532 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 24, 1897. 
Mr, J. T. Stoney, previously foreman at Powis 
Castle, bas been appointed gardener to H. B. 
Gilmour, Esq., “ Underlear” Aigburtb, Liverpool. 
South African Pinapples were recently selling in 
the East London Market at 6d. per dozen, or 
$d. each. One farmer has a crop of 50,000 this 
year. 
The Kenilworth Horticultural Society has decided 
to hold no show this year on account of the 
numerous calls to be made on the public for the 
Diamond Jubilee Celebration, and Indian Famine 
Fund. Subscribers to the show regret this step. 
May in April —The Hawthorn, popularly known 
as May, has been in bloom at Tullimaar for the last 
fortnight or more; also the Broom or " Bannell," as 
it is locally called, whilst the bloom of the Black¬ 
thorn is practically over. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next fruit and 
floral meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 
will be held on Tuesday, April 27th, in the Drill 
Hall, James Street, Westminster, one to five p.m. 
A lecture on “ Winter and Spring Bedding " will be 
given by Mr. A. Dean at three o'clock. 
Daffodil and Spring Flower Show at Truro.—Sub¬ 
scribers to the recent and first show held at Truro, 
met on the 14th inst., and resolved that their show 
should be held annually. J. C. Williams, Esqr., was 
elected president ; T. A. Dorrien Smith, Esqr , as 
vice-president ; the Hon. John Boscawen as secretary 
and treasurer ; and A. Blenkinsop, Esqr., as assistant 
to the latter. The recent show was a financial success. 
The Royal Gardeners' Orphan Fund. — We have the 
pleasure to announce that Mr. Leonard Sutton 
(Sutton & Sons) has most generously sent a dona¬ 
tion of £100 to The Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund, 
whilst his brother, Mr. A. W, Sutton, has sent a 
similar amount to the Royal Benevolent Institution. 
We are requested to remind our readers that the 
annual festival dinner of this most deserving charity 
will take place on Friday, April 30th, at the Hotel 
Cecil, Charing Cross. Gentlemen who may wish to 
attend the dinner should communicate with the 
secretary, Mr. A. F. Barron, Chiswick. Donations 
are still thankfully received, and gratefully acknow¬ 
ledged. 
Archerfield Gardens, Drem. —In reference to these 
gardens, on p. 516, Mr. J. McKelvie calls in question 
a statement made in the same issue which contained 
the report of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural 
Society’s show. It was an excusable slip of the pen 
saying that Mr. Lees was at Archerfield, while it 
sho uld have been remembered that he was at the ad¬ 
joining gardens of Tynninghame. It is the belief of 
one of our correspondents that, after leaving Tynning- 
ham, Mr. Lees took what was known as Archerfield 
Home Farm In face of this it was easy to make 
the slip complained of. Another correspondent says, 
“ It is quite true that no place in East Lothian is 
exactly the same as it was in the "sixties,” but not 
one of them has been maintained all through the 
bad times in better order than Archerfield and 
Dirleton, both at Drem.” He also asserts that our 
informant who supplied the information about 
Archerfield has seen the place, “ and found it in 
tolerably good keeping in recent times.” 
Bumble Bees Intoxicated.—In a late issue of the 
"Journal of Botany” are details of Mr. T. L. 
Williams’ experiments on bees. He says that these 
insects often get drunk. Their intoxicating tipple is 
the honey produced by the crowded flowers of the 
capitulate heads of certain Compositae and 
Dipsaceae. When the stage of intoxication is 
reached, it is indicated by rolling on the back, 
striking the legs wildly in the air, and general 
helplessnes. The bees rapidly recovered from the 
effects, and in most cases were eager to repeat the 
debauch ; but one individual which had been shut 
up in a vasculum with copious supplies ofCentaurea 
scabiosa manifested the next morning a disgust, 
raising its head and forelegs as high as it could above 
the plants, then hurrying away as soon as released. 
The most dissolute is the neuter of Bombus 
lapidarius It is suggested that the rolling conse¬ 
quent on the intoxication is a means of distributing 
the pollen to other florets of the same head.— 
American Gardening. 
Mr. Gladstone in acknowledging the receipt of the 
Worcestershire Technical Committee’s Manual, 
Gardening for All remarks:—“I view with cordial 
satisfaction each new step taken for extending the 
knowledge of practical gardening among the people 
of this country.” 
Addington Park, belonging to ihe see of 
Canterbury, will only be sold provided the 
ecclesiastical commissioners can get a fair price for 
it. Some future Archbishop of Canterbury may yet 
chance to find himself master of a country residence 
within easy distance of London, and where he may 
be able to enjoy the green fields, trees, and Rhodo¬ 
dendrons in the park. 
Edinburgh Botanical Gardens.—Several of the 
Edinburgh residents are complaining of the new 
order of things that prevails in the Botanical Gardens, 
and the general absence of seats for visitors, in the 
more sunny, attractive and accessible spots in the 
gardens. It appears that the seats are generally 
crowded with visitors, yet some of the seats that 
used to exist have been removed. The changes that 
have been effected are not considered improvements. 
Spring Flowers.—The Hyacinths, Tulips, and 
other bulbs now in flower in the following public 
parks and gardens were supplied by Messrs. W. Cut- 
bush & Sons, Highgate Nurseries, N.:—Peckham- 
rye, Victoria Park, Finsbury Park, Chelsea Embank¬ 
ment Gardens, Battersea Park, Brockwell Park, 
Southwark Park, Dulwich Park, Clissold Park, 
Ravenscourt Park, Kennington Park, Myatt's Fields, 
Victoria Embankment, Leicester Square, Bethnal 
Green, Waterlow Park, Victoria Gardens, North 
Woolwich, Maryon, Meath Gardens, Island Gardens. 
Mr. C. Sprenger, for many years, and until recently, 
a partner and technical manager in the establish¬ 
ment of Messrs. Dammann & Co , San Giovanni a 
Teduccio, Naples, has given up his connection with 
that firm, and has established himself as a landscape 
gardener, garden artist, and florist in the same neigh¬ 
bourhood. He was formerly occupied in the culti¬ 
vation and perfecting of flowering plants and vege¬ 
tables, and the production of new varieties and 
hybrids. Mr. Ernst Dammann has undertaken all 
the obligations both debit and credit of the firm 
Dammann & Co. 
The name Richardia has been given to two different 
plants. Linnaeus applied it to a genus of plants 
belonging to Rubiaceae ; but Kunth substituted 
Richardsonia for it. The latter botanist also gives 
the name Richardia to the genus of the Aroideae, 
which in popular language is spoken of as Lily of 
the Nile, Trumpet Lily, Arum, or Calla, indifferently. 
The four latter names are entirely wrong. All the 
species come from South Africa, and therefore a 
long way from the Nile. They are not Lilies at all. 
Arum, Calla, and Richardia are so remotely 
connectad that all three are placed in different 
tribes of the natural order. 
Technical Lectures at Liverpool.—A course of 
lectures on the " Principles of Gardening and Horti¬ 
culture,” by Mr. R. J. Harvey Gibson, M.A..F.L.S., 
professor of botany in the University College, 
Liverpool, under the auspices of the City of Liver¬ 
pool, is now being delivered at the University 
College, Liverpool. The object of the course is to 
provide the fundamental knowledge of plant life and 
structure for the understanding of the life-histories 
of garden and field plants, and of the general princi¬ 
ples which underlie the more familiar operations 
associated with their cultivation. The lectures are 
fully illustrated with lime-light views and specimens. 
The two first lectures have been delivered and 
embrace the general characteristics of a higher 
plant ; the vegetative and reproductive organs ; the 
structure, germination, and vitality of seeds; general 
functions of the root and root hairs ; the analysis of 
plants and determination of their essential consti¬ 
tuents ; the chemical elements in every green plant, 
and the parts played by them in the plant economy. 
This is the first attempt of the Technical Committee 
of the City of Liverpool to give instruction in the 
higher principles of horticulture, and the course 
promises a successful issue, the attendance proving 
most satisfactory ; and in addition to an able 
lecturer the views are excellent, so that the informa¬ 
tion can be readily grasped. 
The Blossom of the Cherry Tree enjoys the reputa¬ 
tion of being one of the national flowers of Japan. 
The spring course of instruction in horticulture 
held at Chelmsford under the auspices of the Essex 
County Council, was commenced on the 22nd of 
March and brought to a termination on the 10th 
inst. The Technical Instruction Committee again 
offered 15 scholarships for competition amongst the 
gardening youths of the county. 
Didn't " Keep ” Them.—" Faulkner, the florist," 
was practically an unknown man in London uniil he 
happened to be a witness in a celebrated criminal 
trial, and, in answer to the learned counsel’s query, 
"Do you keep flowers?” replied, "No, sir, I sell 
them.” This same remark, with variations, has 
been used by numerous advertisers during the last 
eighteen years, but it built Faulkner’s business up 
from a small to a large one.— Daily Press. 
Concentrated Manures.—A gentleman who was a 
great believer in the efficacy of concentrated chemical 
manures was chatting one day with his bailiff. " Ab, 
Jones,” he said, " it’s my firm opinion that the day 
will come when a man will be able to carry all the 
manure necessary for a ten-acre field in one of his 
waistcoat pockets.” " Maybe, sir, maybe,” 
responded the bailiff, " and no doubt he’d be able 
to carry all the crops he'd raise oft it then in the 
other.” 
Eelworms and Nitrate of Soda.—Some plant- 
growers in America have found the use of nitrate of 
soda very serviceable in checking the ravages of eel- 
worms at the roots of plants. It must not be applied 
to plants in pots, tubs, or narrow borders under 
glass, because the nitrate of soda, if sufficiently 
strong to kill the eelworms, would also destroy the 
roots of the plants. Roses and Chrysanthemums 
are particularly liable to attack, but it is useless to 
apply this remedy when the eelworms have got 
inside the roots. Dressings of nitrate of soda at the 
rate of 2 oz. to the gallon of water should be applied 
to the soil to be used for potting or growing plants 
before it is taken under glass. 
Royal Botanic Sooitty.—At the meeting of this 
society on the 10th inst., the secretary, Mr. J. B. 
Sowerby, gave an interesting account of the cultiva¬ 
tion of Esparto-grass, and of its manufacture into 
paper. He illustrated his remarks with dried and 
living specimens as grown in the gardens. Stipa 
tenacissima is a wiry grass that can live in sandy, 
desert places where only vegetation of a similar 
character could exist, such as is the Marrem-grass 
(Psamma arenaria) inhabiting our sandy sea shores. 
The lecturer suggested that Esparto-grass would be 
a most suitable subject by means of which the 
desert of Sahara might not only be reclaimed, but 
turned to profitable account. The gardens were 
open to the general public on Easter Monday, a band 
playing at intervals from n to 1 o'clock and from 
3 to 6 p.m. 
Newcastle on-Tyne Horticultural Society. — The 
report and financial statement for 1896, of the 
Durham, Northumberland, and Newcastle-on-Tyne 
Incorporated Botanical and Horticultural Society, is 
now to hand, and shows that the society paid 
accounts to the amount of £1,786 7s. 3d., but that 
this exceeded the receipts of the year's working by 
£371 2s. 8d. The society holds a spring, summer, 
and Chrysanthemum show, the summer show bring¬ 
ing the greatest amount in receipts, but undoubtedly 
costing most, while unfavourable weather has been 
responsible for a great deficiency in gate money 
which the society might reasonably expect from the 
fine display they get up. Prize money is the heaviest 
item of expenses, accounting for £436 18s. 3d. Hire 
of tents, premises, and fitting up make the second 
largest item on the bill. Owing to bad weather, 
&c., there was a deficiency on the spring show of 
£100; on the summer show of £ 170; and on the 
Chrysanthemum show of £100. After prolonged 
consideration it was unanimously resolved to hold 
only one show during 1897, and that the summer 
one, on the 8th, 9th, and 10th July. The surplus on 
hand from the previous year prevented the society 
from being indebted to a greater extent than 
£26 12s. nd., and surely by careful working, this 
can be wiped out during the present season. At all 
events that is the aim of the society. 1 
