January  3,  1901. 
9 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Recent  Weather  In  London. — The  New  Year  has  not  come  upon 
us  under  favourable  climatic  conditions.  On  both  the  first  and  second 
days  the  metropolis  was  enveloped  in  a  dense  fog.  The  last  two  days 
of  the  old  year  were  wet  and  cheerless. 
Xew  Observatory. — Once  the  residence  of  King  William  IV., 
Bushey  House,  Hampton  Court,  is  now  undergoing  extensive  alterations 
for  conversion  into  a  laboratory  in  connection  with  Kew  Observatory. 
Tenantless  since  the  Duo  de  Nemours  left  it  two  years  ago  for 
Wimbledon,  Bushey  House  lies  some  distance  back  from  the  main  road 
through  the  park,  and  is  admirably  suited  for  its  future  purpose.  It  is 
intended  eventually  to  transfer  all  the  Kew  laboratory  work  to 
Hampton. 
Sulphate  of  Copper  for  the  Creek  Vineyards.  —  It  is 
reported  in  metal  circles  that  a  large  order  for  sulphate  of  copper 
was  likely  to  be  placed  in  this  country  have  a  good  foundation.  It 
appears  that  the  failure  of  the  Currant  crop  in  Greece  has  prompted 
the  authorities  there  to  give  an  extensive  trial  to  the  dressing  of  the 
plantations  with  sulphate,  and  inquiries  in  well-informed  quarters  have 
elicited  the  information  that  negotiations  have  proceeded  so  far  as  to 
ask  makers  and  others  to  forward  samples,  the  quantity  which  will  be 
required  being  stated  to  be  between  5000  and  10,000  tons.  It  is  said 
that  a  large  Greek  bank  has  signified  its  willingness  to  take  the  matter 
up  on  behalf  of  the  Government. 
Cape  to  Covent  Garden. — Notwithstanding  the  present  unsettled 
condition  of  the  outlying  parts  of  Cape  Colony,  a  most  encouraging 
account  of  the  progress  of  fruit  cultivation  for  export  round  Capetown 
is  given  by  the  secretary  of  the  Cape  Board  of  Horticulture  and  Fruit 
Exporters’  Association,  now  in  England  on  a  six  months’  holiday. 
Started  only  about  seven  years  ago,  the  industry  has  grown  so  rapidly 
that  for  the  past  four  years  Pears,  Peaches,  and  Apples,  Grapes,  Plums, 
Nectarines,  Quinces,  and  the  like  have  been  coming  regularly  into 
Covent  Garden,  and  that,  too,  at  a  time  of  year  when  we  could  not  look 
to  any  other  quarter  for  such  supplies.  Between  400,000  and  500,000 
trees,  says  Mr.  Persse,  have  been  planted  during  the  past  seven  years 
solely  to  bear  fruit  for  exportation,  while  it  is  calculated  that  the 
Colony  also  possesses  80,000,000  Vines.  The  present  season  has  up  till 
now  been  exceptionally  favourable,  and  the  export  should  be 
considerably  greater  than  last  year.  Cape  Plums,  as  yet  the  heaviest 
item,  are  expected  to  reach  Covent  Garden  about  the  middle  of 
January,  some  5000  to  10,000  boxes  of  which  will  be  contributed  by 
Mr.  Cecil  Rhodes.  Early  in  February  Pears,  Peaches,  Grapes,  and 
other  fruit  should  begin  to  arrive,  with  continuing  weekly  shipments 
until  the  end  of  April  or  beginning  of  May.  The  Grapes  exported  last 
year  totalled,  roughly,  340,000  lbs.,  and  this  figure  will  be  surpassed  in 
1901. 
The  Late  Mr.  Crowley  — Although  London  was  suffused  in  wet 
fog  the  sun  shone  out  warmly  on  to  the  churchyard  of  Shirley,  Croydon, 
when  the  late  chairman  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Fruit 
Committee  was  there  laid  to  his  eternal  rest.  Apart  altogether  from 
the  fact  that  this  somewhat  elevated  burial  place,  which  surrounds  the 
pretty  church  of  Shirley,  is  a  favourite  place  of  sepulture  with  the 
wealthy  of  the  locality,  special  fitness  attached  to  it  as  Mr.  Crowley’s 
burial  place,  because  it  is  the  churchyard  of  his  old  and  deeply  attached 
friend,  the  Rev.  W.  Wilks,  who  resides,  as  the  vicar,  close  by.  What 
wonder  if  these  two  men  had  between  them  a  strong  link  of  esteem. 
Had  not  one  as  treasurer,  he  who  is  taken,  and  the  one  as  secretary,  he 
who  is  left,  been  so  instrumental  during  their  respective  terms  of  office 
in  lifting  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  from  the  Slough  of  Despond 
into  which  South  Kensington  had  cast  it,  into  a  period  of  prosperity  and 
of  popularity,  such  as  in  its  earliest  of  palmy  days  it  had  never  enjoyed  ? 
Mr.  Crowley  was  as  treasurer  no  mere  ornamental  official,  he  was 
emphatically  a  business  man,  and  he  discharged  the  important  duties 
of  his  office  with  the  fullest  satisfaction  to  his  colleagues  and  in  the 
interests  of  the  society.  As  chairman  of  the  Fruit  Committee  he 
was,  if  not  strong,  always  kindly,  genial,  and  impartial.  We  need  in  his 
successor  the  same  estimable  qualities,  with  more  firmness,  and  the 
same  complete  absence  of  bias. — A.  Dean. 
The  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund. — The  Hon.  W.  F.  D. 
Smith,  M.P.,  has  kindly  consented  to  preside  at  the  next  annual  festival 
of  this  institution,  whioh  will  take  place  at  the  Hotel  Cecil  on  Tuesday, 
May  7th. 
National  .'Dahlia  Society. —  The  annual  meeting  of  the  National 
Dahlia  Society  will  be  held,  by  permission  of  the  Horticultural  Club,  at 
the  Hotel  Windsor,  Victoria  Street,  S.W.,  on  Tuesday,  January  8th 
1901,  at  2  p.m.  Agenda  : — Report  of  committee  for  1900 ;  financial 
statement ;  schedule  for  1901 ;  and  other  business.  Notice  has  been 
given  that  the  following  change  in  Rule  XI.  will  be  proposed : — for 
“compete”  read  “exhibit.” — J.  F.  Hudson. 
Mr.  J.  H.  Krelage. — Mr.  J.  H.  Krelage,  on  his  retirement  from 
the  presidency  of  the  General  Bulb  Cultural  Society  of  Haarlem,  which 
office  he  has  uninterruptedly  held  for  forty  years,  was  presented  by 
the  members  with  a  magnificent  life-sized  portrait,  painted  by  the 
renowned  Dutch  artist  Haverman.  The  society  when  started  in  1860 
consisted  of  nearly  200  members,  and  nowadays  has  about  2000 
members,  all  interested  in  bulb  culture,  and  twenty-eight  local  sections 
in  the  bulb  district.  The  president  elect  is  Mr.  J.  H.  Wentholt. 
Grafting  TJp  to  Date. — At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  in  Paris  Mods.  G.  Bonnier  presented  a  note  concerning  some 
very  interesting  experiments  in  grafting  plants,  the  results  of  which 
contradicted  the  generally  accepted  opinion  that  only  plants  belonging 
to  the  same  botanical  family  can  be  successfully  grafted  upon  one 
another.  Mons.  Bonnier  showed  that  recently  plants  of  entirely  different 
families  had  been  grafted  with  success — for  example,  the  Maple  upon 
the  Lilac,  the  Kidney  Bean  upon  the  Castor  Oil  Bean,  and  the  Cabbage 
upon  the  Tomato. 
The  Drill  Hall  Meetings. — It  is  difficult  to  refrain  from 
sympathising  with  our  friends  who  visited  the  James  Street  Drill  Hall 
from  far  fair  Perth  in  August  last,  and  found  one  of  the  small  shows 
which  occasionally  occur.  To  fully  realise  the  character  of  these  shows 
it  is  needful  to  visit  each  one  throughout  the  entire  year,  as  for  one 
that  may  be  restricted  in  quantity  of  material,  three  will  be  found  to 
be  very  full  ones.  But  August  is  not  a  good  month  to  look  in  at  the 
Drill  Hall.  The  best  shows  are  usually  found  in  April,  May,  June,  and 
July,  and  again  in  September,  October,  and  the  early  part  of  November. 
But  those  privileged  to  attend  the  meetings  regularly  must  realise  that 
even  with  the  strong  trade  interest  which  attaches  to  them,  they 
constitute  a  remarkably  attractive  and  usually  beautiful  as  well  as  a 
wonderfully  varied  series  all  the  same.  During  any  one  year  there 
seem  to  be  fewthings  in  horticulture  that  are  not  there  represented. — A.D. 
Rosherville  Gardens. — Should  no  philanthropist  come  forward 
and  redeem  Rosherville  Gardens  from  their  impending  fate  the  site 
will,  no  doubt,  be  speedily  built  over,  and  thus  would  disappear,  says  a 
daily  contemporary,  almost  the  last  of  the  more  important  of  London’s 
private  pleasure  gardens.  During  the  past  forty  years  there  has  been 
a  gradual  vanishing  of  such  places.  Vauxhall,  the  most  famous  of 
them  all,  went  in  1859;  Cremorne,  which  was  in  a  sense  its  successor, 
followed  in  the  seventies  along  with  the  Surrey  Gardens,  the  scene  of 
Spurgeon’s  early  triumphs.  About  the  end  of  the  eighties  the 
Horticultural  Gardens  at  South  Kensington  suffered  the  same  fate. 
Rosherville,  “  the  place  to  spend  a  happy  day,”  was  a  famous  spot  in 
its  generation.  Its  20  acres  or  so  occupied  the  site  of  an  old  chalk 
quarry,  and  the  diversified  surface  left  by  the  workings  enabled  the 
landscape  gardener  to  produce  some  very  pretty  effects. 
A  Reminiscence  of  Mr.  William  Dodds. — A  few  who  had 
knowledge  of  the  Dahlia  activities  in  operation  fifty  years  ago  will 
remember  the  name  of  this  veteran  Dahlia  raiser,  who  died  a  short 
time  ago  at  the  age  of  ninety-two.  At  the  time  of  his  death  Mr.  Dodds 
was  living  in  retirement  at  Bristol.  A  native  of  Scotland,  he  came 
south,  and  was  engaged  many  years  ago  as  under  gardener  to  Col. 
Baker  of  Salisbury,  and  after  a  few  years  he  became  head  gardener, 
and  was  in  the  service  of  his  employer  for  the  space  of  thirty  years. 
As  a  cultivator  and  exhibitor  Mr.  Dodds  had  few  equals,  and  in  his  day 
he  gained  a  large  number  of  prizes.  On  leaving  Salisbury  he  took 
charge  of  the  gardens  and  grounds  of  Ashton  Court,  Bristol,  the 
residence  of  Sir  Greville  Smythe,  and  finally  retired  into  private  life. 
To  the  last  he  retained  his  interest  in  the  Dahlia,  and  until  prevented 
by  growing  infirmities  he  made  a  praotice  of  coming  to  London  to  act 
as  one  of  the  censors  at  the  annual  exhibition  of  the  National  Dahlia 
Society  at  the  Crystal  Palace.  Mr.  Henry  Eokford  of  Wem  was  at  om 
,  ime  under  Mr.  Dodds  when  gardener  to  Col.  Baker. 
