May  20,  1*97. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
433 
“Journal  op  Horticulture”  Editorial  Department.— 
From  the  present  date,  and  until  further  notice,  it  is  particularly 
requested  that  all  letters  and  parcels  intended  for  the  Editor,  also  all 
communications  for  insertion  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture ,  be 
addressed  to  8,  Hose  Hill  Road,  Wandsworth,  London,  S  W.  N.B. — 
Business  letters  and  advertisements  must  be  addressed  to  the  City  Office. 
-  Weather  in  London. — The  latter  part  of  the  week  ending 
-on  the  15th  inst.  was  characterised  by  int-nsely  cold  winds  that  did  much 
to  retard  vegetation  of  all  kinds.  Sunday  brought  a  change  to  warmer 
weather,  with  a  short  shower.  Monday  and  Tuesday  were  brilliantly 
fine,  and  the  sun  was  very  powerful.  Wednesday  was  cooler,  but  fine. 
-  Weather  in  the  North  — Up  till  Thursday,  13th  inst.,  when 
frost  were  recorded,  the  weather  continued  cold  and  ungenial.  A 
change  then  took  place.  Friday  was  dull  but  milder,  and  Saturday 
pleasant.  Although  the  wind  has  been  in  the  east  bright  sunshine  has  since 
prevailed,  and  vegetation  is  advancing  rapidly. — B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire . 
-  The  Temple  Show — For  the  tenth  time  the  Royal  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society  will  hold  its  great  annual  flower  show  in  the  Inner 
Temple  Gardens  on  May  26th,  27th,  and  28th.  There  is  sure  to  be  a 
marvellous  display,  judging  from  the  very  large  number  of  entries  which 
have  been  received,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  some  of  the 
exhibitors  will  show  something  original  this  year  in  the  way  of  dis¬ 
playing  their  plants.  The  Judges  will  meet  in  the  Secretary’s  tent  at 
10  30  A  M.;  the  Fruit,  Floral,  and  Orchid  Committees  will  assemble  at 
11  AM.,  and  the  show  will  open  to  the  public  at  12  30  P.M.  An 
interesting  feature  of  the  catalogue  will  be  an  article  on  the  “  Royal 
Horticultural  Society  ”  from  the  pen  of  the  President,  Sir  Trevor 
Lawrence,  Bart.  P.S. — Owing  to  the  great  pressure  upon  the  Society’s 
officials,  plants  for  certificate  cannot  be  entered  on  the  morning  of  the 
show. 
-  Longford  Hall  Cucumber. — The  raiser  of  this  variety, 
Mr.  Barkham,  Longford  Gardens,  Isle  of  Wight,  was  doubtless  much 
disappointed  that  his  Cucumber  samples  of  some  forty-eight  fruits, 
shown  at  the  Drill  Hall  on  the  11th  inst.,  met  with  no  recognition  at 
the  hands  of  the  Fruit  Committee,  especially  after  the  same  variety 
had  but  a  few  days  previously  been  at  Ryde  awarded  a  first-class 
certificate.  Possibly  Mr.  Barkham  was,  because  of  that  award,  induced 
to  take  so  many  fruits  to  London  on  the  11th  ;  but  the  samples,  though 
apparently  thought  much  of  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  were,  as  shown  at 
the  Drill  Hall,  a  long  way  below  London  mark.  Really,  they  were  of 
the  kind  seen  plentifully  enough  some  twenty  to  thirty  years  ago,  but 
have  a  long  time  been  displaced  by  other  examples.  Country  societies 
may  not  know  this,  and  therefore  leap  hastily  to  conclusions.  That  the 
variety  is  a  good  cropper  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  so  also  are  many 
others  that  produce  fruits  greatly  superior  in  appearance. — A.  D. 
-  Horticultural  Club. — The  usual  monthly  dinner  and 
-conversazione  took  place  on  Tuesday  last.  The  chair  was  occupied  by 
Sir  J.  T.  D.  Llewelyn,  M.P.,  and  there  was  a  good  attendance  of 
members.  A  paper  was  read  by  Mr,  Geo.  Paul  on  the  subject  of 
Amaryllis.  He  entered  at  some  length  into  their  history  and  method  of 
cultivation.  He  questioned  whether  a  mistake  had  not  been  made  in 
endeavouring  to  get  the  broad  form  of  flower  instead  of  the  long  tubular 
form  of  Lilium  longiflorum,  and  thought  perhaps  something  might  still 
be  done  in  that  direction.  Their  slowness  of  increase  militated  against 
their  more  general  cultivation.  An  interesting  discussion  followed,  in 
which  many  of  the  members  present  participated.  Considerable  surprise 
was  evinced  at  the  statement  of  the  Secretary,  that  he  had  had  the 
hybrids  of  vittata  raised  by  the  late  M.  Souchet  growing  and  flowering 
in  the  open  air  for  the  last  twelve  months  ;  they  were  planted  in  the 
same  situation  as  Amaryllis  Belladonna,  in  a  border  in  front  of  the 
greenhouse  facing  south,  and  passed  through  the  severe  winters  which 
we  have  bad  lately  without  injury.  A  cordial  vote  of  thanks  was 
proposed  by  Sir  John  Llewelyn  to  Mr.  Paul  for  his  valuable  and 
interesting  paper,  and  was  carried  with  acclamation.  We  hope  to  give 
the  paper  in  a  future  issue. 
-  The  Victorian  Era  Fund. —  Mr.  R.  G.  Waterman,  Secretary 
and  Treasurer  of  the  Mutual  Improvement  Society,  Woolton,  Liverpool 
writes : — “  The  Committee  of  the  Liverpool  Horticultural  Association 
has  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Woolton  Society  space  at  the  forth¬ 
coming  Exhibition  at  Sefton  Park,  to  be  held  on  July  31st  and  August 
2nd,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  a  stall  for  the  sale  of  plants,  fruits, 
and  flowers  in  aid  of  the  above  Fund.  Could  not  this  suggestion  be 
generally  followed  at  horticultural  exhibitions  and  Rose  shows  through¬ 
out  the  country  ?  This  would  prove  the  means  of  adding  materially  to 
the  Fund,  at  the  same  time  adding  to  the  pleasure  of  the  visitors  to 
flower  shows,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  large  towns.” 
-  The  Royal  Kew  Fumigating  Compound.— By  the  use  of 
the  above  compound  for  destroying  various  kinds  of  insect  pests  on 
plants  and  trees,  both  labour  and  expense  have  been  reduced  to  a 
minimum.  The  old-fashioned  way  of  fumigating  with  tobacco  paper 
two  or  three  times  in  succession  to  destroy  such  insects  as  green  fly  or 
thrips,  is  now  with  me  a  thing  of  the  past.  There  is  no  injury  to  foliage 
or  delicate  blooms,  such  as  Calceolarias,  or  Cinerarias,  or  Orchids,  and 
all  may  be  kept  perfectly  clean  after  using  the  compound.  I  fiad  on 
referring  to  past  accounts  for  fumigating  material  the  cost  is  less  than 
half  what  it  used  to  be.  We  are  indebted  to  Messrs.  Timothy  and 
Sandwith  of  Bracknell  for  advertising  this  mo3t  valuable  article,  which 
I  find  does  all  that  the  proprietors  claim  for  it.  —  F.  J.  Thorne, 
Sunningdale  Park, 
-  Seedling  ViolAc! — Some  time  ago  an  article  appeared  in 
this  paper  advocating  seedling  Violas  in  preference  to  named  varieties 
for  bedding  purposes,  one  of  the  principal  reasons  advanced  in  their 
favour  being  earliness  to  flower,  and  further  that  they  would  invariably 
come  true  from  seed.  Having  grown  Violas  by  the  thousand,  both 
named  and  seedlings,  I  doubted  the  assertion  at  the  time,  but  preferred 
to  wait  the  flowering  of  a  large  number  of  seedlings  this  season  before 
carrying  the  question  further.  So  far  as  my  experience  is  concerned, 
my  previous  opinions  are  fully  confirmed.  A  recent  visit  to  the  charming 
public  gardens  of  Guildford  Castle  still  further  proves  that  seedlings 
cannot  be  relied  upon  to  produce  a  good  uniform  display  of  colour.  A 
large  bed  containing  several  hundred  plants  is  in  full  flower  near  the 
entrance.  From  a  distance  the  effect  is  undeniably  charming,  but  on 
coming  closer  the  pleasing  appearance  is  very  much  marred.  Plants  of 
many  different  habits  in  growth,  flowers  of  all  forms  and  colours,  such  as 
would  turn  a  florist  away  in  disgust,  and  out  of  the  entire  bed  there 
Was  Only  one  plant  which  would  pass  as  a  decent  bedding  Viola.  Is  such 
a  result  desirable  ?  and  what  a  contrast  a  bed  of  one  or  two  named  forms, 
such  as  Blue  Gown,  Sylvia,  Ardwell  Gem,  Goldfinch,  or  White  Duchess, 
would  present.  In  conclusion  let  me  say  a  word  of  praise  for  the  skilful 
and  courteous  superintendent,  Mr.  Saunders.  The  general  neatness  of 
the  grounds  and  surpassing  quality  of  other  spring  flowering  plants  at 
once  dispel  any  doubts  about  cultural  skill  being  wanting  in  the  Violas. 
It  is  too  evident  that  seedlings  are  not  the  best  for  his  purpose. — 
M.  Baxter,  Woking. 
-  The  Crystal  Palace  Fruit  Show.— That  it  should  be 
needful  for  the  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  to  make  so 
strong  an  appeal  for  subscriptions  to  the  customary  £100  guarantee 
towards  this  great  Fruit  Show  is  essentially  painful,  yet  apparently  it  is 
unavoidable.  The  demands  made  on  every  hand  this  year  for  pecuniary 
help,  the  wholesale  begging  and  cadging  that  under  the  guise  of  long 
reign  commemorations  is  being  resorted  to  in  every  direction,  is  beyond 
all  precedent,  and  is  doing  much  to  cut  the  throat  of  true  charitable 
inclinations  and  objects.  That  fact,  no  doubt,  renders  the  getting  in  of 
ordinary  subscriptions  to  useful  and  legitimate  objects  exceedingly 
difficult,  and  in  many  cases  impossible.  In  the  case  in  question,  whilst 
something  is  asked  for  the  promotion  of  national  fruit  culture,  surely 
a  patriotic  object,  very  much  is  offered  to  every  subscriber  in  the  shape 
of  a  splendid  show,  whilst  to  a  large  number  there  is  the  prospect  of 
a  good  return  being  made  in  the  form  of  tangible  prizes.  For  this  latter 
reason  both  previous  and  intending  competitors  should  contribute  some¬ 
thing.  Then  the  Fellows  of  the  Society,  some  3000  in  number,  all  of 
whom  can  see  the  Show  without  charge,  might  contribute  something,  if 
but  small  sums.  Very  large  numbers  of  these  will  turn  up  at  the 
Temple  Show.  Why  not  put  up  in  prominent  places  collecting  boxes, 
labelled  “  Silver  collection  for  the  Crystal  Palace  Fruit  Show  Fund  ?  ” 
Possibly  a  good  round  sum  may  be  obtained  in  that  way.  It  is  not 
every  one  who  can  give  a  guinea,  but  thousands  might  give  shillings 
and  half-crowns.  The  comparatively  small  balance  left  after  meeting 
last  year’s  expenses  hardly  justifies  the  Society  in  holding  the  bruit 
Show  minus  the  required  pecuniary  guarantee. — D. 
