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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  September  28,  1899. 
Recent  Weather  in  London. — The  weather  in  London  con¬ 
tinues  changeable  with  heavy  winds  and  showers.  On  the  whole  it  is 
decidedly  cooler,  though  one  or  two  days  have  been  comparatively  warm. 
There  was  rain  on  Sunday  and  Monday  evenings,  with  a  little  on 
Tuesday.  A  little  rain  fell  on  Wednesday  morning. 
- Gardening  Appointments. — Mr.  E.  Semper,  who  served  with 
much  credit  as  gardener  for  ten  years  at  Scawby  Hall,  Lincolnshire,  has 
taken  charge  cf  the  gardens  of  Sir  William  Eden,  Bart.,  Windlestono 
Hall,  Ferry  Hill,  Durham.  Gardening  is  highly  cherished  at  Windlestone, 
and  Mr.  Semper  is  one  of  those  able  men  who  like  to  do  all  things  well. 
Mr.  Cunninghamo  is  his  successor  at  Scawby.  Mr.  Burton  Gaiger,  late 
foreman  at  Lord  Burton’s  gardens  at  Rangemore,  has  been  appointed 
head  gardener  to  Lady  Marcus  Beresford,  Bishopsgate,  Englefield  Green, 
near  Windsor.  Mr.  John  Clarke,  late  steward  and  gardener  to  the 
Dowager  Lady  Carew',  Woorfstown,  Waterford,  has  been  appointed  in  a 
similar  capacity  to  F.  N.  Edgeworth,  Esq.,  Kilshrewly,  Edgewoi  thtown, 
co.  Longford.  Mr.  A.  Pickard,  of  Impney  Gardens,  Droitwich,  has  been 
appointed  gardener  to  E.  Chaplin,  Esq.,  The  Firs,  Rugbj’. 
-  Compost  for  Flower  Beds. — There  seems  to  be  an  idea 
prevalent  among  some  ganleners  that  flower  beds  may  go  on  for  ever 
without  anything  in  tho  way  of  new  compost  or  manure  being  added, 
but  these  of  course  require  a  little  judicious  manuiing  the  same  as  any 
other  part  of  the  garden.  Good  farmyard  manure  ha3  to  be  made  tho 
most  of  on  many  estates,  there  being  far  too  little  of  it  for  field  and 
meadow,  and  the  small  amount  allotted  to  the  garden  is  not  ah' 
sufficient  by'  any  means.  Anything  that  will  eke  out  this  supply  and 
make  more  bulk  to  the  compost  heap  should  be  carefully  preserved. '  As 
I  am  situated  horse  labour  is  fairly  plentiful  after  harvest,  and  I  usually 
tell  off  a  couple  of  men  to  clear  out  the  heads  at  least  of  ponds  and 
ditches,  where  there  is  usually  a;  deposit  of  silt  and  leaf  mould,  very 
useful  material  for  top-dressing  Rhododendrons  and  other  flowering  shrubs, 
or  even  fruit  trees.  Edge  clippings  of  turf,  old  potting-benph  refuse,  and 
anything  not  of  a  weedy  nature  is  also  thrown  into  a  heap,  this  bejng 
mixed  with  tho  material  afore  mentioned,  and  the  ash  from  garden 
smother,  with  of  course  a  little  farmyard  muck,  if  it  can  be  spared.  No 
practical  gardener  need  be  told  how  useful  such  a  heap  of  compost  is.— R. 
-  Sad  Death  of  a  Gardener— On  Tuesday,  the  19th  inst„ 
as  Mp.  Wihiam  Picksley,  gardener  to  Robert  Miller,  Esq  ,  Great  Baddow, 
Chelmsford,  was  driving  between  that  place,  and  another  estate  recently 
acquired  by  Mr.  Miller,  the  horse  was  frightened  by  a  motor  car,  and  his 
gardener  was  thrown  with  such  violence  from  the  conveyance  that  several 
bdnes  were  fractured,  and  ho  expired  on  Saturday  last.  The  deceased, 
whom  we  knew  wTell,  may  bo  said  to  have  been  a  born  gardener.  The 
early  years  of  his  manhood  were  spent  as  an  agricultural  engine  driver, 
but  his  heart  w  as  in  his  garden,  which  he  cultivated  assiduously  and  won 
many  prizes  with  its  produce.  By  seeking  for  opportunities  he  found 
regular  employment  in  gardens,  and  eventually  served  with  much  credit 
in  those  of  the  late  Dr.  Hogg  and  Sir  Francis  W.  Truscott.  About  nine 
years  ago  he  became  gardener  at  The  Grove,  Baddow',  where  he  was 
esteemed  as  a  trusted  and  valued  servant.  Tho  deceased  was  a  man  of 
great  natural  ability  and  sound  judgment,  as  well  as  of  untiring  industry, 
and  hence  his  success  with  practically  everything  he  took  in  hand. 
Among  other  things  he  could  grow  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch  Grape  as 
easily  as  the  Black  Hamburgh  or  any  others  in  a  house  of  several 
varieties,  but  the  Duke  with  its  fine  crops  of  noble  fruit  was  the  most 
prized  of  them  all.  Mr.  Picksley  was  arranging  for  removal  to 
Mr.  Miller’s  new  estate  with  the  view  of  settling  there  during 
the  week  of  the  fatal  occurrence.  It  is  a  trite  saying  that  good 
servants  make  good  masters,  and  vice  versa ,  P.nd  certainly  we  have  not 
known  of  an  instance  of  more  devoted  service  impelled  by  attachment  to 
a  family  on  tho  one  hand,  and  of  greater  consideration  and  kindness  on 
the  other,  than  existed  between  William  Picksley  and  his  appreciative 
employers.  The  deceased  was  approaching  sixty  }ears  of  age,  and  much 
sympathy  is  manifested  with  the  widow  in  her  great  bereavement. 
Mr.  Mdhr  writes: — “We  are  grief-stricken — I  have  lost  a  friend.  My 
wife  and  I  have  enjoyed  Picksley’s  regard  and  confidence,  and  to  loso 
him  in  such  a  way  is  a  bl.  w  we  feel  very  deeply.” 
-  Topping  Herbaceous  Plants. — When  being  recently  taken’ 
over  the  extensive  grounds  at  Rownhams,  Southampton,  Mr.  B. 
Ladhams  has  occupied  chiefly  as  a  hardy  plant  nursery,  I  was  much 
taken  with  a  few  stems  of  the  bright  yellow  H  lenium  autumnale 
grandiflora  finely  flowering.  The  bulk  ot  the  stems  were  carrying  heads 
of  bloom  some  3  (eet  above  ground,  plants  rather  stiff  or  mop  headed.  But 
two  or  three  had  been  in  some  way  pinched  or  stopped  when  18  inches  in 
height,  and  these,  breaking  below,  had  sent  up  some  five  and  six  stems- 
15  inches  long,  each  one  carrying  fine  heads  of  bloom.  Nothing  more 
bright  for  the  garden  or  better  to  cut  with  long  stems  for  vase  decoration, 
could  hardly  be  found  anywhere.  It  is  very  well  known  that  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  uliginosum  treated  in  this  way  does  the  same  thing,  and  so 
doubtless  will  many  other  tall  stemmed  plants,  thus  causing  them  to  flower 
better  and  rather  later. 
-  Dry  Weather  Flowers.— Severely  tested  by  great  drought 
at  Rownhams,  I  found  amongst  the  best  bloomers  under  the  adverse  con¬ 
ditions  to  bo  the  old  Californian  Zauschneria,  which  is  really  a  beautiful’ 
plant.  Also  very  charming  green  and  vigorous  was  Silene  Schafta, 
flowers  of  a  pretty  rosy  red,  a  capital  border  plant  for  the  front  row. 
Very  pretty  too  and  dwarf  wasErodium  macrodaceum,  one  of  the  Gera- 
niaceae,  flowers  white,  with  top  petals  striped  mauve.  The  foliage  is  Fern 
like,  and  very  graceful.  Besides  the  Helenium  mentioned  above,  and 
Helianthus  Miss  Mellish,  some  of  the  Rudbeckias  were  flowering  finely. 
Newmanni  is  one  cf  the  very  best  autumn  flowering  perennials,  and 
R.  purpurea,  flowering  well,  (Enothera  speciosa,  flowers  blush  white, 
wa9  charming. — A.  D. 
- Large  Onions  Forty  Years  Ago.— Bulbs  2  or  3  lbs.  in 
weight  are  grand  boiled  and  grand  roasted  ;  but  they  are  like  tho  gooso 
before  the  hungry  man  — too  much  for  one  and  not  enough  for  two.  The;: 
mode  of  procedure  in  building  up  those  largo  Cfhions  fairly^  described  by 
Mr.  Luckhurst  in  last  week’s  Journal  is  not  a  new  method.  I  cannot 
say  how  old  it  is,  but  I  saw  it  practised  nearly  forty  years  ago  by  that-' 
fine  old  gardener,  the  late  Mr.  Andrew  Stewart,  at  Chatsworth.  During 
my  first  Beason  there,  in  the  summer  cf.  1860,  he  grew  splendid  Onions 
from  seed  sowa  in  January.  I  find  in  my  note  book  that  the  thermometer 
never  reached  SO’ in  the  shade,  and  we  had  only  about  eight  fine  days 
between  May  and  September ;  rainfall  nearly  40  inches,  followed  by  a 
severe  frost  in  December,  45°  being  registered  on  Christmas  Eve.  1 
was  on  duty  on  Christmas  morning,  and  therefore  remember  it. — 
John  Campbell,  Mickleover  Manor  Gardens,  Derby. 
-  Shirley  Gardeners’  Association. — The  monthly  meeting 
of  above  Society  was  held  at  the  Parish  Room,  Shirley,  on  the  18th  inst., 
there  being  a  good  attendance  of  t,he  members,  presided  over  by  Mr.  B. 
Lfttham,  F.R.ILS.  The  lecture  was  given  by  Mr.  A.  ReaD,  F.R.H.S., 
the  subject  being  “  Horticultural  Shows,  their  Uses  and  Lessons.”  Mr. 
Dean  said  the  uses  of  show’s  were  manFold,  teaching  exhibitors  to  see' 
their  weaknesses  by  comparison,  to  lose  manfully,  to  win  humbly,  to  take 
notes  of  good  forms  of  vegetables  and  flowers,  and  especially  those  oh 
recent  introduction.  There  was  a  brief  discussion  ns  to  the  desirability 
of  committees  of  shows  accepting  prizes  from  seed  firms,  who  make  it  a 
rule  that  the  exhibits  in  those  classes  must  be  grown  from  their  seed.  A 
hearty  vote  ol  thanks  was  accorded  to  Mr.  Dean,  who,  in  responding# 
proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  exhibitors,  who  had  placed  a  large; 
number  of  exhibits  on  the  hoard  on  this  occasion.  Mr.  Dean  also,  at  the 
desire  of  the  members,  handed  to  the  Secretary  a  cheque  as  a  recognition 
of  his  services,  and  in  doing  so  made  some  very  complimentary  remarks. 
-  Housing  Zonal  Pelargoniums. — Good  as  it  is  to  allow' 
these  plants  to  remain  in  the  open  air  as  long  as  possible,  it  is  very 
important  that  those  at  least  which  are  required  for  winter  flowering  aro' 
not  kept  out  after  the  end  of  September.  If  they  are  the  growth  is>' 
checked,  though  no  actual  frost  may  have  reached  them,  and  they  will 
not  flower  so  early  in  consequence.  With  bedding  plants  struck  a  few' 
weeks  ago  it  does  not  matter  so  much,  as  these,  though  not  any  more 
hardy,  are  not  required  to  grow  much  now,  while  upon  the  rate  of  growth 
of  the  winter  flowering  kinds  depends  tho  rate  of  flowering.  I  do  not 
wish  by  this  to  be  taken  as  advising  quick  growth  now  or  later,  and  any¬ 
thing  in  the  way  of  forcing  conditions  should  by  all  means  be  avoided  ; 
but  any  house  that  goes  below  45°  to  50°  at  night  in  winter  is  not 
suitable  for  this  plant  when  grown  for  producing  flowers.  Every 
endeavour  should  bo  made  to  prevent  drawing  by  arranging  the  plants: 
thinly  and  keeping  them  as  close  to  the  light  as  possible.  When  housing 
or  placing  in  frames  see  that  the  pots  are  thoroughly  clean  and  the  plants 
free  from  dead  leaves.  This  treatment  should  also  be  given  to  Ivy-leaved 
Pcdargoniums,  and  those  of  the  Show’  and’  Reg  -  sections,  the  last  being 
kept  a  little  on  the  dry  side  aow. — H, 
