July  9,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
but  I  think  enough  has  been  advanced  to  show  that  there 
is  an  untold  field  of  usefulness  open  to  village  credit 
societies.  The  method  of  working  them  is  such  as  to  assist 
the  honest,  self-reliant,  and  industrious ;  but  to  leave 
severely  alone  the  laggard,  intemperate,  and  thriftless  indi¬ 
vidual.  A  strong  incentive  is  therefore  provided  for  the 
latter  class  to  qualify  for  the  former  one. 
In  conclusion  I  should  like  to  emphasise  the  fact  that 
the  above  association  is  not  a  bank,  but  a  non-profit-making, 
non-political  society  for  showing  small  cultivators,  trades¬ 
men,  and  the  working  classes  generally  how  they  can  form 
co-operative  banks  of  their  own  in  towns  or  villages.  All 
persons  desirous  of  doing  so  should  write  to  the  secretary 
at  the  address  already  given,  who  will  be  pleased  to  forward 
any  particulars  required.  All,  however,  should  bear  in 
mind  that  “  without  preliminary  union  there  can  be  no  such 
thing  as  co-operative  credit.” — W. 
The  Late  Mr,  William  Thompson. 
We  regret  to  have  to  record  the  death  of  one  of  tiie  oldest 
inhabitants  of  Ipswich  in  the  person  of  Mr.  William  Thompson, 
of  Haslemere,  Bank  Road,  who  passed  away  on  Friday,  the 
3rd  inst.  The  deceased  gentleman  was  an  octogenarian,  and 
death  was  attributable  to  natural  decay.  Mr.  Thompson,  who 
leaves  a  son  (Mr.  Sidney  Thompson)  and  three  daughters  to 
mourn  his  loss,  had  resided  in  Ipswich  all  his  life.  He  married 
Miss  Fisher,  of  Yoxford,  who  predeceased  him  in  1884.  As  a 
young  man  the  deceased  gentleman  was  always  deeply  interested 
in  science.  He  began  by  studying  chemistry  and  photography, 
and  was  one  of  the  earliest  pioneers  of  the  old  Daguerreotype 
method  of  photography.  In  pursuance  of  that  hobby  he 
travelled  extensively  in  his  younger  days,  and  took  a  series  of 
photographs,  which  would  still  be  extremely  interesting,  even 
though  the  method  is  quite  out  of  date.  Some  of  his  photo¬ 
graphs  of  Old  Ipswich  have  been  reproduced  in  various  archaeo¬ 
logical  and  other  publications.  After  a  time  his  health  began 
to  fail  him  a  little,  and  he  turned  his  attention  to  botany,  his 
pursuit  of  that  science  being  at  the  outset  purely  a  hobby.  Little 
Ijy  little  he  began  the  exchange  and  sale  of  rare  seeds,  and  he 
published  his  first  catalogue  in  1855 — a  very  slim  volume,  that 
compares  rather  quaintly  with  the  large  books  that  are  issued 
by  the  firm  nowadays.  His  speciality  was  always  herbaceous 
and  Alpine  plants,  and  he  never  cared  much  about  exotics. 
Through  many  correspondents  in  all  parts  of  the  globe  he 
gradually  was  enabled  to  introduce  to  the  English  gardening 
w'orld  a  large  number  of  plants  hitherto  not  brought  into  culti¬ 
vation. 
Mr.  Thompson’s  fii’st  noteworthy  success  was  with  Rhodanthe 
maculata,  which  in  1863  he  introduced  from  Swan  River,  M’estern 
Australia.  This  had  a  great  vogue,  and  is  still  one  of  the 
favourite  Composites  in  decoration.  In  the  following  year  he 
introduced  two  more  varieties  of  the  same  plant — R.  alba  and 
R.  atro-sanguinea.  After  that  the  flower  that  brought  him  most 
note  was  the  beautiful  Aquilegia  caerulea,  which,  with  A. 
chrysantha,  was  the  first  parent  of  the  many  splendid  varieties 
of  the  long-spurred  Aquilegia  that  have  since  become  very 
common  ;  indeed,  that  really  opened  the  door  to  all  the  hybrids. 
His  introduction  of  Godetia  Whitneyi  and  Leptosiphon  roseus 
rendered  1871  a  year  memorable  in  the  gardening  world.  In 
later  years  his  greatest  find  was  the  lovely  Phacelia  Campanularia, 
which  he  introduced  from  California  in  1885,  and  about  the  same 
time  he  also  brought  in  the  Clematis  coccinea. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by 
botanists  for  his  entei’prise,  it  will  be  interesting  to  quote  ai 
dedication  by  Sir  Joseph  Dalton  Hooker,  then  Director  of  the 
Royal  Gardens  at  Kew  : — “  Vol.  32  of  third  series,  1876.  This 
volume  of  the  ‘  Botanical  Magazine  ’  is  dedicated  to  Mr.  William 
Thompson,  of  Ipswich— to  whose  zeal  in  introducing  and  intelli¬ 
gent  skill  in  raising  hardy  American  plants,  and  especially  those 
of  the  Western  United  States,  European  gardeners  in  general, 
and  the  ‘  Botanical  Magazine  ’  in  particular,  are  indebted  for 
many  most  interesting  and  ornamental  noveltie.s — by  his  faith¬ 
ful  friend,  Joseph  D.  Hooker,  Royal  Gardens,  Kew,  December  1.” 
Mr.  Thompson’s  friends  included  such  men  as  Charles  Darwin, 
Sir  Michael  Foster,  Dr.  Asa  Gray  (the  great  American  botanist), 
and  his  gardens  have  made  Ipswich  a  Mecca  for  botanists  of  all 
countries.  Tliat  the  merits  of  the  deceased  gentleman  were  not 
only  recognised  in  this  country,  but  also  abroad,  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  in  Diamond  Jubilee  year  (1897)  he  was  decorated 
with  the  gold  Victorian  Medal  of  Honour  for  his  services  to 
botany.  '  It  has  been  said  of  him  that  to  carry  on  his  work, 
handicapped  as  he  was  by  a  physical  infirmity,  was  in  itself  an 
act  of  heroism  in  his  devotion  to  science. 
Mr.  Thompson  edited  a  monthly  magazine  called  “The  English 
Flower  Garden,”  which  began  in  18-52-3.  It  was  illustrated  by 
exquisitely  coloured  reproductions  from  hand  paintings  by  Fitch, 
the  great  flower  painter;  but  these  pi'oved  too  elaborate  to  yield 
a  profit,  and  the  venture  was  abandoned.  In  18-55  he  published 
“The  Gardening  Book  of  Annuals,”  a  kind  of  gardeners’  guide. 
This  was  followed  in  the  next  year  by  a  supplement,  and  a  year 
or  two  ago — as  the  work  had  gone  entirely  out  of  print  and  was 
very  rare — he  was  pressed  to  bring  out  a  fresh  edition,  and  he 
had  sketched  out  and  largely  completed  a  much  more  imposing 
edition. 
The  deceased  was  a  man  of  wide  interests,  great  reading, 
marvellous  memory,  and  an  extremely  good  linguist.  He  was  of 
loveable  disposition,  and  displayed  an  old-world  courtesy,  com¬ 
bined  with  entire  simplicity  of  character.  It  is  interesting  to 
recall  that,  despite  his  rather  hermitic  habits,  he  insisted  on 
being  taken  to  the  Town  Hall  on  the  occasion  of  the  proclama¬ 
tion  of  King  Edward  VII.,  and  intimated  that  he  had  al-so  been 
present  when  Queen  Victoria  was  proclaimed  in  1837. 
To  allude  for  a  mbment  to  the  strictly  business  side  of  Mr. 
Thompson’s  career,  it  may  bo  said  that  from  the  first  garden 
plot,  started  something  like  half  a  century  ago,  the  business 
developed  into  one  that  is  now  widely  known.  Mr.  John 
Morgan  had  been  connected  with  it  for  over  thirty  years,  and 
when  the  commercial  side  became  too  heavy  for  Mr.  Thompson, 
he  took  Mr.  Morgan  into  partnership.  Without  losing  anything 
of  its  scientific  character,  the  business  extended  so  much  that 
instead  of  the  original  small  garden  there  are  now  three  large 
nurseries  in  Ipswich. 
The  interment  took  place  on  Wednesday  at  Ipswich  Cemetery. 
Lilium  pardalinum. 
Though  there  is  something  almost  barbaric  in  the  colouring 
of  Lilium  pardalinum,  the  Panther  Lily,  yet  this  North-west 
American  species  is  always  appreciated  where  it  grows  well  and 
readies  its  full  stature  and  the  size  of  flower,  together  with 
healthy  foliage — all  the  symptoms  of  its  being  in  favourable  con¬ 
ditions.  Its  red  and  orange  flowers,  spotted  with  brown,  are 
Eastern-like  in  their  opulent  colouring,  though  hailing  from  the 
far  w’est,  and  have  all  the  glowing  effect  we  find  in  the  most  regal 
race  of  the  queenly  flower  to  which  they  belong.  Such  gorgeously 
coloured  blooms  cannot  hut  arouse  in  the  mind  of  the  lover  of 
the  Lily  a  desire  to  possess  L.  pardalinum  and  to  cultivate  it  to 
perfection.  Though  many  attempt  the  cultivation  of  the  Panther 
Lily,  the  number  of  bulbs  lost  annually  from  want  of  care  is 
enormous,  and  it  is  solely  due  to  that  “  rule  of  thumb  ”  practice 
which  is  the  bane  of  gardening  that  this  effective  Californian 
Lily  is  so  seldom  seen  in  health  and  happiness.  A  glance  or  two 
at  its  natural  habitats  will,  however,  be  helpful  to  those  who 
seek  to  enjoy  in  its  fulness  the  fine  colouring  of  the  Panther 
Lily.  By  the  coast  line  of  tiie  west  of  North  America  from 
Vancouver  Island  to  California,  Lilium  pardalinum  is  to  be  found 
in  plenty,  though  its  leaves  and  flowers  show  signs  that  it  is  not 
in  its  most  congenial  home.  This  is  to  be  found  inland,  where, 
by  the  banks  of  streams  and  in  sunny  recesses,  moistui-e,  sun¬ 
shine,  and  shelter  can  all  be  enjoyed  by  this  fine  Lilium,  which 
there  attains  to  a  height  of  from  Cft  to  9ft,  and  which  forms 
great  clumps  several  feet  across.  We  are  not  familiar  with  it  in 
sucli  proportions  here,  though  there  is  no  reason  wdiy  it  should 
not  be  in  such  masses  as  in  its  native  land.  It  has  been  as  fine 
in  some  places  where  its  requirements  have  been  studied,  and 
many  more  might  have  it  thus,  so  rapidly  does  it  increase,  and 
so  easily  does  it  grow. 
los  prime  requirements  are  plenty  of  moisture,  a  boggy  soil, 
and  full  sunshine,  and  one  who  has  plenty  of  space  might  do 
worse  than  plant  a  wet  meadow  witli  Lilium  pardalinum,  feeling 
assured  that,  barring  accidents,  it  would  in  a  few  years  be  a 
sight  for  the  gods  to  admire,  a  source  of  delight  to  all  who 
gazed  upon  it.  In  a  warm  climate  and  with  a  dry  air  it  may 
linger  in  life  but  it  will  be  neither  so  healthy  nor  so  happy. 
Planting  is  best  done  as  soon  as  the  bulbs  can  be  procured, 
which  is  in  autumn,  or  it  can  be  delayed  until  spring,  though  I 
like  to  keei)  these  Lilies  as  short  a  time  out  of  the  soil  as 
possibloi  It  does  not  require  to'  be  deeply  planted ;  I  should 
make  6in  the  maximum,  but  it  will  thrive  quite  well  with 
merely  the  barest  covering  of  soil  above  the  rhizomatous  bulbs. 
Three  inches  I  look  upon  as  a  fair  depth  for  the  crowns.  They 
seem  absolutely  hardy,  as  I  have  had  bulbs  which  were  barely 
covered  uninjured  by  intense  frosts.  While  L.  pardalinum  is 
all  the  better  for  a  few  inches  at  least  of  moist  soil  underneath, 
it  is  wonderfully  accommodating,  and  I  have  it  doing  well  hero 
with  its  bulbs  only  an  inch  or  two  above  the  concrete  shelf  at 
the  edge  of  a  little  aquatic  tank.  The  soil,  however,  is  just 
what  it  likes,  and  it  has  always  plenty  of  moisture.  Its  liking 
for  sunshine  is  shown  by  its  liaving  beien  less  vigorous  this 
season,  when  the  solar  rays  have  been  too  scarce  for  maiiy 
things  and  by  the  shorter  stems  yielded  by  bulbs  plant<M  in 
half-shaded  positions.  There  are  several  varieties  of  Lilium 
pardalinum  offered  in  the  trade,  but  imported  bulbs  will  gene¬ 
rally  give  a  considerable  variety,  though,  of  course,  this  depends 
largeily  uimn  the  place  in  which  they  have  been  collected.  A 
capital  form  is  known  as  Bourgaei,  but  almost  any  variety  will 
be  sure  to  please. — Solway  Frith. 
