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THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE. 
Febecary 15, 1913 
previous record was in tlie year 18^34, ho 
they had to go a very long way liack to 
find anything like it. In that year there 
were 71(5 8ub^ril>ers. and the amount re¬ 
ceived was only XtUn Ifis. The other record 
wah made on the third day of the Chrysan¬ 
themum Show, when over £'6() waa taken at 
the gate, iioth of those records were very 
gratifying to the society, particularly the 
large increase in the amount of subscriptions. 
The Mishop of Norwich was elected presi¬ 
dent for tlie year; Mr. K. (i. Barclay was 
re-elected treasurer, and .Mr. Billing re- 
ele< ted hon. secretary. The following retir¬ 
ing memlK*rs of the coni m it tee w'ere re¬ 
elected: Mr. II. II, Back, Kev. .1, Fellowes, 
.Mr. F. II. Barclay. Dr. Osbourne, Colonel 
Petre, Mr. \V. .Vllan, and Mr. F. Hanson. 
Major Astley and Mr. Knderby were elected 
to fill tlie tw'o vacancies ooi the committee. 
The following show dates were announced: 
Spring Show. St. Andrew'’8 Hall. .Vpril 24: 
Uose Show. .Tune 2o and 2(5; and Chrysan¬ 
themum Show', November 2(>. 21, and 22. 
Reading: Gardeners' 
Association. 
At. the first regular meeting of the present 
M-^ioii there w’as almo^it a record attend¬ 
ance of meml)ers, the president occupying 
the chair. The wcasion w'as the visit of Mr. 
4 hos. Stevenson, The Hardens, Woburn 
IMace, Addlestone, the well-known sweet pea 
expert. 
Mr. .Stevencom prefaced his remarks by 
stating that ht‘ had no intention of going into 
tlie history of the .sweet pea; the history of 
the flower as w’e know it did not extend 
back for a longer period than, twenty years. 
Hi.s paper was entitled “ The Cultivation of 
Swt‘et. Peas. ” and to his subject he intended 
to iwlliere. The lecturer remarked it had 
lHH»n Hai<I that sweet peas ctnild lx> grow’ii 
on any eoiil, and with that statement he quite 
agrixHl. He liad not yet seen soil that with 
careful and generous treatment would not 
pnKluce, at any rate, pexis of really decent 
(luality. .Mr. Stevenson then gave" exhaus¬ 
tive advice as to the preparation of the 
ground and cultural details both with regard 
to autumn and spring sowing. He was an 
advocate of autumn sowing himeelf, but if 
it were not possible to sow the seeds before 
the middle of October, the better plan to 
adopt would l>e to defer the operation until 
the first week in February. Sweet peas 
would be found to come into flower more 
quickly on light soil, but they would bloom 
for a longer period on heavy land. Perhaps 
the best soil for sweet peas was something 
Iietween a light and heavy soil, and which 
might ^ descrilx^ as a fairly rich, porous 
loam with a free drainage. *Mr. Stevenson 
gave at length his opinion of the dread 
“ streak,” i^ith advice as to combating it. 
The sterilisation of the soil, position for 
planting out, watering, feeding, use of .spe¬ 
cial sweet pea manures, enemies and pe.5s 
growing under glass, a.nd many other fea¬ 
tures were ail thoroughly dealt with by Mr. 
Stevenson, who brought his remarks "to a 
clase by giving the names of twenty-four 
vanetie.s " he would not like to be without.” 
In the disciLssion following the paper, Mr 
Stevenson gave further evidence of his wide 
knowledge in the cultivation of the most 
popular of annual flowers. 
Mr. W. T. Townsend, formerly head gar¬ 
dener at Sandhurst Lodge, Berks (late Sir 
WilKam Farrer), and one of the oldest mem¬ 
bers and supporters of the association, was 
nnianimously elected a life member of the 
society. 
His son, Mr. F. Townsend, head gardener 
to the vice-president, staged a really super- 
excellent ^oup of Primula obconica, which 
wa« unanimously awarded by the judges a 
Certificate for skill in cultivation. Mr. 
H. G. Cox (Messrs. Sutton and Sons) ex¬ 
hibited some wonderful autumn-grown 
vegetables, an example of the proper man¬ 
ner in which to preserve carrots, beet, etc 
for wdnter use. ’’ 
Several new members were elected. 
ANSWERS TO 
COR RESPONDENTS, 
HOLM F.S’ M F.MORI AL CHALLENGE 
CUPS.—J. A. M., London: Can you tell me 
the nominal value of one of the Holmes’ 
Alemorial Cups ?—We believe the nominal 
value of a Holmes’ Memorial Cup is .£50. 
SCAHIOSA CAUCASICA.—iV. B., Doncas¬ 
ter: I find some difficulty in producing per¬ 
fect flowers of Scabiosa caucasica, and should 
therefore be glad if you would tell me 
whether the plant needs any special treat¬ 
ment.—Good garden soil and a sunny posi¬ 
tion will suit Scabiosa caucasica. The plant 
i.s in no .sense faddy, and if your flowers 
come imperfect it may be that the soil is 
floor, that earwigs or other pests are 
troublesome, or that you have been un¬ 
fortunate enough to obtain a very poor 
form of the species. We have a cypri- 
|>cdiiini that every year produces blooms 
in which the pouch, or lip, has a big 
indentation on one side, instead of a regu¬ 
lar inflation, but, while the plant is kept as 
curiosity, we do not condemn the species. 
Now and again a plant will develop some un¬ 
pleasant character, and if good treatment 
will not bring it into proper form, then get 
rid of it and obtain plants from a stock 
that is known to be perfect. 
CVPRIPKDIUM SEEDLING.—.C. B. W., 
Lichfield: 1 enclose a bloom of cypripediiim 
and shall W glad if you will give me your 
opinion of it. The variety was raised in tlicsc 
gardens.—The seedling is evidently a form 
oi C. Leeanum, a hybrid produced by cross¬ 
ing insigue with C. Spicerianum. Fcr 
winter flowering this is a most useful orchid 
as it is free-flowering and easily grown, 
lour variety is a moderately good one, but 
has not such a broad dorsal sepal as is found 
in the be.st forms. 
PELARGONIUMS FOR EXHIBITION.— 
G. B., Uolwyn: Very many thanks for 
answering my previous questions. I now 
take advantage of your kind offer of further 
help. The pelargoniums in question are 
zonal varieties, and I require them for exhibi. 
tion during July, chiefly at the 'begiuuing of 
the month. I have about fifty old plants in 
6in. pots, and also a lot of cuttings which 
were rooted last August, and are now in 
Jin. pots. Plants in (5iu. pots are, I believe, 
required for exhibition purposes. What 1 
really want to know now is when to stop 
piucliing the shoots and removing flower 
spikes, so as to secure a good display by the 
show time.^ If you can help me in this matter 
I shall be very greatly obliged.—You have 
good material to work with. Reduce the soil 
about the roots of the best of the old plants, 
and pot them into the smallest-sized pot that 
will conveniently hold them, and as soon as 
new root® have taken hold of the soil pot 
again, using rich, substantial soil. Encourage 
the younger plants by every possible means, 
remembering, however, that long sappy 
growths are not likely to 'be of much value. 
Pinching or stopping should cease six or 
seven weeks previous to the date of exhibi¬ 
tion. 
dying in a creosoted 
GREENHOUSE.—P. W., Norwood Park: I 
had a lean-to greenhouse built last Septem¬ 
ber, measuringr I9ft. in length, 8ft. wide, and 
9ft. high, facing south. Itie whole of the 
house was painted inside and out with creo¬ 
sote. The plants and cuttings are dying; 
as soon as the young shoots appear they 
wither up and die, as if burneci. I should 
mention the fact that the plants seem to 
w much worse since we commenced heating. 
My gardener cannot assign any reason for 
trouble, so we come to you for help._ 
I he fumes from the creosote are responsible 
tor the damage. We remember two instances 
in the south-east, of London where begonias 
pelargoniums, etc., planted out for the sum’ 
mer, were either killed off wholesale or ren¬ 
dered unsightly by the fumes from creosoted 
w'o<^ paving laid down in front of the 
prden. It is most unfortunate that you 
nad the vroodworik creosoted instead of 
good lead paint. How long it 
w ill be before the house is suitable for plant 
cultivation we cannot say, as there is 
little experience to go upon. We know 
one instance, where the interior staffinp- i 
the floor trellises were built with oreo J1 
timber, the plants were killed, and it 
not until all the woodwork so treated hail 
been removed that the house was usable fnr 
plant cultivation. It occurs to us that U 
the woodwork would take paint then th 
house might be rendered useful’ in a few 
weeks if given two or three coats of first 
class white paint; we simply offer this as ' 
suggestion. If we can obtain auv special 
information likely to prove usefiif in thi= 
matter we will commiiicate with you 
AIADAfAISON CARNATIONS.—C U 
Aberdare: Please tell me to whom we owe 
the Malmaison carnations, and where did 
this class originate?—How, when, or by whor 
the first Malmaison carnation originatol 
we do not know, but it was evideutly lahodi 
in France, and writers generally concede thar 
Souvenir de la Malmaison, one of the earliest 
forms, was thus named in honour of Mal¬ 
maison, the residence of the Empress 
Josephine, and where she had a garden. Tlijj 
is a red variety, and Old Blush, possibly the 
oldest, is blush coloured, and Princess of 
Wales, deep pink. For a long time tliese 
were the only Malmaison carnations in cul¬ 
tivation, but the late Mr. Martin R. Smith. 
LX» «xi.iw.xi, XXIIL xaif Ml. HU XV. »TU1UU. 
of Hayes, turned his attention to these 
flowers, as w'ell as to border carnations, and 
NEWS FROM HEADQUARTERS. 
A HALT AT THE PEA-PIGKING MACHINES. 
At the battery of pea-picking niachin^ 
every visitor to Raynes Park comes to a halt.^ 
Eighty-four of these wonderful machiiMS,^ 
all driv'en by electric power, are humnii 
musically from morning to night, feeding t 
deft fingers of the eighty-four operatic ^ 
with an endless stream of peas, from which 
the bad are removed, while the good 
down a chute into the sack. 
Nowhere el^ in England may these ii 
gemoiis machines be seen. They are the or' 
eighty-four in the country. Come and 
them at work. 
Each operative has absolute control of her 
machine. She may run it at varying speeds,* 
and may stop it at any point in an instani. 
She may even, regulate the flow of peas; she 
may have six in a row or sixty, or may hii^ 
the travelling " platform ” almost covered. 
The advantages of this facility of control are 
obvious: no two samples of peas are pr«^ 
cisely alike; the machine must be run »• 
lowest speed with a scantily covered platform 
for some crops of peas, whilst the more pe^ 
feet crops may need but little picking, and ; 
can therefore be passed through quickly- 
A very few moments spent watching .. 
fascinating work profoundly impresses th® i 
visitor with the almost hypercritical ca^ : 
taken by James Carter and Co. to assure 
perfection of their seeds. Surely, 
of the peas devoured by these machines wit 
the yawning mouths and insatialfle j 
might well be spared such scrutiny 
jeopardising the reputation of the 
ment; but so it is that a great r^putatio 
has been built and will be maintained at ‘ 
costs. 
The same wonderful machines are employ ^ 
for picking beans, wheat, and oats; but ju* 
now they are busy with the peas, for a 
cord demand is anticipated on account ot t 
failure of the pea crops in many parts of 
country. 
II 
JAMES CAKTER & CO.. 
Seedsmen to His Majesty the King, 
RAYNES PARK, LONDON, S. 
