September 2, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
7 
The Century Book of Gardening.—The conductots 
of Country Life announce that they are about to pro¬ 
duce immediately the first part of the Century Book 
of Gardening, which is to come out in twenty-six 
parts. They may count themselves fortunate in 
that, while the subject of their book is at the very 
height of its popularity, that subject has really never 
been treated in any one woik which meets all needs. 
There are practical works, but the greater number 
of them are incomplete ; there are numerous works 
in which there is much proper rhapsody concerning 
gardens, but most of them are very inaccurate. The 
present work is practical, and, it is believed, com¬ 
plete ; it is written entirely by experts and specialists 
and, to a large extent, by specialists who are 
acknowledged also to be beautiful writers. Its 
numerous illustrations are in that beautiful style 
seen in Country Life. 
Mr. J. W. Crombie, M.P., on Gardening.—Mr. 
Crombie recently addressed the Stonehaven amateur 
horticulturists at the opening of their flower show. 
His first remarks applied to the love which people 
have for gardening. " It is born in the bone, and is 
inherited from our first parents along with original 
sin. They in Scotland inherited a double dcse—not 
of original sin—but of the love for gardening, aDd 
when a really good man was wrmted they usually 
came to Scotland for him ! He hardly thought that 
those with acres of gardens really knew the 
pleasures of gardening. Amateur gardeners did. 
He asks one to come and see his garden, and when 
you go he can point out everything that has an in¬ 
teresting item about it. He knows when the buds 
on that tree opened, and when he expects those 
Auriculas over there to be in flower. It’s all a work 
of love and thoughtful watchfulness. Mr. Crombie 
humorously referred to the use of flowers in 
diplomacy, and concluded by congratulating the 
society on its succes; ful show.” 
Nephrodium fragrantissimum is a faintly fragrant 
Fern. 
GIANT LILY OF THE VALLEY. 
There are several varieties of Lily of the Valley in 
cultivation ; but all are agreed that for early work 
the large flowering sorts are the most handsome and 
interesting. Growers claim that several of the fine 
garden varieties have large flowers. Messrs. James 
Carter & Co., High Holborn, London, who supply 
the accompanying illustration, describe the plant as 
"the true early giant flowered variety”; and the 
photo certainly shows the flowers to be both numer¬ 
ous and fine. Several things contribute to the 
popularity of L'ly of the Valley, namely, the purity 
Walnuts in France.—There are no official statistics 
of the acreage covered by Walnuts in the various 
departments of France. They are not planted ex¬ 
clusively for crops as orchard trees are, but may 
generally be found along the road sides, and in small 
clumps in fields, When once above the ground 
the French Walnut grows very rapidly; and it is 
stated that the owner of a new plantation can tell 
the value of the fruits or nuts in three years’ time. 
In fifteen years the trees give a remunerative crop, 
and at fifty or sixty years of age maturity has been 
reached. When this comes about the yield may be 
220 lbs. of nuts for an average tree. A deep well- 
drained soil, situated on a hill-side, having a basis of 
lime and granite, appears to be the most suitable for 
the Walnut. The trees are trained to start with, but 
left alone once a good shape has resulted. The 
crops are gathered in September or October. The 
nuts are then allowed to dry for a period of three or 
four weeks. Before the nuts are baled for shipment 
they are usually exposed to sulphur fumes, for the 
purpose of cleansing the shells and preserving the 
kernels .—Journal of the Society oj Arts. 
Reoord for Shrewsbury Show.—The total receipts 
for the two days’ (23rd and 24th ult.) show at Shrews¬ 
bury were £4,674. This is a record,beating last year’s 
one of £4,389. 
Mr. Baker, Junr., of the British Museum, South 
Kensington, is at present botanising in the Highlands. 
Part of the time he stayed in a shepherd’s hut, where 
oatmeal and mutton were about the only commodities 
of life. 
Mr. William Hales, sub-foreman in the indoor 
decorative department, Royal Gardens, Kew, has 
been appointed Curator of the Chelsea Physic Gar¬ 
den. He came to Kew from the Birmingham 
Botanical Gardens in June, 1895, so that he has bad 
a good training in botan’cal work, and also the 
practical side of what is expected in Kew by the 
general public of the present day. Mr. Hales is a 
keen and enthusiastic student, having fully availed 
himself of the advantages of the lectures given in 
various subjects at Kew. He also came out first-class 
in the horticultural extmination oftbeR.H.S ,be!don 
April 6tb, 1897. We learn with much satisfaction 
that the old Physic Garden at Chelsea is to be 
placed on a much better footing than it has been for 
some years past. Mr. Hales enters on his duties at 
Chelsea on October 2nd, and we wish him every 
success. 
Picking Fruits —It is said that some careful fruit 
growers employ women in preference to men for 
picking and packing fruits. Women are said to 
follow their instructions more closely. 
Apples on standard stocks, free and open, and some 
also say those on the Crab stocks are best for resist¬ 
ing the attacks of American Blight A mixture for 
destroying this pest is made from 4 ozs. of carbolic 
soft soap to the gallon of water. 
Death of M. Henry de Vilmorin.—We are very 
sorry to learn of the death of Monsieur Henry de 
Vilmorin, F.R H.S., at his residence, Verrieres, near 
Paris, last week. He was well known and much 
esteemed in this country, where he was a frequent 
visitor. One of his most recent visits was to the 
•« 
International Conference on hybridisation and cross¬ 
breeding, at Chiswick, on the nth and 12th July 
last, where he read a paper on " Hybrid Poppies.” 
He has also on several previous occasions read papers 
or made speeches at the meetings and conferences 
of the Royal Horticultural Society, either at the 
Drill Hall, or Chiswick, where he had made many 
acquaintances and gained many friends, so that his 
loss will be greatly deplored even on this side of the 
Channel. He was head of the great seed establish¬ 
ment at 4, Quai de la Megisserie, Paris. He was 
part Author also of the unique book, The Vegetahl 
Garden, which has been translated into English. 
of the white flowers, their delicious scent, the grace¬ 
ful character of the sprays as contrasted with the 
massive foliage, and the sentiment attaching to them 
in the minds of many. There is no difficulty in the 
matter of cultivation, for any rich sandy soil will 
suit for pot work. The crowns require to be potted 
up at once when received, and plunged in cocoanut 
fibre until wanted for starting in heat. For early 
work a much higher temperature is needed to induce 
the crowns to start than for later batches. Growth 
commences more readily and with less heat after the 
crowns have been subjected to the cold and frost of 
winter, 
Copyrighted by 
Early Giant Lily of the Valley. 
J. Carter & Co. 
