676 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
June 24, 1899. 
method of staging they may adopt. This 
will favour or encourage an attempt at 
novelty or attractiveness in arrangement 
for display. It would increase the general 
interest of the show if something decidedly 
effective is produced to relieve the flatness 
and monotony of long tables devoted to 
single dishes and small collections of fruit 
many times repeated. 
The classes set apart for amateurs are 
much about the same as last year ; but the 
classes for twelve and eight dishes of 
dessert fruit respectively have been reduced 
to nine and six, obviously to encourage a 
greater number of exhibitors to come for¬ 
ward, and consequently a keener competi¬ 
tion. A silver challenge cup of the value 
of twenty-five guineas is offered by Messrs. 
Wm. Wood & Son, of Wood Green, for six 
distinct varieties of grapes, two bunches of 
each. Gardeners have to compete for it 
till one or other of them has won it three 
years in succession, when it will become his 
property. The contest may be of long 
duration before this happens on account of 
the variability of seasons, and the propor¬ 
tion of first-class bunches obtainable from 
the same Vines in successive seasons. The 
chances are in favour of the skilful gardener 
with good young Vines and plenty of them. 
Altogether, prizes are offered for fruits in 
174 classes, being two more than last year. 
A commendable innovation is the stipula¬ 
tion that any polishing of the fruit will dis¬ 
qualify the exhibitor so doing. 
- -" 6 ^-.- - 
The Si’ll and 10 th of June (the 1st and 2nd Sunday), 
are known in Kent as “ Rhododendron Sundays." 
Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution. — The 
Right Hon. The Earl of Derby, Iv.G.,G.C.B., will 
preside at the sixtieth anniversary festival of this 
institu tion, on Wednesday evening, June 28th, in the 
Whitehall Rooms, Hotel Metropole. The dinner 
will take place at seven o’clock precisely. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next fruit and 
floral meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 
will be held on Tuesday, June 27th, in the Drill 
Hall, James Street, Westminster, 1-5 p.m. On this 
occasion special prizes will be offered for Roses, and 
at 3 o’clock a lecture on “ Some of the Plants 
Exhibited ” will be given by the Rev. Prof. Geo. 
Henslow, M.A. 
Essays.—The manner in which a subject is treated 
by the Grand River Valley Horticultural Association, 
Michigan, where specialists prepare short essays 
dealing with one phase of a subject, might beoftener 
followed by our own associations, because specialists 
can generally bring out something which the ordin¬ 
ary grower has not observed. At the above society’s 
meeting on April 18th, the Rose was the theme. 
One writer treated on its evolution ; another on, 
“ The Rose in Literature ”, and another paper dealt 
with “ Outdoor Roses." This was not a conference, 
only an ordinary meeting. 
Jadoo.—Our cousins in Philadelphia have been 
discussing the latest facts about “Jadoo.” At the 
P. Florists’ club meeting held recently, there were 
numerous plants exhibited which had been culti¬ 
vated from first to last in this artificial mixture, and 
looking Ai. The process of making Jadoo was also 
told. Dry Holland peat-moss, and mixtures of soot, 
raw gypsum, bone-meal, phosphoric acid, potash, 
nitrate of soda, are all blended together with warm 
water, just as a man might mix mortar. The mix¬ 
ture is then put into a double jacketted kettle with 
a false bottom, which is heated by live steam. The 
“fibre" is then put in a steel cage and the steam 
turned on, and the hot water passes through the 
chemicals in the false bottom and up through the 
moss, which is kept in that boiling condition for 
about thirty-five minutes. Now it is drained and a 
pressure of sixty tons put on it. It is allowed to 
ferment till it reaches a certain temperature. This 
takes about thirty days. It will be seen, says the 
Florists' Review, that the American system of manu¬ 
facture is more expeditious than the method in 
England. 
Botrychium matricariaefolium —The only known 
British specimen of this Fern was exhibited by Mr. 
William Whitwell, F. L. S., at the meeting of the 
Linnean Society on the 15th inst. He also showed 
a hitherto unknown form of Asplenium Ruta-muraria 
from Dartmoor. 
Rose, Crimson Rambler.—Like all fast-growing 
climbing Roses it is dangerous to remove Crimson 
Rambler any great distance for immediate planting. 
The roots are extremely sensitive, and after being 
removed from the ground must be carefully treated, 
kept unexposed, and not dried. 
Mr. G. A. Daubehy.of the Middle Temple, has been 
writing on “Forests " and their effect on a country’s 
climate and its prosperity. He even assigns the 
cause of decay of nations to be found primarily in 
the condition of the forests. He points out that 
since Spain’s central provinces have been freed from 
trees, first the climate and then the crops and after 
this the people themselves have deteriorated. And 
he points also to Italy as a case where since forests 
have been destroyed the prosperity of that nation 
has waned till now it is only a 2nd or 3rd rate 
power. We can point, however, to the improvement 
of France, climate and commerce, since it was more 
liberally wooded. It is really a thing to be seriously 
considered, this question of tree planting. 
Aquatics as Florists’ Flowers.—In " The American 
Florist" of April 1st, attention is directed to the 
popularity of the Water-Lilies and to their use as 
cut flowers, It is rather a pity that the flowers do 
not last longer when cut, but with cool stores, and 
water, and shade, they remain fresh for quite a while. 
The above paper says there is an ever increasing 
demand for Water-Lilies, especially the night 
blooming varieties and Nelumbiums. They can be 
produced out of doors with less trouble or labour, 
and can be depended on when other flowers are 
dried up, and plants scorched to death, or rotten 
on the plants, as in the case of continued hot, wet 
weather. Ponds with a depth of from 2ft. to 3 ft. 
and sheltered, are the proper areas for their 
growth. 
Trees and Soils.—The following notes we glean 
from The Farmers' Gazette. The list of common trees 
given below are best adapted for the soils mentioned : 
Alders, a fairly rich and damp soil; Ash, chalky 
loam, or dampish loamy gravel; Beech, deep chalky 
soils; Birch, gravelly upland soils; Cherry, alluvial 
deposit; Chestnut (sweet), sandy loam; Chestnut 
(horse), firm dampish loam ; Elm (English), good 
loamy gravel; Elm (Scotch), gravelly loam, upland 
sites; Hornbeam, stiff loamy clay; Lime, good 
sound loam or gravel; Maple, gravelly loam ; Oak, 
deep loamy soil resting on clay ; Poplar, rich damp 
soils ; Sycamore, good porous loam ; Walnut, strong 
loamy clay ; Willow, various soils in damp situations; 
Douglas Fir, gravelly loam; Larch, hazelly learn; 
Pine (Corsicau), gravelly soil; Pine (Scotch) light, 
poor soils, exposed ; Silver Fir, moist rich loam ; 
Thuya gigantea, dampish loam or alluvial deposits. 
Florida.—In a racy note in the Florists' Review a 
writer describes a journey and what he saw from 
Philadelphia to some part of Florida. When he 
started, his teeth rattled against each other, for it 
was yet January, and the scene about him was that 
of snowy hills and so on. But as he got south " the 
hills had disappeared, the dark mounds were free 
from snow, and patch after patch of green flowing 
vegetation flew by the windows on parade. The 
northern Oaks, Chestnuts, and Maples were seen no 
more, but in their place came the live Oak, the 
Cypress, with its bulging, bee-hive base, Magnolias, 
and the long-haired (foliaged) southern Pine, 
and clumps of Cane stakes were growing in 
the ditches covered with foliage. Thenceforth 
the long swaying Tillandsia, the so-called 
Spanish Moss, was seldom out of sight, as it hung 
from the branches of the trees in strange gray 
tufts." . . . Arrived at St. Petersburg, near the 
Gulf of Mexico, he slept with door and window 
open, and as soon as daylight came, strolling along 
the streets, where Roses, Heliotropes, Coleus, 
Vincas, Allamandas, Jessamines, Daturas, and 
Cannas were in full bloom and vigour, and Poin- 
settias and Palms and Bamboos waved, our friend 
was up and enjoying this rich southern show.” He 
goes on to describe the further products of the 
genial climate. 
The Paris Exposition of 1900 .—There is only some 
5 acres of space altogether, to be devoted to the 
display of the various industries at the Paris exposi¬ 
tion next pear ; and 55% of this ground is allocated 
to France’s own use, leaving only 45% for apportion¬ 
ing to all the other nations. Horticulture has 
received a space of 2,718 sq. ft. All the same, 
it will be one of the grandest displays ever 
known. 
Odontoglossum crispum punctatum.—A healthy 
piece of moderate size of this Odontoglot turned up 
in the sale rooms of Messrs. Protheroe and Morris, 
Cheapside, on the 16th. inst., and was knocked down 
for 40gs. The flowers are freely tinted with rose on 
both sides, and the face of the sepals and petals is 
much spotted with clear brown all over. On the 
same day a piece Coelogyne pandurata bearing a fine 
raceme of flowers was sold for £2 15s. 
High-level Plants. —At the meeting of the Linnean 
Society, on the 1st inst., Mr. W. B. Hemsley, 
F.R.S., F.L.S., exhibited a selection of High-level 
Plants from the collections formerly made by Sir 
Joseph Hooker, Dr. Thompson, General Sir R. 
Strachey, and more recently by Capt. Welby, Mr. 
and Mrs. Littledale, and Mr. Arnold Pike,in Northern 
India, Thibet, and Mongolia, many of them from 
altitudes of 18,000 to 19,200 ft. A selection was 
also shown from the collections made in the Andes 
by Sir Martin Conway, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Gosse, 
and Mr. Whymper, at various altitudes up to 18,500 
ft. The principal points referred to were the small 
size of many of the plants, the protective woolly 
covering of others, and the general preponderance 
of the natural order Compositae. 
Lonicera Hildebrandi. —In the Mexican House at 
Kew Royal Botanic Garden, there may be seen a 
plant of this Burmese Honeysuckle in flower for the 
first time in this country, or probably for the first 
time in all Europe. It was introduced to Kew in 
1894 and though growing freely, it yet refused to 
bloom. Even now only a few flowers have been 
developed. The flower tubes (corollae) are about 
4^ inches long, narrow, and pale brown, or greenish- 
yellow, being lighter at the mouth. The older 
flowers become much richer coloured. They are 
borne from the axils of the leaves, two blossoms 
branching from one stalk. The foliage is dark green, 
roundly-oval, entire, mucronate, opposite, and 
in short petioles. Curtailing of the root space and 
the witholding of some of the water supply tended 
to throw it into flower 
Complimentary Dinner by Messrs. Webb & Sons.— 
In connection with the Herefordshire and Worcester¬ 
shire Agricultural Society’s meeting at Stourbridge, 
Lieut.-Colonel Webb and Mr. Edward Webb, princi¬ 
pals of the firm of Messrs. Webb & Sons, Seedsmen, 
&c.,at Wordsley, Stourbridge, entertained a large and 
influential company to dinner in the Town Hall, on 
Monday evening, June 12th. Besides the Messrs. 
Webb & Sons, and the officers of the society, there 
were also present the Mayor of Worcester, the 
Right Hon. Viscount Cobham, Sir Henry Lambert, 
Bart., Rev. G. Owen, the Rev. J. J. Slade, Mr. R. B. 
Martin, M.P., and many others. Col. Webb, who 
presided, opened the toast list, and Lord Cobham gave 
“ Success to the Herefordshire and Worcestershire 
Agricultural Society." In his speech he gave a short 
comment on the history of the two societies, and 
spoke also on the good effects which such shows 
always brought, especially when the exhibitors were 
men whose livelihood depended upon their own 
efforts and productions, as distinct from those rich 
exhibitors at great shows who were not bound down 
by pecuniary considerations, and who could not be 
looked to for any very great assistance from their 
results. Sir Henry Foley Lambert, the president 
for the year, in responding, hoped that the society 
would have fair weather and patronage. Mr. Martin, 
M.P , also spoke, and Mr. Haskew, who next ad¬ 
dressed the meeting, mentioned that the Royal seed 
growers of Stourbridge—the Messrs. Webb—were now 
known all over the civilised world, and whose business 
had grown vastly in the last few years. Many other 
toasts were called, and speeches bearing on various 
items of agriculture, its past, its present, and the 
hopes for the future, were all discussed. The thanks 
to Colonel and Mr. Webb were very hearty. The 
string band of the Royal Marines performed a num¬ 
ber of selections. 
