April 4, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
289 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
*Itt Week’s Engagements. 
uesday, April 7th, Royal Horticultural 
o.ety Committees; Manchester Spring 
ljv (two days). 
Lhrooms from North Berwick. 
is customary to get Mushrooms in 
1 er from houses, cellars, or other places 
i'e they have been grown indoors, or they 
lf , h av ® been grown on suitably-prepared 
ops of fermenting manure, in the open air. 
J seldom we hear of an ordinary Mush- 
31 1 being gathered in the open until the 
a | n rains of September start them into 
r tli in the open fields. We are in re- 
of a. box of Mushrooms, however, from 
’ James Mattiso-n, The Gardens, Carle- 
kemp, North Berwick. He gathered them 
from an outside border on March 25th, in 
the grounds of Carlekemp, within 100 yards 
of the seashore and close to the golf-links. 
The ground consists of pure, sand, washed up 
by the sea at one time, and blown inland. No 
doubt the sandy character of the soil and 
the mild winter have been conducive to their 
starting at this early period of the year. The 
specimens sent give no indication of sterility 
of soil, for the largest one measured about 5!, 
in. in diameter, giving every indication of 
having been well fed. Our correspondent, 
however, does not say whether they are in 
any way cultivated or of natural growth. 
Royal Society of St. George- 
Since its re-establishment a few years ago. 
this society lias been making satisfactory pro¬ 
gress. Indeed, the King himself lias been so 
far pleased with the objects they have in 
view, their methods of carrying them out, and 
the sentiment of the whole thing, that lie has 
conferred upon it the title of the “ Royal ” 
Society of St. George. On April 23rd' an¬ 
nually the society celebrates St. George’s 
Day. Kindred societies in various parts of 
the world are affiliated with it; but the 
parent society, situated at Shaftesbury 
Avenue, Bloomsbury, London, celebrates it 
by the holding of a festival dinner. Last 
year a company of nearly 400 ladies and gen¬ 
tlemen sat down to the festival dinner in the 
grand hall of the Hotel Cecil. We need not 
describe the menu other than to say that the 
“ roast beef of old England ” was represented 
by a goodly “ baron ” from a prime Devon 
ox. One of the' leading insignia by which the 
day is celebrated is the wearing of Roses ; but, 
unfortunately, St. George’s Day happens too 
early in the year to permit them becoming 
everybody’s flower. Had it been two months 
later the possibilities for the obtaining of 
British-grown Roses, at. least, would have 
been much greater, though we understand 
that some English growers do make an effort 
to place forced Roses upon the market. Last 
year they were worn pretty freely amongst 
the upper classes, but more particularly in 
the City. Towards the close of the day, how¬ 
ever, they were a scarce commodity, and not 
obtainable for love or money. There are' 
branch societies of St. George, and ah in. 
direct communication with that in the 
Mother Country. Communications and tele¬ 
grams pass freely eveiy year between these 
various, branches and the headquarters in, 
London. Amongst these we note communi¬ 
cations from New York, Hamilton (Canada), 
Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Ballarat, Scotts¬ 
dale (Tasmania), Cape Town, from various 
[parts of the British Isles, Paris, British North 
Borneo, etc. 
Midland Daffodil Society- 
The date for the annual show of the above 
society was at first fixed provisionally, but 
the schedule has now been issued and the 
date fixed for Thursday and Friday, April 
16th and 17th. For a. collection of fifty 
varieties of Daffodils, not to include Polyan¬ 
thus, we notice that a Silver Daffodil Cup 
and the society’s Gold Medal are offered as a 
first prize ; a Silver Bowl and the society’s 
Silver Medal as second prize ; while a small 
Silver Bowl is offered for the third prize. 
Many prizes are offered in addition to these 
cups and medals, so that we should expect a 
good competition. Four prizes are offered 
on this occasion, while five were offered last 
year, and brought six exhibits. The first prize 
on the last occasion was taken by that enthu¬ 
siastic cultivator, Mrs. Berkeley, of Great 
Warley. Valuable prizes are also offered for 
seedlings, not in commerce, and certificates 
will also be awarded to new flowers, of merit 
not yet in commerce. Besides cut flowers, 
provision is also 1 made for plants grown in 
pots, for table decorations, bouquets, and 
other purposes for which Daffodils may be 
utilised. We may inform our readers that 
the. date has been altered owing to the very 
early character of the season, floweis being 
very forward, in the South of England, at 
least. 
Early Asparagus, 
The mild character of the past winter has 
had a very decided effect upon vegetables, as 
well as flowers. Broccoli, which is usually of 
great importance to market gardeners in 
Cornwall and some other southern counties, 
has been a drug on the market this year, by 
reason of the enormous quantities that, have 
come into use during the early months of the 
year, while 1 other vegetables were obtainable 
in plenty. We should scarcely, however, 
have expected Asparagus to be stimulated 
into activity so early. We underst and, how¬ 
ever, that Mr. Churchill, of Northport, Ware- 
ham, Dorchester, cut a fine bundle of fifty 
shoots of Asparagus on the 23rd ult. This 
is a record. Last year it was April 18th be¬ 
fore he cut Asparagus; in 1901 it was April 
25th; in 1900, April 21st; and in 1899, 
April 24th. 
Packing for Market. 
At a demonstration at a meeting of the 
Irish Gardeners’ Association and Benevolent 
Society on the 24th ult., some very interest¬ 
ing information was brought out. on the sub¬ 
ject of packing. Mr. Burbidge said that one 
of the greatest- aits for making money out of 
a garden was packing. The lecture was 
given by Mr. J. Moran, jun., and after he had 
finished speaking, one of those who took up 
the discussion said that Dublin market was. 
the dumping ground for the greatest garbage 
lie had seen. Another speaker said that a 
load of vegetables weighing more than 
15 cwts. on a dung cart with manure and 
other muck could be marketed at a toll of 3d. 
If the vegetables were properly cleaned the 
charge for marketing would be Is. 3d. Surely 
this state of tilings wants remedying. 
