July  24,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
77 
Scottish  Award. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  council  of  the  Royal  Caledonian  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society  held  on  July  16,  the  Neill  prize  was  awarded 
to  Mr.  David  Murray,  gardener  to  the  Marquis  of  Ailsa,  Culzean 
Castle,  Ayrshire,  who  has  been  a  most  successful  grower  both 
of  fruits  and  vegetables. 
Cactus  Dahlia  Mrs.  F.  A.  Perkins. 
This  lovely  variety  was  greatly  admired  at  the  exhibitions 
last  autumn.  It  is  really  one  of  the  few  gains  of  its  season,  and 
I  find  it  is  to  be  introduced  this  spring.  The  colouring  is  so 
charming!  It  is  yellow,  fading  to  the  points  of  the  florets  to 
white,  so  that  it  has  the  appearance  of  being  tipped.  The  shape 
of  the  flower,  too,  is  elegance  itself;  of  true  Cactus  form,  and, 
if  not  gigantic,  is  large  enough.  A  distinct  and  pretty  thing 
like  this  will  find  favour  among  all  lovers  of  these  easily-grown 
and  satisfactory  flowers.  It  is  safe  to  recommend  that  it  be 
added  to  the  smallest  collections. — H. 
Horticultural  Teaching. 
The  technical  education  system  of  the  county  councils  is  every¬ 
where  planting  centres  of  training  in  every  branch  of  argiculture 
and  horticulture,  and  making  them  available  at  merely  nominal 
cost.  Residential  schools  have  been  established,  with  farm  lands, 
dairies  and  gardens  attached.  The  movement  for  the  teaching 
of  gardening  to  children  in  elementary  schools  has  made  great 
progress.  During  1900  110  schools  claimed  the  grant  on  1,545 
boys,  of  whom  1,098  received  the  full  grant  of  4s.  as  having 
put  in  their  full  forty-eight  hours  gardening,  and  447  took  the 
2s.  grant  as  having  put  in  over  twenty  hours,  but  under  the 
requisite  forty.  In  1895  only  one  school  claimed  the  grant.  In 
addition  to  the  schools  securing  this  grant  from  the  Board  of 
Education  a  large  number  of  schools  are  taking  up  the  matter 
for  its  interest-awakening  value. 
Scottish  Arboriculturists  Visiting  Sweden. 
The  Royal  Scottish  Arboricultural  Society  held  a  meeting  at 
5,  St.  Andrew  Square,  Edinburgh,  on  July  18,  over  which  the 
Earl  of  Mansfield  presided.  The  report  by  the  judges  on  essays 
received  in  competition  was  to  the  effect  that  the  medals  had 
been  gained  by  the  following: — “The  Forests  of  the  Basses 
Pyrenees,”  George  Cadell,  late  Indian  Forestry  Department, 
1,  Whitehall  Gardens,  S.W.  ;  “The  Erection  and  Maintenance 
of  a  Sawmill,”  W.  M.  Mitchell,  forester,  Gort,  County  Galway; 
“  Report  on  the  Plantations  of  an  Estate,”  James  Rodger, 
forester,  Morton  Hall  Estate,  Ringland,  Norwich;  “  Creosoting 
Timber  for.  Estate  Purposes,”  George  Leven,  Auchincruive, 
Ayr;  and  “The  Propagation  of  Forest  Trees  and  Shrubs,” 
Gilbert  Brown,  assistant  forester,  Scone,  Stormonthfield,  Perth. 
Reporting  on  the  forestry  exhibits  at  the  Highland  and  Agri¬ 
cultural  Society’s  Show,  Mr.  D.  P.  Laird  said  they  must  con¬ 
gratulate  themselves  on  its  success.  Compared  with  that  at 
Inverness,  it  was  50  per  cent,  better.  They  hoped  that  in  years 
to  come  that  section  would  go  on  improving.  The  meeting 
lasted  a  little  over  a  quarter-  of  an  hour.  At  11.5  the  party 
left  the  Waverley  Station  for  Granton,  there  to  embark  for 
Sweden  on  the  s.s.  Balder.  Among  those  who  are  taking  part 
in  the  trip  to  Sweden  are  the  following: — The  Earl  of  Mans¬ 
field,  president;  Mr.  R.  C.  Munro-Ferguson,  M.P.,  hon. 
secretary ;  Sir  Aach.  Buchan-Hepburn  of  Smeaton  Hepburn ; 
Sir  Leonard  Leyall  of  Kinnaldy ;  Colonel  Porteous,  Kinross ; 
the  Rev.  D.  C.  Stewart,  Currie ;  and  Mr.  R.  Galloway,  the 
secretary.  The  excursionists  arrived  in  Gothenburg  on  Sunday 
the  20th.  Up  till  Thursday,  August  31,  they  tour  round  places 
of  interest.  On  Thursday,  July  24,  they  visit  the  Royal 
Palace  at  Stockholm,  and  on  the  following  day  a  visit  will  be 
made  to  King  Oscar’s  summer  place  at  Drottningholm.  On 
Tuesday,  July  29,  the  party  travel  to  Falun,  the  capital  of 
Dalecarlia,  which  is  perhaps  the  richest  Pine  region  in  Europe. 
The  return  journey  will  be  made  from  Gothenburg  on  Friday, 
August  1,  by  the  s.s.  Belc. 
Appointment. 
Mr.  Daniel  Betts  as  head  gardener  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Exeter,  in  succession  to  Mr.  T.  Munday. 
The  Queen’s  Cottage  at  Kcw. 
Mr.  John  Ellis  (Notts,  Rushcliffe),  last  week  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  asked  the  First  Commissioner  of  Works  whether  the 
public  now  had  access  to-  the  Queen’s  cottage  grounds  in  Kew 
Gardens ;  whether  the  gates  had  been  unlocked  ;  and  whether 
the  grounds  had  been  thrown  open  again  to  the  public  ,  in 
accordance  with  the  permission  given  by  Her  late  Majesty.  Mr. 
Akers-Douglas  (Kent,  St.  Augustine’s). — The  answer  is  in  the 
affirmative. 
Women  in  Horticulture. 
The  fourth  founder’s  day  of  the  hostel  for  women  students 
in  horticulture  and  the  lighter  branches  of  agriculture,  founded 
by  the  Countess  cf  Warwick  in  1898,  was  celebrated  the  other 
day  at  Reading  in  charming  weather,  and  in  the  presence  of 
a  large  and  distinguished  company,  including  the  Countess  of 
Warwick,  who  has  quite  recovered  from  her  recent  indisposition, 
and  her  daughter,  Lady  Marjorie  Greville.  The  Countess  of 
Warwick  in  opening  an  interesting  exhibition  of  flowers,  fruit, 
dairy  produce,  and  poultry,  said  that  the  work  was  going 
forward  steadily  and  was  prospering,  and  new  posts  and  new 
professions  were  being  opened  up  for  the  vast  army  of  educated 
women  who  were  making  for  themselves  a  distinct  place  in  the 
world  by  thoroughness  in  training  and  the  keenness  with  which 
they  had  undertaken  what  was  but  a  few  years  ago  pioneer 
work.  Cordial  thanks  were  due  to  the  principal  of  Reading 
College,  Mr.  Mackinder,  and  all  his  staff  for  their  great  assist¬ 
ance  in  the  past.  That  association  for  theoretical  training  was 
now  severed,  and  she  felt  the  grave  responsibility  of  managing 
entirely  by  herself  such  an  important  work  as  the  hostel  had 
grown  to  be.  But  as  no  one  seemed  inclined  to  help  her  she 
intended  to>  persevere  year  by  year.  The  annual  report  sub¬ 
mitted  by  the  warden,  Miss  Bradley,  showed  gratifying  progress 
in  all  departments.  Mrs.  Clare  Fitzgibbon,  of  Toronto,  secre¬ 
tary  for  the  Dominion  of  Canada  Women’s  Agricultural  and 
Horticultural  International  Union,  made  an  earnest  appeal  to 
English  women  to  thoroughly  learn  such  subjects  as  were 
taught  at  Reading,  and  then  to  make  their  way  to  Canada 
where  a  splendid  future  awaited  all  of  them  who  had  really 
qualified. 
Croydon  Horticultural  Mutual  Improvement  Society. 
A  meeting  was  held  in  the  society’s  room  at  the  Sunflower 
Temperance  Hotel,  on  Tuesday  evening,  July  15.  Mr.  W.  J. 
Simpson  presided,  and  Mr.  M.  E.  Mills  occupied  the  vice-chair. 
The  subject  for  the  evening  was  “Remarks  upon  the  Micro¬ 
scopic  Structure  of  Plants,”  by  the  hon.  secretary,  Mr.  J. 
Gregory.  The  leoturer  described  the  principal  minute  structure 
of  Desmids,  Algae,  Lichens,  Mosses,  Ferns,  stems,  leaves,  and 
their  appendages,  fungi,  pollen,  &c.  The  remarks  were  illus¬ 
trated  by  a  number  of  microscopic  slides  prepared  by  Mr. 
Gregory,  and  shown  under  microscopes  on  the  table.  The 
lecture  was  of  considerable  interest  and  practical  use  to  the 
2Y^0i!ihers.  A  brief  discussion  followed,  and  on  the  pioposition 
of  Mr.  E.  Kromer,  seconded  by  Mr.  Terry,  a  hearty  vote  of 
thanks  was  accorded  the  lecturer.  The  following  programme 
of  meetings  to  be  held  in  the  society’s  room  at  the  Sunflower 
Temperance  Hotel,  George  Street,  Croydon,  has  been  prepared: 
Aug.  19. — “Cultivation  of  Strawberries,  Inside  and  Out,”  by  Mr. 
J.  Lyne,  The  Gardens,  Foxbury,  Chiselhurst.  September  2.— 
“  Discussion  on  Birds  of  the  Garden ;”  by  Mr.  P.  F.  Bunyard, 
hon.  treasurer.  September  16. — “  \  iolas ;”  by  Mr.  G.  Dray, 
superintendent,  the  Recreation  Grounds,  Sydenham.  October?. 
_ “The  Renovation  of  Old  Fruit  Trees;”  by  Mr.  T.  Neve,  The 
Gardens,  Lindesham  House,  Wokingham.  October  21— “How 
to  make  an  Alpine  Garden.”  'illustrated;  by  Mr.  E.  Lovett, 
West  Burton  House,  Addiscombe.  November  4. — Discussion 
night.  November  18.— How  Plants  Grow;”  by  Mr.  H.  O. 
Etherington,  manager,  J.  R.  Box’s  Nurseries,  West  Wickham. 
December  2. — “Stove  and  Greenhouse  Ferns;”  by  Mr.  Dyson, 
Fern  grower  to  J.  Hill  and  Son,  Lower  Edmonton.  December 
1G. — “Insectivorous  Plants;”  by  Dr.  Brook  Ridley,  4\  idmore, 
Sydenham  Road. 
