December  24,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
577 
Annual  Assembly  of  the  Edinburgh  Botanical  Garden  Staff. 
The  members  of  the  staff  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  Edin- 
Ijurgli,  held  their  second  annual  assembly  in  the  Free  Gardeners’ 
Institute,  Picardy  Place,  on  Friday  evening  the  18th  inst.  Dancing 
commenced  shortly  after  9  p.m.,  when  about  thirty-two  couples  took 
the  floor.  During  the  evening  selections  on  the  piano  were  given  by 
Miss  Sinclair,  and  songs  by  the  Misses  Forbes  and  Stewart,  and  Mr. 
McArthur,  which  were  all  highly  appreciated  by  the  company.  The 
masters  of  ceremonies,  Messrs.  Wilson  and  Gow,  are  to  be 
highly  complimented  for  their  success  in  providing  such  an  enjoyable 
evening,  which  was  brought  to  a  close  in  the  usual  way  about  4'30  a.m. 
~N.  McK. 
Croydon  Horticultural  Mutual  Improvement  Society. 
The  last  of  the  series  of  lectures  arranged  for  this  year  was 
given  at  the  society’s  rooms,  Sunflower  Temperance  Hotel,  on 
Tuesday,  December  15,  when,  before  a  good  attendance  of 
members,  Mr.  J.  Gregory,  of  Croydon,  in  a  very  descriptive 
and  interesting  manner,  delivered  a  lecture  on  “  Some  Gardens 
I  have  Visited,”  illustrating  it  with  lantern  slides  prepared  by 
him  fi'om  photographs  taken  by  himself  from  time  to  time 
during  his  long  career.  Truly  many  of  them  reflected  great 
credit  to  his  endeavours  as  a  photographer  and  slide  maker. 
Mr.  Gregory  was  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  this  society,  and 
his  energies,  displayed  at  all  times  for  the  well-being  of  this 
excellent  institution,  are  widely  known. 
Covent  Garden  at  the  Christmas  Season. 
Covent  Garden  is  a  great  sight  just  now.  Christmas  fruit, 
flowers,  and  vegetables  are  present  in  a  variety  and  abundance 
truly  marvellous  in  these  grey  days,  when  not  a  bright  patch 
of  garden  is  to  be  found  on  this  side  of  the  English  Channel.  I 
])icked  my  way  to-day  between  scores  of  carts  and  waggons 
heaped  with  Holly,  Mistletoe,  and  undre.ssed  Christmas  trees, 
and  snatched  short  conversations  with  burly  men  wrestling  with 
barrels  of  Canadian  Apples,  boxes  of  Mexican  Oranges,  and 
hampers  of  nuts  and  fancy  fruits!  I  gathered  that  the  com¬ 
parative  failure  of  English-grown  fruit  had  been  more  than 
balanced  by  an  exceptionally  good  year  abroad,  and  that 
Apples  especially  will  be  found  to  be  plentiful  and  cheap. 
Mistletoe  made  a  bad  start,  but  is  now  coming  in  in  large 
quantities,  but  there  is  a  pronounced  shortage  in  Holly. 
Nuts,  moist  and  dried,  show  a  falling  off.  Dessert  fruit,  which 
is  all  grown  under  glass,  is,  on  the  other  hand,  excellent  in 
both  quality  and  quantity.  I  think  I  have  never  seen  finer 
Grapes  than  can  be  purchased  just  now  in  “the  Garden.”  — 
(From  “  Sheflaeld  Telegraph,”  December  18.) 
The  Proposed  Gardeners’  Association. 
A  largely  attended  meeting  of  gardeners  was  held  at  the 
rooms  of  the  Horticultural  Club,  London,  on  Tuesday, 
December  15,  to  discuss  the  proposal  which  many  of  our 
I'eaders  have,  been  debating  in  these  columns.  Mr.  Owen 
Thomas,  V.M.H.,  occupied  the  chair,  and  Alex.  Dean  acted  as 
.secretary.  Mr.  Dean  read  a  large  number  of  letters  all  in 
favour  of  the  proposition,  but  neither  these  nor  the  speakers 
at  the  meeting  added  anything  to  what  has  been  said  in  the 
“  J.  of  H.”  The  suggestion  to  make  an  examination  com¬ 
pulsory,  is  what  we  ourselves  have  said  ought  to  be  made 
law.  Surely  if  gardeners  were  sifted  into  classes  1,  2,  3,  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  attainments  and  proficiency,  it  would  be  a  .step 
ill  the  right  direction.  The  association  would  appoint 
adjudicators,  and  practical  work  would  be  part  of  the  test. 
Dr.  Brown  in  his  book  “  The  Forester  ”  set  out  an  examination 
.scheme  for  foresters  twenty  years  ago,  and  the  proposals  he 
made  are  being  gradually  brought  into  practice  to-day.  There 
oufiht  to  be  classes  or  grades  of  gardeners.  In  every  line  of 
life  professional  men  require  to  hold  certain  certificates  given 
by  recogni.sed  authoritative  corporate  bodies  ere  they  can 
obtain  any  appointment.  Are  gardeners  to  be  the  excep¬ 
tion?  Here  is  a  means  for  raising  the  general  status  of 
gardeners,  and  of  deterring  the  unambitious,  narrow-minded, 
and  thoughtle.ss  probationers.  The  meeting  ultimately  appointed 
a  small  committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  0.  Thomas  as  chairman, 
IMr.  A.  Dean  as  hon.  .secretary,  and  Messrs.  W.  H.  Divers,  J. 
Willard,  Jaques,  Norman,  Keif,  Dixon,  and  Allen  to  prepare  a 
scheme  as  a  basis  for  discussion,  and  bring  up  the  same  at  a 
February  meeting. 
The  Suburban  “  Geranium.” 
Certain  suburban  florists  are  by  customers  at  this  time  of 
the  year  commissioned  to  lift  Geraniums  from  beds,  pot  them, 
and  keep  them  through  the  winter.  The  average  floriculturist- 
does  nothing  of  the  kind.  He  takes  note  of  the  varieties  and 
their  numbers,  and  then  flings  the  old  plants  on  the  rubbish- 
heap.  Say  in  May  he  sends  to  the  customer  Geraniums  of  his 
own  raising  in  full  leaf  and  flower.  He  is  profusely  thanked 
for  his  supposed  services  by  the  delighted  client,  who  willingly 
pays  treble  value  for  the  fo.stering  care  that  has  been  taken 
with  the  plants  throughout  six  dreary  months! 
Value  of  a  Holl.y  Hedge  near  Newport,  Mon. 
The  value  of  a  Holl}'  hedge  is  no  trifling  matter,  as  was 
shown  in  the  action  of  Williams  v.  Lewis  heard  recently 
at  Newport.  Mr.  John  Williams,  a  Newport  provision  mer¬ 
chant,  of  30,  Chep.stow  Road,  had  purcha.sd  an  agricultural 
property  at  Pontymimster  for  about  £3,000,  alongside  a  portion 
of  which  there  was  a  Holly  hedge  15ft  to  lOft  high,  10ft  thick, 
and  forty  to  fifty  years  old.  It  was  cut  down  by  the  defendant, 
Mr.  Lewis,  a  farmer,  who  had  a  house  adjoining,  against  whom 
£35  damages  was  claimed.  The  Holly  was  useful  in  protecting 
the  site  (upon  which  there  was  a  proposal  to  build  a  sanatorium) 
from  the  north  and  the  north-east  winds.  The  defence  was 
that  the  tenant  of  a  cottage  and  garden  on  the  plaintiff’s 
property  was  aggrieved  by  the  state  of  the  hedge,  as  it  allowed 
sheep  to  get  on  her  garden,  and  .she  asked  Mr.  Lewis,  the 
farmer,  to  cut  it  down.  His  Honour  in  the  result  gave  judg¬ 
ment  for  £25  and  costs. 
Orchard  Planting  In  Gloucestershire. 
Recently,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Gloucestershire  County 
Council,  a  demonstration  on  the  planting  of  an  orchard  was 
given  in  a  field  adjoining  Red  Hill  House,  Lydney,  by  Mr.  W. 
Iggulden,  of  Frome,  Somersetshire,  The  arrangements  were 
made  by  Mr.  H.  A.  Howman,  Director  of  Agriculture  for  the 
county  authority  named.  The  planting  took  place  in'  an  acre 
of  red  loam  soil,  clo.se  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Bathur.st,  jun., 
and  which  forms  part  of  the  Bathurst  estate.  Some  200  trees 
(all  Apples)  were  set.  Of  these  fifty  were  half-standards,  and 
130  dwarfs.  One  way  the  lines  were  24ft  apart,  the  other  way 
12ft,  and  the  standards  and  dwarfs  were  planted  alternately, 
the  idea  being  that  twenty  years  hence,  when  the  dwarfs  shall 
have  passed  their  prime,  they  may  be  thinned  out,  leaving  the 
standards  in  possession  of  24ft  of  space  all  round.  Afterwards 
Mr.  Iggulden  gave  a  demonstration  on  the  pruning,  grafting, 
and  treatment  of  trees  generally,  in  an  orchard  adjoining 
Lydney  Park. 
Scholarships  in  Horticulture,  University  College,  Reading. 
Four  scholarships  to  young  gardeners  will  be  awai'ded  in  January, 
1904.  Each  seholarsliip  is  of  the  value  of  £45  (inclusive  of  main¬ 
tenance  and  instruction).  The  student  gardeners  holding  the  scholar¬ 
ships  will  be  required  to  attend,  from  .lanuary  to  September,  a  course 
of  instruction  in  the  Horticultural  Department  and  the  garden  of 
University  College,  Reading.  Candidates  must  be  of  not  more  than 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  and  must  have  worked  for  fojur  years  in 
public  or  private  gardens.  Applications  for  scholarships  must  be 
made  on  the  scholarship  form  to  be  obtained  from  the  Registrar. 
This  form  of  application,  accompanied  by  a  certificate  of  wor  k  and 
character,  must  be  sent  to  the  Registrar  before  January  10.  Candi¬ 
dates  will  be  required  to  pass  a  simple  examination  in  English, 
arithmetic,  and  the  elements  of  horticulture.  In  awarding  the 
scholarships,  previous  training  and  experience  will  be  taken  into 
account.  The  course  of  training  will  consist  in: — 1,  Practical  horti¬ 
culture  ;  2,  theory  of  horticulture;  3,  account  keeping;  4,  lectures 
and  pi-actical  w’Oi’k  in  botany  and  chemistry  in  relation  to  horticulture, 
insect  and  fungoid  pests,  bee-keeping.  The  scientific  instruction  will 
be  given  in  the  laboratories  of  the  college  ;  the  practical  instruction  in 
horticulture  in  the  college  garden.  The  garden,  74  acres  in  extent, 
is  well  provided  with  horticultural  buildings.  It  contains,  besides  a 
large  number  of  pits  and  frames,  thirteen  glass  houses  used  fer 
general  florist  and  market  work.  The  scholarship  h.clders  will  be 
prepared  for  the  R.H.S.  examination.  Certificates  of  proacier.ey  will 
be  awarded  on  the  work  done  during  the  course,  and  on  the  results 
of  an  examination  held  at  the  end  of  the  course.  Ap^lyto  tie 
Registrar,  University  College.  Reading. 
