January 21, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
321 
Royal Horticultural Society. —In another column 
we give the substance of the report which will be 
presented to the Fellows at the annual meeting of 
the Society on Feb. 14th. The retiring members of 
the Council are Baron Schroder, Rev. W. Wilks, 
and Mr. Sherwood; and Sir John T. D. Llewelyn, 
Bart., the Hon. Walter Rothschild, and Mr. J. T. 
Bennett-Poe are nominated for election. Mr. Wilks 
retires from the Council, but is nominated forelection 
as paid Secretary. Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., and 
Mr. Crowley are again nominated as President and 
Treasurer; and Mr. Harry Turner, Mr. Henry 
Williams and Mr. A. H. Pearson as Auditors. 
The Blenheim Sale, conducted by Messrs. Protheroe 
& Morris on 10th and nth inst., was an exceed¬ 
ingly successful one, the 1,120 lots realising over 
.£1,700. The special feature of the sale was the 
high prices obtained for the splendidly grown Carna¬ 
tions of the Malmaison and other winter flowering 
varieties. Thus for the new pink variety of Mal¬ 
maison, three plants in 10-in. pots, fetched from 55s. 
to 65s. per lot, and in half-dozens realised from 4 gs. 
to £5 ; Germania, three plants in 10-in. pots, 50s. to 
70s.; Winter Cheer averaged 2 gs. per lots of twenty 
plants, and £4 for lots of fifty ; and Miss Joliffe 
Improved 2 gs. per lot of twenty ; mixed lots of 
eight plants fetched from 32s. 6d. to 35s.; and 
twenty plants from 60s. to 72s. 6d. Other good 
prices obtained were 7J gs. and 8Jgs. for twelve pots 
of Nerine Fothergillii major; Crotons, 50s. to 75s. 
per half-dozen; Anthurim Schertzerianum, a 
magnificent plant with hundreds of leaves, £34 13s., 
and other specimens £22 is. and 17 gs. each; and 
Pancratium fragrans £2 5s. for half a dozen. 
Lee, Blackheath and Lewisham Horticultural Society. 
—The twenty-fifth annual meeting of this society 
was held on the 9th inst., a{ the Institute, Lee. In 
the absence of the president, J. Penn, Esq., M.P., 
the chair was occupied by the treasurer, M. N- 
Buttanshaw, Esq., who, in the course of his remarks, 
complimented the members upon the completion of 
a quarter of a century of useful work, and upon a 
satisfactory cash statement, which showed a balance 
in hand of about £31, although a larger amount had 
been paid away in prizes, but this they did not 
grudge, as it was evidence that the society was in a 
healthy and progressive state. After the election of 
the new committee (twenty-four in number), and the 
election of the Bishop of Southwark as a member 
and patron, votes of thanks were accorded to the 
various officers and special prize givers, the Press, 
and the chairman. At the next meeting, to be held 
on the 27th inst., a paper will be read by Mr. George 
Gordon. 
Scottish Horticultural Association. —Mr. A. Macal- 
pine, Consulting Botanist to the Highland and Agri¬ 
cultural Society, delivered on Wednesday, the 
nth inst., the third of a series of lectures on " The 
Structure and Physiology of Cultivated Plants.” 
He dealt specially with what the plant does with the 
materials it took from the soil and the air, and 
demonstrated how it worked them up into starch or 
sugar, fat, and proteids in its workshops, and how 
these materials are rendered soluble and utilised, and 
in doing so stated the conditions that favour the pro¬ 
cess of reconverting the plastic reserve material. 
On the black board he showed the places or vessels 
that carry these soluble matters, and explained how 
these materials were used up in producing root, stem 
and leaf. There was a large attendance of the mem¬ 
bers, and they frequently applauded the lecturer. In 
his fourth and last lecture, delivered last week, Mr. 
Macalpine dealt specially with the organs of repro¬ 
duction, and treated the interesting subject in a very 
able manner. Mr. Welsh, who presided, moved a 
vote of thanks to the lecturer, which was unani¬ 
mously accorded. 
Measurements of Famous Trees. —At a recent 
meeting of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, the 
president, Dr. Christison, gave an interesting address 
on the size and rate of growth of forest trees. He 
gave the honour of being considered the king of 
English Oaks to the Newland Oak in the forest of 
Dean, which nowhere girthed less than 40 ft. The 
largest Oak in Scotland was in Lanarkshire, and was 
23 ft. in girth at the narrowest part. The Newbattle 
Beech had the honour of being not only the King of 
Scottish trees, but the largest and grandest in the 
kingdom. Its girth at the ground was 43 ft., and 18 
ft. 2 in. at the narrowest part, 8£ ft. from theground. 
The circumference of the foliage was 400 ft. Of the 
Ash there was no specimen in Scotland reaching the 
giant girth of 20 ft. at 5 ft. up; and the same was 
true of Scots Fir, the largest of which seemed to be 
13 or 14 ft. in girth. With reference to the probable 
age cf trees, Dr. Christison pointed out how unreli¬ 
able historical evidence on this subject was. The 
counting of the annual rings was also inaccurate, but 
the information was sufficiently good for a rough 
estimate to a very advanced period of their life. A 
third species of data was furnished by the girth 
measurements. Applying the best data available to 
the growth of the Newbattle Beech, he made out 
that possibly at the present time it would be about 
233 years of age. 
Lord Carrington on small holdings —At a meeting 
held at March on the nth inst., an interesting speech 
was delivered by Lord Carrington in relation to the 
allotments and small holdings on his estates in Lin¬ 
colnshire. He said that twenty labourers would 
have left Winteringham last winter to migrate into 
town if it had not been'for their small holdings, and 
he had applications for 120 more holdings. One- 
acre allotments are usually divided into two pieces, 
one of which was occupied with Barley and the other 
with Potatos. The average profit upon one acre of 
these lots was £4 last year after deducting all ex¬ 
penses, but in 1889 it was as low as £3 18s., and in 
1890 as high as £3 18s. In one case last year the 
profit was £6 10s. The average profit for the last 
four years upon the quarter of an acre allotments 
was £1 ios., thus showing a considerable advantage 
over the one acre lots. The highest profit on a 
quarter of an acre lot was where the tenant grew 
Potatos, and after retailing the two tons obtained, 
pocketed a sum of £8. The case of the Spalding 
allotments, consisting of thirty-three acres and 
divided into as many lots, is also very encouraging. 
The net gain for the whole field after paying all ex¬ 
penses was £211. The highest profit for one acre 
was £8 13s. 3d. on a crop of Potatos, and the lowest 
profit was £3 gs. 9d. on a crop of Barley. The 
average profit per acre on the whole field was £6 8s., 
and should therefore be encouraging to the pro¬ 
moters of small holdings and allotments. It would 
have been interesting to horticulturists generally if 
trials had been made of various garden vegetables, 
and the calculations of cost of production and profit 
made out in the same painstaking and careful 
manner. Distance from large towns would of course 
affect the profits upon many kinds of vegetables con¬ 
siderably. The differences upon the profits made by 
the various cultivators show how one man may 
succeed by superior ability where another might fail. 
---d-- 
THE NURSERY AND SEED TRADE 
ASSOCIATION. 
The adjourned annual general meeting of this asso¬ 
ciation was held at the offices, 30, Wood Street, 
Cheapside, on the nth inst., Mr Sherwood presiding. 
The Report of the Committee for the past year, which 
was unanimously adopted, shows that the association 
continues to steadily increase in its usefulness to the 
trades it was formed to benefit. This fact is proved 
by the great increase in the number and amount of 
debts collected during the past year, the number of 
special enquiries made relative to the status of mem¬ 
bers of the trade, and by the present financial condi¬ 
tion of the association, which is more satisfactory 
than it has ever been before, the cash balance carried 
forward being /105 18s. id. Although the Committee 
regret that the association has lost several members 
through death, retirement from, and misfortune in 
business, they have pleasure in reporting that 22 
members have joined during the past year. During 
the same period the Status Enquiry Department has 
been utilised to a considerable extent by members 
who have made enquiries respecting the financial 
position of persons engaged in the nursery and seed 
trades who were seeking to obtain credit. The asso¬ 
ciation is affiliated with the Association of Trade 
Protection Societies, and the secretary is thereby 
enabled to place himself in communication with the 
kindred associations connected with it, and also with 
correspondents throughout the United Kingdom for 
the purpose of making enquiries regarding persons 
who may not be known to the members of this asso¬ 
ciation. The number of debts applied for during 
the past year was 1,392, being an increase of 391 on 
the previous year. The total sum recovered was 
/4,755 1 this amount £2,103 was through the asso¬ 
ciation and £2,652 through its solicitor. 
The Report also directs timely attention to the fact 
of so many public companies having lately failed, 
and of traders forming their businesses into limited 
companies with power to issue debentures. These 
documents, if properly drawn, are a valid mortgage 
of the whole assets of a company, including book 
debts and stock-in-trade, and do not require regis¬ 
tration as a bill of sale, or other publicity. If a com¬ 
pany who has issued debentures is unsuccessful in 
trade the debenture holders generally institute a 
Chancery action to realise the assets of the company, 
and the trade creditors are often left without any 
means of obtaining payment of their debts, beyond a 
nominal dividend ( if any ). Wholesale merchants 
are therefore advised in all cases where they are 
supplying a public company with goods to ascertain 
whether such company has power to issue debentures, 
and to what extent it has done so before they give 
credit. 
The new railway rates, it was stated, were receiv¬ 
ing the attention of the solicitor, and secretary, and 
a small Sub-Committee was appointed to assist the 
officers in ascertaining how far the new rates ad¬ 
versely affect the traders forming the association. 
-- 4 -- 
SHRUBS AND THE FROST. 
The extent of the damage done to trees and shrubs 
cannot be fully estimated till we have had a proper 
thaw ; for since Christmas eve we have had a con¬ 
tinuous succession of cold weather varied somewhat 
by intermittent thaws which have only been partial 
and but short-lived. The unusually mild weather of 
November and December had an exciting influence 
upon plant life, thereby making trees and shrubs 
more tender than they otherwise would have been 
had they been perfectly at rest. A considerable 
amount of damage is frequently done in the month 
of March during the prevalence of cold winds, and 
the full extent of that already inflicted will only 
appear when the east winds of spring dry up the 
dead shoots and leaves of the leathery leaved kinds. 
Half-hardy and relatively tender subjects are usually 
planted against walls for the sake of protection ; but 
a considerable amount of damage has been done to 
trees and shrubs freely planted in the open. The 
undermentioned shrubs when planted out of doors 
are usually accorded the shelter of a wall even if 
they get no other protection. Already they may be 
seen to have fared badly, and in many cases seem 
unhappy and anything but at home in our ungenial 
climate. 
Evergreen subjects show the injury most, as might 
have been expected, but some of the more tender of 
the deciduous species must have suffered likewise. 
The leaves of the Loquat (Photinia japonica) have 
all been browned, and some are quite dead, although 
the plant has been out of doors for many years. The 
shining leathery leaves of Viburnum Awafouki have 
been blackened. The common Myrtle is greatly in¬ 
jured, but that is of frequent occurrence, and the 
older wood breaks out into growth again. The 
leaves of Escallonia illinita and E. punctata are 
browned, and some of the shoots appear killed ; the 
plants appear less hardy than E. macrantha. The 
leaves of Cestrum Parqui are pendent, curled up at 
the sides, and dry as if they had been subjected to 
the scorching action of a fire. Those of Solanum 
crispum are also killed. All the younger tips of the 
shoots of Medicago arborea are drooping and the 
leaves withered, although the plant is a native of the 
South of Europe. All of the above had the pro¬ 
tection of a south aspect wall, but no other pro¬ 
tection. This would be rather disadvantageous 
provided bright sunshine during the day were to 
succeed severe frost by night, for then the partial 
thawing would be greatly injurious to frozen tissue. 
This can hardly apply in the neighbourhood of 
London seeing that sunshine during stormy weather 
is of rare occurrence. 
Shrubs on a west aspect wall have fared as badly 
in proportion to their hardiness or otherwise. The 
leaves of Olearia macrodonta, a native of New 
Zealand, are partly browned and will probably show 
greater injury later on. The leaves of a weak plant of 
Carpenteria californica are much curled, appear¬ 
ing less than half their natural size. The leathery 
leaves of the Chilian Azara Gillesii are black, and 
shoots and leaves of Hydrangea altisima are killed 
Young plants of Aristotelia Macqui usually get killed, 
in winters like the present, but healthy old trees lose 
their leaves and unripened shoots, the older portions 
breaking out again. The unripened shoots and leaves 
of the Japan Honeysuckle (Lonicera flexuosa) are 
