December 17, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
I02h 
we shall mention only those that were still in full flower. 
Those w'ho have seen Dianthus Atkinsoni flower in the North 
worfld he tempted to- try it in the South, the crimson flowers 
'being produced in great quantity. Hedysarum multijugum, 
a seiall shrub, is a, hardier plant than, cultivators at first ima¬ 
gined, and flowers even in this northern district. A dwarf 
Fuchsia named F. pumila, about 1 ft. in height, would make a 
useful bedding 'subject. A scarce Heron’s-Bill is Erodium 
caruifoiium, with rosy flowers and two black blotches on, the 
upper petals. 
Very tine Oxeye Daisies were Chrysanthemum maximum 
Margaret Marvell and King Edward VII., both having rays 
of wonderful length. Amongst variegated plants Lychnis 
dioioa rubra variegata. is veiy little known, but. produces a 
•Wonderful amount of variegation during autumn. Linum 
Lewisii is a perennial Flax suitable for the herbaceous border. 
The recently-named Sidalcea. malvaeflora Rosy Gem. had been 
grown here for many years under the nauiei of atropurpurea. 
Chrysanthemum maximum Rohinsoni is notable for having 
fringed rays. Other choice and valuable herbaceous plants 
were Stachys ooccinea,, Stockesia, cyanea, Ourisia ooeeinea, An¬ 
tirrhinum glutinosum, A. Asarina, and Androsace coronopi- 
folia, most of these being of dwarf habit and suitable for plant¬ 
ing on the rockery. 
Very distinct Wallflowers were Clieiranthus alpinus varied- 
gains, with variegated leave's, and Harpur Crewe, a double 
yellow. Useful and handsoanei grasses were the Pampas and 
Apera arundinacea, Tropaeolum speiaiosum is often named 
the Scotch flower, because it. .succeeds! so well in the moist .at¬ 
mosphere of the; North. Here we noted five to six thousand 
plants which have' been established in, pots for twelve months, 
and filling- eleven lights. When thus established there is less 
difficulty in transferring it toi new homes at! practically any 
period of the year. 
Auriculas' are' also extensively grown here, both alpine and 
stage varieties being cultivated, including the choice named 
sorts of the florist. Indeed the collection lays claim to being 
one of the largest in the kingdom. 
Dahlias are extensively cultivated, /but, the Cactus varieties 
have 'been dominating the old florist®’ flowers for some time 
pash A collection of up-to-date varieties lias been got. together 
here, including Queen Alexandra,, F. M. Stredwiek, Sweetheart, 
Sweet Nell, Dainty, Mrs. J. L. Bruisson, J. B. Bryant, etc. 
A line collection of Montbretias ha® also been got together, 
including Transcendent, orange with crimson eye ; Oriflamme, 
orange-scarlet and crimson eye; Germania, uniform orange- 
scarlet, with dark red throat.; Anneau d’Or, veiy large orange 
flower with brownish-crimson zone; Tragedy, smaller but 
having a darker zone. African Marigolds and a, fine strain of 
Mimulus are also grown. 
Perennial Lobelias include a, considerable number of choice 
varieties, amongst which we noted Distinction, with deep oar- 
mine-crimsioni flowers and bronzy-purple' foliage. Other choice 
Lobelias were Gerardi, purple; Lord Ardilaum, brilliant scarlet 
with bronzy-purple foliage; Orion, scarlet, and dwarf, with 
green foliage ; Purple Empress, purple with green leaves; the 
wel-known Victoria,, also Violaioea (violet), and Lugdeusis, ma¬ 
genta-purple with light, bronzy foliage. Of another type were 
L. siiphilitica with blue flowers, and L. s. ro®eai, with rosy- 
scarlet flowers. 
Prince and Princess of Wales at Reading. —While return¬ 
ing from Melbury House, Dorset, on the 10th inst., the Prince 
and Princess of Wales sent an intimation that they would see 
the Mayor and Mayoress (Mr. and Mrs. Martin John Sutton, 
of Messrs. Sutton and Sons) while passing through Reading. 
The Prince is High Steward of Reading. On the arrival of 
the train, the Mayor and Mayoress were invited to the Royal 
saloon, and the latter had the honour of presenting a bouquet, 
which the Princess graciously accepted. While the Mayor and 
the Prince were conversing, the former presented the Town 
Clerk and Chief Constable before the journey was resumed. 
SOCIETIES. 
NATIONAL POTATO SOCIETY. 
First Annual General Meeting. 
Potatodom loomed largely in the Prince’s Saloon of the Agri¬ 
cultural Hall on the evening of Wednesday, December 7th, the 
date of the first annual general meeting of the National 
Potato Society. Upwards of sixty persons were present, in¬ 
cluding such well-known Potatoites as Professors Percival and 
Malden, Messrs. G. Gordon, G. Massey-, T. J. Blaydes,W. Davie, 
H. Scott, C. Foster, E. Molyneux, J. Gibson, L. Anderson, 
C. W. Breadmore, W. Cuthbertson, John Green, E. T. Marsh, 
W. Deal, F. G. Crampton, R. W. Green, J. Gardiner, J. Spence, 
Zech. Gray, W. Varlow, J. Harrison, W. R. Porter, F. Picker¬ 
ing, J. H. Poad, H. Henshaw, W. J. Atkinson, A. Findlay, 
J. I). Blanshard, and E. W. King. After the minutes relating 
to the inaugural meeting of the society had been read by the 
secretary, the Chairman (Mr. A. D. Hall) explained that, owing 
to the non-receipt of the results of one or two of the society’s 
Potato trials, it had been found impossible to complete the 
report of the society’s work in 1904. The secretary had, how¬ 
ever, drawn up a summary of the report, and he called upon 
that gentleman to read the same to the meeting. 
I lie outstanding features of the summarised report read by 
Mr. Wright were that the society’s show at the Crystal Palace 
on October 11th and 12th was a great success, and returned a 
profit to the society ; that an audit taken of the varieties then 
exhibited showed that 453 distinct sorts were staged, 270 of 
which, chiefly novelties, were shown once only ; that the balance- 
sheet showed a profit on the year’s work of £46 18s. 3d. ; that 
an election among the members had been held with a view to 
providing interested jiersons with lists of standard varieties ; 
that a series of trials had been carried out; and that the mem¬ 
bers joining the society up to November, 1904, totalled nearly 
300 private members and 1,500 affiliated members, making a 
grand total of nearly 2,000 members. 
The report, which was unanimously adopted, extends to 64 
pages, and will be issued very shortly. 
The Trials. 
Mr. A. D. Hall had much of moment to say about the Potato 
trials organised by the society, and his remarks were followed 
with deep interest. He thought that, despite the scoffers who 
said that trials would only show them what they already knew, 
a good deal of valuable information would be gathered from 
reports of the trials, and that the conclusions arrived at could 
not fail to be of benefit to farmers and small growers alike. 
He bad gone carefully into the subject of the cost of future 
trials, and found that to test a large number of sorts would be 
somewhat expensive. Each variety tested should have two 
square rods of ground allotted to it, and, as there were 453 
varieties staged at the N.P.S. show, and these would be sup¬ 
plemented by other new sorts, the society would require from 
five to six acres of land for testing purposes. The cost could 
be fairly put at £15 per acre, which was not allowing any pay¬ 
ment for supervision, and would not be lessened materially by 
the sale of the produce. 
The New Officers and Committee. 
After making the above remarks, Mr. Hall vacated the chair 
to Mr. G. Gordon, under whose presidency the meeting pro¬ 
ceeded to elect officers for the ensuing year. Practically the 
whole of the present officials were re-elected, the nominations 
of Sir John Llewellyn as president, Mr. A. D. Hall as chairman, 
Mr. G. Gordon as vice-chairman, and Mr. Walter P. Wright 
as secretary and treasurer being received and carried with 
acclamation. A list of vice-presidents was established, the 
names of several influential Potato people being proposed for 
that position by Mr. Wright, and elected unanimously. The 
following are the gentlemen so elected :—Messrs. A. W. Sutton, 
V.M.H., G. Bunyard, Y.M.H., W. Cuthbertson, — Daniels, 
John Green, W. Varlow, G. Beale, A. Findlay, — Fidler, and 
E. O. Greening. 
District Committees. 
With a view to extending the sphere of the society, Mr. 
Wright proposed the instituton of district committees, each 
with a secretary and correspondent having seats on the execu¬ 
tive committee. He read a list of names of gentlemen in various 
parts of the kingdom who had signified their willingness to act 
in the capacities indicated, and hoped that the meeting would 
