292 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 5 , 1901. 
the name of R. Gibsoni, forms a bush that 
would be a troublesome subject in pots on 
account of its size. R. Shilsoni is a garden 
hybrid of imposing appearance when in 
bloom. The massive leaves of R. Falconeri 
are rusty beneath and bolder in effect than 
any other of the Himalayan species when 
seen in perfection upon large well estab¬ 
lished plants. These and many other 
noble species were first made known by Dr. 
now Sir Joseph Hooker when travelling in 
the Himalayas as recorded in his Hima¬ 
layan Journals as well as in his great work, 
Rhododendrons of the Sikkim Himalayas. 
Trachycarpus excelsus, a fan Palm from 
Japan, and standing 20 ft. to 25 ft. high, 
shows how nearly hardy this species is. 
Large bushes of Buddleia Colvillei vary 
from 12 ft. to 20 ft. high. Climbers are 
more or less a feature of the house and will 
become more decidedly so as they get 
established. The recently introduced giant 
Rose (Rosa gigantea) from Burma, runs up 
some of the pillars and then extends 
laterally for a length of 40 ft. Rubus 
moluccanus, a bramble from India and the 
Malayan Archipelago, has five-lobed 
wrinkled leaves resembling those of the 
Cloudberry, many times magnified. A few 
Bamboos have already made good growth, 
to wit, Phyllostachys mitis, 15 ft. to 18 ft. 
high, and the less hardy Arundinaria 
nobilis and A. Falconeri. Of these- two 
latter species, A. nobilis is in the finest 
form, making long arching masses of stems, 
borne down by an abundance of twiggy 
growth and foliage. Several large Camellias 
planted about the beds are laden with buds 
and will no doubt bloom well in spring, for 
they seem already to have become firmly 
established. The leaves of a huge bush of 
the Loquat (Photinia japonica) rival those 
of Rhododendron Falconeri in size, and 
before long the visitors ought to be able to 
see a crop of fruit on this plant which has 
long been grown in the open air at Kew but 
never fruited so far as we know. On a 
small rootery are several plants of Pent- 
apterygium serpens, a plant with a woody 
and tuberous-looking rootstock, and which 
received a certificate from the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society recently. The beautifully 
marked tubular flowers are closely allied to 
those of the Whortleberry. A rare plant is 
Coriaria terminalis belonging to an order 
that is seldom represented in this country. 
The leaves are arranged in two ranks so 
that a whole branch is readily mistaken for a 
leaf by the uninitiated. The leaves of Buck- 
landia populnea resemble those of a Poplar, 
but are much larger and more leathery. 
Magnolia grandiflora should prove a con¬ 
spicuous object if space is allowed it to 
develop its best proportions. In the way 
of leaf production, probably none of the 
Aralias will beat A. papyrifera, more 
correctly named Fatsia. Its near relation, 
F. japonica (Aralia Sieboldi) is practically 
a cottage plant, being often grown in 
windows, but the leathery leaves never 
attain a very great size, and for that reason 
the plant can easily be accommodated. Its 
congener (F. papyrifera) is often used in 
subtropical bedding, and with a free root- 
run develops leaves of huge proportions. 
The specimen under notice in the Hima¬ 
layan House is also planted out, but 
quite young, yet the blade of the palmately 
lobed leaves, independently of the stalk, 
ranges from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 9 in. across either 
way. Very handsome in its way is 
Cupressus cashmeriana pendula, more 
correctly named C. torulosa pendula, and is a 
picture of grace with its slender drooping, 
blue twigs and branches, recalling C. 
arizonica in colour, but more graceful in 
every way. 
During such mild weather as the present, 
no fire heat is employed, yet several things 
may be noted in bloom. Several tall plants 
of Lilium nepalense still carry flowers, 
varying somewhat in ^olour, the dark 
purple in one case occupying the greater 
part of the flower. Daphne Dauphini, an 
evergreen bush, is opening its lilac flowers 
freely. The term Red-hot Poker hardly 
applies to Kniphofia longicollis, for its 
slender tubular flowers are yellow and pro¬ 
duced in pyramidal racemes. Two plants 
carry six and seven flower stems respec¬ 
tively, not apparently as a late development, 
for the flowers are still in their prime, and 
only half of them are expanded. If some 
of the orange and red species could be 
flowered simultaneously with the yellow 
one a fine contrast would be produced. The 
large Winter Cherry from Japan, Physalis 
Francheti, still carries its large orange 
bladder-like calyxes. The margins of 
several of the pathways are brightened 
with Primula obconica, P. floribunda and 
P. sinensis, in bloom. The first named is 
riiost abundant and here represented by 
several much improved and very beautiful, 
rose, purple and bluish-purple varieties, a 
great advance upon the original. Under 
these conditions it practically blooms 
perennially, a fact that should act as an 
incentive to the further development of this 
beautiful and half hardy species. 
The Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. — The 
Hon. W. F. D. Smith, M.P., has kindly consented 
to preside at the next annual festival of this institu¬ 
tion, which will take place at the Hotel Cecil on 
Tuesday, May 7th. 
SemperYiYums.—The House Leek is cultivated on 
the roofs of some of the houses in County Clare, 
Ireland, it being a common superstition that the 
house on which it grows cannot be destroyed by 
fire. 
Glasgow Shows.—In connection with the Glasgow 
International Exhibition to be held this year (1901 
the West of Scotland Horticultural Society will hold 
their annual flower show at the exhibition on the 
last Wednesday and Thursday of August. 
National Dahlia Society.—The annual general 
meeting of the National Dahlia Society will be held, 
by kind permission of the Horticultural Club, at the 
Hotel Windsor, Victoria Street, S.W., on Tuesday, 
8th, 1901, at 2 p.m. Agenda : —Report of committee 
ior 1900, financial statement, schedule for 1901, and 
other business. Notice has been given that the 
following change in Rule XL will be proposed:— 
For "compete" read " exhibit.'— J. F. Hudson, 
Hon. Sec. 
Midlands in Flood. — Much damage has been 
done throughout the land by the recent gales and the 
floods which followed them. The rivers Avon and 
Severn down the Bristol part of the country and 
along the region of East Wales overflowed their 
banks, inundating thoutands of acres of the border¬ 
ing land. The sleepers and the permanent way at 
Stratford-on-Avon were carried away, and train 
communication was greatly impaired. Landslips 
occurred in many places. The Birmingham and War- 
wickjunction Canal burst its banks at Park Mills,and 
flooded streets and houses. The River Rea, by 
overflowing its banks, did damage to the extent of 
£3,000. Snow fell at Blackeney in the Forest of 
Dean. 
Funeral of Edward Pynaert.— The Revue de 
L'Horticulture Beige et Etrangere for December con¬ 
tains the full text of the funeral ovations delivered 
by the colleagues and friends of the late Monsieur 
Edward Pynaert, who was one of the editors and 
manager of the financial interests of the Revue, and 
whose death was announced in The Gardening 
World for November 10th, 1900. Besides his 
literary connections M. Pynaert was also director of 
a horticultural college, with which he had been con¬ 
nected since 1861. In his youth he travelled for six 
years throughout the Continent, and worked during 
a part of this period in Messrs. James Veitch & Sons’ 
nursery at Chelsea. All of those who gave addresses 
at his funeral spoke in sincerest praise of M. Pynaert 
as a talented, active, and kind-hearted gentleman. 
Begonia Caledonia is reported in America as fur¬ 
nishing “ a good white variety.” 
Plant Fumigation.—An Australian contemporary 
says that the fumigation of trees by means of hydro¬ 
cyanic gas is becoming more popular. " Hundreds 
of thousands of trees are nowadays fumigated every 
year." The trees have to be covered by tents 
during the operation ! 
Mr. David S. Wright, the founder of the Dun¬ 
kirk Seed Co., New York State, America, recently 
died at his home in Dunkirk, aged 76 years. He 
was born at Cambridge, England, and went to 
America as a boy, and after obtaining experience in 
gardening he started business in 1861. 
Freesias.—In reading Mr. Mayne's remarks on 
the above in your issue of the 22nd, I can speak in 
praise of home-grown bulbs, and find they give a 
greater percentage of flower spikes to those that are 
imported. I potted my first batch, viz., F. Leicht- 
lini major, the first week in August; my next batch 
of F. refracta alba, imported bulbs, was potted the 
second week in September. They were given the 
usual treatment, and both batches were housed on 
the greenhouse shelf at the same time, the tempera¬ 
ture being 50° by night, rising to 55 0 by day. 
Although there were six weeks difference in time of 
potting they are both flowering now, but I must give 
the preference to my own bulbs, which are giving six 
to eight spikes on each bulb, while the imported 
batch shows only half the amount of bloom. Per¬ 
haps the latter variety may differ. I have never 
grown it before. Perhaps some other reader could 
explain if there is any difference in the two varie¬ 
ties. — J. Ford, 5 , May's Villas, Sidcup. 
The Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution.— 
Notice is hereby given that the sixty-second (62nd) 
annual general meeting of the members and subscrib¬ 
ers of this institution, will be held|at “Simpson's,’’ 
101,Strand, London,W.C.,on Tuesday, January 22nd, 
1901, at 3 p.m., for the purpose of receiving the 
report of the committee and accounts of the institu¬ 
tion (as audited) for the year 1900; electing officers 
for the year 1901, and for the purpose of placing 
seventeen pensioners on the funds. But in conse¬ 
quence of 
1 Isaac Clark, aged 69, 2, Woodgate Cottages, 
Winchmore Hill, N.W., annual subscriber of 
£1 is. for sixteen years. 
2 William Cotton, aged 64, 11, Loveridge Road, 
Kilburn, life member for seventeen years. 
3 William Craggs, aged 65, Clyst St. Mary, Exeter, 
life member for twenty-one years. 
4 John Eastwood, aged 74, 57, Granville Road, 
Blackburn, annual subscriber of £1 is. for 
twenty-three years; also a life member. 
5 Thomas Gale, aged 69, SDape, Bedale, life mem¬ 
ber for twenty years. 
6 Elizabeth Harris, aged 71, 8, Gordon Terrace, 
Parkstone, Dorset, widow of annual subscriber 
of£i is. for fifteen years. 
7 Samuel Morris, aged 66 years, Burley, Ringwood, 
life member for nineteen years; also annual 
subscriber of £z is. for fifteen years, 
being in distressed circumstances, and having in 
every way complied with the regulations, tbe com¬ 
mittee, after investigation and careful consideration 
in each case, recommend that these seven applicants 
be placed on the funds without the trouble or ex¬ 
pense of an election, in accordance with the present 
rules. An election will take place for tbe remaining 
ten vacancies from the candidates named on the 
election papers, whose cases have been examined 
and approved by the committee. The chair will be 
taken by Harry J Veitch, Esq., treasurer and chair¬ 
man of committee, at 3 p.m. The poll will open at 
3.15 o'clock, and close at 4.30 o’clock precisely, after 
which hour no voting papers can be received. 
During the year igoo the following widows of 
pensioners have been placed on the funds without 
election in accordance with Rule iii, 13 :— 
1 Maria Webb, aged 80, Kensington. 
2 Sarah Dey, aged 78, Teignmouth. 
3 Elizabeth M. Wood, aged 60, Tooting. 
4 Mary A. Goldsmith, aged 70, Leatherhead. 
5 Sarah Smith, aged 66, Temple Combe. 
By order of the committee. 
George J. Ingram, 
Secretary, 
December 31 st, 1900. 
