March 21, 1903 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
243 
®he Gardening "World* 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
etropolitan Public Gardens, 
ssociation. 
The' magnitude of the work carried on by 
\|e above association may be seen by refer¬ 
ee to the map of London published along 
th their twentieth annual report. The whole 
ea n? London and its suburbs is marked 
more open. No less than 459 of these areas, 
are marked on the map, showing the work 
carried out and the undertakings which the 
association has successfully assisted. Much 
yet remains to be done, the places requiring 
consideration being also indicated on the 
back of the map. We understand that the 
association is already giving an eye to the 
preservation of the Chiswick Gardens of the 
Royal Horticultural Society as an open space. 
-—o— 
Double Spathed Arum. 
Arum Lilies with two' spathes have been 
getting fairly frequent during the past quar¬ 
ter of a century, owing, probably, to 1 the 
greatly-improved cultivation and the rich 
conditions as to soils under which plants 
are placed. Mr. A. Kennedy, gardener to J. 
Owen, Esq., Ty Coch, Carnarvon, sends us a 
specimen showing a strong inclination to 
form three spathes. The outer one is very 
large, while the second one is only about 
half the size. The third one is formed by 
fission of the secondary one, and is not, 
therefore, areal spathe, but part of one. All 
three, however, are beautifully pure white, 
except at the base of the outer face, which 
is shaded green. Mr. Kennedy might make 
the attempt to fix this character by sowing 
seeds ripened on stems that have earned a 
double spathe. 
—o— 
Improvement in Railway Rates. 
A conference took place between delegates 
from the National Fruit Growers’ Federation 
and the Board of Railway General Managers, 
on November 4th last, and the results are 
already beginning to show themselves to such 
excellent purpose as to justify the existence 
of the Federation. The formation of an 
advisory committee, with its sub-committee 
for dealing with the various companies, is a 
plan that is working admirably. Ventilated 
vans, constructed on their own plans, have 
been obtained from the Midland, as a result 
of the work done by these sub-committees. 
The Great West era have also given an im¬ 
proved system of sheeting. The most im¬ 
portant concession, however, is that these 
companies will carry consignments of fruit 
in lots of 5 cwt. to 10 cwt. at greatly reduced 
rates by passenger train. It really means 
the saving in carriage of 7s. 6d. on 5 cwt,. 
for 100 miles, and the fruit will pass from 
the grower to the provincial dealer in good 
condition. 
1 
th red squares showing where the associa^ 
m has been at work during the years of its 
istenee. The central and more densely- 
nulated area of London would seem to have 
I more attention given it than further west, 
:ere large open areas like Regent’s Park, 
'de Park, and Battersea Park are situated, 
is is a. natural outcome on the", part, of the 
dety endeavouring to do its work to 1 the 
5t advantage. It is more necessary to 1 
*k after the open spaces in densely- 
pulated areas than where the ground is 
—o—- 
A Long-keeping Apple from Ayrshire. 
Some time ago some Apples in a box were 
sent us by Mr. P. Melville, gardener to Mrs. 
Baird-Hay, Rosemount, Monkton, Ayrshire. 
These, on examination, proved to be speci¬ 
mens, of the French Crab Apple, which Mr. 
Melville gathered in the middle of October, 
1901, and which were in perfect condition 
when they arrived, but after the lapse of a 
month they decayed, as a result, probably, 
of the severe shaking in passing through the 
post, the handling by different people, and 
the rapid changes of temperature which they 
had been subjected to since their arrival in 
London. Mr. Melville tells us that the 
Apples did not get more attention than the 
other samples in the fruit-room, beyond care¬ 
ful handling, during the whole of the period 
that has elapsed since they were gathered. 
The chief qualifications of the variety, 
according to' Mr. Melville, are its keeping 
qualities, and being of use either for cooking 
or dessert purposes. He can always keep it 
until the new crop comes in, and sends 
these antiquated specimens, thinking that 
they may interest some of the readers of The 
Gardening World who may not grow the 
variety. 
■-O'—■ 
Brentwood Chrysanthemum Society. 
The report of the above society is a very 
satisfactory one, showing that the Chrysan¬ 
themum Exhibition last autumn was a most 
successful one, the number of entries exceed¬ 
ing those of previous years. The attendance 
during the afternoon and evening was all that 
could be desired, and the promenade concert 
was much appreciated. Entries for fruit, 
were also very numerous, and the vegetables 
came up to the usual standard. After all the 
expenses were paid, a balance in hand of 
£17 0s. 6d. was left to the credit of the 
society, or about five times as much as the 
balance handed over from the previous year. 
We compliment the society, and wish it 
another successful year. 
—o— 
Royal Botanic Society 
An evening entertainment and concert, has 
recently been held at the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Regent’s Park, as a reunion of past 
and present members of the .Society’s Gar¬ 
dening School. Tea was provided in the 
class-room, and to which full justice was done 
by the company present. At the close of tea 
the tables were cleared and a capital pro¬ 
gramme of vocal and instrumental music fol¬ 
lowed, arranged in two parts. 
During the interval of the concert and at 
the close of a suitable speech by Mr. F. -T. 
Winstone on behalf of present students, Mr. 
F. F. Hawes was presented with a massive 
silver cruet set, as a mark of esteem and 
appreciation by them of the worthy manner 
in which the school-work had been conducted 
during the past year. 
In returning thanks, Mr. Hawes stated 
that it was indeed a great pleasure to him 
to be the recipient of such a handsome pre¬ 
sent, and also to acknowledge the zealous 
manner in which the students, both pasl and 
present, had appreciated the work of himself 
and teaching staff. 
Mr. H. D. Streatfeild was then presented 
with a silver-mounted letter-case. After a 
suitable reply the second part of the concert 
was resumed, at the end of which a pleasant 
evening’s entertainTnerit terminated. 
