October 29, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
13B 
The Redwood Tree as a Dinner Table. — The Hon. 
W. W. Astor is recorded as having won a wager of 
-£500 he made with General Owen Williams last 
spring that he could seat twenty-seven people at 
dinner round a cross section of the trunk of the Red¬ 
wood (Sequoia sempervirens). The host and twenty- 
six guests dined around this table on the t3'h inst. 
The Hon. W. W. Astor had this piece of the tree 
imported from California at great expense. 
Woolton Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Society — 
The fortnightly meeting was held at the Mechanics’ 
Institute on the 20th inst., Mr. T. D. Smith, occupy¬ 
ing the chair. Mr. H. May, of Birkenhead, had 
selected for his subject “Odontoglossum Alexandrae,” 
which was fully treated from the imported plants. 
The form of house recommended was a span-roof 
or lean-to, the height of the former to be 8 ft., and 
12 ft. wide. Established plants should be un¬ 
grudgingly but sparingly watered with rain water, 
with an abundance of moisture in the house. 
Ventilation should be carefully done by allowing the 
air to pass over the hot water pipes. A bright 
discussion followed in which Messrs. J. Glover, 
R. Todd, G. Haigb, J. Wilson, J. Rae, T. Carling, 
and R. G. Waterman took part. The chief points 
brought out were that a proper house was of the 
utmost importance; and that imported plants were 
much more satisfactory than formerly, owing to the 
experience gained in collecting and packing and the 
quicker means of transit. A cordial vote of thanks 
was accorded to the lecturer for his excellent paper, 
and to Mr. Smith for presiding, 
Shirley Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Association. 
—A copy of the programme of lectures, &c., to be 
delivered at the meetings of the Shirley and Sur¬ 
rounding Districts Gardeners’and Amateurs’ Mutual 
Improvement Association, shows us the work which 
has been mapped out for the second half of the 
session of 1898-9, at the Parish Room, Shirley. A 
record of the first of these meetings appeared in our 
last issue. Two lectures will be delivered by E. T. 
Mellor, Esq., B Sc., Lond., Lecturer in Biology in 
the Hartley College, Southampton. Tie will deal 
with the “ Origin and Formation of Soils, &c.," on 
November 21st; and on December 19th he will con¬ 
tinue the subject under the title “Relation of Soil 
to Plants.” R. W. Stewart, Esq., D.Sc.Lond., 
Principal of the Hartley College, Southampton, will 
lecture on January 16th. E. T. Mellor, Esq, will 
again lecture on February 20th, on “ The Influence 
of Light on Plants.” The annual meeting for the 
election of officers, &c., will take place on March 
20th. Prizes are offered, and certificates given from 
time to time at these meetings, which are held 
monthly. The association has a considerable 
amount of vitality, and besides its ordinary work 
organises excursions during the summer months. 
Aggrieved Flatholders.—An amusing case recently 
came up for trial before the Westminster County 
Court Judge. A certain flatholder in Victoria Street, 
S. W., is located on the fourth floor. Being of 
horticultural inclinations he has made miniature 
flower gardens of his windows, much to his own 
delight we do not doubt, but it seems scarcely to the 
delight or comfort of other people who live on the 
floors below him. The summer has been a dry one, 
as everybody knows, and these plants in the windows 
required a lot of water, so much so indeed that the 
other tenants made complaints to the landlord that 
the dripping water from the amateur Aquarius above 
soiled their windows and window curtains, and 
dropped into custards, tarts, etc., that were placed 
on the window sill to cool. The landlord, to satisfy 
the reproaches of the other tenants, took the case to 
court, but the judge decided that the case was a 
trumpery one, and refused to grant the injunction to 
restrain the fourth-floor gardener from watering his 
plants, and their jellies, custards, tarts, etc. The 
landlord pointed out that the complaints made were 
serious—for him—because the other tenants would 
leave if the nuisance were not abated. The delin¬ 
quent urged that he had given his plants no more 
water than was necessary but that he couldn’t 
prevent the drip. The judge has evidently gardening 
tendencies likewise, for he could not find it in his 
heart to decree that the garden on the fourth floor 
in Victoria Street should perish. Ultimately the 
case was adjourned to see whether a mutual arrange¬ 
ment could not be made, so we suppose the plants 
are being watered, and the custards spoiled still. 
Rainfall in Devo.i.—Rain has now fallen in fair 
abundance in Devonshire as elsewhere, but there is 
still a great deficiency compared with the rainfall of 
last year up to the present. Mr. J. Mayne, of Bicton, 
takes a regular record of the rainfall for his locality 
in East Devon. Last year (1897) the rainfall in 
January was 2-35 in.; February, 3 70 in.; March, 
4 28 in.; April, 3 3S in.; May, 159 in. ; June, 2 40 
in. ; July, 68 in. ; August, 5 01 in.; September, 
2 - 8 o in.; and October, roo in. For the correspond¬ 
ing period of this year, up to and including October 
21st, the rainfall in January was -86 in.; February, 
198 in.; March, 177 in.; April, 144 in.; May, 
3 61 in.; June, 97 in. ; July, 16 in.; August, 108 
in. ; September, -75 in.; and October, 3 90 in. There 
is thus a deficiency of 10 67 in. up to the present 
time. The rainfall at London is always lighter, but 
the deficiency must even be greater up to the 
present. 
Devon and Exeter Gardeners. —The opening meet¬ 
ing of this association took place at the Guildhall on 
the 12th inst. Mr. Andrew Hope read a highly in¬ 
teresting paper on “ The Flowers that Bloom in the 
Spring. 1 ’ The chair was taken by Mr. Jas. Weeks, 
gardener to E. A. Sanders, Esq., Stoke House, and 
there was a large attendance. Mr. Hope opened by 
describing to his audience a typical garden on 
Christmas Day. From that starting point, in time he 
carried his hearers through the various flower epochs 
of Spring, from the golden Aconite to the Snowdrop 
that 
in purest white arraie, 
First rears her hedde on Candlemas Daie. 
Passing on to the Crocus, dedicated by the ancients 
to St. Valentine, and referred to in the lines 
The Crocus hastens to the shrine 
Of Primrose love on St. Valentine. 
Milton decks the bower of Adam and Eve with the 
amorous Crocus. Daffodils were, in the opinion of 
the lecturer, the loveliest spring flowers. Narcissus 
maximus and N. Sir Watkin were lauded as types of 
perfect beauty. Mr. Hope spoke of the cultivation 
and propagation of the Hyacinth in Holland. Tulips 
too, were commented upon, and Anemones, Ranun¬ 
culuses, Irises and Fritillaries were not forgotten, so 
that Mr. Hope's selection was chiefly of bulbous 
plants. The lecturer concluded by saying that 
" they might not be able to turn the winter of their 
discontent into glorious summer,” but they could, by 
judicious arrangement aud forethought have an array 
and a succession of lovely flowers in the early 
months of the year. 
Ealing and District Gardeners' Society.—On the 
nth inst., in the Municipal Buildings, Ealing, Mr. 
Alex. Wright, of Falkland Park Gardens, South 
Norwood Hill, S.E., came before this society with a 
paper on “Some Happy Arrangements of Hardy 
Plants,” J. Hughes, Esq., F.R.H.S., in the chair. 
Mr. Wright, as usual, had a lot of interesting and 
original ideas to place before the members concern¬ 
ing the effective combination of hardy plants, both 
in nature and in gardens. Mr. Wright referred to 
some striking and yet harmonious combinations of 
colours he had seen in nature during the course of 
his rambles, such as a railway bank covered with 
Aquilegia and long grass, a wood of Bluebells and 
Poet’s Narcissus, and Tropaeolum speciosum, with 
its fiery flowers adorning the branches of the com¬ 
mon Yew. This latter was evidently a garden 
escape, but the effect produced was marvellous. 
Mr. Wright thought that as regards contrast and 
harmony in artificial gardening we were quite thirty 
years behind the French. What, he said, could be 
prettier or more interesting than, say, a stream of 
water with nodding Daffodils intermingled with 
Erica carnea ; a group of Pentstemons, bordered by 
a band of yellow Antirrhinums ; or a bed of Chrysan¬ 
themum George Wermig, in association with Aster 
Amellus ? Phloxes, Cytisus scoparius, Campanula 
pyramidalis, Lilies, or even the common London 
Pride, might be so happily arranged as to produce 
the finest effects. Montbrettias, Sedum spectabile, 
etc., etc., and a host of other hardy subjects came in 
for special treatment, Mr. Wright receiving, at the 
instance of the chairman, a very hearty vote of 
thanks. Some interesting exhibits were shown by 
Messrs. Frost, Hogg, and Wood. Mr. Wright ex¬ 
hibited his new patent Orchid-pot suspender, for 
which he received a certificate. 
Bute Horticultural Society - The retirement of Mr. 
James Dobbie from the active leadership of this 
society is an epoch in its history. Mr. Dobbie was 
one of the pioneers of horticulture in Bute, for when 
he started business in a modest way many years ago 
gardening was in anything but an advanced condition. 
Mr. Dobbie's business grew, however, and at the 
present its fame is world-wide. The energy of the 
promoter also worked wonders for the society itself, 
and prosperity has attended the efforts made. Those 
who know Mr. Dobbie and what he has done for 
horticulture both in Bute and elsewhere will heartily 
endorse the wish that he may live long to enjoy the 
leisure he has earned by a life of unremitting labour. 
--§•- 
HARDY FLOWER NOTES. 
Anemone japonica alba Couronne Virginale.— 
This is one of the latest additions to this useful 
family and promises to be the very best thing going 
in this line. It is of the purest white and the 
nearest approach to a double yet obtained, having 
four rows of petals, which slightly turn in at the 
points, giving it, when half open, quite a double 
appearance. As far as one season's experience goes 
it seems robust, and free flowering, and promises to 
become a valuable acquisition. Of course, this has 
been an exceptionally fine autumn, and just suited 
for perfecting this pretty class of plants, which in 
many seasons are all too early cut down by frosts. 
Chrysanthemum uliginosum.— This has behaved 
splendidly this season, having set its pretty snow- 
white flowers in great profusion, while yet only 4 ft. 
high. This is something unusual for this plant 
unless when pinched in June. Growing, as a rule, 
to 6 ft. or more, it gets rather unwieldy, and does 
not, as a rule, look a thing of beauty when October 
winds are blowing. 
Matricaria inodora fl. pl. —This grand old 
garden form of the Mayweed is not seen so often in 
gardens as it might be; certainly few subjects last 
so long in bloom, or are more attractive, when 
properly placed, whether in beds or as single speci¬ 
mens. From June to October a succession of its 
pretty white flowers may be depended on. It will 
grow almost anywhere, but sometimes collapses in 
severe winters. Therefore, a good plan is to put in 
a few cuttings now in a cold frame or under a hand- 
light. They root readily and will flower better than 
old plants next season. It was almost extinct, or, at 
least, seldom met with for many years until Mr. James 
Grieve, of Edinburgh, came across it in some old 
garden, and, to use his own words, " resurrected it 
again.” This, of course, occurred many years ago. 
Fortunately its value is now too well known to be 
lost sight of in a hurry again.— Coila. 
- go-- 
BEAUTIFUL SMILAX. 
Odr little note shall treat of no special variety. 
Private gardeners favour the smaller leaved form of 
the species, while market men utilise the vigorous 
sorts. The genus, which is under Liliaceae, bears the 
common appellation of American-China root. The 
order Liliaceae, be it noted, includes those plants hav¬ 
ing generally umbellate infloresence, three petals and 
three sepals, usually all alike, forming a perianth, 
and a superior ovary, that is, th; sepals and petals 
spring from below the seed-box or vessel (ovary). 
Liliums, Tulips, and Agapanthus are samples. 
A Central American species yields our shops' 
Sarsaparilla, so much lauded as a blood purifier. 
[Sarsaparilla is obtained from Smilax officinalis and 
other species. The so-called Smilax of gardens is 
really Asparagus medeoloides.that is,the plant used in 
decorative work.— Ed.] We need not vaunt the 
praises of Smilax for grace and usefulness in decora¬ 
tions. Everybody knows of that, and everybody 
attempts its culture. Some grow it in pots, training 
it to trellises or wires on the walls of houses Thus 
treated it succeeds fairly well. The cheapest, 
quickest and surest returns are had, however, from 
plants placed in large boxes and narrow borders. 
An almost invisible, clear wire is adopted at times, 
as a support to the plants in twining. Such wire 
is detrimental because of its heat and electrical 
attractiveness. Strong black thread we know to be 
thoroughly efficient and most suitable. In April sow 
seeds in pans, having light soil,and merely cover them 
with the soil. A germinating temperature ranges 
