February 15, 1908. 
1x7 
erted into the more inert ca.rbona.te oi lime, 
n whatever form it is applied it should be 
ightiy covered with earth as soon as pos- 
Lble. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
’611. Preparing Charcoal. 
I want seme charcoal for various potting 
1 urposes. Can that made from old, partly- 
oiten iogs of wood be better or worse than 
harcoal made from thick branches of re- 
entlv felled trees? How would you advise 
ne to prepare it? (Enquirer, Lines.) 
We should prefer using thick branches of 
ecently felled trees to wood that is partly 
otten." The latter is much wasted, whereas 
he recently cut wood would contain more 
>f the elements of plant life, so that the 
.shes would be richest in potash from young 
vood. Besides the charcoal you may ex- 
ject a large heap of ashes, and this is a 
aluable manure that should not be over- 
ooked. For the purposes of making char¬ 
coal the young wood would also remain in 
1 more lumpy condition. The plan is to 
;indle a fire^with some dry brushwood or 
minings, then to lay on the logs of wood ; 
hen pile over this some garden rubbish, 
uch as wesds, more or less in a wet con- 
lition, for the purpose of restraining the 
•nergy of the fire. The latter should be en- 
ouraged to make headway until you have 
1 body of fire, after which you can place 
nany logs in a heap, and even use soil to 
over the wood after the fire is well started. 
This, will induce the heap to smother and 
moke for some days together, but by that 
neans you get good lumps of charcoal. After 
he whole of the wood has been charred 
ir burned in this way you can then shift the 
leap of ashes, thereby separating the use- 
: ul charcoal from the ashes, which could 
>e turned to another account. Any logs not 
iroperlv burned might be dealt with by 
fighting another fire. 
2612. Wire-netting to Protect Fruit 
and Vegetables. 
Will you kindly give me the following 
nformation? What mesh and gauge should 
vire-netting be to exclude birds from grow- 
ng crops of vegetables and fruit ? Is wire- 
letting 6 ft. wide the best protection ? What 
ire the best supports for the wire-netting ? 
4 re gas pipes good supports? If so, what 
iiameter should the gas pipe be, and what 
ength in the ground to support 6 ft. above 
ground ? How far apart should the supports 
ye ? How should the wire-netting used as 
he roof be supported? If wire-netting ex¬ 
dudes all'bird life, is blight and insect life 
larder to deal with? (W. Garrard, Sus¬ 
sex.) 
. You would /require netting of ^ in. mesh to 
ixclude sparrows. The gauge refers to the 
■ hickness of the wire, and if you get gauge 
:g, that will be much more durable than 
gauge 20 or 22. Wire-netting 6 ft. wide 
vould serve to protect vegetables or fruit of 
hat height, but fruit trees, unless specially 
rained and pruned, would soon outgrow 
hat height. Then, again, this width would 
rot be necessary for such things as young 
Peas, for which you can get Pea guards 
about a foot high made of wire-netting, 
seed guards are also obtainable for cover- 
ng beds. It requires judicious thinking 
>ut what you are going to put in a wire- 
letting frame, otherwise it would soon come 
o be very expensive gardening. If the birds 
ne so numerous as to destroy Peas after they 
lass beyond their early stages, you might 
rv other means of protection, such as lines 
>f black cotteti along the sides of the Peas, 
breading it from branch to branch of the 
Takes used. We have found that to keep 
sparrows away which had commenced to 
gnaw the pods. Gas pipes will make better 
supports than solid iron rods, because they 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
are more difficult to bend. One-inch piping 
will be necessary to support wire-netting 6 ft. 
wide, because then you could have the sup¬ 
ports 6 ft. apart. You will require to put 
a stronger rod at each corner and fix it in 
cement, or have a slanting gas pipe, so as 
to form a stay. This is necessary, as the 
end poles on any straight line have really 
to stand the strain of tightening the wire¬ 
netting. The intermediate ones merely have 
to support the- weight of the netting. These 
intermediate ones, if the ground is made 
quite firm, should find sufficient support by 
being sunk 1 ft. ’Fix the wire-netting to one 
end, then strain or tighten it to the other 
end before fastening it on to the intermediate 
supports. The wire-netting forming the 
roof may be supported on long bamboo rods 
which could also be supported by bamboo 
•rods placed upright at equal distances in¬ 
side the netting. If expense is no object, you 
can support the roof by gas pipes of ^ in. 
diameter. You cannot exclude blight, which 
is caused by aphides or fungi, as the case 
may be, although you can get netting that 
will exclude wasps. That, of course, would 
be very expensive, as the mesh is so fine. 
Where you desire to exclude insects we 
should advise you to use very thin tiffany 
or shading material which may not last 
long, but is obtainable cheap. 
NAMES OF PLANTS. 
(R. Jameson) 1, Ophiopogon Jaburan varie- 
gatus ; 2, Chlorophytum elatum variegatum : 
3, Fatsia japonica ; 4, Pelargonium fragrans ; 
5, Fuchsia microohylla. 
(J. B. W.) 1, Garrya elliptica; 2, Ligus- 
trum ovalifolium; 3, Daphne Mezereum; 4, 
Viburnum Tinus; 5, Berberis stenophylla ; 
6, Symphoricarpus orbiculakus. 
(S. M.) 1, Polypodium vulgare cambricum ; 
2, Polystichum angulare3, Pteris Wim- 
settii; 4, Lomaria gibba; 5, Lygodium scan- 
dens ; 6, . Asparagus Sprengeri; 7, Sela- 
ginella kraussiana. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
E. W. King and Co., Seed Growers, Cog- 
geshall, Essex.—High-class Seeds Direct 
from the Growers. 
John Forbes, Hawick, Scotland.—Forbes’ 
Plant Catalogue. 
D. M. Andrews, Boulder, Colorado, 
U.S.A.—Seeds of . Rare Flowers from the 
Rocky Mountains of Colorado. 
S. F. Richmond, Chrysanthemum Nur¬ 
series, Ossett, Yorks.—Descriptive Catalogue 
of Chrysanthemums. 
Legg Brothers, Chrysanthemum Nur¬ 
series, Moreley, near Birmingham. 
-- 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. 
The sixty-eighth annual general meet¬ 
ing was held at Simpson’s, Strand, on 
January, 23rd, when Mr. Harry J. Veitch, 
treasurer and chairman of the committee, 
presided. In moving the adoption of the 
report and balance-sheet, Mr. Veitch ob¬ 
served that the number of pensioners on 
the books was larger than at any previous 
time, and a sum of ,£4,334 was disbursed. 
After the adoption of the report, Mr. 
Harry J. Veitch was re-elected treasurer, 
Mr. G. J. Ingram, secretary, the retiring 
members of the committee, the auditors 
and arbitrators being also re-elected. The 
election of pensioners was then proceeded 
with, the following nineteen candidates 
being successful out of a total of 52:— 
James Mack, 3,671 votes; Wm. Cookson, 
3,4tc : Wm. Swansborough, 3,307; G. H. 
Green, 3,073; Jas. Chesher, 2,972; Wm. 
Edwards, 2,797; R. McAdam, 2,788; 
Mary Manderson, 2,633; Euphemia 
Clinging, 2,543; John Stanton, 2,535; 
N. Blandford, 2,498 ; Geo. Little, 2,496 ; 
T. J. Foote, 2,481 ; Ann J. Solman, 2,452; 
Wm. Pooley, 2,426; Chas. Kinns, 2,360; 
R. Maher, 2,357 ; A. Clark, 2,338; and 
Wm. Moore, 2,370. In addition, Susan 
Hale and Wm. Jones were elected on the 
recommendation of the Executive Com¬ 
mittee, and one year's pension each was 
granted to T. Jones and Laura Stockwell 
owing to the liberality of Mr. Arthur V . 
Sutton and Mr. George Monro. 
In the evening of the same day the 
friendly supper took place, Mr. Martin 
H. F. Sutton occupying the chair. The 
Chairman remarked that during the exis¬ 
tence of the Institution no less than 
/i 17,000 had been distributed in relief, 
and only those in close touch with the 
work or who were privileged to see some 
of the letters of gratitude received could 
form any true idea of how deeply that re¬ 
lief had been appreciated. But large as 
their income was, a far larger list of 
donors and subscribers was needed than 
at present existed. Mr. Harry J. \ eitch 
also spoke of the large amount of money 
that had been distributed during the 
year, and the necessity for new subscribers 
being obtained and the income of the 
Institution increased. Mr. Veitch an¬ 
nounced, amid applause, that Mr. Sher¬ 
wood had signified his intention to give 
a sum of 4.25 for distribution amongst 
the most necessitous cases. 
National Chrysanthemum Society. 
The report of the Executive Committee 
of this Society for 1907 states that during 
the twelve months 77 new members were 
added to the roll. Each member of the 
Society has been asked to introduce one 
new member during 1908, and the Com¬ 
mittee trust the suggestion will be carried 
out. The list of affiliated societies, subur¬ 
ban, provincial and Colonial, numbers 
no. The number of entries at the Crystal 
Palace exhibitions showed an increase of 
about 33^ per cent, over those of the pre¬ 
vious year, and the quality of the exhibits 
was exceptionally high in every respect, 
notwithstanding the unfavourable season. 
Twenty-six meetings of the Executive 
Committee and sub-committees were held 
during the year, and seven of the Floral 
Committee. During the season 32 First 
Class Certificates and eleven Commenda¬ 
tions were awarded; and Silver Medals 
were also awarded for interesting collec¬ 
tions of new varieties. The Committee 
report that further special prizes for 1908 
have been promised, and it is hoped that 
the schedule will be increasingly attrac¬ 
tive to exhibitors. The ordinary income 
of the Society showed an increase over 
that of the previous year, but having re¬ 
gard to the special expenditure the Com¬ 
mittee deemed it advisable to transfer £70 
from deposit account to general account. 
They have, however, resolved to re-trans¬ 
fer not less than ^25 to deposit account 
from the current year’s income, and to 
continue the same policy until that ac¬ 
count is restored to at least its original 
figure. The prize money in respect of all 
the shows has been paid. 
At the annual meeting, held on the 3rd 
February, Sir Albert Rollit, LL.D., was 
unanimously elected President of the So¬ 
ciety. a position which he formerly occu¬ 
pied for some years. 
