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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
November  7,  1901. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society. 
The  nest  Fruit  and  Flower  Show  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  will  be  held  on  Tuesday,  November  12,  in  the  Drill  Hall, 
Buckingham  Gate,  Westminster,  1  to  4  pan.  A  lecture  on 
“Insecticides,  Spraying  for  Fungi,”  &c.,  will  be  given  by  Mr.  R. 
Newstead,  F.E.S.,  at  three  o’clock.  *  *  At  a  general  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  held  on  Tuesday,  Oct.  29, 
thirty-nine  new  Fellows  were  elected,  amongst  them  being 
the  Countess  of  Clonmel,  Hon.  Mrs.  Trelawny,  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Lionel  Benson,  making  a  total  of  829  elected  since  the 
beginning  of  the  present  year. 
School  Gardening. 
Scientific  gardening  is  taught  in  the  national  schools  of 
Sweden  and  in  the  seminaries  for  the  education  of  national  school 
teachers.  There  is  a  school  garden  in  nearly  every  rural  school 
district  in  the  kingdom.  The  garden  is  placed  near  the  school- 
house,  and  the  children  receive  practical  instruction  in  the  culti¬ 
vation  of  plants,  berries,  flowers,  herbs,  and  fruits,  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  hotbeds,  greenhouses,  and  so  forth.  The  parishes  are 
required  to  furnish  the  necessary  ground  for  the  gardens,  and 
trees  and  shrubs  are  annually  given  to  the  children  to  be  planted 
at  their  homes. 
The  Potato  Harvest  In  Lincolnshire. 
The  Potato  harvest  in  the  Fen  district  of  Lincolnshire  is  now 
about  completed.  On  the  whole,  fine  weather  has  favoured  the 
work,  and  as  the  tubers  have  generally  been  dug  up  dry,  the 
cost  of  picking  has  not  been  so  great.  The  crops  have  turned 
out  better  than  was  at  one  time  expected.  Many  have  yielded 
as  much  as  ten  tons  per  acre,  but  the  prices  are  not  so  remunera¬ 
tive  as  in  some  previous  seasons.  Disease  has  affected  many  of 
the  delicate  sorts,  but  the  standard  varieties  have  withstood 
the  blight  very  well.  That  Potato  growing  is  a  paying  industry 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  a  much  larger  acreage  has  been  devoted 
to  the  tuber  this  year  than  usual  in  the  southern  part  of 
Lincolnshire. 
Mushroom  Gathering. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  North  Lancashire  Farmers’ 
Association,  Mr.  W.  Fitzherbert,  J.P.,  stated  that  as  the  result 
of  representations  from  that  association  there  was  every  pro¬ 
bability  that  next  year  there  would  be  no  clashing  of  the  dates  of 
the  Preston  and  Lancashire  cheese  fairs.  A  letter  from  the  Carn- 
forth  branch  was  read  containing  a  resolution  calling  attention  to 
the  damage  done  by  trespassers  in  gathering  Mushrooms,  and 
requesting  that  steps  should  be  taken  to  secure  legislation  on 
the  question.  The  chairman  suggested  that  the  subject  might 
be  recommended  for  discussion  at  a  meeting  of  the  Central 
Chamber  of  Agriculture,  and  a  resolution  was  passed  expressing 
the  desirability  of  making  the  law  of  trespass  more  stringent. 
Chrysanthemums  at  Battersea  Park. 
For  the  last  ten  days  or  more,  and  for  some  time  to  come, 
Chrysanthemums  in  great  resplendency  have  been  on  public  view 
in  one  of  the  greenhouses  within  Battersea  Park.  The  effect  of 
the  great  body  of  closely  placed  blooms,  looking  from  end  to  end 
of  the  long,  hip-span  house,  is  one  of  satisfying  richness,  remark¬ 
able  colour  effect,  and  brilliance.  The  beautiful  variety  Margot 
adorns  the  entire  space  of  the  end  walls  over  the  doorways, 
while  along  the  back  staging  are  spreading  masses  of  small- 
flowered  decorative  varieties,  including  such  as  La  Vouge,  deep 
yellow  ;  Rosinante,  pale  peach-pink ;  Sunset,  deep  crimson  red ; 
Lady  Selbome,  Soeur  Melaine,  Snowdrop,  Source  d’Or,  and  its 
crimson  sport.  These  are  in  large  pots,  the  stems  being  bent 
down  to  form  a  hedge,  and  conveying  alternate  colours.  The 
Japanese  and  a  few  incurved  varieties  in  the  body-mass  of  plants 
are  all  displaying  creditable  blooms,  the  best  representatives 
being  Matthew  Hodgson,  Mme.  E.  Rogers,  Vivian  Morel, 
Modesto,  Mrs.  H.  Weeks,  Charles  Davis,  Lady  Byron,  R.  Hooper 
Pearson,  Edith  Tabor,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Probin,  with  N.C.S.  Jubilee 
and  Lord  Alcester. 
Aberdeen  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
The  Queen  lias  been  graciously  pleased  to  become  patron  of 
this  society — an  announcement  which  will  be  most  gratifying  to 
the  members  and  friends.  The  annual  exhibition  of  the  society 
promises  to  be  a  record  one.  The  arrangements  are  well  forward, 
and  all  particulars  may  be  obtained  from  the  secretary,  Mr. 
M.  H.  Sinclair,  18,  Market  Street. 
Mr.  George  Nicholson,  V.M.H. 
In  a  letter,  characteristically  good  humoured  and  earnest,  sent 
to  us  by  Mr.  George  Nicholson  in  reference  to  our  expressions  in 
favour  of  a  testimonial,  made  on  page  399,  last  week,  he  ends 
by  saying,  “  I  should  be  very  sorry,  indeed,  if  any  appeal  were 
made  on  my  behalf,  and  I  can  assure  you  that  so  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  it  is  not  needed  ”  ;  which  last  expression  we  all  know 
to  be  true  in  this,  that  every  intelligent  horticulturist  and 
botanist  recognises  the  individual  obligations  they  owe  to  the 
past  labours  of  George  Nicholson. 
Fruit  Culture  In  Cumberland. 
Mr.  Berry,  of  the  Durham  College  of  Science,  lecturer  on 
horticulture  to  the  Cumberland  County  Council,  in  a  report  to 
the  latter  body,  says  he  is  again  incited  to  urge  upon  the  com¬ 
mittee  the  advisability  of  establishing  a  fruit  plot  or  two  in  the 
county,  where  a  fair  number  of  Apples,  Pears,  and  Plums  might 
be  tested,  where  lessons  on  feeding,  pruning,  &c.,  might  be  given, 
and  the  varieties  most  suited  to  the  county  brought  before  the 
public.  If  a  little  more  attention  was  given  by  farmers  and  fruit 
growers  to  planting  of  trees  and  the  feeding  of  their  trees  when 
planted,  they  could  grow  Apples,  at  least  in  Cumberland,  which 
in  point  of  quality  and  flavour  would  equal  if  not  surpass  foreign 
fruit. 
Potato  Dispute  in  Fife. 
In  Kirkcaldy  Sheriff  Court,  on  October  23,  Sheriff  Gillespie 
decided  an  action  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  David  Stevenson,  farmer, 
Sauclienbush,  who  sued  Mr.  Thomas  Culbert,  Potato  merchant, 
Chapel,  Kirkcaldy,  for  £28  5s.  as  balance  of  account  for  Potatoes 
purchased  by  defender  at  a  sale  on  Sauchenbush  Farm,  de¬ 
fender  having  paid  £160  to  account,  and  left  the  balance  sued 
for.  The  pursuer  stated  that  he  informed  defender  that  he 
would  not  accept  the  £160  in  full  payment,  and  the  words  “  in 
full  payment  ”  now  appearing  on  the  cheque  were  not  on  the 
cheque  when  handed  by  defender  to  pursuer.  The  defender 
contended  that  the  £160  was  paid  in  full  of  pursuer’s  account  of 
£188  5s.,  pursuer  arranging  to  deduct  £28  5s.  in  consequence  of 
the  Potatoes  sold  as  British  Queens  being  largely  mixed  with 
Maincrops.  His  Lordship,  in  his  interlocutor,  decided  for  the 
pursuer,  finding  him  entitled  to  the  sum  sued  for,  less  £2  deducted 
for  the  presence  of  Maincrops  among  the  British  Queens,  and 
also  found  the  defender  liable  to  the  pursuer  in  the  expenses  of 
process. 
Help  for  Gardeners  in  Distress. 
The  Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent  Institution  exists  for  the 
purpose  of  lending  the  necessary  succour  required  by  those  many 
gardeners  who,  through  no  fault  of  their  own,  fall  upon  hard 
times  in  later  life.  Perhaps  a  sensational  appeal  to  the  hearts 
of  gardeners  wlm  enjoy  robust  health  and  fair  prosperity  might 
do  some  good,  and  bring  home  to  the  fraternity  at  large  what 
so  many  already  recognise  as  a  sacred  duty,  and  that  is,  to  give 
whatever  help  they  can  in  the  way  of  subscriptions  to  so  blessed 
an  institution.  There  is  an  able  gentleman  as  secretary,  who 
works  hard  and  wields  a  very .  great  influence  with  men  of  posi¬ 
tion,  and  liis  constant  endeavour  is  to  come  closer  in  contact  with 
gardeners  themselves,  and  one  way  of  doing  this  is  to  inaugurate 
concerts  here  and  there  throughout  the  country,  the  drawings 
from  which  swell  the  funds  that  are  to  be  used  to  give  pensions 
and  donations  to  aged  gardeners  or  their  widows.  With  the  very 
valuable  aid  of  Mr.  Arthur  Joseph  Brown,  Superintendent  of  the 
garden  department  attached  to  the  School  of  Handicrafts  out  at 
Chertsey,  in  Surrey,  a  concert  has  been  arranged  to  be  held  on 
Thursday  next,  November  14,  within  the  Constitutional  Hall, 
Chertsey.  We  cannot  do  more  than  give  notice  to  those  of  our 
readers  in  that  part  of  the  Thames  Valley,  and  we  do  trust  their 
patronage  will  be  forthcoming.  For  the  honour  of  the  profession, 
we  plead  that  our  gardening  friends,  not  in  Chertsey  alone,  but 
everywhere,  will  make  a  resblve  to  assist  the  Gardeners’  Royal 
Benevolent  Institution,  whose  offices  are  at  175,  Victoria 
Street,  S.W. 
