IRISH GARDENING 



III tlio Overseas Section there were fourteen 

 classes, and the colour, imlhod of packing, etc.. 

 of this fruit was wonderful. The competition in 

 this section was not as kcou as in that for home- 

 grown apples, yet the exliiiiit was a magnificent 

 sight; not a damaged oi- diseased apple could be 

 seen in the whole competition, and, with the ex- 

 ception of those bo.xes wliii h had been disturbed 

 for the purposes of judgin •. the boxes appeared 

 as if they had only been ir, cntly packed, yet the 

 majority of them "had travelled over .'J.OOD nnles. 



In the British Empire Section home-growers 

 competed against Canadian growers, with twenty 

 boxes (if any dessert vainty and twenty boxes 

 of any culinary variety. The first prize in the 

 former class was won by a British grower, also 

 the first and second prizes in the latter class; the 

 other prizes going to Canailian-grown fruit. To 

 the writer it appeared that the deciding factor 

 with the judges in the dessert class was the points 

 awarded for flavour. 



A section was also devoted to Cider Apples, 

 near which was a pulping- machine and cider 

 ])ress at work each day the exhibition w-as open. 

 This section was under the supervision of the 

 National Cider Institute. Lung Ashton, Bristol. 



In tlie Amateur Section tlie exhibit followed on 

 much the same lines as is generally adopted in 

 this country, except that, instead of being in 

 single dishes, each entry was for three plates, 

 with five or six apples <in each plate, according 

 to variety. In some of lliese classes the com- 

 petition "was extremely keen; perhaps a better 

 idea of this can be formed when it is stated that 

 tlie nunilier of entries corjsiderably exceeded one 

 hundred in at least a coujile of classes of the most 

 popular varieties. 



The trade stands were numerous at the show; 

 in fact, it is. difficult to remember what was really 

 seen, for all sections were fully represented, such 

 as manufacturers of sprays, sprayers, manures, 

 cultivating appliances, tools, marketing packages, 

 also nurserymen, wholesale and retail fruit mer- 

 chants, etc. These stands were very tastefully, 

 and many of them artistically, arranged, especi- 

 ally that of Messrs. F. J. Poupart, Covent 

 Ga"rden. Several of the large nurserymen had 

 very nice collections of named varieties of apples, 

 such as Messrs. George Bunyard, Maidstone; 

 Laxton Bros., Bedford; AVm. Seabrook & Son. 

 Chelmsford; King's Acre Nursery, Hereford, etc. 

 Each nursery stand had on it one or more of the 

 newer varieties of apples, which have not yet 

 liecome widely known, or tested, but perhaps the 

 most promising of these, from the colour point 

 of view, is " John Standish." which is a medium- 

 sized apple, not of first-class flavour, though ap- 

 parentlv a late keeper and a free bearer. On the 

 general" trade stands the most interesting exhibit 

 that was seen was a new press for pressing down 

 the lid on apples wdien packed in standard boxes, 

 so as to have a " swell." This appliance is made 

 by Messrs. Drake & Fletcher, Ltd., Maidstone. 

 Kent, and is called " The Nailer " Boxpress. Two 

 of these were on view, one on the firm's stand, 

 and the other was used at the demonstrations 

 given on apple-packing by the officers of the 

 Ministry of Agriculture. 



In addition to the exhibits entered for com- 

 petition from the Dominion of Canada, each of 

 the apple-growing provinces had an exhibit show- 

 ino- the chief varieties grown for market, packed 

 in" boxes as they are exported, and also some 

 dishes of their other varieties which are not so 

 well known. With these exhibits there was one 

 or more officers who was able to give to visitors 



any information letinired about varieties, pros- 

 pect of growing imit, etc., in the Dominion. 



To encourage tlie average consumer to use more 

 fi'uit in the co<iked state there were two stands 

 set apart foi' demonstrations on the different 

 methods of cooking fruit, one near the Canadian 

 Section which vva.s devoted to bananas, and one 

 in the main ludl to apples, .ludging from the 

 eager and apparently interested crowd constantly 

 around the latter stand there should be a great 

 increase in the anjount of apples used in this 

 way as a result of the show. The Ministry of 

 Agriculture had two stands in the show, one on 

 the main floor a?al one on the gallery. On the 

 ground floor tliere were numerous demonstra- 

 tions on the grading and packing of apples, and 

 on the gallery there was a very instructive Edu- 

 cational exhibit. Some of the most interesting 

 exhibits being tin- result of research work on the 

 Paradise stock at East Mailing, Kent, and on the 

 Crab stock at Long Ashton. Bristol. The former 

 station had akso an exhibit showing the effect of 

 different methods of pruning some of our com- 

 mercial varieties of apples, and the latter had 

 an interesting exhibit on the point of entry of 

 canker into the apple tree. On these subjects 

 there is a consideral)le amount of research work 

 yet to be accomplished before we can reap the 

 full benefit. At one end of this stand there was 

 an exhibit from the Ministry's Station at Camp- 

 den on bottled and dried fruits, vegetables, jams, 

 jellies, chutneys. etc. This was an exceedingly 

 attractive exhibit, the most striking feature being 

 the wonderful transparency of the fluids of the 

 Ijottled fruits. This stand was badly placed to 

 see the exhibits satisfactorily, as it was in a 

 rather dark position, and. to make matters worse, 

 on a considerable number of the exhibits the 

 print used for the descriptive matter was too 

 small. 



A number of Conferences and Lectures were 

 held in the theatre adjoining the main hall, the 

 preliminary arrangements for the speakers being 

 made liy the Horticultural Branch of the 

 Ministrv.' These were, on the whole, very instruc- 

 tive and well attended. In addition, a number 

 of popular lectures were given, also cinemato- 

 graphic displays with the idea of educating the 

 public on the "methods of growing, picking, pack- 

 ing, and marketing apples in the different 

 countries. . , 



The show as a whole was. in the writer s 

 opinion a "reat success. The arrangements for 

 -rettincT to the show from the Metropolis were 

 excellent, as also appeared to be the rail arrange- 

 ments from different centres. The greatest ob- 

 jection and it was a serious one, from the 

 visitor's point of view, whose time in the slmw 

 was limited was the way in which the exhibits 

 were staged' There were a number of exhibits in 

 odd corners, where no visitor, except the niost 

 inquisitive, would ever see them; also a number 

 of the classes were divided, and it was often ditli- 

 cnlt to follow the awards. 



" An Irish Visitor. 



Reafforestation in England— Ireland Con- 



tributes. 

 We learn that the English, Forestry Association 

 has purchased 40(1.000 trees, for delivery this 

 autumn, from Messrs. Power & Co., of ^^ aterford. 

 It is noteworthy that the Society's representative 

 had made a tour of the principal English and 

 Scottish Nurseries ibefore personally inspecting 

 Messrs. Power's Nurseries. 



