420 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 3, 1900. 
accrued from applications of superphos¬ 
phate to Beans. During the third year 
varying quantities of salt were used upon 
Mangels, with the result that 3 cwt. per 
acre gave the best results. This is no 
doubt due to the fact that the wild Beet 
plant is a native of sea shores. 1 he Bean 
crop again proved an enigma, for although 
kainit was applied to different plots in vary¬ 
ing proportions, ranging from 3 cwt. to 9 
cwt. per acre, none of the returns were 
sufficient to guarantee the cultivator against 
pecuniary loss, or at least the crops were 
not sufficiently remunerative. During the 
fourth year basic slag at the rate of 4 cwt. 
per acre was applied to 16 perches cropped 
• with Beans; and a similar area was left 
unmanured. The crops of Beans was 
practically the same from the manured and 
unmanured plots. We may here state that 
the land at the Quemerford Station is of a 
heavy and clayey nature. This may explain 
the want of success from the applications of 
manure for Beans. The latter, we presume, 
are capable of collecting sufficient food from 
heavy and relatively rich soils without 
immediate manuring. 
The Wilts County Council admit that no 
manure is more reliable than well made, 
farmyard manure, in the southern counties 
of England, at least, on account of the un¬ 
certainty of our fickle climate, and the 
frequency of droughty seasons which often 
render the application of artificial manures 
abortive by reason of the lack of moisture. 
In the absence of the latter there is really 
nothing to act as a vehicle in carrying the 
necessary food into the plant, nor moisture 
to help in bringing about the solution and 
chemical change necessary in the prepara¬ 
tion of plant food, whether existing in the 
soil naturally or applied artificially. 
. 
Easter falls on April 15 th this year ; gardeners 
may need to keep the fact before them. 
Mr. A. Ward, The Gardens, Stoke Fdith Park, 
Hereford, has been appointed head gardener to 
F. A. Bevan, Esq., Trent Park, New Barnet, in the 
place of Mr. W. H. Lees, who is going into business 
on his own account in Watford, Herts. 
Gardeners’ Charity Guild. —In addition to the 
Duke of Fife, whose acceptance was notified here 
last week, the concert which is being organised for 
the 14th inst. will be under the patronage of Lord 
Balfour of Burleigh; Lord Amherst, of Hackney; 
Baron Schroder, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Sir William 
Maclure, M.P., and several other gentlemen. The 
Guild has evidently done a good thing in securing 
Mr. Sherwood as chairman of the concert, as we 
understand that gentlemen so far away as Birming¬ 
ham have intimated their intention of coming to 
town purposely to support him. 
Bristol and District Gardeners’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Association.—The fortnightly meeting was 
held at St. John’s Parish Room, on Thursday, 
22nd ult. Mr. Charles Lock presided over a good 
attendance. The paper was supplied by Mr. A. 
Moore-Sara, of Elmside, Stoke Bishop, on “ The 
Pollen Grain and its Functions.” With the help of 
black board diagrams he made the subject very inter¬ 
esting, tracing what is known of the conception of 
the sexuality of flowers, from the time of Herodotus 
down to the 17th century, when in 1676 De Grew in 
a book on "Plant Anatomy ” laid down in definite 
terms the law of vegetative impregnation, accepted 
by botanists to day, and in a greater or lesser degree 
understood by all present day gardeners. Dealing 
in detail with the subject he described the formation 
of the pollen, some of the many methods of distri¬ 
bution, and the process through which it had to pass 
until fertilisation was complete. A short discussion 
followed, chiefly on the advisability of forming a 
botany class in connection with the Association. 
Prizes for three pots of Narcissus were secured by 
Me:-srs. Price and Rs*. Certificates of Merit went 
to Mr. White and Mr. Clark, each for an Orchid in 
bloom. 
Early Outdoor Potatos. — To protect the early 
rows of Potatos in the open, some means of shelter 
should be provided. Low walls of turf run along 
between every three rows furnish this want, and the 
extra price obtained for early supplies fully pays for 
the trouble of running up the said turf walls. 
The Recent Snowstorm, consisting, as it did, of 
wet, adhesive snow, bent down the heads of the 
Birch trees forming the undergrowth beneath the 
tall Pines on Esher Common, and broke off the tops 
of many of them. Others seem unable to straighten 
themselves again. The top branches of the Pines in 
many instances have been smashed about as if they 
had suffered a bombardment. 
« One and All” Gardening for 1900 .—This popu¬ 
lar annual for amateuis, allotment holders and 
working gardeners is out once again. As usual 
Edward Owen Greening is tbe editor, the issue being 
a publication of the Agricultural and Horticultural 
Association, Ltd., 92, Long Acre, London, W.C. 
Last year there were 60,000 copies sold, and with 
such records to show, it proves that the class catered 
for must be fully satisfied. A booklet of this kind, 
so well illustrated with vegetable and flower photos, 
plus explicit text rules and description, must and is 
doing capital service by creating interest in garden¬ 
ing among the working people of our lands. 
The Reading & District Gardeners’ Mutual Im¬ 
provement Association.— "Horticultural Build¬ 
ings ” was the subject of an interesting and practical 
paper read before the members of the above Associa¬ 
tion on Monday last, by Mr. G. H. Parsons, Horti- 
cultural Builder, Reading, who, in a few preliminary 
remarks, said that horticultural buildings, as com¬ 
pared with religious and domestic buildings, are 
quite modern. The last 200 years will nearly cover 
all records. Their necessity arose from the bringing 
home, by travellers and others, of plants and seeds 
that would not stand the rigours of our climate. 
The modern and popular taste for Tomatos, 
Cucumbers, &c., has caused the erection of thous¬ 
ands of houses. Prolongation of season of different 
fruits, flowers, and vegetables, is also another prolific 
cause of construction. After explaining the action 
of the rays of light passing through glass at various 
angles, Mr, Parsons passed on to the consideration of 
glass and roof pitches, sites, forms of houses, heat¬ 
ing, staging, pathways, brickwork, timber, ironwork, 
glass and glazing, painting, &c. Many questions 
were asked, and an exceedingly interesting discussion 
followed, in which the following took part:—Messrs. 
Woolford, Hinton, Fry, Neve, Pigg, Purkis, 
Cretchley, Rigg, Bryant, Ager, and Dore. At the 
close, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to 
Mr. Parsons for his paper, and to Mr. Pigg, The 
Gardens, Samoa Villa, Kendrick Road, for exhibit¬ 
ing a beautifully coloured Amaryllis. 
Agricultural.—We have received a copy of the 
86th annual edition of Toogood’s Farm Seed Guide, 
printed and published by Toogood & Sons, of South¬ 
ampton, the Royal Seedsmen for half a century. 
Special attention is drawn in a prefatory letter to the 
fact that the firm has recently added some very im¬ 
portant machinery to their seed-cleaning plant, which 
is now, the Messrs. Toogood consider, the most per¬ 
fect in the world. Amongst other recent inventions 
and improvements are mentioned machines for re¬ 
moving sticks from MaDgel seeds, Barley from Oats, 
practically all Cockle from corn samples, and the 
greater part of the Plantain or rib-grass seeds from 
shelled Clover. The first few pages of the book are 
devoted to illustration of the Messrs. Toogood’s ex¬ 
tensive warehouses, siores, wharves, &c , and to a 
practical and easily intelligible, illustrated article on 
the testing of seeds at home by farmers themselves. 
Mr. William Toogood justly considers every seedling 
to be exposed to sufficient risks beyond human con¬ 
trol, without its being subjected to such totally un¬ 
necessary hazards as the use of inferior seeds. As 
may be expected from a house claiming nearly a 
century’s practical work in laying down pastures 
all over the world, a considerable portion of the 
publication is devoted to the all-important subjects 
of pastures and pasture plants ; and it may be 
added that the Messrs. Toogood sell pasture seeds 
only under official guarantee of purity and germin¬ 
ating power. Every farmer will find much to inter¬ 
est him in this book, which may be obtained free of 
any charge from the firm. 
Hamamelis arborea.— During the recent hard 
frost, the long twisted petals of the Witch 
Hazel might have been observed curved tightly in¬ 
wards to form little yellow balls, the result of the 
cold upon the protoplasm. 
Primulas at Reading.—Being a member of the 
Reading Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Associa¬ 
tion, I was rather surprised when reading the report 
of our annual tea to see omitted, what was to me a 
very interesting and instructive pastime, and that 
is, the kindness of the Messrs. Sutton in conducting 
the whole party over their extensive seed ware¬ 
houses, packing and invoicing rooms, &c.; and also 
the kind invitation to inspect their grand display. I 
can only endorse what has been already published 
in your valuable paper, concerning their display of 
Primulas, and also mention that other benefits are 
derived from these societies, besides the fortnightly 
meetings .—A Member. 
Geo. Monro’s Concert.—The fourth annual smok¬ 
ing concert given by the Geo. Monro entertainment 
committee, came off successfully on Thursday, the 
22nd ult., in "Freemasons' Tavern ” Grand Hall, 
Queen Street, W.C. Geo. Monro, Esq., was chair¬ 
man, Geo. Tiffen, Esq., occupied the vice-chair, 
while a programme of twenty-seven items was 
executed during the evening. The audience which 
packed the hall was thoroughly satisfied with the 
rendering of the subjects by the various artistes. 
The programme had been well chosen and also well 
arranged, the humorous and the sentimental element 
being judiciously sandwiched. Such happy evenings 
where employer and employees join together in 
sociality are always pleasing to hear of. 
The Kew Guild.—The annual general meeting of 
the Kew Guild was held at the Library, Kew Gar¬ 
dens, on the 22nd ult., when a large assemblage of 
the present staff, and a number of past Kewites sat 
down to discuss affairs under the presidency of W. 
B. Hemsley, Esq., F R S„ F.L.S., Keeper of the 
Herbarium and Library. There was some lively 
discussion as to the filling of vacancies on the com¬ 
mittee, and the re-election of others, with the result 
that balloting was resorted to. The posts were 
filled to the satisfaction of most of the members 
present. After discussion upon and the adoption of 
the report, it was decided to make arrangements for 
an annual dinner at which past and present Kewites 
could meet and fraternise. A dinner committee was 
appointed to carry out the arrangements. The 
balance sheet showed the Guild to be in an in¬ 
creasingly prosperous condition. 
Maidenhead Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
Society.—On Tuesiay evening, February 21st, the 
members of the above society, wb 5 turned up in very 
fair numbers considering the floods in the neighbour¬ 
hood, had a very good paper read to them on the 
Chrysanthemum by Mr. H. J. Jones, of the Ryecroft 
Nurseries, Lewisham. The lecturer treated his 
subject in a masterly manner, commencing with the 
baby cutting and ending with the show bloom, inter¬ 
spersing his able lecture with many amusing anec¬ 
dotes. A few interesting points were these :—First 
he advocated the striking of cuttings in shallow 
boxes as against pots, warned his audience against 
premature potting and overcrowding; advocated the 
weak varieties to be grown in pots 3 in., 5 in., 8 in. 
to g in. ; the strong varieties singly, in from 4 in. to 
6 in., and 10 in. pots ; bone meal in small quantity 
to be used in the first shift, and in the sixth shift 
dissolved bones as well as bone meal. For top 
dressing he advised one part of bone meal, one part 
dissolved bone, and three parts of loam. Do not 
feed at bud-forming time ; in wet weather never 
depend on the rain for watering, but be sure and tap 
the bottom of the pots. In cool weather use horse 
manure water, and in hot weather that from cows. 
Never use the artificial manures or soot water in a 
highly concentrated form ; and be careful to strain 
the same till of the colour of pale ale. House the 
plants at the end of September or commencement of 
October, according to dampness or dryness of 
locality ; and fumigate three nights running after¬ 
wards to prevent fly. As before, avoid overcrowding, 
give plenty of ventilation, but no draughts, and a 
small amount of heat in the pipes on bad days to 
keep the air in the houses moving. Dress blooms 
on the plants, and cover up your blooms when 
staged at a show with tissue paper.— J. W. S. 
