246 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  12, 1895. 
daily  in  bright  weather.  Loam  three  parts,  leaf  soil  one  part, 
and  well-decayed  manure  one  part,  form  a  compost  in  which  all 
kinds  of  Veronicas  thrive. 
Although  Yuccas  are  perhaps  not  plants  that  require  to  be 
grown  largely,  a  few  specimens  are  always  attractive  and  useful 
for  flower  garden  embellishment,  if  for  no  other  purpose.  Y.  aloi- 
folia  variegata  and  Y.  filamentosa  variegata  are  two  of  the  best 
species  to  grow.  A  rather  poor  soil,  with  a  good  amount  of  lime 
rubble  or  charcoal  to  keep  it  open,  should  be  employed  for  these 
plants.  In  addition  to  the  plants  and  shrubs  I  have  already 
enumerated,  there  are  many  hardy  ones  so  attractive  in  appearance 
as  to  render  them  worthy  of  being  largely  grown  in  pots.  Some  of 
the  best  of  these  are  Euonymus  japonicus  variegatus  and  radicans 
variegata.  Golden  Privet,  Maples  in  great  variety.  Vinca  major 
elegantissima.  This  latter  is  not  nearly  so  much  grown  in  pot«  as 
it  should  be,  for  I  know  of  no  other  variegated  plant  which 
produces  such  a  graceful  drapery  for  pedestals  on  which  Palms  are 
arranged.  Numbers  of  plants  may  be  quickly  raised  by  notching 
long  shoots  at  intervals  and  then  pegging  them  into  light  soil. 
Dactylis  glomerata  variegata,  a  pretty  perennial  Grass  so  largely 
used  for  bedding  purposes,  is  by  no  means  to  be  despised  for  pot 
work,  as  it  is  easily  and  quickly  grown,  and  forms  a  fitting  com¬ 
panion  for  Isolepis  gracilis  when  finishing  off  the  edges  of  groups 
and  stands.  Early  in  the  spring  I  usually  take  up  and  divide  a 
good  number,  then  plant  the  divisions  in  the  open  ground  in  rows 
a  foot  apart.  At  the  same  time  some  are  established  in  3-inch 
pots  ;  in  about  a  couple  of  months  these  are  ready  for  use.  Those 
in  the  open  ground  are  then  lifted  at  intervals  and  potted,  always 
taking  the  precaution  to  do  this  a  few  weeks  before  the  plants  are 
required  for  use. 
Last  spring  as  I  was  one  day  admiring  some  fine  clumps  of  the 
old  Bibbon  Grass,  often  known  as  the  Gardener’s  Garter  (Phalaris 
arundinacea  variegata)  it  struck  me  that  it  would  prove  extremely 
useful  for  growing  in  pots.  A  trial  was  given  it  by  lifting  clumps 
when  they  had  made  a  few  inches  of  growth.  It  proved  to  be  such 
a  “  happy  thought  ”  that  in  the  future  this  fine  old  Grass  will  be 
regularly  grown  in  this  way. 
In  concluding  my  notes  on  this  subject  I  would  feign  believe 
that  they  will  prove  useful  to  many  who  are  often  driven  to  their 
wit’s  end  to  provide  pretty  and  varied  plant  arrangements  through¬ 
out  the  year,  when  they  have  a  rather  scanty  supply  of  flowering 
plants.  And  to  those  who  are  fortunate  in  having  abundance  of 
the  latter  at  all  times  I  will  add.  See  that  ye  do  not  under-estimate 
the  importance  of  variegated  plants. — Plantsman. 
A  WELL  MANAGED  GARDEN. 
Apples  in  abundance  seems  to  be  the  order  of  the  day  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  but  though  the  crops  are  heavy 
everywhere,  the  quality  of  the  fruit  varies  considerably,  and  high  cul¬ 
ture  will  this  year  clearly  show  its  advantages,  as  it  always  has  done 
and  ever  will  do.  These  thoughts  rose  instinctively  in  my  mind  during 
a  recent  visit  to  The  Lawn  Gardens,  Warwick,  where  Mr.  Simpson,  the 
able  and  energetic  head  gardener,  manages  to  grow  the  many  things 
under  his  charge  exceedingly  well. 
The  orchard  was  well  stocked  with  clean,  healthy  standards  ;  these, 
almost  without  exception,  were  heavily  ladened  with  fine  fruit.  Two 
trees  in  particular  presented  a  sight  long  to  be  remembered  ;  one  was 
the  comparatively  little  grown  Melon  Apple,  which  was  carrying  an 
extraordinary  crop  of  even-sized,  clean  fruits,  the  other  being  that  well- 
known  variety,  Worcester  Pearmain,  bending  as  the  branches  were 
with  the  weight  of  fruit,  they  appeared  in  the  distance  like  so  many 
wreaths  of  brilliant  red. 
Passing  on  to  several  rows  of  espaliers  we  make  a  close  inspection 
of  numbers  of  grand  Apples,  large  for  their  respective  varieties,  clear 
in  skin  and  perfect  in  form,  in  fact  such  specimens  as  exhibitors  strive 
for  but  do  not  always  obtain.  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin,  Scarlet  Nonpareil, 
Eeinette  de  Canada,  Blenheim  Orange,  Werder’s  Beinette,  were  all  of 
exceptional  excellence.  I  might  give  a  very  long  list  of  varieties  to  be 
seen  here  in  good  condition,  but  instead  I  have  selected  only  those 
which,  by  their  great  superiority,  betokened  culture  of  commanding 
excellence. 
One  point  in  their  management,  upon  which  Mr.  Simpson  lays  great 
stress,  is  pruning  while  the  leaves  are  still  green.  This  operation  is  here 
performed  as  soon  as  the  fruit  is  gathered,  so  that  the  remaining  shoots 
and  spurs  may  by  full  exposure  become  thoroughly  ripened.  No  long 
ugly  spurs  are  seen  on  these  espaliers,  as  proper  attention  to  shortening 
and  thinning  is  given  annually ;  that  the  labour  thus  spent  is  well  repaid 
is  amply  demonstrated  by  the  good  results  invariably  obtained. 
In  the  vineries  heavy  crops  of  fine  Grapes,  finishing  splendidly,  show 
that  their  culture  is  thoroughly  understood.  In  the  frame  ground 
several  hundreds  of  Chrysanthemums  give  promise  of  affording  an 
abundance  of  bloom  during  the  dull  months  of  autumn.  The  plants 
are  not  confined  to  one  method  of  culture,  as  both  large  and  small 
blooms  are  required  for  various  purposes  ;  specimen  plants,  others  for 
supplying  armfuls  of  cut  flowers,  and  some  for  showing  the  size  to  which 
blooms  of  the  autumn  queen  can  be  grown,  are  each  cherished  for  their 
respective  merits.  Planted  out  in  a  border  near  by  is  a  large  number  of 
early  varieties,  such  as  Madame  Desgrange,  Pr6cocit4,  Flora,  and  Soeur 
Melaine.  These  are  now  affording  abundance  of  flowers  for  arranging  in 
vases.  Any  lover  of  Chrysanthemums  must  delight  in  inspecting  a 
collection  thus  well  represented,  and  I  venture  to  say  that  the  greater 
the  variety  of  forms  in  which  these  indispensable  flowers  are  grown, 
the  greater  will  be  the  amount  of  pleasure  derived  from  them.  This, 
too,  seems  to  be  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Simpson  and  his  employer, 
W.  Smythe,  Esq. — H.  D. 
THE  WAKEFIELD  PAXTON  SOCIETY. 
Me.  T.  Gaenett’s  Expulsion. 
On  page  152,  August  loth,  Mr.  G.  W.  Fallas,  the  Honorary  Secretary 
of  the  above  Society,  stated  that  Mr.  T.  Garnett,  who  was  for  many 
years  an  active  and  respected  member  of  this  Society,  and  formerly 
one  of  its  Secretaries,  had  been  formally  “  expelled  from  the  Society,” 
because  he  was  the  assumed  writer  of  a  letter  in  a  local  paper,  and  because 
he  would  not  formally  deny  its  authorship.  We  have  only  to  remark  on 
this  that  it  is  not  customary  to  convict  on  either  assumptive  or  negative 
evidence  in  England,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  Paxtonian 
judges  could  have  had  positive  evidence  at  the  time  of  the  trial  and 
expulsion  of  a  member  in  his  absence  ;  in  fact  Mr.  Fallas  stated  in  his 
communication  referred  to,  that  the  case  was  proved  by  “  subsequent 
letters.” 
As  intimated  on  page  176,  August  22nd,  we  said  if  Mr.  Garnett 
would  send  us  a  copy  of  the  balance-sheet  of  the  Society  we  would,  if 
necessary,  make  inquiries  on  certain  points  at  issue  on  matters  of  more 
than  local  importance.  Mr.  Garnett  has  sent  the  sheets.  In  the  state¬ 
ment  of  accounts  for  1893-4  we  find  “  Subscription  of  £1  to  the  Gar¬ 
deners’  Orphan  Fund  ;  donation  to  ditto  and  to  Benevolent  Fund, 
£8  Is.  7d.”  In  the  balance-sheet  of  1895  we  find  £1  credited  to  the 
Gardeners’  Orphanage. 
Having  seen  a  letter  from  Mr.  Ingram,  Secretary  to  the  Royal  Gar¬ 
deners’  Benevolent  Institution,  stating  that  he  has  “  never  received  a 
donation  from  the  Wakefield  Paxton  Society,”  we  wrote  to  Wakefield  on 
the  subject.  The  reply  amounts  to  an  admission  that  the  published 
balance  sheet  is  inaccurate.  The  explanation  is  that  the  donations  to 
the  two  Institutions  were  entered  in  the  accounts  by  a  resolution  passed 
by  the  Committee  that  whatever  was  realised  from  the  sale  of  flowers 
should  be  “  equally  divided  between  those  Institutions.” 
The  amount  stated  as  having  been  realised  is  entered  in  the  1893-4 
balance  £8  Is.  7d.  We]are  informed  that  it  was  then  decided  to  send  £5 
to  the  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund,  together  with  £5  that  was  set  aside 
for  the  Fund  in  the  balance-sheet  of  1893,  making  £10.  This  was  done, 
and  a  letter  from  Mr.  A.  F.  Barron  states  that  he  received  it  on  October 
4  th,  with  an  intimation  that  it  be  entered  to  the  names  of  (Mr.  G.  W. 
Fallas  and  Mr.  W.  Blackburn  as  life  members.  The  balance  of  £3  Is.  7d. 
from  the  £8  Is.  7d,  is  brought  forward  in  the  financial  statement  of 
the  present  year. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  £10  was  not  “  equally  divided  between  the 
two  Institutions,”  and  it  is  equally  obvious  that  the  balance-sheets  do 
not  accurately  represent  the  facts  of  the  transactions,  and  therefore 
Mr.  Garnett,  or  anyone  else,  would  be  justified  in  referring  to  a  published 
statement  on  an  essentially  public  matter  in  a  newspaper,  anonymously 
or  otherwise.  The  Committee  no  doubt  did  what  was  thought  to  be 
right  under  the  circumstances,  and  it  may  be  presumed  that  the 
£3  Is.  7d.  forms  the  nucleus  of  a  grant  to  the  Gardeners’  Royal 
Benevolent  Institution,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  next  sale  of  flowers 
will  be  a  good  one. 
Having  published  the  statement  of  Mr.  Garnett’s  expulsion,  he  is 
fully  entitled  to  have  the  facts  of  the  case  explained ;  and  now  having 
also  learned  from  him  that  be  regards  his  removal  as  a  compliment,  it 
only  remains  for  us  to  say  that  we  shall  publish  no  recriminatory 
matter  from  one  side  or  the  other  bearing  on  the  subject. 
JUDGES’  DUTIES. 
I  AM  very  well  content  to  find  my  suggestions  as  to  what  judges 
should  do  in  regard  to  possible  disqualifications  of  exhibitors  in  trivial 
cases  severely  criticised.  I  fear,  however,  I  am  too  strongly  imbued 
with  my  ideas  as  to  what  should  be  done  in  such  cases  to  alter  my  prac¬ 
tice.  We  are  constantly  being  told  to  be  just  before  being  generous. 
I  like  to  temper  justice  with  mercy,  and  that  is  my  practice.  Only  the 
other  day  at  a  large  provincial  show  I  came  across  a  class  for  six  vege¬ 
tables  where  the  exhibitor  of  a  long  way  the  best  produce  had,  under 
the  nervous  excitement  of  the  moment  of  staging,  put  in  seven.  My 
fellow  judge,  a  first-class  man,  and  the  Secretary  both  agreed  that  it  was  an 
unintentional  error,  and  also  that  to  save  from  disqualification,  a  pain¬ 
ful  punishment  which  some  critics  apparently  would  have  revelled  in, 
one  of  the  vegetables  was  removed.  I  glory  in  having  done  this  act  of 
mercy.  I  remember  a  few  years  ago  when  a  great  competition  in 
vegetables  was  taking  place  in  London,  that  in  one  case  the  garden 
labourer  sent  in  charge  of  the  exhibits  set  up  thirteen  instead  of  twelve 
kinds.  If  I  had  been  one  of  the  hard-and-fast  “just”  sort  I  should 
have  allowed  the  poor  man  and  the  exhibitor  who  sent  him  to  have  been 
disqualified.  So  far  from  that  being  the  case,  seeing  it  just  in  time,  I 
called  the  man  back  and  told  him  of  his  error.  I  do  not  know  now 
whether  he  won  or  not,  As  to  the  Parsley  addition,  to  which 
