THE GARDENING WORLD. 
483 
March 31, 1S00. 
"US! 
SWEET PEAS. 
At the Sweet Pea Bi-Centenary Show, at the 
Crj stal Palace, Wet b & Sods are offering Valuable 
Prizes for collections of Sweet Peas. 
WEBBS’ LARGE FLOWERING. 
A very fine selection, producing large and 
beautiful flowers in great profusion, mixed, per 
packet, 6d. post free. 
See Webbs' Spring Catalogue, post free, Is. 
WORDSLEY, STOURBRIDGE. 
WARE’S 
NEW & RELIABLE SEEDS 
FINEST FLOWER SEEDS. 
Hardy and half-hardy Annuals, 
Biennials and Perennials, 
Florists’ Flowers, 
Greenhouse and Conservatory, 
Everlastings & Ornamental Grasses. 
Choice Vegetable Seeds. 
Collections for small or large gardens, to give an 
ample supply of well-selected vegetables duriDg the 
year, 10 / 6 , 15 /-, 21 /-, 52 /-, and 63 /-. 
Full particulars of any of the above collections on 
application. 
DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE, beautifully 
illustrated, has been posted to all customers, 
and may be bad free upon application. 
In addition to SEEDS, the Catalogue contains also 
particulars of: — 
New Begonias for 1900, 
CH RYS A NTH E M U M S, 
LILIES, 
GLADIOLI, 
DAHLIAS, &c>, &c. 
N.B.—We pay c irriage and send packing free on all 
orders for Bulbs and Plants of 20/- and upwards, 
when accompanied by cash. All seed carriage free. 
THOMAS S. WARE, LTD., 
Hale Farm Furseries, TOTTENHAM, LONDON. 
Royal Botanic Society of London. 
Gardens : REGENT'S PARK. 
Exhibition of 
stpirhstg- plowees, 
Wednesday, April 11th, 
From 1 to 5.30. Tickets, 2/6 each. 
Schedules of prizes and all particulars can be obtained of 
the Secretary at the Gardens. 
SPECIAL OFFER TO THE TRADE. 
BREACH O P CONTRACT. 
1,000 4 by 3 ft. GLAZED LIGHTS. 
A very convenient size. Well made, 2 by 2 in. stylrs, 2 in. 
bars, painted and glazed, 21-oz., with best linseed oil putty. 
Owing to unfor. seen c'rcumstances, one of our clients, a large 
market gardener, is unable to take delivery of more iban half 
his original contract of 2,000 lights, and has, therefore, 
instructed us to dispose of the balance at once, he paying the 
difference between the contract and lealised price. Cash 
price, to effect a speedy clearance, as warehouse rcom is 
urgently needed, 6/-each ; 6 at 5/10 each; 12 at 5/8 each ; 25 at 
5/6 each ; 50 at 5/5 each : 100 at 5/- each. 
First eome First Served. Glass alone iswoith the figure. 
250 Unglazed Lights, 3 ft. by 2 ft., 1/6 each. 
Wood Trays for seedlings cuttings, &c„ 12 by 9 in., 8/-; 15 by 
12 in., 10/-; 18 by 12 In., 12/- per 100. In bundles complete 
ready for nailing together. 
4 o well made Top Ventilators, with hanging piece, hinged 
ready for screwing top ridge board, 2 by 2 ft., 2/- each. 
52 Half-glass doors, 6 by 2 ft, 6 in., 5/6 each 
103 ,, „ 5 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 6 in., 5/-each. 
70 Unglazed Lights, 6 by 4 ft., 2 by 2 in. styles, 4/- each. 
Forcing House, 50 by 12 ft., for 3 ft. trickwork; ends made 
with half-giass door, necessary wall plates, roof bars, 
ridge, ventilators, &c., ready for fixing woodwoik, only 
£6 10s. 
Glazier’s Diamond, a bargain, new, 10/-. 
W. COOPER, 755, Old Kent Roid, London, S.E. 
H. J. JONES’ 
Ryecroft Collections of Vegetable Seeds contain a 
very liberal quantity of all the most approved kind, 
to give a supply of Vegetables throughout the year. 
I3F Try my 12/6 Collection, 
Smaller Collections, 5/- and 7,6. 
Ryecroft Collections of the most advanced types 
in Sweet Peas:— 
36 Beautiful Yars , named, 100 Beeds of each, 5 /- 
25 .. .. 100 „ „ 3/6 
18 . 100 ,, „ 2/6 
12 .100 „ „ 1/9 
Carriage free on receipt of remittance. 
Catalogues free on application. 
Ryecroft Nursery, Hither Green, 1ESISHAM. 
"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man."— Bacon, 
fa 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , MARCH 31 st, 1900. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Wednesday, April 4th.—Royal Caledonian Society's Show at 
Edinburgh (2 days). 
||[he Century Book of Gardening*.— 
This massive and weighty volume, 
issued in twenty-six weekly parts, has now 
been completed, and runs to 610 pages, ex¬ 
clusive of the comprehensive index, which 
runs to 30 columns of letter press, and 
facilitates reference to the plants, fruits and 
vegetables dealt with in the body of the 
work. There is a separate index of the 
illustrations given in the work, and this runs 
to nine columns. A good index is indis¬ 
pensable to all books of any size, in order to 
facilitate reference ; for students nowadays 
*The Century Bock of Gardening. A Com¬ 
prehensive work for every Lover of the Garden. 
Edited by E. T. Cook. Published at the offices of 
"Country Life," 20, Tavistock Street, Covent 
Garden, W.C., and by George Newnes, Ltd , 7 to 
12, Southampton Street, Slrand, W.C, Printed by 
Hudson & Kearns, 83 87, Southwark Street, S.E. 
Price 18s. 
have much to learn in order to get abreast 
of a fair knowledge of the profession ; and 
have to consult many books if they desire 
to make themselves proficient in the various 
branches of the profession so as to qualify 
for places where general gardening is carried 
to a high state of perfection. The volume 
above desciibed as weighty is an indication 
of the solidity and quality of the material, 
which consists of fine art paper with a glossy 
surface, which brings out the illustrations 
as well as the letter press in great perfec¬ 
tion, a fact we mentioned on a previous 
occasion. The work deals with every aspect 
of horticulture,but so vast is the literature of 
gardening that details have had neces¬ 
sarily to be excluded. The greatest book¬ 
worm will, however, be unable to devour 
the volume at a sitting, or several for the 
matter of that. 
The illustrations consist of photographic 
reproductions, which after all are most 
faithful to the originals when skilfully 
executed on the one hand by the artist and 
on the other by the printer; and here we 
must allow that both have accomplished 
their work admirably. It is rather a pity 
that a short account, at least, of every sub¬ 
ject depicted, could not have been given, as 
that would have enhanced the value of the 
pictures and their interest to readers. 
Many of them represent “ stately homes of 
England,” and though a similar or even a 
greater number of equally fine places might 
remain unnoticed, that is what might be 
expected without prejudice to the remainder. 
No doubt they are intended to give glimpses 
ot nineteenth century gardening, not at the 
beginning but towards the close of the 
century, and therefore decidedly modern. 
There is certainly no lack of mateiial with 
which to adorn gardens at the present day ; 
and provided the owners of the gardens are 
gifted with a love and taste for gardening, 
they have only to afford the means and 
order designs to be carried out to ensure a 
wealth and variety of vegetation, both de¬ 
corative and utilitarian that could hardly 
be surpassed in any other country, 
temperate or tropical at least while summer 
lasts. Many of the illustrations occupy a 
whole page; and amongst these we may 
notice a glorious Rose garden ; Rose beds 
and climbers at Shiplake Court, Henley ; 
the fountain garden, Ashridge Park, Berk- 
hamstead ; Brome Hall: where the Water 
Lilies grow ; the topiary gardens, Elvas on, 
Derby ; la refuge and fountain, Alton 
Towers, Staffordshire; the Italian garden 
and conservatory, Belton House, Grantham; 
the terraces and Elm avenue, Ven House, 
Milborne Port, Somersetshire ; and many 
others, the above being taken at" random. 
All of them represent gardens upon which 
their owners must have spent vast sums of 
money ; and it most or all of them represent 
the taste of the owners, there is certainly 
an immense amount of variety even in that 
respect. Some have made gorgsous dis¬ 
plays of floral vegetation, while others 
embower their grounds with umbrageous 
trees, or build stately palaces with gardens 
of geometric exactitude to match. As 
might be expected stony grandeur is a pre¬ 
vailing feature of some establishments ; 
while topiary art is equally well represented 
by some of the finer or most noted examples 
in this country. There can be little question 
but that formal gardening still retains a 
considerable hold upon this country, par¬ 
ticularly in those portions of the private 
demesne in proximity to the dwelling house. 
Many of the above gardens, no doubt, 
belong to an earlier period than the last two 
decades of the dying century ; but the more 
modern taste of planting or naturalising 
Daffodils, Snowdrops, Crocuses and other 
hardy bulbs in the grass has by no means 
been overlooked. Something in this way is 
