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JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



[ Jane 8, 1878. 



I noticed some pot Vines that had been raised from eyes at 

 Thoresby carrying splendid crops ; one, Foster's Seedling in 

 partieolar, bad thirteen fine bunches. The third house in the 

 range is 25 feet by 13, with a path down the centre and a 

 bed on each side. It contains two sets of pot Vines. The one 

 on the south side was introduced on the 8th of November, the 

 pots plunged in a bed of Oak leaves, the Vines tied-down hori- 

 zontally to insure their breaking regularly, and started in a 

 temperature of 55°, with the usual attention to syringing, 

 damping, &c. These Vines not having been forced before 

 were very reluctant to arouse themselves from their wintry 

 sleep, but on the 21st of January the bunches were fully 

 developed. On that date the second set of Vinos were in- 

 troduced on to the north side of the house, they being of the 

 same age, strength, &c., of those introduced in November. 

 These were plunged in leaves the same as the first lot, and of 

 course subjected to the same temperature. They broke away 

 freely, and in three weeks the bunches were observable. The 

 thinning of the first set of Vines was finished on the 16th of 

 March, and the second set on the 25th of March. When I 

 was there on the 17th of May the first lot was just ready to 

 cut, and the second would be ready in ten days. From these 

 facts it is obvious that there is no great advantage in starting 

 pot Vines before Christmas or the new year, unless they have 

 been forced early the previous season and gone to rest early 

 the previous summer. Mr. Henderson was of opinion that 

 had the second lot of Vines been placed on the south side of the 

 house, with the same advantages of sunshine as the first lot, 

 they would not have been even ten days behind the others. 

 The fourth house is 25 feet by 13, and devoted to Vines 

 planted late last autumn. The fifth house is 40 feet by 18, 

 and contained fruiting Pines in various stages of growth. 

 Charlotte Rothschild was very fine, and it is only justice to 

 Mr. Henderson to state that a finer lot of Pines it would be 

 difficult to find. Every plant is in perfect health, and to 

 say the leaves are thick and leathery would be using a com- 

 mon phrase, for they have more the appearance of ordinary 

 Aloes or Agaves. The next house is the same size as the 

 previous one, and devoted to successional Pines to come into 

 use in the autumn. They are in fine condition, and bear 

 the same traces of superior culture as the previous house. 

 The seventh house is 25 feet by 13, with a path down the 

 cantre. The south side was planted with Melons, and the 

 north side with Cucumbers. There was a fine crop of Melons 

 in various stages of growth ; some were nearly ripe, and others 

 the size of a hen's egg. Mr. Henderson's method is to plant 

 them 14 inches apart. Every other plant is stopped when it 

 is about 4 feet high, and the other plants are allowed to reach 

 the top of the house before stopping is resorted to. The result 

 is, that those stopped first at once throw-out their fruiting 

 laterals, and being impregnated the frait swells ofJ at once. 

 The other plants have all the laterals taken off 4 feet high 

 and stopped at the top of the house. These plants will not 

 Bhoiv fruit before the others are half grown. This simple 

 system prolongs the fruiting on the same bed for some weeks, 

 and Mr. Henderson is of opinion that a more regular and finer 

 crop of fruit is obtained. The last house in the range is 25 feet 

 by 13, and planted with Melons on each side for late use. 



On the back of the kitchen gardens there is another block 

 of useful span-roofed houses, also long ranges of pits and 

 frames. The latter were filled to overflowing with tens of 

 thousands of bedding plants of every conceivable shape, colour, 

 and size. One house 52 feet long contained a miscellaneous 

 collection of Palms and other fine-foUaged plants. Another 

 house 70 feet long was full to overflowing with fine-foliaged 

 Begonias, Ferns for dinner-table decoration, good plants of 

 Pandanns Veitchi, P. utilis, good specimens of Grotons, Alo- 

 caeias, and a fine plant of ClerodendronBalfouri. In turf pits 

 I noticed many hundreds of Pansies, used for the embellish- 

 ment of the summer flower garden. There was a fine stock of 

 one known as Cloth of Gold, or Henderson's Golden Bedder ; 

 it was just like a sheet of gold seen in the distance. It is a 

 fine deep yellow self ; very good substance and habit, comes 

 into bloom early, and produces a glowing mass of colour. 

 Where yellow Calceolarias fail, and there is not glass accom- 

 modation for protecting yeUow-foliaged Geraniums, these yellow 

 Pansies fill up a gap that no other plants can supply. A Viola, 

 The Tory, also promised to be useful in the flower garden. The 

 colour was pale indigo-blue, the flower of fine form, and ap- 

 peared a free bloomer. Others I noticed in the trial ground, 

 such as Duke of Edinburgh, dark blue; Lady Susan, yellow; 

 and Parpurea, dark purple. 



The gardener's cottage is situated in the inside of the kitchen 

 garden on the east end of the terrace before alluded to, parallel 

 with the ranges of houses, and commanding a fine view ot the 

 kitchen garden and the splendid bed of Roses that skirts the 

 long gravel walks. The walls are mantled with Magnolia Lenne, 

 Jasmines, and Roses. — Q. R. 



SHOWS AND SHOWING. 



" Spirit," "enterprise," " go-aheadedness " are talismanic 

 words. They possess a charm and an influence which seem 

 quite irresistible. They are not only supposed to carry all 

 before them, but are made to apply to almost every undertaking 

 commercial or scientific. Technical, financial, moral under- 

 takings, all must be entered on with " spirit " — the spirit of 

 rivalry — jealous rivalry. An antagonism of forces — a clashing 

 of energies — an electioneering, overbidding, march-stealing 

 system of procedure would seem to be pervading the sons of 

 men of this our day and generation. Is it healthy ? 



What has this to do with " our .Journal?" A great deal, 

 for horticulture is infested with the same fast propensity. 

 Infested is a queer word, but I use it advisedly. 



What is horticulture ? The art of cultivating gardens. It 

 is as well, even if a trifle hnmilitating, to reproduce that defi- 

 nition. What are shows? Examples of the results of that art 

 ostensibly established to improve it. That is the legitimate 

 object of exhibitions; but are they as a rule supported for 

 that object? 



Is not showing becoming a trade and regarded by competitors 

 as a means of making money ? Are not " societies," by over- 

 bidding each other for " popular" support, animated by selfish 

 motives rather than basing their action on the higher principles 

 of promoting art ? Is the primary object of competing societies 

 and rival agencies a policy of self-interest or the advancement 

 of horticulture ? Are there not suspicions floating through 

 the minds of men that oar craft, its charms and attracting 

 influences, is being used as apeg whereon to hang a programme 

 that will " draw " and will " pay ?" To speak plainly, is not 

 horticulture being degraded to profitable purposes, and the 

 skill of gardeners measured by their power of drawing cash 

 into " societies' " coffers and shareholders' pockets ? 



Look at the programmes which are being sown broadcast 

 in city and town. They stake their very existence almost on 

 the chance of their fixture being a fine day. They have no 

 reserve fund — cannot afford one, and, what is more, cannot 

 safely exist without one. To how many societies would a rainy 

 day bring ruin, or at any rate induce a position requiring ex- 

 treme efforts to rescue it from bankruptcy ? How many 

 societies have fallen and exhibitions ceased to exist by risking 

 their all on the chances of a fine day and the day has proved 

 rainy ? They had no guarantee fund, they pledged their 

 income before receiving it, and the end was a collapse. So it 

 must continue to be if the above conditions are followed, as 

 unfortunately they would appear to be by "societies" large 

 and small. 



Now-a-days a great show must be produced, large prizes 

 must be offered, tempting conditions promulgated, attractive 

 baits spread ? What is the great underlying motive of the 

 promoters ? Is it a pure unsophisticated endeavour to advance 

 horticulture, or is the object to overbid a rival and to " draw " 

 the public ? Formerly shows were regarded as marking epochs 

 of horticultural progress, but now I fear that they are mere 

 money traps. 



Is not showing being overdone — the hobby-horse being 

 ridden too fast — the mania approaching a surfeit ? Yes, shows 

 are becoming too common, and soon gentlemen will be (many 

 are) tiring of them, and the position of gardeners will not be 

 permanently improved by longing for and catching at the baits 

 which are being dangled before them. When shows are so 

 numerous one is but the counterpart of another. I now allude 

 to the London shows. A regular visitor to these not only 

 knows almost to a certainty who will win the respective prizes, 

 but what the plants will be which compose the groups. There 

 is a sameness if not a tameness in these shows which palls on 

 the appetite. There are, in fact, too many of them, and they 

 spoil each other. How tired the reporters must be of repeating 

 themselves ! I should like to hear what they think about this 

 subject, for I should imagine that few can form a better opinion 

 of " shows and showing " than these gentlemen. 



In my opinion we — that is, gardeners, look too much at the 

 money part of the question. But then, unlike the agricul- 

 turists, we cannot afford to show for liocour alone. It is all 



