April  10,  190a  " 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
317 
S-'  the  Crystal  Palace  has  been  termed,  and  contains  art  collections, 
some  wild  animals,  mostly  monkeys  and  birds,  and  other  things 
of  interest. 
Wood  &  Son,  Wood  Green. 
In  recent  notes,  I  referred  to  Messrs.  Wood  and  Sons’  new 
patents,  and  I  would  here  briefly  comment  on  their  general 
sundries.  The  offices,  warehouses,  and  yards  belonging  to  the 
firm  are  within  a  few  minutes’  walk  from  the  Alexandra  Palace, 
and  adjoin  the  New  River  Wharf;  they  are  also'  conveniently 
situated  to  the  railway,  and  part  of  the  Wood  Green  Station 
siding  runs  into  Messrs.  Wood’s  area.  Huge  quantities  of  peat 
in  turves  are  stacked  in  sheds.  Of  peat  they  have  seven  qualities. 
Each  “  quality  ”  of  peat  is  used,  or  recommended  at  least,  for 
special  purposes.  The  hard  peat  containing  much  of  both  matter 
and  fibre  is  best  adapted  for  Orchids ;  soft  peat,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  mostly  used  for  stove  plants.  A  heavier,  black  peat  is 
largely  sold  for  Rhododendrons,  as  is  also  the  loose  peat,  the 
^  “  shakings  ”  from  the  turves.  Cocoa-nut  fibre,  I  was  informed,  is 
I'i. 
S 
weighing  about  401b  per  100.  The  black  and  mottled  bamboos 
are  useful  for  ornamental  staking,  or  for  erecting  a  tasteful, 
impromptu  fence,  by  being  inserted  cross-fashion  to  form  a 
lattice.  The  tapers — that  is,  light  canes  that  taper  to  a  very 
fine  point — were  plentiful.  These  points  can  be  taken  off  if 
desired,  to  fonn  smaller  stakes  for  light  and  delicate  uses,  as 
staking  Carnations  or  Schizanthus.  Up  in  a  loft  to  one  of  the 
houses  were  numbers  of  stoutly  made  wooden  baskets  (or  trugs, 
as  they  are  also  named)  of  all  sizes,  and  suitable  for  either  heavy 
or  light  use.  These  wooden  baskets  are  remarkably  enduring, 
and  serve  a  great  variety  of  pui-poses  in  gardens.  In  a  laboratory 
suitable  for  the  preparation  of  the  now  well-known  “Veltha” 
emulsion  I  was  privileged  to  see  the  operators  employed.  To 
tell  trade  secrets  is  none  of  my  business,  however,  but  Veltha 
speaks  for  itself.  Many  find  it  a  valuable  antidote  to  fungoid 
disea.ses.  From  three  or  four  original  testimonials  placed  before 
me  I  find  one  man  (John  Aston,  Hyde,  Cheshire)  saying,  in  r^ard 
to  mildew  on  Roses,  that,  after  having  tried  many  fungicides 
and  failed  always,  he  had  given  Veltha  and  Veltha  emulsion  a 
Carpet-bedding  in 
M  tfliite  at  a  premium  at  the  present  time,  and  fetches  3s.  a  sack 
y  readily.  A  considerable  amount  of  Northampton  loam  is  disposed 
of ;  perhaps  quite  as  much  as  the  famed  Surrey  loam.  Both  are 
'"g  ideal  soils  for  the  potting  bench,  and  a  mixture  of  the  two  is 
'Of  frequently  made.  Of  course,  it  is  not  necessary  tp  bring  any 
''U,  large  quantities  of  these  bulkier  commodities  to  Wood  Green. 
The  Messrs.  Wood,  being  agents,  can  convey  their  orders  to  the 
Northampton  or  Surrey  estates,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  from 
'Ij'  there  the  consignments  would  be  sent  to  any  address.  Sami^le 
heaps  of  sliingle,  crushed  spar,  sea-sand  in  various  degrees  of 
>,  coarseness  or  fineness,  were  noticeable  in  the  yards.  Barge 
^  quantities  of  fine  wool  shavings  are  packed  in  bales  just  as  they 
§  have  been  received  from  North  Sweden.  _  For  fruit  packing  these 
wool  shavings  (extremely  fine  wood  shavings)  are  much  employed, 
t  Raffia  all  the  way  from  Madagascar  likewise  entices  notice. 
Archangel  mats  for  the  pits  and  frames  were  not  awantmg, 
and  all  manner  of  stakes  were  to  be  seen.  The  trade  in  these 
must  be  verv  considerable,  judging  from  the  huge  bundles  of 
them  stowed"  on  end  in  spacious  warehouses.  Here  were  the 
:  Chinese  Tonquin  canes  in  varying  sizes,  from  the  small  ones 
'  averaging  61b  to  81b  per  100,  on  to  5ft  canes  (the  size  most  in 
demand),  which  equal  241b  to  261b  per  100;  Oft  canes,  averaging 
261b  to  301b;  7ft  equal  301b  to  321b,  and  so  on,  the  12ft  canes 
Kennington  Park. 
trial,  with  such  success  that  he  would  not  now  like  to  be  without 
them.  One  writer,  from  Watford,  had  been  equally  successful  in 
its  use  on  Chrysanthemums ;  while  for  Carnations,  Mr.  Charles 
Milne,  of  Graystoke  Castle,  Penrith,  had  found  the  Veltha  a 
complete  curer  of  the  disease.  But  if  testimonials  are  wanted 
Me.ssrs.  Wood  can  furnish  scores.  They  have  basketfuls,  and  almost 
daily  receive  fresh  proof  of  the  efficacy  of  the  preparation. 
To  attempt  an  enumeration  of  one-half  of  the  “sundries”' 
stocked  at  Wood  Green  would  necessitate  a  double  column  of 
the  Journal.  Almost  everything  can  bo  got,  from  gardeners’ 
aprons  to  Acme  labels,  from  scythe  stones  to  sparrow  traps  and 
sprayers,  from  hoes,  hurdles,  and  hygi-ometers  to  all  that  is 
nece'ssai-y  in  hot-water  engineering — everything,  indeed  of  an 
essential  nature  for  gardens  other  than  plants  and  seeds.  On 
application  a  priced  index  of  the  specialities  in  Messrs.  Wood’s 
“  Garden  Manual  ”  will  be  sent  to  any  person  who  is  interested. 
It  was  pleasing  to  hear  from  Mr.  James  Mood  that,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  repeated  rumours  of  trade  depression  in  many  other 
businesses,  his  own  firm  required  more  energy  each  day  to  cope 
with  orders,  and  on  the  day  of  my  visit  a  record  number  of 
orders  had  been  received.  Quite  a  throng  of  young  and  midd^- 
ageid  men  Avere  busily  engaged  in  packing,  and  this  fact  is  the 
best  testimony  to  his  iabours  that  a  tradesman  can  desire. — W.  V\  . 
