50 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 17, 1903. 
News of the Week— (continued). «** 
Wild Primroses and Strawberries were picked in Mr. 
Fletcher’s farm, Dainton, Newton Abbot, on Boxing Day. 
* * * 
East Anglia Daffodil Show* will be held at Ipswich on 
April 22nd. A schedule of prizes on a very liberal scale has now 
been issued, and may be had on application to Mr. A. E. Stubbs, 
lion, secretary, 6, Prince’s Street, Ipswich. 
* * * 
On Friday, the 2nd hist., P.C. Howard 44 was called to a lire 
at 61, Oxford’Street, in the occupation of Mr. Tlios. Barron, the 
well-known Swansea florist. The flames were extinguished by 
means of buckets of water. Some of the plants were damaged by 
smoke. 
* * * 
A Queen and a Kew Gardener. — A contemporary says that 
the Queen of Roumania had a desire to see Kew Gardens. In 
passing through one of the hot-houses the visitors happened to 
be very numerous, causing some confusion on the pathway. The 
Kew o-ardener, doing his duties, was heard to repeat in his usual 
monotonous voice, “ Please walk on, ladies and gentlemen, please 
walk on!” The Queen had completely forgotten that she had 
intended to walk incognito, and was distributing kind smiles on 
either side. Her politeness was being received with indifference, 
and the Kew gardener was getting impatient, when Carmen 
Sylva gently said, “ The flowers are beautiful indeed, but I ami 
quite delighted with the Orchids. What trouble you must have 
to take care of all this quantity of plants; what a fervent admirer 
of nature you must be; I congratulate you—I am really de¬ 
lighted!” All this and more she is reported to have said. It 
must have been torture to- the Kew gardener while disorder and 
overcrowding were blocking up the pathways and endangering 
the plants. His reply is stated to have been: “ Will you go 
along ? This has lasted more than ten minutes ; you are prevent¬ 
ing the other visitors from advancing.” We wonder whether that 
young gardener remembers the long conversation he had with 
this talkative lady, because he will now be exceedingly mortified 
to discover that he had been talking to a Queen. 
* * * 
Bristol and District Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
Association.— A very successful meeting of this association was 
held at St. John’s Rooms on the evening of Thursday last, when 
Mr. J. C. House, Coombe Nurseries, Westbury-on-Trym, de¬ 
livered |ia very exhaustive lectur/e on .“ Herbaceous Plants. 
Lieut.-Colonel H. Cary Batten, J.P., presided over a good attend¬ 
ance, and was accompanied by Mrs. H. Cary Batten, their 
presence adding much to the enjoyment of the evening. Mr. 
House’s lecture was well worthy of the evening, and his able 
remarks were followed by no small amount of interest, he being 
quite at home with the handling of his subject. He remarked 
on the magnitude of the -subject, and confined himself to the 
tall varieties of herbaceous plants, which were perfectly ha-rdy, 
and which, he said, were fast becoming the most popular of our 
garden favourites. Their extreme beauty and usefulness make 
them quite indispensable to all lovers of their garden. He was 
pleased to see that gardeners were taking up their cultivation 
more and more every year, and why not? They were certainly 
as beautiful -as any of o-ur exotics and greenhouse plants, re¬ 
quiring less icare and anxious moments, and were within the 
reach of rich and poor alike. He should like to- see the usual 
summer bedding plants give way to more of our hardy herbaceous 
plants, wherefrom we can -get such a continuance of blood, a 
greater variety o-f colours, and certainly more showy than our 
Geraniums, Calceolarias, and the usual summer bedding plants. 
We 1 lave now some thousands of varieties to choose from, am-o-ng 
which were flowers ranking with our choicest greenhouse flowers, 
equaling many of our Orchids in point of beauty. He strongly 
recommended starting with a -clean border, and well trenching 
the -ground before planting, digging plenty of manure into the 
roots. No one need be afraid of over-feeding, and well-rotted 
farmyard manure was very beneficial. Mr. House then- pro¬ 
ceeded to give a comprehensive list of the most beautiful, which 
should be- of great service to the gardeners of Bristol and district. 
Weeding, lie said, -must be carefully attended to-; keeping the 
borders clean was a veiy important factor in successful cultiva¬ 
tion. Concluding, Mr. House strongly advised bis audience to go 
thoroughly into- the subject, and they would not be disappointed 
with t-he results. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded him for 
his most practical lecture. Lieut.-Colonel H. Cary Batten and 
Mrs. H. Cary Batten were unanimously voted the sincere thanks 
of the association for all their kindnessse shown to the society 
ever since its formation. The prizes for the evening, kindly- 
given by the president, were awarded to Mr. Ross, Mr. W. A. F. 
Powell (gardener, Mr. Raikes), and to Mr. W. Howell Davis 
(gardener, Mr. Curtis), for three flowering plants. A certificate 
of merit went to Mr. H. Daniel (gardener, Mr. Quick), for a 
plant of Laelia anceps. 
* * * 
Acton Natural History Society. —On the 5th inst., at the 
Churchfield Hall Buildings, Mr. A. Loydell, of Acton, gave an 
exceptionally interesting paper on “ Botanical Rambles in 
Middlesex,” the chair being occupied by the president, A. I T . 
Battley Esq. Mr. Loydell, at the outset, dwelt on the necessity 
of a knowledge of the main features of the comity, covered by 
t-he rambles, for, lie- said, that the connection between plants 
and the soil upon which -they -grow is so close that a sketch 
of -the geological and geographical characteristics of the county 
was most desirable. Some plants, he insisted, preferred chalk, 
some sand or gravel, some clay, while some others seemed to 
thrive be-st in a mixture of two or -more- of these ingredients. 
Then, again, some plants required a large supply of moisture, 
and were only to be found in, or by the sides of, rivers, streams, 
or bogs, so that the plant-searcher must have recourse to all these 
situations if he woidd exhaust the flora- of his comity. The 
geological features of Middlesex, however, were not so varied as 
most of the other comities, hence one could not expect to botanise 
so- successfully in consequence. Speaking generally, the plants 
usually found in meadows are best represented in our county. 
Some fine meadowland still exists in Middlesex, so that two crops 
of hay are not infrequently harvested therefrom. He considered 
that a field entirely covered with fine gra-ss was a beautiful sight. 
Mr. Loydell then took -some typical plants and described t-he-ir 
floral structures with some minuteness, although he stated that 
he considered the grasses to be the -most useful family of plants. 
Mr. Loydell thus afforded a large and varied amount of informa¬ 
tion, which was much appreciated. After some discussion, the 
customary vote of thanks was cordially given. Ail exhibit of 
eighteen species of Danaci-a—a kind of Water-beetle—many of 
them collected in Middlesex and well preserved, was brought by 
Mr. Montgomery, their life history being duly demonstrated. 
Mr. Loydell also handed round about fo-rtv photogrpa-hs of Middle¬ 
sex plants, by way of illustration. These had all been taken 
during the past season, and for the most- part in situ by 
C. B. G. 
Obituary. 
We regret to have to announce the death, on the 3rd inst., 
through heart disease-, -of Mr. Arthur Hollow-ay, aged 47, after a 
short illness. Mr. Holloway had only recently succeeded Mr. C. 
Long -as gardener to E. P. Oaksliott, Esq., Orchardine, Mont¬ 
pelier Road, Ealing, he having previously been about nine years 
with E. Hyde, Esq., Hill Crest, Castlebar, Ealing. Mr. Hol¬ 
loway was also an active member of the Ealing and District 
Gardeners’ Society, and by his uniform courtesy, his sterling 
qualities, and his genial behaviour, wa-s greatly esteemed by all 
his colleagues. 
Mr. Holloway was well known in Ealing, and much respected. 
He was a local exhibitor of some repute, and while at Hill Crest 
Gardens was associated with the re-introduction of the original 
Chinese Primula. In a word, he was a good gardener, with a 
philosophic turn of mind, and, while he went about his work 
unostentatiously, he recommended himself to all who knew him. 
He leaves a delicate wife and live children—ranging from thirteen 
to twenty—and many friends to mourn his loss. 
He was also assistant bandmaster to the Ealing Town Band 
■•mil at. the funeral, which took place-on Thursday in last week, 
•d the.Ealing Ceinet-eiy, his musical comrades bore his remains 
to their last resting place. Among the numerous wreaths was 
one from his old employers, Mr. and Mrs. Hyde, and one from 
the Ealing Gardeners-’ Society. There were also many mourners, 
Councillor G. Taylor representing t-he bandsmen, and Mr. c! 
Edwards (vice-chairman of the local society) representing’the 
gardeners. ' C B °G 
READERS AND ADVERTISERS are requeste 
to note that the address of THE GARDENINl 
WORLD is now 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London E C 
