December  12,  1901.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER , 
545 
-to  Sutton’s  Winter  Beauty,  the  lecturer  passed  on  to  deal  with 
culture,  giving  practical  details  under  the  following  headings  : 
Sowing,  soil,  potting,  fertilising,  removing  leaves,  open  air,  grow¬ 
ing  for  market,  disease,  and  pests.  Many  questions  were  asked, 
and  an  interesting  discussion  ensued,  in  which  the  following 
took  part:  Messrs.  Neve,  Hinton,  Alexander,  Exler,  Cretchley, 
Wilson,  Lever,  Burfitt,  Dore,  Judd,  Chamberlain,  Goodman, 
Townsend,  Bright,  and  Rumbold.  A  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was 
accorded  Mr.  Iggulden  for  his  valuable  paper. 
Royal  Meteorological. 
At  the  ordinary  meeting  of  the  Society,  to  be  held,  by  kind 
permission  of  the  Council,  at  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers, 
Great  George  Street,  Westminster,  on  Wednesday,  the  18th 
instant,  at  7.30  p.m.,  the  following  papers  will  be  read:  — 
“  Further  Observations  and  Conclusions  in  Relation  to  Atmo¬ 
spheric  Transparency,”  by  the  Hon.  F.  A.  Rollo  Russell, 
F.R.Met.Soc.;.  “Remarkable  Phosphorescent  Phenomenon 
observed  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  April  4  and  9,  1901,”  by  W.  S. 
Hoseason  ;  “  On  the  Mechanical  Principle  of  Atmospheric  Cir¬ 
culation,”  by  Captain  R.  A.  Edwin,  R.N.,  F.R.Met.Soc. 
P.S. — As  the  balloting  list  for  the  Council  for  the  year  1902 
will  be  prepared  at  the  next  Council  meeting,  it  is  requested  that 
those  Fellows  who  wish  to  suggest  Fellows  for  election  on  the 
new  Council  will  send  in  proposed  names  before  the  17th  inst. 
W.  M.,  Assist.  3ec. 
Wakefield  Paxton. 
The  programme  of  meetings  for  the  fourth  quarter  session, 
1901,  held  at  the  Paxton  Room,  Woolpacks  Hotel,  Westgate, 
each  Saturday  evening,  at  eight  o’clock  prompt,  is  as  follows :  — 
1901  :  December  14,  “  Gardening  for  Schools,”  Mr.  W.  J.  Middle- 
ton,  Bradford ;  December  21,  “  The  Place  of  Bacteria  in  the 
Economy' of  Nature”  (illustrated  by  lantern  slides),  Dr.  P.  J. 
Cammidge,  Public  Health  Laboratory,  County  Hall,  Wakefield; 
December  28,  Musical  evening.  1902  :  January  4,  “  A  Plant — its 
Life  and  Work,”  Mr.  Alfred  Gaut,  Yorkshire  College; 
January  11,  “Wild  Wales”  (illustrated  by  lantern  slides), 
Captain  H.  S.  Goodyear;  January  18,  “Some  World  Famous 
Buildings  and  Monuments  ”  (illustrated  by  lantern  slides), 
Mr.  J.  Swire ;  January  25,  “  The  Storybook  of  Nature  ” 
(illustrated  by  lantern  slides),  Mr.  H.  Crowther,  Leeds 
Museum;,  February  1,  “The  Life  History  of  the  Domestic 
Fowl,  from  the  Egg  to  Maturity”  (illustrated  by  lantern  slides), 
Mr.  W.  E.  Corden ;  February  8,  “  Spring  Flowering  Bulbs  and 
their  Forcing  Properties  ”  (with  specimens),  Mr.  L.  Twigge ; 
February  15,  “  Some  Physical  and  Chemical  Properties  of  Fertile 
Soils,”  Mr.  John  Cryer,  Bradford;  February  22,  “Wakefield  in 
the  time  of  Charles  the  Second,”  Rev.  A.  Chalmers;  March  1, 
annual  meeting;  sale  of  periodicals. — T.  H.  Mountain  and  A.  S. 
Nicholson,  Hon.  Secs. 
Woolton  Gardeners’  Improvement. 
The  usual  monthly  meeting  of  the  above  society  was  held  in 
the  Mechanics’  Institute  on  Thursday,  December  5,  Mr.  Hitch- 
man  in  the  chair.  Considering  the  inclement  weather  that 
prevailed,  the  attendance  was  exceedingly  good,  the  hall  being 
comfortably  filled.  Mr.  Charles  Sherry,  from  the  Botanic  Gar¬ 
dens,  Liverpool,  was  the  essayist  of  the  evening,  the  subject 
being  “  Gloire  de  Lorraine  Begonia.”  This  gentleman  treated  his 
subject  in  a  remarkably  masterly  manner,  and  the  audience 
were' spellbound  from  beginning  to  end.  Commencing  as  he  did 
with  its  history  and  development,  he  gave  to  the  members  much 
valuable  information  regarding  the  climate  and  the  nature  of 
this  Begonia’s  parentage,  which,  he  insisted,  had  much  to  do 
with  the  successful  cultivation  of  any  new  hybrid  that  may  be 
produced.  He  then  described  the  many  and  varied  purposes 
this  popular  Begonia  may  be  used  for.  Special  emphasis  was  laid 
on  its  suitability  for  hanging  baskets,  drooping  as  it  does  so 
gracefully  over  the  edges  of  such,  which  seems  to  be  its  natural 
propensity.  He  next  dealt  with  its  cultivation,  advocating  a 
good  start  with  this  Begonia  (as  is  given  with  other  favourite 
flowers,  such  as  the  Chrysanthemum)  by  selecting  sturdy  flower¬ 
less  cuttings,  avoiding  side  shoots  at  all  times  for  this  purpose. 
Hi3  favourite  compost  was  then  given,  which  consists  of  two 
parts  of  Kent  loam,  one  part  good  ordinary  fibrous  loam,  and  one 
part  leaf  soil,  with  an  addition  of  silver  sand  to  keep  the  whole 
porous.  This,  Mr.  Sherry  remarked,  produced  good,  sturdy 
plants,  well  developed,  and,  other  conditions  being  favourable— 
viz.,  heat,  shade,  and  moisture — would  produce  plants  of  a  highly 
floriferous  nature.  Turaford  Hall  was  also  mentioned  and  highly 
recommended  by  the  essayist.  Nice  specimens,  well-flowered,  of 
Begonia  Gloire  de  Lorraine  and  Begonia  Caledonia  were  exhibited 
by  Mr.  Stoney,  Camp  Hill  Gardens,  which  drew  forth  several 
comments.  A  discussion  followed,  in  which  Messrs.  Finch, 
Haigh,  Waterman,  and  Stoney  took  part.  A  hearty  vote  of 
thanks  was  given  to  Mr.  Sherry  for  his  admirably-written  and 
well-rendered  essay ;  also  to  Mr,  Hitchman  for  presiding. — J,  S. 
Garden  Walks. 
Garden  walks  may  be  made  of  anything  that  is  hard  enough 
to  keep  a  firm  dry  surface- — brickbats,  freestone,  clinkers,  &c., 
may  be  used,  as  there  should  always  be  sufficient  good  gravel  on 
these  to  hide  whatever  is  in  the  bottom.  In  pleasure  grounds 
drainage  should  always  be  carefully  provided,  but  in  a  kitchen 
garden  with  Box  edging  there  is  not  so  much  need  for  drains,  as 
the  wet  soaks  into  the  soil.  In  making  a  walk  close  to,  or  near 
a  mansion,  the  side  of  the  walk  next  the  wall  should  be  kept  up 
the  same  as  if  it  was  the  centre  of  the  walk,  as  shown  in  the 
shaded  figure  (1),  so  that  the  water  may  not  lodge  there  and 
cause  dampness  in  the  building.  It  is  always  necessary  to  have 
a  dram  to  carry  off  the  rain  from  the  roof,  and  where  there  is 
a  border  between  the  walk  and  the  mansion,  as  shown  in  our 
section,  the  drain  for  this  purpose  should  be  confined  as  far  as 
possible  within  the  border,  so  that  it  can  be  seen  to  in  case  of 
stoppage  without  breaking  into  the  walk.  These  should  always 
be  laid  with  glazed  socket  pipes  with  their  joints  properly 
cemented,  and  to  provide  for  any  defective  joints  it  is  a  safe  plan 
to  have  them  below  the  level  of  the  foundations. 
Young  men  sometimes  find  a  little  difficulty  with  regard  to 
the  level  at  the  junction  of  two  walks  running  in  opposite  direc¬ 
tions  on  sloping  ground.  Take  the  instance  of  such  a  case  in  a 
Fig.  2. 
kitchen  garden.  Suppose  the  line  a ,  in  the  small  figure  (2), 
represents  the  slope  of  the  ground,  or  say  the  level  of  the  edge 
of  the  walk  a  in  our  ground  plan,  figure  (3).  Drive  a  level  peg 
exactly  in  the  centre  of  your  cross  walk  b,  figure  (3),  in  a  line 
with  the  edge  a  and  level  with  it.  Level  from  this  peg  for  the 
edges,  placing  other  pegs  c  c  at  each  side.  The  same  operation 
has  to  be  gone  through  at  the  other  end  of  the  cross  walk,  when 
the  levelling  of  its  sides  may  be  proceeded  with.  As  will  be  seen 
by  the  two  lines  in  the  section,  figure  (2),  a  representing  the 
height  of  edges;  A,  figure  (3),  and  the  dotted  line  b,  the  level  of 
the  cross  walks.  The  latter  is  below  the  level  of  the  former  on 
the  high  side,  and  above  it  on  the  lower  side  at  their  junctions, 
having  the  edges  of  both  walks  levelled  up  to  -within  a  foot  of 
Fig.  3. 
the  pegs  c  c.  From  these  measure  along  each  edge  a  distance 
equal  to  half  the  width  of  the  walk,  as  at  d  d,  and  insert  pegs 
exactly  where  the  Box  edging  is  to  come.  From  these  points 
stretch  a  line  across  the  corner,  as  shown  by  the  line  e,  and  level 
the  ground  from  the  one  point  to  the  other,  continuing  it  out  to 
the  peg  c.  This  will  gradually  verge  the  one  level  into  the 
other.  Now  place  the  looped  end  of  a  piece  of  string  over  the 
pegs  at  d  d  from  c,  draw  lines  crossing  at  e,  and  from  this  centre 
carefully  mark  the  quarter  of  a  circle  from  d  to  d  to  form  the 
corners,  by  drawing  the  sharp  point  of  a  peg  along  the  level 
surface.  Right-angle  corners  should  always  be  so  rounded  off, 
for  as  a  rule  square  comers  get  trodden  down  and  become 
unsightly. — R.  I. 
Hull  Fruit  Traders. 
At  the  annual  dinner  of  the  Hull  Fruit  Buyers’  Association 
on  Thursday,  December  5,  the  position  of  the  fruit  trade  was 
freely  discussed.  Mr.  Shentall,  of  Chesterfield,  wrote  that, 
although  the  port  of  Hull  had  grown,  the  railway  accommodation 
was  just  the  same  as  it  was  twenty  years  ago  so  far  as  the  North- 
Eastern  and  Midland  Railways  were  concerned.  The  North- 
Eastern  Railway  Company  ought  to  give  greater  facilities  for 
both  passengers  and  fruit,  or  the  trade  would  leave  the  port. 
Several  speakers  expressed  similar  views,  and  gave  figures  to 
show  the  falling-off  in  the  trade. 
