510 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  22,  1899. 
Recent  Weather  in  London. — We  have  had  a  very  refreshing 
shower  since  our  last  issue  went  to  the  machines,  but  by  no  means  suffi¬ 
cient  rain  has  fallen  to  penetrate  to  the  roots  of  plants.  On  Saturday 
it  was  bright  and  warm,  a  pleasant  shower  falling  on  Sunday  evening. 
Monday  w  as  close,  dull,  and  threatening,  and  on  Tuesday  morning  came 
the  shower  above  referred  to.  The  later  hours  of  Tuesday  were  tine,  as 
was  Wednesday  morning. 
-  Royal  Horticultural  Society. —  The  next  Fruit  and 
Floral  meeting  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  be  held  on 
Tuesday,  June  ‘-7th,  in  the  Drill  Hall,  James  Street,  Westminster, 
1  to  5  P.M.  On  this  occasion  special  prizes  will  be  offered  for  Roses, 
and  at  three  oMock  a  lecture  on  “Some  of  the  Plants  Exhibited,”  will 
be  given  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  Geo.  Henslow',  M.A. 
-  The  R.H.S.  Committees.— The  Council  have  issued  their  now 
customary  invitations  to  the  members  of  the  respective  Committees,  a 
rather  large  body  conjointly,  to  lunch  at  Chiswick  on  July  11th.  Should 
other  than  members  of  the  different  Committees  be  invited  to  take  part 
in  the  Conference  on  hybridisation,  arranged  lor  that  dav  and  the 
following  one,  the  luncheon  party  will  be  a  very  large  one.  No 
doubt  care  will  be  taken,  that  apart  from  the  special  subjects  of  interest 
relating  to  hybridisation,  that  a  good  show  will  be  provided,  and  also  that 
there  will  be  ample  work  for  the  Committees.  No  doubt  also  the  gardens 
will  be  looking  at  their  best  ;  but  it  is  hoped  ere  then,  and  indeed 
speedily,  rain  will  come,  as  it  is  now  much  needed.  The  Chiswick 
gathering  should  constitute  the  most  pleasant  of  all  the  Society’s  reunions. 
-  Pea  Harbinger.— This  has  been  my  best  early  Pea  this 
season,  and  it  is  a  variety  that  is  worthy'  of  extended  culture,  being 
extremely  free  bearing,  and  of  excellent  quality.  When  the  size  of  a 
quarter  of  ground  is  taken  into  consideration,  this  will  produce  quite  as 
many  good  pods  as  any  other  kind,  and  it  is  earlier  than  Chelsea  Gem. 
The  peas  have  a  nice  marrow  flavour,  and  the  pods,  though  not  large,  are 
well  filled.  It  is  also  an  excellent  forcing  variety,  good  for  growing  in 
frames  or  any  chance  places  where  there  is  a  little  room  to  be  filled  up 
under  glass.  I  grew  a  row  of  it  in  a  centre  bed  in  a  cool  Peach  house  this 
year,  and  the  quality  was  equally'  as  good  then  as  now  that  we  are  gathering 
from  the  outside  rows.  I  have  not  tried  it  for  sowing  late  for  autumn 
gatherings,  as  for  this  purpose  1  usually  rely  upon  Autocrat,  and  that 
very  free  bearing,  though  not  first-rate  sort,  William  I,  May  Queen  is 
another  good  variety,  and  this  I  alw'ays  grow  as  much  of  as  possible.  I 
sowed  it  one  year  in  June,  but  it  was  not  altogether  a  success,  though  I 
never  had  a  poor  crop  from  early  sowings  either  outside  or  in.  The 
weather  lately  has  been  very  trying  for  Peas,  cold  east  wind  at  night,  and 
broiling  sun  by  day,  checking  the  plants  and  making  them  very  liable  to 
insect  attacks. — H.  R.  Richards. 
Trop-eolum  speciosum  from  Seed. — I  notice  in  a  recent 
number  or  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  that  some  of  the  readers  have 
experienced  a  difficulty  in  growing  the  lovely  scarlet  Tropteolum 
speciosum,  I  wonder  if  they  have  tried  sowing  seed  instead  of  trans¬ 
planting^  1  know  this  has  and  does  answer,  and,  in  fact,  the  great 
secret  of  its  luxuriance  in  some  parts  is  on  account  of  the  seed  germi¬ 
nating  on  the  spot  where  it  fell  from  the  parent  plants.  I  was  amused 
to  hear  Scotland  called  damp,  and  thus  supposed  to  favour  its  growth. 
It  is  some  years  now  since  I  resided  almost  permanently  in  different 
parts  of  Scotland,  where  I  am  obliged  to  live  on  account  of  avoiding  the 
damp  of  England.  Should  you  care  I  would  be  happy  to  send  you 
notes  of  our  sufferings  from  drought,  and  of  the  power  of  the  sun  even 
in  the  depth  of  winter. — O.  F.  [We  are  very  much  obliged  to  “O.  F.” 
We  have  previously  heard  that  the  best  way  of  establishing  the  Flame 
Tropsolum  is  by  sowing  seeds  where  the  plants  may  grow  undisturbed. 
We  have  seen  an  example  of  this  in  Scotland,  and  have  established  the 
Trop^olum  by  planting  flashy  roots  in  England,  but  only  in  a  cool,  moist, 
shaded  position.  Possibly  the  seeds  should  be  sown  as  soon  as  ripe.  We 
shall  be  glad  to  have  further  notes  from  our  correspondent  as  suggested, 
indicating  the  districts  in  Scotland  that  are  found  to  be  exceptionally 
dry.  The  drought  has  been  very  serious  in  its  effects  in  the  south¬ 
eastern  counties  of  England  during  the  past  few  years,  including  the 
locality  in  which  “  D.,  Deal,''  has  failed  to  establish  the  beautiful 
Tropaeolum  in  question.] 
- -  The  Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent  Institution. — The 
sixtieth  anniversary  festival  dinner  of  this  Institution  will  take  place 
on  Wednesday  next  at  the  Whitehall  Rooms,  Hotel  Metropole,  at  6.30 
for  seven  o’clock  precise'}',  when  the  chair  will  be  taken  by  the  Right 
Hon.  the  Earl  of  Derby,  K.G.,  G.C.B. 
-  Horticultural  Club. — At  the  usual  monthly  dinner  of  the 
Club,  on  June  13th,  the  chair  was  occupied  by  Mr.  Harry  J.  Veitch, 
Vice-Chairman  of  the  Club.  The  chief  business  in  hand  was  the  arrange¬ 
ment  for  the  dinner  to  be  given  to  the  distinguished  foreign  visitors  who 
are  expected  to  attend  the  Hybridisation  Conference.  The  dinner  will 
be  given  on  Tuesday,  July  llth,  and  the  chair  will  be  occupied  by  Sir 
J.  D.  T.  Llewelyn,  Bart.,  M.P.,  Chairman  of  the  Club. 
-  The  Late  Mr.  T.  J.  Saltmarsh. — At  the  meeting  of  the 
Fruit  Committee,  of  which  body  the  late  Mr.  Saltmarsh  was  an  esteemed 
member,  held  at  the  Drill  Hall  on  the  13lh  inst.,  Mr.  G.  Bunyard  proposed 
that  a  letter  of  condolence  and  sympathy  be  sent  from  that  Committee  to 
the  family  of  the  deceased.  This  was  seconded  by  Mr.  A.  Dean,  and 
unanimously  agreed  to.  Mr.  Saltmarsh  was  of  late,  because  of  weak 
health,  a  somewhat  infrequent  attendant  at  the  Drill  Hall,  but  he  was 
ever  welcomed  by  his  colleagues  when  enabled  to  attend. 
-  Lilac  alba  grandiflora. — I  am  sending  you  a  sprig 
or  two  of  this  beautiful  Lilac,  in  the  hope  that  the  notice  of  it  may  be 
the  means  of  inducing  someone  who  has  never  grown  it  to  give  it  a  trial. 
It  is  infinitely  superior  in  size,  substance,  and  purity  to  any  white  variety 
I  have  seen.  Unlike  some  of  the  newer  varieties,  it  blooms  quite  as  freely 
as  the  old  well-known  sorts.  Dr.  Lindley,  rubra,  and  Philemon,  planted  at 
the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  situation,  are  not  nearly  so  free  either  iik 
growth  or  bloom,  although  their  flowers  are  fine  ;  in  a  more  congenial 
clime  perhaps  they  may  do  better. — N.  N.  [The  fragrant  flowers  were 
magnificent,  and  quite  twice  the  size  of  the  old-fashioned  variety  that 
our  correspondent  enclosed  for  comparison.] 
-  Fruit  of  Common  Almond. — It  may  not  be  generally  known 
that  the  green  fruit  of  the  common  Almond,  Amygdalus  communis, 
equally  with  that  of  the  Sweet  Almond,  A.  c.  dulcis,  is  excellent  for  tarts^ 
and  for  preserving]  in  sugar,  like  green  Apricots,  The  fruit  must  bo 
young,  about  the  size  of  pickling  W alnuts,  and  before  the  stone  has  formed. 
The  crop,  despite  the  frosts  of  March,  is  a  good  one  this  season,  and  may¬ 
be  turned  to  useful  service,  especially  as  Gooseberries  are  not  over- 
plentiful,  and  as  for  Apricots,  they  seem  to  get  scarcer  every  year.  The- 
Sweet  Almond,  like  the  Apricot,  flowers  too  early,  and  is  too  tender  for 
culture  in  this  country  as  standards.  But  the  common  Almond  thrives- 
on  all  well  drained  soils,  and  bears  freely  in  the  southern  and  midland 
counties,  appearing  to  like  the  light  soils  or  gravels  of  the  oolite  and  chalk, 
formations.  Why  not  cross  the  common  Almond  with  Peaches,  and  raise 
a  hardy  race  of  Peaches  and  Nectarines  ?— G.  Abbey. 
-  Malcolm  Dunn  Memorial  Fund. — The  news  of  the  sudden- 
death  of  Mr.  Malcolm  Dunn,  on  llth  May,  at  Dalkeith  Palace  Gardens,, 
where  he  had  been  gardener  for  nearly  twenty-eight  years,  must  have 
come  upon  all  who  knew  him  as  a  great  shock.  Although  a  gardener 
by  profession,  his  interest  did  not  end  there.  Horticulture,  botany, 
and  arboriculture  are  to-day  all  reaping  the  benefit  of  his  great  energy 
and  devotion.  Looking  to  this  general  interest  displayed  by  Mr.  Dunn,, 
it  has  been  agreed  upon  by  the  Royal  Caledonian  Horticultural  Society,, 
the  Botanical  Society  of  Edinburgh,  the  Royal  Scottish  Arboricultural 
Society,  and  the  Scottish  Horticultural  Association,  with  all  of  which 
he  was  intimately  identified,  to  unite  in  issuing  a  joint  appeal  to  the 
many  friends  of  Mr.  Dunn  throughout  England,  Scotland,  and  Irelandi 
for  funds  to  perpetuate  his  memory  ;  and  it  is  proposed  that,  after 
erecting  a  suitable  monument  in  Dalkeith  Cemetery,  the  balance  should 
be  devoted  to  charitable  and  educational  objects  in  connection  with, 
horticulture  and  arboriculture.  In  issuing  this  appeal,  the  Councils  of 
the  four  societies  feel  assured  that  there  are  very  many  who  will  gladly 
join  in  raising  such  a  memorial  as  is  proposed,  and  thus  testify  to  their 
appreciation  of  Mr.  Dunn’s  worth,  and  to  the  kindly  help  and  advice 
which  he  so  freely  gave.  Subscriptions  will  be  received  and  acknow¬ 
ledged  by  any  of  the  undersigned.  In  name  of  the  respective  Societies, 
P.  Murray  Thomson,  Secretary,  Royal  Caledonian  Horticultural  Society, 
5,  York  Place,  Edinburgh  ;  James  A.  Terras,  Assistant-Secretary, 
Botanical  Society  of  Edinburgh,  21,  Teviot  Place,  Edinburgh  ;  Robert 
Galloway,  Secretary,  Royal  Scottish  Arboricultural  Society,  5,  St.  Andrew 
Square,  Edinburgh  ;  and  Robert  Laird,  Secretary,  Scottish  Horticultural 
Association,  17,  Frederick  Street,  Edinburgh.  [We  publish  the  above- 
from  a  circular  that  is  being  distributed  this  week,  and  the  object  of  it 
cannot  but  receive  the  sympathy  and  support  of  Mr,  Dunn’s  many 
friends.] 
