.  August  27,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
iOi 
Gardening  Appointment. 
Mr.  James  Foster,  for  the  last  four  years  head  gardener  to 
F.  Lassetter,  E.sq.,  Heverswood,  Brasted,  Kent,  has  been  ap¬ 
pointed  in  a  like  capacity  to  Mrs.  Insole,  Ely  Court,  Llandaff, 
Glamorganshire. 
Croydon  Horticultural  Society. 
The  members  of  this  society  were  well  entertained  at  their 
rooms,  the  “Sunflower”  Temperance  Hotel,  George  Street,  on 
the  18th  inst. ,  with  a  highly  interesting  and  instructive  paper  on 
“  Orchard  and  bush  fruit  pests,  and  how  to  combat  with  them.” 
The  lecturer  was  Mr.  A.  Maslen,  Bramley  Hill  House  Gardens, 
and  a  very  full  report  of  his  essay  has  been  published  in  a  Croy¬ 
don  newspaper. 
TavistccK  Flower  Show,  August  12th. 
May  I  say  a  word  for,  and  of,  this  very  old  religious  settle¬ 
ment,  as  well  as  of  the  present  day  flowers  and  fruits  which  it 
exhibits  ?  The  line  of  nearly  all  the  ancient  inscribed  stones  of 
Devon  passes  through  Tavistock  as  a  kind  of  centre.  The 
Ogham  (ancient  Irish  writing)  which  they  hear  is  proof  of  eccle¬ 
siastical  and  Irish  intercourse.  They  probably  indicate,  there¬ 
fore,  a  period  of  active  mission  work  on  the  part  of  the  Irish 
Church  about  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  and  first  half  of  the 
sixth  centuries.  One  stone  contained  the  letter  “  b  ”  wanted  to 
complete  Dr.  Furguson’s  South  British  Ogham  alphabet ;  while 
another,  found  across  a  brook,  near  Fardel,  Cornwood,  is  now 
in  the  British  Museum.  This  latter  was  the  first  stone  found  in 
England  with  an  Ogham  (Irish)  inscription. — .X. 
The  Gardeners’  Dinner  and  Reception. 
Kindly  permit  me  to  use  your  valuable  columns  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  reminding  all  those  of  our  fraternity  of  either  sex,  who 
may  purpose  attending  the  Gardeners’  Dinner  at  the  Holborn 
Bestaurant,  on  September  29th,  that  the  event  will  soon  be  here, 
and  it  will  be  well  to  arm  themselves  early  with  dinner  tickets, 
lest,  too  late,  they  find  the  supply  is  exhausted.  So  many  gar¬ 
deners  and  others  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom  will  be  present 
that  the  gathering  will  certainly  have  a  distinctly  unique  charac¬ 
ter.  Amongst  others  eminent  in  horticulture  who  purpose  being 
present  is  that  venerated  ro.sarian,  Dean  Hole,  who  will  cheer¬ 
fully  support  the  esteemed  Chairman,  Leopold  de  Rothschild, 
E.sq.,  and  warmly  greet  all  brother  gardeners.  It  will  be  a 
gathering  that  many  may  never  see  repeated.  Applications  of 
any  nature  should  come  direct  to  mo,  at  62,  Richmond  Road, 
Kingston-on-Thames. — Alex.  Dean. 
Royal  Horticultural  Societ.y. 
The  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  hold  a  special  exhibition 
of  Dahlias  on  Sept.  1  and  2,  in  conjunction  with  the  National 
Dahlia  Society,  in  the  Drill  Hall,  Buckingham  Gate,  We.stmin- 
ster.  At  this  meeting  (unless  by  special  arrangement  and  per¬ 
mission)  only  Dahlias  can  be  shown  with  the  exception  of  flowers, 
fruits,  &c.,  for  certificate.  All  Dahlias,  including  those  shown 
for  certificate,  mu.st  be  left  on  exhibition  until  6  p.m.  on  the 
second  day.  A  lecture  on  “Judging  Cactus  Dahlias”  will  be 
given  on  Sept.  1,  by  Mr.  C.  G.  Wyatt,  at  three  o’clock. — At  a 
general  meeting  of  the  Societj%  held  on  Tuesday,  Augirst  18, 
twenty-five  new  Fellows  were  elected,  among  them  being  the 
Right  Hon.  Sir  Francis  H.  Jeune,  G.C.B.,  Col.  T.  H.  Skinner, 
and  Dr.  A.  Henry,  making  a  total  of  1,095  elected  since  the 
beginning  of  the  present  year.  Intending  exhibitors  at  the 
Fruit  and  Vegetable  Show,  to  be  held  at  Chiswick  on  September 
29,  30,  and  October  1,  can  obtain  an  official  entry  form,  together 
with  schedule  of  prizes,  on  application  to  the  Secretaiy,  R.H.S., 
117,  Victoria  Street,  London,  S.W.  Entries  for  this  show  close 
on  September  22.  There  will  be  a  special  tent  for  horticultural 
sundries.  A  cold  luncheon  will  be  provided  on  September  29,  at 
Avhich  the  Council,  Judges,  and  the  Committees  will  be  present, 
and  for  which  all  interested  in  the  show  can  obtain  tickets  (3s., 
including  wine  or  beer)  on  application  to  the  Secretai’y,  117, 
Victoria  Street,  S.W.,  before  the  27th  day  of  September. 
Mr.  Wm.  Tricker,  New  Jersey. 
Mr.  William  Tricker,  in  charge  of  the  aciuatic  garden  depart¬ 
ment  of  H.  .\.  Dreer  and  Co.,  Riverton,  New  Jersey,  I'.S.A.,  and 
author  of  the  “Water  Garden,”  has  been  appointed  superinten¬ 
dent  of  the  new  estate  of  W'.  K.  Vanderbilt,  jun.,  at  Great  Neck, 
L.I.  The  estate  runs  to  500  acres,  and  Mr.  Tricker  has  been 
entru.sted  with  the  laying  out  and  development  of  the  same. 
Much  planting. on  the  estate  is  in  contemplation. 
Corrected  Awards  from  Shrewsbury. 
“  I  beg  to  draw  your  attention  to  page  177,  last  week’s  issue, 
under  heading  of  awards.  It  was  a  small  gold  medal  I  received, 
not  a  silver  one. — Yours  respectfully,  Amos  Perry.” 
“In  your  excellent  report  of  Shrew.sbury  Show,  you  have  one 
error  which  I  shall  feel  greatl,y  obliged  if  you  will  correct,  viz., 
decorative  class  33,  for  a  harp,  I  was  first. — Yours,  Ac., 
WAi.  Treseder,  Cardiff.” 
Brambles  Plentiful. 
Housewives  will  be  delighted  to  know  that  in  the  Blackberry 
districts  there  are  certain  signs  that  the  coming  crops  will  he 
immense.  The  berries  are  alnio.st  as  thick  as  the  leaves  on  the 
bu.shes.  The  common  Blackberry  flourishes  in  all  the  three  king¬ 
doms,  and  is  abundant  everywhere.  There  is  no  doubt  that  ton.s 
of  these  fruit.s  will  be  marketed  in  pound  punnets  and  gallon 
cross-handled  baskets,  for  of  recent  years  they  have  been  retailed 
side  by  side  v'itli  gla.sshouse  Grapes  from  the  Channel  Islands. 
It  will  not  be  surprising  to  find  them  making  as  much  as  9d.  a 
pound.  In  the  preserves  of  Lord  Cecil  at  Shipbourne,  in  Kent, 
are  to  be  found  the  largest  and  most  delicious  Blackberries  in 
England. 
Testimonial  to  Mr.  Thomas  Humphreys. 
Quite  recently  we  notified  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Humphreys  to  the  curatorship  of  the  Birmingham  Botanical 
Gardens.  During  the  past  ten  and  a  half  years  he  has  been 
assistant  superintendent  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s 
Gardens  at  Chiswick,  and  secretary  of  the  Floral  Committee. 
Mr.  Humphreys  is  about  to  assume  his  new  duties  at  Birmingham 
at  the  beginning  of  October.  In  view  of  these  facts  the  member’s 
of  the  several  committees  with  which  he  has  been  so  long  con¬ 
nected  thought  it  a  convenient  time  to  recognise  his  valuable 
and  faithful  services  with  some  testimonial.  Accordingly,  with 
this  object  in  view  a  committee  has  been  appointed  to  receive 
any  subscriptions  which  those  whose  duties  have  led  them  in  con¬ 
tact  with  Mr.  Humphreys  may  feel  disposed  to  give.  The  chair¬ 
man  of  this  committee  is  Mr.  H.  B.  May,  Dyson’s  Lane  Nurseries, 
Upper  Edmonton,  and  the  secretary  Mr.  Richard  Dean,  V.M.H., 
Ranelagh  Road,  Ealing,  W. 
The  New  Garden. 
The  “  Pilot  ”  observes  that  “  The  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
is  to  be  congratulated  on  becoming  the  possessor  of  what  is  pro¬ 
bably  the  finest  hardy  plant  garden  in  England.  It  was  bought 
many  years  ago  by  the  late  Mr.  G.  F.  Wilson,  who  saw  in  it  that 
variety  of  soils  and  combination  of  exposure  and  shelter  which 
in  the  end  enabled  him  to  grow  large  numbers  of  plants,  which 
gardeners  had  till  then  thought  could  onlj'  be  grown  under  glass. 
Whether  Mr.  Wilson  was  ever  beaten  by  a  plant  we  do  not  know, 
but  the  instances  must  certainly  have  been  few.  What  the 
visitor  commonly  heard  from  the  host  was  :  ‘  They  can’t  grow  that 
in  such  and  such  a  garden— here,  you  .see,  it  is  a  weed”  ;  and  the 
statement  was  not  an  exaggeration.  Partly  from  the  oppor¬ 
tunities  which  the  Wisley  garden  afforded  of  trying  every  strange 
plant  in  many  different  situations  and  surroundings,  partly  from 
the  faculty  seemingly  possessed  by  great  gardeners  of  making 
plants  grow  by  merely  looking  at  them,  Mr.  Wilson  did  score  an 
extraordinary  number  of  successes.  It  would  have  been  a  disaster 
to  horticulture  if  this  matchless  collection  had  been  scattered, 
and  the  calamity  has  happily  been  averted  by  the  munificence  of 
Sir  Thomas  Hanhury,  himself  the  owner  of  one  of  the  most 
famous  gardens  in  the  world.  He  has  bought  Oakwood  from  Mr. 
Wilson’s  repi’esentatives,  and  presented  it  to  the  Royal  Horticul¬ 
tural  Society.  The  Society  was  greatly  in  want  of  a  better  garden 
than  Chiswick,  and  to  some  of  its  Fellows  it  seemed  a  mistake 
to  give  the  provision  of  a  new  hall  the  preference.  Now,  how¬ 
ever,  it  will  have  both,  and,  thus  equipped,  will  we  sincerely 
hope,  start  upon  a  new  career  of  gardening  usefulness.” 
