THE QARDENINU WORLD 
February 7 , 1903, 
130 
<£* News of the Week — (continued). 
Messes. Messenger and Co., Ltd., of Loughborough, have re¬ 
ceived an order from the Poplar Borough Council for a glass¬ 
house for the Poplar Recreation Ground. 
* * * 
The secretary and treasurer of the Easter Ross Horticul¬ 
tural Society, Mr. Scott, Commercial Bank, Tain, begs to acknow¬ 
ledge, with thanks, a donation of £1 from the Dowager Lady 
RojTs of Balnagown, towards the funds of the society. 
* * * 
The Caterpillar Cactus. —The different movements of the 
“ Caterpillar Cactus,” which was mentioned in the report of the 
Manchester Society’s proceedings, are peculiar during growth. 
First it grows perpendicularly two or three feet, then its apex 
bends over until it touches the ground, along which it runs for a, 
foot or so. After taking a turn upright for two or three feet it 
again! bends over and takes root once more. This goes on until 
it has the appearance of a giant Caterpillar, hence its name. 
Sixteen to eighteen feet is the height of a species, of which hedges 
are formed round Maize plots and farmhouses. 
* * * 
Weoxall Horticultural Society. —The annual general meet¬ 
ing of the members of the Wroxall Horticultural Society was held 
on 3 the 28th ult., at the Assembly Rooms, Wroxall, Mr. H. 
Linington (chairman of the committee) presiding. The hon. 
secretaries (Messrs. W. T. Holdaway and W. A. Wright) pre¬ 
sented the balance-sheet, showing receipts amounting to 
£52 17s. Ogd., including a balance in hand from the previous 
year of £2 9s. 6d. After meeting all liabilities, except one small 
account due to the Coronation committee not yet presented, there 
remained a balance in hand of £13 4s. 7gd. 1 he lion, secretaries 
gave a very satisfactory report of the past year s work. The 
death, however, of Sir. J. Slatterie Clarke, their president, was 
regretfully referred to, cts was also the fact that, although the 
number of exhibits at the annual show had increased, there was 
a falling off in the number of exhibitors. The committee’s 
indebtedness to Mrs. Fisher and friends for promoting a concert 
which brought £6 to the society’s funds, and to the children who 
danced the Maypole, under Mr. J. J. Francis, and collected 
£1 5s. I0d., was duly acknowledged. The financial statement 
and report were adopted, a vote of condolence was passed with 
Miss Clarke, and a vote of thanks accorded the hon. secretaries 
for their services. Miss Clarke was elected president, vice-pre¬ 
sidents were appointed, the hon. secretaries and treasurer (Mr. P. 
Jenkin) were re-elected, and a committee was also formed. A 
long discussion took place on the vexed question of "W hat is an 
amateur ? ” and in the hope of solving the difficulty it was decided 
to have three distinct classes at the next show, namely, cottagers, 
amateurs, and professionals or open, with the distinct under¬ 
standing that no exhibitor can compete in more than one class. 
* * * 
Ealing and District Gardeners’ Society. —An interesting 
and well-attended meeting of this society was held at the Muni¬ 
cipal Buildings on the 29th ult., Mr. C. B. Green presiding. The 
occasion was a paper by Mr. W. Dack, of Lothringen Gardens, 
North Common Road, Ealing, and the subject “Modernising an 
Old English Garden.” As Mr. Dack has recently been engaged 
in reconstructing an old garden of about five acres, the subject 
was in its prime, and was well and vigorously dealt with. Mr. 
Dack described the processes he had adopted, from the laying 
of the drains and the making of the path and carriage drive to 
the planting of the borders and beds. He laid it down as an 
axiom that for every foot of a carriage drive the width of the 
range should correspond in inches; thus an effect would be pro¬ 
duced commensurate with the outlay. Herbaceous borders and 
rockeries were not omitted, as he had a very great fancy for these 
phases of modern gardening. He considered that a large and 
well-kept garden was a great boon to a business man, and that, 
although. he preferred a garden without any formal arrange¬ 
ments, he would not adhere too strictly to Nature’s plan. Box 
was recommended as the best edging, although! turf and tiles 
received some comment. Ornamental trees and shrubs and 
herbaceous plants were then considered, and the dot system 
versus massing was duly expounded. In fact, Mr. Dack contrived 
to impart a good deal of sound sense and practical information. 
Discussion brought out other points, which were duly appre¬ 
ciated, and Mr. Dack received the thanks of the meeting. Mr. 
Dack exhibited Hyacinths and a seedling Hippeastrum, Mr. 
Woods some fine Callas, and Mr. Hogg a specimen Iventia.' 
Early Mushroom. —Mr. E. Hibbett, land surveyor, of North- 
boro’, gathered in his garden on the 26th ult. a mushroom 
measuring eight inches i cross. 
* * * 
The new range of glass houses in the trial grounds of Messrs. 
Sutton and Sons, Reading, to which we referred on page 90, was 
built by Mr. W. Duncan Tucker, South Tottenham, London, N. 
* * * 
Midland Railway Floral Competition.- —In the Midland 
Company’s platform garden competition for the past season pre¬ 
mier honours have been secured by Malvern Wells, . and 
bracketed next best are Matlock Bath (Derbyshire) and Five 
Ways (Birmingham). 
* * * 
Bridge Horticultural Society.— The annual dinner of the 
Bridge Horticultural Society was held at the White Horse, 
Bridge, on the 29th ult. The Home Secretary (Mr. Akers 
Douglas) presided. In proposing “ The Society,” the Chairman 
said lie was glad to think that such a society as theirs existed, as 
he was quite certain that the more interest they took in country 
village life the better it would be for themselves and the district 
in which they lived. During the last few years they had heard 
a great deal about the rural exodus, and he had looked at the 
returns of the last census. He found that the population of the 
United Kingdom in 1870 was practically equally divided, there 
being about 59 per cent, of the inhabitants living in the urban 
districts, and about 50 per cent, living in the rural dis¬ 
tricts. In 1900, however, 30 years later, the census showed 
that there was 71 per cent, of the population residing in the 
towns. He supposed that state of affairs was due to the great 
attractiveness of the towns to the youths of the country, and no 
doubt education, under modern conditions, was superior in the 
towns to that the villagers received. He thought it was impera¬ 
tive that they should do what they could to make village life at¬ 
tractive, and they should endeavour to keep as much of the 
labour as they could on Ihe land. 
* * * 
Horsham Horticultural Society. —The annual meeting of 
the Horsham Horticultural Society was held on the 28th ult. at 
the Crown Hotel, Mr. W. Hull presiding over a large attendance. 
The statement of accounts showed a balance in hand of 
£63 5s. 5gd., compared with £50 2s. 2-J>d. at the close of the pre¬ 
vious year. The balance-sheet was adopted. Mr. Moses Brooks 
proposed the reappointment of Sir Henry Harben, J.P., as pre¬ 
sident of the society. Mr. H. Tanner seconded, observing that 
Sir Henry was a most generous supporter of the society. The 
motion was carried unanimously. Mr. R. Hunt was reappointed 
treasurer, and Mr. H. C. Field was unanimously re-elected hon. 
secretary, several testifying to the ability and courtesy shown by 
him. Mr. H. Tanner was re-elected chairman of committees. 
The retiring members of the committee were re-elected. 
* * * 
Old Traeford Gardens. —To an outsider, proceedings in Man¬ 
chester on the 29th ult. regarding open spaces must seem 
peculiar, and in a measure contradictory. On the one hand, 
the Parks and Cemeteries Committee of the City Council decided 
to ask for £45,000 to improve Heaton Park and various open 
spaces in the city. On the other hand, at the seventy-fifth 
annual meeting of the proprietors of the Royal Botanical and 
Horticultural Society the report showed a lamentable want ot 
interest on the part of the Manchester public in the beautiful 
gardens which have done such good horticultural work for Lan¬ 
cashire in the past, and which afford such a convenient and 
delightful place of relief from the strenuous industrial conflict 
of to-day. The deficit on last year’s Working was £806, and the 
overdraft, which was £4,400 in 1892, is now £8.000. A plea in 
favour of negotiating with the Corporation for the transfer of the 
Old Trafford Gardens to the city was put forward, but there will 
be a general feeling in favour of giving the existing system 
another year’s trial. All lovers of horticulture will hope, with 
the Lord Mayor, that the new electric tramway service may bring 
prosperity to the Botanical Gardens, and the proposed new 
station on the Great Central line between Manchester and 
Urmston should also be of value in this direction. The weather 
was, with good reason, largely blamed for the poor attendance 
last year ; but, good weather or bad weather, it will be a reproach 
to Manchester if the Gardens should cease to be owing to public 
apathy. 
