July  12,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
31 
Recent  'Weather  In  Iiondon. — The  weather  in  London  during 
the  past  few  days  has  been  decidedly  oppressive.  Save  for  a  few 
drops  on  Sunday  evening  no  rain  has  fallen,  but  throughout  Monday 
there  was  a  feeling  as  of  thunder  in  the  air.  Tuesday  and  Wednesday 
were  brilliantly  fine  and  the  heat  was  intense,  notwithstanding  a 
slight  breeze. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society.— The  next  fruit  and  flower  show 
of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  be  held  on  Tuesday,  July  17th, 
in  the  Drill  Hall,  Buckingham  Gate  (late  James  Street),  Westminster, 
1  to  5  P.M.  At  3  o’clock  a  lecture  on  “  Lilies  ”  will  be  given  by  Mr. 
R.  Wallace,  of  Colchester. 
Plums  and  Strawberries. — The  fruit  crops  in  the  southern  part 
of  Lincolnshire  have  suffered  severely  from  the  gale  which  prevailed  in 
that  district  at  the  end  of  last  week.  Plums  are  an  exceptionally  heavy 
crop  this  year,  and  owing  to  the  weight  of  the  fruit  many  trees  had 
their  branches  completely  broken  off.  The  Cheshire  Strawberry 
harvest,  which  is  now  being  gathered,  is  described  as  fair  considering 
the  absence  of  sunshine.  Hundreds  of  acres  are  covered  with  fruit, 
which  is  being  picked  by  an  army  800  strong. 
Fragrant  Roses. — I  am  acquainted  with  most  of  the  Roses  named 
at  page  4,  and  cannot  remember  any  as  highly  scented  among  Hybrid 
Perpetuals  as  Beauty  of  Waltham  or  Marie  Baumann,  Caroline  d’ Arden 
or  Helen  Keller,  which  were  not  named.  All  the  Teas  are  more  or  less 
scented  with  that  peculiar  mild  fragrance,  but  among  those  not  named 
by  “  H.  T.  ’  is  that  fine  old  vigorous  Rose,  Madame  Berard,  as  also 
Ethel  Brownlow,  Catherine  Mermet,  and  its  sports,  and  always  including 
old  reliable  Gloire  de  Dijon. — W.  J.  Murphy,  Clonmel. 
Open  Spaces  In  the  City. — The  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Lords,  presided  over  by  the  Earl  of  Rosse,  on  Monday  had  under 
consideration  the  Various  Powers  Bill  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City 
of  London,  the  chief  opposition  to  which  had  reference  to  the  proposal 
of  the  measure  to  throw  open  to  the  public  the  space  known  as 
Finsbury  Gardens,  in  the  centre  of  Finsbury  Circus.  Evidence  having 
been  heard  on  each  side  as  to  this  clause,  the  Committee  passed  the 
preamble  of  the  Bill,  and  it  will  therefore  be  allowed  to  proceed. 
A  Raid  on  Gateford  Hill. — On  Wednesday  the  members  of  the 
Retford  Speedwell  Cycling  Club  made  a  sudden  descent  upon  the  Rose 
gardens  at  Gateford  Hill.  Although  surprised,  Mr.  H.  V.  Machiu,  the 
owner  and  originator  of  the  gardens,  gave  the  troop  a  diplomatic 
reception,  and  in  this  way  warded  off  the  worst  features  which  usually 
accompany  a  raid.  The  party  on  their  departure  carried  with  them 
some  of  Mr.  Machin’s  choicest  Roses,  and  in  this  condition  were  the 
admiration  of  a  number  of  Worksop  people  on  their  homeward  journey. 
Mr.  Robert  Fenn. — The  paragraph  in  your  last  issue  mentioning 
the  sad  accident  which  has  befallen  our  old  and  highly  esteemed  friend, 
Robert  Fenn  of  Sulhampstead,  has  carried  profound  pain  into  the  hearts 
of  many  who  have  long  known  and  respected  him.  No  more  enthusiastic 
or  earnest  raiser  of  Potatoes  ever  lived — no  one  more  single  or  open- 
hearted.  He  was  in  his  more  prosperous  days  hospitable,  kind,  liberal, 
hearty.  In  a  letter  from  his  daughter  to  hand,  she  states  that  lying  on 
his  back  a  helpless  man  of  84  years  of  age  “  he  is  very  bright,  cheerful, 
and  patient,  and  finds  the  time  less  long  than  we  thought  he  would,  so 
many  people  call  and  send  him  books.”  That  is  pleasant  to  know. 
But  our  old  friend  has  grave  anxieties,  for  during  his  residence  at 
Sulhampstead  he  has  been  almost  entirely  dependent  on  his  own  active 
labour  for  a  livelihood,  and  even  in  his  great  age  has  been  the  energetic 
oflficial  of  his  parish,  for  none  could  be  found  willing  to  do  the  work  as 
he  did.  But  when  others  must  do  the  work,  and  a  long  illness  must 
bring  heavy  medical  and  other  expenses,  no  wonder  if  there  press  at 
times  on  the  invalid’s  mind  thoughts  as  to  how  these  may  be  met.  For 
that  reason,  and  most  desirous  of  giving  some  relief  to  his  mind  just 
now  in  the  hour  of  darkness,  I  am  asking  you  to  kindly  allow  me  to 
appeal  to  his  old  friends  amongst  your  many  readers  for  something 
towards  a  fitting  testimonial  to  him,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  receive  and 
acknowledge  the  same  on  an  old  friend’s  behalf. — A.  Dean,  62,  Richmond 
Road,  Kingston-on-Thames. 
Cardenliig'  Appointment. — Mr,  James  Kennan,  from  Eden  Halt 
Gardens,  Langwathby,  R.S.O.,  has  been  appointed  head  gardener  to 
R.  Heywood  Thompson,  Esq.,  Nunwick  Hall,  Penrith,  Cumberland. 
Sefton  Park  Palm  House. — In  our  reference  to  this  noble 
structure  on  page  12  of  our  last  issue  we  omitted  to  mention  that  it 
was  erected  by  the  celebrated  Edinburgh  firm  of  Mackenzie  &  Moncur. 
Cherries  at  the  Drill  Hall. — In  our  report  of  the  Royal  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society  we  stated  that  Mr.  J.  Hudson  showed  Cherries  and 
Strawberries.  This  was  an  error,  as  the  exhibit  was  from  Mr.  G. 
Reynolds,  Gunnersbury  Park.  Mr.  Hudson  only  showed  one  dish  of 
Cherry  Bigarrean  de  Schreken. 
Hewell  Grange. — In  one  of  the  back  numbers  of  the  Journal 
there  is  a  note  on  the  Vines  planted  at  Hewell  by  Mr.  W.  K.  Pettigrew, 
the  successful  gardener.  Those  eyes  (according  to  the  note  mentioned) 
were  inserted  in  the  month  of  January,  1896,  and  planted  out  towards 
the  end  of  May,  when  they  were  nearly  2  feet  in  height.  These  grew 
rapidly,  and  reached  the  top  of  the  trellis  by  the  end  of  July.  The 
following  season  (1897)  they  carried  a  marvellous  crop  of  fruit,  and 
each  season  since  (including  the  present)  has  been  an  equally 
creditable  success.  The  present  crop  is  particularly  good,  bunches 
very  even,  not  extraordinary  in  size,  but  the  berries  are  really  fine, 
and  each  Vine  carries  from  eighteen  to  twenty  bunches.  This  is 
excellent  testimony  to  Mr.  Pettigrew’s  ability. — Bbadwen. 
Cbllwell  Nursery,  Iiowdham. — For  the  past  five  years  Messrs. 
J.  R.  Pearson  &  Sons  have  been  establishing  a  new  nursery  at 
Lowdham.  They  were  led  to  do  this  from  several  reasons,  but  chiefly 
from  the  fact  that  extensive  building  operations  and  factories  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  old  nurseries  had  rendered  the  air  so 
impure  that  it  was  no  longer  suitable  for  the  growth  of  trees.  Twelve 
months  ago  the  firm  removed  the  seed  and  bulb  department  to 
Lowdham,  and  the  head  office  has  been  established  there  since  last 
September.  The  business  which  has  been  carried  on  at  Chilwell  by 
the  firm  for  four  generations  has  now  been  entirely  transferred.  The 
present  nursery  consists  of  100  acres  of  land,  the  larger  part  of  which 
is  already  stocked  with  fruit  trees  and  Roses,  and  the  firm  has  erected 
sufficient  glass  for  the  culture  of  Vines  in  pots,  orchard  house  trees. 
Pigs,  and  the  growth  of  choice  strains  of  seed.  The  offices  are  less 
than  three  minutes,  and  the  nurseries  are  within  ten  minutes’  walk 
from  the  station.  It  has  been  decided  to  devote  the  nursery  entirely  to 
the  culture  of  fruit  trees  and  Roses,  and  to  make  the  establishment  as 
perfect  and  complete  in  this  line  as  it  is  possible  to  do.  Messrs. 
Pearson  are,  therefore,  discontinuing  the  cultivation  of  the  Zonal  Pelar¬ 
gonium,  with  which  the  name  of  the  firm  has  been  so  long  connected, 
together  with  all  greenhouse  plants  and  out  flowers. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society. — A  meeting  of  the  Fruit  and 
Vegetable  Committee  was  held  at  Chiswick  on  July  11th.  Present:  Messrs. 
Balderson  (chairman) ;  W.  Marshall,  G.  Wythes,  J.  Bates,  S.  Mortimer, 
H.  Markham,  A.  F.  Barron,  H.  Esling,  G.  Keif,  Gleeson,  E.  Beckett,  and 
A.  Dean.  Attention  was  given  to  the  later  Peas,  of  which  there  were 
some  first-rate  examples.  Awards  of  merit  to  Captain  Cuttle  and 
Duke  of  York,  previously  made,  were  readily  confirmed.  A  P.-C.C. 
was  given  to  Alderman,  a  superb  6  feet  Pea,  of  which  there  was  an 
identical  stock  under  the  name  of  Royal  Standard,  and  awards  of 
merit  were  made  to  Sutton’s  Peerless,  3  feet,  a  fine  cropper,  and 
Sharpe’s  Standard,  4  feet,  also  a  capital  variety ;  also  as  late  Peas  to 
Fascination,  a  remarkably  free  cropping  variety  with  medium  sized 
pods  of  good  colour,  and  Sutton’s  Late  Queen,  a  now  well  tried  variety, 
of  which  there  was  an  identical  stock  grown  under  the  name  of 
Victoria.  Two  Lettuces,  Harrison’s  Emerald,  a  fine  green,  firm, 
smooth  Cabbage  form,  and  Harrison’s  King,  a  large,  finely  curled 
Cabbage  variety,  were  each  awarded  three  marks.  A  considerable 
collection  of  early  and  late  Potatoes  is  being  grown.  Of  these  several 
of  the  earlier  ones  were  lifted,  and  eight  of  them  showed  crops  so 
good,  some  having  such  fine  tubers,  that  they  were  sent  to  be  cooked 
and  tasted.  Ultimately  a  P.-C.C.  was  given  to  Sharpe’s  Very  Early,  a 
fine  cropping  kidney  that  gave  the  best  quality  when  cooked, 
and  was  greatly  liked ;  whilst  awards  of  merit  were  given  to 
those  well-known  varieties  of  Messrs.  Sutton  &  Sons,  Ringleader 
and  Ninetyfold.  The  Major,  which  had  previously  had  an  award,  was 
found  a  very  fine  cropper,  as  also  were  May  Queen,  Earliest  of  All, 
Pioneer,  Grimston  Aehleaf,  and  one  or  two  others.  All  these  will  be 
tried  again  later. 
