Jauuar}-  28,  1904. 
73 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND 
COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Weybridge  and  District  Horticultural  Society. 
Tlie  Slimmer  exhibition  of  t)ie  above  society  will  be  held  at 
Duneevan,  Oatlands  Park,  on  Jnlj'  14;  autumn  exliibition  on 
November  3. 
Retirement  of  Mr.  Frederick  Bowden. 
Mr.  Frederick  Bowden,  the  respected  chief  of  the  seed  and 
bulb  department  of  ]\Ir.  Tliomas  Whalley,  St.  George’s  Crescent, 
Liverpool,  has  retired.  Mr.  Bowden  served  his  time  with  Messrs. 
R.  A  eitch  and  Son,  Exeter,  and  came  to  Liverpool  thirty-eight 
years  ago,  and  during  the  whole  of  that  long  period  has  been  a 
faithful  and  diligent  servant.  The  firm  marked  its  appreciation 
of  his  good  work  by  presenting  him  with  a  valuable  gold  watch. 
Mr.  F.  Stewart  succeeds  him. 
Presentation  to  Mr.  Metcalf. 
Mr.  A.  W.  Metcalfe  was  the  recipient  of  a  handsome  eight-day 
timepiece  on  the  19th  in.st.,  on  the  occasion  of  his  leaving 
Burghley.  This  was  presented  by  the  whole  of  the  garden  staff. 
Mr.  H.  Turner  (general  foreman)  made  the  presentation,  express¬ 
ing  the  deep  respect  and  asteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  all 
present,  and  after  making  reference  to  the  many  improvements 
carried  out,  concluded  by  conveying  best  wishes  for  his  future 
success  in  his  new  appointment  at  Luton  Hoo.  Mr.  Metcalfe 
suitably  i'e.sponded. 
South-Eastern  Agricultural  College,  Wye,  Kent. 
A  meeting  of  the  Governors  of  the  South-Eastern  Agricul¬ 
tural  College  was  held  at  the  Westminster  Palace  Hotel  on 
-Monday,  Jannary  25.  On  the  motion  of  Earl  Stanhope,  Mr. 
E.  .J.  Hahsey  (chairman  of  the  Surrey  C.C.)  was  elected  chair¬ 
man  for  the  ninth  time,  and  Mr.  George  Marsham  (chairman 
of  the  Kent  C.C.)  as  vioe-chairman.  The  principal  (Mr 
M.  J.  R.  Dunstan)  reported  that  seventy-four  students  were 
at  the  College — the  highest  number  yet  recorded — and  the 
Governors  adopted  the  recommendation  for  the  establishment 
of  a  practical  course  in  forestry  instruction,  ivhich  will  include 
the  planting  up  for  demonstration  purpo.ses  of  a  considerable 
area  of  land  with  pure  and  mixed  plantation  of  forest  trees  and 
the  provision  of  the  necessary  teaching  staff. 
Obituary:  Mr.  William  Ratchelous. 
This  well-known  horticulturist,  one  of  the  leading  inhabitants 
of  St.  Neots,  Hunts,  died  on  the  22nd  in.st.,  after  a  .severe  illnes.s, 
at  the  age  of  sixty  years.  A  member  of  a  family  long  resident 
in  the  district,  he  commenced  his  gardening  career  under  his 
father,  who  was  head  gardener  at  Priory  Hill,  and  rose  by 
degrees  until  he  took  charge  of  the  gardens  at  Waresley  Park. 
Thirty  yeai's  ago  he  became  manager  of  Messrs.  Wood  and 
Ingram’.s  branch  nursery  at  iSt.  Neots,  serving  the  firm  loyally, 
and  becoming  widely  known  in  horticultural  circles.  He  was 
the  .secretary  of  the  St.  Neots  Horticultural  Society,  and  hon. 
secretary  of  the  Chrysanthemum  Society  in  that  town.  He  also 
acted  as  branch  secretary  to  the  Sandy  Flower  Show,  and  was 
always  one  of  the  judges  at  that  popular  floral  fe.stival.  His 
services  ivere  also  in  demand  as  a  judge  throughout  the  comity. 
He  was  an  active  supporter  of  all  in.stitutions  of  a  beneficial 
character  to  the  town.  As  a  Cucumber  grower  for  seed  pur¬ 
poses  he  was  almo.st  without  a  rival.  He  leaves  a  widow  and 
grown-up  family. 
Agapetes  in  Flower  at  Birmingham. 
During  the  past  few  weeks  Agapetes  macrantha,  a  very  in¬ 
teresting  but  little-known  plant,  has  been  di.splaying  an  abun¬ 
dance  of  .showy  pendent  waxy  flowers  in  one  of  the  cool  conser- 
tories  in  the  Botanical  Gardens  at  Edgbaston.  The  species  was 
discovered  on  Kola  Mountain,  Moulmein,  upwards  of  fifty  years 
ago,  by  Mr.  Thomas  Lobb,  a  noted  plant  collector,  and  notwith¬ 
standing  its  great  decorative  value  it  is  rarely  .seen  outside  good 
private  and  botanic  gardens.  This  is  a  pity,  because  it  is  by  no 
means  difficult  to  accommodate,  and  at  blossoming  time  it  stands 
out,  not  only  as  the  be.st  of  the  genus  to  which  it  belongs, 
but  one  of  the  most  useful  of  hardwooded  winter  flowering  sub¬ 
jects  for  indoor  purposes.  Botanically  it  belongs  to  the  natural 
order  Vacciniacese,  is  allied  to  the  Cranberry,  and  first  flowered  in 
these  isles  at  Exeter  in  1850,  at  which  period  it  was  known  under 
the  name  of  Thibaudia  macrantha.  It  forms  a  bushy  shrub,  with 
long,  arching,  brown-barked  shoots,  along  which  appear  i;a 
axillary  clusters  drooping  flowers  which  remain  in  good  condi¬ 
tion  for  nearly  two  months. 
The  Horticultural  Hall. 
The  new  hall  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  which  will 
bo  opened  in  .Tune,  has  already  been  partly  roofed.  The  front 
portion,  which  includes  the  offices  and  meeting  room.^,  is  practi¬ 
cally  finished  in  this  respect  with  the  exception  of  the  slating. 
I  unds  are  needed  to  clear  off  the  outstanding  liabilities. 
Bestures  on  Advanced  Botany. 
A  course  of  ten  lectures  on  “  The  Moi'phology  and  Affinities 
of  the  non-Filicinean  families  of  Va.scular  Cryptogams  ”  will 
be  given  at  t  niver.sity  College  by  D.  H.  Scott,  F.R.S.,  Honorary 
Keeper  of  the  Jodrell  Laboratoi’y,  Royal  Botanic  Gardens, 
Kew.  The  lectures  will  be  given  on  Tue.sdays  at  4  p.m.  The 
first  lecture  was  given  on  Tuesday  last.  Dr.  Scott’s  syllabus  of 
the  lecture  being  as  follows:  —  “The  main  groups  to  be  con¬ 
sidered  :  Lycopodiales,  Erpii.setales  and  Sphenophyllales,  the 
two  former  including  both  recent  and  fos.sil  forms,' the  third, 
as  here  provisionally  limited,  wholly  fossil.  Is  there  any  natural 
bond  of  union  between  the.se  groups?  The  proposed  class 
Lycopsida,  embracing  all  the  three,  in  contra-distinction  to  the 
Pterop,sida  or  Filicinean  Basis  of  this  cla.ssifi_cation.  The 
proposed  distinctive  characters  open  to  criticism,  but  the  classes 
Lycop.sida  and  Pteropsida  nevertheless  natural.  Tiiis  conclusioii 
demands  a  consideration  of  the  fossil  evidence.”  Lecture  II. 
will  be  given  on  February  2. 
Suicide  of  Mr.  Benj,  Wells,  Crawley. 
Mr.  Benjamin  Wells,  the  fruit  nurseryman  of  Crawlej',-- 
Sus.sex,  hanged  himself  on  Saturday  of  last  week  at  his  home. 
At  the  incpiest  on  the  body  it  ivas  .shown  that  he  had  made 
remarkable  preparations  for,  his  suicide.  His  dead  body  was 
found  on  Saturday  near  his  house.  A  letter  to  his  wife,  written 
by  the  decea.sed,  was  received  that  morning,  and  .stated  that  his 
body  would  be  found  there.  Around  it  was  tied  a  rope,  one 
end  of  which  lyas  made  fast  to  a  plank  at  the  top  of  a  wall. 
A  label  was  attached  to  the  rope,  with  the  following  written 
upon  it:  “  Please  put  this  body  in  the  packing-.shed  close  by;  it 
is  unlocked  for  the  purpo.se.  Do  not  take  it  up  to  the  hon.se  ; 
it  will  di.stress  the  women.”  In  the  packing-shed  deceased  had 
erected  a  stretcher  upon  which  his  body  was  to  be  laid.  iMr. 
Wells  had  been  depressed  lately.  A  verdict  of  suicide  whilst 
temporarily  insane  was  recorded.  He  was  a  regular  contributor 
to  these  pages  some  years  ago,  and  was  author  of  a  small  book 
on  fruit  culture. 
Sunderland  Gardeners  at  Dinner. 
The  annual  dinner  of  the  Sunderland  and  District  Gardeners’ 
Association  was  held  last  week.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Randall,  in  pro¬ 
posing  “  The  Gardeners’  Association,”  said  that  meeting  together 
.systematically,  and  comparing  notes  upon  each  other’s  work.s, 
successes,  and  failures,  and  so  on,  was  of  great  benefit  to  all 
individual  members.  He  was  pleased  that  evening  on  coming 
into  the  room  at  seeing  what  a  large  infusion  of  young  blood  was 
in  the  society.  He  congratulated  the  society  upon  that.  The 
year  had  been  a  record  for  success  and  prosperity  in  the  annals 
of  the  iiLstitution,  and  new  members  mu.st  have  contributed 
greatly  towards  this  satisfactory  .state  of  thing.s.  Mr.  Bolam 
responded.  At  the  founding  of  the  society,  in  1891,  they  con-- 
sidered  the  be.st  lines  they  could  work  upon  were  to  get  practical 
gardeners  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and  to  have  all  their  officers 
gardeners.  By  adhering  to  that  good  principle  all  their  officers 
had  held  together.  They  had  had  twent,y-six  meetings;  a  great 
number  of  exhibits,  and  tho.se  of  high  quality.  That  was 'amply 
denoted  in  the  awards  of  merit  and  certificates  for  culture.  In 
addition  to  that,  they  had  had  two- or  three  important  visits  to 
other  iilaces.  One,  for  which  they  were  very  much  indebted  to 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Randall,  was  an  inspection  of  the  grounds  of  Bothal 
Hall,  in  which  they  were  all  anxious  to  see  a  display  of  some 
spring  flowering  bulb.'--.  Something  like  eighty  members  were 
invited  to  visit  the  grounds  of  Earl  Lon.sdale  at  Lowther  Castle. 
There  they  saw  a  sight  the  like  of  which  he  thought  they  had 
never  seen  before.  Fiftj-  thousand  Begonias  were  in  full  bloom 
in  the  middle  of  a  verj-  bad  season.  The  work  that  thei-  did  was 
one  which  deserved  every  encouragement.  The  chairman  then 
presented  the  secretary,  Mr.  J.  T.  Richardson,  with  a  gold  watch 
and  albert,  two  gold  key.s  and  pendant,  and  a  diamond  brooch 
for  hi.s  wife.  In  doing  so  lie  eulogised  IMr.  Richard'-on’s  work. 
