80 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  23,  1903. 
telling  flower  is  Mrs.  T.  W.  R.  Johnstone  (Kay),  upper  petals  mauve, 
under  petals  glossy  black  blotched  with  mauve,  clean  eye  and  white 
brows. 
How  sweetly  scented  these  flowers  are !  One  writer  thus  poetically 
puts  it :  “  Violas  resemble  a  spray  of  Western  Pine  in  having  a  beauty 
and  fragrance  all  their  own.” 
A  brief  cultural  note  may  be  helpful  to  the  many  admirers  of  these 
charming  flowers.  The  best  way  to  obtain  carpets  or  masses  of 
Violas  is  to  insert  cuttings  in  a  cold  frame  in  August  or  beginning  of 
September;  such  cuttings  w’ill  make  nice  plants  before  the  winter  sets 
in.  In  February  or  Mai'cli  the  plants  should  be  placed  in  well  pre¬ 
pared  beds,  4in  apart  each  way.  Some  beautiful  varieties  of  Fancy 
Pansies  of  the  firm’s  new  Victoria  strain,  a  fine  acquisition,  are  well 
worthy  of  mention  ;  flowers  of  brilliant  hues,  richly  marked. — J.  B. 
I  9 
The  New  Curator  at  Birmingham. 
The  committee  of  the  Birmingham  Botanical  Gardens  have 
appointed  Mr.  Thomas  Humphreys,  assistant  superintendent  of 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Gardens,  Chiswick,  as  their  curator,  in 
succession  to  Mr.  W.  B.  Latham,  who  retires  at  the  close  of  the 
present  summer.  Mr.  Humphreys,  who  is  thirty-five  years  of 
age,  served  his  apprenticeship  with  Messrs.  Dickson,  of  Chester, 
and  in  1887  was  appointed  Arboretum  propagator  and  under-fore¬ 
man  at  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew.  In  this  capacity,  the  propaga¬ 
tion  of  all  the  hardy  trees,  shrubs,  and  Roses  was  under  his  care. 
He  was  also  engaged  in  remodelling  the  old  shrubberies  and  in 
the  removal  of  large  trees.  Whilst  at  Kew  he  Avas  aAvarded  high 
certificates  for  geographical  botany,  organography,  and  sy.stematic 
botany,  and  chemistry  and  physics.  At  the  close  of  1892  he  Avent 
to  take  up  the  office  he  noAv  holds  at  ChisAvick.  Mr.  Humphreys 
goes  to  Edgbaston  in  October,  and  Avill  be  ready  to  advi.se  and  to 
carry  out  an  important  scheme  of  rearrangement  of  the  shrub¬ 
beries  and  borders  of  the  Gardens,  a  Avork  Avhich  will  occupy  a 
great  deal  of  attention  for  tAvo  or  three  years. 
The  Horticultural  Club. 
Excursion  to  Windsor. 
The  annual  excursion  of  members  of  this  club  and  their  friends 
took  place  on  Thursday,  the  16th  instant,  and  despite  the  some- 
AA'hat  unfavourable  state  of  the  Aveather,  Avas  greatly  enjoj'^^ed. 
I'he  party,  about  eighty  in  number,  met  at  Paddington  terminus, 
at  10  a.m.,  and  proceeded  in  Iavo  saloon  carriages  to  Windsor, 
Avhere,  thanks  to  the  inA’aluable  aid  and  management  of  Mr. 
Harry  Veitch,  Avho  kindly  undertook  the  arrangements,  and  the 
great  courtesy  of  Mr.  Nutt,  the  architect,  Mr.  Mackellar,  the 
gardener,  and  Mr.  Tait,  the  farm  .steAvard,  the  castle,  the  grounds, 
and  the  splendid  collection  of  cattle  Avere  all  in.spected  in  turn 
under  the  best  of  auspices. 
The  club,  thanks  to  special  permission  accorded  by  His 
Majesty  the  King,  enjoyed  the  unusual  privilege  of  visiting  the 
private  gardens  as  aa'oII  as  those  more  generally  open  to  inspection, 
and  it  need  hardly  be  said  Avere  delighted,  not  only  by  their 
beautiful  design  and  arrangement,  but  also  by  the  perfection  of 
the  order  in  Avhich  they  Avere  kept.  So  great,  indeed,  was  the 
pleasure,  that  the  fortunately  transient  showers  and  generally 
dull  and  threatening  Aveather  formed  practically  no  bar  to  enjoy¬ 
ment.  On  arriving  at  Windsor  some  of  the  party  elected  to 
drive  through  and  around  the  splendid  park;  the  major  number, 
lioAvever,  deterred  by  the  threatened  downpour,  elected  to  Ausit 
the  interior  of  the  castle,  and  although  the  state  apartments  AA'ere 
not  available  for  inspection,  a  tour  through  St.  George’s  Chapel, 
the  Memorial  Chapel,  and  other  adjuncts  of  the  castle  itself  Avas 
greatly  enhanced  by  the  presence  of  Mr.  Nutt,  who  A^ery  kindly 
acted  as  cicerone  to  the  party,  pointing  out  Avith  the  finger  of  an 
expert  the  special  points  of  architectural  and  historical  interest. 
To  those  Avho  droA'e  round  the  park  the  beauty  of  the  scene 
was  heightened  rather  than  othei'Avise  by  the  freshness  imparted 
by  the  shoAvers,  the  atmospheric  effects  in  the  long  vistas  of  the 
avenues  being  charming.  At  one  o’clock  the  party  lunched  at 
Messrs.  Layton’s,  and  subsequently  Avere  conducted  over  the 
gardens  by  Mr.  Mackellar,  passing  through  the  private  ones  afore¬ 
said,  and  thence  to  the  dairy,  vieAA'ing  a  fine  collection  of  coavs, 
and  finally  reaching  Frogmore.  A  capital  tea  had  been  arranged 
by  special  permission  in  one  of  the  Royal  conseiwatories,  after 
Avhich  a  couple  of  hours  Avere  spent  in  the  kitchen  and  other 
gardens,  and  eventually,  under  Sir.  Tait’s  kind  supervision,  the 
prize  cattle  Avere  paraded  for  the  visitors’  benefit,  the  party  then 
being  driA'en  back  to  Windsor  to  dinner  at  Messrs.  Layton’s, 
Avhich  Avas  in  every  respect  satisfactory. 
Mr.  Harry  Veitch  presided,  and  after  the  toast  of  “  The  King  ” 
had  been  dul.v  and  gratefully  honoured,  the  healths  of  Messrs. 
Nutt,  Mackellar,  and  Tait,  the  tAvo  latter  gentlemen  being 
present,  Avere  proposed  and  drunk  Avith  enthusiastic  recognition 
of  their  kind  contributions  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  day,  the 
function  closing  after  a  feav  Avords  from  Mr.  Hunt,  a  visitor  from  J 
the  Antipodes,  with  a  similarly  well  deserved  recognition  of  Mr. 
Harry  Veitch’s  highly  successful  efforts  to  make  it  a  red-letter 
day  in  the  annals  of  the  club.  The  party  then  broke  up,  return¬ 
ing  to  London  as  they  came,  and  unanimously  declaring  that, 
had  the  clerk  of  the  Aveather  Avorn  the  sunniest  of  smiles,  they 
could  not  po.ssibly  have  enjoyed  themselves  more. 
Vegetable  Notes:  Carrot  Failures. 
M’hether  it  is  a  common  cause  of  complaint  or  not  can  be 
knoAvn  only  by  correspondence,  or  by  those  whose  business  and 
privileges  take  them  into  Avidely  separated  areas,  but  in  this 
locality,  at  any  rate.  Carrots  are  an  extremely  partial  crop.  Soav- 
ing  after  soAAing  has  been  made  without  any,  or  but  poor,  return, 
and  at  the  present  time  there  is  a  difficulty  in  meeting  the  daily 
demands  of  the  kitchen.  The  fault  does  not  lay  with  the 
seed,  for  this,  in  some  instances,  came  up  well ;  indeed,  in  my 
case,  the  main  crop  soAving  for  a  time  was  most  hopeful. 
The  site  Avas  fresh  to  Carrots,  the  winter  crop  being  cleared, 
the  ground  Avas  dug,  broken  finely,  the  seed  at  once  soAvn,  and 
the  surface  Avell  rolled.  All  Avent  Avell  for  a  time,  Avhen  a  change 
from  a  dry  to  a  Avet  period,  the  Carrots  daily  made  backward 
instead  of  forAAurd  strides,  until  at  length  an  isolated  plant  here 
Mr.  Thomas  Humphreys. 
and  there  only  remained.  The  same  thing  happened  wdth  the 
earlier  Carrot  beds,  except  those  in  frames,  and  the  first  out- 
door-soAvn.  Soot„  lime,  nor  salt  afforded  any  remedy,  the  fre¬ 
quently  recurring  and  heavy  rains  of  June  putting  these  out  of 
use  Avith  the  usual  early  despatch. 
In  my  case  I  attributed  the  losses  to  the  tormenting  slug, 
Avhich  have  been  so  preA-alent  this  year.  Large  earthworms  pro¬ 
bably  did  much  in  reducing  the  crop,  and  adding  to  the  troubles 
already  too  much  in  evidence.  I  have  only  seen  one  good  main 
crop  Carrot  bed,  and  this  occurred  on  heavy  land.  The  failure 
of  the  earlier  soAvings  enforced  the  necessity  of  continued  effort. 
Ground  cleared  of  early  Potatoes  has  been  sown  with  Early  Horn 
varieties,  and  so  far  these  appear  safe  and  progressive.  Since 
these  seeds  Avere  soAvn  the  Aveather  has  been  dry,  affording  con¬ 
ditions  unfavourable  to  slug  life  on  the  ground  surface. 
Watering  of  the  seed  drills  has  been  a  daily  routine  Avith  the 
object  of  affording  a  means  of  rapid  progress,  but  it  Avill  not  be 
possible  to  keep  up  a  supply,  only  on  a  limited  scale.  Some 
gardeners  are  inclined  to  the  belief  that  neither  .slugs  nor  AA'orms 
are  the  source  of  trouble,  but  the  Carrot  louse  or  fly.  This  theory 
is  of  doubtful  truth. 
It  AA'ould  be  interesting  to  learn  from  readers  of  the  Journal 
whether  similar  experiences  have  been  met  in  other  districts 
and  counties,  or  Avhether  the  complaint  is  simply  a  local  one. 
Mr.  A.  Dean,  Avhose  experimental  Avork  carries Jiim  over  a  large 
extent  of  garden,  may  be  able  to  afford  proof  of  the  prevalence  or 
otherAvise  of  this  Carrot  scarcit.y  and  scourge.  Except  for  Avinter 
use,  I  prefer  small  sowing  at  intervals,  rather  than  large  ones 
made  at  one,  or  at  the  most,  tAvo,  periods  of  the  year.  Large 
Carrots  for  ordinary  home  supplies  are  not  so  desirable  as  small 
tender  roots,  hence  frequent  soAvings,  AA’hich  often  make  an 
easier  .subject  of  routine,  are  adopted,  and  usually  Avith  more 
all  round  satisfaction. — W.  S. 
