198 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  29,  1901. 
Weather  In  London. — The  atmosphere  has  been  decidedly  cooler 
during  the  last  week,  the  evenings  and  mornings  being  particularly 
autumnal-like.  On  Monday  last  a  thunderstorm,  accompanied  by  a 
violent  downpour  of  hail,  added  to  the  change  and  variety  of  the 
elements. 
Inspection  of  Nursery  Stock. — This  power  is  now  operated  in 
Pennsylvania  for  insect  pests.  The  law  went  into  effect  August  1st, 
and  hereafter  all  nursery  stock  coming  into  the  State  will  be  required 
to  have  attached  to  it  a  certificate  stating  that  it  is  free  from  San  Jose 
scale  or  other  injurious  insect  pest  or  pests. 
Bees  Swarming. — In  one  of  the  Folkestone  fashionable  thorough¬ 
fares  last  week,  when  business  was  at  its  full  height,  an  immense 
swarm  of  bees  swooped  down  and  entered  the  premises  of  a  leading 
tradesman.  A  lively  scene  followed,  and  while  the  customers  scattered 
in  all  directions,  the  insects,  doubtless  attracted  by  the  smell  of  some 
honey  displayed  amongst  the  wares,  oomfortably  settled  themselves  in 
one  of  the  windows  of  the  establishment. 
Presentation  to  Mr.  Owen  Thomas. — On  Friday  last  a  ceremony 
took  place  in  the  Library  at  Frogmore,  being  the  presentation  of  an 
address  to  Mr.  Owen  Thomas  (on  his  retirement  from  the  position  of 
superintendent  of  the  King’s  gardens)  from  the  whole  of  the  employes 
of  the  Royal  Gardens,  Windsor,  Hampton  Court  Palace  Private  Gardens, 
White  Lodge,  and  the  Grounds  at  the  Royal  Pavilion,  Aldershot.  The 
presentation  was  made  by  Mr.  Edwards,  who,  in  a  few  introductory 
remarks,  explained  to  Mr.  Thomas  the  reason  for  asking  him  to  meet 
them.  Mr.  Edwards  then  read  the  following  address  : — 
To  Owen  Thomas,  Esq.,  V.M.H.,  &o. 
We,  the  staff,  young  gardeners,  and  employes  of  the  Royal  Gardens, 
Windsor,  have  learned  with  deep  regret  that  you  are  retiring  from  the 
position  you  have  so  ably  filled  for  the  last  ten  years  as  superintendent  of 
the  Royal  Gardens.  It  has  been  the  privilege  of  most  of  us  to  have 
worked  under  your  direction  the  whole  of  that  time,  and  we  desire  to  place 
on  record  our  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  courtesy  and  kindness  we 
have  invariably  received  from  you  ;  also  to  bear  testimony  to  the  earnest 
and  energetic  manner  in  which  you  have  carried  out  the  responsible  duties 
of  your  office,  which  has  been  an  example  to  all.  We  ask  your  acceptance 
of  this  address  as  a  slight  token  of  our  esteem  and  regard,  and  pray  that' 
Almighty  God  will  bless  you  with  health,  happiness,  and  prosperity  for 
very  many  years.  Signed  on  behalf  of  130  subscribers,  Thos.  Edwards, 
chairman  ;  J.  Dunn,  treasurer  ;  E.  Harris,  secretary ;  W.  Barker,  James 
Brown,  J.  Chennell,  J.  Green,  G.  Hampton,  J.  Jack,  J.  S.  Lindsay. 
— 29th  June,  1901. 
Mr.  Thomas,  who  was  much  touohed,  in  reply,  said  :  Mr.  Edwards 
■and  Gentlemen, — You  will  understand  that  this  is  a  trying  time  for  me. 
i  feel  I  cannot  at  the  present  moment  adequately  express  my  thanks, 
or  how  much  I  appreciate  your  great  kindness.  I  can  only  say  I  thank 
you  most  heartily  ;  but  although  it  is  a  painful  matter  to  say  good-bye 
to  you  who  have  worked  so  willingly  with  me,  I  am  glad  in  one  respect 
to  meet  you,  as  this  oooasion  gives  me  an  opportunity  of  stating — what 
I  often  felt — that  no  man  in  the  position  I  have  held  could  have  had 
more  loyal  support  and  assistance  from  the  staff  than  I  have  experienced, 
from  the  time  I  came  to  Windsor  up  to  the  present ;  and  I  sincerely 
trust  that  the  same  good  feeling  will  exist  in  the  future  with  my 
successor.  Having  made  some  touching  allusions  to  the  late  Queen 
Victoria,  he  asked  each  member  of  the  committee  to  accept  framed 
cabinet  photos  (signed)  of  Mrs.  Thomas  and  himself,  and  again  thanked 
one  and  all  for  their  kindness. 
The  address,  which  is  on  vellum  and  enolosed  in  an  oak  and  gold 
frame,  is  a  superb  example  of  the  illuminator’s  art.  For  beauty  of 
design  and  harmonious  treatment  of  colour  it  is  deserving  of  the 
greatest  praise.  At  the  heading  is  the  royal  arms  in  heraldic  colouring 
upon  a  delicate  floral  ground,  with  the  words  Royal  Gardens,  Windsor, 
in  ribbon.  The  name,  Owen  Thomas,  Esq.,  with  its  beautiful  capital 
letters,  and  inside  letters,  Forget-me-nots,  delicately  treated  on  gold 
ground,  is  very  fine.  The  border  is  in  the  English  flower  pattern  with 
Ivy  leaf  ornament  in  early  15th  century  style,  on  a  ground  of  endless 
filigree  work.  At  the  bottom  are  two  finely  executed  views  of  Mr. 
Thomas’s  residence  (south  and  north).  The  wording  is  in  Saxon,  and 
signed  by  the  chairman  and  committee.  The  work  is  designed  and 
executed  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Darby  of  Windsor,  and  has  given  the  great  est 
satisfaction. 
Accident  to  Mr.  B.  Kadhams.  —  Mr.  B.  Ladhams  of  the 
Shirley  Nurseries,  Southampton,  met  with  an  accident  on  the  day  of 
the  Shirley  Flower  Show,  on  August  21st.  As  he  was  entering  the 
show  ground  his  horse  bolted  with  a  van-load  of  plants  and  flowers, 
and,  colliding  with  a  tree,  turned  the  van  over  on  the  top  of  him. 
Happily  his  injuries  were  not  very  serious,  and  the  readers  of  this  paper 
will  be  glad  to  learn  that  he  is  able  to  get  about  again.  He  was  heartily 
congratulated  on  his  marvellous  escape. 
Flowers  In  Season. — Frequenters  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society’s  shows  in  the  Drill  Hall  know  well  the  handsome  and 
imposing  displays  of  new  and  superior  varieties  of  Gladioli  which  the 
Langport  firm  set  up  about  this  season  of  the  year.  We  are  reminded 
onoe  again  to  be  watchful  for  another  display  from  Messrs.  Kelway  at 
a  near  date  by  the  present  of  a  box  of  specimen  blooms  of  Gladioli. 
They  were  all  magnifioent,  both  in  the  variations  and  distinctness  of 
the  colours,  the  form,  size,  and  substance  of  the  blooms,  and  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  spikes.  The  following  are  the  varieties  : — Laco, 
scarlet  orimson  ;  Galatea,  orange  scarlet ;  Countess  Amy,  pale  mauve, 
deeper  at  the  edges,  and  with  a  creamy  white  throat ;  Miss  Foster, 
white,  faintly  suffused  and  splashed  with  mauve  ;  Mrs.  Wood,  deep,  rich 
mauve;  Grover  Cleveland,  rioh  glowing  crimson  with  white  throat; 
Wellington,  a  very  rich  and  deep  crimson,  with  others. 
A  New  Apple  Barrel. — According  to  the  “  Fruit  Trade  Journal,” 
a  new  Apple  barrel — an  inspection  barrel  it  is  called — is  being  introduced 
on  the  Chicago  market.  It  is  described  as  follows: — Six  inches  from 
the  end  of  a  stave  is  sawed  crosswise  1J  inoh  on  a  bevel,  and  then 
sawed  lengthwise  14J  inches,  giving  an  integral  tongue,  still  attached 
to  the  stave  and  easily  sprung  outward.  These  staves  are  from  to 
4  inches  wide,  and  28J  inches  long.  Four  of  these  staves  are  put  into 
a  barrel  (on  opposite  sides  of  the  barrel),  so  that  two  of  the  tongues 
open  from  end  of  the  barrel  and  two  from  the  other ;  and,  by  raising 
the  middle  hoops  and  springing  out  the  tongues,  a  view  of  the  fruit  is 
to  be  had  every  quarter  of  the  distance  around  the  barrel  nearly  its 
entire  length,  a  fact  which  the  patentees  claim  would  completely 
discourage  the  deceptive  paoker  in  trying  to  mix  poor  fruit  with  the 
good,  as  there  is  no  room  for  the  poor  fruit,  whioh  fact  is  sufficient 
guarantee  that  fruit  packed  in  these  barrels  will  be  true  to  mark  and  of 
the  grade  represented. 
National  Chrysanthemum  Society. — The  first  meeting  of  the 
executive  committee  held  after  the  recess  took  place  at  Carr’s 
Restaurant,  Strand,  on  the  26th  inst.,  there  being  a  good  attendance  of 
members  and  delegates  from  affiliated  societies.  Mr.  Thos.  Bevan 
was  in  the  chair.  The  illuminated  address  voted  by  the  annual  meeting 
to  Mr.  P.  Waterer,  the  late  chairman  of  the  committee,  was  on  view,  it 
having  been  prepared  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Pratt,  of  Newgate  Street,  E.C.,  and 
the  execution  was  much  admired.  The  address  sets  forth  that  it  is 
“  presented  to  Mr.  P.  Waterer  in  grateful  recognition  of  his  services  to 
the  society  as  vice-chairman  of  the  executive  committee  in  1897-98, 
and  as  chairman  of  the  executive  committee  in  1899-1900.”  It  bears 
the  signatures  of  the  late  president,  Sir  Edwin  Sannders,  and  the 
general  secretary.  A  deputation  from  the  committee  of  three  members 
was  appointed  to  wait  upon  :Mr.  Waterer,  and  present  him  with  the 
address.  The  business  transacted  was  mainly  routine.  A  suggestion, 
made  by  Mr.  Norman  Davis,  that  some  form  of  memorial  of  the  late 
president  should  be  provided  was  considered,  and  aotion  postponed  till 
the  next  meeting  of  the  committee  Resolutions  of  thanks  to  A.  Tate, 
Esq.,  and  Mrs.  Tate  for  their  permission  for  the  members  to  visit  the 
gardens  of  Downside,  Leatherhead,  on  the  occasion  of  the  annual  outing 
on  July  8th,  and  for  their  general  hospitality  ;  and  to  A.  Dixon,  Esq., 
for  the  privilege  of  visiting  Cherkley  Court  on  that  occasion,  were 
carried  with  acclamation,  and  ordered  to  be  sent  to  the  gentlemen 
named.  Regret  was  expressed  that  no  report  of  the  outing  had  found 
its  way  into  the  gardening  papers,  and  it  was  explained  that  no  means 
had  been  adopted  to  secure  the  presenoe  of  the  representatives  of  the 
horticultural  journals  at  the  outing.  The  matter  of  seouring  a  president 
in  succession  to  the  late  Sir  E.  Saunders  was  also  considered,  and 
preliminary  action  taken.  It  was  agreed  that  the  annual  dinner  should 
be  held  as  usual  at  the  end  of  November,  and  a  small  committee  was 
appointed  to  procure  information  as  to  suitable  accommodation  for  the 
same.  Nineteen  candidates  for  membership  were  duly  elected,  and  the 
following  societies  were  admitted  to  affiliation  : — The  Tamworth  and 
District  Chrysanthemum  Show  ;  Stoke  Newington,  Stamford  Hill,  and 
Clapton  Chrysanthemum  Society ;  Gainsborough  and  District  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  Society  ;  and  the  Olveston  Chrysanthemum  (Glos.)  Society. 
