260 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 21, 1903. 
Royal Horticultural Society.— The next fruit and flower 
show of the Royal Horticultural Society will be held on Tuesday, 
March 24th, in the Drill Hall, Buckingham Gate, Westminster, 
1-5 p.m. Special prizes will be offered for Hyacinths and Tulips 
by the Royal Bulb Growing Society of Haarlem, as follows: — 
120 Hyacinths in pots (one bulb in each pot) in not less than 40 
varieties, and not more than three pots of. any one variety. 
Open. First prize, £7 ; second prize, £5 ; third prize, £3. 100 
pots of Tulips (three bulbs of one variety in each pot), to include 
50 varieties at least, and not more than two pots of any one 
variety. Open. First prize, £4; second prize, £3 ; third 
prize, £2. A lecture on Photo-micrography as an aid to the 
study of plant life (illustrated by lantern slides) will be given by 
F. Martin Duncan, Esq., F.R.H.S., at three o’clock. At a 
general meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society held on 
Tuesday, March 10th, 82 new Fellows were elected, amongst 
them being the Countess of Stamford, Lady Caroline Gordon- 
Lennox, Lady Harriet Cavendish, and the Hon. Mrs. Alfred 
Egerton, making a total of 405 elected since the beginning of 
the present vear. 
* * * 
Ealing and District Gardeners’ Society.— On March 12th 
Mr. W. Roberts, hon. secretary of this institution, gave an ex¬ 
cellent paper on Caladiums, which was well received and much 
appreciated. Mr. Roberts sketched their early history, and 
claimed them as foliage plants of the first degree either as stove 
subjects or for exhibition purposes. Their beauty and varied 
hues could not be gainsaid, and the marvellous colouring of their 
foliage was well illustrated by Messrs. Lai.ng and' others at the 
Temple Shows. Given the required conditions, their culture was 
simplicity itself, but the winter temperature must not be allowed 
to fall below 55 degrees. They were also easily raised from seed, 
and thus might new shades of colour or new combinations be 
secured. Mr. Roberts suggested hybridisation wdth Alocasias 
with a view to still further developments. He also dealt very 
fully with them from a. cultural point of view, gave a list of the 
best varieties, and afforded much, information concerning them 
for decoration and for exhibition, he being a very successful 
exhibitor himself at the local show. The chairman (Mr. C. B. 
Green) complimented him on the able way in which he had 
handled this subject, and said that the paper was a justification 
of the value of .co-operation or mutual improvement. Mr. C. 
Edwards agreed with the chairman, and considered the Cala- 
diuniis a most useful and beautiful class of plant. He ques¬ 
tioned its hybridisation with the Alocasia, and suggested instead 
Richardia elliottiana. Other speakers were Messrs. Burgess, 
Wait, Da.ck, Woods, Chaffer, Styles, Jones, etc., who all testified 
to the value of the Caladium and the success of the paper. An 
exhibition of six flowering plants brought a grand display, Mr. 
Woods being first, Mr. Edwards losing by one point only, while 
Mr. Hogg was third. The best plant in the collection was pro¬ 
bably Chorizema cordatum. Mr. Hogg also exhibited for marks 
Cattleya. Trianaei, with a richly-coloured lip, Laelia flava., and L. 
harpophylla ; Mr. Dack a collection of .Hyacinths, Mr. Chaffer 
some nice plants of Sutton’s Primula magnifiea, and Mr. Skingle 
a double flowered spathe of Richardia africana. 
NEWS OF THE WEEK. 
First Blooms oe Sweet Peas. —The first blooms of Sweet Pea 
Mont Blanc, grown in pots and sown on October 24th, 1902, 
opened on Saturday, the 7th inst. This variety is a weak- 
growing one, and requires to be sown more thickly than the more 
vigorous growers in order to secure a good gathering of blooms. 
I wonder if “ Cal.” has gathered any Earliest of All yet.—A. P. 
* * * 
The Seedless Orange.— The seedless Orange is older than 
the world generally supposes. No less than 25 years ago it 
was originated, though it is true that it is only for five years or 
more that it has been generally on the market. The Orange 
owes its being to an unknown American woman. Travelling 
in Brazil in 1873, and finding there Oranges of unusual sweet¬ 
ness, she forwarded slips of two or three of the trees to the 
Department of Agriculture. These Brazilian Oranges were not 
seedless, but they had a hardy vigour and a fine quality that 
made them excellent fruit for experimenting on. They were 
just the Oranges that the department had been looking for for 
years. So all over the Orange-growing district the fruit experts 
worked on them, and from them, after three years’ labour, 
the first seedless Orange came. Now the only valuable Orange 
is the seedless one, and Philadelphia fruiterers say that in time 
the Orange with seeds all through will completely disappear.— 
Philadelphia “ Record.” 
Daefodils are now blooming profusely in Lincolnshire, and 
will be practically over before Easter. The bloom is fully three 
weeks in advance of the regular season. 
* * * 
At a meeting of the Williams’ Memorial Trustees held recently, 
Dr. Masters in the chair, it was decided to offer two medals for 
competition at the British Fruit and Vegetable Show at Chiswick, 
to be held in September next. It was also resolved to subscribe 
the sum of £10 to the funds of the new Horticultural Hall. 
* ■*■ * 
Personal Estate of an Ayrshire Gardener. —Amongst- the 
inventories of personal estates lodged with Sheriff Clerk, of Ayr¬ 
shire, during the month of February was that of the late George 
Garvie, sometime gardener at Castlehill, and afterwards residing 
at Cedum Cottage, Castlehill Road, Ayr. 
* * * 
“ Alpine Flowers for Gardens.”—A new edition of this book, 
long out of print, will shortly be published by Mr. John Murray, 
and may be obtained from all booksellers. It is revised, con¬ 
siderable additions have been made, and many alpine and moun¬ 
tain shrubs added, the author thinking these give the best and 
most enduring of rock gardens for many situations. 
* * ^ 
Phcenlx Park and the Storm. —Mr. J. O’Connor asked the 
Chief Secretary whether he was aware that during the recent 
storm 1,242 forest trees and 1,706 Thorn trees were blown down 
in the Phoenix Park, Dublin ? Mr. Wyndham replied that irre¬ 
parable damage has been done to what he supposed was the finest 
public park in the world. The proceeds from the sale of the 
timber will be appropriated in aid of the vote for the park. Re¬ 
planting cannot be undertaken before autumn. 
* *• * 
Coloured Plate of Chinese Primulas.— There was a brisk 
demand for last week’s issue of The Gardening World, con¬ 
taining the coloured plate of “New Chinese Primulas.”- A few 
copies are still obtainable at the office of this paper at the usual 
charge of 2gd. post free, so that those who are desirous of pro¬ 
curing a copy to have a complete set of the coloured plates 
should lose no time in procuring that issued last week. When 
the stock is exhausted it cannot be re-issued except at prohibi¬ 
tive cost. 
* * * 
Shamrocks for the Irish Guards. —The giving by Her 
Majesty the Queen of a large order for Shamrocks to the Countess 
of Limerick’s “ Shamrock League,” so that every man in the Irish 
Guards was presented with a bunch of Shamrock to wear on 
St. Patrick’s Day, has drawn fresh attention to the existence of 
the League, which has been at work for a couple of years, sends 
its Shamrocks from Limerick to any pait of the United Kingdom 
for 2s. 6d. or 4s. per box according to size, and hands over the 
money received in exchange to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families 
Association, and to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Help Society. 
* * * 
Strawberries in Covent Garden.— The first English hot¬ 
house Strawberries this season were sold in Covent Garden 
market on the 4th inst. at any price from lbs. per lb. upwards. 
The berries were large, of good colour, and well flavoured for 
such early fruit They were packed in boxes supposed to contain 
lib., but there was not a great demand for them. Baskets of 
French strawberries containing about the same quantity were 
sold at 10s. 6d. wholesale, but they did not look nearly so good 
as the home product. In Regent Street, Piccadilly, and other 
prominent West-end thoroughfares boxes of Strawberries were 
displayed in the shop windows without a price being affixed. On 
inquiry the prices asked ran from £1 Is. to £1 10s. per box. 
* * * 
The Traders in Poisonous Compounds for Trade Purposes 
Protection Society. —At a meeting of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, held on Tuesday, 10th inst., a deputation, consisting of 
Mr. Dobbs, as secretary of the Traders in Poisonous Compounds 
for Trade Purposes Protection Society, Mr. G. H. Richards, and 
Mr. T. Peed, of Messrs. Peed and Sons, wmited upon such council. 
After bringing to the knowledge of the council the report of the 
Departmental Poisons Committee appointed by the Privy Council 
to consider Schedule A of the Pharmacy Act, 1868, and explain¬ 
ing that such poisonous substances as insecticides, weed killers, 
sheep dips, etc., could not be lawfully sold by nurserymen, seeds¬ 
men, and others, although required for agricultural and horti¬ 
cultural purposes, the council passed a resolution asking the 
Government to bring in a Bill adopting the recommendations 
of the Departmental Committee, and a petition in favour of 
the recommendations for allowing duly licensed persons to sell 
poisonous compounds where they are required for agricultural 
or horticultural purposes was signed by the chairman of the 
council, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., on behalf of the council. 
