536 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 1, 1905. 
don© two or three times. Care must be taken 
that the feather does nob hold a lot of tne 
solution, or the result, instead of being bene¬ 
ficial, might be most detrimental, even it it 
does not actually kill the chickens operated 
upon. Some breeders use turpentine in the 
same manner. Others set fire to a little sul¬ 
phur on a hot pan or shovel and hold the 
chicken’s head over the fumes for a tew 
m&meiits; and some burn carbolic add in the 
same manner. * , 
Each of the remedies here given is most 
efficacious in the treatment of this most dis¬ 
tressing disease, a disease which causes the 
death of the chickens by starvation owing to 
their being unable to swallow their food. 
In the management of young growing 
chickens, it must never be forgotten that a 
plentiful supply of green food is of great 
value, and if the birds are not running at 
liberty on grass, green food should be sup¬ 
plied to them in the form of Cabbage leaves, 
Lettuce leaves, and all kinds of garden refuse. 
OBITUARY. 
Col. W. G. WEBB, M.P. 
It is our painful duty to record the death 
of Col. W. G. Webb, M.P., brother of 
Edward Webb, of the firm of Messrs Webb 
and Sons, Wordsley, Stourbridge. He had 
been ailing for some weeks past, and passed 
peacefully away at 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 
the 14th ult., at his residence, Woodfaeid, 
Wordsley, where he retired from London 
about three weeks previous to his death, on 
the advice of a London medical man, to take 
complete rest for a time. His local doctor 
and also another from Birmingham attended 
him, but nothing could be done to restore his 
physical powers, although Dr. Grindlay took 
up residence at Mocdfield, and was unremit¬ 
ting in his attentions to his gallant patient. 
Col. Webb had been suffering from heart 
affection, and although the physician whom 
he originally consulted in London also went 
down to Woodfield, he could do nothing for 
the patient. He was in the sixty-third year 
of his age.' Owing to an unfortunate mis¬ 
take, some obituaries were published before 
the Colonel’s death, and, as might be 
imagined, the incident was painful to the 
family, although the mistake was corrected 
in the evening papers. He is survived by 
Mrs. Webb, three sons, and two daughters. 
Col. Webb, M.P., V.D., J.P., was the 
eldest son of the late Mr. Edward "Webb, of 
"White House, Wordsley, Staffordshire, and 
was born on December 15th, 1842. He was 
associated with his father in the glass trade 
for many years, and later on managed the 
Whit© House Glass Works for twenty years, 
but gave it up about fifteen years ago. He 
and his brother, Mr. Edward Webb, became 
associated in business at a later date, and the 
firm gradually evolved into the great seed 
business, which it is at the present day ; the 
seed business has, indeed, been carried on 
about forty-five years, although the brothers 
had collateral undertakings. 
His parliamentary business occupied a good 
deal of his time, and he was also an active and 
ardent supporter of the volunteer movement, 
with which he had been connected for many 
years, gradually rising to the rank of Lieut.- 
Col. as second in command of the Wordsley 
Company of Volunteers. This latest honour 
was granted in 1893, when he retired from the 
battalion. His patriotic spirit was reflected 
in his sons at the time of the outbreak of the 
Boer war, when Mr. W. Harcourt Webb and 
Mr. Frank B. Webb volunteered for service at 
the front. The first-named was wounded 
while the latter contracted illness, but both 
recovered to return to their native country. 
The late Colonel had hundreds of friends 
who enjoyed his peculiar charm of manner 
and cheerful companionship. We can also 
add our testimony to this spirit of cheerful¬ 
ness, having met him on more than one occa¬ 
sion at Wordsley when on a visit to the estab¬ 
lishment. In business in connection with the 
Cameron Brewery Company he was also well 
known. As an agriculturist he also came in 
Contact with many people, and his advice on 
agricultural matters was both sought for and 
appreciated. He was also a keen sportsman, 
taking an active part in hunting, coaching, 
etc. 
Col, and Mrs. Webb celebrated their silver 
wedding on 14th October, 1899, and in Novem¬ 
ber of the same year the employees of the firm 
were entertained to dinner in honour of the 
event. A splendid silver wedding gift was 
subscribed for by the employees to mark their 
good will towards their employer. In 
political matters he was always regarded as a 
reliable man, and his duties in this respect 
entailed a deal of travelling between Wordsley 
and London, thus imposing upon him a con¬ 
siderable burden. Locally, he was widely 
known and much beliked by all with whom he 
came in contact, so that his death has left an 
irreparable blank in the locality. 
GARDENERS' ROYAL 
BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. 
ANNUAL DINNER. 
The sixty-sixth anniversary festival dinner 
of this institution took place at the Hotel 
Metropole, on the 16th ult., under the presi¬ 
dency of His Grace the Duke of Westminster. 
According to tl\e seating of the table, about 
178 sat down to dinner, including Sir Walter 
Smythe, Bart., Messrs. H. J. Veitch, Arthur 
W. Sutton, L. G. Sutton, James H. VeitCh, 
Edward Sherwood, George Paul, and various 
other men well known in the horticultural 
world. 
After dinner the usual loyal toasts were pro¬ 
posed, when the Chairman afterwards rose to 
give the toast, “ Continued Prosperity to the 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution.” 
His Grace said that he was- little known per¬ 
haps: by those connected with the institution, 
but his grandfather had been president of it 
for thirty-one years. In giving a short his¬ 
tory of the institution and its aims, he said it 
was in its sixcy-sixth year and at present sup¬ 
ported over 200 pensioners, including 120 men 
and about 90 women. 
In speaking of the gardener for whom this 
institution was established, he said we ought 
to remember him with his arduous and diffi¬ 
cult duties and his anxiety in the production 
of those things, that were required by his 
master. It was inherent in human life that 
those who spent their life in strenuous en¬ 
deavour to do their duty were liable to 
accident, ill-health, etc., and it was the duty 
of those assembled to. remember old gardeners 
in their day of need. 
The remuneration given to gardeners was 
very unworthy, compared with that given to 
other workmen for their services. Gold and 
silver were well known to gardeners in rela¬ 
tion to the flowers and fruits which they cul¬ 
tivated, but not in tlveir pockets. His speech 
was a brief one, and, in conclusion, he coupled 
with it the name of Mr. Harry J. Yeitch, the 
treasurer. 
Mr. Yeitch, in response, said that all 
present would appreciate the presence of the 
Duke of Westminster in the chair, and hoped 
that he would follow in the steps of his grand¬ 
father. Continuing, he said that he would 
not enter deeply into the affairs of the institu¬ 
tion, as they printed a good report. At the 
present they had more pensioners on their list 
than ever they had before. Two of them were 
over ninety years of age, fifty-nine over eighty, 
and the youngest was fifty-three. At this 
point he read some letters of thanks from pen¬ 
sioners, showing how thankful they had been 
for assistance. 
In calculating the liabilities of the institu¬ 
tion to its pensioners, he found that they had 
to pay nearly £11 per day, or about £70 8s. 
per week. He also made reference to the com¬ 
petition amongst the auxiliaries which brought 
in substantial help to the parent institution. 
He hoped that those who. were not yet sub¬ 
scribers would, according to their means, come 
to the assistance of the institution, and enable 
them to be still further useful. 
.Sir Walter Smythe, Bart., proposed “ Horti¬ 
culture in All Its Branches,” and said that we 
owed a debt of gratitude to- the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society and its shows and meetings 
for permeating the lower classes with a love 
of horticulture. In conclusion, he coupled 
with the toast the name of Mr. George Paul. 
At this stage Mr. Harry J. Veitch an¬ 
nounced that the Duke and Duchess of West¬ 
minster had become patrons of the institution. 
The Secretary, Mr. George J. Ingram, next 
announced the list of donations that had been 
given as a response to the Duke’s appeal for 
aid for the institution. The Duke himself 
gave £200, the Duchess £50 and an annual 
subscription of 10 guineas, Messrs de Roth¬ 
schild gave 100 guineas, Messrs. J. Veitch 
and Sons 100 guineas, Mr. A. W. Sutton £100, 
Mr. H. J. Yeitch 25 guineas, Messrs. Hurst 
and Son 25 guineas, L. G. Sutton £20, 
William Robinson 50 guineas, the King’s head 
gardener £30, Thames Bank Iron Company 
15 guineas, Covent Garden friends £150, and 
various other sums. The aggregate made the 
sum of £2,100, a very respectable sum indeed. 
Mr. A. W. Sutton next proposed “ Our 
Chairman,” and, while discussing the subject, 
gave instances of what could be done by 
auxiliaries. He also spoke of the remarkable 
success of the treasurer, who acted as chairman 
last year and ensured a record festival. The 
Chairman briefly replied, as he had to leave 
early in order to attend another meeting. 
Mr. George Paul next replied for “ Horticul¬ 
ture in All Its Branches.” In doing so, he 
said that English horticulture need in no way 
be ashamed of its position in the horticultural 
world. He had recently been in Paris, but he 
thought British gardeners could easily beat 
most things seen there. He considered that 
gardeners in this country had a love of gar¬ 
dening, and certainly something beyond the 
mere love of the money they earned by it. 
Speaking for himself, he said he knew no love 
that was greater than that of flowers, especi¬ 
ally when looking upon those raised by the 
skill and care of man. He had never seen 
finer nor more beautiful gardening than that 
in this country. He had not seen the Duke’s 
garden, but he believed that gardening was 
carried on there on very high lines. Speaking 
of smaller gardens he hoped it would become a 
legal impossibility to build a row of houses 
without gardens. 
After the Duke left, the chair was taken by 
Sir Walter Smythe, Bart., who said it was the 
Duke’s desire that he should propose the toast 
of “The Secretary.” To this Mr. G. J. 
Ingram replied, and said that the Duke’s 
speech was brief, but the gold he had given 
was more serviceable to the institution than 
long speeches. He himself had done his best 
for the institution, and woOild continue to do 
so. 
