July  30,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
99 
Gardening  Appointments. 
Mr.  Joseph  Booker  has  succeeded  Mr.  E.  Banibridge  a.s  head  I 
gardener  to  Lieut.-Colonel  Shipway,  at  Grove  House,  Chiswick, 
London.  Mr.  Banibridge  has  been  appointed  head  gardener  at 
Bene  Park,  Tonbridge,  Kent.  *  *  Mr.  David  Murray,  for  the 
past  two  years  foreman  in  the  houses  at  Carberi-y  Tower,  Mussel¬ 
burgh,  has  been  appointed  head  gardener  to  J.  D.  Cobbold,  Escp, 
Holly  Wells,  Ipswich. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society. 
The  next  fruit  and  flower  show  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  will  bo  held  on  Tuesday,  Augiust  4,  in  the  Drill  Hall, 
Buckingham  Gate,  Westminster,  1  to  5  p.m.  Special  iirizes  will 
be  given  for  Cactaceous  xilants.  A  lecture  on  “  Landscaxie  Gar¬ 
dening”  will  be  given  by  Mr.  H.  E.  Milner,  V.M.H.,  at  3  o’clock. 
At  a  general  meeting  of  the  society  held  on  Tuesday,  July  21, 
thirty-six  new  Fellows  were  elected,  among  them  being  Lady 
Arthur  Hill,  Lady  Margaret  Cecil,  Sir  Philip  Magnus,  and  the 
Hon.  Gerald  Ponsonby,  making  a  total  of  1045  elected  since  last 
January  1. 
The  Yeitchian  Cup. 
In  order  to  celebrate  the  jubilee  of  the  establishment  of  a 
business  in  London  (Mr.  James  Veitch,  jun.,  having  come  to 
Chelsea  in  1853),  Messrs.  James  Veitch  and  Sons,  Ltd.,  have 
Xjresented  to  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  five  silver-gilt  cups 
of  the  value  of  fifty  guineas  each.  This  liberal  offer  has  been 
acceirted  by  the  Council,  and  the  following  conditions  drawn  uxd  ; 
The  cup  will  be  known  as  “  The  Veitchian  Cup,^’  and  one  will  be 
awarded  once  a  j^ear  to  the  best  individual  exhibit  in  the  opinion 
of  special  judges  at  the  Temple  Shows  of  1904,  1905,  1900,  1907, 
and  1908,  or  any  other  leading  show  held  under  the  direction  of 
the  Society  the  Council  may  determine.  The  successful  exhibit 
may  be  either  a  single  plant,  or  a  group,  a  novelty,  or  an  example 
of  culture.  The  cup)  will  become  the  pDrop^erty  of  the  winner  each 
year,  and  he  will  be  required  to  make  a  declaration  that  the  exhibit 
is  his  own  property,  arid  has  been  cultivated  bj^  him  for  fourteen 
days  previous  to  the  show.  The  judges  are  to  be  seven — three 
amateurs,  two  gardeners,  and  two  nurseryman  or  seedsmen — to 
be  selected  by  the  Council.  No  exhibitor  can  win  more  than  one 
cup. 
Exhibition  of  Edible  Fungi. 
On  Tuesday,  September  15,  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
will  hold  an  Educational  Exhibition  of  Edible  Fungi  in  the  Drill 
Hall  of  the  London  ScottishVolunteers,  Buckingham  Gate,  Victoi'ia 
Street,  Westminster,  and  a  lecture  upon  them  will  be  given  by 
Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke,  M.A.,  V.M.H.,  &c.,  at  three  pr.m.  All  in¬ 
terested  in  extending  or  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  the  edible 
species  are  invited  to  send  collections.  Collections  should,  if 
sent,  be  delivered  at  the  Drill  Hall,  on  Monday  afternoon, 
September  14,  or  if  brought,  should  arrive  at  or  before  nine  a.m. 
on  the  Tuesday,  so  that  they  may  be  properly  grouped  and 
arranged  by  the  fungus  specialists.  Collections  should  consist  of 
any  fungi  supp)osed  to  be  edible.  Each  spiecimen  .should  be 
,  wraprpred  separately  in  thin  or  tissue  paper,  and  pracked  so  as  not 
to  get  loose  or  shaken  in  transit.  When  the  names  are  known 
by  the  senders  they  should  be  neatly  written  on  card  and 
enclosed,  but  if  not  known  they  will  be  named  by  the  experts. 
The  society  will  pay  the  carriage  of  all  collections,  and  will  award 
medals  according  to  merit.  The  best  collection  will  be  considered 
to  be  that  wliich  includes  the  largest  number  of  edible  species 
shown  in  the  best  condition.  When  the  senders  are  doubtful  as 
to  whether  any  of  the  specimens  are  edible  or  not,  the  matter 
will  be  determined  by  the  experts.  Unnamed  collections  will  also 
be  examined,  named,  and  sorted  into  edible  and  pjoisonous  by  the 
exp)erts  as  far  as  their  time  will  permit.  All  sprecimens  will  be 
destroyed  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  unless  removed  by  the 
senders.  Intimation  of  an  intention  to  exhibit  should,  if  pios- 
sible,  l>e  sent  a  few  days  before  to  the  Secretary,  R.H.S.  Office, 
117,  Victoria  Street,  London,  S.W. 
A  Wonderland  of  Trees. 
Nowhere  else  in  the  world  is  there  such  a  forest  of  trees  as 
that  wliich  spreads  itself  on  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Thousands  of 
miles  one  may  wander  and  never  escape  the  enclosing  silences  of 
this  wood.  Across  British  possessions,  through  endle.ss  reaches 
of  snow-capped  mountains,  and  onward  to  Alaska,  nothing  but 
trees  and  trees — Gedar,  Fir,  Hemlock,  Pine,  Sprruce.  Turn  to 
the  south.  For  a  thou.sand  miles  of  Sierra,  through  the  heart 
of  California,  where  grows  the  Sequoia,  the  monarch  among  trees, 
to  the  very  deserts  of  the  Mexican  border,  and  still  one  finds  this 
forest  covering  all  the  hills,  thick,  silent,  and  all  but  undisturbed. 
—(“The  Sun.”) 
Fruit  in  Kent. 
Although  a  number  of  dismal  reports  have  i-eached  us  as  to 
the  disastrous  fruit  croprs  in  Kent  this  year,  it  is  pleasing  to 
learn  (says  the  “  Kent  County  Standard  ”)  that  Apple.s  will  be  a 
trifle  better  than  was  predicted  six  weeks  ago.  The  home  supply 
of  fruit,  we  are  told  by  a  correspondent,  would  be  still  greater 
if  it  were  not  for  the  uncertainties  of  the  sea.sons.  If  these  could 
be  minimised  by  an  extension  of  cheapr,  artificial  protection  from 
the  weather  it  would  be  a  great  advantage  to  the  prroducer  and 
consumer.  Whether  the  expense  would  be  justified  is  the  point 
for  consideration.  There  has  already  been  an  immense  increase 
in  the  area  under  glass  for  the  Cultivation  of  Grapes,  Cucumbers, 
Tomatoes,  ttc.,  and  it  may  be  that  the  scarcity  of  British  fruit 
attemprted  to  be  grown  in  the  opren  this  year  will  result  in  such 
an  increased  demand  for  varieties  cultivated  under  cover  as  may 
tend  to  a  further  extension  of  the  system  and  its  application, 
in  a  cheaper  form,  to  other  crops. 
American  Apples. 
The  gi’eat  Aprpfle  district  in  America  lies  in  the  country 
bordering  the  great  Lake  Ontario — half  in  Canada,  half  in 
Western  New  York.  The  Applies  of  Michigan  and  Missouri  now 
find  a  market  in  the  cities  of  the  West  and  South.  Their  keep> 
ing  qualities  are  not  quite  equal  to  those  of  Canada  and  New 
York.  Last  year  the  months  of  May  and  June,  after  the  time 
of  blossoming,  were  exce.ssively  cold,  with  constant  and  copious 
rains,  succeeded  in  July  by  abnorihal  heat.  One  quarter  cf  the 
Apjprle  leaves  turned  yellow  and  fell  off,  and  then  there  developred 
a  new  or  very  rare  disease  called  “prink  i-ot.”  This  is  a  well- 
known  fungus,  but  heretofore  it  has  only  attacked  dead  wood, 
and  to  find  it  on  growing  Aprprles  was  an  unlooked-for  calamity. 
It  was  first  noticed  in  August,  in  the  form  of  a  white  or  pink 
mildew  around  scabs.  Later  it  produced  a  brown,  sunken, 
rotten  spot  with  a  bitter  taste.  The  spread  of  the  trouble  was 
very  rapid.  It  developred  in  fruit  pracked  for  shiprment,  and 
ruined  many  thou.sands  of  barrels,  which  had  to  be  thrown  away 
or  sent  to  the  jam  factories.  So  far  this  year  the  weather 
conditions  have  been  ideal.  The  trees  blossomed  freely,  though 
many  of  them  only  on  one  side.  During  the  whole  of  May  there 
was  practically  no  rain,  the  pollination  was  perfect,  and  the 
fruit  set  finely. 
Importation  of  Fruit. 
The  fruit  import  statistics  for  the  prast  month  contain  some 
striking  details.  The  Apple  receipts  for  June  are  larger  than 
they  have  been  for  a  correspronding  period  for  the  p)ast  three 
years,  says  the  “  Yorkshire  Herald.”  The  total  for  the  six  months 
ending  June  is  1.221,818  cwts,  valued  at  £808,989.  As  to 
Bananas,  despite  the  huge  comsumption  last  year,  they  are  in¬ 
creasing  in  poopmlarity  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Though  we  have 
a  full  cropj  of  Gooseberries  this  season,  yet  the  imports  of  this 
fruit  are  larger  than  they  have  ever  been  before.  The  imports 
equalled  14,862  cwts.  The  total  value  of  the  Gooseberry  imports 
up  To  date  is  £13,748.  This  is  most  .significant.  The  Red  and 
Black  Currant  imports  came  to  5,465  cwts,  for  June.  Last 
year  for  the  same  preriod  the  total  was  3,027.  There  has  been 
an  increase  in  the  Gi'ape  imports,  the  bulk  of  which  come  from 
the  Channel  Islands.  This  past  June  we  praid  £’61,418  for 
Lemons.  The  quantity  imported  was  135,874  cwts.  This  .shows 
an  increase  of  52,686  cwts  compared  with  the  receipts  for  June, 
1902.  The  total  value  of  the  six  months  supprly  ending  June 
was  £215,117.  The  Tomato  improrts  were  larger  this  past  month 
than  they  have  been  for  three  years  for  the  same  preriod. 
146,895  cwts  were  sent  us,  and  they  cost  us  £122,533.  In 
addition  to  the  fruits  named,  the  arrivals  of  Oranges,  Pears,  and 
Plums  were  of  a  very  satisfactory  nature. 
