800 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 8, 1898. 
As the number of garden hybrids produced by 
enthusiastic hybridists becomes multiplied so will 
the collection increase, ditto its value for purposes 
of reference and identification. Those who are 
interested in this curious class of plants will find 
much to engage their attention in the latest com¬ 
pleted addition to the glass at Kew. 
»■ - 
HINTS FOR EMIGRANTS. 
From information supplied us by the chief clerk at 
the Emigrants’ Information Office, 31, Broadway, 
Westminster, S.W , we extract the undermentioned 
particulars. 
There is no demand for anyone in Canada at this 
season of the year, except for domestic servants. 
The routes to the new Klondike gold-fields are now 
closed by ice,and will not be again opened till May : 
explorations of the various Passes are now being 
made, and it is expected that the best routes will be 
known shortly. Persons going there should leave 
England not later than in March or April, but only 
those who are strong experienced miners or men 
accustomed to prospecting for minerals in wild and 
unsettled countries, and have at least £300 for 
journey and food, should think of going ; all others 
are strongly warned against going there. 
In New South Wales there is no demand for more 
labour, and many workmen at Sydney are unable to 
find employment ; the number, however, of the un¬ 
employed, both at Sydney and in country districts, 
is now much less than it has been in previous years. 
Reports from Melbourne, Ballarat, and other 
towns and districts in Victoria state that 
there is no demand for more labour; gold 
miners however, have been busy The vine¬ 
growing industry—for which Victoria is admir¬ 
ably suited by nature—is now in a very depressed, 
condition, owing to the low prices offered for the 
wine, and the general want of co-operation among 
the wine producers. 
In SoutbAustralia there has been a remarkable revi¬ 
val in gold-mining during the last year or two: the total 
yield of gold is still small, but it was nearly four 
times as large in 1896 as it was in 1895. There is no 
demand for more mechanics or farm labourers. 
Queensland has been suffering for some time past 
from the tick plague, which has seriously damaged 
the cattle industry, and from drought, which has 
been prevalent throughout Australia. From these 
causes the demand for labour bas been small, but 
the numerous railway and other works, which are 
now in progress, are helping to provide labourers 
with work. An agricultural college has been recently 
established under Government at Gatton, where 
students may learn farming for a small fee, and 
other steps are being taken to promote agricultural 
settlement. The progress of gold mining, and other 
branches of the mineral industry, has been very 
satisfactory. In agricultural districts there is a 
demand for good ploughmen and farm hands. The 
sugar industry is in a prosperous condition, and 
there are excellent openings for farmers with a little 
capital, after they have acquired some experience of 
the country. 
In Western Australia there is a good demand for 
carpenters, bricklayers, and other mechanics; a 
large number of public works are being carried out 
by the Government,which provide work for artisans, 
navvies, and other labourers. Saw-mill hands have 
been very busy in the timber districts, and some of 
the gold fields have been in want of experienced 
miners; domestic servants are much needed. 
In Tasmania the important saw-milling industry of 
the Huon district in the south-west of the colony 
has greatly improved of late, and work has been 
brisk. A report from the mining town of Zeehan, 
on the west coast, states: “ There is a good demand 
for country carpenters, and a fair one for black¬ 
smiths; good miners can always get work.” 
Large numbers of persons continue to arrive in 
Cape Colony from England and Australia, and many 
find much difficulty in getting work. Iu the case of 
any local demand arising, it is readily supplied by 
men from Johannesburg (Transvaal) and other parts 
of South Africa, where the labour market is over¬ 
stocked. Speaking generally, there is at the present 
time no demand for anyone in the Colony except 
thoroughly skilled mechanics; inexperienced hands 
will find great difficulty in getting work. 
Farmers in Natal, as in other parts of South 
Africa, have experienced great losses from rinder 
pest. There is very little demand for more labour 
in the Colony, and many persons at Durban have 
been unable to find employment. 
Female emigrants are strongly warned to use the 
utmost caution in regard to advertisements in the 
United Kingdom offering them shuations at high 
wages as domestic servants, barmaids, &c., at Johan¬ 
nesburg, in the Transvaal. 
--j.- 
THE LATE MR. JAMES BROWN. 
Being now in a position to give a portrait of this 
well-known gardener, we now give a few more 
particulars concerning him. He was a native of 
Mr James Brown. 
Fifeshire, where he was born early in the thirties, 
being in the 65th year of his age when he died. Mr. 
Brown served his apprenticeship at Grange Muir 
Gardens, in the same county. He commenced his 
career at a time when travel was less common 
amongst gardeners than at the present day. That, 
coupled with the fact that the value of his services 
was early recognised, prevented him from making a 
long sojourn as a journeyman amongst the gardens 
of the country ; for we find that he left the gardens 
at Dupplin Castle, on the banks of the River Earn, 
near Perth, at the age of twenty-one to take up a 
position in the gardens of Abercairney House, Crieff, 
about eight miles westward. Here he remained till 
the day of his death, a period of forty-four years. 
Needless to say, he earned the esteem of his 
employer, by virtue of duty faithfully fulfilled within 
the walls of the garden Whether as a judge or a 
successful exhibitor outside the garden, he earned 
and enjoyed the esteem of his fellow gardeners and 
others with whom he came in contact. He has been 
regarded as a man of mark almost ever since the 
present generation of gardeners can remember. 
He went to church on the 12th ult., when, it is 
believed, he caught a chill, for he complained on the 
next day, took to bed on the Tuesday, and died on 
the tenth day afterwards (2znd December). Acute 
pneumonia was the cause of death, being all the 
more regretful because it came so suddenly. 
-- 
Rabbits in Australia and New Zealand.—Opinions 
are now divided at the Antipodes as to whether the 
great spread of rabbits is a blessing or otherwise, 
according to The Queenslander. In South Australia 
the industry of preserving and exporting rabbits has 
attained such dimensions, that benefit rather than 
harm has apparently resulted from the greatly 
despised and blamed bunny. The latter, it is 
admitted, has reduced the capability of the land for 
the rearing of sheep and cattle ; but the number of 
people employed iu capturing, preserving, and ship¬ 
ping the rodent is greater than that section of the 
population which has been driven off the land by 
the rabbits Something like 96,000 of the latter were 
shipped to Brit-'.in in one day and 150,000 more 
remained iu the stores in a frozen state. A writer 
hailing from Otago, New Zealand, wishes that 
“rabbits were of no more value than rats and other 
vermin,” for then the people would labour unani¬ 
mously for the destruction of the pest. Whether 
frozen rabbits are worth 6d. or iod. in London, the 
trade is and always will be a mere bagatelle com¬ 
pared with the loss caused to the community 
generally by them. 
«» «- 
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE QUEEN S 
REIGN. 
At whatever department of human affairs we take a 
survey of the remarkable advance made during the 
present reign it is most astounding ; and the progress 
made in horticulture is well abreast of the strides 
made in other directions. The present reign has 
witnessed some of the most surprising results in the 
evolution of cultivated flowers and plants which have 
ever been attained in the world’s history, and some 
of the results were never even dreamt of till well 
within the present reign. One of the most notable 
is the hybridisation of Orchids by which means many 
most beautiful and valuable additions have been 
made to a family of plants, upon which Nature her¬ 
self has been most prodigal in her gifts of enchanting 
beauty. Then the fancy Pansies, full of a rich beauty 
peculiarly their own as we now know them, have 
had their rise and progress during the present reign, 
which, too, has witnessed the addition of a host of 
beautiful additions to what most of us fondly style 
the Queen of Flowers. Even Poppies have in a 
marvellous way yielded to the guiding hand of the 
florist, the most notable instance being the Shirley 
Poppies, which have under the guiding hand of the 
Rev. W. Wilks made the name of a small village a 
household word in all temperate climes. 
It has seen many changes in popular taste, witness¬ 
ing the rise into general popularity of gold and silver 
tricolor Pelargoniums, and also the gold and bronze 
section. When these sections were at the zenith of 
their fame, prices were paid for some kinds which 
rendered them, if divested of pots and soil, many 
times more valuable than their weight in gold. This 
may appear to some of your readers an extravagant 
assertion, but the writer has had ample means of verify¬ 
ing the statement. In the flowering sections of zonal 
Pelargoniums, our earliest acquaintances were Globe 
Compactum and Huntsman. This was before the 
advent of Tom Thumb. The white and pink varie¬ 
ties, so far as memory serves m^, were unknown. 
The nosegays to a large extent were the creation of 
Donald Beaton,and the doubles came on the scene a 
few years later. 
The present reign, too, has witnessed the rise 
and decline in popular favour of the Hollyhock. 
During the fifties, the time of its greatest popularity, 
many new varieties were sent out from nurseries, and 
found a ready sale at 10s. 6d. each. It formed quite 
a leading feature, both as spikes and single flowers, 
at Metropolitan and provincial flower shows. During 
the latter half of the fifties it was attacked by a 
disease totally unlike what is now known as the 
Hollyhock disease, which destroyed some of the best 
collections. So far as I know, that eminent florist, 
the late Charles Turner, found it the only foe of the 
kind he cbuld not grapple with ; at all events owing 
to its ravages he gave up the Hollyhock in despair. 
The number of plants introduced during the 
present reign is simply legion, many possibly con¬ 
signed to oblivion, and others retained, command¬ 
ing universal popularity. When viewing some of the 
most artistic groups of plants ever set up, the thought 
crosses the mind, what would our forefathers have 
said of them ; for with the limited materials at their 
command, similar results would have been unattain¬ 
able. The art of the hybridiser has done much to 
enrich our stores of decorative material. 
In this connection the name of the late Mr. Bause 
deserves a passing comment, he being the originator 
of the modern forms of Coleus. Weeds though 
some may term them, they have proved of great 
value as decorative plants. His name will, I think, 
be perpetuated in Dieffenbachia Bausei. I well 
remember being at Chiswick one day and congratu¬ 
lating him on his success with Coleus. The pride 
and satisfaction with which he showed^me the seed¬ 
ling plant of Deiffenbachia was delightful. The 
present race of Dracaenas is largely the result of his 
labours. He was the raiser of many varieties, and 
his skill as a grower has never been surpassed. 
Turning to flowering plants the tuberous Begonias, 
which seem almost a thing of yesterday, have yet 
