August  1,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
101 
Autumii-sown  Sweet  Peas. 
A  row  of  Sweet  Peas  was  sown  in  the  garden  here  last  autumn  as 
an  experiment  ;  the  results  were  that  they  commenced  flowering  the 
end  of  May,  and  still  continue  flowering  on  July  13th.  They  were 
protected  through  the  winter  from  the  birds  by  a  piece  of  garden 
netting.  My  employer  was  so  pleased  with  the  result  that  I  shall 
continue  the  experiment.  I  may  add  that  this  soil  is  rather  sandy, 
and  the  garden  fairly  sheltered. — G.  W.  G. 
Carnation  Germania. 
A  few  days  ago  I  had  the  pleasure  of  calling  at  a  well  known 
Midland  garden,  where  I  saw  the  finest  collection  of  the  above  it 
has  ever  been  my  privilege  to  see.  There  were  between  300  and  400 
plants  in  5-inch  pots,  each  carrying  a  grand  spike  of  large,  well  formed, 
highly  coloured  flowers.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  is  the  way  to  see 
Germania  at  its  beet.  Wintered  in  cold  frames  in  small  pots,  and  potted 
in  the  early  spring  into  the  flowering  pots, its  rather  tender  constitution 
jdpes  not  suffer,  and  the  flowers  being  protected  from  the  weather  and 
insects,  have  time  to  develop,  and  do  not  show  the  traces  of  rain  or 
thrips  which  so  sadly  mark  them  in  some  seasons.  After  flowering 
the  plants  are  turned  out  of  pots  and  planted  in  a  border,  where  they 
remain  and  flower  next  year.  The  gardener  does  not  layer  from 
this  year’s  pot  plants,  but  prefers  layers  from  the  open  ground  and  pots 
them  on,  and  judging  from  the  grand  colour  and  quality  of  the  flowers 
he  has  hit  the  right  treatment. — W.  H. 
Exhibitors  as  Committeemen. 
Mr.  George  Wadeson,  in  his  criticism  of  the  exhibitor-committee¬ 
men  question,  says  his  opinion  is  very  strong,  and  claims  to  champion 
the  cause  of  the  outside  exhibitor.  Though  his  opinions  may  be  very 
strong,  his  arguments  appear  to  be  very  weak.  He  says,  “  Surely  one 
exhibitor  is  as  good  as  another,  and  why  should  committeemen-exhibitors 
take  advantage  over  outside  exhibitors  ?  ”  lam  not  aware  that  any 
such  comparisons  have  been  drawn,  and  certainlv  Mr.  Wadeson 
misconstrues  my  remarks  and  meaning,  wherein  I  say  that  it  would  be 
fatal  to  the  work  of  the  day  if  the  committee  were  composed  of  all 
exhibitors.  The  work  of  the  committee  on  the  show  day  is  to  see  to  the 
regulation  of  the  staging  of  the  exhibits,  take  charge  of  the  tents  or 
hall,  both  in  the  interest  of  the  society  and  exhibitors,  and  to  discharge 
these  duties  requires  that  a  portion  of  the  members  should  be  free  and 
unfettered.  Naturally  in  the  morning,  and  again  at  the  close  of  the 
show,  exhibitors  must  attend  to  their  exhibits,  and  in  doing  this  they 
cannot  devote  much  time  to  other  duties.  As  a  rule,  too,  the  exhibitor- 
committeemen  comprise  a  minor  portion  of  the  whole,  so  that  their 
services  can  be  used  at  a  portion  of  the  day  when  it  does  not  interfere 
with  staging  or  clearance.  If  oommitteemen  who  happen  to  be 
exhibitors  are  permitted  to  “go  round”  with  the  judges  after  the 
tents,  the  field,  or  the  hall  is  cleared,  then  it  is  clearly  the  fault  of  the 
secretary  in  allowing  it;  and  even  if  suoh  a  thing  happened,  what 
judge  worthy  of  the  appointment  would  allow  himself  to  be  prejudiced 
in  his  work  by  any  solicitations  of  an  interested  exhibitor  ?  It  is  to  me 
a  matter  of  surprise  that  your  correspondent  should  admit  having  held 
the  position  of  secretary,  and  yet  charge  oommitteemen  with  such 
unprincipled  tactios.  Contrary  to  Mr.  George  Wadeson’s  expectation, 
I  could,  if  need  be,  point  to  several  good  shows  honourably  carried  on 
where  a  portion  of  the  committee  are  annual  competitors  ;  and  I  can  go 
further,  and  give  instances  where  the  secretary  himself  has  been  among 
the  prizewinners,  and  yet  both  the  committeemen’s  and  the  secretary’s 
names  and  exhibits  have  been  passed  in  judgment  without  suspicion  or 
favour,  as  they  should  be. 
One  society  with  which  I  am  well  acquainted  from  a  competitive 
point  of  view,  and  one  that  has  existed  long  enough  to  celebrate  its 
jubilee,  though  comprised  of  a  oommittee  of  some  forty  or  more 
members,  numbers  not  one  gardener  even  among  its  selection,  and 
with  what  result?  I  do  not  know  of  another  where  so  muoh  com¬ 
plaint  exists  on  the  show  day  bearing  on  its  general  management.  I 
can  honestly  prediot  that  the  eleotion  of  two  or  three  impartial 
exhibitors  on  that  body  would  have  the  effect  of  materially  improving 
both  schedule  and  management.  But  this  is  not  done,  because  two  or 
three  “  old  hands  ”  are  of  the  same  strong  opinion  as  Mr.  Wadesou, 
and  think  that  if  they  elected  gardeners,  who  might  happen  to  be 
competitors,  they  (the  latter),  in  a  natural  inclination,  would  vote  for 
everything  only  that  would  benefit  themselves.  To  adhere  to  such 
old  and  obsolete  fashions  is  to  court  ridicule  and  disrespect.  The 
motto  of  horticultural  societies,  the  same  as  in  all  others,  should 
rather  be  progress,  and  how  is  this  to  be  installed  in  a  new  oentury 
when  the  rules  and  conditions  that  obtained  nearly  half  a  century  ago 
are  still  jealously  guarded  by  a  few  fanatics  ?  No,  Mr.  WadeBon,  I  repeat 
that  I  see  no  objection  to  a  committeeman  competing  for  prizes  when 
'he  management  is  directed  as  it  should  be,  and  disinterested  judges 
appointed  to  award  the  prizes  ;  and  having  been  myself  a  committeeman- 
exhibitor,  I  cannot  accept  this  correspondent’s  biassed  opinion  relative 
to  the  question  under  notice.  The  many  advantages  alleged  by 
becoming  jointly  committeeman  and  competitor  certainly  are,  according 
to  my  experience,  non-existent.  Despite  the  deprecatory  view  advanced, 
Mr.  Wadeson  admits  “  that  his  experience  teaches  him  that  men 
experienced  in  the  art  of  exhibiting  make  the  best  oommitteemen.” 
The  chairman  and  secretary  have  vested  in  their  hands  full  authority 
t  o  act,  both  to  the  interest  of  exhibitors  and  the  society,  and  if  they 
allowed  an  exhibitor,  even  though  he  be  a  committeeman,  to  do  as 
Mr.  Wadeson  charges  him  with,  going  round  and  dictating  to  the 
judges  for  his  own  benefit,  then  the  rules  of  the  society  would  at  once 
become  hopelessly  violated,  and  the  prestige  of  the  officers  removed  from 
honourable  rank.  Such  actions  would  be  mean  and  repulsive. — W.  S. 
[A  letter  on  this  discussion  from  Mr.  Wadeson  has  been  held 
over. — Ed.] 
- «♦•*> - 
Wall  Copings. 
I  had  hoped  that  some  other  gardeners  would  have  unsheathed  their 
pens  and  reoorded  their  verdict  for  or  against  fixed  copings.  Some 
twenty  gardeners  visited  me  last  week,  and,  so  far  as  I  could  gather, 
were  all  against  “  fixtures,”  because  they  keep  off  all  the  dew  and  nearly 
all  the  rain.  There  is  nothing  better  to  destroy  filth  than  a  thunder¬ 
storm.  They  also  involve  the  expense  of  watering  and  syringing  for 
some  six  months  or  more,  and  do  more  harm  than  good.  In  the  best 
garden  that  I  have  ever  seen  there  is  abdut  half  a  mile  of  glass  ooping, 
which  is  put  up  just  before  the  blossoms  expand  and  taken  down  early 
in  June  when  fear  of  frost  is  over.  They  are  then  placed  together  in 
pairs,  forming  a  miniature  house,  protecting  and  maturing  a  variety 
of  plants  through  the  winter  until  they  are  required  for  the  walls  again 
about  March.  Glass  copings  are  very  expensive,  100  yards  (without 
supports),  18  inches  wide,  costing  £45;  whilst  wood,  12- inohes  wide, 
with  supports,  costs  £10. — C.  C.  Ellison. 
A  Problem  ip  Heating. 
I  must  apologise  to  “  Aqua  ”  for  not  replying  to  his  question  earlier, 
but  really,  if  he  considers  a  moment,  he  will  see  what  a  futile  question 
it  is.  Why  do  I  not  recommend  the  plan  of  dipping  pipes  ?  Now  no 
one  with  an  economic  turn  of  mind  would  go  to  the  trouble  of  causing 
an  obstruction,  and  then  arranging  for  its  removal  by  the  additional 
expense  of  air-taps.  But  when  the  obstaole,  in  the  form  of  a  doorway, 
or  what  not,  exists,  then  I  do  reoommend  it  very  strongly.  As  to 
utility  standing  before  appearance,  if  I  had  to  get  over  suoh  an 
obstruction  as  a  pipe  running  across  a  doorway  every  time  I  entered  a 
house,  I  should  ofcen  find  myself  wondering  where  the  utility  comes  in, 
whether  in  a  market  place  or  not.  Bat,  really,  in  suoh  a  discussion  as 
this  we  are  going  back  twenty  years  in  the  science  of  heating.  More 
than  two  decades  ago  I  saw  this  system  working  well  in  a  ohurch  not 
far  from  where  I  write,  and  have  repeatedly  seen  it  since.  “  H.  D.” 
appears  to  think  it  a  new  idea;  it  is  not.  Bit  all  the  sam?,  he  has 
done  a  good  service  to  gardeners  by  so  clearly  explaining  it,  and 
“  Aqua”  may  rest  assured  that  if  he  wishes  to  go  on  stepping  over  his 
pipes  in  the  doorway,  perhaps  upsetting  his  plants  or  himself  in  the 
process,  no  one  wishes  to  prevent  him.  But  he  will  not  hinder  others 
from  finding  and  practising  a  more  excellent  way. —  H.  Richards. 
A  Poijd  Weed. 
In  reply  to  Mr.  Webster,  page  77,  he  will  find  the  Potamogeton  a 
very  troublesome  plant  to  exterminate.  I  can  sympathise  with  him, 
having  gone  through  a  similar  experience,  but  I  am  afraid  I  shall  only 
be  a  poor  comforter,  as  nothing  but  repeated  oleaning  will  rid  the  pond 
of  it.  Cutting  the  growth  frequently  weakens  the  plants,  but  it  takes  a 
long  time.  I  used  to  pull  out  root  and  all  with  a  twitch  rake,  and  out 
off  the  growths  direotly  the  first  floating  leaves  made  their  appearance. 
It  is  an  herbaceous  plant,  not  an  annual,  and  it  increases  and 
multiplies  very  rapidly  by  moans  of  the  submerged  rhizomes.  If  Mr. 
Webster  can  drain  the  pond  and  clear  out  the  weed  in  early  autumn, 
replacing  the  Lily  rhizomes  and  destroying  those  of  the  pond  weed,  he 
will  effect  a  clearance,  but  if  this  is  impossible  and  he  persists  in  the 
cutting  down  prooess,  the  weeds  will  gradually  disappear. — R. 
[See  Kerner’s  “ Natural  History  of  Plants”  (English  translation), 
vol.  i.,  page  551.  There  a  figure  of  Potamogeton  crispus,  L.,  appears. 
Of  this  plant  he  says,  “  It  produoes  late  ia  autumn,  near  the  surfaoe  of 
the  water,  shoots  possessing  short  leaves,  which  are  detaohed  from  the 
old  stem  before  the  uppermost  layer  of  water  is  frozen.  These  siak 
.  .  .  and  bore  their  way  into  the  mud  by  their  pointed  extremities.” 
These  “special  winter  buds”  propagate  the  stock. — Ed.] 
