390  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  May  5,  im 
such  as  insecurity  of  tenure  and  the  costly  system  of  distri- 
The  meeting  to  beheld  in  London  on  Wednesday,  June  1,  1904 
(the  second  day  of  the  Temple  Show),  should  be  supported  by  all 
who  are  interested.  The  movement  is  essentially  a  co-operative 
one,  and  its  success  therefore  depends  on  individual  effort.  It 
is  most  important  that  the  first  meeting  should  be  representative 
of  the  whole  field  of  horticulture,  and  gardeners  of  all  classes— 
private  gardeners  and  journeymen,,  gardeners  and  assistants  in 
parks  and  public  gardens,  nurserymen,  their  foremen  and 
assistants, '  seedsmen  and  their  assistants,  horticultural  instruc¬ 
tors— all  are  urged  to  be  present.  The  meeting  will  be  held  in 
the  E.sses  Hall,  Essex  Street,  Strand,  at  6  p.m.  (doors  open  at 
5.30). 
All  those  who  sympathise  with  this  movement  should  write 
to  the  secretary,  who  will  be  ■  glad  to  receive  contributions 
towards  defraying  the  expenses  of  printing  and  distributing  this 
pamphlet,  and  of  the  meeting  to  be  held)  in  June.  Copies  of 
pamphlet  for  di.stribution  may  be  obtained  from  members  of  the 
committee. 
Market  Gardening, 
Market  Prices. 
The  Board  of  Agriculture  and  Fisheries  has  commenced  the 
publication  of  a  weekly  return  of  the  market  prices  of  fat  and 
store  stock,  dairy  cattle,  dead  meat,  provisions,  fruit,  vege¬ 
tables,  hay  and  straw,  at  certain  representative  markets  in 
Great  Britain.  The  prices  are  supplied  by  the  official  reporters 
of  the  Boaixl,  and  are  prefaced  by  a  brief  summary  of  the  chief 
features  of  the  week’s  business,  based  upon  the  reports  furnished 
by  them.  The  return  contains  the  information  for  the  week 
ending  with  the  previous  Saturday,  and  is  intended  to  be  issued 
every  Wednesday.  It  is  published  at  the  price  of  Id.,  and  is  to 
be  obtained  from  Messrs.  Eyre  and  Spottiswoode,  East  Harding 
Street,  London,  E.C.,  or  Messrs.  Oliver  and  Boyd,  Edinburgh, 
either  directly  or  through  any  bookseller.  This  is  an  extension 
of  the  movement  which  was  begun  for  the  protection  and 
guidance  of  corn  merchants,  whereby  authoritative  reports  are 
obtained.  Tho.se  coming  through  the  newspapers  are  generally 
unsafe  to  follow. 
British  Flower  Culture. 
Flower  culture  at  home  is  increasing  so  successfully  that  we 
arh'gradually  growing  less  dependent  on  continental  imports  of 
cut  bleqms.  The  returns  of  foreign  flowers  which  found  a 
market  in  this  country  during  the  first  three  months  of  the  year 
show  a  marked  decline  upon  those  'of  a  few  years  ago,  and  the 
figures  bring  home  to  us  the  fact  that  the  art  of  floriculture  iS 
receiving  more  general  attention  in  this  country.  A  Birming¬ 
ham  florist  fully  endorses  this 'view.  The  London  growers,  he 
said,  are  no\y  supplying  the  market,  and  have  been  for  a  long 
time  pa.st  wuth  quantities  of  Roses — a  favoured  flower,  which 
always  finds  an  extensive  market  in  every  town  in  the  country. 
Until  recently  w’e  have  been  dependent  for  our  early  Roses 
upon  continental  grow’ers.  The  South  of  France  arid  the  North  of 
Italy,  with  their  climatic  advantage,  have  been  able  to  put  a 
large  supply  of  Roses  on  the  British  market  before  the  home 
growers  could  hope  to  compete hvith  them.  But  in  the  last  few 
years  the  London  growers  have  put  up  glass  houses  on  a  very 
large  scale,  and  they  are  now  able  to  meet  the  foreign  nursery¬ 
man  on  equal  terms,  to  the  distinct  disadvantage  of  the  latter. 
In  the  matter  of  bulb  culture  the  English  growers  have  also 
been  forging  ahead.  Daffodils  and  Narcissi  are^now  grown  very 
extensively  on  the  sandy  soil  of  Lincolnshire  'and  Cambridge¬ 
shire,  which  have  been  found  to  be  most  congenial  to  their 
culture.  The  British  nurserymen  have  thus  been  able  to  fur¬ 
nish  the  market  with  an  abundance  of  fresh  blooms  at  a  price 
Avhich  spoils  the  profit  of  the  importers  of  French  flowers. 
Another  rea.son  for  the  decline  of  imported  flowers  is  the 
increasing  skill  of  the  amateur  gardener.  A  great  many  men 
with  comparatively  small  gardens  now’  succeed  in  growing  all  the 
flow’ers  that  they  require  for  household  purposes,  and  the  result 
is  that  there  is  a  diminishing  demand  for  the  products  of  the 
professional  nurjserymen. 
The  Hose-in-hose  Polyanthus. 
\  ery  few  varieties  of  this  particular  kind  of  Polyanthus  are 
generally  cultivated;  and  they,  like  the  fine  old  double  Prim¬ 
roses,  are  left  to  the  special  care  of  a  few'  gardeners  and  florists, 
who  have  continued  to  appreciate  them.  The  special  feature  in 
the  Hose-in-hose  Polyanthuses  is,  of  course,  the  modification 
assumed  by  the  calyx,  which  has  become  an  exact  counterpart  of 
the  corolla.  One  of  the  richest  coloured  varieties  of  this  sectibn 
wa.s  seen  in  Barr’s  nursery  at  Long  Ditton  a  w'eek  ago.-  and 
which  was  named  Crimson  King.  Other  good  kinds  are  Efiii’s' 
1  ellowj  Pantaloons,  Golden  Ball,  arid  Tortoise-shell. 
Daflodil  Treat  at  Belly  Coart,  Shenield. 
This  beautiful  place — the  seat  of  F.  A.  Kelley.  Esq.,'  J.P.— 
is  situate  just  without  the  city  boundary  of  Sheffield,  and  the 
ow’ner  is  nothing  if  not  practical.  Having  devoted  considerable 
time  and  expen.se  in  laying  out  the  beautiful  grounds,  and  in 
forming  a  grand  collection  of  D-affodils,  Mr.  Kelley  generously 
allows  the  public  to  participate  in  his  pleasure ;  and  the  grounds 
were  thrown  open  for  inspection  a  week  ago.  Thither  wended 
tradespeople,  shop  assistants,  w’orkmen  and  their  wrives,  and  all 
classes  of  toilers,  delighted  with  the  opportunity  thus  afforded 
them.  Ah!  AVhat  exclamations  of  delight,  as  the  vast  carpet  of 
varied-tinted  flow’ers  met  their  gaze!  After  passing  through 
the  Dutch  garden,  and  threading  through  delightful  shrubberies 
and  by  the  charming  lake,  w’ith  its  variety  of  Hrd-life,  the 
visitors,  on  entering  the  w’ood,  are  met  w  ith  the  sight 'of  3,000 
Sir  Watkin  Daffodils,  the  trumpets  large,  and  the  contra.sting 
perianth  producing  a  fine  effect.  There  w’as  also  a  batch  of 
3,000  Horsfieldi,  together  with  Stella,  Telamonius  Plenus,  Em¬ 
peror,  Empress,  Golden  Spur,  Bicolor  Grandis,  Barri  con- 
spicuus,  and  the  pretty  little  Leeds!  amabilis,  all  in  batches  of 
from  1,000  to  3,000.  In  all,  there  are  some  70,000  bulbs,  and 
the  carpet  of  grass  serves  to  show'  the  flowers  to  advantage. 
Some  25,000  people  visited  Holly  Court  during  the  two  days 
on  which  it  was  open,  and  the  complete  absence  of  injury  is  proof 
of  the  appreciation  of  the  public  of  the  privilege  accorded  them. 
The  Rhododendrons  also  are  coming  into  flow’er,  and  the  lai'ge 
variety  of  magnificent  shrubs  renders  the  grounds  altogether 
attractive,  and  the  general  condition  reflects  credit  on  Mr. 
Kettlew’ell,  the  gardener,  and  his  staff.  There  is  also  a  magni¬ 
ficent  collection  of  Malmaison  Carnations,  almost  every  variety 
being  grow’n,  including  all  the  new  ones;  and  a  better,  stronger, 
cleaner,  and  more  healthy  lot  w'ould  be  hard  to  find.  There  are 
probably  some  3,000  plants,  and  not  a  sign  of  rust  to  be  seen. — 
W.  L. 
