126 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Irish Horticultural 

 Societies. 



Edward Knowldin. 



I. — The Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland. 



I AM asked to give a sliort account of our premier 

 Irish Gardening: Society, but, unfortunately, its 

 story seems lost in the long ago. Having been 

 more or less intimately in touch with it for over thirty 

 years, however, I am able to look back on those times 

 when the late Mr. Ambrose Balfe was its secretary, 



and its home was 

 28 Westland Row, 

 Dublin. But it was 

 an old society then, 

 having been foun- 

 ded, it is said, in 

 1830, and a vivid 

 recollection occurs 

 of Balfe never fail- 

 ing to impress with 

 some pride on all 

 recruits to its ranks 

 that it was the first 

 of its kind to be 

 dignified with the 

 title of " Royal," 

 the present Royal 

 Horticultural So- 

 ciety of England 

 takingsecond place 

 in this glorification. 

 Those were the 

 palmy dnys of the 

 Royal Horticultural 

 Society of Ireland, 

 a reminder of which 

 is seen in a good 

 portrait, in the present offices, of Augustus Frederick, 

 third Duke of Leinster, who was its president, and who 

 was succeeded by Charles William, fourth Duke, who 

 was president when the writer first knew it. As the 

 latter nobleman's then gardener, it may be mentioned, 

 respecting the interest he took in it, that the writer got 

 a "wigging" for being absent from a certain show in 

 1877, and "too busy" was no excuse for his Grace, 

 who said — " I wish you to attend every show erf my 

 expense, because we must be seen at them." As a 

 matter of fact, it was rare indeed that this genial 

 nobleman 7vas absent, although Balfe, when heading 

 the Council engaged in conducting its Viceregal patrons 

 on a tour of the tents, was the biggest man there, and 

 this with all due respect to the memory of one who was 

 indefatigable as the Society's Secretary. From thence 

 till now the society has held on its course for the benefit 

 of Irish horticulture, directly or indirectly ; but, of late 

 years, the wane of public interest in its shows has 

 proved a stumbling block in the track. There are, 

 happil}', good reasons for thinking that renewed interest 

 is being taken in it and its work, and if past glories are 

 but " links of a broken chain, wings that can bear us 

 back to times which cannot come again." the present 

 council's endeavour to make it a real, living factor in 

 the great world of Green Isle gardening will not be in 

 vain. Under the presidency of Lord Ardilaun, with Mr. 

 F. W. Moore as honorary secretary, and its council of 

 twenty-four, including a representation of practical 

 gardeners, one dares to prophesy that things will go 

 ahead on lines, perhaps, better adapted to bring it in 

 touch with the times. Included in the aims of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society of Ireland is that of coming into 

 sympathetic touch with the various district horticultural 



societies of Ireland, any of which can be affiliated for 

 a small fee, and receive the benefits of its medals for 

 distribution in their own particular arena of competition, 

 and with increased membership, which it is hoped 

 will happen at the advent of another year, the sphere of 

 its usefulness will be considerably augmented, with a 

 probable extension of the privileges members already 

 have for their modest annual guinea — privileges which 

 all practical gardeners may have for half that amount. 

 As for present work, who could forget the gigantic fruit 

 show at Ballsbridge but a short two years ago, when 

 close on two thousand entries were staged, or, whilst 

 lamenting the want of public appreciation displayed, 

 ignore the value of such in one of the most important 

 phases of Ireland's industrial economy ? In concluding 

 this brief notice of our venerable horticultural society, 

 it is with regret that our good editor cannot get exactly 

 what he wants, but it is the best I have to give, and 

 respecting any further information as to its present 

 aims and objects, that will be readily provided for those 

 interested on application. 



Edward Knowldin, F.R.H.S., Secretary. 

 5 Molesworth Street, Dublin. 



i^ 5^* 5^* 



Horticultural Shows, 



Hints for Exhibitors. 



By WILLIAM TYNDALL, Instructor in Horticulture, Co. Kildare. 



THE Editor has asked me to write a few notes on 

 the above, and I do so with much pleasure, 

 though the subject deserves an abler pen than 

 mine. Nowadays, nearly every town of any import- 

 ance has its annual show, bringing the people together 

 in friendly rivalry, and these competitions have done 

 much to bring the growing of vegetables, flowers and 

 fruit to the highest excellence, and their influence for 

 good must, indeed, be great, as it is only by careful 

 cultivation that products of high quality can be obtained. 

 Let exhibitors bear carefully in mind the following 

 suggestions : — To have finished staging by the time 

 named in the schedule for the judging to commence. 

 In very few shows in Ireland, with the exception of 

 Belfast and one or two others, is this rule strictly 

 adhered to. Consequently, the judges often have to 

 hasten over their work, as the show is advertised to be 

 open to the public by a certain hour, by which time the 

 awards are expected to be made. Exhibitors are often 

 puzzled by the use of such terms in schedules as 

 "species," "kind," "variety," and "sort," and com- 

 mittees cannot be too exact in making out schedules, 

 as it is very often this very indefiniteness that is re- 

 sponsible for much of the dissatisfaction often expressed 

 at shows, two of the above terms (as advised in Rules 

 of Judging, R. H. S., which I have consulted in writing 

 these notes) — viz., kind and variety — being ample if used 

 in the following sense: —Peaches, apples, and pears are 

 distinct kinds of fruit. Cabbage, cauliflower, and 

 parsnips kinds of vegetables. Beauty of Bath, Wor- 

 cester Pearmain, and Cox's Orange Pippin are varieties 

 of apples, and Flower of Spring, Nonpareil, and Off"en 

 ham are varieties of cabbage. 



Name correctly and neatly your exhibits as if the dishes, 

 say, in collections or single dishes of fruit, vegetables, 

 or bunches of flowers are unnamed inuch of the 

 educational value oi shows is lost ; and yet how seldom 

 do we see it neatly done at country shows ! Let exhibi- 

 tors read carefully the schedule of their show, and 

 comply with all its rules and regulations, and if unable 

 to understand any one of them let him write to the 

 secretary of the show, who will only be too pleased to 

 give him all information. 



