June 24, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
607 
before putting away eacli time. Do not leave 
the machine out in the rain or on the wet 
„rass; have a proper dry place in which to 
store it. Be careful to keep the grass free 
from stones, or your machine will soon be 
damaged by having a cracked blade. 
E. B. B. 
Selaginellas and their Cultivation. 
In general appearance and habit these ele¬ 
gant "plants differ somewhat widely, some 
being erect, trailing, and creeping. Stove, 
(■•reenhouse, and hardy evergreen plants are 
all included in the genus. The stove and 
greenhouse species like a close and uniformly 
moist atmosphere. Plenty of moisture is 
required during spring, summer, and early 
autumn, but during winter watering must be 
very carefully done or damping off will 
result. 
Propagation is effected by means of cuttings 
and layers. Cuttings can be taken at any 
time except winter, when they are rather apt 
to damp off even with the most careful treat¬ 
ment. They should be taken from the main 
shoots if possible, simply taking the tips, 
! discarding any that are showing the little 
l cones or fruits. They should be dibbled in 
pans of any light soil containing a heavy 
proportion of sand. Selaginellas detest being 
disturbed or transplanted, and cuttings 
should therefore be put into permanent quar¬ 
ters. Layers root readily with most species, 
the shoots being simply pegged down and 
severed when rooted. For the trailing species 
i such as S. kraussiana and its varieties, bakeri- 
ana, serpens, and uncinata particularly, 
broad, shallow pans are required, as a good 
deal of rooting space is required with com- 
naratively little soil. Even the erect growers 
do splendidly in these pans. 
For basket and rustic woodwork uncinata 
and bakeriana are particularly effective, and 
Galeottei makes a superb mass of greenery in 
a hanging basket in the house. For planting 
under the stages kraussiana does splendidly, 
and is very effective. Apus and emiliana in 
60’s make fine plants, and for furnishing 
are very pretty, elegant subjects. In almost 
all cases no repotting is needed, and waterin'.' 
overhead must never be attempted ; the plants 
detest it. A little liquid cow manure is bene¬ 
ficial. but must only be applied during the 
height of the growing season. W. G. G. 
Echoes from the Temple Show. —It has 
been estimated that the total value of Orchids 
at the recent Temple Flower Show was not less 
than £50,000. A special force of ten police¬ 
men guarded the flowers in the Orchid 
marquee during the three nights over which 
•the show extended, as in former years several 
valuable plants were stolen. Messrs. Charles- 
worth, of Bradford, Yorks, whose grand dis¬ 
play of Orchids was awarded a Gold Medal, 
had over 300 different varieties on exhibition, 
valued at many thousands of pounds. The 
gross cost of the show to this firm is stated 
to have been not less than £1,000, but they 
were very well satisfied with the amount of 
business done. Messrs. Sander, of St. 
Albans, also spent £1,000 in their prepara¬ 
tions, and felt fully repaid for their large 
outlay by the award of a Gold Medal and the 
splendid advertisement obtained. They valued 
their collection at £10,000. Their sensation¬ 
ally beautiful Cattleya Schroederae The Baron 
was sold on the second day of the show for 
£1,000 to its namesake, Baron Schroeder. 
Ihe Odontoglossum crispum amabile Ixion, 
one of a small but choice group of Orchids 
exhibited by Mr. Yuylsteke, of Loocliristi, 
Belgium, sold for £1,000, although it bore 
only three blooms. 
OCCASIONAL 
ERV 
EW 
Mr. G. E. KEER. 
Hon. Secretary oj the Windsor, Eton, and District Chrysanthemum and Horticultural Society. 
“ I was sitting one evening at home reading 
our Windsor paper, when I came across a 
letter to the Editor suggesting that a horti¬ 
cultural society should be formed for the 
Royal borough and district. I was struck 
with the idea, for I am passionately fond of 
gardening, and had often thought it a pity 
Windsor had no society of the kind. Acting 
on a happy impulse I communicated with the 
writer of the letter, and later on we met and 
took the necessary measures to call a meeting 
of residents interested in the matter. The 
meeting was a success ; an active canvass for 
subscriptions was begun, land! within four 
months our first exhibition was an accom¬ 
plished fact.” 
Thus Mr. G. E. Keer described to me the 
inception of the Windsor, Eton, and District 
Chrysanthemum and Horticultural Society. 
Keer reflectively. “ And in some respects it 
is often thankless work, but then when one is 
deeply interested in horticulture as I am, 
and as my co-operators are, the reward of 
success is not dearly earned. It made it 
rather more difficult for me, because, you see, 
I am occupied all day in Fleet Street, and do 
not get back to Windsor until rather late in 
the evenings I may say that I am in the 
publishing business, and have been so engaged 
lor the past twenty years.” 
That Mr. Keer is" an enthusiastic gardener 
may be gathered from the fact that he is 
usually out in his large garden at Datchet 
between four and five in the morning. “ My 
favourite flowers,” he said, “ are Roses and 
Carnations, and I must add Chrysanthemums, 
but owing to the limited time at my disposal 
I am unable to grow for exhibition. I have, 
Me. G. 
The subject of this sketch, who is thirty- 
eight, and a native of Old Windsor, is a well- 
knit man of average height and somewhat 
athletic build, with a keen intellectual face, 
and with that infinite capacity for work which 
Carlyle somewhere likens to genius. Certain 
it is that hard work and plenty of it were 
demanded of him and his coadjutors in form¬ 
ing and building up the Windsor Chrysanthe¬ 
mum Society. 
“ None but those who have attempted such 
work know how really hard it is,” said Mr. 
E. Keee. 
however, exhibited flowers twice, and on one 
of these occasions carried off a prize. 1 have 
also successfully exhibited fruit. 
“Your forthcoming show will, I see. be the 
fourteenth annual event. I hope you ve met 
with a good measure of success.” 
“ Yes,” was the prompt rejoinder, “ we have 
no reason to complain, and we are specially 
fortunate, inasmuch as we’ve always had a 
balance on the right side. 
“ The first show was held in 1892. From the 
commencement His Royal Highness Prince 
