November  28,  1901.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
489 
Irish  Board  of  Agriculture. 
This  Board  has  organised  a  series  of  lectures  on  fruit  and 
vegetable  culture,  to  be  illustrated  by  lantern  views.  The 
lectures  are  being  delivered  in  the  country  around  Dublin. 
Decorative  Chrysanthemums. 
There  are  a  few  decorative  sorts  we  would  call  to  notice,  and 
these  include  Mrs.  W.  J.  Hartin,  russety  red;  Star  of  Honour; 
Ella  Gang,  golden;  Red  Jane;  Crimson  Tangle,  a  splendid 
crimson  flower  with  golden  tips;  G.  W.  Forbes;  and  M.  Jacob 
Holtzer.  The  foregoing  were  noted  at  Swanley. 
Addresses  Wanted. 
We  are  without  the  names  and  addresses  of  the  secretaries  of 
the  following  horticultural  societies.  Any  of  our  readers 
acquainted  with  the  secretaries  of  one  or  other  of  the  societies 
named,  would  greatly  oblige  the  Editor  of  the  Horticultural 
Directory  by  furnishing  him  with  the  names  and  addresses  re¬ 
quested.  The  societies  are :  Ebley,  Caincross,  and  Selsby  Horti¬ 
cultural  ;  Hornsey  Horticultural  and  Allotments  Association ; 
Sherborne  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement;  West  Derby  Gar¬ 
deners’  Mutual  Improvement  Society ;  Winchester  Gardeners’ 
Mutual  Improvement  Association  ;  Barnsley  and  District  Experi¬ 
mental  School  of  Gardening :  The  Metropolitan  Public  Gardens 
Association ;  Woking  Horticultural  Society ;  Acock’s  Green 
Horticultural  Society-  Swanley  Junction  and  District  Horticul¬ 
tural  Society. 
The  Gardeners’  Company. 
At  the  Prince’s  Restaurant,  Piccadilly,  on  Monday,  18th  inst., 
Mr.  C.  E.  Osman,  Master  of  the  Worshipful  Company  of  Gardeners, 
entertained  the  Lord  Mayor,  the  Sheriffs,  and  a  large  company 
at  dinner.  Previous  to  the  banquet  a  court  of  the  company  was 
held,  at  which  Mr.  Sheriff  Marshall  wTas  admitted  to  the  freedom 
and  livery,  and  constituted  a  member  of  the  court.  Among  the 
guests  present  were  Lieutenant-General  Sir  William  Stirling,  Sir 
Trevor  Lawrence  (Past  Master),  Sir  Joseph  Savory  (Past  Master), 
the  Rev.  W.  Wilks  (Past  Master),  Mr.  N.  Sherwood  (Past  Master), 
Mr.  P.  R.  Barr,  and  many  others.  Numerous  toasts  were  given. 
In  proposing  “The  Worshipful  Company  of  Gardeners,  may  it 
flourish  root  and  branch  for  ever,”  the  Lord  Mayor  referred  to  the 
fact  that  in  ancient  times  the  City  Guilds  had  their  gardens,  and 
it  was  in  that  belonging  to  the  Grocers’  Company,  of  which  he 
was  a  member,  that  the  Bank  of  England  was  first  established. 
He  was  glad  to  know  that  the  ancient  Company  of  Gardeners  had 
been  resuscitated,  and  that  it  was  doing  its  utmost  to  promote 
the  interests  of  the  fraternity  which  it  represented.  The  Master 
responded,  and  stated  that  he  believed  the  Company  was 
originally  founded  in  1145  a.d.  The  Archdeacon  of  London  re¬ 
sponded  for  “The  Visitors,”  proposed  by  Mr.  Dewar,  M.P.,  and 
the  proceedings  concluded. 
Variorum. 
France  has  now  the  deepest  well  in  the  world.  It  is  3,609ft, 
and  the  temperature  at  the  bottom  is  117  degrees.  *  *  The 
largest  artesian  well  in  the  world  is  14in  in  diameter,  and  684ft 
deep.  It  is  at  Cerritos,  in  California.  *  *  A  young  Apple 
tree  was  planted  last  autumn  in  the  garden  occupied  by  Mr. 
Dawson,  in  the  Grove  Road,  Wimbome.  It  has  blossomed  on 
three  occasions  this  year,  and  as  the  result  of  the  third  display 
of  bloom  has  a  small  crop  of  fruit  now.  *  *  Poor  Connaught 
and  the  poorer  parts  of  Munster,  those  sections  of  Ireland  where 
the  Celtic  race  is  purest,  where  a  buttermilk,  Indian  meal,  and 
Potato  diet  is  most  prevalent,  and  population  thinnest,  are  most 
exempt  from  cancer.  *  *  There  are  62,000  acres  of  Prune 
trees  in  California.  Last  year  they  bore  nearly  350,000,0001b  of 
green  Prunes.  Each  acre  has  usually  100  trees.  150,000,0001b 
were  cured  last  year.  *  *  It  will  interest  arboriculturists  in 
this  country  to  learn  that  the  Michigan  Legislature  has  already 
appropriated  57,000  acres  to  the  Forestry  Commission  for  experi¬ 
ment  purposes.  *  *  The  output  of  Beet  sugar  in  America  will 
be  between  80,000  and  100,000  tons,  against  35,000  tons  last 
year.  Besides,  the  refineries  will  handle  100,000  tons  of  Hawaiian 
sugarcane.  *  *  Great  destruction  has  been  caused  amongst 
the  trees  in  the  Moffat  district  of  south-west  Scotland  by  the 
recent  hurricanes.  Large  numbers  of  beautiful  and  majestic 
trees  have  perished.  As  many  as  eighty  tall  trees  in  one  small 
plantation  were  uprooted.  *  *  Two  well-known  local  growers 
at  Wigtoft  made  a  bet  to  produce  the  heaviest  twelve  dozen  of 
Celery.  The  winning  twelve  dozen  weighed  8cwt  Oqr  101b,  being 
the  heaviest  by  lqr  31b. 
Railway  Platform  Gardens. 
The  Midland  Railway  Company’s  annual  award  for  the  best 
kept  and  most  attractive  platform  garden  on  their  system  is  this 
year  divided  between  Matlock  Bath  Station  (Derbyshire)  and  Five 
Ways  Station  (Birmingham). 
Bananas  in  Queensland. 
The  area  under  Bananas  in  Queensland,  Australia,  was  greater 
in  the  past  than  in  the  previous  year  by  413  acres,  but  the  yield 
was  considerably  less.  The  area  under  this  crop  in  1900  was 
6,215  acres,  as  against  5,802  acres  in  1899,  the  district  showing 
the  principal  increase  being  Cairns,  with  652  acres  greater  area 
in  1900  than  in  the  previous  year.  Singularly,  this  district 
showed  a  decrease  for  1899  as  compared  with  1898,  so  that  some 
additional  land  must  have  been  put  under  this  crop  during  1900, 
probably  new  land  just  cleared,  which  always  yields  the  best 
returns  under  Bananas.  The  total  production  in  1900  was 
2,321,108  bunches. 
Continuation  School  Gardens  in  Surrey. 
Eight  years  ago  the  Surrey  County  Council  established  a 
series  of  continuation  school  gardens  throughout  the  county  with 
a  view  to  teaching  youths  the  best  methods  of  cultivation,  and 
inducing  them  to  take  practical  interest  in  the  work.  Mr.  J. 
Wright,  F.R.H.S.,  has  just  presented  an  exhaustive  report  on 
the  work  of  the  past  year.  He  says  that  it  would  be  difficult  to 
find  at  home  or  abroad  better  tilled  and  more  productive  cottage 
gardens  and  allotments  than  are  to  be  found  in  Surrey.  But  the 
advance  made  by  the  youths  in  their  gardens  has  in  the  aggregate 
been  still  greater,  and  the  results  have  demonstrated  that  the 
produce  of  any  kind  of  land  that  is  at  all  amenable  to  improve¬ 
ment  can  at  the  least  be  doubled  in  value  by  sound  methods  of 
cultivation.  This  assertion,  he  says,  is  substantiated  by  the 
actual  results  obtained  in  1,682  plots  of  land  cultivated  systemati¬ 
cally  by  youths  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  years  of  age,  working 
under  instructions  during  a  period  of  eight  years.  The  value  of 
every  crop  in  these  plots  has  been  carefully  ascertained  and  cor¬ 
rectly  recorded,  and  from  these  data  it  seems  absolutely  clear 
that  the  land  has  actually  doubled  in  productiveness.  The 
average  number  of  merit  marks  in  the  first  year  of  the  experiment 
was  forty-five ;  this  year  it  is  ninety,  and  many  of  the  workers 
have  greatly  exceeded  this  average.  The  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  has  awarded  one  lad,  Herbert  Caesar,  of  Hale,  near  Farn- 
ham,  its  Silver  Banksian  Medal  in  recognition  of  the  best  work 
that  has  ever  been  seen  in  a  school  garden  plot  in  Surrey  or  else¬ 
where,  and  he  is  the  youngest  silver  medallist  of  the  society  in 
England.  Mr.  Wright  adds  that  the  money  value  of  the  crops  on 
three  typical  stations,  after  deducting  £40  for  manure,  seeds, 
rent,  &c.,  is  shown  as  follows : — At  Hale,  which  is  gravel  soil,  the 
gain  on  the  outlay  in  1894  was  at  the  rate  of  £14  per  acre ;  this 
year  it  is  £82.  At  Englefield  Green  (sand)  there  was  a  loss  on 
outlay  in  1895  of  £2  ;  this  year  there  is  a  gain  of  £76.  At  Dorking 
(marl)  the  gain  on  outlay  in  1895  was  £2 ;  this  year  it  is  £50.  The 
labour  of  the  youths  has  not  been  taken  into  account  in  these 
figures. 
Meteorological  Observations  at  Chiswick. 
Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens  at  Chiswick — 
height  above  sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
© 
1901. 
November. 
eotion  c 
Wind. 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
Rain. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
«  3  * 
®  *3 
®  2 
5S® 
J-l 
5 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
W 
<D 
A 
to 
5 
Lowest. 
1-ft. 
deep. 
^a§ 
©  o 
Sunday  ...17 
S.E. 
deg. 
24-8 
deg. 
24-1 
deg. 
40-6 
deg. 
21.8 
Ins. 
deg. 
38-0 
deg. 
45-0 
deg. 
50-0 
deg. 
13-6 
Monday  ...18 
W.S.W. 
40-4 
38-2 
51-6 
23-3 
— 
37-5 
44-2 
49-8 
19-9 
Tuesday  ..19 
w.s.w. 
51-8 
48-9 
53-1 
40-3 
— 
40-2 
43-8 
49-2 
36-0 
Wed’sday  20 
W.S.W. 
52-9 
48-8 
54-1 
500 
_ 
43-9 
44-6 
49-0 
45-6 
Thursday  21 
W.S.W. 
50-9 
47-9 
53-7 
47-4 
006 
44-9 
45-8 
48-8 
41-5 
Friday  ...22 
s.w. 
43-6 
42-7 
45-1 
42-8 
012 
45-4 
46-5 
48-8 
36- 
Saturday  23 
N.E. 
30-1 
29-0 
44-0 
29-0 
_ 
42-4 
46-5 
48-8 
22' 
Mhams  ... 
42-1 
39-9 
48-9 
36-4 
Total 
0-18 
1 
41-8 
45-2 
49-2 
30-7 
A  week  of  dull  cold  weather,  with  frost,  fog,  and  a  drizzling  rain 
on  two  days. 
