THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 1, 191)4. 
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Society & Association Notes. 
Royal Horticultural Society. —A general meeting ol lie 
Fellows of the Royal Horticultural Society was held at 3 p.m. on 
the 20th ult., when Edward Mawley, Esq., F.R.H.S., secretary 
of the National Rose Society, occupied the chair, and referred in 
feeling terms to the loss that the society and horticulture a 
sustained in the death of the late Dean. Hole, and a resolution o 
condolence was unanimously passed. New Fellows, were elected, 
and -a lecture, profusely illustrated by lantern slides, was ae 
live-red by M'r. George Gordon, V.M.H., on “ Ways of Employing 
Roses in Garden Decoration.” 
* * * 
Great Autumn Show or British-grown Fruit. (hr Tuesday, 
Wednesday, and Thursday, October 4th, 5th, and 6th, the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s eleventh annual show of British-grown 
autumn fruits will be held, to which the public will be admitted 
ai one o’clock on the first day, and at ten on the other two days 
The show will remain open till 10 p.m. on the first two days, an 
will close at 6 p.m. on the last day of the exhibition. Copies 
of the- schedule and entry forms may be obtained on application 
to the. Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society, V incent 
Square, Westminster. 
The Garden City.— A series of Garden City Conferences on 
social topics has recently been completed on the Letchworth 
Estate, when a paper was read by Mr. Thomas Adams on the 
Garden City in Relation to Agriculture.” Mr. Rider Haggard, 
the celebrated novelist, agricultural and horticultural writer, 
oocupied the chair, and several other notable men were present, 
particularly those who have been instrumental in launching tne 
project of the Garden City. Mr. Rider Haggard said that the 
depopulation of rural districts showed no sign of abatement. 
He described the causes as many, including wages, difficulty 
of housing, and the dulness of country life. The best remedy, 
he thought, was to establish small holdings, people s banks, 
and an agricultural post, which would convey their produce 
cheaply to the towns. He complained seriously of the indiffer¬ 
ence'of the people in high quarters to the reforms which he 
had advocated, and considered that the Government motto might 
well be expressed by “ cure is better than prevention. Eleven 
millions had been granted to facilitate the sale of land in Ireland, 
hut they were unable to get money for agricultural banks m 
this country. The land, he concluded, was never intended for 
sport and pleasure only, but for growing men and women and 
food. 
Great Autumn Show of British Fruit.— A hundred years 
a<m a small body of well-known horticulturists decided to form 
a'society for tire improvement of horticulture, ornamental as well 
as useful, and thus in a- very modest way originated the Royal 
Horticultural Society, whose centenary was celebrated in July 
last by the opening by their Majesties the. King and Queen of 
an Exhibition Hall in'Vincent Square, Westminster, s-econd to 
none in all London. At the beginning of the society’s history 
the culture 1 of fruit was but little understood, its nomenclature 
was entirely unsystematised, the varieties of fruits were fewer, 
and the seasons for all sorts were much shorter-than now;. The 
pioneers of tlie society accordingly applied themselves witli the 
greatest zeal to the correction of these points, and to the improve¬ 
ment and encouragement of fruit culture generally. The 
society’s annual dinners'were held in the summer, that being the 
best time' to. show the dessert fruits in their greatest perfection. 
Pictures and models of the best varieties were made, papers 
dealing with new fruits and with improved methods of cultiva¬ 
tion were read and published (with hand-coloured illustrations), 
and medals and other awards were given for discoveries and im¬ 
provements. communicated to the society. A great variety of 
fruit trees were collected in the society’s gardens, and they were 
kept under constant observation, and reported upon in the now 
rare “Catalogue of Fruits 1 ,” first issued in 1826. Large distri¬ 
butions of grafts, and cuttings' of all kinds of fruits', true to’ name, 
were made to Fellows, nurserymen, and other correspondents. 
The society sent out abroad, especially to the Colonies, many 
parent stocks, and thus was largely instrumental in laying the 
foundation of the present Colonial fruit industries. It also im¬ 
ported some of the best varieties cultivated in America and else¬ 
where. The same sort of work (including important conferences) 
has ever 1 since been carried on without a break, and now that 
the society lias, both larger gardens, and a, magnificent Exhibition 
Hall in memory of the completion of its centenary, there is every 
prospect that its scop© will he still further extended. It is 
owing to the erection of the new hall that the great annual show 
of British-grown autumn fruit can for the first time this year 
be held in London. The first of this series of annual fruit shows 
was held at the Crystal Palace in 1894, and was repeated there 
each year up to 1903, when it was held in the society’s garden 
at Chiswick, and this year we anticipate, that an exceptionally 
large and fine collection of fruit will bei brought together in view 
of the heavy crops all over the country. It should be specially 
noted that nothing but fruit can be shown at this meeting. The 
society’s Fruit Committee will sit, but there will be, no meeting 
of the Floral and Orchid Committees. The schedule of the show 
invites displays of fruit grown entirely out of doors and also 
from the orchard house, alike from amateurs, nurserymen, and 
market growers.. In the gardeners’ and amateurs’ division 
classes are provided for collections of ripe dessert fruit, includ¬ 
ing Pines, Grapes, Melons,, Peaches, Nectarines, and Plums, 
for collections of Grapes, and for a collection of hardy fruits 
generally. Numerous separate classes are given for fruits of 
every description., both fox dessert and for cooking. Special 
classes for different counties, arranged in groups, for both Apples 
and Pears', are offered for amateurs’ and gardeners’ competition. 
The public will be admitted to the, show on October 4th at 
1 p.m., and at 10 p.m’. on the 5th and 6th, and it will be kept 
open until 10 p.m. on the first two. days, closing at 6 p.m. on 
the third day, and, like its predecessors, will doubtless prove 
the great progress which has been and is still being made in 
the cultivation of fruits in Great Britain. The charges for 
admission are 2s. 6d. on the opening day, and Is. on the second 
and third days. Fellows of the society are admitted on showing 
their tickets. 
* * * 
Fertilisation of Flowers in Relation to Insects. —At the 
monthly meeting of the Doncaster and District Gardeners’ and 
Amateur Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Society, held at the 
Wellington Hotel recently, Mr. Elliott, of Blyth Hall, lectured 
to the members and friends on that subject. The, lecturer, at the 
commencement, explained fully the anatomy of flowers, and said 
that we had grown up with the idea that flowers were., especially 
in their form, colour, and odour, for our enjoyment and percep¬ 
tion. On the contrary, they were like human nature, entirely 
selfish. The whole object of their beauty of colour and perfection 
of odour was entirely for their own advantage. It was perfectly 
true that they did confer benefits upon others—insects, birds, and 
particularly bees. Then by a series of most interesting, curious, 
and beautiful lantern slides, manipulated by another ardent horti¬ 
culturist, Mr. Mallender, of Hodsock, the lecturer showed how 
wonderfully some flowers were formed to enable honey-gathering 
insects to cross-fertilise their species, and also in a very marked 
degree how certain insects and other unbidden guests were 
welcome, and how nature protected plants from, parasites, forming 
interesting features of the inter-dependence- of vegetable and 
animal life. It- appeared from the remarks made by the lecturer 
that there were certain flowers, which were mostly white, that 
gave off their -odour in the night when certain insects were active ; 
other flowers were visited by insects that work during the day¬ 
time. Flowers were also shown that required not only the insects 
to gather the honey, but, must be imprisoned for the purpose of 
cross-fertilisation, and in some, instances sacrifice their lives. 
Mr. Elliott appeared thoroughly .acquainted with his subject, for 
he gave his lecture without reference to notes. At the con¬ 
clusion several interesting questions were asked and lucidly 
answered. 
Ihe Graze for Initial Cutting. —Several of the large Cactus 
plants in Hampton Court gardens have been damaged by visitors 
cutting their names and initials on them. " 
Utility of Weeds. —Many would regard it as mere- sentiment 
to speak of the uses of Thistle seed as food for finches, and of the 
leaves, for donkeys, because in both cases the land might be put 
1° a, better use than the growing of Thistles for such purposes, 
(hi barren soil, however, weeds have their mission in preparing 
the land for better and more useful crops. Broom, Gorse, and 
allied plants serve to enrich the barren soils on which they] 
grow, storing the same with decaying vegetable matter in-, 
eluding nitrogen, so essential to the well-being of many crops of 
the higher order useful to mankind. The tons of weeds that are 
annually such a torment in cultivated ground might be more,' 
extensively used for the fertilisation of the land than they are,, 
either by returning them to the land after they are decayed or 
by lightly digging them into the land where they grew. By burn¬ 
ing them and returning the ashes to the soil the latter will be 
the richer in mineral constituents, of plant food. This is a. waste¬ 
ful process,, however, and if the trouble from weeds, which it 
introduces, could be surmounted, the weeds would be employed 
more freely to fatten the soil and augment its moisture-holding 
capacity. 
