March  28,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
261 
Are  Englishmen  the  largest  Consumers  of  Jam  T — It  would 
seem  like  it,  for  we  read  of  one  London  jam  merchant  having  received 
as  much  as  28  tons  of  Apricot  pulp  from  California  at  one  consignment. 
Floral  Conundrums. — Mr.  Barry  Pain  has  written  a  humorous 
satirical  parody,  “  Another  Englishwoman’s  Love  Letters  ”  (Fisher 
Unwin),  that  an  appreciative  ‘  ‘  Star  ”  reviewer  observes  “  is  likely  to 
be  the  funniest  book  of  the  year.”  Mr.  Pain  culls  from  popular 
garden  plants  material  for  furnishing  the  latest  specimens  of  conundrums. 
He  asks  :  Can  you  tell  why  the  Primrose  ?  Because  the  China  Aster. 
Why  had  the  Foxgloves  ?  To  let  the  Box  box.  At  what  did  the 
Crocus  ?  At  the  Hellebore.  Fun  and  funny  things  are  cultivated  in 
some  gardens  ! — S.  P.  E.  S. 
Appointments. — Mr.  H.  Plumeridge,  late  gardener  to  A.  Eykyn, 
Esq.,  Gayton  House,  Blisworth,  R.S.O.,  Northampton,  has  been  appointed 
head  gardener  to  C.  Craig,  Esq.,  Floore  House,  Weedon,  Northampton, 
shire.  After  five  years’  service  as  head  gardener  to  A.  Gilbertson,  Esq., 
of  Glanrhyd,  Portardawe,  near  Swansea,  Mr.  T.  F.  Jones  has  secured 
the  appointment  of  head  gardener  to  J.  G.  Newton,  Esq.,  Maesyderwen, 
Tstradgynlais,  near  Swansea,  to  carry  out  improvements  which  he  is 
making  throughout  the  gardens.  Several  ranges  of  glass  houses  are 
also  to  be  erected.  Mr.  J.  P.  Kendall,  late  in  charge  of  The  Culvers 
park  and  gardens,  Carshalton,  Surrey,  has  been  appointed  gardener, 
with  charge  of  plantations  and  roads,  to  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Amherst 
of  Hackney,  Didlington  Hall,  Brandon,  Norfolk. 
Croydon  and  District  Horticultural  Mutual  Improvement 
Society. — Tuesday  evening,  the  19th  inst.,  was  devoted  to  “  Questions 
and  Discussions,”  and  proved  both  profitable  and  interesting.  The 
subjects  discussed  were  “  The  Shanking  of  Grapes,”  and  “  Fixed  v. 
Moveable  Shading.”  There  was  a  very  beautiful  display  of  Orohids  on 
the  tables.  Mr.  M.  E.  Mills,  gardener  to  Frank  Lloyd,  Esq.,  Coombe 
House,  exhibited  a  fine  well-flowered  plant  of  Cattleya  Triante,  having 
seventeen  flowers,  also  a  plant  of  Cypripedium  Rothsohildianum,  with  a 
spike  carrying  three  fine  flowers.  Mr.  W.  J.  Simpson,  gardener  to  C.  H- 
Walker,  Esq.,  Falkland  Park,  South  Norwood,  brought  six  finely 
flowered  plants  of  Dendrobium  Ainsworthi.  To  Mr.  Mills  and  Mr. 
Simpson  the  society’s  vote  of  thanks  was  awarded  for  their  excellent 
exhibits. 
Broughty  Ferry  Horticultural  Association. — The  monthly 
meeting  was  held  on  the  19th  inst.  in  the  British  Workman  Hall, 
Mr.  Wm,  Grant,  president,  in  the  chair.  A  large  audience  had  the 
pleasure  and  profit  of  listening  to  a  lecture  on  “  Our  Native  British 
Ferns,”  by  Mr.  Robert  Dow,  teacher,  Longf organ.  By  means  of  dried 
specimens,  blackboard  sketches,  and  lucid  remarks,  the  lecturer  imparted 
a  deal  of  interesting  information  on  the  production  of  Ferns  by  spores, 
by  means  of  the  formation  and  location  of  whose  enclosures  on  the 
fronds  it  was  possible  to  distinguish  many  varieties.  The  habitats  of 
the  rarer  kinds  were  named,  in  which  connection,  too,  the  lecture  was 
valuable.  Mr.  Dow  was  accorded  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  at  the  dose. 
Mr.  L.  S.  Reid,  gardener,  Douglas  Terrace,  Broughty  Ferry,  had  forward 
for  exhibition  a  couple  of  finely  flowered  pots  of  Cineraria  stellata,  and 
another  much  admired  exhibit  was  a  pot  of  Cyclamen,  also  beautifully 
flowered,  by  Mr.  Bell,  gardener,  Corona.  A  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
exhibitors  terminated  the  meeting. 
Beckenham  Horticultural  Society. — On  Friday  last  Mr.  George 
Mount,  of  the  Rose  Nurseries,  Canterbury,  lectured  to  a  good  audience 
on  “  The  Culture  of  Roses  Under  Glass.”  A  growing  plant  and  some 
splendid  cut  blooms  of  Mrs.  John  Laing,  Captain  Hayward,  La  France, 
Madame  Montet,  and  some  others,  all  with  stems  some  15  inches  or 
more  long,  and  furnished  with  ample  and  substantial  leafage,  were 
placed  before  the  meeting  as  results  of  the  practice  to  be  detailed. 
Mr.  Mount  prefaced  his  leoture  by  referring  modestly  to  his  successes, 
whioh  included  three  gold  medals  from  the  R.H.S.,  also  stating 
that  this  was  his  maiden  lecture.  Commencing  with  the  plant  taken 
up  from  the  open  ground  iu  November,  placed  in  a  cold  house,  not 
forced  in  any  way  the  first  season,  the  object  to  attain  being  a  good 
sound  growth  ripened  early  ready  for  forcing  the  next  season.  The 
repotting,  top-dressing,  pruning,  manuring,  and  dealing  with  insects 
were  all  treated  in  a  very  graphic  manner,  and  a  fund  of  valuable 
information  given.  Many  questions  were  put  to  the  lecturer,  the  replies 
being  both  practical  and  instructive.  He  also  stated  incidentally  that  a 
short  time  since  he  had  the  honour  of  supplying  a  few  dozen  blooms  for 
her  Majesty  the  Queen.  The  thanks  of  the  society  were  tendered  to 
Mr.  Mount  in  a  very  hearty  manner. — T.  C. 
A  Minister’s  Pine  Woods. — Mr.  Gerard  Balfour  is  building 
himself  a  house  near  Woking,  whioh  is  surrounded  by  Pine  woods  and 
Heather-covered  commons.  He  intends  to  make  this  a  week-end 
residence,  and  being  within  reach  of  good  golf  links  he  can  enjoy  a 
favourite  game. 
Tea  Culture. — The  area  of  Tea  culture  in  India  at  the  end  of 
1899  was  over  516,700  acres.  *  *  *  Window  plants  in  Germany 
are  often  watered  with  cold  tea  or  ooffee,  says  an  exchange  paper.  So 
they  are  in  this  country,  we  may  add.  *  *  *  In  Bermuda  they  are 
preparing  for  the  annual  harvest  of  Easter  Lilies.  *  *  *  A  London 
evening  paper  stated  that  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the  London  Parks 
Committee  a  proposal  was  made  to  introduce  butterflies  as  an 
attraction  to  Hyde  Park !  Considerable  disoussion  is  taking  place  in 
some  of  the  London  papers  over  this  proposal. 
Scent. — Germany  has  sent  20,000  francs’  worth  of  scents  to  the 
Soudanese  natives.  Scents  for  the  Dervishes  form  a  considerable 
German  industry.  *  *  *  Agricultural  labour  is  exceedingly  scarce 
in  the  Midlands.  One  day  last  week  a  daily  newspaper  contained 
advertisements  wanting  260  farm  hands  of  all  sorts.  *  *  *  Sea¬ 
gulls  were  driven  from  the  coast  far  up  the  Thames  and  around  the 
Wimbledon  district  during  last  week’s  stormy  weather.  These  birds 
truly  predict  gales  and  squalls. 
Cambridge  Horticultural  Society.  —  The  supporters  of  this 
society  have  agreed  to  hold  an  “open  show”  on  June  11th;  and  on 
November  5th,  6th,  and  7th  will  be  held  their  autumn  show.  There 
are  upwards  of  £100  in  special  prizes  offered  at  these  shows.  The 
hon.  secretary  is  Mr.  A.  Matthew,  20,  Trinity  Street,  Cambridge. 
Forestry  for  the  Highlands. — Mr.  Munro  Ferguson,  M.P.» 
lectured  on  Friday  last  in  Musselburgh  on  “  Trees  and  their  Uses,” 
dealing  chiefly  with  their  use  a  means  of  city  adornment.  He  expressed 
the  conviction  that  the  surest  way  to  maintain  a  large  population  in 
Highlands  of  Scotland  was  gradually  to  establish  large  State  forests, 
and  ultimately  the  Highland  population  would  depend  on  their  wood 
trade,  just  as  people  in  Sweden  and  Norway  did  at  the  present  time. 
In  the  course  of  the  subsequent  disoussion,  Mr.  Tod,  well  known  in  the 
East  of  Scotland  as  a  successful  horticulturist,  criticised  the  action  of 
Edinburgh  Town  Council  in  planting  only  the  commonest  trees  in  the 
belt  surrounding  Portobello  Public  Park,  instead  of  a  oolleotion  of 
trees  of  beautiful  foliage. 
Scarcity  of  Journeymen  Gardeners. — Within  recent  years  the 
supply  of  journeymen  gardeners  has  scarcely  been  equal  to  the  demand, 
and  this  spring,  whether  from  the  ravages  of  the  “  khaki  ”  fever  or  the 
disinclination  of  the  modern  youth  to  follow  a  oalling  offering  so  little 
remuneration  for  the  abilities  required,  it  is  difficult  to  tell,  but 
probably  never  before  has  there  been  such  a  dearth  of  young  gardeners. 
Edinburgh  nurserymen  are  at  present  greatly  embarrassed  owing  to 
their  inability  to  supply  their  customers  with  the  necessary  help  at  this 
the  busy  season  of  the  year,  one  firm  in  the  city  having  at  present  from 
thirty  to  forty  vacancies  on  their  books  whioh  they  are  unable  to  fill. 
Should  this  state  of  affairs  continue  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the 
pay  and  other  privileges  of  the  gardener  will  improve. — W.  L. 
Shropshire  (Shrewsbury)  Horticultural  Society.  —  The 
great  annual  floral  fete,  known  generally  to  horticulturists  as  the 
Shrewsbury  Show,  will  be  held  this  year  on  Wednesday  and  Thursday, 
August  21st  and  22nd,  in  The  Quarry  Grounds,  Shrewsbury.  The 
schedule  of  prizes  has  been  sent  out,  and  anyone  wishing  to  secure  one 
can  write  to  either  of  the  hon.  secretaries — Messrs.  H.  W.  Adnitt  and 
W.  W.  Naunton,  with  the  address  of  the  society,  Shrewsbury.  The 
cash  prizes  amount  to  over  £1000,  exclusive  of  gold  and  silver  medals, 
so  that  there  are  still  many  incentives  for  growers  to  make  their 
greatest  efforts  and  so  secure  one  of  the  “  plums.”  The  entries  for  the 
autumn  show  are  stated  to  close  on  August  14th.  It  may  be  noted  that 
in  the  open  classes  groups  2  and  3  are  increased  ;  while  in  olass  24,  for 
cut  flowers,  a  cup  is  offered  as  the  first  prize.  This  is  on  page  11  of 
the  schedule,  where  intending  exhibitors  will  find  the  prize  column  has 
been  left  blank.  Class  32  is  fresh,  and  73  and  74  (fruit)  are  new  for 
this  year.  £20  are  offered  as  the  first  prize  for  twelve  bunohes  of 
Grapes ;  £15,  £10,  and  £5  being  respectively  offered  for  second,  third, 
and  fourth  places.  For  a  oolleotion  of  twenty  dishes  of  fruit  the  same 
amounts  have  to  be  competed  for.  Another  new  class  (No.  77)  with  a 
first  prize  of  £3,  has  been  arranged  for  a  decorative  exhibit.  The  hon. 
secretaries  draw  special  attention  to  the  fact  that  they  cannot  under¬ 
take  to  receive  or  return  any  exhibits. 
