieties with 
dates of sowing and gathering, but would premise 
that my soil is a] very stiff loam on a clay subsoil, 
and practical men know well that such a soil more 
than nullifies many advantages of climate for early 
vegetation, as compared with that of an open friable 
character. “ Veitch’s Selected Extra Early” was 
sown on turf strips in a cold frame on 12th March, 
and the first gathering was made on the 1st June. 
The same variety sown on the same date in the open 
gave the first gathering on the 6th June. Veitch's 
Exonian sown on the same date gave the first 
gathering on the 8th June (my first trial of this 
excellent Pea, and it has come to stay). Dickson’s 
First and Best sown on the same date was first 
gathered on the 12th June (this is a very old 
favourite of mine, as, in addition to being fairly 
early, it is an extremely prolific and continuous 
bearer). This last named is growing on a border 
with a western aspect, the others on a southern 
border. 
Veitch’s Exonian sown on the i8ih March in 
open quarters I am now gathering from, obtaining 
plenty of plump well-filled pods. Veitch's Earliest 
Marrow sown on the same date and side by side, 
will be at its best next week. 
For a succession I have Gladiator, Dr. Maclean, 
Veitch’s Perfection and Criterion, all of which are 
varieties for mid-season hard to beat. For general 
and late supplies I stand or fall by Autocrat, Em¬ 
peror of the Marrow, Bristish Queen, aud Ne Plus 
Ultra. Autocrat is a grand late Pea of medium 
height, but where a tall grower is not objected to 
Ne Plus Ultra has yet to be beaten for late supplies. 
The foregoing remarks are intended solely for utility 
purposes. For exhibition I am well aware there are 
more showy kinds. Neither do I pretend to have 
named anything like a full list of useful sorts, for our 
great seed firms show a commendable rivalry in 
raising, noting and fixing by careful selection and 
cultivation any useful deviation from an original 
type of one and all our garden products. It remains 
for us gardeners to test intelligently, select what 
answers our purpose and conditions, and if we 
attempt to report to do so impartially.— J. Seward, 
June 17 th. - 
In the Gardening World received this morning 
(14th inst.) I notice your correspondent, “ Thos. 
Cockerill,” mentions some varieties of Peas sown on 
the same date. They are varieties which I hive not 
grown, so cannot confirm his statements. There is 
not much to be said in their favour if we may be 
allowed to compare them with an old Pea, William 
the First, a sample of which I send you. I 
gathered the first dish yesterday, but might have 
done so on the 10th inst. They were sown in the 
open quarter on the 13th of March. Excuse me 
referring also to Mr. Pentney’s experience of Pea 
Veitch’s American Wonder; he sowed them “in 
pots on the 6th February, and placed the pots in a 
cool vinery. He planted them at the foot of a south 
aspect wall in March, and gathered his first dish 
during the second week of May.” Peas grown as 
the above cannot well be said to have been grown in 
the open. Gardeners have enough to do without 
adopting such coddling practices, for so small a result. 
— G.T., Urtica Villa, Knap Hill, Woking, 14 th June, 
1895. 
-—-- 
Monument to Mr. A. J. Downing —A movement is 
on foot to erect a fitting memorial to the late A. J. 
Downing, the eminent writer on horticultural topics, 
and founder of the park systems of America. 
LADY GARDENERS IN CONFERENCE. 
In connection with the women’s branch of the 
Horticultural College, Swanley, a meeting was hel 
in the Indian room of the town residence of Lord 
Brassey, 24, Park Lane, London, on the 14th inst., 
Lord Grey occupying the chair. Lord and Lady 
Brassey, Dean Hole, and many other notable people 
were unavoidably absent, but Earl Grey and several 
others turned up during the course of the meeting. 
The fine room, entirely encased with oak carving 
from floor to roof and galleries, was crowded with 
people, the larger proportion of whom were ladies. 
The chairman introduced Miss Goodrich Freer, who 
sketched the progress of the women’s branch of the 
College, which was founded in 1891. In the course 
of her remarks she said that women had as much 
right to be trained to work as men, and that quality 
more than quantity of work was to be expected from 
them. They generally had great taste in the arrange¬ 
ment of flowers and similar work. Of those who 
had already passed through the College, some were 
superintending gardening operations at home, some 
had occupations in market gardens, and two, at 
least, had situations as head gardeners. There was 
no intention to train women to do the work of 
labourers; but, on the other hand, most of the 
students were specialists in some branch or other, 
and the College was giving them an education on a 
good, solid, and scientific basis. 
Mrs. Williamson was the next speaker, who dis¬ 
cussed the work of the College from an educational 
point of view. She said that work was compatible 
with an educated life, and that gardening in itself 
was a powerful educator. Botany, physiology of 
plant life, chemistry, geology, and other cognate 
sciences were all related to the science of gardening, 
and should receive attention. Education in the 
future should co-operate with nature to improve 
upon the natural conditions of plant life. Amongst 
other things the suitability of environment must be 
studied, and the duty of the educator was to train 
the eye and the mind from this point of view. It 
was from such a study that the painter often gleaned 
his first ideas in the working out of his picture. 
Professor Henslow spoke of “ The Relation of 
Science to the Art of Gardening,” and took occasion 
to mention several instances where the practical 
man had rendered considerable service to science, 
and, on the contrary, described cases in which 
science had come to the practitioner's aid, and that 
both had often worked together for the mutual 
advantage of both. He entertained an attentive 
audience for a considerable length of time, touching 
upon various experiments that had been made, and 
suggestions proved or disproved as the case might 
be. Heinstanced the starting points in the hybridising 
and cross-breeding of flowers and fruits, and the 
improvements that have been effected in Straw¬ 
berries, Parsnips, Radishes, Shirley Poppies, and 
other subjects, mostly by practical men. He 
described the discovery of manurial and commercial 
value of coproiites as a source of phosphate of lime, 
and later on expressed some doubt as to whether any 
more of our wild plants could be improved and 
rendered fit for human use, but saw no absolute 
reason why it could not be done. 
Mr. J. W. Luckhurst, of the Horticultural College, 
Swanley, described the working out of science in rela¬ 
tion to the work done at the College. Hegives practi¬ 
cal demonstrations at the College, and said he was 
deeply indebted to science in his practical work. 
He invited the students to come to him with ques¬ 
tions and difficulties, and after a time they did come, 
showing that they were in earnest by their attention 
and note taking. He himself was indebted to a 
knowledge of artificial manures in making the 
cropping and management of a large farm pay. 
Foreign competition, he said, was abominable when 
we should produce the necessary crops ourselves. 
Horticulture will be more important in the future 
than in the past to this country. He hates rule-of- 
thumb practice, and gives the students a reason for 
everything he instructs them to do. Miss Currey, 
Lismore, Ireland, spoke of gardening as a profession 
for women, and instanced the work in which she 
took special delight in her own experimental garden. 
Mrs. Westlake pleaded for the endowment of 
scholarships for those who after a year's training 
proved themselves worthy of such support. Mr. 
Powell moved a vote of thanks to the speakers, and 
spoke of the good work being done in the training of 
women who were conscientious and patient in their 
work. Mrs. Fawcett supported the vote and 
indicated a desire to place herself in the position of 
a student that she might learn and enjoy the secrets 
and advantages of the profession. She was warmly 
applauded. Lord Grey, in replying, said that he 
was pleased with what he had seen at Swanley, and 
that the College was a national experimental ins'itu- 
tion producing work of lasting value. 
