April 6, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
505 
Begonia Caledonia at the Edinburgh Spring 
Show—Mr. John Forbes, nurseryman, Hawicb, 
N.B., staged the prettiest and mo'.t effective exhibit 
yet seen of his renowned novelty, Begonia "Cale¬ 
donia,” which interspersed, as it was, with its type, 
Begonia •* Gloire de Lorraine,” brought into promi¬ 
nent relief the practical utility of this superb novelty 
which is doubtless a grand acquisition. The effect 
produced by the judicious blending of the pure ivory- 
white flowers of ” Caledonia ” and the lovely rose 
carmine- coloured flowers of " Gloire de Lorraine,” 
as seen in the exhibit, was a never to be forgotten 
feast, both being alike in height, habit, floriferous- 
ness, and in fact every respect except colour ; and 
being shown in good form, each by contrast en¬ 
hancing if possible, the beauty of the other, clearly 
demonstrated the advantage and indispensable 
necessity of a combination of these deservedly 
popular plants for decorative purposes. For a back¬ 
ground to this unique exhibit, Mr. Forbes bad a 
most interesting and choice collection of Tree 
Paeonies in beautiful varieties, well grown, and in 
full flower, testifying to their value as attractive sub¬ 
jects for conservatory decoration. The exhibit was 
displayed in Mr. Forbes’ best style, and was through¬ 
out a continuous centre of admiration to crowds of 
visitors. 
Ealing Gardeners’ Society.—On the 26th ult. 
the sessional meetings of this society were brought 
to a successful close by a paper on " Planting,” by 
Mr. Jas. Hawkes, of Osterley Park Gardens, Isle- 
worth. Mr. C. B. Green occupied the chair, and 
presided over a very good attendance. Mr. Hawkes 
prefaced his paper with some excellent remarks on 
the principles of planting, and laid great stress on 
the preparation of the soil. In the case of choice 
subjects he advocated the entire removal of unsuit¬ 
able soil. Staking, mulching, watering, and even 
protection, must be given in many cases. Mr. 
Hawkes recommended that small or medium-sized 
trees and shrubs should be selected for this work. 
Conifers received a large amount of attention, as did 
also deciduous and evergreen shrubs; in fact, the 
material now at the planter's disposal is enormous, 
the difficulty being rather one of selection than other¬ 
wise. A very large number of ornamental trees, 
shrubs, and climbing plants, were commented on, 
and many useful hints imparted. On the proposi¬ 
tion of Mr. W. Farr, Mr. Hawkes received a very 
hearty vote of thanks for his valuable and exhaustive 
paper. Mr. W. B. Gingell supported the vote, and 
regretted that time would not permit him to do full 
justice to this interesting subject. Six Hyacinths 
brought out three competitors, Messrs. Styles, Long, 
and Woods ; while three Shamrocks resulted in an 
interesting display of these "Hibernian” plants. 
There were five entries, mostly exotic. Mr. Newell 
was first for three well grown pots of Oxalis 
Acetosella (variety), and Mr. Long second, with 
Trifolium minus. 
Mr. Peter Barr in the New Hebrides.—There has 
been a considerable amount of discussion about the 
destiny of the New Hebrides lately and who ought 
to possess them. While in Australia, Mr. Peter 
Barr felt interested in these islands and paid them a 
visit. He is described in The Age of Melbourne 
as an eminent botanist, and that he is known 
throughout the world as the "Daffodil King,” but 
our contemporary has got his name wrongly put 
down as Robert. Amongst other thiDgs Mr. Barr 
says ; —'« While I was at the islands I heard a great 
deal about French transactions with the natives. I 
can say nothing about cruelty, because I saw no 
instances myself, and I do not wish to misjudge 
anyone. With regard to the land transactions of 
which Mr. Paton spoke, there is no doubt that the 
French get all the best of these. The British resi¬ 
dents impeach Captain Rich, of the Ringarocma, 
and say he was influenced in some way or another 
because he gave judgments which were just the 
opposite of what would have been expected from the 
facts. Could anything have been more ridiculous^ 
than to ask the natives, as Captain Rich did, to show 
their title deeds to the land ? The thing was pre¬ 
posterous, seeing that these lands were held by 
savages before title deeds were thought of. What 
happens is this;—A steamer goes up to the islands, 
and they get hold of a native and say to him, ' We 
want to buy a bit of land from there to there, and 
there to there.' The man says ‘ Oh yes,' and he gets 
a gun or something. Then it may be that the 
Frenchman will occupy the land from one end of the 
island to the other. They have even taken land 
belonging to white men. If any retaliation takes 
place the French have been known to come in a 
body and shoot the natives down. These New 
Hebrides will be a source of great wealth. You can 
grow copra there and CottoD, and Tea and Coffee, 
and the time may come when it will be advisable to 
make use of these islands as a means of livelihood. 
Just now they are slipping out of your hands. There 
should be no question of exchange or alienation, 
because these islands belong by right to Australia, 
and she ought to have them. 
Hanley Horticultural Fete.—The statement of 
accounts of the horticultural fete, held by the County 
Borough of Hanley, on the 4th and 5th July last, is 
now published and shows that the finances are in 
a phenomenally flourishing condition. The financial 
year extends from April ist.igoo, to March 31st, 1901. 
From this account we glean that the balance in 
hand last April was £971 5s. 9d. As a result of the 
fete this has now increased to £1,675 9s. 4d. Some 
of the principal items of this handsome revenue were ; 
from subscriptions, £170 Ss.; ground lettings, 
£534 4s. 2d.; gate receipts £1,363 15s. rod.: and sale 
of tickets prior to fete, £323 4s. nd. The expendi¬ 
ture was £1,956 16s .6d., leaving the splendid balance 
in hand above mentioned. The statement of account 
was rendered at a special meeting on the 25th ult., 
when the Town Council met to confer with the 
General Committee, under the presidency of the 
Mayor (Mr. G. Ellis). Mr. W. Poulson, the newly 
appointed general secretary, read the minutes of the 
various sub-committees' who are making arrange¬ 
ments for the next fete in July. Mr. Joseph Kent 
read the minutes of the Horticultural Committee, 
and Mr. A. Kent dealt with the children's section. 
The first annual dinner of the Horticultural Fete 
Committee took place at the Grand Hotel, on Wed¬ 
nesday eveniog, when the Mayor (Mr. G. Ellis) 
presided, and the committee took the opportunity 
of showing their appreciation of the valuable services 
rendered to the society by Mr. James Dodd and Mr. 
J. B. Barrow, the retiring general secretary. There 
were present Alderman J. Shirley, E. J. Hammersley, 
Councillors A. B. Jones, W. Foster, W. A. Adderley, 
Elphinstone, Goodson, and Taylor; Messrs. G. 
Bowering, J. Broster, A. Chew, C. A. Cowell, C. 
Dean, W. H. Dodd, A. Ellis, G. Jacober, Edmund 
Jones, F. Hancock, F. Godwin, W. Heath,' T. W. 
Heath, T. Holdcroft, M. Nuttall, J. Pennington, G. 
Slater, J. H. Weatherby, F. Groom, H. W. Figgins, 
A. Lumsdale, A. Hodgkins, G. Barlow (treasurer), W. 
Poulson (general secretary), J. Kent (horticultural 
secretary), and A. Kent (assistant secretary). An 
excellent dinner was well served by Mr. and Mrs. 
Logan, and the room had an exceedingly cheerful 
appearance. The tables were splendidly decorated 
with plants from the Park conservatory, and beauti¬ 
ful flowers sent by gentlemen who have acted as 
judges at the shows in the Park. After dinner the 
toast of "The King, Queen.’and Royal Family” was 
honoured, after which Mr. A. Lumsdale proposed 
"The President, Vice-president, Chairman, and 
Vice-chairmen of Committees.” The Mayor, in re¬ 
sponding, was pleased to announce that the Duchess 
of Sutherland had promised to open the fete on the 
3rd July. When the balance at the bankers had 
increased to £2,000, he hoped something would be 
contributed in reduction of the rates. After some 
others had spoken on the subject, the Mayor said 
that Mr. James Dodd had been an indefatigable 
worker in connection with the horticultural fete, and 
had some time ago been made a Fellow of the Royal 
Horticultural Society. It was decided that he 
should be entertained to dinner and presented with 
an address. He had great pleasure in presenting 
Mr. Dodd with an illuminated address which was 
really a magnificent work of art executed in the 
town. The Mayor then presented a similar address 
to Mr. Barrow, acknowledging his energy and 
ability as general secretary. Both recipients replied. 
Mr. Kent was called upon to speak, and said that the 
feature of the next show would be prizes for British 
garden produce, consisting of fruits, flowers, and 
vegetables. 
“TORENIAS.” 
Unsurpassed tender annuals for the decoration of 
our intermediate houses from early in May until the 
autumn, are with us. Seed may still be sown with 
every hope of success of a most brilliant display 
during the months named. Prepare a light finely 
sifted soil, and fill a 5-in. pot nearly to the rim, 
pressing fairly firm and watering with a fine rose- 
can a few hours previous to sowing, which should 
be done thinly, barely covering the seeds with the 
same soil. Cover with a piece of glass or slate 
and place in a night temperature of about 6o°. As 
soon as germination has taken place remove the 
covering, place near the glass and not over water. 
Prick half a dozen of the little seedlings into 5-in.pots 
as soon as fit to handle, still keeping near the glass 
to prevent elongation of growth. Pinch the point out 
of each at the second joint, and before crowding takes 
place pot off siDgly into the same sized pots men¬ 
tioned, or repot the lot as they are into 7-in. pots. 
Keep close and shaded for a day or two if divided, 
and the latter is also beneficial to them in all stages 
of growth. Stake neatly with a few strands of 
matting around before the growth falls about, keep¬ 
ing the syringe from them when coming into bloom. 
Bailloni has golden flowers with a purple throat, and 
Fournieri grandiflora, sky blue with darker spots, 
and a yellow throat.— J. Mayne, Bicton. 
REASONS FOR ROOT-PRUNING. 
As root pruning has been one of many interesting 
articles in The Gardening World lately, little or 
no reasons have been given for doing so (for the sake 
of the younger readers of our valuable paper). The 
Apple tree is a less deep-rooting tree than the Pear, 
but both strike roots straight down in loose soils, 
producing few fibres, and consequently the trees are 
unfruitful. Root-pruning is iniended to bring too 
gross growing trees into a bearing state by checking 
growth. It is less needed when Apples are worked 
on the Paradise stock, or Pears on the Quince, but 
all in most soils require root-pruning during their 
earlier stages. When the trees are over luxuriant 
uncover the roots, see where the strongest and most 
straight down are, and sever these within a foot to a 
yard of the stem of the tree, according to its size and 
strength, or age. Any long bare roots growing 
horizontally should be cut back a bit also. If the 
trees are very vigorous and the roots are large and 
few, it is a safe plan to operate on one side only one 
year, and defer the other until the next, for root- 
pruning should never be carried to excess Some 
judgment must be exercised, not forgetting that root- 
pruning lowers the growing powers of a tree, and 
that stunted growths are undesirable. I think this 
should always be done in November.— T. S, Dick, 
Castlemilk, Lockerbie, N.B. 
-—i—- 
CELSIA ARCTURUS. 
Judging by its conspicuous absence in most private 
places it has teen the writer’s privilege to look over, 
the above plant is not nearly so much grown as its 
merits deserve. Its showy yellow flowers, borne on 
slender upright growths, similar to the hardy 
Verbascum of the herbaceous border, to which plant 
it is closely allied, form a desirable planl for our 
greenhouse or conservatory during July and the two 
succeeding months, although we have it nicely in 
flower now in 6-in. pots, carrying nine spikes of 
flowers. Seed sown now and well cared for in prick¬ 
ing off, eventually potted on into 5-in. pots, and 
placed in a cold frame without being pmched, will be 
in flower at the date first mentioned. It is by stop¬ 
ping the plants once, and, soon after, shifting into 
6-in. or 7-in. pots, that supply spring flowering 
plants; and though the spikes may not be quite so 
robust as in summer the plants have been greatly 
admired in our show house this spring. To one 
barrowful of loam add half a bushel of leaf soil with 
a dash of sand and soot, which will grow the plant 
well. No shade is required when once established 
until in bloom, when a light shade proves beneficial 
to its flowering properties. This is a plant that 
seems to keep free of insect life, and what a boon to 
us poor domestic gardeners as the census papers 
term us.— Experience. 
-—F-.- 
GRAPE THINNING. 
To acquire the art of thinning Grapes properly one 
must be acquainted with the different varieties and 
their peculiarities. The best time to thin is directly 
the free setting kinds are out of flower, and the berries 
are about the size of No. 1 shot. Muscats and other 
shy setting kinds should be a little more advanced 
