THE GARDENING WORLD . 
March 16, 1907. 
198 
Horticultural Societies’ 
Diary 
of Forthcoming Meetings. 
Abbreviations used. 
A. — Association H.—Horticultural 
Am. — Amateurs M.I. — Mutual Improve- 
Ohy. — Chrysanthemum ment 
c.m. — Committee meeting m.m.—Monthly meeting 
Oott.—Cottage or Cottagers S.—Society 
D.—District w.m. — Weekly meeting 
G.—Gardening or gardener 
Thus :—The Templeton G. Am. and Cott. M.I.H.S. 
Gardeners, Amateurs’ and Cottagers’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Horticultural Society. 
NOTICE TO SECRETARIES. 
Will secretaries of horticultural societies 
kindly send us at their earliest convenience 
dates of shows and meetings to be held 
during igoj ? 
March. 
iSth.—Horsford G. M. I. S. (w.m.); Shir¬ 
ley and D. G. and Am. A. (m.m.). 
19th.—R. H. S. (bi-m.m. and Exhibi¬ 
tion); Ancient Society of York- 
Florists (m.m.); Croydon and 
D. H. M. I. S. (bi-m.m.); Chester¬ 
field and D. Chy. S. (m.m.); Ord 
and D. G. Am. and Cott. M. I. S. 
(m.m.). 
20th.—Ide Hill G. S. (m.m.); Wargrave 
and D. G. A. (bi-m.m.). 
21 st.—Southampton R. H. S. (m.m.); 
Brighton and Sussex H. S. (m.m.); 
South Shields FI. and H. S. 
(m.m.); Leei, Blackheath. Lewis¬ 
ham and West Kent H. S. (m.m.). 
23rd.—Leeds Paxton S. (w.m.). 
--- 
Horticultural 
Society Notes. 
Flower Show Side Shows. 
At the annual meeting of the Cuckfield 
H. S., one of the largest in Sussex, it was 
stated that flower shows, as such, had lost 
their novelty, and nowadays the public could 
only be got to them by the inclusion of 
novel entertainments. 
Margrave and District Gardeners’ Associa¬ 
tion. 
At the last meeting of the members of 
this association (Mr. J. A. Hall in the chair) 
a good discussion took place on matters 
connected with the kitchen garden. Mr. W. 
Turnham, of Culham Court Gardens, had 
promised a paper on this subject, but was 
unfortunately suffering frt .1 an attack of 
influenza and could not .tend. The sub¬ 
jects dealt with were Potatos and Potato 
planting, the spade versus the fork in dig¬ 
ging, bastard trenching or double digging, 
and the best varieties of Beans, Celery, 
Onions, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, and 
Peas which did well in the district. 
Gloucestershire Rose Society. 
At the annual meeting of the above society 
the hon. secretary (Mr. S. Gibbins) pre¬ 
sented the financial statement of the last 
show, from which it appeared that the total 
receipts amounted to ^139 8s., including sub¬ 
scriptions and donations /no 9s., taken at 
doors £2^ 14s., and entrance fees £4 5s.; 
and after payment of expenses, including 
,£71 14s. 6d. in prize money, there was left 
a surplus of £21 2s. 4d., as compared with 
an adverse balance of ^15 17s. 2d. in the 
previous year. 
Mr. M. G. Lloyd Baker was re-appointed 
chairman,. Mr. J. Manners hon. treasurer, 
and Mr. S. Gibbins—to whose services ap¬ 
preciative reference was made by the chair¬ 
man and Mr, Conway Jones—hon. secretary. 
The members of the committee were re-elec¬ 
ted, with addition of Mr. A. V. Wright. It 
was decided to hold the next show in the 
Corn Exchange, on Tuesday, July 9th. 
National Dahlia Society. 
Members o'f the National Dahlia Society 
or Fellows of the Royal Horticultural So¬ 
ciety, are invited to send garden Cactus 
Dahlias to W is ley for trial. Two plants of 
each variety should be sent about the end 
of May or first week in June, addressed, if 
by rail, Superintendent, Royal Horticultural 
Society’s Gardens, Horsley'- Station, L. & 
S.W. Rly. ; or, if by post, Superintendent, 
Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens, Wis- 
ley, Ripley, Surrey. A post card should, in 
either case, be also sent, announcing the 
despatch of the plants. Every plant must 
bear some distinctive name. Only Cactus 
Dahlias suitable for garden decoration, in¬ 
troduced since 1st January, 1904, will be 
dealt with. The awards will be made en¬ 
tirely on the basis of the plants actually 
growing at Wisley in September, 1907, and 
will be credited to the Raiser, who may not 
necessarily be the person who sends the 
plants. The greatest care will be taken that 
no cuttings be taken from the plants with¬ 
out the sender’s knowledge and consent. The 
plants will be judged, at a convenient date 
or dates in September, by a joint committee, 
six being nominated by each Society, under 
the chairmanship of the chairman of the 
Royal Horticultural Society’s Floral Com¬ 
mittee. 
Royal Horticultural Society. 
General Examination. —The Society’s an¬ 
nual examination in the principles and prac¬ 
tice of horticulture will be held on Wednes¬ 
day, April 10th, 1907. Candidates should 
send in their names not later than March 
25th. Full particulars may be obtained by 
sending a stamped and directed envelope to 
the Society’s offices. The Society is willing 
to hold an examination wherever a magis¬ 
trate, clergyman, schoolmaster, or other re¬ 
sponsible person accustomed to examinations 
will consent to supervise one on the Society’s 
behalf. In connection with this examination 
a scholarship of £25 a year for two years is 
offered by the Society to be awarded after 
the 1907 examination to the student who 
shall pass highest, if he is willing to accept 
the conditions attaching thereto. 
School Teachers’ Examination. —The 
Society will hold an examination in cottage 
gardening on Wednesday, April 24th, 1907. 
This examination is intended for and is con¬ 
fined to elementary and technical school 
teachers. It is undertaken in view of the 
increasing demand in country districts that 
the schoolmaster shall be competent to teach 
the elements of cottage gardening, and the 
absence of any test whatever of such com¬ 
petence. The general conduct of this ex¬ 
amination will be on similar lines to that 
of the more general examination. Medals 
and certificates are awarded and class lists 
published in connection with these examina¬ 
tions, and the syllabus may be obtained on 
application to the Secretary, R.H.S., Vin¬ 
cent Square, Westminster, .S.W. 
At the annual general meeting of the 
Royal Horticultural Society the chairman, 
Sir Trevor Lawrence (president of the So¬ 
ciety), in his presidential address, said the 
feature during the'past year had been the 
international conference on genetics. It was 
being recognised in this country that no 
work of man could be carried on that did 
not listen to the teaching of science. At one 
time in agriculture and horticulture we per¬ 
haps attached too much importance to the 
rule of thumb, but there was no question 
whatever now that agriculturists and horti¬ 
culturists were fully awake to the import¬ 
ance of science. The need for a horticul¬ 
tural ana botanical laboratory had been ap¬ 
parent for some considerable time, and he 
was glad the position of the society was 
such that they would be able to equip and 
build the laboratory at Wisley without 
calling upon their friends. The society might 
congratulate themselves that the somewhat 
dismal warnings of the “recklessness” ex¬ 
hibited in building the hall in which they 
sat had been completely dissipated. (Ap¬ 
plause.) It was not only an admirable hall 
for their shows, but the lettings had been 
such as to pay all ground-rent and taxes. 
The chairman intimated, in conclusion, that 
the Countess of Ilchester had kindly con¬ 
sented to allow the summer show to be again 
held at Holland House this year on the 9th 
and 10th of July. The report and the finan¬ 
cial statement, which showed the society to 
be in a thoroughly sound condition, were 
unanimouslv approved of. On the motion of 
Sir John Llewelyn, the president was re¬ 
elected. 
Reading and District Gardeners' Mutual 
Improvement Association. 
The .annual general meeting of this as¬ 
sociation was held in the Abbey Hall on 
the 7th ult., and the president (Mr. 
Leonard Sutton) presided over a Large at¬ 
tendance of members. The annual re¬ 
port and balance-sheet presented showed 
that the society was in a most flourishing 
condition. Never before had the number 
of members been so large (310 had paid 
their subscriptions with 2 life members, 
making a total of 312), the financial as¬ 
pect so good, or so keen an interest 
shown in the meetin.gs. The attendance 
ranged from 80 to 175- Excellent ex¬ 
hibits of flowers, fruit, and vegetables 
were staged from time to time. A re¬ 
markable display of cut flowers was made 
on “Hospital night,” consisting of over 
400 bunches. These were sent to the 
Royal Berkshire Hospital. At the same 
meeting a collection was made in aid of 
the funds of the Hospital, and a sum of 
70s. was realised. The summer meet¬ 
ings were a success, Friar Park, Culham 
Court, Minley Manor, and Mr. Parfitt's 
fruit orchard being visited. The com¬ 
petitions created great interest, two of the 
series obtaining as many as 16 and 19 
entries each. The science classes held 
in connection with the Reading Univer- 
sity College were again well sustained, 
and must have been of great benefit to 
those members who were able to attend. 
The officers and committee for 1907 were 
elected, and resulted as follows :—Presi¬ 
dent. Mr. Leonard Sutton; chairman, Mr. 
W. Turnham, Culham Court Gardens, 
Henley-on-Thames; vice-chairman, Mr. 
A. F. Bailey, Leopold House- Gardens, 
Reading; treasurer, Mr. b. W. Mac¬ 
donald ; librarian, Mr. E. J. Dore; rice- 
librarian, Mr. F. W. Exler; auditors, 
Messrs. W. Badcock and A. Smith; com¬ 
mittee, Messrs. W. C. Blaxill (Reading). 
A. J. Booker (Coley Park), F. Bright 
(Whiteknights Park), D. -Dore (Reading), 
C. Foster (Reading), R. A. Hatton (Wo¬ 
kingham), G. Hinton (Reading), T. Judd 
(Reading), T. Neve (Sindlesham), F. B. 
Parfitt (Caversham), T. J. Powell (Hen¬ 
ley-on-Thames), G. Stanton (Upper Cul¬ 
ham), W. J. Townsend (Sandhurst 
Lodge), T. Tunbridge (Remenham Hill'. 
E. Winsor (Sonning), J. Wynn (Reading): 
hon. secretary, Mr. H. G. Cox, Osming- 
ton, Hamilton Road, Reading. 
