576 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  19, 1895. 
-  Chattebton’s  Poem  on  “  Kew  Gabdens.” — We  learn  that 
the  authenticated  manuscript  was  sold  by  auction  at  Bristol  a  few  days 
ago,  when  it  was  purchased  for  £70  by  Mr,  Barker,  Chairman  of  the 
Bristol  Libraries  Committee,  who  bought  it  for  the  city. 
-  Gakdening  Appointments.— Mr.  Thomas  Pritchard,  late 
gardener  to  the  Countess  of  Selkirk,  Balmae,  Kirkcudbright,  has  been 
appointed  head  gardener  to  J.  G.  Muckrie,  Esq.,  Auchencairn  House, 
Castle  Douglas,  N.B.  Mr.  Arthur  Metcalfe,  who  for  nearly  two  years 
acted  as  general  foreman  for  the  late  Mr.  Richard  Gilbert,  has  been 
appointed  to  succeed  Mr.  Gilbert  as  head  gardener  to  the  Marquis  of 
Exeter,  Burghley,  Stamford. 
-  A  Hint?  fob  Cheistmas  Decoeatoes.  —  For  light  effective 
decoration  nothing  is  prettier  than  sprays  of  Ivy  carefully  removed 
from  tree  trunks  with  a  sharp  knife,  put  round  the  frames  of 
mirrors  or  pictures,  just  made  secure  with  a  large  pin.  Ivy  furnishes 
a  charming  decoration.  It  is  well  to  follow  Nature,  and  arrange  the 
sprays  upwards  instead  of  hanging  down  from  a  mass  of  evergreen  piled 
at  the  top  of  the  frame. — The  Missus. 
-  The  Hessle  Gaedenees’  Mutual  Impeovement  Society 
— At  a  meeting  of  the  above  Society,  held  December  10th  (Mr.  Chas. 
Lawton,  The  Gardens,  Welton  House,  in  the  chair),  a  paper  was  read 
on  “The  Cultivation  of  Melons”  by  Mr.  M.  Skinner,  The  Gardens. 
Swanland  Manor.  In  commencing  the  essayist  remarked  that  in  too 
many  instances  the  quality  of  Melons  is  sacrificed  to  outward  appear¬ 
ance,  the  smaller  and  more  common-looking  fruits  as  a  rule  being  of 
superior  flavour  to  those  of  a  handsome  appearance.  Mr.  Skinner  went 
on  to  describe  their  culture  from  seed  sowing  to  their  arriving  at  a 
state  of  perfection,  entering  into  all  the  details  in  a  most  practical  way. 
A  good  discussion  followed.  Votes  of  thanks  to  the  essayist  and 
Chairman  concluded  one  of  the  best  attended  meetings  of  the  session. 
— F.  L.  T. 
-  Pboposed  Palm  House  at  Batteesea  Paek. — The  Parks 
and  Open  Spaces  Committee  recommended  :  “  That,  subject  to  an 
estimate  being  submitted  to  the  Council  by  the  Finance  Committee 
as  required  by  the  statute,  the  Council  do  authorise  an  expenditure  of 
£2000  for  the  erection  of  a  Palm  house  at  Battersea  Park,  in  accordance 
with  the  design  prepared  by  the  architect,  and  that  inasmuch  as  the 
Chairman  or  the  Works  Committee  is  of  opinion  that  the  work  is  one 
which  the  Works  Department  is  not  in  a  position  to  execute  with 
special  advantage  to  the  Council,  the  Committee  be  authorised  to  invite 
tenders.”  Mr.  Beachcroft  moved  as  an  amendment  :  “  That  the  Council, 
having  regard  to  the  increasing  demands  upon  it  in  regard  to  open 
spaces  both  on  capital  and  maintenance  accounts,  is  uot  prepared  to 
undertake  the  cost  of  erecting  a  Palm  house  at  Battersea  Park.” 
Colonel  Rotton  seconded  the  amendment,  which  was  carried  by  seventy 
votes  to  twenty-eight. 
-  Wholesale  Destbuction  of  Plants — At  the  North 
London  Police-court,  Arthur  Smith,  thirty-one,  gardener,  of  Willow 
Cottage,  Spring  Lane,  Clapton,  was  charged  on  remand,  before  Mr.  Paul 
Taylor,  with  maliciously  damaging  and  destroying  the  contents  of  seven 
large  hothouses  at  the  house  of  Captain  David  Gibbs,  Springfield, 
Clapton,  on  the  early  morning  of  Sunday  last.  The  damage  done  has  been 
estimated  at  the  actual  cost  of  £150.  There  was  a  further  charge  against 
the  accused  of  stealing  a  coat,  value  2s.  6d.,  the  property  of  the 
gardener,  Frank  Woolmington.  The  evidence  went  to  show  that  the 
prisoner  had  been  for  two  years  in  the  service  of  Captain  Gibbs  as 
gardener.  He  left  five  months  ago,  and  since  then  he  had  not  been  able 
to  get  employment  because  Captain  Gibbs  was  unable  to  give  him  a 
character  for  sobriety.  On  Sunday  morning  the  gardener  at  Springfield 
found  that  the  grounds  had  been  entered,  and  that  the  contents  of  seven 
out  of  the  nine  hothouses  had  been  wholly  destroyed.  Vines  which  had 
been  growing  many  years,  and  Orange  Trees,  Peach  trees,  and  climbing 
exotic  plants  had  been  clean  cut  through  at  the  roots  ;  banks  of  Ferns 
and  boxes  of  bedding-out  cuttings,  hundreds  of  feet  in  length,  had  been 
mown  down,  apparently  with  a  large  knife  ;  and  hundreds  of  valuable 
Orchids  had  been  smashed  and  rammed  into  a  tab  ;  in  fact,  not  a  single 
growing  plant  had  been  left  alive  in  the  seven  houses,  which  cover  an 
area  of  over  3000  square  feet.  The  police  described  the  state  of  the 
houses  as  a  heartrending  sight.  It  was  found  that  the  footprints  on  the 
soft  ground  corresponded  with  the  prisoner’s  boots,  and  the  gardener’s 
coat,  which  'was  missed  from  a  house  which  contained  no  plants,  was 
found  in  the  prisoner’s  house.  Mr.  Paul  Taylor  sentenced  the  prisoner  to 
a  month’s  hard  labour  for  stealing  the  coat,  and  to  three  months’  hard 
labour  for  the  damage  to  the  plants — four  months  in  all. 
-  Dobbie’s  Victoeia  Kale. — We  are  desired  to  state  that  the 
Selected  Curled  Kale,  for  which  an  award  of  merit  was  granted  at  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  meeting  last  week,  will  be  distributed  by 
Messrs.  Dobbie  &  Co.  under  the  name  at  the  head  of  this  note — a  good 
name,  as  will  be  admitted,  while  those  who  saw  the  specimens  will  agree 
that  it  is  deserved. 
-  Ceop  of  Cider  Apples. — A  correspondent  in  Gloucestershire 
writes  to  the  “  Kew  Bulletin  ”  : — Cider  Apples  are  so  abundant  here 
that  they  fetch  only  Is.  a  sack.  Eight  sacks  make  100  gallons  of  cider,, 
therefore  Is.  will  produce  about  12  gallons  of  cider,  or  Id.  a  gallon. 
Double  this  for  making,  casks,  and  profit,  and  you  arrive  at  ^d.  per 
quart.  There  is  a  lot  of  drinking  in  store  for  those  who  require  it. 
-  Messes.  Caeteb  &  Co.’s  Annual  Concert. — On  Saturday 
last  the  employes  of  Messrs.  James  Carter  &  Co.,  High  Holborn,  London,, 
held  their  annual  soiree  at  Bloomsbury  Hall.  A  most  enjoyable 
evening  was  spent,  the  attendance  being  larger  than  on  any  former 
occasion.  Songs  both  humorous  and  otherwise  were  rendered  in 
excellent  style  by  various  members  of  the  staff,  as  were  also  several 
pianoforte  solos.  The  dancing  was  vigorous  and  well  maintained  during 
the  evening. 
-  POETEY  and  Truth. — I  do  not  know  whether  the  atmosphere 
of  the  Emerald  Isle  of  necessity  promotes  contentiousness,  which  looks 
like  anger,  although  public  events  seem  to  indicate  such  is  the  case. 
It  is  only  on  that  basis  I  can  understand  thb  bitter  attack  which  Mr. 
Burbidge  has  made  on  my  criticisms,  not  at  all  ill-natured,  of  some- 
observations  which  were  made  by  Mr.  D.  T.  Fish.  What  proved  to  be 
a  veritable  red  rag  in  Dublin,  was  practically  regarded  as  a  white 
handkerchief  in  Bury  St.  Edmunds.  To  my  good  friend  Mr.  D.  T.  Fish 
I  offer  every  apology  if  he  feels  hurt  ;  but  if'  he  does,  he  has  shown 
himself  too  good  a  gentleman  to  display  it  to  all  the  world.  Probably 
I  am  one  of  the  severely  practical  sort,  who  fails  to  find  in  poetry  much 
that  is  in  the  common  work  of  life  useful,  and  also  who  has  found  in  it 
similies  or  metaphors  beautiful,  as  I  said,  and  employed  in  that  way,, 
but  yet  not  true.  We  live  in  severely  practical  days,  when  even 
metaphors  must  bear  the  test  of  criticism.  It  was  because  I  object  ta 
possibly  misleading  illustrations  that  I  criticised  the  reference  to  the 
generation  of  water  through  leafage,  and  the  manufacture  of  drinks 
through  embryos.  This  sort  of  thing  is  very  like  the  philosopher’s 
assertion,  that  the  black  material  which  fills  our  scuttles  was  not  coal. 
It  was  the  bottled-up  sunshine  of  thousands  of  years  past.  That  is  all 
very  pretty,  and  has  in  it  a  modicum  of  truth  ;  but  the  practical  man,, 
whose  soul  is  not  poetical,  calls  it  coal  all  the  same,  and  coal  it  is. — A.  D. 
- Scottish  Pansy  and  Viola  Association.  —  The  general 
meeting  of  this  Association  was  recently  held  in  Glasgow.  The 
President,  Mr.  W.  Cuthbertson,  presiding.  The  reports  of  the  Treasurer 
and  Secretary  for  1895  were  read  and  adopted,  and  the  retiring  office¬ 
bearers  were  specially  thanked  for  their  services.  The  following  officials 
were  appointed  for  1896  : — President,  Mr.  W.  Cuthbertson,  Rothesay  j 
Vice-Presidents,  Mr.  John  Baxter,  Daldowie,  and  Mr.  John  Stewart, 
Lennoxtown  ;  Treasurer,  Mr.  James  Robertson,  Carluke ;  Secretary, 
Mr.  John  Smellie,  Bushby.  The  rules  were  revised,  and  a  few  slight 
alterations  made,  the  principal  one  being  on  No.  4,  instead  of  one 
Committee  of  seven  judges  to  examine  all  flowers  that  two  Committees 
of  five  be  appointed,  one  for  Pansies  and  one  for  Violas.  Over  300 
varieties  welre  staged  at  some  of  the  meetings  in  1895,  and  it  therefore 
took  the  Committee  a  long  time  to  go  over  them  all.  The  appointment 
of  two  Committees  should  greatly  facilitate  the  judging,  and  give  more 
time  to  the  members  to  examine  the  exhibits.  After  business  the 
members  partook  of  a  substantial  tea,  and  a  very  enjoyable  evening  was 
spent.  The  following  is  a  full  list  of  the  certificates  awarded  by  this 
Society  in  1895.  First-class  certificates  to  Fancy  Pansies  Mr.  Toots, 
A.  Struthers,  Col.  M.  R.  G.  Buchanan,  Mrs.  W.  Steele,  Sir  John  Watson, 
Jeannie  R.  Kerr,  and  Frank.  Certificates  of  merit  to  Fancy  Pansies 
Mrs.  Gamp,  The  Barron,  Lady  M.  Hozier,  Mary  Bennett,  Jessie  Gillespie, 
Alex.  Lister,  John  Mackie,  James  Smellie,  Maggie  Goodlet,  Mrs.  Robert 
Stewart,  John  Jackson,  Lord  Salisbury,  Geo.  Sproul,  Willie  Park,  Mrs. 
R.  G.  Moir,  Jas.  Stewart,  Alice  Lister,  Liz.  Barron,  Miss  Blair,  Bessie, 
Mary  Bain,  Miss  E.  C.  Melven,  John  Crawford,  Mrs.  Jas.  Muir,  and 
Jennie  B.  Smith.  First-class  certificates  to  Violas  Fortuna,  Ganyowen, 
Jessie  Pretswell,  and  W.  Haig.  Certificates  of  merit  to  Violas  Sunray, 
Nellie,  Mrs.  W.  Haig,  A.  J.  Rowberry,  Amy  Barr,  Pickle,  Lady  Reay, 
Hamlet,  Zebra,  Maria,  Ag.  Harris,  Katrina,  Aroon,  Crime  de  la  Creme, 
Hobhill  Gem,  Liz.  Barror;,  Princess  Ida,  Pollokwood,  Dandie  Dinmont, 
Bella  Duncan,  Mrs.  R.  K.  Mitchell,  and  Duke  of  York. 
