February 13, 1904. 
THE HARDENING WORLD 
131 
he 0ardening\^/brld. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
itional Potato Society. 
The resolution concerning this recent-ly- 
'med society has now taken some shape, as 
note by a circular setting forth its ob- 
-'ts 1 . An executive committee has been 
formed, with power to add to its number. 
Sub-committees have been, or are about to 
be, instituted in various parts of the country 
with local organising secretaries, whose 
names are here given. Twenty-five of these 
secretaries have been already named, but we 
note that two of them represent Surrey 
alone. A trade sub-committee composed of 
various well-known nurserymen and growers 
has been formed to- advise the central com¬ 
mittee by resolutions passed at meetings, 
etc., and by correspondence on commercial 
matters relating to Potato®. The minimum 
subscription is fixed at 2s. 6d. annually, in 
order to permit cottagers and allotment 
holders becoming active members. In view 
of the widespread interest in the Potato-, it 
was thought that many ladies and gentlemen 
might give financial support to the society, 
even if they took no- active part in the work 
carried on by it. A list of patrons for sub¬ 
scribers of one guinea and upwards has there¬ 
fore been founded. Many members have 
already given in their names for enrolment. 
It is -also hoped that the founding of the 
society will lead to a great- measure of sup¬ 
port, and that suggestions for forming trial 
centres may be sent in to the central society- 
The secretary is Mr. Walter P. Wright, Post- 
ling, Hythe, Kent. 
Guide to Dahlia Culture. 
Within recent years a great' revival of in¬ 
terest in Dahlia, culture has been sitimulatdi 
by the remarkable development of the Cactuisi 
Dahlia. The comparative ease with which 
the best results are obtained on the cultiva¬ 
tion of this type' as -compared with the show 
and fancy classes has brought it within the 
reach of all, and its decorative value being 
far superior and less formal, almost e-very 
class of cultivator desires to introduce the 
Cactus Dahlias to his garden. No book 
on the cultivation of the Cactus Dahlia lias 
hitherto been issued. These facts have in¬ 
duced the National Dahlia Society to under¬ 
take the preparation and publication of a, 
b-o-ok on the subject, entitled “ The Official 
Catalogue and Culture Guide of the National 
Dahlia Society.” It -has been prepared by 
the committee of the society, and edited by 
Mr. .T. F. Hudson, M.A. An introduction' has 
been written by the president, Mr. Edward 
Mawley, and this- is followed by a biblio- 
grap-hy of the Dahlia, showing what books) 
have been written upon, it in this country 
and on the Continent. The secretary lias 
written two short chapters on the subject, 
namely “ Situations and Soils ” and “ Pro¬ 
pagating and Management Under Glass.” 
Mr. S. Mortimer, a very practical grower 
and raiser, deals- with manuring, watering, 
lifting, and storing. Other chapters are 
written by such well-known men as Messrs-. 
H. L. Br-ousson, J. T. West, J. Stredwick, J. 
Burrell, F. G. Treseder, S. Walker, F. W. 
Seale-, and J. Che-al. Each of these are cul¬ 
tivators and -exhibitors, and the- subject they 
undertake to elucidate is that, which each is 
most thoroughly acquainted with. The 
. articleisi deal with all phases of cultivation, 
the raising of varieties, the history of the 
Cactus Dahlia,, and the art of exhibiting the 
flowers at- exhibitions when in their prime. 
Several of the o-lde-r and better known races 
are -also dealt with, chiefly from an exhibi¬ 
tor's point of view. The latter part of the 
book is devoted to list-s of the various types 
of Dahlias, such as show, fancy, Cactus, pom¬ 
pon, and -single. The raiser of each of the 
varieties- is mentioned, and the year in which 
he put it into cornme-roei. A short, desorip 1 - 
tion, relating chiefly to colour and height of 
thei plant-, is also given, which cannot b-ut he 
of assistance to those about- to undertake the 
growing of Dahlias for exhibition-. At the 
end of this alphabetical list selections ot the 
very best- sorts for exhibition are given, and 
in the case of Ca-ct-us Varieties av© note that 
selections of 24 and 12 respectively are made 
out. The 12 Cactus Dahlias indicated arei 
tho-se which make thei m-cist effective display 
in. the . garden on account of their habit and 1 
stiff flower - s-terns. This- official catalogue 
.-■'hows that the National Dahlia- -Society ii> 
tends to- do something fo-r its favourite 
flower in the -sam-ei way as the National Bose 
Society and the National Chrysanthemum 
Society. 
—o— 
Reading and District Gardeners. 
The annual report- -of the Reading and Dis¬ 
trict Gardeners’ Mutu-a-l Improvement Asso¬ 
ciation takes the form o-f a pamphlet of some 
sixteen pages, showing what the society did 
during the past year. Besides giving a 
report of the principal events, -such as the 
meetings which were held, brief accounts are 
also- given o-f the annual social gathering and 
summer outings to- various gardens for the 
-purpose of inspecting them. A long list of 
papers read during the year also shows the 
subject of each paper and the- writer of the 
same. A library is attached to the associa¬ 
tion, and members- are entitled to borrow 
bo-o-ks. The society consists of honorary and 
ordinary members,, whose names -are- all re¬ 
corded here. The balance-sheet shows 
£26 7-s. 6d. in favour of the society. Accom- 
panving the annual report was the pro¬ 
gramme of meetings to he he-ld up to and 
including April 25th, the meetings being held 
bi-monthly. Some- of these papers to be read 
will be “ Wreath-making,” on February 8th, 
by Mr. E. Winsor ; a paper o-n “ Potatos,” by 
-Mr. T. Neve, on February 22nd; a paper on 
“ Spring Flowers,” by Mr. J. Cro-o-k, on March 
7th ; “Fruit- Culture,” by Mr. W. Barnes, on 
March 21st; “ Orchid Culture,” by Mr. W. 
Bowen, on April 11th: and “ Floral Decora¬ 
tions,” bv Mr. T. J. Powell, on April 25th. 
