November  4,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
431 
Events  of  the  Week. — Besides  the  meeting  of  the  various 
Committees  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  at  the  Drill  Hall  on 
Tuesday  next,  there  will  be  numbers  of  Chrysanthemum  shows.  As  a 
list  of  these  is  given  on  page  436  it  will  serve  no  useful  purpose  to  repeat 
them  here. 
-  Weather  in  London. — On  Thursday  last  a  dense  fog  hung 
over  the  metropolis,  and  both  rail  and  vehicular  traffic  were  greatly 
impeded.  It  was  not  such  a  bad  one  as  many  that  have  been  experienced, 
nor  did  it  last  so  long,  for  on  Friday  the  sun  shone  gloriously,  and  the 
day  was  quite  warm.  Saturday  and  Sunday  both  opened  foggy,  but  the 
sun  was  very  brilliant  later.  Since  the  latter  day  the  weatLer  has  been 
clear  and  cool. 
-  Weather  in  the  North. — Without  recurrence  of  frost,  with 
an  occasional  bright  day,  the  last  two  weeks  of  October  brought  a  great 
deal  of  foggy  weather,  with  cold  N.E.  wind.  Saturday  was  very 
unpleasant,  with  frequent  drizzle.  November  opened  with  a  beautiful 
day  and  evening ;  Tuesday  morning  was  duller,  but  calm  and  dry,  with 
the  temperature  44°.— B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire. 
-  Gardening  Appointment. — After  being  eight  years  general 
foreman,  Mr.  W.  E.  Humphreys  has  been  appointed  gardener  to  A.  H. 
Smee,  Esq.,  The  Grange,  Hackbridge,  in  succession  to  Mr.  G.  W. 
Cummins.  Mr.  .1.  Proctor,  for  the  past  six  years  foreman  at  The  Warren 
House,  Stanmore,  has  been  appointed  head  gardener  to  W.  M.  Sharp,  Esq., 
Chippenham  Park,  Soham,  Cambs. 
-  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund. — At  a  meeting  of  the  Committee 
of  the  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund  on  the  29th  ult.  the  Secretary 
announced  the  receipt  of  £457  5s.  lid.,  a  bequest  from  J.  W.  Thomson* 
late  nurseryman  at  Ha3'ward’s  Heath;  also  the  following  donations,  for 
which  a  special  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded: — Rev.  A.  Lowe,  Rangemore, 
Burton-on-Trent,  proceeds  of  a  collection  at  Harvest  Festival,  £6  Is.  6d.; 
Sandringham  Estate  Cottage  Garden  Society,  £5  5s.;  Wimbledon  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society,  sale  of  flowers,  £5;  Uckfield  Chrj’santhemum  Society 
sale  of  flowers,  £3  3s.;  J.  Selway,  Betteshanger,  £3;  per  T.  Roberts, 
Local  Secretary,  Ramsgate,  £2  Is.;  Forest  Hill  Horticultural  Society, 
£1  10s.;^,^3lessle  and  District  Horticultural  Society,  £1  4s.  3d.;  Bradford 
Paxton  Society,  £1  2s.  6d.;  C.  Herrin,  Maidenhead,  £1 ;  G.  Carpenter, 
Byfleet,  10s.;  H.  Dunkin,  Warwick,  10s.;  M.  Kueller,  Basingstoke,  Ss- 
It  was  decided  to  hold  the  annual  meeting  at  Anderton’s  Hotel,  Fleet 
Street,  early  in  February,  when  the  election  of  children  to  the  benefits  of 
this  Fund  will  take  place.  The  necessary  nomination  fofms  may  be  had 
on  application  to  the  Secretary. 
-  Sunflowers. — A  rather  amusing  belief  seems  recently  to  have 
existed  in  many  directions  arising  out  of  the  tendency  there  has  been 
this  season — indeed  it  is  generally  a  tendency — for  the  giant  annual  Sun¬ 
flower  to  attain  to  great  heights,  that  each  one  has  the  tallest  ever  before 
heard  of.  When  plants  reach  from  9  to  10  feet  in  height,  and  have 
blooms  something  the  dimensions  of  ordinary  frying  pans,  then  does  it 
seem  as  if  such  plants  were  almost  elevated  to  divinity  and  worshipped, 
so  strong  is  the  element  of  wonder  they  evoke.  The  earlier  gesthetics 
were  wise  in  selecting  the  annual  Sunflower  as  the  floral  emblem  of  their 
art  religion,  because  English  people  having  none  too  much  of  refined  or 
cultivated  taste,  and  aestheticism  was  but  art  run  mad,  do  love  some¬ 
thing  big  and  gaudy.  It  may  be  a  merit  of  the  Sunflower  that  it  will 
grow  and  flower  where  some  better  things  will  not,  but  the  giant  form  is 
an  overgrown  ungainly  plant  at  the  best.  Mr.  Fyfe  has  at  Lockinge 
what  may  on  the  other  hand  be  described  as  a  real  beauty  amongst  annual 
Helianthuses.  He  obtained  it  a  couple  of  years  since  by  intercrossing  the 
giant  variety  of  annuus  with  the  dwarf  minimus,  and  thus  he  secured  a 
distinct  and  most  useful  strain.  The  plants  range  in  height  from  3  to 
4  feet,  branch  literally  into  bush  form  ;  blooms  of  a  neat  useful  size,  with 
broad  effective  petals,  are  most  abundantly  produced,  and  for  cutting  to 
set  up  in  large  vases  in  halls  or  big  rooms,  nothing  can  be  more  useful 
where  a  striking  colour  is  desired.  I  should  like  to  see  this  variety,  I 
do  not  know  how  it  is  designated,  put  into  commerce  and  widely  grown 
to  the  displacement  of  the  giant  form,  which  is  so  useful  to  breed  food 
for  pheasants,  but  is  so  ungainly  in  gardens.— A.  Kingston. 
-  Royal  Horticultural  Society. — The  next  Fruit  and  Floral 
meeting  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  be  held  on  Tuesday, 
November  9th,  in  the  Drill  Hall,  .Tames  Street,  Westminster,  1  to  4  P.M. 
A  lecture  on  “  Roots  ”  will  be  given  at  three  o’clock  by  Professor 
F.  W.  Oliver,  D.Sc. 
-  Dahlia  Keynes’  White. — A  new  Cactus  Dahlia  named 
‘‘  Keynes’  White  ”  has  (juite  recently  been  honoured  by  two  of  the  leading 
German  Societies,  the  Verband  der  Handelsgiirtner  Deutschlands  and  the 
Werein  der  Kunst-und-llandelsgartner,  Berlin,  with  a  certificate 
(wcrthzengnisse\  unanimously  awarded  in  both  cases.  The  variety  will  be 
sent  out  by  the  raisers,  Messrs.  Keynes,  Williams,  &  Co.  of  Salisbury  ; 
but  in  Germany,  Austria,  and  Russia,  we  are  informed,  plants  will  only 
be  obtainable  through  Messrs.  Kohlmannslehner  and  Schwenke,  Schone- 
berg,  Berlin. 
-  Two  Hundred  Tons  of  Seed  for  India. — It  will  be 
remembered  that  this  large  quantity  of  seeds  was  ordered  from  Messrs. 
Carter  &  Co.,  by  the  Government  of  India  last  winter,  with  the  idea  of 
ameliorating  the  distress  in  districts  threatened  with  famine.  The  firm 
has  recently  inspected  some  trials  made  with  samples  of  seed  from  the 
various  parcels  shipped  to  India,  in  their  grounds  at  Mortlake,  the  whole 
showing  results  that  were  considered  most  satisfactory.  Sir  George 
Birdwood,  K.C.I.K.,  of  the  Indian  Office,  was  present,  and  expressed  his 
approval  of  all  he  saw. 
-  Watering  Plants. — In  reading  the  well  chosen  remarks 
made  by  “Epacris”  under  this  heading,  I  thought  to  myself,  do  we, 
as  a  rule,  see  plants  in  better  condition  in  private  places  (where  the 
knuckling  business  is  strictly  carried  out)  than  those  of  the  trade 
growers  ?  In  the  case  of  the  latter  the  hose  plays  a  prominent  part,  and 
as  to  individual  treatment,  how  can  a  man  with  thousands  of  plants  in 
his  care  stop  to  examine  each  one  separately  ?  Will  somebody  be  good 
enough  to  tell  us  why  the  loss  from  overwatering  is  so  small  in  the  latter 
case,  and  the  results  so  good  1 — A  Busy  Man. 
-  Arbutus  uNEdo. — Intending  planters  this  autumn  would  do 
well  to  include  in  their  list  of  hardy  evergreen  shrubs  the  Arbutus  uuedo, 
if  thej’  can  find  a  place  for  it  sheltered  from  the  north  and  north-east 
winds.  The  plant  is  of  rather  slow  growth  when  young,  and  should  not 
be  crowded  among  other  quicker  growing  shrubs.  A  specimen  here  in  full 
flower  is  quite  an  object  of  beauty,  with  its  manj'  thousands  of  flowers 
and  berries.  Another  shrub  (deciduous)  is  the  wild  Viburnum,  which  is 
plentiful  in  the  hedgerows  about  here.  It  is  worth  growing  for  the  beauty 
of  its  berries  in  the  autumn.  I  have  inserted  some  cuttings,  which  if  taken 
off  with  a  heel  root  easily,  and  soon  make  good  plants. — Thomas  W  eagee, 
Mardy,  Abergavenny.. 
-  Hardy  Border  Flowers.  —  Having  to  give  lecture  on 
hardy  plants  a  few  nights  since  at  Ewhurst  in  Surrey,  I  was  very 
agreeably  surprised  to  find  awaiting  me  an  interesting  and  varied 
collection,  showing  how  late  many  will  bloom,  and  also  how  remarkably 
useful  are  they  in  garden  decoration,  even  after  some  early  frosts  may 
have  destroyed  tender  plants.  These  flowers  were  furnished  by  IVIr. 
Russell,  who  is  gardener  to  Miss  Ewart,  a  member  of  the  famous  Liver¬ 
pool  family,  who  now  resides  in  that  beautiful  locality,  Ewhurst.  There 
were  various  Helianthuses,  Heleniums,  Rudbeckias,  Chelone  barbata, 
perennial  Asters,  the  noble  Acanthus,  perennial  Phloxes,  China  Roses, 
.Tapanese  Anemones,  and  numerous  others.  Remembering  that  it  was 
so  late,  October  29th,  I  could  but  feel,  even  more  forcibly  than  ever, 
how  w'orthy  of  wide  cultivation  in  gardens  were  hardy  flowers.— A.  1). 
-  Medals  at  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.— In  our 
report  of  the  last  Drill  Hall  Show  an  oversight  resulted  in  the  omission 
of  the  medals  awarded  to  the  exhibitors.  These  we  give  herewith. 
Fruit  Committee.— Silver-gilt  Knightian  medals  to  Messrs.  .1.  Laing  and 
Sons  and  J.  Cheal  &  Sons  for  collections  of  fruit  ;  to  Mr.  W.  Taylor, 
Forest  Hill,  for  Grapes  ;  and  to  Messrs.  H.  Cannell  k.  Sons  for  vegetables  ; 
bronze  Knightian  medal  to  Messrs.  ,J.  Carter  &  Co.  for  vegetables. 
Floral  Committee.— Silver-gilt  Flora  medal  to  Mr.  W.  ,J.  Godfrey  for 
Chrysanthemums  ;  silver  Flora  medals  to  Messrs.  .1.  Laing  &  Sons  for 
foliage  plants,  H.  B.  ATay  for  Adiantums  and  Begonias,  and  H.  J.  Elwes 
for  Nerines  ;  silver-gilt  Banksian  medals  to  Alessrs.  W.  Paul  &  Son  for 
cut  Roses,  and  W.  Wells  for  Chrysanthemums  ;  silver  Banksian  medals 
to  Messrs.  G.  Wythes,  J.  Veitch  &  Sons,  11.  Cannell  &  Sons,  and  T.  S. 
Ware  for  Chrysanthemums  ;  to  Miss  Emmet  for  models  of  flowers,  and 
to  Messrs.  W.  Cutbush  &  Son  for  miscellaneous  plants.  Orchid  Com¬ 
mittee. -Silver-gilt  Flora  medal  to  Alessrs.  J.  Veitch  &  Sons,  silver  Flora 
medal  to  Mr.  H.  J.  Chapman,  and  silver  Banksian  medals  to  Messrs. 
G.  Cragg  and  W.  -T.  Empson,  each  of  whom  staged  collections  of  Orchids. 
