434 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 16 r 1903. 
NEWS OF THE WEEK. 
More Vermin from Abroad. —In a case containing Bananas 
which arrived at Leeds the other day a live opossum was found. 
* * * 
Potatos Ur in Price.- —At Cheshire markets on the 2nd inst., 
the prices of Potatos were advanced 100 per cent. Farmers, who 
have been selling at £3 per ton, are now asking £6 and £7 per 
ton. The increase is attributable to the severe frost. 
* * * 
Eight Miles of Wreaths. —Great preparations have been 
going on at Edinburgh since last week in view of the visit of the 
King and Queen to Holyrood Palace. By the 9th inst. Messrs. 
R. B. Laird and Sons, Limited, nurserymen and florists, l, ad 
already put up about eight miles of evergreen wreathing. 
* * * 
Early Strawberries Ruined. —The early Strawberries at Holt, 
and Farndon (the famous Welsh Strawberry ground) have been 
Seriously blighted by the sharp frosts-which prevailed up to the 
end of April. The later varieties have not been affected. Stone 
fruit has also been much damaged. 
* * * 
Miniature Plant Fad. —The rage at present is the collecting 
of little plants which are all to be obtained growing in the tiniest 
f ern pots and arranged on shelves round a miniature greenhouse 
to be placed on the table. The florists Bond Street way cannot 
meet the demand at present. 
* * * 
Eradication of Diseases and Pests. —A general meeting of 
the North-West Kent Fruitgrowers and Market Gardeners’ Asso¬ 
ciation was held at the Lullingst-one Castle Hotel, Swanley 
Junction, on the 7th inst., for the purpose chiefly of discussing 
the more important clauses of Sir James Rankin’s Bill for the 
eradication of disease and of injurious insects amongst fruit trees 
in nursery gardens. 
* * * 
Money in Vegetables. —The family of Jean Durand, an eccen¬ 
tric old inhabitant of Colombes, near Paris, who died at the age 
of sixty, are contesting his will, which disinherits all Lis rela¬ 
tives and leaves the whole of his fortune, valued at over £20,000, 
to a resident of Nanterre, whom he knew only by sight. The old 
man had amassed this sum partly by the sale of vegetables and 
partly by judicious loans and speculations. After his death a 
number of flower pots were discovered under the straw in his 
stable. They contained gold pieces to the value of £4,000. 
* * * 
Chrysanthemum Competition. —The recent Hyacinth competi¬ 
tion having proved so successful and instructive, the Kingston-on- 
Thames Adult School have started one for Chrysanthemums, to 
interest members during the summer months. The show will be 
held the last week in October. There are two divisions, pot and 
cut blooms, each member receiving three plants. Three hundred 
rooted 4-inch plants were distributed recently at the Friends’ 
Hall, Eden Street. Before the distribution, Air. Alexander Dean, 
F.R.H. S., gave a practical demonstration of potting them to the 
assembled competitors of both the schools, men’s and women’s, 
and advised them generally as tp what to do, and what not to do. 
* * * 
Lily of the Valleyl —On May Day, Lily of the Valley is a 
bloom of price in Finance. At all other times it is a humble 
flower enough. A few coppers will buy a handful. But on 
blithe May 1st Paris florists retailed it at the exorbitant price of 
50 pence for three single sprays, while a bunch having any decent 
pretensions to be considered a bouquet was worth two to three 
sovereigns. The reason is that it has come to be a rigorous point 
of social convention for everybody who is anybody to offer on 
May Day to the lady of his choice a bit of Lily of the A alley, as an 
earnest of “ joy and happiness,” and wily florists adjust prices 
with a view to their participation in these blessings. 
* * * • 
Register of Nurseries, Market Gardens, Etc.— Those in 
want of a nursery, market garden, or piece of land for the purpose 
of establishing and carrying on a business in any branch of hor¬ 
ticulture will be likely to find in the above Register, published 
by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris, 67 and 68, Cheapside, London, 
something suited to their requirements. The nurseries, gardens, 
etc., described are distributed over various parts of the country, 
and are classified under the respective counties, which are 
arranged alphabetically for convenience of ready reference. The 
localities given range from Kent, Devonshire, and the Channel 
Islands to Warwick, Leicestershire, and Herefordshire. Many 
are situated in London and its vicinity. 
Potato planting is still going on over a large portion of 
Ireland—a month later than the usual time—owing to the bad 
weather. 
* * * 
Effects of the Frost at Bicton.— Mr. J. Mayne, gardener to 
the Hon. Mark Rolle, Bicton, Devon, informs us they had very 
severe weather for April. The frost had played havoc in must 
places, and at Bicton had destroyed not only fruit blossom, bu- t 
Roses, Hydrangeas, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Andromedas. 
Stauntonias, Magnolias, Wistarias, and a host of other half hardy 
things which were so forward on account of the previous mild 
weather. Since then rain has been the order for ten days suc¬ 
cessively, while on the 7th inst., between the hours of 1.30 and 
7 p.m., some 0'75in. of rain had fallen. 
* * * 
Window Gardening in Londc n. —“ The appeal issued by the 
Kyrle Society for plants, bulbs, and seeds for the window garden¬ 
ing and flower distribution branches, and for cut flowers for the 
flower distribution branch, was so kindly responded to last year,” 
writes Lord Monkswell, L.C.C., “that many schools, large 
lodging-houses, and poor quarters of London were supplied. (Jut 
flowers and bulbs were also sent to hospitals, and. plants and 
bulbs to open spaces. The secretaries for both these branches will 
be most grateful for further support for the present year. His 
lordship adds that all information respecting the gifts may be 
obtained of the bon. secretaries, Flower Distribution or Window 
Gardening, Kyrle Society, 2, Manchester Street, W. 
* * * 
A few weeks ago some half hardy annuals were sown in a 
frame cleared of winter Violets. The lights were kept closed to 
hasten germination. In a few days signs of cracking in the brick¬ 
work at the back of the frame was observed, and gradually a 
block weighing in the aggregate l^cwt.' was pushed out of position. 
Finally, I cutout several bricks, and took a mass of mushrooms, 
weighing 31bs. 3ozs., from the centre of the wall. The.Mycelium 
had”run freely in the mortar, and on. the face of the bricks in the 
wall as thick as whipcord. Since gathering the Mushrooms from 
the wall others have come in large clusters inside the frame, 
heaving up the soil close to the wall.— Mark "Webster, Kelsey 
Park, Beckenham. 
* * * 
The Recent Gale in Ireland.—T he Irish Forestry Society has 
published some official particulars of the destructive gale on 
February 26th and 27th last, which is believed to have done more 
damage to woods, parks, and plantations than anything experi¬ 
enced since the “ big wind ” of 1839. In the Phoenix Park, near 
Dublin, above 3,000 trees were uprooted or broken off. All over 
the counties, from Waterford to Dublin, and northwards to 
Drogheda, trees are prostrate by the thousand. At Carton and 
Straffan great devastation has taken place amongst both orna¬ 
mental as well as forest trees, 5,000 trees having been counted on 
the estate at Straffan alone. This is nothing, however, to what 
took place at Knookdrum Castle, Westmeath, where 60,000 trees 
were blown down, and over 40,000 are said to be prostrate m the 
plantations and woods of Emo Park, near Portarlington, Queen s 
County. * * * 
Herefordshire Fruit Growers and Insect Pests. Heieforl- 
shire fruit growers who met at the Mitre Hotel, Hereford, dis¬ 
cussed at length the Bill which has just been introduced m the 
House of Commons by Sir James Rankin, M.P., dealing with 
the diseases of fruit trees. The nurserymen present lodged a 
strong protest against the Bill while it simply applied to them 
only. They argued that the various diseases spread from old 
orchards, and if the Bill did not include these, it should, at any 
rate, bring within its scope all those persons who grew trees for 
the sake of profit and did not come within the category of nur¬ 
serymen. It was resolved : “ That this association approves 
generally of Sir James Rankin’s Bill for the eradication of 
disease and all injurious insects amongst fruit trees in nursery 
gardens, and expresses the hope that it may be passed into law 
without delay ; that Clause 15 should be struck out, and that 
the Bill should be made more universal in its scope.” The 
clause (15) objected to is to the following effect: “ This Act shall 
not apply to occupiers or owners of land engaged in fruit-growing 
who are not nurserymen, but who may desire to sell or exchange 
surplus trees or plants of their own growing.” Mr. J. Riley, 
of Putley Court, the president, proposed that the Herefordshire 
Fruit Growers’ Association desired to put on record its great 
regret at the death of Mr. Hanbury, the Minister of Agriculture, 
who devoted himself with untiring energy and zeal to the duties 
of his office, and to whom farmers had begun to look as a friend 
anxious to help and benefit them, and to express their sympathy 
with his sorrowing widow and relatives. This was carried. 
