320 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
April 15, 1905. 
Grass and Flower Beds for Dalkeith— Provost Chisholm 
has laid a scheme before the Town Council of Dalkeith with 
a view to having grass and flower beds laid down by the mam 
thoroughfare east" of the parish church, where the street is 
unusually broad. The question will again come up tor con¬ 
sideration at the ordinary meeting of tins month. It seems 
that this wide portion of the street is paved with cobble-stones, 
which are very much in want of repair. Besides saving some¬ 
thin^ in the renovation of the cobble-stones, such a scheme 
would also put an end to the street shows m that part of the 
town, where they had been a source of danger and annoyance 
to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. The tramway lines 
will in the future have a. terminus m this neighbourhood. 
* * * 
Canadian Apples.— Hitherto the growers of Western Ontario 
have only given their attention to marketing Apples for home 
supplies, including shipment to Manitoba and the North-West 
A meeting of representatives of the various societies was he c 
last March at Toronto, when it was decided to pool their pro¬ 
ducts and sell in bulk. This will be a great convenience, as 
it means that 40,000 or 50,000 barrels of Apples may be disposed 
of practically by one seller. The object of this is to enab e 
them to handle the export trade in Apples to the United King¬ 
dom market next season. Needless to say, the Apples wi 
be packed and graded on first-class principles. The Apples will 
be taken to certain points agreed upon, so that buyers wi 
have little travelling to get in touch with the products for sale. 
* * * 
The Dafftdowndilly. —Following the success of last year, 
the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland again instituted a 
floral fete on the 5th hist, for the purpose of assisting the 
finances of the society. The fete was held m the Royal Umvei- 
sity Buildings and the Central Hall, and the adjoining rooms 
were described as bowers of beauty produced by Laurels Palms, 
Ivy and other plants artistically arranged. Last year the tete 
was spoken of as a “ Floralie,” and the patrons on this occasion 
introduced the more ancient name of Daffydowndilly. The new 
venture last year was crowned with success, and the repetition 
of it this vear has every appearance of being equally successful. 
The stalls were attended by several ladies of distinction, m- 
dueling Lady Albreda Bourke, Lady Brooke, Lady Nutting, 
Lady Mary Doyne, Mrs. F. W. Moore, and others. 
An Old Forgotten Hedge.— At Chart Common, close to the 
south-eastern boundary of Surrey, is a line of tall Beech trees, 
some of which have trunks of considerable girth. In one part of 
this line are some very curious instances of natural grafting, 
showino' that the trees had originally been planted as a hedge 
or fence, and at a certain period of their career the trees were 
partly cut and the stems laid down so- as to form a fence. These 
trees had then been neglected and allowed to assume their 
natural growth so far as their own density would allow them. 
Quite a°number of them may be- seen m places, where the 
original horizontal stems have become united or grafted with 
their neighbours in such ai way as to form a line- of trees holding 
on to one another like people with their hands joined. In the 
absence of exact information, it would be difficult to account for 
the peculiar union of the trees, except on the plea that they 
were laid down as is too frequently done in making or mending 
bad hedges. * * * 
A C-AREER FOR Young Men. —What to do with the sons of our 
farmers and small landed gentry, and with boys brought up in 
our country towns, is a question of constantly recurring urgency. 
The prospects of obtaining an adequate maintenance on the 
land, to which most of them are inclined, are so uncertain that, 
in tile majority of cases, careers have to be sought for them in 
our overcrowded professions or in mercantile pursuits. There 
are, of course, the Colonies. And of these, just now, Western 
Australia appears to be one of the most promising. She offers 
free lands and many other advantages which are not obtainable 
in any other Australian State. Recognising the necessity on 
the part of settlers, particularly young men, of gaining Colonial 
experience and of acquiring the technical knowledge needed to 
ensure success in an agricultural career, she has established two 
experimental farms, one at Chapman, near Northampton, of 
about 1,000 acres, and one at Narrogin, on the Great Southern 
Railway, of about 2,000 acres. Both are- in the South-west Divi¬ 
sion, but they represent, to some extent, different classes of soil. 
Entrance to these farms is- open to youths of sixteen years of 
age and over on most generous terms. For a fee of £2 2s. per 
annum, payable quarterly, students are maintained and taught 
for two years. Any young fellows going from the home country 
to these farms might get a thorough practical knowledge of 
farm work, and, at the- end of the period, would be able to take 
up land for themselves. Besides general instruction in farm¬ 
ing, students are thoroughly taught how to run agricultural 
machinery and how to handle and deal with stock. The whole 
course is designed to equip young men for taking advantage cf 
the agricultural, fruit growing, and pastoral possibilities open 
to them in Western Australia. While the college-farm course 
has been fixed for two- ye-ars, there is no obligation to put in 
the full term, and, if desired, one year can be spent at each 
farm, which would prove a considerable advantage to those who 
wish to gain wider experience. Each farm is made self-sup¬ 
porting by careful management and by the labour of the students 
themselves. It is therefore no place for a lad afraid of real 
hard work. Such an arrangement appears to us to offer an 
excellent opening for many young fellows whose friends are - 
anxious to give them a start in life. Should any of our readers 
like to have further information, it can, no doubt, be obtained 
from the Agent-General for Western Australia, 15, Victoria 
Street, London, S.W. 
* * -IE- 
Notable Atthendrane Trees. —A paper on the above subject 
was read by Mr. John Renwick at a meeting of the Glasgow 
Natural History Society. Auchendrane is in Ayrshire, within 
four miles of the county town. He made special reference to a 
splendid lot of Silver Firs (Abies pectinata), said to have been 
planted in 1707 in commemoration of the union between 
England and Scotland. The planter was John Muir, an 
ancestor of the present proprietor. A Birch tree upon the lawn 
in front of the house is considered to be tfie finest specimen of 
its kind in the west of . Scotland. It was planted by Miss 
Cathcart. Of thes© and other trees Mr. Renwick gave a 
detailed account relative to their height, girth, and other par¬ 
ticulars. Whatever may be the value of the Silver Fir as a 
timber tree, we know that it makes gigantic specimens, over¬ 
topping the Norway Spruce and the Scotch Fir after it has been 
planted for eighty or a hundred years in the northern counties. 
It seemsi to be immune to spring frosts in the north after it gets 
over its youth. 
* * * 
British Woodlands. —Hitherto there has been little organisa¬ 
tion of those interested in British woodlands as a whole, though 
we have examples now and again that seem to prove that good 
timber might profitably be grown in this country. The “ Mid¬ 
land Counties Herald ” says that Mr. R. H. Nevil, in a paper 
read before a Midland society, said that an area of 100 acres 
of common land was planted from 1852 to 1862 with Larch, Scotch 
Firs, and Spruce, with an intermixture of Beech) and Oak. Be¬ 
tween 1871 and 1884 the thinning realised nearly £500, besides 
the timber that was used in fencing and other estate work. The 
plantation was felled in 1901, and realised more than £4,500. 
that being at the rate of £45 an acre. The site is an elevated 
one, ranging from 800ft. to 1,300ft. above sea level. The Larch 
gave most satisfaction on the lower levels, while that on elevated 
positions produced only about a third of the bulk-of timber, 
This is explained as being due to exposure to wind. The annual 
return for the 100 acres is calculated at nearly £1 per acre for 
the pei’iod occupied by the plantation. Land in the same 
neighbourhood covered with Heather would he dear at 2s. 6d. 
an acre. 
* * * 
Camphill Park, Glasgow. —For some time back the weather 
has been very versatile- in character. Little frost, it is true, 
insinuated itself, but rain and dull clays were not wanting, and, 
in consequence, conditions for seed-sowing were not so favour¬ 
able as the average month of March affords. The proverbial 
peck of March dust, therefore, will have to be looked for in April, 
proverbial for showers. The most outstanding feature of gar¬ 
dening, or, rather, parks improvement, in the district just now 
is that going on in the Queen’s Park. This is the- finest in the 
city, with its grand winter gardens and unique configuration in 
all its details, and, since the addition of the estate of Camphill. 
the park is, perhaps, the most perfect of its kind in the kingdom. 
The old mansion of Camphill is now converted into a museum, 
and the erstwhile gardens and grounds utilised for the pleasure 
of the public, and Camphill itself is, by the way, as historic as 
any other place- in the vicinity of St. Mungo. It is said that the 
ancient Britons held this commanding hill as one of their watch 
camps, and that in turn the Romans, Cromwell, and Regent 
Murray made use of the strategic position. The Corporation, 
who have ever the public good at their heart, as the first matter 
of importance, have throughout their tenure done much to stdl 
further enhance- the beautiful situation of this park, and are 
at present doing considerable improvements. During the 
winter two new bowling greens were under construction, aim 
are now all but finished. And, like the wise generation to which 
they belong, they are at present taking advantage of the 
abnormal state of the labour market in the construction of a 
