.March 4. 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
191 
lie matter of window-boxes for the municipal buildings. He also 
•aid it was an excellent suggestion of Mr. Newmarch that the 
Parks Committee might be asked to set apart a space in the park 
lf or an experimental garden or garden of instruction. . i. 
Gudgeon and Mr. H. Deacon replied to the previous toast, the 
health of the Mayor, who had by this time taken the chair, 
ivas proposed by Dr. Gibbins. * * 
United Horticultural Benefit and Provident Society. 
The annual general meeting of this society will be held at the 
Caledonian Hotel, Adelphi Terrace, Strand, on Monday, March 
13th, 1905, at 8 p.m. Mr. W. P. Wright lias kindly consented 
to d reside on this occasion. 
* * * * 
Bristol and District Gardeners' Mutual Improvement 
\sso< i.viton. —A well-attended meeting of this association was 
la Id al SI. John’s Rooms, Redland, on lhursday, the 23rd ult. 
jq,. |> Garnish occupied the chair, and introduced the lecturer, 
]\lr. Farmer, from the Cardiff Gardeners Association, who took 
for his subject “Vines.” It need hardly be said that the sub 
joct is a very popular one, and the lecturer’s remarks, based as 
{hey were on his own practical experience, were eagerly 
listened to by a most attentive audience. Mr. Farmer dealt 
minutely with such items as the building of vineries, making 
j borders, planting, pruning, training, stopping, and thinning, 
all of which were carefully and thoroughly handled. He also 
detailed very clearly the culture of pot Vines, a detail which Mr. 
Farmer is particularly well versed in, he having won the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s Gold Medal for pot Tines. He by his 
lucid remarks showed how, with ordinary care, it was possible 
to have a cane with twelve to eighteen bunches of Grapes on it 
in about eighteen months from the putting in of the eye. His 
practical and interesting lecture was much appreciated, and on 
the motion of Mr. J. C. House he was accorded the hearty 
thanks of the meeting. Prizes for an Orchid went to:—First, 
Mr. W. Howell Davis (gardener, Mr. Curtis); second, Mr. 
T. F. C. May (gardener, Mr. Jennings). A Certificate of Merit 
was awarded to Mrs. A. Hall (gardener, Mr. Ware) for two pots 
of Freesias, as also to Mr. Smith for an Oncidium concolor. 
* * * 
Royal Horticultural Society’s Examinations, 1905.—School 
Teachers : The Royal Horticultural Society- will hold an exami¬ 
nation in cottage" and allotment gardening on Wednesday, 
April 5th, 1905. This examination is intended for, and will be 
confined to, elementary and technical school teachers. It has 
been undertaken in view of the increasing demand, especially 
in country districts, that the school teachers shall be competent 
to teach the elements of cottage and allotment gardening, and 
of the absence of any test whatever of such capacity. The 
general conduct of the examination will be on the same now 
well-known lines as that of "the more general examination, save 
in obvious points to which they would not apply. Intending 
candidates are requested to send in their names early in March. 
A Silver Gilt Flora Medal will be awarded to the candidate 
gaining the highest number of marks, and each candidate will 
receive a Certificate of the class in which he has passed. General 
Examination : The society’s annual examination in the prin¬ 
ciples and practice of horticulture will be held on Wednesday, 
April 12th. 1905. A copy of the syllabus, covering both examina¬ 
tions, will be sent to any person on receipt of a stamped and 
directed envelope. Questions set at the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s examinations, 1893-1904, may also be obtained at the 
society’s offices, Vincent Square, Westminster, price Is. 6d. 
Attles and Strawberries. —While American Apples may be 
had cheap and good everywhere about London, there still 
remain a number of people who will pay 50s. a box of 2 lbs. 
for Strawberries. Fruit from Buenos Ayres and the Cape also 
fetches high prices, simply, we presume, because they are dif¬ 
ferent from the ordinary ones. Some of these foreign Applies 
ave said to be fetching Is. 9d. each. 
* 
Gardener’s Death from Exposure. —On the 19th ult. I he 
dead body of John Petrie (16), apprentice gardener at Corsindae, 
Aberdeenshire, was found on the road traversing the Cairn 
Mount, in the Fettercaim district of Kincardineshire. A 
search narty had set out to look for Petrie, and a young man 
from Fasque found him. It seems that deceased 1 ad been 
thrown from his bicycle, and, being unable to remount, tried 
to piroceed on foot, but perished on tlie hillside from exposure. 
His father has a house at Fasque Home Farm, where lie bad 
been proceeding when the accident occurred. 
Fire at Exeter. —A destructive fire broke out in the horti¬ 
cultural and engineering works of Messrs. Walter Perkins and 
Co., Exeter, on the 21st ult. Damage to the extent of £1,500, it 
is estimated, occurred before the tire could be extinguished. 
* * * 
Mr. James Gibson, whose appointment as gardener to his 
Grace the Duke of Portland we noted in our last weeks issue, 
while residing for a few weeks in Kingston-on-! Iiames carried 
out. the entire rearrangement of the shrubberies at the County 
Hall. 
* * * 
A Lady Professor. —Miss Jean Voorhees, daughter of director 
Edward Voorhees, is at present tilling the position of horticul¬ 
turist at the station formerly held by' Professor Alvah Jordan, 
resigned. She is a graduate of Vassar, and will probably get 
the official appointment. 
* * * 
Ornaments for Lancaster Park.— Lord Ashton has offered 
to defray the expenses incurred in the erection of an ornamental 
structure in Lancaster Park, in addition to the new Town Hall. 
These would cost about £30,000. A Palmhouse is also to be built 
at the expense of Lord Ashton. This will cost £5,000. The 
council have accepted these gifts. 
* ■* * 
Webb’s Emperor Cabbage. —I cut and sold some Webb’s Em¬ 
peror Cabbage on Saturday last, February 18th. Seed was sown 
in July, and pdanted out in the open field in September. Is this 
a record? I may say that I have grown Webb’s Emperor for 
a good many years, and have never known it run to seed.— 
F. Edgar. 
* * * 
An Orchid from Mr. Chamberlain.— A bazaar was held at 
Hastings on the 1st inst., and Miss E. M. Chubb conceived the 
idea of asking Mr. Chamberlain for a buttonhole. Mr. Chamber¬ 
lain wrote that he was glad to comply with the request, and 
instructed his gardener to send the Orchid, which was sold to 
the highest bidder at the bazaar in aid of St. Clement’s Parish- 
room fund. 
* * * 
Rural Depopulation.— On the 24th ult. Mr. Channing. 
during the course of a debate on the Address in the House of 
Commons, moved to add that it was expedient to promote a 
thorough cultivation of the land, to extend agricultural em¬ 
ployment, and to encourage combination in the effective and 
economical working of that industry. He said that the land 
was producing far less than it ought to. What he advocated 
was the organisation of collecting, grading, packing, and rating 
pnroduce. He said that agriculturists did not want State help, but 
merely State direction and the removal of unnecessary diffi¬ 
culties. 
Memorial to the late Dean Hole.— At tlie annual meeting 
of the National Rose Society, in December, it was proposed that 
steps should be taken to provide a fitting memorial to the late 
Dean Hole, their first and only president until his lamented 
death in August last. He was also one of the original band of 
rosarians who in 1876 brought the National Rose Society into 
existence. Whatever form the memorial may ultimately take 
will depend in a great measure upon the amount subscribed, 
but the committee of the society are of opinion that it should 
in any case be a permanent one, and also in direct association 
with the objects and working of the society. Suggestions from 
members as to the form the memorial should, in their opinion, 
take will be heartily welcomed. The late Dean of Rochester 
had accomplished grand work in popularising the cultivation of 
the Rose and helping forward the interests of tlie society. It is 
therefore confidently anticipated that members will gladly 
respiond to the appeal which is being made to create a suitable 
memorial to the great rosarian who has recently been taken 
away. Subscriptions may be sent either to the lion, secretary. 
Mr. Edward Mawley, Rosebank. Berkhamsted, Herts, or to the 
bon, treasurer, Mr. Charles B. Haywood, Rannocli Lodge, 
Reigate. According to a circular, £21 16s. has already been 
contributed towards tills object. 
