October 20, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
117 
Weather in London.—On Sunday the weather 
was very changeable, and severe hailstorms fell 
toward mid-day. Monday and Tuesday were bitterly 
cold and threatening, the morniDgs being foggy. 
Wednesday morning was very mild, and some rain 
fell. 
Messrs. Yamanaka & Co., of Osaka, Japan, have 
opened a branch establishment at 68, New Bond 
Street, London, for the sale of Japanese Art Work, 
both ancient and modern. The reputation which 
the firm has enjoyed in Japan for many years among 
Japanese, European and American collectors is such 
as to warrant it in appealing to the British art-loving 
public with the fullest confidence. Consignments of 
artistic work will be received direct from Japan from 
time to time, and collectors, interested in any special 
classes of art work, will be regularly advised of ship¬ 
ments, provided they notify to the firm particulars 
of their requirements. 
Tomato Disease and “ Yeltha.”—In reply to 
“ A. P's.” request on p. 4, that marketmen and 
growers of fruits and vegetables on a large scale 
might furnish testimony of their experience in the 
use of " ‘ Veltha,’ a much advertised remedy for 
disease," we furnish the names of growers who have 
so far all written in favour of 11 Veltha.” These 
are:—Mr. James Harris, Blackpill Nurseries, near 
Swansea; Mr. Brett, nurseryman, High Street, 
Whitstable ; Mr. Campbell, Auchinraith Nurseries, 
Blantyre, N.B.; Mr. G. Wilson, Sunningdale Nur¬ 
series, High Blantyre, Lanark ; Mr. J. R. Hamilton, 
Waltham Cross Nurseries, Herts ; and Mr. F. S. 
Baker, Goring Nurseries, Sussex. 
Essex Technical Instruction Committee.—A 
party of thirty-one persons started from Harwich 
on May 26th and spent six days in Denmark. While 
in Denmark they visited the Danish Co-operative 
Butter Manufactory at Esbjerg, and the Agricultural 
School at Ladelund, and other schools. The mar¬ 
garine factory at Vejen and milk-freezing establish¬ 
ments, &c , were amongst other of the places visited. 
The party appear to have had every attention and 
the kindest of welcomes. An account of the trip 
has been published, Mr. T. S. Dymond having com¬ 
piled the report. We do not know if a price is 
placed upon these pamphlets containing the report, 
but enquiry at the County Technical Laboratories, 
Chelmsford, would elicit the information. Being 
fully descriptive and illustrated, the report should be 
interesting- and valuable to all agriculturists and 
dairy folks. 
Beckenham Horticultural Society. —On Friday, 
October,12th, Mr. D. Harris, gardener to Colonel 
Jekyll, Munstead House, Godaiming, read a paper 
cn"The Formation and Arrangement of a Hardy 
Border.” In the selection of a site, south or south¬ 
west was recommended, backed by a wall, upon which 
might be grown many beautiful shrubs, forming a 
background. Rigid lines and narrow strips were 
alike unsuitable ; 15 ft. wide was desirable for effec¬ 
tive arrangement. Lumps of sandstone along the 
front afforded suitable places for trailing plants. 
In the arrangement, repetition of groups at regular 
intervals was to be carefully avoided, planting threes 
and fives to break formality. A few good annuals 
were quite admissible, but nothing weedy-looking. 
Such perennials as Helianthus and Harpalium 
required to be lifted annually and roots carefully 
removed, replanting small pieces. Some plants, 
such as Delphiniums, Anemone japonica and others 
are best undisturbed for years, while others are 
much better lifted annually. Ordinary bulbs were 
not favourites in the hardy border. Mr. Harris spoke 
very highly of the advantages afforded by working 
with Miss Jekyll some years ago, when discriminating 
between the better plants and the less worthy, and 
recommended any one contemplating planting or 
rearranging a hardy border to read -'Wood and 
Garden.” It is impossible in a short note to give 
even a synopsis of the subject. Quite a number of 
questions were asked, and at the close, Mr. Thorn¬ 
ton, in a few well chosen remarks, proposed a vote 
of thanks to Mr. Harris, which was accorded 
heartily by all present. An imposing display of 
Begonias was sent by Messrs. John Peed & Son, 
Roupell Park Nurseries, West Norwood. A taste¬ 
fully arranged basket of Roses and some of the 
newer varieties of Cactus Dahlias were shown by 
Mr. Trowell, gardener to D. Link, Esq., " Fairlight.” 
Mr. Day, gardener to H. F. Simonds, Esq., " Wood- 
thorpe,” exhibited a beautiful specimen bloom of 
Vanda sanderiana. 
Your article on the moth catching propensities of 
Physianthus albens is most interesting. Since 
writing you, when I sent up the specimen, I have 
recollected that some two years ago a specimen was 
sent up from here to the Natural History Museum, 
South Kensington, with a bee caught in it—just in 
the same way that moth was, and the reply sent 
was that this was very interesting, as in Argentina, 
where the plant was indigenous, the bees never were 
caught; but that in the south of France and imotber 
countries, where the plant had been removed to, 
they had received reports that bees there got caught, 
which looked as if bees had intelligence, and ought 
not to be caught when they got better acquainted 
with the plant. Now oddly enough I find that though 
that year many bees were caught on my plant, this 
year not one has been, which looks as if in some way 
they had got to know that there was a trap there ; 
and yet the plant is usually covered with bees. I 
suppose there are not many parts of England where 
this plant will grow in the open air, otherwise I 
should much like to know what others have noticed. 
Of course, in a greenhouse neither bees nor moths 
would be plentiful enough to make this peculiarity 
noticeable.—C. Halford Thompson. 
Devon and Exeter Gardeners’ Association.— 
The annual general meeting of the above associa¬ 
tion was held in the Guildhall, Exeter, on Friday, 
October 12th. The committee were again on this 
occasion able ^o present a most gratifying report. 
The work done had been strictly in keeping with the 
practical issues for which the association was 
founded. To all who in any way had been instru¬ 
mental in helping the business and ends of the asso¬ 
ciation the society expressed its thanks. Mr. Mackay 
reported that the balance in hand from the previous 
year was £16 ns. gd., the number of members 64, 
and the balance in hand at the end of the year 
/21 13s. E. A. Sanders, Esq., was re-elected presi¬ 
dent, and the following as vice-presidents :—The 
Mayor, the Sheriff, Major Tracey, Messrs. Imbert- 
Terry, G. D. Cann, P. C. M. VeUch, J. Dallas, C. T. 
K. Roberts, R. G. Abraham, W. Lethbridge and W. 
B. Heberden, C.B. Messrs. A. Hope and Mackay 
were unanimously re-elected hon. secretary and hon. 
treasurer respectively. The committee for the ensu¬ 
ing year consists of Messrs. W. Andrews, G. C. 
Crabbe, W. Rowland, J. Rogers, S. Radley, J. 
Baker, W. R. Baker, W. Charley, F. Edwards, J. 
Weeks, W. Merritt and J. Luxton. 
Bristol and District Gardeners’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Association.—The opening meeting of the 
winter session was held at St. John's Parish Room, 
Redland, on Thursday, October nth. Mr. W. A. 
Garaway presided over a very large attendance, and 
briefly introduced the lecturer, Mr. F. W. E. 
Shrivell, F.L.S., ot Tonbridge, Kent, assuring him 
of the pleasure his visit gave to the association 
members, who were deeply interested in the line of 
work to which he had given his time and ability. The 
lecture was on “ Chemical Manures in the Kitchen 
and Fruit Gardens,” the subject being treated by 
Mr. Shrivell in his usual lucid style. He claimed at 
the outset that to use chemical manures successfully 
a man need not be a chemist, admitting that the 
matter required some thought, but not more know¬ 
ledge than was possessed by the ordinary gardener. 
He combatted the idea that chemicals impoverished 
the soil, urging that by their proper use they gave 
back to the earth what was by root action taken 
away. On economic grounds he strongly advocated 
the increased use of chemicals, and gave some very 
interesting statistics as to experiments he had con¬ 
ducted over several years at Tonbridge, showing that 
in some cases crops could be more successfully 
grown with chemical than other manures, and prov¬ 
ing in all cases that chemicals could be profitably 
added to whatever manures were being used. 
Broccoli, Potatos, Strawberries, Apples, and Goose¬ 
berries were all mentioned as having been grown 
under the varying conditions, and always to greater 
advantage with the judicious use of chemicals. 
Several questions were asked Mr. Shrivell, all of 
which he kindly and clearly replied to, and received 
by acclamation the thanks of the meeting for his 
attendance and lecture. Prizes for twelve Plums 
were awarded Messrs. Orchard and Poole; for six 
Onions, Messrs. Ross and Sutton. Certificates of 
Merit went to Mr. Poole, for a collection of hardy 
flowers; Mr. Ambrose, for baskets of Peas and 
Cauliflower; Mr McCulloch,for Cattleya Harrisoni 
and Mr. Maidment, for Cattleya labiata. 
First Ascent of Mount Kenya.—The inaugural 
address, given by the principal of Reading College 
(H. J. Mackinder, Esq., M.A.), on Wednesday, 
October 10th, was very interesting and instructive. 
The subject was " First Ascent of Mount Kenya in 
Equatorial Africa,” and was beautifully illustrated 
by a series of photographs taken on their journey. 
It was not a botanical expedition but the photo¬ 
graphs showed the remarkable vegetation in this 
almost unknown part of the world. Arriving at 
Zanzibar the expedition had considerable difficulty 
in obtaining porters, &c., but after some trouble this 
difficulty was overcome and the party consisted of 
six white men including two Swiss guides, and about 
170 black men. Owing to modern methods of com¬ 
munication he and his party were able to be on the 
brink of an unknown country in a very short time. 
During the journey from the shore of the Indian 
Ocean to the great Victoria Nyanza he obtained 
what he believes to be an unique photograph of a 
rhinoceros in its wild state at comparatively close 
quarters. Mr. Mackinder spoke of the wild animals 
while crossing the plains, immense herds of zebras, 
antelopes and numerous ostriches, while a lion was act¬ 
ually shot from the train. The remarkable thing was 
their apparent indifference to the locomotives, while 
the sight of a human being was sufficient to send the 
whole herd off at full gallop. A photograph of the 
Uganda railway passing through a forest showed that 
the trees, although gnarled and old, were only bush 
height. He explained the phenomena by saying that 
there is such little rainfall during the year, and the 
trees only break into leaf after a storm which is 
very infrequent; hence the slow growth of the trees. 
Of rare plants he showed the photographs of what 
he simply termed giant Groundsel (Senecio), and 
giant Lobelia. The collector and guide stood in the 
photo for comparison. The latter Lobelia, to use 
Mr. Mackinder’s own words, was "Taller than a 
man, with flower spikes half as tall as a man.” 
These plants were most curious, dotted about 
over the slopes of Mount Kenya. The difficulties of 
the actual ascent, and the surrounding country were 
then graphically described ; and the necessary obser¬ 
vations taken. The speaker said its present altitude 
was from 16,000 ft. to 17,000 ft.— C. P. C. 
Lady Warwick Agricultural Association for 
Women.—The second annual meeting of the above 
association was held at Stafford House, St. James's, 
S.W. (by kind permission of the Duke of Suther¬ 
land), on Friday, October 12th, at 3.30 in the after¬ 
noon. There was a large turn-out of ladies and 
gentlemen who are interested in the progress of this 
project. The Countess of Warwick presided, and 
speeches were made by Messrs. T. W. Sanders, W. 
Iggulden, J. C. Medd and others. The speakers 
confined their remarks to hints useful to women who 
may wish to enter any of the lighter branches of 
agriculture. After the Countess of Warwick had 
delivered her opening address in which she spoke 
satisfactorily of the progress made by the associa¬ 
tion, Mr. W. Iggulden was called upon. His theme 
was “ Women as Market Gardeners,” and in his 
remarks he made the following suggestions:—Find 
out what is wanted, then grow it well. It is not a 
case of what you think ought to sell, but what experi¬ 
ence teaches will sell. Buyers, like schoolboys, have 
their fads. Be careful when leasing or buying 
land. Unscrupulous dealers will fleece ladies on all 
hands. Always, if possible, choose a " high ” church 
district instead of a “ low ” church neighbourhood. 
There are ten times more flowers wanted by the 
•' high ” church. A small market town is preferable 
to make a start in ; do not come to London. Have 
something to sell before you open shop or nursery, 
for if you obtain a customer one day and cannot keep her 
supplied, you need not expect to get her again. You 
must lay yourself out to employ a certain amount of 
unskilled labour ; you will never succeed without 
this aid. Above all, be careful and have full experi¬ 
ence before you start. Mr. T. W. Sanders also 
spoke on much the same lines. He advised the 
women gardeners to be very careful and as tasty 
as possible in choosing and presenting their produce 
for market. The grading of fruits, &c., and packing 
in general was dealt with. Other speakers followed, 
some reading papers, others merely saying a few 
words, but their suggestions will be embodied in 
the report of the association or in the Women's 
Agricultural Times. The organising secretary of the 
L.W.A.A., Lady Warwick Hostel, Reading, will be 
pleased to furnish information to those interested 
in the work done by the association. 
