374 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 11, 1899. 
hybrids are very stable indeed, whatever 
the artificial ones may be ; but it may safely 
be taken for granted that the process is still 
in operation, in which cases the hybrid 
might often be limited to a single individual. 
No doubt the stability of a hybrid varies 
greatly with different subjects. In the 
papers on hybrid and cross-bred garden 
plants, we may expect that the terms will 
be properly applied, by making a clear dis¬ 
tinction between the use of one or the other. 
Cross-bred bulbous plants will also be dealt 
with. An old theory was that plants which 
would hybridise with one another were 
limited to species of the same genus. Surely 
that idea has long been exploded, not to be 
resurrected at the conference. If such a 
rule were to be accepted as a canon of 
natural law, then Cattleyas, Laelias, 
Sophronites, Epidendrum, and some others, 
must be merged into one genus. On the 
contrary, all species which refused to inter¬ 
marry would have to be relegated to 
different genera, and this would entail the 
smashing up of the genus Primula into 
several. We do not, for a moment, suppose 
that such a thing will be attempted, for has 
not Darwin proved that improper unions 
could not be made between individuals of 
the same garden race or variety. Our 
cousins across the herring pond have proved 
that many varieties of fruit trees are self 
sterile, that is, they are barren when their 
own polien is used. 
-- 
Ml’ H E, Kennedy, till recently employed at 
Halton, Bucks, has been appointed gardener and 
steward to Sir Alfred West, Bart., Kilcroney, Bray, 
Co. Dublin. 
N.C.S. Outing in 1899 .—A communication from one 
of Lord Roseberry's secretaries was read by Mr. R. 
Dean at the annual general meeting of the N.C.S. on 
Monday evening last. His lordship expressed his 
willingness to allow the members of the N.C.S. to 
visit Mentmore in the forthcoming summer. 
A Silver Banksian Medal was awarded to H. F. 
Simonds, Esq. (gardener, Mr. G. E. Day), Wood- 
thorpe, Beckenham, on the 31st ult., by the Royal 
Hor icultural Society, for his interesting group of 
Orchids, staged at the Drill Hall. In our report of 
the meeting on p. 365, mention of the medal was 
accidentally omitted. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next meeting of 
the Royal Horticultural Society will take place in 
the Drill Hall, James Street, Westminster, on 
Tuesday, February 14th. The various committees 
will assemble at noon as usual, and at three o’clock 
the annual general meeting of the society will be 
held at the society's offices, 117, Victoria Street, 
Westminster, S.W. 
The Bois de Boulogne.—The annual outlay en¬ 
tailed in keeping up the Bois de Boulogne in Paris is 
close upon £23,000, says the Critic, of which the tax¬ 
payer is not called upon directly to contribute a 
farthing. The whole amount, and even more, is 
recovered by a long series of concessions granted to 
various private individuals and associations, the bulk 
being provided by the two racecourses, the Long- 
champs and Auteuil, which are both included within 
the boundaries of the Bois. For the LoDgcbamps 
racecourse an annual rent of £8,000 is paid, and for 
that of Auteuil £6,000. Various restaurants pay 
rents ranging from £800 to £900 a year. The sum 
of £80 yearly is paid for the exclusive right to col¬ 
lect the ice from the surface of the lakes, when there 
is any. The man with the donkeys pays £4 a year, 
the owner of the swings £5. The right to sell 
gaufres and cakes is mysteriously fixed at £4 16s. 8d., 
while "artistic photography ” brings in as much as 
£72 every twelve months. The smallest offer is 
tnankfully received ; and the result of this policy is 
that the surplus for this year is estimated at £1,350. 
which is to be laid out in garnishing the roads in the 
Bois, so as to get them into trim order for tie 
visitors to the Exhibition. And yet the French are 
never tired of talking about the practical way the 
English have of doing things ! 
Chiswick Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Associa¬ 
tion.— On the 2nd inst. Mr. W. Leslie, of Kew.was to 
have read a paper on "Gardeners’ Education,” but 
having been appointed to a place in the West Indies 
before the time arrived for reading it, that duty was 
performed by the secretary. The paper was of a 
high order of merit, and created a deal of discussion. 
The Council Chamber of the gardens at Chiswick 
has been very crowded by a large attendance of 
members lately, and the president, Mr. St. T. 
Wright, suggested that the big vinery might be used 
as the place of meeting, and to this proposal the 
members agreed. 
The Grand Yorkshire Gala for 1899 is to be held, as 
before, in The Bootham Field, in the grey old city of 
York, on June 14th, 15th, and 16th. The schedule 
of this, the forty-first exhibition, is before us, and it 
is a most liberal one, both in respect of number of 
classes and amount of prize money. There are ninety- 
eight classes in all, distributed amongst fruit, flowers, 
plants and vegetables. There are several new 
classes, for the society is ever progressive, and these 
include competitions for " A Group (15 ft. by 15 ft.) of 
Rhododendrons in bloom, named varieties ” ; "A 
Group (6 ft. by 4 ft. 6 in.) of Gloxinias, staged for 
effect with foliage plants and Ferns”; "Floral 
Designs or Decorations,” for which a Gold Medal is 
offered. (This is open to the trade only.); " A Table 
(10 ft. by 4 ft.) of cut blooms of Orchids with dwarf 
foliage plants”; "Floral Designs,” arranged in a 
table space of 15 ft. (open) ; “ Ornamental Stand of 
Flowers and Foliage" (open). Messrs. Sutton & 
Sons and Messrs. Webb & Sons are offering special 
prizes for vegetables. We wish our friends of the 
broad-acred county a full show, and a successful one 
both horticulturally and financially. 
When is a Gardener a hired Servant?—This case 
mentioned in our last issue, p. 358, was settled on the 
31st ult., by Mr. Yates, Q C. Mr. James Treeby, 
nurseryman, Chester Road, Old Trafford, Manches¬ 
ter, was summoned by the Board of Inland Revenue 
for keeping a male servant without having obtained 
a licence. Mr. Cobbett appeared on behalf of the 
prosecution, and Mr. Hockin represented the 
defendant. Mr. Yates, the magistrate, said he had 
been unable to find any authority to help him at all 
in considering the Act. So far as he knew there had 
been no similar case previously ; but there was no 
reason why the defendant should not be liable if 
attention was called to the matter. The Act pro¬ 
vides that every person who kept a male servant 
had to pay a tax of 15s. The defendant was liable 
for the licence, but as it was the first case the magis¬ 
trate thought a nominal penalty should be imposed 
to let others know that this liability rested upon them. 
The defendant was fined 5s. and costs. Leave was 
granted to state a case for appeai. This would seem 
a case of sufficient importance to be taken up by 
nurserymen generally. 
The Bad Language of Birds. —Mr. Charles A 
Witchell, writing in the February issue of Know¬ 
ledge, discusses the language, good and bad, of 
birds. Malice and love are not, it appears, readily 
distinguishable by the tones of bird song. While the 
blackbird, starling, chaffinch, and others may be 
pouring out the truest love-notes, the robin, thrush, 
hedge-sparrow, and others, though also singing, may 
be using the very " Billingsgate ” of birds. " If a 
singing robin be watched, and especially in autumn, 
he will be seen to attack any other singing robin 
which may be near ; yet the birds will be singing all 
the while, and their songs will be like the ordinary 
songs of the species, though a trifle sharper in tone. 
The music is evidently intended to convey the ani¬ 
mosity of the birds. The hedge-sparrow twitters in 
quite a subdued tone when fighting ; yet it neverthe¬ 
less seems to be singing. The willow wren sings its 
ordinary song when about to attack a rival. The 
chiffchaff, however, does not employ his cheerful 
strain on the like occasion. The nightingale is some¬ 
what pugnacious, and I have several times seen two 
fighting (I once saw three), but no song notes were 
then given.” In a few cases the combativeness of a 
bird is fairly well suggested by its cry—as occurs in 
the common fowl, whose "crow ” is as defiant as a 
bugle blast. The cooing of a dove, or the warbling 
of a fluent singer, may seem to be as expressive as 
the purr of a cat, "but when attention is given to 
the actions which accompany the cries of birds, an 
observer finds that some very pleasant sounds are 
incidental to very unkind behaviour." 
Rosa rugosa in Nova Scotia—The winters in the 
high latitude of Nova Scotia are exceedingly trying 
to many shrubs, and only a comparative few can 
stand them. Our old friend Rosa rugosa is ODe of 
these, for it fruits freely and maintains its beauty for 
a long time. 
Mr. George Wythes has been appointed by the 
Duke of Northumberland to superintend the gardens 
at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland. Mr G. Harris, 
for many years gardener at Alnwick Castle, is going 
into business for himself. Mr. Wythes, who for 
some years had been gardener to the late Duke of 
Northumberland, at Syon House, and latterly to 
Earl Percy at the same place, still remains there in 
the same capacity to the present Duke. He is send¬ 
ing Mr. Follwell, his principal foreman at Syon 
Gardens, to Alnwick—an arrangement that will tend 
to simplify the complicated and responsible duties of 
managing two gardens so widely separated as Middle¬ 
sex and Northumberland. 
Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.— Theannual general 
meeting of the subscribers to this Fund, will be held 
at Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street, London, E.C., on 
Friday, February 17th inst., for the purpose of receiv¬ 
ing the report of the Committee, and the accounts 
for the past year; to elect officers for the ensuing 
year; to elect nine children to the benefits of the 
fund ; and to make the following alterations in the 
Rules, namely :—Rule V.—Line four, after the word 
*'purpose,” to omit the words "All donations and 
legacies,” and to insert the following :—" All receipts, 
except legacies and donations, specially given as such 
for investment, shall be considered as subscriptions, 
and be available for current expenditure. All legacies 
and special donations.” Rule XI.—Line five, after 
the word “require," to make the following addition: 
—" Not more than two children of the same family 
can be in receipt of the benefits of the Fund at the 
same time.” The chair will be taken at 3 p.m., and 
the poll will close at 4.30 p.m., after which no votes 
will be received. The annual friendly dinner of the 
Committee of the Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund 
will take place at Anderton’s Hotel, at 6 p.m., when 
W. J. Nutting, Esq., will take the chair. 
Northernhay Park, Exeter.—Until quite recently 
this Park was practically a waste of rubbish—a 
howling wilderness - just outside the ancient city 
walls of Exeter, a remnant of which may yet be seen 
at this point. The powers that be at length awoke 
to the importance of this howliDg wilderness as a site 
for a park ; and a most picturesque and romantic 
site it is, standing on high ground, and overlooking 
many of the finest portions of Exeter. The city is 
built on very undulating ground, and Northernhay 
had no doubt been selected as the site of a castle or 
fortress in ancient times, when castles, moats, 
walls, drawbridges, &c., were the order of the day ; 
unless a hill or rock was bandy on which to build a 
a castle; and that seems to have been the case at 
Exeter. Such defence being no loDger needed this 
elevated situation was neglected till the happy idea 
occurred of making it into a park, the gates of which 
at one end are close to the Queen’s Road Station, 
and at the other practically in the centre of the city. 
The only really level ground in it is practically 
limited to a small portion at the highest point. Save 
where the walks and beds of shrubbery are, the rest 
consists of beautiful greensward. Since Mr. Wm. 
Andrews was made superintendent he has been 
busily engaged putting it in order, and converting 
the howling waste into green sward, walks, shrubbery 
and rockeries The tall old trees previously upon 
the ground giv3 an air of antiquity to the place, which 
is for all intents and purposes quite new. Phyllo- 
stachys aurea and other Bamboos have been planted 
under the shade of the taller trees; but the most 
interesting bit of work is a bold rockery, some 
running water, and a dripping well against a high 
bank on the right hand going towards the city, 
while on the left is a piece of flat sward terminating 
at a steep escarpment overlooking a valley. The 
stones used in this bold and interesting bit consist of 
great boulders of Dartmoor granite. On the high 
bank are heal thy bushes of Rock-roses, shrubby 
Veronicas, Romneya Coulteri, Mulleins and other 
plants. Scolopendriums and various aquatics, being 
thirsty subjects, keep near the running water and 
dripping well. The courteous superintendent is an 
old schoolmate of Mr. Moorman, of Victoria Park, 
London. 
