July  14,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
27- 
Weather  in  London. —  Sandwiched  between  the  hot  weather 
of  Thursday  and  Friday  and  Tuesday  we  have  had  three  very  cold  days. 
On  Sunday  it  was  dull  and  the  wind  sharp,  and  the  same  conditions 
prevailed  until  Monday  evening,  when  it  turned  much  warmer.  At  the 
time  of  going  to  press  on  Wednesday  it  was  bright  and  warm  after  a  light 
shower  in  the  early  morning. 
-  Newcastle  Show. — The  summer  show  of  the  old-established 
Newcastle  society  opened  to-day  (Wednesday),  and  will  continue  over 
the  two  following  days.  This  season  the  show,  which  is  extensive 
and  diversified,  has  been  visited  by  a  deputation  of  the  Royal  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society,  comprising  Sir  Trevor  Lawrence,  Bart.,  President  of  the 
Society  ;  Fh.  Crowley,  Esq.,  F.L.S.,  F.Z.S.,  Treasurer  of  the  Society  ; 
Thos.  Statter,  Esq.,  member  of  Council  ;  Chas.  E.  Shea,  Esq.,  member  of 
Council  ;  James  O’Brien,  Esq.,  V.M.H.,  Secretary  of  Orchid  Committee  ; 
John  Wright,  Esq.,  V.M.H.,  member  of  Fruit  Committee  ;  A.  H.  Pearson, 
Esq.,  member  of  Fruit  Committee  ;  Geo.  Yeld,  Esq.,  F.R.H.S.,  A.  Turner, 
Esq.,  F.R.H.S.,  and  the  Rev.  W.  Wilks,  M.A.,  Secretary  of  the  Society. 
As  we  are  going  to  press  our  correspondent  telegraphs  the  few  particulars 
given  herewith,  and  a  full  report  of  the  exhibition  will  appear  in  our  next 
issue.  In  the  class  for  a  group  of  miscellaneous  plants  Mr.  J.  McIntyre, 
gardener  to  Mrs.  Gurney  Pease,  was  easily  first  with  a  beautiful  arrangement. 
For  a  collection  of  Roses  arranged  for  effect,  Messrs.  Perkins  &  Sons> 
Coventry,  were  first ;  Messrs.  D.  &  W.  Croll,  Dundee,  second  ;  and  Messrs. 
Harkness  &  Son,  Bedale,  third,  the  stands  in  each  case  being  excellent. 
For  seventy-two  Roses,  twenty-four  dissimilar,  to  be  shown  in  triplets, 
the  first  position  was  taken  by  Messrs.  Harkness  &  Son,  who  were 
followed  by  Messrs.  D.  &  W.  Croll,  and  G.  &  W.  H.  Burch,  Peter¬ 
borough.  In  the  class  for  forty-eight  distinct  single  trusses  of  Roses, 
the  prizes  went  to  Messrs.  Harkness  &  Son,  R.  Mack  &  Sons,  and  D.  and 
W.  Croll  in  the  order  named.  For  twenty-four  bunches  of  herbaceous 
flowers,  Messrs.  J.  Cocker  &  Son,  Aberdeen,  were  first,  and  Messrs. 
Harkness  &  Son,  second.  The  fruit  exhibited  was  splendid,  and  Mr. 
J.  H.  Goodacre,  gardener  to  the  Earl  of  Harrington,  Elvaston,  secured  the 
leading  prizes  in  most  of  the  chief  classes.  The  R.H.S.  deputation  granted 
several  awards.  They  were  entertained  at  a  dinner  on  Tuesday  night? 
and  at  luncheon  after  the  judging  on  Wednesday. 
-  Wolverhampton  Show. — Our  representative  at  Wolver¬ 
hampton  telegraphs  that  the  show  which  opened  on  Tuesday  was  magni¬ 
ficent,  and  that  Messrs.  Dicksons,  Ltd.,  Chester,  winning  the  twenty 
guinea  Hawley  cup  for  the  third  time,  take  it  as  their  own  property. 
Details  of  the  several  exhibits  will  appear  in  our  next  issue. 
-  Potato  Harbinger. — This  is  one  of  the  best  of  first  early 
Potatoes,  and  is  as  certain  to  become  popular  as  the  moon  to  rise. 
Two  hills,  taken  at  random,  have  just  yielded  respectively  nineteen  and 
twenty-three  tubers,  two-thirds  of  the  right  eating  size.  Differing  from 
the  majority  of  the  earlies,  it  is  a  round.  The  skin  has  a  faint  yellowish 
tint.  This,  I  suppose,  will  be  enough  to  set  some  practical  and  intelligent 
people  against  it,  though  why  on  earth  a  man  should  worry  about  the 
mere  colour  of  what  is  intended  for  the  action  of  his  digestive  apparatus  I 
fail  to  understand.  Harbinger  is  a  very  close  grower,  with  rather  pale 
leafage.  It  is  an  early  of  great  merit. — W.  Pea. 
-  Birmingham  Gardeners’  Association.  —  The  second 
summer  monthly  meeting  was  held  on  the  4th  inst.  Mr.  W.  B  Latham, 
Curator  of  the  Botanical  Gardens,  Edgbaston,  occupied  the  chair,  and 
also  brought  a  very  interesting  collection  of  cut  flowers,  including  hardy 
and  useful  shrubs.  Messrs.  John  Pope  &  Sons  sent  a  small  but  interest¬ 
ing  collection  of  cut  flowers.  A  certificate  of  merit  was  unanimously 
awarded  to  Mr.  T.  Dodd,  gardener  to  A.  Chance,  Esq.,  Edgbaston, 
for  a  seedling  Coleus  of  his  own  raising,  named  Miss  Sarsons,  with  fine 
bold  foliage  of  a  bright  yellow  colour,  slightly  mottled  with  green 
at  the  edges.  It  was  considered  to  be  a  desirable  acquisition,  and 
in  the  course  of  their  remarks,  the  Chairman,  Messrs.  W.  Gardiner, 
Walter  Jones,  and  W.  Spinks  adverted  to  the  desirability  and  interesting 
process  of  hybridising  and  raising  seedlings,  whether  of  flowers,  fruits, 
or  vegetables,  especially  by  the  young  gardener.  The  proceedings  closed 
with  a  report  of  the  financial  position  of  the  Association,  which  was  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  fairly  satisfactory. 
Gardening  Appointment. — Mr.  W.  Thompson,  lately  head 
gardener  to  C.  F.  Forster,  Esq.,  SouAiill,  Chester-le-Street,  has  been 
appointed  superintendent  to  the  Hebburn  Parks,  Hebburn-on-Tyne. 
-  National  Carnation  and  Picotee  Society. — In  con¬ 
sequence  of  the  backwardness  of  the  season  the  date  of  the  annual  show 
of  the  above  Society  has  been  postponed  from  July  20th  to  Wednesday, 
July  27th,  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  Sydenham. 
-  East  Cowes, — The  fortnightly  meeting  of  the  East  Cowes 
Horticultural  Society  took  place  on  Wednesday  last.  Mr.  G.  Groves, 
C.C.,  took  the  chair,  and  after  a  few  brief  remarks  called  upon  Mr.  S. 
Heaton  (Horticultural  Instructor  for  the  I.W.  County  Council)  to  give 
the  third  of  his  series  of  gardening  lectures,  the  subject  being  “  Dahlias  : 
their  History  and  Cultivation.”  The  subject  was  followed  with  much 
interest,  and  evoked  a  profitable  discussion,  which  was  entered  into  by- 
Messrs.  Barnes,  Sheath,  Cooper,  Hygate,  and  the  Chairman. 
-  Royal  Deptford  Fund. — We  are  requested  to  state  that  on 
the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  H.R.H.  the  Duchess  of  Albany  to  Camden 
Park,  in  aid  of  the  above  fund,  the  decorations  of  the  tents  were  entrusted 
to  Messrs.  J.  Laing  &  Sons,  Forest  Hill,  who  effectively  employed  groups 
of  Palms  and  flowers,  which  extended  from  the  ground  to  the  roof,  with 
graceful  hanging  baskets  of  Ferns  and  flowers  between.  The  Duchess’ 
private  tent  was  festooned  with  Smilax  and  miniature  bouquets,  and  her 
Royal  Highness  expressed  her  admiration  of  the  fine  display. 
-  Deficiency  of  Rain  and  Sun  in  London.  —  Over  the 
greater  part  of  England  the  close  of  the  first  six  months  finds  a  large 
deficiency  still  existing  in  the  year’s  rainfall,  the  aggregate  in  London 
being  a  little  over  7|  inches,  or  only  72  per  cent,  of  the  average.  The 
prevalence  of  cloud  last  month  is  proved  very  conclusively  by  the  sunshine 
records.  At  Westminster  the  total  number  of  hours  recorded  was  only 
126,  or  forty-one  less  than  the  average.  The  duration  was,  in  fact,  the 
smallest  observed  in  June  since  1890,  and  as  a  comment  upon  this  it 
appears  that  the  highest  temperature  recorded  last  month  was  also 
lower  than  in  any  June  of  the  past  seven  years. 
-  National  Amateur  Gardeners’  Association  (Liverpool 
Branch).— Mr.  Drake  presided  over  a  capital  attendance  ot  members 
at  the  monthly  meeting,  held  on  Thursday  last  at  the  Common  Hall, 
Hackins  Hey,  Liverpool.  An  interesting  display  of  cut  flowers  and 
plants  were  brought  together,  each  succeeding  meeting  showing  advance 
in  culture.  Mr.  Hacking  succeeded  in  winning  the  first,  special,  and 
certificate  for  cut  Roses,  Mr.  Ardran  winning  in  the  other  class.  Well 
grown  Fuchsias  secured  Mr.  Hoskyn  the  prize,  and  Mr.  Smythe  for 
Hydrangea.  A  pretty  spray  of  Nerium  oleander  and  Fern  gained  Mr. 
Drake  the  prize  Mr.  Cangley  won  with  Sweet  Pea*,  and  Mr.  Lunt  with 
Violas,  Carnations,  and  Zonal  Pelargoniums.  Other  good  things  were 
shown  for  points.  Mr.  Ranger  gave  a  concise  and  admirable  paper  on 
the  cultivation  of  the  Amaryllis  (Hippeastrum),  which  was  received  with 
the  greatest  possible  favour. — R.  P.  R. 
-  Lawn  Mowing  Competition. — There  seems  to  be  an  im¬ 
pression  abroad  that  lawn  mowing  as  we  used  to  know  and  practise  it 
half  a  century  since,  and  prior  to  the  advent  of  the  lawn  mower,  was  a 
lost  art.  Nothing  is  lost  because  it  is  not  used  or  practised,  but  still 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  whether  a  lost  art  or  not,  lawn  mowing  with 
scythes  is  not  one  of  the  common  or  active  garden  operations  of  to-day. 
It  was  probably  with  the  view  to  test  the  capacity  of  modern  gardeners 
and  labourers  to  mow  a  lawn  neatly  as  of  old  that  induced  the  Countess 
of  Onslow  to  offer  a  prize  of  20s.  for  competition,  by  any  person  choosing 
to  enter  for  it,  on  a  tennis  lawn  in  Clandon  Park,  a  few  days  since.  I 
was  invited  to  both  define  conditions  and  judge  the  work.  The  space 
allotted  to  each  was  12  feet  by  30,  the  width  requiring  two  swathes  to 
be  laid.  I  suggested  that  the  time  of  each  competitor  should  be  taken,  and 
the  number  of  times  he  whetted  his  scythe,  as  putting  and  keeping  a 
good  edge  to  a  blade  was  of  much  importance.  But  the  primary  con¬ 
dition  was  to  be  found  in  excellence  of  work  done,  and  appearance 
presented  both  before  and  after  sweeping.  The  work  took  place  at 
6  A.M.,  whilst  the  grass  was  somewhat  moist  with  dew.  There  were 
five  competitors.  The  winner  proved  to  be  Mr.  H.  Blake,  Lord  Onslow’s 
head  gardener,  a  comparatively  young  man,  who,  although  he  took  some 
two  or  three  minutes  longer  in  his  work  than  the  others,  yet  did  it  so  well 
that  the  grass  looked  as  if  it  had  been  mown  by  a  good  machine.  In 
the  other  cases  the  point  of  the  blades  had  scored  more  or  less,  and  the 
heels  had  not  made  clean  work,  leaving  the  surface  ridged.  It  is  rather 
odd  that  Mr.  Blake,  who  now  seldom  has  to  handle  a  scythe,  should 
have  done  so  well.  None  of  his  pleasure  ground  men  entered. — A.  D. 
