/ (If: GARDENING WORLD 
March 2, 1907. 
158 
Parsnips, Beet, etc., the top spit of soil 
might have a dressing of fowl manure 
simply pointed into the soil when preparing 
the ground for sowing. You can, however, 
use it for a great variety of crops, and if 
dried it would be very powerful, and we cau¬ 
tion you not to use too much of it on any 
piece of ground nor allow it to get in heaps 
or lumps. It should be evenly and equally 
distributed. 
1583. Coal Ashes and Heavy Soil. 
The soil of my' garden is very heavy, and 
when wet, as at present, it seems like clay. 
It gets very hard in summer and .is hot 
well suited for Potatos or flowers. For some 
years past I have added the ashes from the 
house where coal is burned, but there is not 
much improvement yet. Could you suggest 
anything better? (J. Halsey, Surrey). 
Your best plan would be to trench the 
ground in autumn at the same time manuring 
it heavily. If you can get manure, some 
might be used in the bottom of the trench, 
another layer above the first spit of soil and 
then another under the top foot of soil. 
This would not merely alter the mechanical 
condition of the soil, bat also improve 
it more permanently, and ashes could scarce¬ 
ly be said to improve it beyond merely mak¬ 
ing the soil more porous ior water to drain 
away. At the same time road scrapings are 
valuable as well as the scourings of ditches, 
consisting largely, it may be, of sand, and 
indeed any vegetable matter may be em¬ 
ployed. In the course of a few years as 
this vegetable matter decays the soil will 
become dark in colour, indicating a greater 
fertility. Of course, it is possible to overdo 
it with decaying vegetable matter, but a 
dressing of lime once in six or eight years 
would counteract the acidity cr sourness 
that might be brought about by such heavy 
applications of vegetable matter. 
MISCELLANEOUS . 
1584. College for Fruit Culture. 
I wish to know of a really good agri¬ 
cultural college which has a special de¬ 
partment for fruit culture. If you can give 
me the name of such I should be much 
obliged. I purpose sending my son to it. 
(A. L., Fife). 
There are several agricultural colleges, 
but we doubt if they give any special atten¬ 
tion to fruit culture with orchards for the 
practical carrying out of such work and 
the education connected with it. A certain 
amount of fruit culture, both out of doors 
and under glass, is carried on at the Swan- 
ley Horticultural College, Swanley, Kent. 
Apply to the Principal. You might also 
apply to S. T. Wright, Esq., Superintendent 
of the R.H.S. Gardens, Wisley, Ripley, 
Surrey, where they have young orchards or 
fruit plantations and practical horticulture 
is carried on. If there were any vacancies 
the superintendent would let you know. Y T ou 
might also apply to Spencer Pickering, Esq., 
Superintendent of the Woburn Experimental 
Fruit Farm, Ridgmont, Beds., where such 
work is carried on, though there mav not 
be many vacancies for fresh hands. 
1585. Bouquet Making. 
I wish to learn wreath and bouquet mak¬ 
ing. Could you tell me the addresses of 
some high-class London firms where I could 
obtain tuition? Will you kindly insert the 
above in 3-our valuable Enquire Within 
column? (Student, Middlesex.! 
We can give you the addresses of some 
florists and others where such work is car¬ 
ried on, but whether there would be any 
vacancies it would be necessary to make 
enquiries. Instruction is given in bouquet 
making at the Swanley Horticultural Col¬ 
lege. Swanley, Kent, and you could apdy 
to the Principal to ascertain upon what 
terms you could get instruction. There are 
also several good London firms of florists 
where floral work is more or less extensively 
carried on. These would include Wills and 
Segar, Onslow Crescent, South Kensington; 
Gerard and Co., 178, Regent Street, W. ; 
Henry and Co., 175, Victoria Street, S.W. ; 
W. Hooper, 186, Oxford Street, W.; C. 
Wood and Son, 21, High Street, Maryle- 
bone; W. Mackay, 60, South Audley Street; 
and W. Newton, wholesale florist, 33, Wel¬ 
lington Street and Covent Garden Flower 
Market: 
1586. Hot Water Pipes Crossing a Path. 
I had an idea of connecting the hot water 
pipes of two small greenhouses. There is 
a path which cannot be altered between the 
two. I should like to know in an early 
issue if the water pipes would get hot if 
laid down as shown in the rough sketch. 
I know how they should be laid, but wanted 
to get over the difficulty by using one 
boiler. (Novice, Middlesex). 
The circulation would be rather difficult 
to commence -\vith for the simple reason that 
the bent portion of the pipes lying be¬ 
neath the walk would hold cold water, and 
hot water being lighter would not readily 
enter the dip unless the water was so hot 
at the boiler as practically to force its way. 
We have had plenty of experience with flues 
that dipped under greenhouse paths and we 
can only say that they are extremely trouble¬ 
some. We think it would be even more diffi¬ 
cult with hot water pipes. We think an 
attempt ought to be made by lowering the 
whole heating apparatus so as to get the 
pipes across the pathway without dipping 
beneath it. Whether you adopt this 
plan or that which you suggest, the pipes 
at the far end from the boiler should be 
considerably higher than the end next the 
boiler and that would assist the circulation. 
The return pipe may, of course, lie lower 
as that enters the boiler at the base or 
nearly so. In any case we should not advise 
you to go to great expense in laying a. set of 
pipes dipping under the pathway. 
1587. January Numbers of “ The Gardening 
World.” 
In your paper a fortnight ago one of 
your readers was asking for copies of the 
“G.W.” for January, 1906. I have the num¬ 
bers for 6th, 13th and 27th of that month 
and year. They are badly soiled, but if they 
are of any use to him he may have them. 
(Mr. C. Hanham, 6, York Street, Chester). 
The above is in answer to the question 
1499 to “ Cathay, Surrey,” who may take 
this opportunity of getting the copies if not 
already supplied. 
1588. Lady-birds. 
I notice in one of your recent issues you 
mention the advantage of lady-birds for the 
destruction of green fly in houses; you also 
stated that some could be got, and I should 
like very much if you can tell me where 
their eggs can be obtained. P. H. C., 
Renfrew). 
We do not remember the note to which 
you refer and which may have been made 
by some correspondent. We do not know 
that anyone in this country has been col¬ 
lecting lady-birds for home use. They are 
so readily obtained that anyone with a know¬ 
ledge of them and with a need for them 
simply looks for them in likely situations 
and collects them for their own use. Y’ou 
could possibly obtain the services of a local 
entomologist or naturalist to collect the 
beetles for you or the larvae or eggs 
as the case may be. They are usually 
obtainable, especially the larvae, during a 
oonsidterable portion of the season. The 
most common lady-bird is Coccinella bipunc- 
tata. - 
NAMES OF PLANTS. 
(J. M. R.) 1, Billbergia nutans; 2, 
Episcia cupreata; 3, Agiathea coelestis.— 
(R. W.) 1, Eupatorium ianthinum ; 2, Acacia 
riceana; 3, Acacia armata; 4, Scirpus cer- 
nuus (better known as Isolepis gracilis).— 
(D. Willox) 1, The Hazel (Corylus avel- 
lana); 2, Garya elliptica; 3, Erica herbacea ; 
4, Vinca minor; 5, Daphne Mezereum. — 
(Henry Walker) 1, Saxifraga ligulata; 2, 
Galanthus Elwesii; 3, Helleborus niger alti-' 
folius; 4, Daphne oleoides; 5, Petasites 
fragrans; 6, Choisya ternata.—(C. R. Len- 
drum) 1, Lomaria ciliata; 2, Asplenium 
ebeneum; 3, Pteris longifolia; 4, Nephro- 
dium molle; 5, Polypodium appendicula- 
tum; 6, Nephrolepis Duffi.—(Pteris) 1, As¬ 
plenium Trichomanes; 2, Camptosorus 
rhizophyllus; 3, Asplenium Hemionitis. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
A. Kennelly, Chadwell Heathy Essex.— 
Kennelly’s Flower Seeds, Roots, Tubers, 
etc. 
The Native Guano Company, 
Limited, 29, New Bridge Street, Black- 
friars, London.—Native Guano. 
John Hood, Kerse Nursery, Beith, 
Scotland.—Descriptive List of Pansies, 
Y’iolas, .Dahlias, Chrysanthemums. 
Amos Perry, Hardy Plant Farm, 
Enfield, Middlesex.—Perry's New Cata¬ 
logue of Border and Rock Plants. 
-— 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. 
The 67th annual meeting of this insti¬ 
tution was held on January 24th, Mr. 
Harry J. Y’eitch, Chairman of the Com¬ 
mittee, presiding. The annual report, 
read by the Secretary, stated that during 
the past year seventeen pensioners had 
died, and one, whose circumstances have 
changed, has resigned the pension. Of 
the men who have passed away four left 
widows, who, their cases having been in¬ 
vestigated and found deserving and eli¬ 
gible, have been awarded the widow's al¬ 
lowance of a year without election 
under the power conferred by Rule III., 
13. Thus at the close of the year there 
were fourteen vacancies and 206 pen¬ 
sioners on the funds. To this number the 
committee recommend the e.ection of 
eighteen additional pensioners from an 
approved list of fifty-two candidates, mak¬ 
ing a total of 224 persons in receipt of 
annuities for life^the largest number on 
the funds oif the institution since its es¬ 
tablishment—and sixty-five more than 
there were ten years ago. It is gratify¬ 
ing to the committee to be able to help 
so large a number of worthy and deserv¬ 
ing people, yet they deeply regret to he 
unable with their present income to ren¬ 
der assistance to more candidates on the 
list. 
The special funds, YTctorian Era Fund 
and the Good Samaritan Fund, still prove 
of incalculable benefit. During the year 
^151 has been distributed from the for¬ 
mer fund to seventeen unsuccessful can¬ 
didates who were formerly subscribers to 
the institution, and in the same period 
a sum of ^103 15 s. was given from the 
latter fund as temporary relief to appli¬ 
cants in urgent distress and need. The 
grateful letters from the recipients show 
how much this timely help was required 
and how keenly it was appreciated. In 
addition to the amounts mentioned above 
a further- sum of £$0 was distributed 
among the unsuccessful candidates, being 
a special gift from that well-known friend 
and generous supporter of the charity for 
so many years, N. N. Sherwood, Esq., 
YLM.H. (trustee), who is most gratefully 
