666 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 19, 1905. 
Horticultural Education. 
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 
Clepington Flower Show, Councillor "W alker 
S. Melville remarked that they all knew 
what education was doing along the line of 
horticulture and botany, and this, he con¬ 
sidered, was one of the finest advances that 
had been made in education for the last half- 
century. They knew also what education 
had done to help the profession of horticul¬ 
ture. It had made horticulture a congenial 
occupation to many of the women of this 
country. There was no finality to the attain¬ 
ments of horticulture. Its motto ^ un¬ 
doubtedly was, “Upward and Onward.” It 
was a profession and an education which 
could be pursued by all. He therefore urged 
them to do their best in furthering it among 
amateurs and also as a profession. 
An Excursion Down the Thames. 
The council of the Southampton lloyal 
H.S. had their annual outing on the 2nd 
inst., this taking the form of a visit to Read¬ 
ing and from "thence a journey by steam 
launch down the Thames, the party landing 
at various points for luncheon and for 
the purpose of inspecting some beautiful 
gardens. At Reading the party were enter¬ 
tained by Messrs. Sutton and Sons to a splen¬ 
did breakfast. Greenlands was the first 
garden visited, by kiud permission of the Hon. 
W. F. D. Smith. ' The extent of these charming 
pleasure grounds and gardens may be guessed 
from the fact that Mr. H. Perkins, the head 
gardener, has no less than 100 men and 
women under his charge. The gardens are 
situated on either side of the highway, which 
is much frequented by motors, and it was 
found that the dust raised by these was 
destroying so many things that Mr. Smith 
suggested to the District Council that the 
road should be treated with boiled tar, he 
offering to find the tar if the Council would 
supply the labour. This was agreed to, and 
about half-a-mile of the road was treated at a 
total cost of £30. The experiment was en¬ 
tirely successful. The great feature of the 
gardens next visited, those of Friar Park, 
Henley, is an immense piece of rockwork 
towering to the height of 100ft., which has 
taken twelve years of labour to construct, and 
is planted with every known rock and 
Alpine plant. The gardens are of great 
extent, and contain lakes, imitation stalactite 
caves, underground water caves, a sun-dial 
garden, and a maze, and are open to the 
public on Wednesdays on payment of six¬ 
pence, the amount thus realised being 
divided amongst the local poor and the 
Gardeners’ Benevolent Fund. 
C. S. Frudge, Sec. • 
Much in Little. 
The Colwall Garden Club’s flower show was 
marred by the tempestuous weather. During 
the early part of the day one of the large 
tents collapsed, thereby upsetting and damag¬ 
ing a fine collection of Begonias and other 
flowering plants.-The Stafford and Mid¬ 
land Sweet Pea Society held their first show 
on the 29th ult., and we are glad to hear it 
was a financial success.-It was decided 
last week at a largely-attended meeting that 
Newcastleton (Cumberland) should have a 
flower show, and a committee was appointed 
to carry out arrangements for a show next 
year.-At the monthly meeting of the Scot¬ 
tish Horticultural Association, on the 1st 
inst., Mr. Jas. Hughes, Loyal Alyth, Forfar¬ 
shire, read a paper on “ The Black Currant 
Mite,” which evoked an animated and in¬ 
structive discussion. Liberal culture, re¬ 
newal of stock at short periods, and the plant¬ 
ing of vigorous sorts, such as Boskoop 
Giant and Victoria, were some of the sug¬ 
gestions offered for checking and eradicating 
the pest.-About 7,000 persons attended 
the horticultural show held last week in 
Sandringham Park, which was also visited by 
the Prince and Princess of Wales and the 
Duke of Sparta. 
Diary of Shows and Meetings. 
August. 
21st—Horsforth Gardeners’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Society (weekly meeting) ; Shir¬ 
ley and District Gardeners’ and 
Amateurs’ Association (monthly 
meeting); Widnes Horticultural 
Society (committee meeting). 
22nd—Brighton and Sussex Horticultural 
Society (show, two days) ; Barnsley 
Agricultural and Horticultural 
Society (shew) ; Royal Oxfordshire 
Horticultural Society (autumn 
show) ; Lutterworth and District 
Horticultural Society (show). 
23rd—Shropshire Horticultural Society (show, 
two days) ; Alveston and District 
Horticultural Society (shew) ; 
Shrewsbury Floral Fete (two days) ; 
Chippenham and District Horticul¬ 
tural Society (show). 
24th—Royal Horticultural Society of Aber¬ 
deen (show, three days) ; East Oxford 
Horticultural Society (show) ; Per- 
shore and District Horticultural 
Society (show) ; Somerfords, Daunt- 
sey, and District Horticultural and 
Floral Society (show). 
25th—Mtentrose Horticultural Society (show, 
two days) ; Blairgowrie and Rattray 
Horticultural Society (show, twcn 
days) ; Dunoon and District Horti¬ 
cultural Society (show) ; Cheadle 
Heath (Cheshire) Horticultural 
Society (show, two days). 
26tli—Hawick Horticultural Society (show) ; 
Broughton-in-Furness Horticultural 
Society (show) ; Alyth Horticultural 
Society (show) ; Whittington Floral 
and Horticultural Society (show) ; 
Longwittcn, Rothley, and District 
Horticultural Society (committee 
meeting) ; Sparkhill and District 
Amateur Horticultural Society (an¬ 
nual outing) ; Leeds Paxton Society 
(weekly meeting) ; Chapel Street 
P.S.A. Floral and Horticultural 
Society (Blackburn) (show). 
The Plantain-leaved Calceolaria. 
(Calceolaria plantaginea). 
This is a plant that should become a uni¬ 
versal favourite, for there are few things 
possessing so many combined merits as a bed¬ 
ding plant. 
To begin with, it is a hardy perennial in 
the true sense of the word ; it is of dwarf but 
very pleasing habit, not stiff and stumpy, 
but slender and free. Its foliage is orna¬ 
mental, being produced in rosettes, of a soft 
green, and, as; is implied by its specific name, 
resembles the leaves of a Plantain. Then, to 
crown all, its flowers are freely produced in 
trusses of good size, and are of the most de¬ 
lightful shade of clear canary yellow, totally 
different from the yellow of the ordinary bed¬ 
ding Calceolaria ; indeed, it is a shade that 
would be difficult to match, but which is ex¬ 
tremely beautiful. Not only will the plant Ire- 
come most popular as a bedding plant, but 
will be equally prized as a subject for the 
herbaceous border and the rockery. 
Heathee Bell. 
DECIDUOUS 
CALANTli ES. 
The genus Calanthe consists of two sec¬ 
tions—evergreen and deciduous—but it is the 
latter group which will do a gardener yeoman 
service who has to supply buttonholes, cut 
flowers, and decorative plants throughout the 
winter months. In fact, Calanthes should be 
grown, even if Orchids are not generally cul¬ 
tivated. In any establishment where a stove 
or vinery exists a few of them can be accom¬ 
modated, often with better results than are 
obtained in large collections. 
Individual flowers make up very nice but¬ 
tonholes, and rhe plants will last for two. or 
three weeks in perfection if placed in a warm 
room for decorative purposes ; their arching 
spikes produce a. very pleasing effect when 
arranged among a few Adiantums. 
The deciduous section contains some very 
fine species and hybrids, such as C. Veitcliii, 
rubro-oculata, luteo-oculata, Turned, rosea, 
etc. ; but there is one I strongly recommend 
to those who live near London or large manu¬ 
facturing towns, viz., Calanthe Regnieri. 
This plant was introduced by M. Regnier, of 
Paris, and it will prove a great favourite when 
well grown. The flower spikes are about 
2 ft. 6 in. long, and the colour of the flowers 
somewhat varies; usually the sepals and 
petals are white, and the lip rose pink. 
The flowering season is February and 
March, when the fog fiend has passed by, and 
for this reason it should be more largely 
grown. Many of us remember the damage 
done to C. Veitcliii and others only this last 
winter by that silent fee. 
Cultural remarks.—Repotting should be 
done when young growths appear, about the 
beginning of A 2 rril, using a compost of fibrous 
loam, peat, and leaf mould in equal parts, 
adding a portion of sand and a few small 
nodules of charcoal. Good drainage must be 
provided, and a typical bulb will need a 5 in. 
or 6 in. pot, and so on, in proportion. Little 
water will be required until the roots have 
penetrated the soil, when the supply must be 
gradually increased. During their most 
active period plenty of moisture in the atmos¬ 
phere is necessary, and liquid manure should 
be given twice a week until the foliage shows 
signs of approaching rest. 
Calanthes are subject to the “ spot ” 
disease, so avoid over-watering in the earlier 
stages of growth, and guard against too low' 
and unequal temperatures. T. Anstiss. 
H. T, Rose Dandy. 
Small Roses are not looked upon with any 
particular favour for exhibition purposes, but 
they may be utilised in a variety of ways for 
garden decoration, button-holes, and for cut 
flower purposes generally. The new' Hybrid 
Tea under notice is very small, but very 
dainty in form. The blooms are cup-shaped 
with the petals revolute at the edges, and of 
a rich scarlet, passing into fiery scarlet in the 
centre. The neatness of form, and the in¬ 
tense but bright colour make this a variety of 
great beauty, which is likely to find its way 
into many gardens in the near future. The 
leaves were also remarkable for their size, 
especially the terminal leaflet, which" 
measured 3 in. to 4 in. in length. An Award 
of Merit was recently accorded it by the 
R.H.S. when shown by Messrs. Paul and Son, 
Cheshunt. 
