September  13,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
245 
Recent  'Weatber  In  Xondon. — The  weather  in  the  metropolis 
during  the  past  few  days  has  been  most  pleasant,  for  the  sun  has  shone 
brightly  every  day.  A  very  slight  shower  fell  on  Sunday,  but  it  was 
not  sufficient  to  lay  the  dust. 
Tbe  Victoria  Medallist  of  Honour. — We  learn  that  the  vacant 
place  in  the  list  of  Victoria  medallists  has  been  accorded  by  the  council 
of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  to  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Engleheart  of 
Andover,  the  celebrated  hybridist  of  Narcissi.  It  is  said  that  the  place, 
left  vacant  by  the  lamentable  death  of  Mr.  John  Laing,  has  been  offered 
to  the  Rev.  W.  Wilks,  the  society’s  most  excellent  secretary. 
Functions  of  Horticultural  Societies. — At  a  meeting  of  the 
Acclimatisation  Society  of  Queensland,  held  at  Brisbane  in  July,  Mr. 
James  Mitchell,  manager  of  the  society’s  gardens,  read  a  paper  on  the 
above  subject.  He  stated  that  most  of  the  societies  are  content  with 
issuing  prize  schedules  and  holding  large  shows,  losing  sight  of  some  of 
the  principal  objects  for  which  they  are  intended.  Queensland  vege¬ 
tation  should  stimulate  a  desire  for  horticulture  in  every  man,  woman 
and  child  iu  the  colony,  for  in  no  other  Australian  colony  are  the 
resources  of  a  horticulturist  greater.  The  press  is  also  open,  and 
through  it  intercommunication  between  all  lovers  and  workers  in 
gardening  might  be  spread  in  all  districts.  The  essayist  thought  it 
quite  time  that  Queensland  should  be  one  of  the  leading  centres  in 
horticulture.  It  has  districts  where  the  fruits  and  flowers  of  Britain 
grow  to  perfection,  while  in  others  tropical  and  sub-tropical  plants 
thrive.  Notwithstanding  these  advantages,  not  one  of  the  many 
societies  within  the  colony  bad  taken  up  the  work  of  certificating  and 
looking  after  the  proper  naming  of  new  varieties  of  fruits  and  flowers 
that  are  raised  here.  Mr.  Mitchell  suggested  the  formation  of  a  society 
in  Brisbane  for  this  purpose,  having  affiliated  branches  in  all  districts  of 
the  colony,  each  branch  to  work  independently  for  the  furtherance  of 
horticulture  in  its  own  district  by  holding  periodical  meetings  for  the 
interchange  of  information  bearing  on  all  subjects,  and  at  the  end  of 
each  year  the  papers  might  be  collected  and  published.  Five  or  six 
committees  would  be  required  for  the  naming  of  new  varieties  and 
awarding  certificates,  the  members  of  which  should  be  of  undoubted 
authority  of  the  subjects  committed  to  their  care. 
Rural  lilfe  and  Education. — In  the  course  of  a  leading  article 
on  the  present  conditions  of  rural  life  and  the  effect  of  village  education, 
the  “Times”  has  some  pertinent  and  interesting  remarks.  It  is 
pointed  out  that  in  the  facilities  for  travel  and  for  change  of  residence  ; 
the  lack  of  adequate  cottage  accommodation  in  many  rural  districts ; 
the  comparative  dulness  of  the  country  ;  and  the  attractions  of  bustling 
life,  crowded  streets,  and  cheap  amusements — these  are  causes, 
inseparable  from  the  changed  conditions  of  modern  life,  which  affect 
the  problem  much  more  directly  than  does  the  village  school.  Education, 
no  doubt,  is  indirectly  responsible  for  what  old-fashioned  people  regard 
as  modern  restlessness.  The  labourer,  like  everybody  else,  can  read. 
His  mental  horizon  is  widened.  Ideas  are  put  into  his  head  which  his 
grandfather  would  have  been  incapable  of  taking  in,  much  less  of 
putting  into  practice.  He  no  longer  feels  bound  to  the  soil ;  he 
understands  that  there  are  better  openings  elsewhere,  and  that  he  can 
go  to  seek  them.  The  railway  or  police  service,  or  even  unskilled 
labour  in  the  towns,  offers  better  wages  to  start  with,  and  better 
prospects  of  rising  than  work  upon  the  farm.  Off  he  goes,  and  who 
can  blame  him  ?  Too  often  he  finds  that  higher  wages  are  more  than 
counterbalanced  by  greater  expenses,  and  that  all  is  not  gold  that 
glitters  iu  the  “fliunting  town.”  The  ranks  of  the  “submerged 
tenth  ”  are  swollen  by  many  a  failure  of  natural  ambition  to  rise,  and 
by  the  wreck  of  lives  that  had  been  happier  in  uneventful  sameness, 
“far  from  the  madding  crowd.”  But  to  blame  education  for  all  this,  or 
to  think  that  it  can  be  seriously  checked  by  artificial  means,  is  equally 
futile.  The  utmost  that  the  educational  reformer  can  attempt  with 
any  prospect  of  success  is  to  see  that  the  education  given  in  country 
schools  is  such  as  will  give  no  distaste  for  country  life,  and  will  be 
suitable  for  those  who  follow  agricultural  pursuits.  The  village  school 
cannot  prevent  young  men  from  going  j  it  may  perhaps  suggest  indnce- 
meuts  to  remain. 
Poisoned  by  Xiaburnum  Seeds. — About  600  Bradford  children, 
on  a  country  holiday,  wandered  into  a  plantation  and  ate  the  seed  pods 
from  Laburnum  trees.  Afterwards  twenty  suffered  from  narcotic 
poisoning,  and  were  removed  to  Bradford  Infirmary.  Emetics  were 
administered,  and  most  of  the  sufferers  recovered.  Two  of  the  cases 
were,  however,  so  serious  that  the  sufferers  were  detained. 
In  the  Markets. — The  vast  influx  of  home  and  foreign  fruit  to 
Covent  Garden  continues  unabated.  On  Monday  in  the  foreign  market 
California,  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Prance  were  most  generously 
represented.  Californian  Pears,  of  four  or  five  excellent  varieties,  and 
Golden  Drop  Plums  sold  slowly  at  very  low  prices.  Pine  Spanish 
Melons  were  hardly  offered  for ;  Lisbon  Grapes,  both  white  and  black, 
went  for  a  trifle ;  and  French  Pears  of  the  choicest  varieties  were  sold 
with  difficulty  at  very  moderate  rates.  In  the  English  market  the  glut 
was  even  greater.  Capital  English  Damsons  are  now  plentiful,  and 
selling  freely  at  lid.  to  2d.  a  lb.  retail.  English  Tomatoes  of  good  size 
and  flavour  may  be  had  at  4d.  a  lb.,  and  a  large  quantity  of  inferior 
foreign  Tomatoes  at  half  the  price. 
The  Xiady  Gardeners  of  K,ew. — The  innovation  of  employing 
female  gardeners  at  Kew  appears  to  have  landed  the  authorities  in  an 
amusing  difficulty.  Sir  Trevor  Lawrence,  distributing  prizes  on 
Saturday  at  Kingston,  said  that  when  three  ladies  were  engaged  at  Kew 
Gardens  the  first  difficulty  that  arose  was  as  to  the  costume  they  should 
wear.  They  were  asked  what  dress  they  preferred,  and  the  bloomer 
costume  was  suggested,  but  the  result  was  not  satisfactory.  The  walla 
of  Kew  Gardens  were  not  very  high,  and  people  used  to  get  on  the  tops 
of  omnibuses  to  see  the  young  ladies  at  work.  The  director  of  the 
gardens  said  that  would  not  do,  and  told  the  young  ladies  that  they 
must  wear  a  dress  similar  to  that  of  the  ordinary  gardeners.  They 
accordingly,  Sir  Trevor  added,  appeared  “in  suitable  costume.” 
Irrigation  and  Fruit  Farming  In^Australla. — Should  future 
results  realise  the  anticipations  formed  by  those  who  have  carefully 
studied  the  question,  it  is  possible  that  the  vast  expanse  of  treeless, 
waterless  country  at  present  given  up  to  sheep,  and  which  is  a  source 
of  heavy  loss  to  pastoralists  during  prolonged  periods  of  drought,  may 
become  studded  with  richly  fertile  spots,  each  an  oasis  in  the 
wilderness,  and  assisting  in  changing  the  whole  face  of  the  country. 
The  primary  idea  was  to  encourage  the  cultivation  of  drying  fruits, 
such  as  Apricots  and  Raisins,  but  a  couple  of  years  were  lost  in 
experimenting  with  Californian  methods  of  irrigation,  which  proved 
futile,  the  periodical  flooding  of  the  land  causing  it  to  cake  down  to 
the  subsoil.  The  system  of  soil  aeration  now  adopted  has  proved 
successful  in  every  respect,  and  where,  only  a  few  years  ago,  there  was 
nothing  but  dry,  burnt-up  country,  may  now  be  found  beautiful  gardens 
filled  with  the  choicest  flowers  growing  in  luxuriant  profusion,  and 
orchards  stocked  with  healthy  trees  giving  the  rich  promise  of  future 
abundant  crops.  But  there  have  been  varying  results  on  the  irrigation 
farms.  Several  have  been  successful,  and  others  only  partially  so. 
This,  however,  has  been  occasioned  largely  by  the  character  of  the 
tenants.  Those  possessing  real  agricultural  experience,  and  willing  to 
turn  it  to  the  best  account,  having  found  irrigation  farming  a 
remunerative  enterprise. 
The  Parks  of  Greater  Hew  York. — Greater  New  York  has 
nearly  7000  acres  of  parks.  Of  the  many  scattered  reservations  of 
varying  area  which  are  included  in  this  total,  Pelham  Bay  Park  contains 
1756  acres,  Yan  Cortlandt  Park  1132  acres,  and  Bronx  Park  662  acres. 
These  are  all  located  in  the  recently  annexed  Borough  of  the  Bronx. 
In  Bronx  Park,  in  a  space  reserved  for  the  New  York  Zoological  Society, 
is  a  splendid  collection  of  animals  on  exhibition,  and  in  another  section 
are  the  grounds  and  just  completed  greenhouses  of  the  New  York 
Botanical  Garden.  In  Van  Cortlandt  Park  are  fine  links,  which  aio 
patronised  by  the  golf  enthusiasts  of  the  city.  Pelham  Park  has  a 
water  frontage  of  seven  miles  on  Long  Island  Sound  and  Pelham  Bay. 
Best  known  of  New  York’s  pleasure  grounds  is  Central  Park.  It 
contains  8b2  acres — thirty  years  ago  a  waste  of  swamps,  ledges  and 
rubbish  heaps,  now  a  paradise  of  beautiful  drives,  lakes  and  forests,  a 
world-famous  triumph  of  the  landscape  gardener’s  art.  Prospect  Park 
in  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn  has  an  area  of  526  acres,  and  is  accounted 
one  of  the  finest  examples  of  landscape  gardening  in  America. 
Riverside  Park  extends  a  distance  of  three  miles  along  a  high  bluff 
overlooking  the  beautiful  Hudson  River.  Scattered  throughout  the  city 
are  great  numbers  of  smaller  parks  and  squares,  and  more  are 
contemplated,  especially  in  the  overcrowded  sections  of  the  city. 
