July 2, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
535 
he Qardening\^/brld. 
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editorial notes. 
^ 1 Explanation. 
4ui attention has been drawn to the fact 
two lines in our report of the meeting at 
f al1 on June 1st (relating to Mr. 
v l tsons, observations on Mr. Walter P. 
'gits speech) are open to misconstruc¬ 
tion. We did not intend the report to imply 
that in putting forward what Mr. Watson and 
the meeting considered to be an erroneous 
reading of the “ Plea for a Gardeners’ Asso- 
ciation,” Mr. Wright had dene anything un¬ 
worthy of an honourable and high-minded 
man, and we regret that the sentence was so 
worded that it oould possibly be considered 
to hear any such construction. 
University College, Reading. 
Friday, the 24th ult., was an important 
day in the annals of the University College, 
Reading. In the presence of a large gather¬ 
ing of people from all parts of the country 
engaged and interested in horticulture, the 
new gardens attached to the Horticultural 
Department of the University were formally 
opened by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Onslow, 
G.C.M.G., President of the Board of Agricul¬ 
ture and Fisheries. The garden was for¬ 
merly the Portland Road Nurseries of Messrs. 
Sutton and Sons, and extend to 7 h acres, in¬ 
cluding twenty-four glasshouses, which we 
used to frequently inspect when tilled with 
Chinese Primulas, tuberous Begonias, Calceo¬ 
larias, Cinerarias, etc. The department of 
horticulture was officially established in 1902, 
previous to which no garden for the teaching 
of practical horticulture was attached to the 
College. This difficulty has now been over¬ 
come by the generous action of Mr. Alfred 
Palmer, who gave the free use of the gardens 
for the first year, and has now leased the 
grounds on favourable terms, together with 
the buildings thereon, to the College authori¬ 
ties. The plotting out of the grounds has 
practically been accomplished by the students 
and staff under the superintendence of Mi*. 
Foster, the. instructor in practical horticul¬ 
ture. Lord Onslow, on arriving at Reading, 
proceeded direct to the College, where he was 
the Lord Lieu- 
His lordship 
entertained at luncheon by 
tenant (Mr. J. H. Benyon). 
afterwards proceeded to the new garden. A 
veiy large and influential company accepted 
the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Palmer 
to be present at the opening. 
The Aims of the College. 
The object of the department in adding 
horticulture to, the College is to train men 
and women in the science and practice of 
horticulture. At present there are seven¬ 
teen students, some of whom intend to 
become fruit-growers, either at home or 
abroad; others intend to enter upon the 
florist and nursery work, to take a. position in 
a testing station, to start market-gardening, 
or to maintain their own or other people's 
gardens. Two scholarships are held during 
the present time, and next year there v ill 
be three, each of the value of £45. The 
second aim is to cany out experiments and 
research whereby the sum of horticultural 
knowledge may be increased. Among re¬ 
searches in operation is a trial of Potatos in 
conjunction with the National Potato 
Society. Twelve of the leading varieties or 
Potatos constitute this trial. All of them 
will be placed under identical conditions as 
far a.s possible, and the results carefully com¬ 
pared. The department also desires to be of 
use to cultivators around Reading, who may 
have difficulties, soi that an information 
bureau has been organised with this object 
in view. A small fee will be charged for 
expert advice. There is also an intention to 
acquire a suitable fruit station to complete 
the equipment of the horticultural depart¬ 
ment. At present the glasshouses are occu¬ 
pied with Cucumbers, Melons, Ferns, Roses, 
Tomatos, Peaches', Vine:, and Begonias. 
—o— 
The Opening Ceremony. 
The company assembled in a large mar¬ 
quee shortly before four o’clock, when the 
chair wa9 taken by Mr. Owen Ridley, J.P., 
chairman of the College Council, who re¬ 
ferred to the illness of the president, of the 
College, who was unable to be present. The 
chairman referred to the fact that the scien¬ 
tific teaching had for the first twelve months 
been confined to the College buildings, but on 
the acquirement of the use of the gardens 
they had been able to add to the value of 
the teaching by the practical methods of gar¬ 
dening. He also alluded to the fact that 
they were sitting and standing on the site of 
the projected new College buildings. The 
cost of erecting the projected buildings is 
£50,000, but an additional sum of £30,000 
will be necessary for the purchasing and 
stocking of a, farm for the practical study of 
agriculture. Already £32,000 has been sub¬ 
scribed, and the chairman urged those pre¬ 
sent to interest themselves and friends in 
the pecuniary part of the matter in relation 
to the building fund. The principal of the 
College and Mr. Alfred Palmer, the chairman 
of the Gardeners’ Committee, also spoke. 
His lordship referred to the apparent 
anomaly of horticulture being under the Pre¬ 
sident of the Board of Agriculture, but he 
reminded them that Kew was placed under 
the same authority. In regard to the use of 
the horticultural department, he said that 
sould be answered hy walking round the 
grounds. He also accentuated the words of 
other speakers, on the desirability of facilitat¬ 
ing the teaching of the principles of horticul¬ 
ture to those whose duty it would be to im¬ 
part elementary education in schools. He 
would not, pretend that they could teach 
young children how to plough or reap, but 
they could interest them in plant life. In 
order to offer this necessary instruction, it 
was imperative that the teacher himself 
should be in a position to impart the know¬ 
ledge, and for that reason he must'lleartily 
welcome the establishment of an institution 
like that at Reading. He 1 rejoiced that while 
they taught science and theory, they did not 
neglect practice. He hoped the marketing 
of produce would be one of the things to be 
seriously. impressed upon the minds of 
students. 
