August 12, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
787 
BULBS FOR EARLY FORCING. 
WHITE ROMAN HYACINTHS. 
FREEZIA REFRACTA ALBA. 
PAPER WHITE NARCISSUS. 
DOUBLE ROMAN NARCISSUS. 
My consignments of the above are now to hand in excellent condition. Early orders solicited. Catalogues free. 
JOHN RUSSELL, Richmond Nurseries, SURREY. 
SELECT FLOWER ROOTS. 
JAMES VEITGH & SONS, Ltd. 
BEG TO ANNOUNCE THAT THEIR 
BULB CATALOGUE FOR 1899 
Has now been posted to all their Customers; anyone not having received the same, a Duplicate 
Copy will immediately be forwarded, Post Free, on application . 
ROYAL EXOTIC NURSERY, KING'S ROAD, CHELSEA, LONDON, S.W. 
THE ROYAL NURSERIES, 
MAIDSTONE, KENT. 
GEO. BUNYARD & C0. 9 
are now Booking Orders, for Early Delivery, 
of the yery best 
STRAWBERRIES. 
NEW and OLD kinds in Pots for Forcing; 
Runners for Open Culture. 
“ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man."— Bacon, 
THE LARGEST STOCK IN THE TRADE. 
Edited by J. FRASER. F.L.S. 
CULTURAL CATALOGUES FREE. 
SATURDAY , AUGUST 12 th, 1899. 
ORCHIDS! ORCHIDS!! 
We always have a choice stock of semi-established 
plants to select from, and are now receiving orders 
lor the coming season's importations. 
J.W. Moore, Ltd.,Orchid Importers, Rawdon, Nr, Leeds. 
Cutbush’s Carnations, 
Cutbush’s Bulbs and 
EARLY FORCING PLANTS 
Catalogues now ready, and may be had, post free, 
upon application. 
WM. CUTBUSH & SON, 
Highgate Nurseries, LONDON, N. 
ORCHIDS! ORCHIDS!! 
Quantity Immense! 
INSPECTION of OUR NEW RANGE of 
HOUSES 
IS CORDIALLY INVITED BY 
HUGH LOW & CO., 
Bush Hill Park, Middlesex. 
The Nurserymen, Market Gardeners, and 
General 
H ailstorm insurance cor¬ 
poration, Limited.—Offices, i and 2, King Street, 
Covent Garden, W.C. Chairman, HARRY J. VEITCH. 
Manager, ALEX. JAMES MONRO. Agents wanted In the 
Provinces, 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Monday, August 14th.— Old Windsor Show. 
Tuesday, August 15th.—R.H S. Meeting at Drill Hall. 
Wednesday, August 16th.—Burton-on-Trent Show. 
Thursday, August 17th.—R.H. S., of Aberdeen, Show in 
Dultie Park (3 days); Leighton Buzzard Show. 
Friday, August i8th.—Devon and Exeter Horticultu-al 
Society’s Exhibition. 
Saturday, August 19th.—Co-operative Show at Crystal 
Palace. 
f ouRNALOFTHE Kew Guild. —This annual 
has made its appearance somewhat later 
than usual, not from lack of funds nor material 
(indeed, it is increasing in prosperity), but 
owing, we understand, to press of other 
essential and necessary work on the hands 
of the Editor. The frontispiece consists of 
the portrait of William Botting Hemsley, 
F.R.S., F.L.S., who succeeded Mr. J. G. 
Baker, as keeper of the Herbarium, on the 
retirement of the latter last spring. He 
entered Kew as a young gardener in i860, 
before the completion of his 17th year, and 
is now in the position of highest responsi¬ 
bility m the botanical department. While 
speaking of pictures in the Journal we may 
say that the most prominent and remarkable 
is a photo of the Winter Garden, or Temper¬ 
ate House, its more familiar name. This 
picture is 1 ft. 10J in. wide, so as to give a 
continuous view of the huge palace of glass, 
and is four times folded to get it within the 
covers of the book. The two wings com¬ 
pleted in 1897 an d 1899 respectively are 
each 116 ft. long; the total length of the 
building is 628 ft. and the width 164 ft. The 
complete structure has cost about ^60,000 
in building and is the largest plant house in 
the world. 
Many notes, sober, serious, and amusing, 
follow the annual report; but we hardly 
expected to find evidence that English as 
“ she is spoke ” or written is becoming in¬ 
adequate to express the earnest application 
of a would-be Kewite, one of the rising 
generation, it would seem. ‘ After applying 
for employment at Kew, in sky-scraping 
terms, he concludes by saying, “ An early 
reply will gigantically oblige.” From old 
Kewites abroad come many interesting 
letters, but after describing that there are 
“few bonnier sights than a Coffee field in 
blossom,” the writer winds up by saying that 
the “ Hawthorn-glades in Phcenix Park, 
when you catch them in flower and with a 
south-west breeze blowing, are better, faith ! 
than Coffee.” Mr. W. H. Johnson, now 
the curator at the Aburi station, has had 
some rare and interesting experiences, it 
would seem, during a lecturing tour among 
the natives. One day he lectured under the 
presidency of King Akuffo, and at another 
assembly two days later King Mate Kole 
took the chair. The summons to the people 
brought together a crowd of people ranging 
from kings to chiefs and planters. One 
writes home from Sierra Leone that 
“ although there is only one place hotter 
than this, we have a cricket club.” The 
general tone of the letters from these 
voluntary and possibly only temporary exiles, 
is, moreover, full of British pluck and de¬ 
termination to do something worthy of their 
breeding under some of the most adverse of 
circumstances. In some cases, tco, it would 
seem that the British seeds of culture and 
civilisation are falling in very stony places, 
that is, in shallow brains, many centuries 
behind the 19th century in other parts of the 
world. The natives are good at making appli¬ 
cations for work, but poor performers. They 
write some tolerable examples of English, 
or rather some one acts in an official way, 
earning his bread probably by writing for 
others. The leading botanic gardens in this 
country seem to consider the lady gardener 
an accomplished fact, at all events that the 
number who have taken to it is significant. 
f actus Culture for Amateurs.* —The 
first edition of this book by Mr. Watson, 
of Kew, was published in 1889, just a decade 
ago. The author tells us in his preface 
that a revival of interest in Cacti has been 
showing itself. According to our observa¬ 
tions and knowledge a number of the old 
cultivators have died or given up the culture 
of Cacti, while others have maintained the 
love undiminished. This we say in refer¬ 
ence to amateurs, who are not otherwise 
gardeners in the ordinary acceptance of 
the term. Some have recently taken to 
growing and writing about Cacti, and are 
seemingly deeply interested in them, that is, 
concerning Cacti generally. On the other 
hand the fine collections of Phyllocacti, 
which have been appearing at the Temple 
Show for some years past, could hardly 
fail to excite the attention of the general 
public, on account of the size and gorgeous 
appearance of the flowers. 
There are several books and booklets cn 
the subject, but that under notice is the 
fullest and most complete of its kind. The 
introduction is followed by a chapter on the 
botanical characters of the family, given in 
plain English, with now afld again a term 
of a more technical ring about it, though 
not difficult to master. The cultivation of 
Cacti is dealt with in greenhouses, Wardian 
cases, window recesses, frames and in the 
open air. It may be news to some that 
Cacti can be grown in the open air, but the 
’Cactus Culture for Amateurs : being descriptions 
of the various Cactuses grown in this country, with f, 11 
and practical instructions for their successful cultiva¬ 
tion. By W. Watson, assistant curator of the Royal 
Botanic Gardens, Kew. Profusely Illustrated. Price 
5s. London: L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C. 
