540 



THE GA R DENER 8' CHR ONI CLE. 



[November 10, 1888. 



APPOINTMENTS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 



MONDAY, 

 TUESDAY, 



MEETINGS. 



Nov. 12—" Chambre Syndicate" of Ghent. 

 (Royal Horticultural Society : Scie 



FRIDAY, 

 SATURDAY, 



SHOWS. 



Brighton, Winohest .r, Cardiff, 

 Watford, Twickenham (two 

 NOV. 13 -( days each), and West Kent, Ham- 

 mersmith, and Eevizes (one day 

 each), 



/Ancient Socif^y of York Florists 

 i and Royal Cornwall Polytechnic 

 WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14< (three days) ; and Market Har- 

 i borou »h, Bradford, and Bromley 

 V. (two days). 



( Wilts (two days), and Royal Horti- 

 THnT)ST)AY Nov 1 =, J cultural of Ireland, Pembroke, 

 IHUKMJAl, Tnov. lo< A y lesDUIy> Reading, Wimbledon, 

 (. and Taunton. 



(Sheffield (Provincial Show of the 

 Nov 26< National Chrysanthemum So- 



Nov. 17 — Rarusbottom and Derby. 

 SALES. 



(Dutch Bulbs, at Stevens' Booms. 

 MONDAY Nov iv) Dutch Bulbs, at Protheroe & Morris' 



( Plants and Bulbs, atSmail's Rooms. 



( First Portion of the Collection of 



| Orchids formed by E. Wisch- 



I hausen, Esq., Wood Green, at 



I Protheroe & Morris' Rooms. 



TrTT?ar»AV tct. i o) Greenhouse Plant9, Roses, Fruit 



iUtSDAl, >ov. 1.1 Tree9| &c __ at the City Auction 



| Rooms, by Protheroe & Morris. 

 I Nursery Stock at Cobbett's Nursery, 

 I Woking, by Protheroe & Morris 

 \ (three days). 



I Dutch Bulbs, Roses, and Fruit 

 Trees, at Stevens' Rooms. 

 Lilium auratum from Japan, Camel- 

 lias, Azaleas, &c, at Protheroe & 

 Morris' Rooms. 

 Dutch Bulbs and Plants, at Smail's 

 Rooms. 

 I Orchids in Flower, and 5000 Lilium 

 auratum, at Stevens' Rooms. 

 Dutch Bulbs, at Protheroe & Morris' 

 Rooms. 

 Leasehold Nursery and Shop at the 

 Waverley Nursery, Finchley 

 Road, by Protheroe & Morris. 

 (Imported Orchid9, at Protheroe & 



T-BTnAv TC„ir i a J Moms' Rooms. 



jiuuai, nu\ . io< Dutch Bulb3 aud p lMlt3> at Smai i' s 



(, Rooms. 



(Roses, Fruit Trees, Dutch Bulbs, 

 SATTTRnAV v™ n) &C, at Stevens' Rooms. 



SA1UKDA1, .NOV . ll< Dutch Bulbs, at Protheroe & Morris' 



(. Rooms. 



The meeting on Tuesday next at 



Th c e hlswkk. 0f the rooms of the E °y al Horti - 



cultnral Society, 111, Victoria 

 Street, is likely to be one of great importance 

 as regards the future operations of the Society, 

 and in particular as to the destiny of Chiswick. 

 On this account we earnestly hope that those 

 who have the interest of the Society at heart 

 will be present, or respond to the invitation of 

 the Council, and communicate their views as to 

 what should be done. The Council deserve, and 

 will receive, the warmest thanks for what they 

 have done during the past year to resuscitate 

 the Society. Their labours, as we know, have 

 been very heavy, but they have their reward in 

 the fact that the Society is, by their exertions, 

 free from debt, and that it is altogether in a more 

 healthy state than it has been for years past. One 

 sign of the spirit that animates the Council is shown 

 in the tendency they manifest of confiding in the 

 Fellows and calling them into consultation when 

 circumstances render it desirable. To discuss 

 the whole subject either in these columns or at 

 the meeting would take up far too much space 

 and time. There are, however, a few points that 

 are of urgent importance at this present moment, 

 and these may be, nay, must be, treated of at once, 

 leaving the other matters for subsequent discus- 

 sion, The main points, we take it, are these — 



What shall be done at Chiswick ? Shall all the 

 fortnightly meetings be held there during the 

 summer, or shall those meetings be confined, as 

 they were with one or two exceptions this year, 

 to the Drill Hall ? 



Our own notions as to what should be done at 

 Chiswick are, briefly, that it should be made 

 more fully and completely an experimental gar- 

 den and trial ground than it already is. There 

 is no need to grow there what may be seen in any 

 nursery, in any florist's shop, or on any green- 

 grocer's stall ; but there is need to grow there 

 novelties for trial, or old things for comparison. 

 Selections of subjects in all departments chosen 

 with a view of testing their applicability to 

 various horticultural purposes should be culti- 

 vated. Standard collections of the best flowers, 

 fruits, and vegetables should be maintained for 

 the purpose of reference, and the establishment 

 of correct nomenclature. 



Scientific experiments, too, as far as can be 

 done, should be carried out— not such experi- 

 ments as bear wholly on abstract science — the 

 laboratory and grounds at Kew are the fit places 

 for such investigation — but experiments that 

 have a direct bearing on practical horticulture. 

 Among these may be mentioned, by way of 

 illustration, hybridisation, and cross-breeding; 

 methods of pruning, the use of manures, the 

 selection of stocks for grafting. These and like 

 matters should be carried on at Chiswick as far 

 as means will allow, as systematically as so many 

 experiments in the laboratory, and recorded as 

 accurately. 



Before leaving the subject of what should 

 be done at Chiswick, we desire especially to call 

 attention to the important letter of Mr. Dyer 

 in another column. "We do not wish to make 

 any comment on his letter further than to ex- 

 press our substantial agreement with his views, 

 and to point out that, although the letter is 

 written by the Director of the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, and although he speaks of Chiswick as the 

 Kew of Horticulture, we do not understand him 

 to mean that Chiswick is to be made a depart- 

 ment of Kew. Mr. Dyer merely asserts that 

 Chiswick should be to horticulture what Kew 

 is to botany. We may indeed look forward to 

 the establishment of a training school at Chiswick, 

 which might be worked in conjunction with 

 Kew, Chiswick students having the privilege of 

 attending the lectures, &c, at Kew, and Kew 

 employes being allowed to pass a certain time 

 in the fruit-houses and vegetable-quarters at 

 Chiswick ; thus each might supply what the 

 other lacks. The consideration of this project, 

 however, must be deferred. Sufficient for the 

 moment is the work we have in hand. 



Having stated in outline what, in our opinion, 

 should be done at Chiswick, we have next to con- 

 sider whether any, or all, or none, of the fortnightly 

 meetings shall be held at Chiswick during the 

 next summer. And here it is necessary for a 

 moment to recall the circumstances of the case. 

 In the early part of this year the Committee 

 appointed by the Fellows selected as an appro- 

 priate meeting-place for the Society in its then 

 urgent need, the offices in Victoria Street as a fit 

 place for the Lindley Library, for the Council 

 meetings, and for the transaction of the ordinary 

 business of the Society. Of the fitness of the 

 choice made by the Fellows' Committee, and 

 recommended by them for adoption, we have 

 heard no two opinions. The room is well 

 situate, convenient, and the library is housed as 

 it has never been before — it is arranged, cata- 

 logued, and available for use. 



As to the Drill Hall, that also was selected by 

 the Committee, and there is no doubt that in 



many respects it is eminently suitable and con- 

 venient ; but it has some disadvantages, and the 

 Fellows and general public have not hitherto 

 taken to it very kindly. Under these circumstances 

 it has become a question whether the Drill Hall 

 shall be abandoned, as it can readily be, and the 

 fortnightly meetings held at Chiswick, in accord- 

 ance with the spirit of the resolution so warmly 

 supported at the Apple Conference. To this latter 

 course objections are raised : it is said that the 

 exhibitors would not come, the committees would 

 not come, the public would not come. Of course 

 there is some force in all these objections, but 

 none of them is fatal, for none is absolute. We 

 believe, on the contrary, that if it could be 

 arranged for some (not all) meetings to be held 

 in the course of the summer at Chiswick, that 

 exhibitors would come, that the committees 

 would come, and that the public would come. 

 This latter contingency of course depends on the 

 adequacy of the announcements made. Mean- 

 while it must not be forgotten that Chiswick is 

 the centre of a vast garden-loving population. 

 Such meetings might be held alternately with 

 similar gatherings in the Drill Hall, while the 

 Temple Gardens, the Crystal Palace, and other 

 places, might be made available for the "big 

 shows," where the requirements of exhibitors 

 would be specially considered. During the three 

 or four winter months, the room in Victoria 

 Street would probably suffice for the committee 

 meetings. 



These are the matters to be discussed on Tues- 

 day next, and with Chiswick trembling in the 

 balance, we repeat the expression of our hopes 

 that the Fellows will consider it a duty to attend. 

 If they vote straight for the proper development 

 and utilisation of Chiswick, all the better — accord- 

 ing to ourthinking — otherwisethe Society will be 

 more than ever a certificate factory, and a society 

 for the holding of flower-shows — both things 

 desirable in their way, but both together totally 

 inadequate, as fulfilments of what are set forth 

 as the aims and duties of the Society. 



At this season what should we do 

 themums." without the Chrysanthemum ? 



This is a question that any one 

 who visited the great show at the Aquarium at 

 Westminster may well ask ? The display was in- 

 deed, remarkable, and having seen it, there is 

 no room for surprise at the great popularity 

 the flower enjoys. From this point of view, in- 

 deed, it runs the Hose hard. And when we 

 consider that the Rose comes in the full 

 tide of the flower-season, while the " mum " 

 comes at a time when it has, of necessity, 

 the field to itself there is the less reason 

 to wonder at the enthusiasm the flower ex- 

 cites. In form and in colour it has something 

 to satisfy all tastes, and this at the yery dullest 

 season of the year. Another question we feel 

 disposed to ask is — Where should we be without 

 the "Japs " ? The formal meaningless globes 

 and incurved varieties, as inelegant in shape, but 

 as brilliant in colour, as show Dahlias, are more 

 than balanced by the tassels, and rays, and 

 quills, and fringes of other sections ; so that if 

 one object to the formality and want of signi- 

 ficance of the one, there is plenty in the abandon 

 and suggestiveness of the other to satisfy the 

 veriest stickler for Nature versus Art in the 

 floral world. 



The Anemone-flowered section holds the 

 mean between the two ; and while their 

 form satisfies the demands of the most 

 exacting there is enough to supply the re- 

 quirements of those who, consciously or un- 



