July 29, 1906. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
6il 
® Society + Doings. « 
The Editor will be 'pleased to receive particulars of the Fixtures, Meetings, Lectures, &cof Horticultural Societies. Secretaries 
or Members willing to send us brief notes of general interest are invited to forward name and address to the Editor, who will 
gladly send supply of stamped addressed contributors' slips. 
“ Fallen on Evil Days.'’ 
Mr. W. H. Tyzaclc sends us a somewhat 
doleful letter about the High Wycombe H.S., 
of which he is the hon. secretary. He says : 
“ We find it rather a difficult matter to keep a 
society going here. The committee is en¬ 
tirely composed of working-men, who worked 
the matter up when the old society lost all 
the money they had, which at one time 
amounted to nearly £300. ... I fear 
horticultural societies have fallen on evil 
days.” 
Never More Prosperous. 
We regret the gloomy tone of this com¬ 
munication, but it is a satisfactory reflection 
that the great majority of the letters we get 
from those connected with society work sound 
a quite different note. They are /(almost 
invariably contented and hopeful, and they 
would appear to have very good cause for this 
contentment and hopefulness, seeing they are 
prosperous and growing. We who are in 
touch with many hundreds of societies are in 
a position to judge of the state of such 
organisations, and we certainly are not pre¬ 
pared to agree with our correspondent that 
horticultural societies have fallen upon evil 
times. So far from this being the case, we- 
are assured they were never doing so well 
or multiplying so rapidly. Indeed, their 
number is so large and is being so steadily 
augmented that it is difficult to know how 
to deal with the swelling flood of reports 
which daily sets in towards the offices of this 
journal. And this suggests the observation 
that we trust correspondents will excuse the 
necessity we find for curtailing and delaying 
the insertion of their communications. Of 
course, this is one of the busiest times of the 
year for flower shows, but when the lull comes 
on we shall be able to give more space to the 
transactions of horticultural mutual improve¬ 
ment societies. 
A Tour of Fine Gardens. 
A party of members of the Wallasey 
Amateur Gardeners’ Association enjoyed a 
very interesting and instructive visit to local 
gardens on July 8th. Breck Hey, the resi¬ 
dence of Mr. T. R. Bulley, was first visited, 
where Mr. Bulley provided many serviceable 
hints from his experiments in the cross fer¬ 
tilisations of Roses, and also his very fine 
Rose garden. Captain Weaver’s garden also 
provided the party with a budget of points in 
every department of flowers, fruit, and vege¬ 
tables. The gardens of Mrs. Mahler, at Sud- 
worth, and of Mr. J. Stuart Edwards, Elley 
Park, presented fine products.. At Rock- 
hurst Mr. and Mrs. Tyson delighted the 
party with rare shrubberies, conservatories, 
and enviable fruit and Tomato houses. After¬ 
wards they went to Rostherne, the residence of 
the president (Mr. Charles Pearson), whose 
garden presented the prosperous effects of 
sheltering flower-beds, etc., by admirably- 
adapted mounds and hedges. Mrs. Pf arson 
provided most welcome afternoon tea. A 
most interesting afternoon was brought to a 
close by a visit to Aldermen J. Balls’ unique 
gardens and underground Ferneries and con¬ 
servatories. 
S. F. Whitehouse, Hon Sec. 
United Horticultural Benefit and Pro¬ 
vident Society. 
The monthly committee meeting of this 
society was held at the Roj-al Horticultural 
Hall, Vincent Square, Westminster, on Mon¬ 
day evening, July 10th. Mr. Thomas Winter 
presided. Eight new members were elected, 
OUR PRIZE COMPETITIONS. 
SPECIAL COMPETITION 
For Members of Local 
Horticultural Societies. 
Prizes. — (1) Three guineas. 
(2) One guinea. 
(3) Ten shillings and sixpence. 
Open only to members of local Horticultural 
Societies. 
The above prizes are offered for the best article 
or essay on the following subject:— 
“ How to extend the membership 
and usefulness of local Horticultural 
Societies.” 
The length of the essay should be about 1,000 
words, and it must be sent in before the end 
of August next. Mark envelopes in left-hand 
corner with the words “Society Competition.” 
making a total of ninety-two this year so far. 
Sick pay to members since the last meeting 
was £23 2s.. William Marshall, Esq., has 
kindly consented to take the chair at the 
annual dinner, which will be held in October 
next, due notice of which will be given. 
The Wolverton H.S. Visit Bletchley Park. 
A party of fifty members of the above 
society paid a visit to Mr. Leon’s beautiful 
residence at Bletchley Park to see the 
gardens, houses, etc., and the outing resulted 
in a very pleasurable as well as a profitable 
one to those keen horticulturists who had 
taken advantage of the kind invitation of the 
above-mentioned gentleman. The company 
on their arrival were piloted round by Mr. 
Hislop, the genial head gardener, assisted by 
Mr. Henley, his assistant. The flower borders 
and beds were looking superb. In the various 
glass houses were growing Pineapples, Melons, 
Bananas, Peaches, Nectarines, etc. The 
Orchids, of which there is a magnificent 
collection, were not in flower s,o much as we 
have seen them, this being the wrong time 
of tlie year for flowering. Last year Mr. 
Hislop had a single tuber of the Eldorado 
Potato, and from it he grew an enormous 
quantity by taking cuttings, etc. Besides 
what were eaten and given away, sufficient 
tubers were saved to plant half an acre of the 
farm with them, and Mr. Hislop said they 
were looking very fine and healthy. 
A . T. O'Roubke, Sec. 
Floral Decorations at Sheffield. 
The Sheffield Floral and Horticultural 
Society suggested that in connection with the 
visit of the King and Queen to Sheffield real 
flowers and plants should be one of the 
features of decoration, and it was satisfactory 
to note that the suggestion bore fruit. Quite 
a number of business houses made a very good 
display. Messrs. T. W. Ward had Palms, 
Ferns, and flowering plants, and the office 
windows were outlined with festoons of ever¬ 
greens and Roses. The Royal Hotel had 
window-boxes filled with plants at all windows, 
while the doorway was treated with virgin 
cork and filled with creepers, evergreens, and 
flowers, and the bare walls covered with ever¬ 
greens, Roses, etc. The Hallamshire Hotel 
was a profusion of plants, flowers, hanging 
baskets, etc. Several drapers’ establishments 
were decorated with Palms, flowers, and 
Ferns, Messrs. John Atkinson’s being a notable 
example. Fargate, one of the principal 
streets, was treated very effectively, large 
shrubs in pots and tubs being used on pedes¬ 
tals, and plants in pots formed a set-off to 
novel arches fixed at intervals on either side 
of the street, these arches and columns be¬ 
tween being linked up with festoons and 
wreaths of evergreens. In many other in¬ 
stances, too, plants and flowers were con¬ 
spicuous, but the plants used in some of the 
street decorations—though the idea was good, 
the plants themselves were certainly no credit 
to the contractors. The liberal use of Fir 
trees, some 8ft. to 10ft. hi°di, on either side 
of one thoroughfare, was also effective, and, 
generally speaking, a fillip was given to the 
florists’ trade, for which the S.F. and H.S. 
deserve some credit. 
W. LeWEXDON, F.R.H S., Sec. 
Southampton H.S. Fete. 
The annual fete in aid of the funds of the 
Southampton Horticultural Society was held 
on the 12th inst. in the beautiful grounds 
attached to the residence of Sir Samuel 
Montagu. Bart., the president of the society. 
Over A000 people attended the fete, which 
was an unqualified success. Keen admiration 
was expressed at the well-kept giounds and 
the fine flowers, and the head gardener (Mr 
T. Hail. F.R.H.S.) was heartily complimented 
on his clever designs and skilled handiwork. 
The event of the day was the drawing of the 
celebrated salmon pool, sixteen fine fish being 
landed, which were afterwards sold by auction 
for the’benefit of the funds of the society. 
C. S. Ftidge, Sec. 
