78 



JOUENAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AKD COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



[ Febraarj 1, 1877. 



honee Bide by side, treated the same as to soil, water, tempera 

 tare, &e., remained plump and firm till fnlly ripe. In turning 

 the old stools out of the pots they are about equal as to roots. 

 They have been einee shewing their fruit in a light honse at a 

 distance of about 2 feet from the glass, plunged in a tan bed, 

 bottom heat 85", top heat Go" to 70", the path sprinkled once or 

 twice a-day according to the state of the weather. Should any 

 of your correspondents have experienced the same difficulty, 

 and will give through the pages of the Journal the benefit of 

 their experience, the undersigned will be grateful. — Isquieee. 



HORTICDLTUKAL AND COTTAGE GARDEN 

 SOCIETIES. 



"T>.,DeaI," writes almost despairingly. "Ithinkit becomes 

 a question whether flower shows are increasing in favour." 

 The position of the Horticultural extremely critical ; the 

 Crystal Palace shows don't pay ; Alexandra Palace defunct. 

 What a climax of horrors ! 



In corroboration, I see the County Horticultural Society 

 nearest me struggling against difficulties which will defy the 

 strength of Hercules to overcome should they have one or two 

 more rainy show days ; I see others which the onslaught of a 

 single " Wyld Savage," if he were so inclined, would suffice 

 to topple over, and which a single good downpour on their 

 show day would certainly cause to melt into airy nothing. 

 Such is the moribund condition of " horticulturals." At the 

 same time I see numerous cottage garden societies cropping up 

 around like so many Mushrooms, and most of them too, I fear, 

 doomed to the same ephemeral existence. 



Now there must be a reason for this which I think it is not 

 hard to discover. The mischief is done by the frequency of 

 those monster al fresco entertainments (not flower showe) 

 which necessitate a great outlay, the only shance of recovering 

 which is by attracting gate money. Yes, gate money has a 

 good deal to answer for. It has ruined legitimate horse- 

 racing and honest pedestrianism ; it is in a fair way to ruin 

 flower shows. 



A horticultural society is in a poor way whose existence 

 depends upon next show's gate-money ; and that is the case 

 with most. For the people who attend flower showe, because 

 they love flowers and wish to encourage improvements in hor- 

 ticulture, are the few; the many who perhaps do not know 

 the difference between a Eoso and Chrysanthemum, certainly 

 not between a Begonia and a Cactus, go there because it is 

 "the thing;" and their first question is about the band — 

 Coldstreams, Black Watch, or Marines ? and the flowers are 

 voted a bore because of the awful crush, and the tent where 

 ices are sold is abundantly patronised, and parasols are furled 

 or unfurled on the approach of friend or foe, and the usual 

 lonnd of fashionable small talk and byplay is gone through, 

 and at four o'clock the shilling folks ! and then exit Sir Eu- 

 genes Broadacre and all his tribe. So the grounds are sur- 

 rendered to the shillingers, many of whom would give their 

 ears to know how to grow just half a dozen Roses in that pokey 

 bit of a back garden ; and then at six in rush the eispeunies, 

 most of whom do really love flowers. But it is getting dutk, 

 and the best of them are being removed, and many of the 

 cut blooms are faded, still the great unwashed enjoys himself 

 after his kind, and lastly " darkness sheds her mantle o'er the 

 Boene ;" and if the show takes place at Oxford or Cambridge, 

 the porter rings his bell, he walks his round, the mob fleeing 

 before him ; he locks the gates (curtain falls). But this is the 

 fair side of the picture. The day has been fine; gate-money 

 by hatfnis. Hurrah for the society ! lots of money for the 

 prizes next year ! and everj'oody so pleased. 



Is there not, however, another side ? Yes, a wet day — all 

 those tents are hired, that band came from Loudon (or Ply- 

 mouth), and does not play for nothing; those flags are borrowed 

 for a " consideralion," those gardeners and under-gardeners 

 love wages, those gate-keepers are not above taking fees, those 

 helps enjoy bread and cheese with beer, the Committee cannot 

 stop on the grounds all day without something to stay their 

 Btomachs, nay, even those reporters are eqbal to taking a 

 Boack, and the bell-ringers (I had almost forgotten them) are 

 a thirsty lot, and have an itching palm besides, and— and — 

 and, in fact there is no end of petty expenses ; and nobody 

 came but judges and exhibitors, and just a (ew — a very few, 

 persona who love flowers ; and we shall be out of pocket this 

 year, but better luck next time. And the end is that the 

 BnbsciiberB, who are chiefly those that do love flowers, get 



tired of giving their money year after year to pay for some- 

 thing that they do not love, and droop, droop, dwindle, dwindle 

 society — subscription to pay deficit among committee, and 'tis 

 no more seen, and all for lack of gate money ! A year or two 

 hence a plucky secretary will get together another committee, 

 and aaother society will be set on foot, and if the same rotten 

 staff be relied on, the same course pursued, result will be 

 another failure. 



Now, let it not be supposed that I object to al fresco fetes 

 in themselves, or occasional gala days, or to those terpsicho- 

 rean amusements which in many instances follow the departure 

 of the upper ten thousand, or even to that moderate indulgence 

 which helps the licensed victualler to feed and clothe himself 

 and family. I do not. But I do object to that enormous annual 

 expenditure, which the certainty of large receipts at the gate 

 alone can justify, and to which the money paid away in prizes 

 and in legitimate expenses bears but a small proportion. 



It what I have written be a true picture of the state of things 

 in some of our county horticultural societies, it is a fortiori 

 true of cottage garden societies, which, in their humble fashion, 

 seem somewhat inclined to ape their betters, and the result 

 will be the same. 



What, then, is the remedy ? In what follows I shall confine 

 myself entirely to cottage garden societies, and to what I think 

 would be best for them. 



First, Let them take for their motto "Union is strength." 

 Secondly, Let them keep steadfastly in view the real objects 

 of the society. Thirdly, I would say to them. Multiply your 

 local shows for garden produce, minimise your expenditure on 

 fetes. 



1, " Union is strength." An instance in point: The annual 

 musical festival of the three choirs (Gloucester, Worcester,. 

 Hereford) is a well-known fact. Each festival is perfectly 

 independent of the others — a healthy rivalry exists between 

 them. Each conducts and pays for its own particular festival 

 for the same object. This festival has lasted (I write subject 

 to correction) above a hundred years, and to all appearances 

 is likely to last another hundred. Let three cottage garden 

 societies, established in three different country towns, combine 

 in a similar manner, and I believe that similar results would 

 ensue. 



2, " Keep steadfastly in view the object of the society."' 

 This I take to be the improvement of gardening by promoting 

 a healthy competition among cottagers. One instance : In my 

 own neighbourhood the poor have been in the habit of cultivat- 

 ing one particular main crop of Potatoes from time immemorial. 

 This Potato is extremely liable to disease, bemg a very late 

 sort, and change of seed being in many instances impracticable, 

 the kind seems to be wearing out. It is neither so large nor 

 so good as it used to be. What, then, should the society do- 

 under the circumstances? Why, clearly try to introduce some 

 better varieties. There are plenty which may with truth be 

 called poor man's Potatoes, notably Paterson's Victoria, Red- 

 skin Flourball, Brownell's Beauty, Snowflake, &a. ; at any rate, 

 they suit our soil. They may be put in fairly early, and dug 

 early, and so escape disease. I take it, then, to be the first 

 duty of the society to sell to the cottagers at a very low rate 

 seed of some such Potatoes as I have mentioned, to distribute 

 printed instructions for preparation of seed and cultivation, 

 and lastly to give prizes at their local shows for the best pro- 

 duce. The result would be, that in two or three years the 

 above-mentioned first-class Potatoes would be universally 

 grown by cottagers ; and should any new variety, such as 

 Sutton's Magnum Bonum, prove itself to be equally useful, it 

 should be the duty of the society to see carefully to its intro- 

 duction. In this way the funds of the society would be most 

 usefully employed ; and whereas the poor man — who now gives, 

 say 9(7. a stone for his seed — cannot be expected to give 3s. for 

 Red-skin Flourball, the society — liy taking a quantity at the 

 beginning of the season, and by distributing its printed in- 

 structions — might sell at a low price, and ensure the proper 

 cultivation of what would be in the future an inestimable boon 

 to the poor man, 



3, " Multiply your local shows for garden produce. Mini- 

 mise your expenditure upon frtes." Annual fetes are so ex- 

 pensive that few societies can afford to have more than one show 

 a ysar. This one show does not give suflicient opportunity for 

 exhiliiting the earlier and the later kinds of garden produce. 

 A middle time is usually chosen, and the consequence is that 

 many important classes for which prizes are offered go unfilled 

 or very inadequately represented. I would have, then, in each 

 society two inexpensive shows at least in each year. One li 



