March 12, 1898. 
THE ^GARDENING WORLD. 
437’’J 
NEW ASTERS. 
WEBB3’ WHITE QUEEN. Per packet .. Is 
WEBBS SCARLET KING. „ .. i s . 
# 2 ?” Webbs’ White Queen and Webbs’ Scarlet 
King are an entirely distinct race cf Asters, dwarf 
in habit of growth, and specially adapted for 
massing and bedding purposes ; they grow about 
8 inches high, and eacn plant bears from 20 to 30 
large and perfectly-formed flowers. 
Webb &• Sons offer nearly £300 in Prizes at 
Horticultural Shoivs. List on application 
WORDSLEY, STOURBRIDGE. 
SEED LIST 
(Free on Application). 
FEATURES: 
Alphabetically arranged. 
Best sorts, in heavy type, can be seen at a glance. 
Probably the most explicit practical instructions 
for cultivation ever published in any Catalogue. 
Many hints and recipes for cooking and serving 
the various vegetables. 
Directions for the storing and forcing of vegetables 
Medical qualities of many vegetables and herbs. 
Prizes of £5, £3, (two of) £2, and £1 oflered for 
photographs of horticultural subjects (see page 2 of 
Catalogue). 
THE LIST, containing 93 pages and a profusion 
of illustrations, shows (a) what to grow, (b) how 
to grow it, and (c) what to do with it when 
grown, and has been described by an Agent as ODe 
of the largest estates in England as a BOOK OF 
REFERENCE. 
Another Customer, testifying as to quality writes : 
—"I should like to add that all the Seeds, &c., 
purchased from your establishment during the past 
14 years have been of the very best quality, and 
have given great satisfaction.” 
RD. SMITH & Co., 
Seed Merchants & Nurserymen, 
WORCESTER, 
FORBES’ 
CATALOGUE 
(Over 150 Pages. Nearly 150 Illustrations.) 
of Florists’ Flowers and Hardy Border Plants 
is got up regardless of trouble or expense, with the result that 
it is by unanimous consent pronounced the most comprehen¬ 
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extant. 
It gives full and accurate descriptions of everything in the 
way of Florists' Flowers, also colour, height, time of 
flowering, and price of ail the best Hardy Border Plants, 
together with their English or Common Names, and a mass of 
other Valuable Information that cannot be had else¬ 
where, 
It is In fact a veritable reference-book, invaluable to all 
growers of these plants, and should be in the hands of all 
intending purchasers. Free on application 
JOHN 
ESTABLISHED 1870. 
Nurseryman, 
FORBES, 
Hawick, Scotland. 
Caladmms 
Satisfaction guaranteed. 
West Norwood, London 
niNLM COLLECTION 
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- ■ Silver Cup, R.H.S., &c 
JOHN PEED AND SONS, 
NEW DOUBLE VIOLET, 
MRS. J. J. ASTOR. 
This beautiful Violet, of a deep rosy-heliotrope is 
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stock is getting very limited, and we have already 
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prevent disappointment. 
The Managers, Hood Gardens, Totnes. 
DA H L I A S . 
10,000 Ground Roots for Propagating. 
We have no occasion to Boast or Exaggerate. 
G. Pearce, Dahlia Grower. Hobart, Tasmania, says:— 
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H. CANNELL & SONS, 
Swan ley, Kent. 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , MARCH 12 th, 1898. 
NEXT WEEK'S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Monday. March 14th.—Annual meeting of the United Horti¬ 
cultural Benefit and Provident Society, at the Caledonian 
Hotel. Sale of hardy herbaceous plants and Roses bv 
Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. ’ 
Tuesday, March 15th.—Sate of Carnations, Begonias, Cannas 
etc., by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Wednesday, March 16th.—Sale of Liliums Carnations, Roses 
etc., by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Friday, March 18th.— Sale of Imported and Established 
Orchids, by Messrs. Protheroe and Morri6 
|he National Chrysanthemum Society. 
—Our short account of the state of 
affairs of this society will have come as a 
surprise to many of our readers at a dis¬ 
tance who havebeen accustomed to reading 
the detailed reports of the magnitude of the 
Chrysanthemum shows held annually, but 
particularly the November show. Revela¬ 
tions already made, or pending, do not in 
the least mininise the magnitude or import¬ 
ance of the great annual competition ; they 
merely refer to the internal management of 
affairs. From time to time for years past 
there have been complaints, and several 
attempts made at reform, but the reformers 
have either been lacking in courage, or not 
sufficiently numerous when the time came 
for making them at the annual general 
meeting. A large majority of the members, 
or at least those who attended the meeting 
on the 28th ult., are now fully alive to the 
critical nature of the situation, and seem 
fully determined to make reform a reality. 
It is evident that the affairs of the society 
have not been managed on the best modern 
principles. There is no new discovery in 
this, though competent men have held aloof 
from raising a quarrel about the matter 
seeing that they were only following in the 
lead of their predecessors. Only a long run 
of general prosperity could have staved off 
a crisis in the history of the society before 
this time. We do not mean to imply that 
the society even now is down upon its luck, 
but the management must be made 
thorough, in every department and in every 
detail, so that both the energy and means 
of the society may be economised and 
directed into the proper channels for the 
general good. We hope the members will 
attend at the adjourned meeting, to be held 
on the 21st inst., at 6 p.m., in even greater 
force than they did on the last occasion, and 
fully fortified to carry out their resolutions 
of putting the society on a sound financial 
basis of working. 
Judging from the fact that 114 new names 
were added to the long roll of membership 
during the past year, the society is still in 
the heyday of its prosperity; but this, of 
course, can only continue on the understand¬ 
ing that every member and every affiliated 
society is fully convinced that the organisa¬ 
tion and management is on the most modern 
and approved principles of government. 
Since the society came into existence the 
old order of things has greatly changed, and 
many of the members now understand and 
appreciate good government, and will sooner 
or later insist upon it. The Chrysanthemum 
is no aristocratic flower, its admirers and 
cultivators being the masses; and as such 
the community at large must be accepted and 
encouraged to take an intelligent interest in 
all that pertains not only to the outward 
appearance of the exhibitions, but to the 
internal working or administration that 
controls and gives energy to the same. 
When at any time the society should want 
financial support, it damps the ardour of 
the most enthusiastic helper to know that a 
loose hand is being kept on resources that 
ought to be economised by firm and judici¬ 
ous handling. 
One ot the recommendations submitted 
at the last meeting was that the advisability 
of holding so many shows during the course 
of the year should be considered and re¬ 
ported upon at the adjourned annual meet¬ 
ing. The September show might very well 
be dispensed with, unless the increasing 
num her of growers of early Chrysanthemums 
can be induced to make that show worthy 
of the name. Hitherto that has mainly 
been a Dahlia show, notwithstanding the 
fact that it comes so close upon the show of 
the National Dahlia Society, which may be 
admitted'to be fairly representativeofall that 
is essential to the welfare of that flower in 
its various sections. There is no occasion, 
therefore, to waste the money of Chrysan¬ 
themum growers upon the Dahlia, which 
has a good clientele of its own. This need 
not apply to the association of fruit and 
vegetables with the November show, con¬ 
sidering that it gives a greatly increased 
interest to the exhibition, both on the part 
of the exhibitors and the general public. 
Strong and influential societies in various 
parts of Britain recognise and value fruit 
and vegetables as a fitting complement to 
an autumn show, and as the National 
Chrysanthemum Society is the only one at 
present that fosters a good fruit and vege¬ 
table exhibition in the Metropolis, its 
services in that respect deserve fitting re¬ 
cognition and encouragement. 
There are other matters that require 
overhauling in the affairs of the National 
Chrysanthemum Society, if we are to judge 
from a pamphlet sent us by Mr. J. W. 
Moorman, and compiled by him as a sum¬ 
mary of the discussion that has been 
carried on in the pages of the gardening 
Press during the past winter. The follow¬ 
ing subjects were put forward by M r. Moor¬ 
man as requiring ventilating at the annual 
general meeting, and the proceedings on 
last occasion not reaching this stage, we 
take it for granted the points at issue will 
