February 4, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
365 
FLORAL MARKET DINNER AT 
IPSWICH. 
After a lapse of 35 years, the stall-holders of the 
Floral Market asembled at dinner on the 25th ult. 
—a function which for the long period named had 
been allowed to lapse. “ Other times—other cus¬ 
toms ” we suppose has something to do with it. The 
history of the mattter is, however, that up to a few 
years back Ipswich had been without a floral market. 
The one formerly held in years gone by was dis¬ 
continued owing to the want of a suitable hall, and 
it was not until Mr. Councillor Bales took up the 
cudgels on behalf of the market gardeners, that the 
Corporation was induced to loan the Corn Exchange 
on Saturdays for the purposes of the market. It has 
an elegant, well lighted, roomy interior and, as one 
speaker put it after dinner, " the excellent taste 
displayed by the stallholders in the arrangement of 
their stands combined with the decorative character 
of the hall made their Saturday market quite able to 
vie with the local flower shows of the horlicutural 
societies. 
Mr. Councillor Bales presided over a gathering 
of some 100 guests and was supported by Sir Charles 
Dalrymple, M.P., Mr. Councillor Fenn, Mr. Henry 
Kerridge (Ipswich Horticultural), Mr. Arthur 
Bennett, F. R. H. S., Mr. G. A. Hacon, Mr. H. J. 
Southgate (Spring Road Nurseries), Mr. Carey, Mr. 
W. L. Fox, and many others connected with the 
horticultural business, whilst Mr. County Councillor 
Cowles, a veteran market gardener from Stafford, and 
Mr. H. Jacobi, Henley Road Nurseries, fulfilled the 
duties of vice-chairman. Needless to add the tables 
were most gracefully decorated with floral subjects, 
and an excellent dinner was served. 
After the usual loyal toasts, Mr. Cowles voiced the 
feeliD gs of the stall-holders in the debt of obligation they 
felt to be the due of their chairman for his efforts on 
their behalf which had resulted so successfully in their 
getting the Exchange for their market. He recalled, 
with a good deal of humour, his personal recollections 
of the old market, opened in 1813, when George IV. 
was King. The good old days were, nevertheless, 
be it said, not all a bed of Roses for the stall-holders. 
He recollected 300 sacks of Apples going at a id. a 
quarter. Part of the market was then devoted to 
trades other than their own, such diversified products 
as oil-cloth and fish being vended in the open air 
portions of the entrances, much to the distraction of 
the patient stall-holder inside. Contrasted with 
the conditions obtaining to-day he thought they were 
singularly fortunate in their present surroundings. 
Mr.Bales expressed his thanks for the acknowledge¬ 
ments which had been made of his action. He 
referred with satisfaction to the way in which the 
predictions of the opponents to the idea had not been 
realised. Even the Press—an extract from which 
as appearing at the time, he read—was strenuously 
opposed to the holding of “a market in a draw¬ 
ing room,” as it was put. He paid a just tribute to 
the market holders for the cleanliness and excellent 
management of the market. 
The other toasts included “ The Houses of 
Parliament,” responded to by Sir Chas. Dalrymple, 
M.P., in a happily expressed speech ; the ” Stall¬ 
holders,” proposed by Mr. Kerridge, and spoken to 
by Mr. Lewis Cann (formerly of Somerleyton Gar¬ 
dens) ; “ The town and trade of Ipswich,” submitted 
by Mr. C. Hudson, and acknowledged by Mr. 
Councillor Fenn; "The Visitors”; and "The 
Press.” 
The arrangements were in the hands of an ener¬ 
getic committee, consisting of Mr. A. Bennett, Mr. 
H. J. Southgate, Mr. Clover, Mr. Sharp, Mr. W. 
L. Fox, with the principal market officer, Mr. W. 
Witter, as secretary. An excellent musical pro¬ 
gramme was organised by Mr. Southgate, and the 
hearty “ send off ” given to the venture bids fair to 
ensure the annual dinner being a regular event for 
many years to come. 
— - »*»— - 
ARDENING SlSCELLANY. 
DOES FROST KILL GERMS? 
Remarking upon the seasonable change in the 
weather lately, several people have said “ Ah ! this 
sort of weather is what we want; it will kill the 
insects and germs.” It is, I believe, a popular belief 
that most insect pests and for the matter of that fun¬ 
goid pests too, are, like ourselves, susceptible to 
climatic changes and are, like our tender annuals, 
killed by frost. Is there any foundation for these 
suppositions ? Have any experiments been made 
with a view to determine the hardiness of pests, 
insect, fungoid, or microscopic ? Many popular beliefs 
are not founded on fact, but have been accepted on 
very flimsy evidence, recorded and handed down, 
gaining very often in the process much extra matter 
at the expense of truth.— A. P. 
THE GREENHOUSE AT KEW. 
As I do frequently, I paid a visit to Kew Gardens 
last week, and spent some time in greenhouse No. 4. 
At this time of the year, when almost everything 
outside is out of season, this greenhouse is quite a 
little paradise. Full of lovely flowers, it is one of 
the most delightful places that can anywhere be 
found. I will just name a very few of the most promi¬ 
nent plants remarkable mostly for their beauty at 
this dead season of the year :—Peristrophe speciosa, 
Strobilanthes isophylla, Centropogon lucyanus, 
Browallia speciosa, Prunus japonica, Agapetes 
buxifolia, Saintpaulia ionaotha, and the beautiful 
yellow climber, Hibbertia dentata. The object of 
this note is not simply to mention these plants but 
to put a practical question. I will undertake to 
say that a very large number of persons visiting Kew 
and inspecting not only the greenhouses but also the 
rockery are inclined to wonder how it is that they 
cannot have these beautiful plants in their own 
gardens and conservatories. The answer simply is 
that they do not know where to get them. I have 
tried repeatedly to obtain some of the above, but 
none of the nurserymen appear to grow them — 
Sigma. 
PETASITES FRAGRANS 
This hardy plant has been naturalised in not a few 
parts of the country, and in some instances it has 
become practically a weed whose inclinations to 
overstep the bounds accorded it have to be kept in 
check, but it is not often that we see it treated as a 
pot subject. Considerable use of it is made in this 
way at Kew, however, and every year a big batch of 
it may be observed in the greenhouse. The leaves 
are nearly orbicular in shape and smell strongly and 
rather disagreeably when crushed, but the flowers 
exhale a strong and agreeable perfume, whence the 
specific name "fragrans.” The presence of this 
perfume has caused the bestowal of the popular name 
of “ Winter Heliotrope ” upon the plant, although 
the scent does not resemble that of the Heliotrope 
as the name would suggest. As a pot subject P. 
fragrans is worthy of attention, and those who like 
sweet smelling flowers in the conservatory will find 
it useful in the dark dull days of winter. 
-* 1 — - 
SOCIETIES. 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL —January 31 st. 
Spring flowers were beginning to make their appear¬ 
ance at the meetiug on Tuesday last in the shape of 
Daffodils, but of course they had been forced. 
Chinese Primulas were also strongly in evidence, and 
Ferns, fine foliage stove plants, as well as flowering 
subjects were present in fair quantity. Orchids 
were also shown, small exhibits being most numerous. 
F. Knight, Esq. (gardener, Mr. E. Maston), Thun- 
dersley House, Thundersley, Essex, exhibited a small 
group of Cattleya Trianaei in considerable variety, 
some of which were notable for the rich colour of 
the lip, and others for the great size of that organ. 
All the plants were healthy and well furnished pieces, 
in pots of moderate size and well flowered. (Silver 
Banksian Medal.) 
H. F. Simonds, Esq. (gardener, Mr. G. E. Day), 
Woodthorpe, Beckenham, also set up a group of 
Orchids, including fine pieces of Dendrobium 
Jamesianum, and Coelogyne cristata. He also had 
beautiful varieties of Odontoglossum andersonianum, 
O. Mulus, O. hybrid, O. crispum brassianum, a very 
fine white form of O. Alexandrae, as well as two 
delicate pink varieties of the same, having broad 
segments and rounded flowers. Sophronites grandi- 
flora and Lycaste Skinneri alba were also choice 
things. 
Messrs. Linden, Brussels, exhibited some very 
choice Orchids, including Odontoglossum crispum 
frenambulum, O. andersonianum shusterianum 
Cypripedium insigne Luciani, C. wiertzianum, and 
Zygobatemia Mastersi, the latter being raised from 
Zygopetalum crinitum crossed with Batemannia 
Colleyi. 
Mr. Jas. Douglas, Edenside, Great Bookham, 
Surrey, staged a collection of cut flowers of Orchids 
in considerable variety. He had fine sprays of 
Laelia anceps Stella, L. a. sanderiana, L. a. perciv- 
aliana, Saccolabium giganteum, and Calanthe rubro- 
oculata, besides bunches of Cattleyas, Masdevallia 
tovarensis, Laelia Briseis, &c. (Silver Banksian 
Medal). 
J. Gurney Fowler, Esq., (gardener, Mr. J. Davis), 
Glebelands, Woodford, exhibited five varieties of 
Laelia anceps. De B. Crawshay, Esq. (gardener, 
Mr. S. Cooke),Rosefield.Sevenoaks, exhibited. Laelia 
anceps amesiana Crawshay's variety in fine form ; 
also Odontoglossum crispum Imperatrix. Cattleya 
rrianaei Waddon House variety was shown by Phillip 
Crowley, Esq (gardener, Mr. J. Harris), Waddon 
House, Croydon. Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Bush 
Hill Park, Enfield, exhibited Cypripedium insigne 
Sanderae. E. Ashworth, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Hol¬ 
brook), Harefield Flail, Wilmslow, exhibited Cattleya 
Trianaei albida, variety E. Ashworth. Masdevallia 
Curlei was shown by Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, 
(gardener, Mr. W. H. White), Burford Lodge, 
Dorking. Cypripedium Chapmani, and C. Miss 
Louisa Fowler, the latter very handsome, were also 
shown by J. Gurney Fowler, Esq. H. S. Leon, Esq., 
Bletchley Park, exhibited Cattleya Hislopii. Messrs. 
Stanley-Mobbs & Ashton, Southgate, exhibited a 
plant of Epidendrum umbellatum, a very singular 
species with green flowers. 
A very handsome group of stove and greenhouse 
flowering and foliage plants was put up by Messrs. 
John Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, S.E. The winter¬ 
flowering Begonias, Gloire de Lorraine and Gloire 
de Sceaux, were special features here, and they were 
arranged in prominent batches. Palms, Dracaenas, 
and Crotons formed the bulk of the foliage element. 
Some well-fruited plants of the Otaheite Orange were 
shown. Three plants of the half-hardy Gerbera 
Jamesoni illustrated the fine points of this compara¬ 
tively rare subject. 
An extensive display of florists’ devices was made 
by M. F. Miller, no, Fulham Road, South Kensing¬ 
ton, S.W. Lilies of the Valley, Lilac, Narcissi, 
Tulips in variety, Snowdrops, Violets, and the 
popular “ Mimosa ” (Acacia dealbata) were all much 
in evidence. Bunches of Lily of the Valley and 
Anemones, in Dutch, shoe-shaped receptacles, were 
quaint and pretty. (Silver Banksian Medal.) 
Despite the dulness of the day the Chinese 
Primulas contributed by Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, 
Swanley, made a brave display. The plants were 
not less remarkable for their vigour of growth and 
excellence of foliage than for the size and beauty of 
the blooms. Of the new varieties one pure white 
one called Mrs. R. Cannell, in which both the bloom 
of The Lady and White Perfection was apparent, is 
certainly an advance on anything of its kind in exist¬ 
ence before. Swanley Giant, Lady Emily Dyke, 
Swanley Blue, Cannell’s Pink, Blue Giant, Emperor 
Improved, and White Perfection amongst the singles; 
and King of the Purples, Marchioness of Exeter, 
Princess of Wales, Eail Beaconsfield, and Annie 
Hillier amongst the doubles were all first-rate, and 
reflected great credit upon the Swanley firm. 
(Silver Flora Medal,) 
A Silver Flora Medal was awarded to the capital 
collection of Ferns shown by Messrs. J. Hill & Son, 
Lower Edmonton. All the plants shown were in 
robust health, as is usual with the material sent out 
by the Messrs. Hill. Davallia platyphylla, Asple- 
nium Nidus, Nephrolepis Duffii, N. davallioides fur- 
cans, Gymnogramme calomelanos, and G. c. peruvi¬ 
ana were all represented by large and handsome 
plants. In addition, there were baskets of sturdy, 
small specimens of Adiantum farleyense, A. Capil- 
lus-Veneris imbricatum, Asplenium Colensoi, Ane¬ 
mia phyllitidis, and Pteris ensiformis Victoriae, were 
also on view. 
Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans, had another 
group of new plants in which Acalypha Sanderi, A. 
godseffiana, Dracaena godseffiana, and D. sanderiana 
figured conspicuously. 
A Silver Banksian Medal was awarded to Messrs. 
Collins Bros., 210, Covent Garden Flower Market, 
for a group of cut Daffodils. N. Golden Spur, N. 
Telamonius plenus, N. spurius, N. poeticus ornatus, 
