1869.] CONCERNING SOME GOOD POTATOES. 521 



candidates might be set to dig a small plot of ground, to prune a fruit- 

 tree, or plant a few feet of box edging, &c. A practical gardener would 

 see in a moment who were, and who were not, acquainted with practice 

 as well as theory. Suppose three hours be allowed for practical opera- 

 tions, and three hours for theory (as in the present examinations), for 

 each subject, the examinations would occupy more time, and cause a 

 little extra trouble, but would not the result be better, and a certifi- 

 cate more valuable than one obtained under the present system? 

 Gardeners as a rule laugh at the certificate already obtained by aspir- 

 ing candidates. Would, or rather could, they do so if the certificates 

 had such names as D. T. Fish, D. & W. Thomson, W. Earley, E. Sage, 

 J. Wills, or Barnes (Bicton), appended to them, and accompanied by a 

 statement that they were awarded for practical skill as well as theore- 

 tical talent ? W^ho would have presumption sufficient to gainsay the 

 combined opinions of such a committee as that above named, or one 

 equal to it 1 That these competitions are not at present popular, 

 may be inferred from the fact, that but few — very few, comparatively 

 speaking — care to attend them. If examinations for gardeners are to 

 be held, let them be held so that all concerned may reap at least some 

 small amount of benefit from them. If seed is sown, we expect the 

 produce, and that before many days, in these pushing times. By way 

 of conclusion, I wish it to be understood that I speak as a candidate, 

 and one, moreover, who has been successful in obtaining both certifi- 

 cates and prizes at these competitions, both as regards those held by 

 the Society of Arts and the Royal Horticultural Society. 



Feed. W. Burbidge. 



CONCERNIISrG SOME GOOD POTATOES. 



At the meeting of the Fruit Committee of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, held at South Kensington on the 21st September last, a 

 special first-class certificate was awarded to Mr Robert Fenn, the 

 Rectory, Woodstock, Oxon, for a collection of twelve sorts of Pota- 

 toes, staged by him as the best in his latest experience of Potatoes. 

 The samples were faultless, the tubers of good size, clean and smooth, 

 and I thought it would be well to obtain from Mr Fenn full descriptive 

 notes of these fine varieties for the guidance of Potato cultivators. 

 In a communication accompanying these descriptive notes, he says : 

 " I consider the varieties of Potatoes I exhibited at South Kensington 

 as being the best twelve sorts for household and market purposes, and 



