240 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 14, 190: 
tion of the plant. Mr. Sidney Baker, gardener to Sir Dudley 
Duckworth King, Wear House, occupied the chair. The 1st 
prize for the best two pots of Polyanthus Narcissus was won 
by Mr. John Baker, gardener to Mr. Bradley Rowe, La Frowda. 
Mr. Luxmore Jones was 2nd. On the motion of Mr. Hope 
(hon. sec.), seconded by the chairman, the heartiest congratula¬ 
tions of the members were offered to their president (Mr. E. A. 
Sanders), on his passing his 90t.h birthday, and the hope was 
expressed that he might be spared many more years of health 
and strength. 
* * * 
United Horticultural Benefit and Provident Society.— 
The usual monthly committee meeting of this society was held 
at the Caledonian' Hotel, Adelphi Terrace, Strand, on Monday 
evening last, Mr. Charles II. Curtis in the chair. Thirteen new 
members were elected, bringing the total number of benefit 
members up to 996. Ten members were reported on the sick 
fund. A cheque for £30 7s. was granted to a lapsed member, 
being the amount standing to his credit in the ledger, and, 
having attained the age of 60 years, is entitled to the same by 
rule. The sum of £1 10s. was granted to a sick member from 
the convalescent fund. A hearty vote of thanks was given to 
the chairman (Mr. C. H. Curtis) and to the vice-chairman (Mr. 
Thomas Winter) for their valuable services for the past year. 
At a subsequent meeting Mr. Curtis and Mr. Winter were re¬ 
elected to the same office respectively for the ensuing year. 
* * * 
Beckenham Horticultural Society.— On Friday, the 27th 
ult., before a good attendance of members, Mr. C. W. Gedney, 
the Mushroom Farm, Bromley, gave a paper on Mushroom cul¬ 
ture all the year round for market purposes. How to collect 
the spores of the Mushroom was illustrated, and he urged the 
members to always obtain new spawn. Cakes were exhibited, 
showing which would prove most successful in spawning beds. 
French cakes were stated to be useless as compared to good 
English. When obtaining manure for making beds outside July 
was the month he usually started to collect the manure, which 
was from well-fed carthorses. Frost did not hurt beds. In 
covering beds the straw shaken from the droppings was very 
beneficial, more so than clean straw, as the washing from, such 
litter proved of great service to the growth of the Mushroom. 
Mr. Gedney gave illustrations of his failures when first starting 
the cultivation of the Mushroom, and explained to the members 
how, by continued experience for seven years, those failures 
could be mostly avoided. Mr. Gedney will continue the lecture 
on December 13th. 
* * * 
Dundee Horticultural Association. —At the monthly meet¬ 
ing of this association, on the 3rd inst., Mr. Richard Cairns 
presiding, a paper was read by Mr. William Kennedy, Ardarroch 
Gardens, on “ Dendrobiums, Calanthes, Cypripediums, and 
Coelogynes.” He said that amongst these four genera were 
found some of the most useful and beautiful Orchids, and were 
within the reach of all who had a little glass not exclusively 
meant for the growing of Orchids. He drew attention to the 
interest and pleasure gained by watching their habits of growth 
and mode of reproduction ; that it was in this that Orchids 
excelled all other plants, many other flowers being quite as beau¬ 
tiful in form and colour. Taking a general view of the cultiva¬ 
tion, the condition of the atmosphere as regards heat, light, 
and moisture was of more importance than any particular com¬ 
post they might be growing amongst. He then proceeded to 
minutely describe the culture of each genus named, giving help¬ 
ful practical hints as to the best methods of growing some of 
their more choice and useful varieties. It was important that 
Dendrobiums should have a resting season in order to ensure 
abundance of flower. Calanthes he found to grow and flower 
well when potted in flaky peat that had been used as bedding 
for horses, the variety Veitohii producing flower spikes 3ft. high 
from single pseudo-bulbs in 3-inch pots. Coelogyne cristata, 
Cypripedium insigne, C. barbatum, and C. lawrenceanum did 
well together in an intermediate house, although Cypripediums 
were usually seen in a stove. Two well-flowered pans of 
Coelogyne cristata, grown as described in an intermediate house, 
were exhibited by the essayist, and evoked the praise of the 
members. A lengthy discussion followed, in which the follow¬ 
ing gentlemen took part, viz., Bailie Melville, Messrs. Storrie, 
Grant, Bell, Brown, L. Sand, and F. Reid. Some interesting 
points were raised, and the essayist was thanked for his in" 
struotive communication and exhibit. On the call of Mr. J. W. 
Laird, the chairman was thanked for presiding. 
„ T , , „ , „ James Bethel (Secretary). 
Westwood Gardens, Newport-on-Tay. 
NEWS OF THE WEEK. 
A Gardener Wounded at Yeovil. —Last week an accident 
happened to Mr. Frederick Gillard, gardener to J. Vincent. 
Esq. Mr. Gillard was scaring some birds with a gun from some 
Peas, and had discharged one of the barrels, when the second 
barrel exploded and severely lacerated his hand. He is now 
progressing satisfactorily. 
* * * 
Revolver Accident to a Gardener. —Mrs. May, of Brook 
House, Oxted, while practising with a revolver in her garden 
on the 4th inst., accidentally shot her gardener, Richard File- 
wood, the bullet entering his stomach. The unfortunate man 
was removed home, where he lies in a critical condition. Little 
hope is entertained of his recovery. The bullet had not been 
extracted up to a late hour. 
* * 
Elm Trees Destroyed ry the Gale.— During the gale on 
the 5th inst. two large Elm trees were completely uprooted at 
Eltham, Kent, one in the Court Road and the other in Court 
Yard. The latter, which stood in the fenced-round pavement 
in the Court Road, was regarded as one of the old landmarks 
of Eltham. It fell across the road at about half-past two 
o’clock on Friday morning, when the gale was at its height, 
but traffic was little interrupted, the Borough Council employees 
being early on the spot at daybreak and removing the obstruc¬ 
tion. 
* * * 
Curious. —'We do read of remarkable occurrences, especiallv 
in the halfpenny daily papers, but I have rarely come across 
anything more remarkable than that recorded in the enclosed 
cutting, which is from the “Daily Express” of March 2nd. I 
should imagine that the worms referred to had been flooded out 
of the gullies and surface drains. I have seen the small striped 
or ribbed worms in great profusion on the roads and paths after 
very heavy storms, but never imagined that they came from 
above. • jj 
[The electric storm referred to by our correspondent occurred 
at I almouth, and the ribbed worms, with blunt extremities, were 
said to be more like the sea lugworm than the common garden 
variety. The usual explanation is that fishes, frogs, and" other 
animals are carried to the clouds by a whirlwind, cyclone, or 
waterspout.— Ed.] 
* * * 
Pruning Examination at Much Marcle.— The eighth exa¬ 
mination in the practical work of pruning fruit trees°was held 
at Hellens, Much Marcle, Hereford, by the kind permission of 
Mr. C. W. Radcliffe Oooke. There were 16 entries, but only 
14 were actually examined. Of these 13 obtained the advanced 
certificate for pruning standard and bush fruit trees. The 
report of the examiner, Mr. S. T. Wright, superintendent of the 
Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens, Chiswick, London, is 
as follows: “Dear Mr. Wiltshire,—I must heartily congratu¬ 
late you on the excellent lot of candidates at the pruning exa¬ 
mination held on February 27th at Much Marcle. They were 
decidedly the best and most carefully trained lot of candidates 
I have had the privilege of examining, as all possessed a sound 
knowledge of how the pruning should be done, and most of them 
were well grounded in theory ; another point of importance was 
the expeditious manner in which they performed their work, 
and it was a great pleasure to examine such an excellent lot: 
n r rvrn n ore ' ’ 
Presentation by the Gardeners’ Company.— Colonel T 
JJavies Sewell acted as hon. clerk to the Gardeners’ Com pan’ 
during the time that elapsed between the death of Mr. K 
Gofton-Salmond and the election of his successor. On the 5tl 
mst.., at the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor presented th 
Colonel with a testimonial in recognition of'his services. Th. 
giu took the form of a valuable timepiece, and bore the follow 
ing inscription : “ Presented to Colonel T. Davies Sewell by th. 
Worshipful Company of Gardeners. March, 1903.” The'Lon 
Mayor, m a few graceful and happy words, presented the clod 
T° J M Davi “ Sewe11 - In reply, the recipient said : “ M. 
Lord Mayor and gentlemen, for the handsome and most usefu 
presentation just made to me I beg to offer you, both indi 
vidually as well as collectively, my very sincere thanks, a 
the same time assuring you that if at any time my expert far 
vices were useful either to yourselves or to the Gardeners’ Com 
pany, they have been thoroughly recognised by the kindly gif 
