THE GARDENING WORLD 
903 
October 31, 1903. 
SATURDAY, 
1CTOBER 3i, 1903. 
ICfie Gardening WorlcL 
NOTICES TO READERS AND 
CORRESPONDENTS. 
The Gardening World is published every 
hursday morning, and dated for the following 
iturday. Price, 2d. ; Annual Subscription, 
bt free, 10s. for the United Kingdom, for 
.road 12s. 6d., prepaid. 
Subscriptions and Advertisement Orders 
ould be addressed to Maclaren &, Sons, at 
e offices. 37 & 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
Iieques, Post Office Orders, etc., to be made 
tyable only to the Proprietors, Maclaren & 
dns, and crossed London City and Midland 
ant. 
Letters for publication, specimens for 
iming, books for review, and all communica- 
jns on matters of an editorial character must 
j> addressed to “ The Editor,” and written on 
le side of the paper only. All communica- 
ins must be accompanied by the name and 
Idress of the writer, not necessarily for pub 
:ation, but as a guarantee of good faith: 
itials, or a nom de 'plume , will be used, if 
sired. 
Photographs and Other Illustrations.— 
re Editor will be pleased to receive photo- 
•aphs and drawings for reproduction of fine 
iecimens of flowers, plants, trees, fruit, etc., 
of interesting gardens. Only such as are 
rely to prove instructive and interesting to 
.e class of readers reached by The Gardening 
'orld will be considered. If payment is 
■sired, the price for reproduction must be 
stinctly stated, and it must be understood that 
dy the actual photographer or owner of the 
ipyright will be dealt with. 
Return of Manuscripts and Illustra- 
ons. —The Editor will not be responsible for 
le loss of unaccepted MSS., photographs, etc., 
it if stamps be enclosed for return postage 
id particulars for identification appear on the 
mtributions, ordinary care will be exercised to 
isure return. 
Notice to Subscribers. —No change of 
idress can be made the same week in which 
itification of it is sent. To prevent copies 
)ing astray subscribers should, when possible, 
)tify us a week or so in advance of their 
tended alteration of address. 
The Gardening World Telegraphic and 
fihle Address is “ Buns, London,” and the 
dephone Number is 997, Holborn. 
COMMUNICATIONS SHOULD BE AD- 
RESSED TO “THE EDITOR” OR “THE 
PBLISHERS,” AND NOT TO 1N- 
IVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE STAFF. 
I 
EDITORIAL NOTES. 
1 Kite Heather 
.The use of white Heather as a buttonhole 
■ low coming 1 largely into use, and this fact 
i 5 recently become known in London. We 
1 J mention the fact, however, that white 
1 ather is grown in some quantity in both 
1 erdeen and Edinburgh, possibly elsewhere, 
f the-purpose of sale in the shops as butt 011 - 
and even by vendors on the streets, 
one passing along the streets of those 
' es during the month of September could 
1 ! to observe the presence of these street 
' iders . 01 the white Heather for button- 
lies. We. have learnt, however, that the 
( een and Princesses always have- a bunch 
b kbd into, their coats when they go abroad, 
hupply’of white Heather was kept up each 
1 rniifg- for their use while at Balmoral. 
The Princess of Wales has also been making 
use of the favourite flower. 
Battle of the Potatos in Lincolnshire. 
Some time ago challenges were made and 
accepted in respect of three kinds of Potatos 
reputedly disease-resisting varieties—namely, 
Northern Star, King Edward VII., and Ever- 
good. On September 23rd one of the chal¬ 
lenges accepted was decided. Mr. Atkinson, 
of Weston, Spalding, had deposited £25 and 
invited anyone to dig amongst his crop of 
Evergood Potato, ill was offered for every 
pound of diseased Potatos that might be 
found, the condition being that the digger 
should pay £5 for every two hours’ digging. 
Messrs. Sinclair and Son, of New York, near 
Boston, Lines., accepted the challenge, with 
the result that two men raised nearly 11 cwt. 
of Potatos, amongst which only fifteen small 
tubers were found slightly diseased. As 
these tubers only weighed 1 lb. 1-1 oz., Mr. 
Atkinson won his challenge, thus demonstrat¬ 
ing the disease-resisting qualities of Ever¬ 
good Potato. The tubers uimed out at the 
rate of 18 tons L. the acre. 
Dundee Horticultural Society. 
From the 1 annual report of this associa¬ 
tion, we. note that it is affiliated with the 
Royal Horticultural Society, and that it has 
a. library from which the members may re¬ 
ceive books at the close of each monthly 
meeting, to be returned at the next. The 
reading room of the institute is open every 
week-day, and it is here intimated that all 
the hooks belonging toi this library are at 
the service of the members for reference, 
consultation, or study. Hie meetings have 
been the means of affording or imparting 
much useful information for all concerned in 
horticulture. During the summer, two' ex¬ 
cursions were arranged in conjunction with 
the Broughty Ferry Horticultural Associa¬ 
tion, Glencars© and Glam is Castle Gardens 
being the goal of the members on the two re¬ 
spective occasions. The meetings of the 
winter session have just recommenced. 
Devon and Exeter Gardeners. 
The autumn programme of this strong 
society has now been drawn up and pub¬ 
lished. At the fortnightly meetings papers 
will be read by Mr. J. Cbutts, Killerton 
Park Gardens; Mr. F. W. Shrivell, F.L.S., 
Mr. A. W. Luscombe, and Mr. J. F. Curtis, 
the latter being a member of the Bristol and 
District Gardeners’ Association. Besides 
the reading and discussion of papers, small 
prizes are also' given at the fortnightly meet¬ 
ing for fruits, flowers, and vegetables. The 
competition in each ease is determined be¬ 
forehand, and announced, so that exhibits on 
any particular evening are of a definite 
character. The prizes on October _'7th weie 
for cooking Apples. On November ith they 
will be for the best dish of Onions. On No¬ 
vember 18th they will be for the best tlnee 
Chrysanthemum blooms. On December 16th 
they are for the best dish of Horn Carrots. 
On December 16th they are for the best pot 
of Cyclamen persicum. 
A Fire Engine for a Potato Field. 
Owing to the continual flooding of the 
Potato fields in the Spalding district of Lin¬ 
colnshire, Councillor C. II. C. Brady, of Peak- 
hill, Cowbit, had to resort to the use of a 
fire engine in order to drain his Potato fields 
of water. For this purpose he hired a 
double-barrelled 6-in. manual fire engine, and 
with this he had the water pumped from a 
dyke in the field into the river. The water 
was 6 in. deep on the field, and sixteen or 
eighteen men, were employed to do- the pump¬ 
ing. If the rain continues, Mr. Brady con¬ 
templates building a windmill to drain the 
farm. The plumber from whom the engine 
was borrowed declared he had never been 
called upon to utilise an engine for such a 
purpose before, although lie had been thirty 
years in business. 
The Vitality of Seeds. 
The above subject continues to engage the 
attention of a, large number of people, and 
some interesting items are furnished by 
some writers; whereas the statements of 
others are outrageous. Mr. R. Wilkinson, 
of the Temple, had saved some seeds of 
Albizzia lophantlia and zonal Pelargoniums, 
which had been subjected to cross fertilisa¬ 
tion. These were put away in ordinary 
envelopes in a sliding drawer of a writing 
desk, and kept in a dry, moderately warm, 
room. In 1875 lie saved some more Pelar¬ 
gonium seed. In 1877 lie' had some seeds of 
Eccremo'carpus scaber given him, and they 
were put away with the' rest. Some of the 
above seeds were sown in 1882, when the 
first-saved Albizzia and Pelargonium seeds 
were eight years old. They were sown under 
glass, but no artificial heat was employed. 
Both of these kinds proved remarkably fer¬ 
tile, every seed having apparently come up. 
Improvement of Liverpool Parks, 
The final meeting of the Parks and 
Cardens Committee, Liverpool, was held on 
the 21st in,sit. Some presentations were 
made, and in returning thanks Alderman 
Ball said he had taken a, deep interest in the 
work of the committee during the twenty-five' 
years lie, had been connected with it. During 
the past season they had suffered from the 
wet season, hut it was their determination 
to so lay out the parks and gardens as to 
provide a floral display on a, scale of beauty 
never seen before. They were also anxious 
to give facilities to people who desire to 
obtain plants and cuttings, and these would 
be obtained on application to the officials 
al the various parks, who would -give in¬ 
structions as to the treatment they would 
require; 
