332 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
April  18,  1901. 
and  place  the  Vines  in  a  cool  house,  from  which  frost  is  only  just  or 
barely  excluded.  The  Vines  for  early  forcing  should  be  pruned  and 
rested  six  weeks  before  they  are  started  by  placing  in  heat.  Later 
Vines  should  be  continued  under  glass  with  abundance  of  air,  watering 
only  to  keep  the  foliage  healthy,  and  as  soon  as  the  leaves  show  signs 
of  maturing  shorten  the  laterals  gradually,  and  in  the  course  of  a  week 
after  the  leaves  fall  shorten  the  canes  to  plump  matured  buds.  These 
canes,  if  sufficiently  strong  and  properly  matured,  will  be  suitable  for 
starting  at  the  new  year  to  ripen  Grapes  in  May.  The  Vines  need  not 
be  placed  outdoors,  though  some  growers  stand  them  outdoors  to  harden 
the  wood,  protecting  the  pots  with  dry  material,  but  they  are  better 
taken  under  cover  before  the  setting-in  of  severe  weather. 
Concluding:  Notes. 
Such  is  the  usual  practice  of  raising  Vines  from  eyes  for  planting, 
and  also  in  preparing  canes  for  fruiting  in  pots.  Sometimes  extra 
strong  canes  are  produced  from  cut-backs  by  shifting  them  a  time  or 
two  more  than  is  the  case  for  those  required  for  early  forcing,  the  Vines 
being  transferred  from  7  to  9-inch,  from  this  to  11  or  12-inch,  and  from 
these  to  13  or  14-inoh,  or  even  larger  sized  pots.  The  Vines  thus  grown 
ripen  the  canes  in  autumn  and  afford  fine  Grapes  the  following  season, 
whether  in  moderately  heated  structures  or  in  cool  housep,  according  to 
variety.  Such  Vines  are  also  excellent  for  bearing  between  newly 
planted  Vines  in  new  vineries,  and  if  not  overcropped  they  may  be 
fruited  for  several  years,  though  it  is  usual  to  fruit  them  to  their  fullest 
capacity  consistent  with  good  colour  and  finish  in  the  Grapes,  and  then 
throw  them  away  after  fruiting  in  the  first  year. — Grower. 
- «.#.* - 
Societies. 
Royal  Horticultural — He  New  Gardens. 
The  notice  given  in  last  week’s  Journal,  calling  a  speoial  general 
meeting  of  the  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  for  April  23rd, 
to  consider  and,  if  approved,  adopt  the  proposal  of  the  Council  to 
parchase  land  on  behalf  of  the  Society  for  the  purpose  of  its  new 
gardens,  brings  the  Fellows  face  to  face  with  one  of  the  most  important 
issues  in  the  history  of  the  Society,  upon  which,  with  your  permission, 
I  should  like  to  offer  a  few  comments. 
In  the  first  place,  it  will  be  seen  that  whereas  in  the  annual  report, 
the  adoption  of  which  was  proposed  by  the  President  on  February  13th, 
1900,  the  Council  recommended  the  purchase  of  a  site  (Limpsfield), 
as  the  most  suitable  means  of  celebrating  the  Centenary  of  the  Society,  in 
the  present  notice  no  reference  is  made  to  the  Centenary,  the  Council 
merely  proposing  to  purohase  48  acres  of  land  at  South  Darenth  “for 
the  purpose  of  its  new  gardens.”  It  is  most  important,  therefore,  to 
ascertain  whether  the  Council  still  consider  the  formation  of  new 
gardens  to  be  the  best  means  of  celebrating  the  Centenary,  and  whether 
the  Fellows  are  also  of  the  same  opinion. 
If  the  site  now  recommended  by  the  Council  prove  to  be  a  suitable 
one  for  the  formation  of  a  garden,  which  shall  in  all  respects  be  worthy 
of  the  Society,  and  where  gardening  in  all  its  branches  can  be  carried 
out  in  the  highest  possible  degree  of  perfection ;  and  if  the  Council  are 
assured  that  they  already  possess,  or  can  raise,  not  only  sufficient  capital 
to  furnish  and  equip  such  a  garden  suitably,  but  to  maintain  it  at  the 
annual  cost  which  would  be  neoessary,  no  doubt  at  least  treble  that 
which  Chiswick  now  costs  (about  £1400  per  annum),  there  may  be  no 
special  reason  why  the  scheme  should  not  be  carried  out,  if  the 
Fellows  generally  consider  this  to  be  the  best  means  of  celebrating  the 
Centenary. 
But  whatever  the  feeling  of  the  Council  and  Fellows  may  have  been 
fourteen  months  ago,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  only  a  small  minority 
of  the  Fellows  now  consider  the  formation  of  such  a  garden  to  be  the 
best  means  of  commemorating  the  Centenary  of  the  Society.  My 
reasons  for  so  thinking  are  : — 
1,  We  have  constantly  been  reminded  that  the  Society  was  formed 
with  the  distinct  object  and  purpose  of  “  promoting  horticulture,”  and 
the  Fellows  have  to  decide  whether  a  garden  in  the  South  of  England, 
over  twenty  miles  from  London,  however  well  appointed  and  managed, 
is  the  best  means  at  their  disposal  for  promoting  the  horticulture  of 
Great  Britain.  It  is  true  that  with  an  ideal  garden,  where  the  best 
methods  ot  forcing  fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetables  of  all  kinds  are  carried 
out,  in  addition  to  outdoor  operations,  a  certain  number  of  students 
might  be  trained  to  become  efficient  gardeners ;  but  it  is  at  least  open 
to  question  whether  such  a  training  would  be  superior  or  even  equal 
to  that  which  the  same  class  of  students  can  already  obtain  in  the  first- 
class  private  establishments  of  this  country.  It  is  important,  moreover, 
to  know  whether  the  gardens,  if  once  formed,  would  be  utilised 
principally  by  those  aspiring  to  become  bona  fide  gardeners,  or  whether 
they  would  principally  form  a  training  ground  for  the  comparatively 
few  men  who  are  required  to  assist  the  neighbouring  County  Councils 
in  providing  courses  of  lectures  during  the  winter  months. 
In  the  case  of  the  Limpsfield  site,  there  was  certainly  an  idea  that 
the  gardens  might  be  quite  as  valuable  to  the  County  Councils  as  to  the 
Fellows  of  the  Society  itself.  However  this  may  be,  we  have  to 
compare  the  possible  influence  upon  horticulture  which  such  a  garden 
might  have,  visited  as  it  would  be  annually  by  scarcely  one  in  300 
Fellows,  with  the  very  definite  impetus  to  horticulture  of  every 
description,  whioh  the  opening  of  a  suitable  horticultural  building  in 
London  would  afford.  It  is  quite  true  that  Fellows  living  at  great 
distances  from  the  metropolis  are  not  often  able  to  attend  the  exhibitions, 
but  this  objection  applies  with  far  greater  force  to  a  garden  some  twenty 
miles  south  of  London.  In  proportion  as  facilities  are  given  for 
exhibiting  such  high-class  products  of  horticulture  as  are  seen  at  the 
Drill  Hall,  so  would  the  horticulture  of  Great  Britain  be  distinctly 
promoted  and  advanced. 
2,  Because  the  more  the  idea  of  celebrating  the  Centenary  by  the 
formation  of  a  new  garden  is  considered  and  oarefully  examined,  the 
more  evident  has  it  become  that  only  an  extremely  small  proportion  of 
the  Fellows  generally  would  benefit  in  any  degree  whatever  by  such  a 
garden,  apart  from  the  interest  which  might  attach  to  reports  of 
experiments  published  in  the  Journal.  Such  reports  would,  of  course, 
possess  [a]  certain  value,  but  this  would  depend  entirely  upon  the 
experimental  work  attempted  and  carried  out  in  the  new  garden.  From 
the  work  done  at  Chiswick  duriug  the  last  twenty  years,  we  must  not, 
however,  be  too  sanguine  as  to  the  result  of  similar  operations 
elsewhere.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  ask  that  in  proposing  the  best 
means  of  celebrating  the  Centenary,  the  Council  should  make  it  perfectly 
clear  that  the  interests  of  the  greatest  possible  number  of  Fellows 
will  be  considered. 
3,  Because  during  the  last  fourteen  months  the  Fellows  have  had 
further  opportunities  of  oarefully  considering  the  financial  aspect  of 
the  question,  and  very  many — I  believe  a  great  majority — are  not 
prepared  to  sanction  so  great  an  annual  expenditure  as  would  bs 
necessary  to  maintain  in  a  state  of  proper  efficiency  any  gardens 
worthy  of  our  national  horticultural  society,  without  evidence  that  the 
Society  has  the  means  at  its  disposal.  It  may  quite  reasonably  be 
supposed  that  the  annual  cost  would  be  £4000,  or  at  least  three  times 
that  of  Chiswick. 
Whatever  scheme  is  ultimately  decided  upon  as  the  best  for 
celebrating  the  Centenary  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  a  large 
sum  of  money  must  be  raised,  and  therefore  it  would  obviously  be 
desirable  that  the  scheme  be  one  which  will  commend  itself  to  the 
greatest  possible  number  of  Fellows,  and  I  venture  to  think  that  the 
establishment  of  a  permanent  home  for  the  Society,  with  a  suitable  hall 
for  exhibition  purposes,  committee  rooms  for  the  various  committees, 
whose  work  is  so  important  to  the  Society,  and  which  is  at  present 
carried  out  with  so  many  disoomforts ;  and  also  a  lecture  hall  for  the 
fortnightly  lectures,  and  in  whioh  the  Lindley  Library  might  be  housed, 
is  one  which  would  have  the  hearty  sympathy  of  an  immense  majority 
of  the  Fellows.  The  sum  of  money  now  annually  spent  on  Chiswick 
would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on  any  loan  that  mignt 
be  required  for  the  acquisition  of  the  necessary  site  and  cost  of 
building. — Arthur  W.  Sutton. 
P.S. — Since  writing  the  above  letter,  I  have,  by  the  oourtesy  of  Mr. 
Wilks,  had  an  opportunity  of  visiting  and  examining  the  proposed  site 
near  Farningham  Road,  in  company  with  Mr.  Wright,  the  superintendent 
of  the  Chiswick  Gardens. 
There  is  no  doubt  that,  so  far  as  the  soil  is  concerned  and  the 
approach  to  the  site,  it  is  decidedly  preferable  to  that  at  Limpsfield. 
Water  and  manure,  too,  are  easily  obtainable.  This  is,  however,  almost 
all  that  can  be  said  in  its  favour.  The  best  trains  take  an  hour  to  cover 
the  twenty  miles  from  London,  after  which  there  is  a  walk  of  about 
half  an  hour,  and  very  little,  if  any,  opportunity  of  getting  such 
refreshments  as  Fellows  who  spent  a  day  or  half  a  day  in  the  gardens 
would  need.  The  site  is  a  very  open  one,  and  as  there  are  no  trees 
upon  it  there  is,  of  course,  no  shelter,  except  on  the  south-west  side; 
neither  do  buildings  of  any  kind  at  present  exist  there.  At  the  same 
time,  as  the  soil  is  undoubtedly  good,  there  would  be  no  insuperable 
difficulty  in  forming  the  garden  if  a  great  majority  of  the  Fellows 
wished  to  oelebrate  the  Centenary  in  suoh  a  manner,  and  at  such  a 
distanoe  from  London. 
It  seems  strange  that  it  should  not  be  possible  to  obtain  15  to 
20  acres  in  the  Feltham  neighbourhood,  or  other  districts  where  market 
gardeners,  seedsmen,  and  nurserymen  have  already  found  the  soil  and 
situation  suitable  for  horticultural  operations.  The  cost  per  acre  would 
undoubtedly  be  greater,  but  then  a  much  smaller  area  than  48  acres 
would  suffice  for  all  the  neoessary  purposes  of  a  garden. — A.  W.  S. 
Scientific  Committee,  April  9tii. 
Present:  Dr.  M.  T.  Masters  (in  the  chair);  Messrs.  Houston, 
Odell,  Chapman,  O’Brien,  Druery,  Saunders,  Hudson,  Bowles,  Veitoh, 
Gordon,  Dr.  Rendle,  Prof.  Boulger,  and  Rev.  G.  Henslow,  Hon.  Sec. 
Psevdo-fasciation  of  Ash. — A  speoimen  wa3  exhibited  of  a  diseased 
Ash  bough  by  Mr.  Odell,  who  described  it  as  follows  : — “  This  is  a 
diseased  condition  of  the  inflorescence  resulting  in  the  fusion  of  the 
pedicels  into  a  thiok  and  shapeless  mass,  whioh  hardens  into  quite  a 
woody  structure.  These  sub-fasoiated  clusters  are  said  by  Professor 
Kerner,  and  also  by  Mr.  A.  Murray,  F.L.S.,  to  be  due  to  the  attaoks  of 
a  minute  Phytoptus.  The  accompanying  specimens  were  obtained  from 
