864 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 5, 1898. 
some amongst the Peaches some steps should be 
taken to clear them right out. The trees were untied 
from the wires at the end of last November, and 
secured by tying them together in loose bunches and 
fastening them to stout stakes. The wall should now 
receive a thorough lime washing, taking care to work 
the wash thoroughly into all the crevices with the 
brush. This done, pruning and tying may follow. 
If the old bearing shoots were not cut out last fall 
after the removal of the fruit, it may now be done, 
leaving only the old wood that is necessary for the 
increase of the spread of the tree, and the succession 
shoots trained in in their places. As in thevcase of 
the Apricot, so with the Peach—a good deal of the 
necessary pruning may, and ought to be done during 
the spring and summer months, with the finger and 
thumb.— A. S. G. 
«!« ■ 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers from 
Seeds and Roots, by Sutton & Sons, Reading. 
Seventh Edition. London: Simpkin, Marshall, 
Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd. 1898. All Rights 
Reserved. Price 5s. 
Here is a large octavo book of some 427 pages, 
practically a manual, dealing with the whole subject 
of vegetable and flower culture, and well within the 
reach of anyone who possesses a garden, and loves it 
for the sake of what he can make it produce for bis 
table or minister to his delight. It is essentially a 
book for the beginner, whether amateur or pro¬ 
fessional, and a handy book of reference for the 
experienced gardener, as an aid to memory on doubt¬ 
ful points. A comprehensive index will enable him 
to turn up quickly the subject to which he wishes to 
refer. The book will be of excellent service to the 
young man, who, while yet a student, should read and 
re-read it, until every one of its precepts is thoroughly 
understood, and then acquire other books that deal 
more particularly with certain branches or phases of 
gardening in which he may be interested either from 
choice or necessity. The seventh edition into which 
the book has now entered is sufficient guarantee of 
its continued utility and the demand for it. 
In the section devoted to vegetables we open the 
book at Globe Artichoke and find the details of 
culture necessary to produce good heads under 
various systems of treatment, as well as methods for 
the profitable cropping of the ground, while the 
Artichoke plants are yet young. Under the same 
heading comes the word Chards. How many 
gardeners know that Chards are the leaves of Globe 
Artichokes blanched in the same way as Cardoons ? 
Asparagus is popular with a much greater number of 
the community ; yet the successful cultivation of it 
proves troublesome to not a few. While the demand 
for it is universal, the soil is not universally suitable 
in every garden; hence a considerable amount of 
space is devoted to the details of cultural treatment 
in the book, and the information vouchsafed cannot 
fail to prove useful. All other garden vegetables are 
dealt with proportionately to their value, and the 
complicated nature of their requirements or other¬ 
wise. Even the humble Dandelion, though a weed 
of the vilest character when out of place, under the 
simplest of requirements may be turned to profitable 
account as a wholesome and toothsome vegetable. 
“A Years’ Work in the Vegetable Garden” is 
practically a vegetable calendar for every month of 
the year, which everyone should jread who fondly 
imagines there is nothing to be done in the vegetable 
line during January and February. Independently 
of outdoor operations, there is practically a vegetable 
garden under glass, or should be in every well- 
appointed place. We refer to the raising of various 
vegetables under glass, as well as the forcing cf those 
things which were grown to maturity in the open 
ground during the summer months. Much of the 
forcing that is advocated may, however, be effected 
by means of beds of fermenting manure in those 
gardens not well furnished with the necessary hot- 
water apparatus. 
The chapter on " The Rotation of Crops in the 
Vegetable Garden” should supply the young gar¬ 
dener with many a valuable hint, to be followed up 
while the years of his career unroll, so that when the' 
time comes he may not only be able to turn his 
knowledge to practical account, but to add to the 
general _store of information at the service of the 
profession. The soil is here shown to be a mine or 
storehouse of plant food, which is slowly rendered 
soluble by the action of air, rain, frost and sunshine, 
and thereby brought into a condition in which plants 
can appropriate it for their sustenance. That pro¬ 
cess is constantly in progress, so that the total ex¬ 
haustion of a soil is a thing unknown. Nature is 
always restoring the fertility of a soil, but the latter 
under intense culture, and cropped with a few plants 
only is being depleted of certain elements of plant 
food at a greater rate than the same can be restored 
by the slow and natural process. An observant and 
diligent study of a proper rotation of crops will 
enable the cultivatlor not only to economise the 
natural fertility of a soil, but to restore those ingre¬ 
dients which have been carried away in the crops, 
and augment them, and that, too, at a minimum of 
cost. 
Flowers are also dealt with exhaustively under the 
headings of “The Culture of Flowers from Seeds,” 
“The Culture of Flowering Bulbs,” and "Flowers 
All the Year Round.” Then come lawns and tennis 
grounds, followed by three chapters on the insects 
and fungi that prey upon living plants, the various 
pests being represented by woodcuts. The whole of 
the printing consists of large and clear type, and the 
bindings leave nothing to be desired. 
" The Advertiser’s ABC: The Standard Adver- 
tisment Press Directory.” Published by T. 
B. Browne, Ltd., 163, Queen Victoria Street, 
London, E C. 1898 edition, price 10s. 6d. 
The following are the chief contents of the 1898— : 
the twelfth—edition of this work, which has just 
been issued:— 
A complete list of the Newspapers, Magazines, 
and Periodicals published in the United Kingdom, 
with the particulars relating to each publication re¬ 
vised up-to-date. In each instance a brief descrip¬ 
tion of the paper is given, and in nearly every case 
either the full advertisement rates or an extract 
therefrom. 
The particulars of any individual paper now 
appear on the same page, which is a distinct improve 
ment on previous editions, in which the particulars 
were split up into different sections of the work. 
By the new arrangement reference is materially 
simplified, hence it will, no doubt, be much appre¬ 
ciated by those who are in the habit of consulting 
the pages of the “ A B C.” Several facsimile repro¬ 
ductions of the title pages of papers are given, to¬ 
gether with much information as to circulations and 
other items of special value to advertisers, and all 
having transactions with the Press. 
Another section of the book is devoted to the 
Colonial and Foreign Press, and this also has been 
thoroughly revised, and may be taken as a reliable 
index to the Colonial, Indian, and Foreign Press. 
The work is interspersed with several articles on 
the subject of advertising, including one on “ Press 
and Poster Advertising,” in which it is claimed that 
advertising by poster can at best only be regarded 
as an adjunct to Press Advertising, which, it is 
asserted by the writer, is the only system of adver¬ 
tising giving in itself satisfactory results. An illus¬ 
trated sketch of T. B. Browne’s Advertising Agency 
is given, together with some sixty or seventy 
specimens of pictorial advertisements designed and 
published by this house. There are also several 
articles in the Colonial section, giving statistical and 
other information, showing in what direction home 
manufacturers may cultivate t rade with our posses¬ 
sions across the seas. 
The general index—also entitled a Directory in 
Brief—is in itself a concise record of the newspaper 
and magazine press of this country, and classified 
lists follow. The new publications and " deaths ” of 
the year are noted, and the London offices and 
representatives of the provincial papers are given. 
The book ends with a geography of the Press. 
The work is, as usual, handsomely bound in red 
cloth with gold lettering, and is as bulky as ever. 
-- 
Fungus on Beech.—At a meeting of the Scient'fic 
Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society on the 
nth ult., a box of fungi was received from Lady 
Cave, Cleve Hall, Downend, near Bristol. They 
were forwarded to Kew, whence it was reported that 
they were Pleurotus ostreatus, Jacq., "one of the 
b;st and safest of edible fungi.” The specimens 
were taken from a very old Beech in the gardens of 
Cleve Hall. They were growing on the wood about 
12 feet from the ground. 
QUESTIONABLE EXHIBITS. 
The special prizes offered at the October show of 
the National Chrysanthemum Society are deserving 
of some attention, when so much is being said about 
the society’s doings. It is bad enough taste to see 
prizes offered with the conditions attached that 
the seeds must be obtained from the firm 
offering the prizes—is this a premium on bad 
seeds ? otherwise, why is it necessary to impose such 
conditions ? If the seeds or plants are the best in 
their respective classes rest assured exhibitors will 
soon find it out, and will be pleased to grow them to 
the exclusion of inferior varieties. It is a further 
disadvantage to the firm offering the prizes, because 
there are seldom any means of comparing their 
produce with others. The N.C.S., however, goes 
further than this, they give countenance to a system 
which may be questioned as being honest. Here the 
intending exhibitor must obtain his seeds from that 
particular firm direct—or if indirect in his packets, 
for which he pays the full value. Naturally, one 
would conclude that the produce would be his own ; 
but no. There is another condition imposed, and 
that is what I more particularly desire to draw 
attention to, viz., the exhibits are to become the 
property of the firm offering the prizes at the close 
of the exhibition. There is something wrong here, 
and I would like to ask if it is yet too late for the 
N.C.S. to withdraw those conditions when they 
issue their schedule of prizes for the current year.— 
A member of the N.C.S. 
-i -- 
LOW PRICED SEEDS—A CHALLENGE. 
To all advertisers in The Gardening World the 
article in your issue of the 29th ult., signed " J. C., 
Chard,” will be of interest, varying no doubt accord¬ 
ing to the prices in their seed lists. 
" J. C.” may be a lecturer, and as such can doubt¬ 
less give some excellent advice; but his letter shows 
either woeful ignorance of the wholesale value of 
seeds, or an alliance with some house where high 
prices and large profits rule. We do not attempt to 
deny that there is much rubbish sold as seeds; this 
is done as often at high prices as at low. What we 
do most strongly object to is the wholesale condemna¬ 
tion of all low-priced seeds. Surely "J. C. ” .roust 
have overlooked the number of prizes which in open 
competition are annually won by the produce of low 
priced seeds. In these days of keen competition, 
the man who would extend his business by giving 
better value for money has enough fair opposition to 
contend against without being subjected to such 
unwarrantable abuse of low prices and bolstering up 
of high prices and large profits as is contained in 
" J. C.’s ” article. But, enough ; it is not our inten¬ 
tion to show up before the readers of The Garden¬ 
ing World the percentage of profits which some 
retailers require. Since " the proof of the pudding 
is in the eating" and not in the cook’s description, 
we make the following offer :—To any reader of The 
Gardening World who cares to try for themselves 
the relative merits of low and high priced seeds by 
growing them side by side, we will send gratis a 
packet of any variety of seeds enumerated in our 
list, the only conditions we impose being that a fair 
trial be given and the result made known to us with 
the name of the firm from whom the other seeds 
were obtained, and the price paid for them. 
And with this offer I leave the subject to the 
common sense of your readers. Before being misled 
by the views of one man let them try for themselves. 
— H. Allen Davies, Redhill, Surrey. 
FLOWER PICTURES BY LADY 
ARTISTS. 
The forty-third exhibition of pictures under the 
auspices of the Society of Lady Artists now being 
held in the Galleries of The Royal Society of British 
Artists in Suffolk Street, Pall Mall East, is a distinct 
advance upon the exhibitions of former years. The 
collection on view comprises no fewer than 473 
pictures of various sizes, some of them in oils, and 
some in water colours, together with exhibits of 
various handicrafts in the shape of special objects of 
vertu. It follows as a matter of course that in such 
a collection of pictures some of inferior quality 
should be found, but, generally speaking, the stan¬ 
dard of merit is high, and some of the canvas 
betrays real genius. 
