January 29, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
341 
WEBBS’ 
NEW PEAS. 
WEBBS’ PIONEER. 
Now Offered for the First Time. 
This new Pea is a remarkably handsome blue 
wrinkled Marrow, growing from 3 to 35 feet in 
height ; it is hardy in constitution, and very early 
in coming to maturity, following immediately after 
the early small round varieties. The pods are 
very large, straight, and contain from 8 to 10 fine 
Peas of most excellent quality. 
2s. 6d. per pint, post free. 
WEBBS' ASTRONOMER. 
A remarkably handsome main crop variety 
growing about 3 feet in height. It is a wonderful 
and most persistent bearer, and is invaluable for 
general or late sowing. The pods are of medium 
size, closely filled with Peas of the finest quality. 
3s. 6d. per quart, post free 
WEBBS SENATOR. 
This splendid new Pea is a very remarkable 
cropper, the pods being produced mostly in pairs ; 
they are of good size, and contain on an average 
about 9 large peas, which are sweet in flavour. 
2s 6d per quart, post free 
See Webbs’ Spring Catalogue, post free, is. 
WEBBS’ Wordsley, STOURBRIDGE. 
Of Fi n estSelectedStrai ns 
and Tested Growth 
Barr’s Ne Plus Ultra French Bean. 
A fine forcing variety, very early, and producing 
an abundance of fine pods Per quart, is. 6d. 
Barr's Earliest French Shorthorn Carrot. 
A favourite for soups, and extremely early ; the 
best variety to sow in frames. Per oz., iod. 
Barr's Pride of the Market Cucumber. 
A specially fine selection, dark green, and of 
handsome shape, a favourite in Covent Garden 
Market. Per packet, is. 6d. 
Barr’s Improved Telegraph Cucumber. 
A fine selection, handsome straight fruit of fine 
flavour, very prolific. Per packet, is. and 
is 6d. 
Barr's “ Eureka ” Melon. 
A grand new scarlet-fleshed variety, fruit large 
and densely netted, flavour delicious, heavy 
cropper and early; a splendid exhibition variety. 
Per packet, is. 6d. and 2s. 6d. 
Barr's First of All Radish. 
Fine little, short leaved, very early Radishes, 
scarlet or white. Each, per oz., 6d. 
Barr's Early Ruby Tomato. 
Large, solid, bright scarlet fruit, of fine form ; 
an abundant cropper, and best first early 
Tomato. Per packet, is. 
Barr's Thick-fleshed Tomato. 
Surpasses all other varieties for depth of fruit, 
solidity of flesh, high quality, and heavy crop¬ 
ping. Per packet, is. 
Barr’s Seed Guide, containing a full descriptive 
List of the best vegetables and most beautiful 
flowers, sent free on application. 
BARR and SONS, 
12113 KING ST., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. 
VEITCHS 
SUPERB 
TOMATOS. 
VEITCHS “GOLDEN JUBILEE.’’ 
First-Class Certificate, Royal Horticultural Society, 
May 26 th, 1897. 
A splendid acquisition ; one of the finest Toma- 
tos of recent introduction, of a beautiful golden 
colour, magnificent cropper, and of excellent 
flavour. 
PER PACKET, 2/6 
“ FROGMORE SELECTED.’ 
First-Class Certificate, Royal Horticultural Society. 
This exceedingly prolific variety was raised by 
Mr. Thomas, the Royal Gardens, Frogmore. The 
fruit is of a bright red, medium in size, very 
uniform and smooth in outline, and suitable either 
for forcing cr outdoor cultivation. 
PER PACKET, 1/6. 
“ HAM GREEN FAVOURITE.” 
First-Class Certificate, Royal Horticultural Society. 
This splendid variety for two successive seasons 
beid the foremost place in the comparative trials of 
Tomatos at the Royal Horticultural Society’s 
Gardens, Chiswick. 
PER PACKET, 1/6. 
James Veitch & Sons,Ltd., 
Royal Exotic Nursery, 
CHELSEA, LONDON, S.W. 
“ Gardening 13 the purest ot human pleasures, and the greatest 
retreshment to the spirit of man."— Bacon. 
Cll4 Chttttli}!|tn3 ~ijlot|ltl, 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 2 9 th, 1898. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Tuesday, February ist.—Sale of Lilies, and hardy plants by 
Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Wednesday, February 2nd.—Sale of Tuberoses, Gladioli, 
and Roses by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Thursday, February 3rd.—Sale of Tuberoses, Gladioli, and 
Roses by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Friday, February 4th.—Sale of Impo-ted and Established 
Orchids by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
f ARDENERS’ ROYAL BENEVOLENT INSTITU¬ 
TION.— The annual general meeting 
and the election of candidates to the benefits 
of the charity dispensed by this institution 
again brought before the British public on 
the 20th inst. some idea of the amount of 
distress prevailing amongst the members of 
the profession of gardening or their wives; 
and although there were fifty-four applic¬ 
ants for help, it can hardly be expected that 
this number represents the total of the 
indigent members of the craft, that have 
been incapacitated for work through age, 
accident or the various infirmities to which 
human flesh is heir. In the face of this 
the need for a charity of the nature of the 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution is 
self evident. Notwithstanding the vast 
sums that have been given for all sorts of 
purposes during the past year, the institu¬ 
tion has been fairly prosperous compared 
with former years; nevertheless the whole 
of the money at the disposal of the charity, 
invested or otherwise, is wholly inadequate 
to meet the wants of the destitute. 
Close upon ^3,000 has been spent in 
supporting the pensioners during the past 
year. Ten fresh ones were placed upon the 
funds without the trouble or expense of an 
election, according to Rule III., 5 ; and ten 
others were elected by the votes of the 
electors One of these was put upon the 
list of pensioners merely by virtue of a legacy 
left by the late J. W. Thompson, for some¬ 
time gardener to George III.,and afterwards 
at Syon House. The money was intended 
for the benefit of a widow or widows, and 
accordingly the widow receiving the highest 
number of votes amongst the unsuccessful 
candidates was declared elected to this 
benefit. Something less than the desired 
^5,000 to establish what is known as the 
Victorian Era Fund has been secured, but 
the fund is still open in the hope of com¬ 
pleting the necessary amount, the interest 
of which is intended for the benefit of the 
distressed amongst the unsuccessful candi¬ 
dates. The fund can only provide sums 
ranging from £ 10 downwards in behalf of 
those just indicated. Altogether there were 
97)95! votes sent in ; but the extraordinary 
number of 1,152 were lost through the 
voting papers being unsigned, and owing 
to 117 the subscriptions for which had 
not been paid. This must represent a great 
amount of carelessness on the part of voters. 
The report for the past year, and the pro¬ 
ceedings of the meeting will be found on 
another page. 
Profitable fruit culture.— A paper on 
^ this subject was to have been prepared 
for the Chiswick Gardeners' Mutual Im¬ 
provement Association later on in spring by 
Mr. S. T. Wright, the superintendent of 
the Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens, 
Chiswick ; but owing to the failure of two 
other lecturers to turn up on the 20th inst. 
by reason of important engagements else¬ 
where, Mr. Wright undertook to fill the gap 
and delivered a lecture from a few notes. It 
was entirely of a practical nature, and dealt 
chiefly with the speaker’s experiences in the 
Apple-growing counties of the west of Eng¬ 
land. As in the case of most lectures deal¬ 
ing with the commercial aspect of fruit 
culture, most attention was devoted to the 
Apple, which is generally admitted to be the 
king of British fruits for outdoor culture. 
For the benefit of the young men assembled, 
the lecturer took up the various points of 
cultural detail, touching upon the value of a 
loamy soil overlying the red sandstone for¬ 
mation for Apple orchards. Size and colour 
were two of the primary requisites in fruits 
to take the eye of the public. In spite 
of differences of opinion that still prevail 
amongst cultivators, we agree with the 
speaker that Apple orchards should not be 
sown down with grass, but kept loose on 
the surface during the growing period. This 
is more particularly essential in the southern 
counties where long continued drought often 
interferes with growth and a full crop upon 
the trees. The most suitable time for plant¬ 
ing was declared to be the latter half of 
October and the first of November, for the 
fresh roots made by the trees before winter 
finally sets in enables the trees to start 
away freely in spring as if they had been 
established for some time. The question of 
stocks for the trees was also discussed. 
In connection with the most suitable 
varieties to grow for market he said that in 
this country or the United States there may 
be some hundreds or thousands of varieties 
in cultivation, yet of this vast number it was 
