EDITORIAL NOTICE. ADVERTISements should be sent to the PUBLISHER, 41, Wellington Street, Covent Garden, w.c. Newspapers.-Correspondents sending newspapers should be careful to mark the paragraphs they wish the Editor to see. APPOINTMENTS FOR NOVEMBER. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2— Soc. Franç. d'Hort. de Londres meet. German Gard. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 West of Eng. Chrys. Soc. Sh. at Plymouth (2 days). Nat. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 Nat. Chrys. Soc. Exh. at Crystal Palace (3 days). Cardiff Torquay Chrys. Sh. Putney, Wandsworth, and Dist. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 Leicester Chrys. Sh. (2 days). Windsor, Eton, and MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11 United Ben. and Prov. Soc. Com. meet. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12— Roy. Hort. Soc. Coms. meet. Exeter Fruit and Chrys. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13 Liverpool Hort. Assoc. Sh. (2 days). York Chrys. Sh. (3 days). South Shields and Northern Counties Chrys. Sh. (2 days). Bath Gardeners' Soc. Chrys. Sh. (2 days). Reading Chrys. Sh. Tonbridge Chrys. and Fruit Sh. (2 days). Brixton Chrys. Sh. Chester Paxton Chrys. and Fruit Sh. (2 days). Manchester Bot. Gardens Chrys. Sh. (3 days). Lancaster Chrys. Sh. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14 Edinburgh Chrys. Sh. (3 days). Barnsley Chrys. Sh. (2 days) (provisional). Weston-super-Mare Chrys. Sh. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15— Sheffield Chrys. Sh. (2 days). Bradford Chrys. Sh. (2 days). Bolton Chrys. Sh. (2 days). Derby Chrys. Sh. (2 days). Stockport and Dist. Chrys. Sh. (2 days). SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16Burton-on-Trent Chrys. Sh. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18— German Gard. Soc. meet. Nat. Chrys. Soc. Floral Com. meet. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19— Leeds Paxton Soc. Chrys. Sh. (2 days). WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20— Darlington Chrys. Sh. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22 Aberdeen Chrys. Sh. (2 days). Roy, Bot. Soc. meet. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 Morley and Dist. Paxton Soc. Chrys. Sh. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26 Royal Hort. Soc. Coms. meet. Brit. Gard. Assoc. Ex. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28Exhibition of Colonial Produce at Hort. Hall, Westminster (2 days). AVERAGE MEAN TEMPERATURE for the ensuing week, deduced from observations during the last Fifty Years at Greenwich-44.9°. ACTUAL TEMPERATURES: LONDON.-Wednesday, October 30 (6 P.M.): Max. 56°; Min. 51. Gardeners Chronicle Office, 41, Wellington Street, Covent Garden, London.-Thursday, October 31 (10 A.M.): Bar. 297; Temp., 53; Weather— Bright sunshine. PROVINCES.-Wednesday, October 30 (6 P.M.): Max. 51°, England S.E.; Min. 48', Ireland N.W. SALES FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. MONDAY Clearance Sale of Nursery Stock, at The Nursery, Red MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY Sale of Dutch Bulbs, &c., at Stevens' Rooms, King MONDAY TO FRIDAY Dutch Bulbs, at 67 & 68, Cheapside, E.C., by Protheroe & Morris, at 10.30. TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY Second Annual Sale of Nursery Stock, at Wooldale WEDNESDAY 2,250 Roses, at 1.33. Palms, Azaleas, Bays. &c., at 5, at 67 & 68, Cheapside, E.C., by Protheroe & Morris. FRIDAY 500 Imported Odontoglossum crispum, Importations of Coelogynes and Cypripediums, and other Orchids, at 67 & 68, Cheapside, E.C., by Protheroe & Morris, at 12.45. The season is approaching when Trenching. the greater part of the kitchen garden will be bare of crops, and one of the chief items of the daily work will consist in preparing the soil for use in the following season by trenching or digging. On the present occasion our remarks refer exclusively to trenching. There are two ways in which this may be done, the top soil may be left on top or a considerable portion of it may be buried and some of the subsoil brought up to the surface. The former process is often spoken of as double digging or bastard-trenching, and the latter simply as trenching; the two methods differ considerably in their effects and one may be very successful where the other would be of no use or might even be injurious. A knowledge of the effects produced on the physical and chemical properties of the soil and on the bacteria and other organisms present is necessary before one can decide which method to adopt. Of all the properties of soil, its power of holding water is fast becoming the most important to the gardener, and for obvious very reasons. In choosing a site for a modern house it is considered essential that the soil should be dry and porous, so as to allow free drainage, that the elevation should be sufficiently high, and that the surrounding country should be as wild and open as possible. These conditions are all closely connected; they can be found on high-lying chalk or sand formations, and if we examine the country for twenty miles round London we shall find that such formations are usually taken up by large houses, while the heavier soils and clay, particularly if low lying, are occupied by small villas or cottages. The relative value of high, dry situations and of low, moist ones have become reversed since the old farming days, for when other land was being enclosed and taken into cultivation, the light high-lying soils were often left alone, owing to their dryness. Indeed, it is not too much to say that the existence of wild, open country in counties like Kent and Surrey, which have always been highly farmed, is due to an unsuitable water supply. It is this kind of soil, rejected by the farmer even when cultivation was most profitable, which has now to be taken in hand by the gardener. The amount of water needed for plant growth has been variously estimated, but we shall probably not be far wrong in supposing that the plants growing on each rod of ground require, during the summer months, about six tons of water, equivalent to ΙΟ inches of rain. The average rainfall at Rothamsted during the months of May, June, July, and August is 10 inches, but so much of this would run through a light sand or chalk soil that but little is left for the plants; these are, therefore, dependent for their water supply on rain which has fallen during the preceding months. February, March, and April usually constitute the driest period of the year; the chief water supply comes from the autumn and winter rains. One of the problems the gardener has to solve is to keep this in the soil until the summer. Several factors influence the amount of water retained by the soil, but two of the most important are the arrangement of the particles and the amount of organic matter present. Just as a sponge holds less water when squeezed than when in its ordinary loose state, so a compact soil holds less water than a looser one. Ground that has been dug one spit deep is better able to soak up and keep rain water than untouched ground, and the difference is increased when the land is trenched. The writer found in May, that the trenched ground in his garden contained 19 per cent. of water, while the adjoining undug part only contained 16 per cent., a difference of 3 per cent., equal to 4cwt. per rod, in favour of trenching. This was on a good loam; a light sand might not have shown so great a difference. The influence of organic matter is equally great, and one of the reasons why well rotted dung, leafmould, and similar substances are so highly valued as manure is that they enable the soil to hold up water which would otherwise run away and be lost. In the case of a light soil, the amount of organic matter present is probably the chief factor regulating the amount of water it can hold. At short time ago the writer had occasion to examine a very light, sandy soil from a high-lying Surrey garden, which always suffers from drought in the summer. It was found that the top spit, which had been well dunged and contained a fair amount of organic mat ter, was able to hold 53. per cent. of water, while the lower spit, which, of course, contained much less organic matter, could hold only 28 per cent., even under the most favourable circumstances such as would rarely occur in practice. Part of the ground had been trenched, and dung worked in to the bottom spit; here the subsoil had a greatly increased power of holding water, and plants did much better. The subsoil had been made to more nearly resemble the surface soil. The briefest way to summarise all the effects of trenching would be to say that it makes the lower soil in every respect more like the top soil. The difference in composition between the two is often very marked on untrenched ground; the surface soil contains more nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid in forms suitable for the plant, more organic matter to hold water, and less sticky, unkindly, often harmful, clayey matter than does the soil lying below. The difference is partly due to the fact that many of the manures used remain near to the surface, and partly to the fact that air circulates more freely in the top six or seven inches than in the more compact soil lower down. Where the air moves, earthworms can easily get about and exert the beneficial action known to all observant gardeners, and fully set forth in a book all gardeners should read: Charles Darwin's Formation of Vegetable Mould. Air is also needed for the myriads of living things, too small to be seen except by aid of a very powerful microscope, that inhabit the soil and contribute largely to its fertility. In its absence they can do nothing, but are, instead, replaced by organisms that do not improve the soil for plants, but tend to destroy, rather than make, plant-food. Air also destroys many substances harmful to plants. All these actions go on in the surface soil to an enormously greater extent than in the subsoil, and this partly accounts for the marked difference in productiveness. The writer re cently grew one lot of mustard in pots filled with surface soil, and another lot in pots filled A FINE SPECIMEN OF CATTLEYA WARSCEWICZII, FROM MAJOR HOLFORD'S COLLECTION, WESTONBIRT, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. Photograph by E. T. Lamb. with subsoil, and obtained nine times more crop in the former than in the latter case. As soon, however, as the ground is trenched, air can get into the bottom spit; before long, earthworms and useful bacteria will follow, and bring about there the same beneficial changes they have exerted in the surface soil, thus reducing the difference between the two. case. It must be carefully remembered that trenching does not improve the top spit. Many experiments on this subject have been tried, but practically all with the same result. It has sometimes been thought that the subsoil is a kind of virgin soil, rich in plant food and very beneficial if brought up to the surface. This, however, is not usually the A very famous experiment was made many years ago by the Rev. S. Smith, vicar of Lois Weedon. Finding that it no longer paid to use much dung for wheat, he hit on the idea of using the subsoil for manure, and, therefore, trenched his ground so as to bring much of the subsoil to the top. Though the plan succeeded at Lois Weedon, Lawes and Gilbert found that it failed at Rothamsted, and that it certainly added no plant food to the surface soil. The improvement is in the bottom, not in the top spit, and this is the important fact to bear in mind in deciding whether to trench or to bastard-trench. Trenching is often found better than bastard-trenching on light, sandy soils, where the lower depth is almost pure sand. No harm need be feared from bringing up this bottom spit, because it is quite harmless to the plant; it can be enriched with manure, and will then make a useful medium for the roots of plants. On the contrary, much good may result from burying the top spit. It has a better power of holding water, and will keep the soil moister than before. It is also richer, and when the plant roots get town into it, they grow well and produce what all who cultivate sandy gardens should aim at a luxuriant root-development several inches below the surface, out of reach of scorching or drought. If, however, the bottem spit contains a sticky, unkindly clay, it must not be brought up but carefully kept below; recourse must be had to bastardtrenching and not to real trenching. An excellent illustration is afforded by the red, flinty clay capping the chalk round London. Gardens on this formation have been trenched, the top soil being buried and the bottom spit brought up. The results are very disastrous. The lower soil is quite unsuited for plant growth; young plants grow badly from the beginning, and either die or survive as poor, stunted specimens. But where the bottom spit is carefully kept below and enriched with manure, excellent results are obtained. Of course, the top soil must be manured and cultivated just as usual, or in course of time the root system is apt to develop too much in the subsoil and too little on the surface. To sum up, the results of trenching are (1) to increase the amount of water the soil can hold in reserve for the summer, (2) to allow n.cre air to enter and exert its beneficial effects on the subsoil, (3) to cause the beneficial action of earthworms, air-loving bacteria, and other organisms to go on more readily in the subsoil, (4) to increase the root range of the plant and so bring about a larger root development and a greater amount of growth. In deciding whether to trench or bastard-trench, the chief point to bear in mind is that the top spit is not benefited and may be injured by the process. If sticky, unkindly clay is brought up, it is better to bastard-trench, but if the subsoil is harmless sand proper trenching may give better results. OUR SUPPLEMENTARY ILLUSTRATION represents the fine specimen of Cattleya Warscewiczii, which was included in the remarkable group of Orchids for which Major G. L. HOLFORD, C.V.O., C.I.E. (gr. Mr. H. G. Alexander), was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal HortiThe cultural Society on July 23 this year. specimen, which was grown from an ordinary example imported from Medellin, bore 26 flowers and buds, and was probably the grandest example of the species ever seen during the many The flowers years it has been in cultivation. were silver-white tinged with rose, the labellum being ruby-crimson with yellow lines from the base, and with an attractively crimped pale lilac margin. LINNEAN SOCIETY.-An ordinary meeting of the Fellows will be held on Thursday, November 7, at 8 p.m., when the following papers will be read:-1, the Rev. GEORGE HENSLOW, M.A., F.L.S., "The Origin of the Di-trimerous Whorls among Flowers of Dicotyledons"; 2, Mr. ALBERT D. MICHAEL, F.L.S., " Unrecorded Acari from New Zealand"; 3, Mr. R. SHELFORD, M.A., F.L.S., on Ænigmatistes africanus, a new genus and species of Diptera. Exhibitions: 1, Mr. ALEXANDER STEVENSON, a copy of Hudson's Flora Anglica, 1778, with numerous annotations by the Rev. WILLIAM KIRBY, F.L.S.; 2, Dr. A. B. RENDLE, M.A., F.L.S., abnormal stem of Eucalyptus salmonophloia, F. Muell., from West Australia. THE NATIONAL DAHLIA SOCIETY.-Mr. H. H. THOMAS has accepted the honorary secretaryship of this society. NATIONAL FRUIT GROWERS' FEDERATION.A meeting of the council will be held on Monday, November 4, at 3 p.m., at the Royal Horticultural Hall, Vincent Square, S. W. The recommendations of the sub-committee on the election of a secretary and alterations of the rules will be considered, and a date will be fixed for a special general meeting. SOUTH-EASTERN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. -We are informed that a meeting of the gov ernors (Lord ASHCOMBE presiding) was held at the Caxton House on Monday. The Principal (Mr. M. J. R. DUNSTAN) reported the entry of 42 new students for the session 1907-8, a total number of 120 students in residence, and a waiting list of students unable to join on account of all available accommodation being filled up. The following appointments were made : — Head of the chemical department, W. GOODWIN, P.Sc., Ph.D.; head of agricultural department, B. N. WALE, B.Sc.; assistant agricultural lecturers, R. N. DOWLING, P.A.S.I., J. MACINTOSH, N.D.A.; head of estate management depart. ment, A. H. J. HAINES, P.A.S.I.; assistant lecturer in engineering, A. F. HOOD-DANIEL, P.A.S.I. A new department of soil bacteriology is being established under the charge of Mr. C. T. GIMINGHAM. The conference of hopgrowers will be held on November 27, under the chairmanship of Mr. E. C. LISTER-KAY, of Godmersham Park, when papers on Fertilisa tion of Hops, Eelworms, and Hop drying will be communicated. MR. JOHN WRIGHT, V.M.H.-Many of our readers will sympathise with Mr. JOHN Wright in the bereavement he has sustained in the death of his wife, which occurred on Tuesday last at Rosehill Road, Wandsworth. Mr. WRIGHT, who will be remembered best as a former editor of the Journal of Horticulture, is still a lecturer on gardening for the Surrey County Council. THE HALF-HOLIDAY.-We announced in a recent issue that Messrs. J. E. HILL & Son, of Lower Edmonton, had given their employés the privilege of leaving work at 1 p.m. instead of 5 on Saturdays. A correspondent now writes us to the effect that 21 other firms have granted their employés the same boon: seven at Enfield Wash, ten at Flamstead End, Cheshunt, and four at Lower Edmonton. This valuable concession promises to become general. DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS AND PESTS ACT, 1907.-At a meeting of the council of the National Federation of Fruit and Potato Trades Associations held on the 29th ult., the following resolu tion was adopted :-"That this Council views with serious apprehension the position of growers and market-gardeners under the Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1907, whereby the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries is authorised to order the destruction of agricultural or horti. cultual crops, trees, or bushes without the power to give or direct compensation of any kind, and while otherwise welcoming the powers thus vested in the Board to prevent the spread of disease dangerous to vegetable life, this Council protests against the inequitable position thus created, and desires to urge that the right to compensation (payable partly out of Parlia mentary funds and partly out of local funds) should be recognised without delay in the interests not only of horticulturists but also of those who might otherwise contemplate availing themselves of the provisions of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1907." Further resolved: "That a copy of the above resolution be forwarded forthwith to the President of the Board of Agriculture and to the Prime Minister." COLD STORAGE OF SMALL FRUITS.-The U.S. Department of Agriculture has just issued an excellent and instructive bulletin (Bureau of Plant Industry, Bull. 108) dealing with the question of the cold storage of small fruits. In the States, as in Canada, cold storage is largely used in connection with the larger fruits, but it is less practised in the case of the small ones, since most of them will not remain in marketable condition for very long when kept in the cold chamber. But the results so far obtained show that further experiments are worth making, for by holding up the fruit, even if only for a week or two, during a glut, a considerable advance in price may often be obtained. Experiments made in England some eight or nine years ago under the auspices of the Kent County Council yielded encouraging results, Cherries remaining sound for a month, and Red Currants. for as long as six weeks. The whole problem of fruit storage can hardly have been said to have received the attention which, from its economic importance, it assuredly deserves. The changes that go on during the process of ripening are by no means understood as yet, and indeed our knowledge on the subject hardly goes beyond the elementary fact that the changes in question can be slowed down, or otherwise interfered with, by lowering the temperature. The matter is one that calls for co-operation on the part of the plant physiologist and the chemist, for as we come to understand the nature of the processes involved we at least stand a chance of getting them under intelligent control. THE RECENT FRUIT SHOW.-In the report of this show, published as a supplement last week, we omitted to record the excellent display of fruits staged by the KING'S ACRE NURSERY COMPANY, in the class for a collection of hardy fruits, occupying an area measuring 16 feet by 6 feet. This exhibit was awarded the 1st prize, being a Silver-Gilt Banksian Medal. Visitors to the show will doubtless remember the beautiful colour and the general high quality of the Apples and other fruits contained in this Herefordshire exhibit. "THE GARDENER."-Mr. W. P. WRIGHT, who has edited this weekly journal since its establishment, is about to retire, and Mr. H. H. THOMAS has been appointed to succeed him. Mr. THOMAS, who is a son of Mr. OWEN THOMAS, V.M.H., has had good experience in the Royal Gardens. Windsor; Royal Gardens, Kew; Towards the close of the evening, Mr. JACKSON, on behalf of the park keepers and other employees, presented Mr. MARLOW with a gold albert as a token of esteem. Mr. MARLOW, in acknowledging the gift, said any results that had been in beautifying Greenwich Park during his term of office had not been attained by his own personal endeavours alone, but through the loyalty and enthusiasm of his colleagues, and no superintendent could have had a more willing staff. A DICTIONARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS.- Mr. A. M. C. JONGKINDT CONINCK has published a second edition of his dictionary of the principal terms employed in botany and horticulture. The exact title of the book is Dictionnaire LatinGrec-Francais-Anglais-Allemand-Hollandais principaux termes employés en Botanique et en Horticulture. It is an alphabetical index of Latin and Greek terms, with the synonyms of des the Surrey Education Committee to all whose front gardens were awarded 35 mar's. The borough is, for the purposes of the competition, divided into halves, the classes in each part being for large gardens, small gardens, and for window boxes. In all, 32 prizes were awarded. Competitors are restricted to those occupying houses rated at £20 and under, thus in all cases limiting competition to manual workers. The judging took place on August 13 last, the awards being made by the county horticultural instructors, Messrs. J. WRIGHT, V.M.H., A. DEAN, V.M.H., and the borough gardener, Mr. J. HALLETT. Many of the gardens, though relatively small, being practically street forecourts, were wonderfully furnished, every little space or contrivance possible being utilised to furnish plants and to add to the beauty of the gardens. In some cases where the front garden was very narrow, the Messrs. JAS. VEITCH & SONS, Chelsea; M. ROTHSCHILD's garden, near Paris, &c. For the past seven years he has assisted Mr. E. T. COOK in editing The Garden. He is the author of two books, The Apple and Town Gardening, the latter work having been published very recently. We wish the new editor every success. PRESENTATION TO MR. W. J. MARLOW.-On Friday evening Mr. and Mrs. HENDRY, the caterers at the refreshment pavilion in Greenwich Park, entertained the park keepers and other employees with their wives to tea. The occasion gave opportunity to bid farewell to Mr. W. J. MARLOW, the superintendent of the park, who, as announced in the Gardeners' Chronicle a few weeks since, has been appointed to the management of Hampton Court Gardens. GARDEN, BELGIUM. each, in four modern languages, and is extremely useful for reference when the exact equivalent of some foreign word is needed. Several errors that appeared in the first edition have been corrected, and we may recommend the work as being especially suitable for nurserymen and others having commercial relations with foreign countries. It is published by the author at Bussum, Holland, price 4 francs. FRONT FLOWER GARDENS.-The annual distribution of prizes to competitors in connection with the usual front flower gardens competition for the Borough of Kingston-on-Thames took place on Saturday evening last in the hall of the Public Library. In addition to these, there were also presented certificates to new competitors and merit cards to old ones, granted by front of the house was covered with climbers, window boxes, plants on brackets or in baskets. One front garden, securing 56 marks, came higher than any larger cottage flower garden in the county. The prizes are chiefly furnished by contributions from the Mayor and Corporation. "To beautify our town" was the motto of the originator of the competition, and that idea has been firmly adhered to. The annual cost is about £20. The secretary is Councillor T. LYNE, J.P., of Kingston. The present year's competition is the eighth of the series. Publications Received.-The Garden that 1 Love (second series), by Alfred Austin --Amateur Sport Illustrated, a new weekly journal devoted to sport and published at the price of threepence |