March  30,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
257 
is  given,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  the  successful  cultivation  of  these  very 
useful  and  heautiful  all-the-year-round  flowering  plants,  at  any  rate  the 
results  of  his  work  and  directions  are  self-evident. 
I  append  names  of  the  leading  varieties  grown  at  Tranby  :  Winter 
Cheer,  Uriah  Pike,  Duke  of  Fife.  Mrs.  Leopold  Rothschild,  Princess  of 
Wales,  Churchwarden,  Lady  Grimston,  Mrs.  E.  Hambro,  Trumpeter, 
Calypso,  Prime  Minister,  and  Princess  May,  which  is  very  highly  spoken 
of  by  experts  in  this  class  of  plant. — II,  J.  C.,  Grimston. 
[Though  our  contributor  shrinks  from  making  reference  to  the 
grounds  of  Tranby  Croft,  we  may  say  of  them,  after  a  visit  paid  during 
the  early  summer  of  last  year,  that  they  are  amongst  the  most  charming 
that  it  has  been  our  pleasure  to  see.  As  a  suburban  home  Tranby  Croit 
is  ideally  beautiful,  and  the  interest  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  M’^ilson  is 
in  favour  of  the  embellishment  of  its  many  beauties  rather  than  the 
reverse.  The  variety  and  excellence  of  the  Conifer  avenue  would  be 
difficult  to  excel  in  the  county  of  Yorkshire.  The  trees  are  in  splendid 
form,  though  rather  too  thick  to  allow  of  their  individual  proportions 
being  appreciated  to  the  full.  In  the  pleasure  grounds  and  gardens 
them,  as  he  was  a  frequent  \isitor  at  The  Grange  Gardens,  M’allington, 
when  I  was  local  secretary  for  that  district,  and  he  scarcely'  ever  left 
without  coMti ibuting  at  least  a  shilling,  sometimes  more,  to  the  money 
box  there.  In  that  way  he  paid  mote  than  the  usual  5a.  annual  subscrip¬ 
tion,  but  owing  to  the  manner  it  was  given  it  was  credited  to  me,  and 
forms  jiart  ot  the  £80  that  is  placed  to  my  name  in  the  list,  which  is 
sufficient  to  pay  allowances  to  six  orphans  for  one  year.  As  it  happened, 
his  children  had  left  the  country  before  the  date  of  the  election,  and  were 
thus  disqualified  from  receiving  any  benefit  from  the  Fund. 
It  would  be  a  great  help  to  the  Fund  if  every  gardener  would  adopt 
the  practice  of  having  a  money'  box  and  drop  in  a  weekly  coin  himself, 
and  give  other  people  an  opportunity  of  doing  likewise.  Mr.  B.  Wynne, 
the  Secretary,  would  be  delighted  to  receive  the  contents  of  the  boxes,  and 
the  total  amount  from  these  should  be  sufficient  to  insure  the  election  of 
several  poor  children.. — G.  W.  CUJIMINS,  Balmedie,  Aberdeen. 
Your  correspondent  “A.D.”  (page  153)  is  anxious  to  know  why  there 
is  so  much  indifference  shown  on  the  part  of  gardeners  towards  this  Fund 
Fig.  63.— in  THE  GARDENS  OF  TRANBY  CROFT. 
surrounding  the  mansion  endeavour  has  been  made  to  form  fresh  features 
and  to  present  additional  charms  to  the  visitor,  and  success  has  crowned 
the  efforts  made.  The  winding  paths,  the  nooks  and  corners,  convey  the 
impression  that  the  estate  is  very  extensive,  whereas  it  is  compact,  and 
the  best  use  has  been  made  of  the  space  to  be  dealt  with.  The  skilful 
hand  of  Mr.  Leadbetter  is  seen  out  as  well  as  indoors,  and  in  every 
department  of  a  busy  establishment  there  is  a  tidy  cleanliness  that  is 
most  pleasant  to  observe.  It  is  not  now  possible  for  a  complete  description 
of  the  estate  to  be  given,  so  two  photographic  views  are  provided.  The 
former  affords  a  peep  into  the  pleasure  grounds  and  a  glance  at  the 
mansion  beyond,  and  the  latter  shows  the  herbaceous  borders  in  the  kitchen 
garden,  Tranby  Croft  is  one  of  the  estates  in  the  north  of  England  that 
are  best  worth  a  visit,  and  when  anyone  makes  a  tour,  however  brief, 
must  be  included.  Our  photographs  were  taken  by  Mr,  W.  E.  Martin, 
Hull.] 
ROYAL  GARDENERS’  ORPHAN  FUND. 
I  MUST  take  exception  to  the  statement  of  “  II.  D,,”  page  1.53,  that 
“notone  of  the  fathers  of  the  nineteen  children  nominated  for  election 
this  year  had  been  a  subscriber  to  this  Charity.”  True,  their  names  are 
not  in  the  list  of  subscribers,  but  I  was  personally  acquainted  with  one  of 
I  will  not  attempt  to  answer  this  question,  and  not  being  a  subscriber 
myself  I  know  nothing  of  the  inner  working  of  the  Fund.  One  cannot, 
however,  shut  one  s  eyes  to  the  tact  that  there  is  a  great  amount  of 
dissatisfaction  expressed  amongst  sub«cribiDg  gardeners  in  the  provinces 
as  to  the  salary'  given  to  the  Secretary,  which  is  £100  per  year. 
This  is  more  than  nine-tenths  of  the  gardeners  in  the  countrv  receive. 
It  thus  takes  the  subscriptions  of  400  gardeners  to  pay  the  Secretary 
his  salary  before  there  is  anything  for  the  orphans.  1  have  heard  sub¬ 
scribers  discuss  this  subject  iu  various  parts  of  the  countrv,  and  in  no 
instance  have  I  heard  one  of  them  uphold  the  management.  One  and  all 
expressed  themselves  as  opposed  to  so  much  being  paid  in  salary.  There 
are  probably  many  subscribing  gardeners  in  the  country  who  would  do  the 
work  equally  well  for  half  that  amount,  which  would  benefit  the  poor 
children  for  whom  it  was  intended.  In  any  case,  a  little  light  on  this 
subject  will  do  no  harm  to  the  society. —  S.,  Yorks. 
*•  A.  D.”  asks  w'hy  more  gardeners  do  not  subscribe  to  the  funds 
I  of  this  Charity.  I  will  give  him  one  reason — viz.,  the  appointment  of  a 
Secretary  at  a  salary  of  £100  a  year.  Country  gardeners  fail  to  see  why 
their  money  should  be  spent  in  this  lavish  manner.  One  would  have 
thought  half  that  sum  was  sufficient  remuneration  for  secretarial  duties. 
This  is  not  merely  the  opinion  of  myself  but  that  of  hundreds  of  gardeners 
throughout  the  country. — A  Country  Gardener. 
