June  25,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
583 
-  Index  Week. — In  consequence  of  the  space  required  by  the 
index  of  the  half  year’s  volume  just  completed,  the  publication  of 
several  articles  and  notes  of  interest  is  necessarily  postponed. 
-  Gardening  Appointment.  —  Mr.  Geo.  Sutherland,  late 
gardener  to  Mrs.  Lloyd  Rayner,  has  been  appointed  head  gardener  to 
Alexander  Jopp,  Esq ,  Woodhill  House,  Aberdeen. 
-  Cambridge  Horticultural  Society.— This  flourishing 
Society  held  its  exhibition  of  fruit,  flowers,  and  vegetables  in  the  gardens 
of  King’s  College,  Cambridge,  on  June  18th.  A  new  and  special  feature 
of  the  show  was  the  open  competition  for  Roses,  in  which  Messrs.  J. 
Burrell  &  Co.,  Cambridge,  took  first  prize  in  the  class  for  twenty-four. 
Messrs.  D.  Prior  &  Son,  Colchester,  were  to  the  front  in  the  class  for 
twelve  Teas  or  Noisettes.  Mr.  W.  Finch  of  Coventry  set  up  two  fine 
groups  of  plants,  both  of  which  gained  first  prizes.  British  Ftrns  were 
admirably  shown  by  Mr.  J.  Hall,  Cambridge,  and  hardy  flowers  came 
from  Messrs.  Paul  &  Son,  Cheshunt.  Fruit  and  vegetable  classes  were 
well  represented  by  capital  produce.  The  weather  left  nothing  to  be 
desired,  and  the  arrangements  were  admirably  carried  out  by  the  Hon. 
Sec.,  Mr.  A.  Matthews,  who  was  loyally  supported  in  his  efforts  by  a 
hard-working  Committee. 
-  Royal  Meteorological  Society.— The  last  meeting  of 
this  Society  for  the  present  session  was  held  on  Wednesday  evening,  the 
17th  inst.,  at  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  Westminster,  Mr. 
E.  Mawley,  F.R.H.S.  (President),  in  the  chair.  Mr.  H.  Harries  read 
a  paper  on  “  Arctic  Hail  and  Thunderstorms,”  in  which  he  showed  that 
the  commonly  accepted  opinion  that  hail  and  thunderstorms  are  almost, 
if  not  quite,  unknown  in  the  Arctic  regions  is  incorrect.  He  had 
examined  100  logs  of  vessels  which  had  visited  the  Arctic  regions,  and 
found  that  out  of  that  number  no  fewer  than  seventy-three  showed  that 
hail  was  experienced  at  some  time  or  other. 
- English  Strawberries,  of  which  there  are  now  an  abundance, 
have  ousted  the  Continental  fruit  from  our  markets.  Immense  quantities 
are  now  being  sent  from  Swanwick,  Bursledon,  and  district  to  the 
London  and  provincial  market.  Some  idea  of  the  traffic  in  Hampshire 
Strawberries  may  be  gathered  from  a  statement  of  the  fact  that  25,000 
of  the  familiar  cross-handled  baskets  of  fruit  were  received  at  Waterloo 
Station  on  Saturday  last.  The  recent  rains  have  been  of  considerable 
assistance  in  swelling  the  fruit  of  the  main  crop  varieties.  The  early 
varieties  suffered  severely  from  the  drought  in  Kent,  and  in  one  of  the 
cases  that  have,  been  brought  to  our  notice  a  field  of  10  acres  did  not 
furnish  a  single  gathering. 
-  Royal  Parks  and  Gardens. — The  revision  of  the  rules 
governing  the  parks  in  the  London  district  and  at  Edinburgh  has 
engaged  the  attention  of  the  authorities  for  some  time  past.  The  work 
has  been  completed,  and  in  the  “  London  Gazette  ”  of  Tuesday  last  it 
is  officially  announced  that  it  is  the  intention  of  His  Royal  Highness, 
the  Ranger  of  Hyde  Park,  St.  James’s  Park  and  the  Green  Park,  and 
Richmond  Park  and  Green,  and  the  Commissioners  of  Works  to  make 
new  rules  for  those  parks  ;  also  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the  Commis¬ 
sioners  of  Works  to  make  new  rules  for  Kensington  Gardens,  Parliament 
Square  Garden,  Regent’s  Park,  Primrose  Hill,  Greenwich  Park,  Kew 
Gardens  and  Pleasure  Grounds,  Kew  Green,  Hampton  Court  Park, 
Hampton  Court  Gardens,  Hampton  Court  Green,  Bushey  Park,  Holy- 
rood  Park,  Linlithgow  Peel  or  Park,  Royal  Botanic  Garden  and  Arbo¬ 
retum,  Edinburgh,  Victoria  Tower  Gardens,  and  Natural  History 
Museum  Gardens. 
-  Unripe  Strawberries. — The  enormous  quantity  of  splendid 
Strawberries  picked  before  they  are  ripe,  in  many  cases  barely  half  ripe, 
is  a  source  of  great  dissatisfaction  to  an  old-fashioned  gardener  like 
myself,  who  likes  to  see  everything  at  its  best.  That  the  growers  for 
sale  are  wise  in  picking  them  in  this  condition  is  undoubted,  for  they 
travel  better,  run  less  risks  from  birds  and  rotting,  and  above  all  the 
public  do  accept  them.  But  if  buyers  would  combine,  refuse  to  accept 
many  samples  now  offered,  and  demand  riper  fruit,  I  think  they  would 
at  all  events  get  an  improvement.  The  extraordinary  thing  is  that  it  is 
rare  nowadays  to  find  well-ripened  Strawberries,  especially  the  larger 
specimens,  on  the  tables  of  those  who  have  grown  them  in  their  own 
gardens.  Why,  even  my  children,  accustomed  to  ripe  fruit  at  home, 
complain  on  their  return  from  a  visit  or  party  of  the  unripeness  of  the 
Strawberries  set  before  them  at  country  houses.  There  should  be  no 
excuse  in  a  season  like  this  for  picking  the  fruit  for  home  consumption 
before  it  is  thoroughly  ripe.  I  suppose  gardeners  become  demoralised  by 
the  shocking  specimens  they  see  offered  for  sale,  and  think  that  “  it  will 
do  ”  if  they  gather  their  fruit  in  the  same  condition. — W.  R.  Raillem, 
ROYAL  GARDENERS’  ORPHAN  FUND. 
Annual  Dinner. 
This  most  deserving  gardening  charity  held  its  annual  dinner  in  the 
Whitehall  Rooms,  Hotel  Metropole,  on  Thursday  evening  last,  under  the 
Chairmanship  of  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  President  of  the  Fund, 
supported  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Malet,  G.C.B.,  T.  Skewes 
Cox,  Esq.,  M.P.,  Dr.  Maxwell  T.  Masters,  Messrs.  W.  Marshall,  Arnold 
Moss,  J.  H.  Veitch,  and  a  large  company  of  well-known  horticulturists. 
Several  vacant  chairs  were  noticed,  this  being  owing  to  the  fact  that 
some  who  would  no  doubt  have  been  present  were  serving  on  the 
R.H.S.  deputation  at  York.  In  Bpite  of  thU  the  dinner  was  a  great 
success,  and  we  have  much  pleasure  in  stating  that  the  funds  of  this 
charity,  which  bestows  its  charity  ou  those  who  are  fatherless  and 
helpless,  were  augmented  to  the  extent  of  £854  18s.  Gd.  Miss  Hudson 
was  again  responsible  for  the  floral  decoration  of  the  tables,  an  operation 
which  she  carried  out  in  her  usual  tasteful  manner. 
His  Grace,  after  proposing  the  usual  loyal  toasts,  rose  to  give  that  of 
the  evening,  “  Success  to  the  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund,”  and  in 
course  of  a  short  but  concise  speech,  said  it  was  close  connection  with 
Covent  Grrden  Market  that  familiarised  him  chiefly  with  gardening 
operations — (cheers) — and  amongst  those  present  he  could  see  the  faces 
of  many  of  his  own  tenants,  who  had  done  and  were  doing  so  much  for 
the  welfare  of  the  charity.  His  Grace  went  on  to  say  that  he  had  n  > 
claim  to  be  considered  a  gardener,  and  the  gardens  that  appealed  to  him 
most  were  those  of  working  men.  (Cheers.)  As  a  preference  his 
inclination  lay  in  the  direction  of  country  life  before  that  of  the  city, 
but  they  knew  this  was  not  generally  so,  as  people  were  now  inclined  to 
leave  the  country  for  the  more  exciting  attractions  of  the  towns.  This 
he  thought  deplorable,  as  it  did  not  tend  to  bring  about  a  happier  or 
healthier  condition. 
Turning  to  the  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund  he  was  glad  to  say 
that  its  financial  position  was  most  satisfactory — (cheers) — as  there 
hsd  been  a  gain  during  the  year  of  nearly  £800,  and  it  bad  an  invested 
fund  of  £8570.  Last  year  relief  was  given  to  sixty-one  orphans,  and 
now  seventy  were  in  receipt  of  its  benefits.  They  had  to  deplore  the 
death  of  Sir  Julian  Goldsmid,  Bart.,  who  was  an  ardent  supporter  of 
the  Fund.  The  working  of  the  Fund  was  most  economical,  as  the  year’s 
office  expenses  only  amounted  to  £122.  It  had  been  found  necessary 
to  have  a  paid  Secretary,  and  to  fill  this  office  Mr.  A.  F.  Barron  had 
been  appointed.  In  conclusion,  he  would  advocate  the  claims  of  the 
charity  by  appealing  to  those  present  for  support.  He  would  couple 
with  the  toast  the  name  of  Mr.  W.  Marshall,  and  he  hoped  that  all 
would  try  and  further  the  interests  of  the  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan 
Fund,  and  in  advocating  its  claims  try  and  spread  the  knowledge  of 
gardening  throughout  the  country.  (Cheers.) 
Mr.  W.  Marshall,  in  reply,  regretted  the  unavoidable  absence  of 
several  gentleman,  and  said  there  were  one  or  two  points  to  which  he 
should  .'ike  to  call  the  attention  of  those  present.  In  going  through 
Coven t  Garden  Market  he  had  heard  that  there  was  an  impression  held 
there  that  this  Fund  was  for  the  benefit  of  Iona  fide  gardeners  alone, 
and  that  children  of  those  employed  in  the  great  Market  were  not 
eligible.  He  would  take  this  opportunity  of  assuring  them  that  such  was 
by  no  means  the  case,  and  if  there  are  any  instances  where  relief  was 
necessary  they  would  receive  attention.  (Cheers.)  One  more  point  he 
would  like  to  touch  on  was  that  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund  for  the  past  six  years,  and 
he  would  like  to  return  his  thanks  to  the  other  members  of  that  body 
for  the  kind  and  courteous  manner  in  which  they  had  always  treated 
him.  He  did  not  think  there  could  be  a  better  set  of  men  than  those 
who  formed  the  Committee,  who  did  everything  thoroughly,  and  for  the 
benefit  of^the  charity. 
The  toast  of  “Gardeners  and  Gardening’’  was  given  by  Mr.  T.  Skewes 
Cox,  M  P.,  who,  in  course  of  a  somewhat  amusing  speech,  said  that  the 
gardener  had  figured  in  the  earliest  history  of  the  world,  aDd  in  thinking 
of  gardeners  who  had  been  noted  the  names  of  such  men  as  Sir  Joseph 
Paxton  and  Capability  Brown  came  forcibly  to  the  memory,  and  he  was 
glad  to  say  that  he  counted  amongst  his  constituents  many  leading 
nurserymen  and  florists.  Mr.  Skewes  Cox  spoke  highly  of  gardening 
institutions,  including  Kew  and  Chiswick,  going  on  to  say  that  the 
Banksian  medal,  offered  by  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  had  been 
won  by  the  Richmond  Allotment  Society,  and  as  fitting  the  occasion  the 
medal  had  been  received  in  all  honour  by  the  Mayor  and  Corporation, 
and  it  now  occupied  a  prominent  position  in  the  Richmond  Free  Library. 
He  would  conclude  by  coupling  with  the  toast  the  name  of  Mr.  W. 
Poupart,  than  whom  a  better  gardener  never  lived.  (Cheers.) 
Mr.  Poupart,  in  response,  said  there  had  never  been  such  a  number 
of  market  growers  and  salesmen  at  any  of  these  meetings.  They  had 
come  to  welcome  His  Grace  the  Duke — their  landlord — (cheers) — who 
was  the  owner  of  the  greatest  fruit  and  vegetable  market  in  the  kingdom, 
or  in  fact,  in  the  world.  (Cheers.)  Covent  Garden  is  at  any  rate  the 
centre,  continued  Mr.  Poupart,  and  they  would  have  some  idea  of  the 
enormous  development  of  the  trade  when  he  reminded  them  that  there 
were  those  in  Co  vent  Garden  who  remembered  when  the  flower  market 
was  carried  on  outside  the  porticos  of  St.  Paul’s  Church.  Now  they  have 
a  grand  flower  market  and  a  trade  that  has  increased  till  it  is  the 
finest  in  the  kingdom.  In  Covent  Garden,  continued  Mr.  Poupart,  may 
be  seen  a  flower  show  equal  to  anything,  for  there  could  be  got  flowers 
to  suit  the  West  End,  and  likewise  the  lowest  slum,  and  he  should  not 
like  to  say  to  which  residents  it  provided  the  greatest  amognt  of 
