June 5, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
637 
SILVER BANKSIAN MEDAL 
Malcolm S. Cooke, for Orchids. 
Major Joicey, for Orchids. 
Mons. A. Peeters, for Orchids. 
Messrs R. & G. Cuthbert, for Azaleas. 
-- 
THE GARDENERS’ ROYAL BENEVO¬ 
LENT INSTITUTION. 
The Fifty-eighth Anniversary Festival Dinner of this 
institution was held at the Hotel Metropole, London, 
on May 26th. The Rt. Hon. Lord Rothschild occu¬ 
pied the chair, and was supported by Lord Wands¬ 
worth, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart.; The Rev. W. 
Wilks, M.A. ; Mr. N. N. Sherwood, Mr. H. J. Veitch 
(treasurer); and about 170 horticulturists and friends. 
After the usual loyal toasts the chairman gave " The 
Institution,” and spoke in very appreciative terms 
of its usefulness and length of service. His Lord- 
ship remarked that “the society was almost 
co-existent with the reign of Queen Victoria, so we 
are almost celebrating our Diamond Jubilee to-night 
and there were some now present who could remem¬ 
ber the Accession, and would realise that during the 
last fifty jears botany, arboriculture, and floriculture 
had made tremendous strides. Steam navigation 
has brought into prominence many grand plants, 
notably the noble Water Lily (Victoria regia), 
that lovely Orchid named after the Princess of 
Wah s, and other exotics. Our descendants sixty 
years hecce would probably gloat over the produc¬ 
tion of other hybrids and the introduction of 
new subjects that would have made that period also 
glorious in the annals of horticulture. These who 
like myself obtain a vast amount of pleasure from 
their gardens should also delight in assisting this 
society to pay the annuitants, who have either been 
gardeners or are the widows and descendants of 
gardeners." His Lordship concluded with a strong 
appeal to all his friends to undo their purse strings 
in favour of the Gardeners’ Rojal Benevolent Insti¬ 
tution.” 
Mr H. J. Veitch, the treasurer, most heartily 
thanked Lord Rothschild on behalf of the executive 
and friends of the institution for the kindly interest 
taken, an interest in all probability created through 
the great and real knowledge of gardening which 
his lordship had acquired. In speaking about the 
society the worthy treasurer remarked that its report 
each year was full of interest, and if any further 
points were required the committee and secretary 
would gladly furnish them, as the management would 
bear any investigation. This year they had elected 
twenty pensioners, the largest number yet elected at 
one time. When the Queen became patroness and the 
Prince Consort patron in i85t, they had thirty-five 
pensioners, whilst they now had 161. Up to 1865 
they were able to allow the male annuitants £1 6 and 
the females £12 per year, but since then the amounts 
had been £20 and £16 respectively. In :85r there 
were fifteen candidates, of whom two were elected, 
the highest number of votes obtained being 480. In 
1897 there were forty-nine candidates, twenty 
elected, with 3,762 as the highest number of votes 
recorded. The pensioners in 1851 received a total 
of £512, in 1897 they had £3,000. After giving some 
further statistics the speaker said that he claimed 
that they were a real test for good results. They 
now wanted funds to enable them to give £5 to each 
of the unsuccessful candidates at the last election, in 
honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee; they also 
wanted to raise £5,coo for the Victorian Era Fund, 
which sum should be invested and the interest 
devoted to assisting applicants in distress previous 
to election. The institution required at least £3,600 
each year to keep on the present number of 
pensioners. Mr. Veitch referred in very feeling 
terms to the loss sustained this year through the 
lamentable deaths of Mr. James Webber and Dr. 
Hogg; the former had teen a valuable and hard¬ 
working member of the committee for twenty-one 
years, whilst the latter was trustee for many years. 
As an additional item showing the interest which the 
family of the noble chairman took in the institution, 
he was pleased to announce that the Hon. Walter 
Rothschild had graciously consented to succeed Dr. 
Hogg as trustee. Mr. Veitch also made a well- 
deserved reference to the manner in which Mr. 
George J. Ingram carried out his duties as secre¬ 
tary. 
The toast of *' Gardening ” was ably spoken to by 
Mr. George A. Dickson. Sir Trevor Lawrence spoke 
in very cordial terms of the chairman, whilst Mr. 
Ingram announced that £5,300 had been subscribed 
up to that time, and that the Victorian Era Fund 
would remain open till the end of this year. 
We have to commend Mr. Ingram for the unique 
arrangements of the dinner and musical interludes, 
and to beseech all our readers to assist this grand 
institution, both on behalf of the General and the 
Victorian Era Funds. 
-- 4 -- 
VIOLAS AT CROYDON. 
For several weeks, and until recently, the weather 
has been detrimental to this class of plants owing to 
to the aridity of the east winds. Nevertheless, 
during that dry period we received a bouquet of 
Violas from Mr. J. Seeger, Bandon Hill, Croydon. 
Snowflake is a while variety that usually does well 
in spring; but Beautiful Snow is white and rayless. 
Countess of Kintore, with viclet Gentre and white 
edges, is a variety that stands the drought of the 
southern counties and flowers profusely. One of 
the darkest and finest of its group is Archie Grant, 
with intense violet, self-coloured flowers. Stanstead 
Rival is a dark crimson-purple flower in the way of 
Trentham Purple, but having more of the maroon 
shading in it. Blue Cloud is a beautiful spring 
flowering variety, that is, it is always best in spring. 
The white flowers are well set off by the broad ultra- 
marine blue edges. In some quarters the bright blue 
Souvenir is equally well-known and beautiful in its 
way. The change of weather that set in on the 
25th ult. has already proved beneficial to this class 
of plants. 
- 1 «- 
OBITUARY. 
Mr. Duncan M’Lellan. 
This noted gardener and park superintendent died at 
his residence, 7 Kelvingrove Terrace, on the 19th 
ult., in the 83rd year of his age. He was a native 
of Luss, and gained a wide experience under several 
well known gardeners, and occupied positions of trust 
both in Edinburgh and Glasgow previous to his ap¬ 
pointment as superientendent of parks at the 
latter city in 1853. At that time Glasgow 
Green was the only park in the city, but 
the Corporation had purchased the lands of 
Kelvingrove as a public park in 1852, and obtained a 
plan for laying out the place from Sir Joseph Paxton. 
The newly appointed superintendent was entrusted 
with the putting of this plan into effect ; and he 
carried it out with such judgement and skill, that the 
Corporation recognised the great capacity of its 
servant for work of this nature. It is believed that 
the scenery of his native locality awakened in him a 
taste for landscape gardening. 
Four years later the Queen's Park was acquired 
and Sir Joseph Paxton was again consulted ; but by 
the time the Corporation acquired the Alexandra 
Park,they had realised the value of their parks’ super, 
intendent, and entrusted him with the planning and 
laying of it out. Mr. M’Lellan did his work with a 
display of talent which only a master hand could 
wield. Maxwell Park he dealt with in the same way. 
Mr. M’Lellan retired in r8g3, and his portrait, which 
was presented to him on the 16th August of that 
year, now adorns the Corporation Galleries. He was 
succeeded by Mr. James Whitton. Glasgow Green in 
1853 consisted of t36 acres, but when Mr. M'Lellan 
retired in 1893 after 40 years of service, the parks and 
open spaces extended to 699 acres. He was a man 
of kind and genial temperament, much liked by every 
one with whom he came in contact, aod he leaves 
three sons and one daughter to mourn his death. 
Mr. Alfred George. 
In Mf- George, who passed away at the age of sixty- 
nine, Devonshire has lost as good a gardener as ever 
wore the blue apron. He was not only a most 
lovable man, but brimful of gardening knowledge 
which he was ever ready to impart for the benefit of 
his craft. For over ten years he had charge of the 
famous gardens and grounds of Bicton, when the late 
Lady Rolle was proprietress of that fine estate. 
Preceded by an able gardener—Mr. Barnes—Mr 
George was, a few years after he left, succeeded by 
a no less able man, the present gardener, Mr. 
Mayne. Under such men and with the highly 
favoured climatic conditions which surround the 
estate, Bicton has been and is now one of the finest 
places in the County of Devon. A few years ago 
Mr. George was appointed as a lecturer on horticul¬ 
ture for the county and was one of the most success¬ 
ful, as evidenced by the numbers and good attend¬ 
ance at the classes he formed. While imparting 
sound technical instruction, he did so in a happy 
sort of way of his own, which established a kindly 
feeling between himself and his audience. Nothing 
seemed too much trouble to him, and nothing 
pleased him more than to be asked the why and the 
wherefore of the operations he suggested and 
directed. Undoubtedly a first-rate gardener, he was 
particularly well up in fruit culture and could handle 
the pruning and the budding knife with dexterity and 
consummate skill. He will be much missed around 
Exeter, for he had a wide circle of friends who were 
much attached to him.— Devoniensis. 
Questions sno snsroeRS 
*,* Will our friends who send us newspapers he so good 
as to mark the paragraphs or articles they wish us to see. 
We shall be greatly obliged b\i their so doing. 
[ Correspondents , please note that we cannot undertake to 
name florists' flowers such as Carnations, Pelargoniums, 
Chrysanthemums, Roses, nor such as are mere garden 
varieties, differing only in the colour of the flower. 
Florists' flowers, as a rule, can only be named by those who 
grow collections of them.] 
Peach trees diseased. — Omega : Your Peach trees 
-are in a very bad way if they are all like the example 
you sent us. They have got the Peach Blister, caused 
by a fungus named Ascomyces deformans. You 
cannot apply anything that will kill the fungus with¬ 
out killing the trees, as the Ascomyces lives in the 
tissue of the branches and leaves, so that when once 
attacked in this way the tree shows the malady year 
after year in a more or less virulent degree. If the 
disease is present only to a small extent you may 
stay its ravages by cutting off the leaves and shoots 
affected, and burning them. If the trees are very 
much injured the best thing you can do is to root 
them out, burn them and plant others in their stead 
next autumn. You may not care to do this immedi¬ 
ately if the trees bear fair crops of fruit, but unless 
you can keep the disease in check by the above plan, 
you will socner or later be obliged to destroy them, 
as they become fruitless and practically useless. 
Fumigating a Fernery .—A lister : While they are 
making their growth, there are some of the Maiden¬ 
hair Ferns which are liable to get injured with the 
fumes from the XL All Fumigator, while the greater 
number of them receive no injury whatever. It is 
difficult or impossible to say why this should be so, 
but the fact cannot be ignored. Those coming under 
our no ice that are liable to suffer in this way are 
Adiantum Ghiesbreghtii (scutum), and A. farleyense, 
but particularly the former. It might have been 
owing to the >oung fronds being at a particular 
stage of their growth ; but several other species in the 
same house and bearing a greater or less number of 
young fronds did not suffer in the least. When the 
fronds begin to get firm, however, all danger is past. 
We should advise you to remove some of the more 
tender kinds into another house till the operation has 
been performed, after which you can take them 
back. This plan is often pursued in houses contain¬ 
ing mixed collections of plants. 
Manure for Carnations. — D. W. D. : The cold 
Dature of the weather after they were planted ex¬ 
plains sufficiently why jour Carnations have made 
little progress, and unless the temperature has risen 
considerably in your district rapid growth would be 
impossible. The flower stems are so far advanced 
about London that they have been staked in many 
cases. Naturally, however, they will be much later 
with you. While the ground remains cold and wet 
you should be very sparing with the watering pot, 
but when dry and warm you could assist your plants 
with weak liquid manure once a week, and twice a 
week when the flower stems are well advanced. It 
is rather late to get the full benefit of artificial 
manures, because you would want some phosphates 
in the shape of bone meal, and kainit or wood ashes 
instead. These should be worked into the first six 
or nine inches of soil when digging the ground in 
winter. The third ingredient of an arbficial manure 
is nitrate of soda, and this might be applied alter¬ 
nately with liquid manure at the rate of J oz. to a 
gallon of water. This should not be given too often, 
however, as much stimulating manures for Carna¬ 
tions are dangerous. If your soil is poor, a good 
plan would be to mulch the ground with some well- 
rotted farmyard manure and water with liquid 
manure once a week in fine weather. 
Names of Plants.—C. W.: Leptospermum 
scoparium, usually grown in a greenhouse, but 
hardy on the south coast. — W.: 1, Nephrodium 
Filix-mas cristata ; 2, Adiantum pedatum ; 3, Poly¬ 
podium Dryopteris. — A. K. L : 1, Pernettya 
mucronata; 2, Rhododendron dahuricum; 3, Loni- 
cera Xylosteum ; 4, Symphoricarpus racemosus ; 5, 
Epimedium pinnatum ; 6, Scilla hispanica alba.— E. 
J.\ 1, Ribes speciosum ; 2, Crataegus Oxyacantha 
punicea plena ; 3, Kerria japonica flore pleno ; 4, 
Cardamine pratensis flore pleno.— J. L. : 1, Odonto- 
glossum Pescatorei; 2, Odontoglossum luteo pur- 
