60 Report of the Meetings for 1894. 



On the Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, either 

 before or after breakfast, those present visited Mr Hopper's 

 houses, where they were courteously received by the head 

 gardener, Mr Wood. The range of glass is very extensive, 

 and in the various houses Mr Hopper has a rich collection of 

 plants. Mr Hopper's collection of Orchids is such as to 

 astonish even professional gardeners ; they are surprised to find 

 so many valuable specimens of these exotics in a tradesman's 

 garden in a small town like Morpeth. Amid the large 

 number that called for attention, special notice was bestowed 

 upon Cattleya crispa superba, which h id on it the extraordinary 

 number of twenty-three flowers ; Cattleya Leopoldii with six 

 blooms ; Cypripedium Harrisianum ; Cypripedium Chamherlain- 

 ianum ; Odontoglossum Uro-Skinneri with three spikes; and 

 Vanda gigantea, a plant admitted to be the finest of its kind 

 in the north of England. The Caladiums were greatly admired, 

 as were also Draccena Lindeni; Adiantum Farley ense, the fronds 

 spreading to a diameter of four feet ; and Davallia Fijiensis 

 extending to five feet. In another section of the glass, 

 Cro^ows in varieties ; Crinum Maori with two spikes; Pancratium 

 fragrans with twelve spikes ; and the Orchid, Laelia Scliilleriana, 

 commanded general observation. 



Apostles of petite culture, and especially of tree-fruit growing, 

 have come down from the south and eastern counties of 

 England to Northumberland to explain how, under such 

 cultivation, three acres, with or without the cow, can be made 

 to yield a comfortable income for an industrious working mtm 

 and his family. They have always been answered, by the 

 sturdy Northumbrian gardeners, that the more northern 

 latitude and other physical conditions, some of which are not 

 easy of definition, render a tree-fruit crop in the district the 

 most uncertain of all ; and of these risky fruits the Apple 

 bears the palm. It seems that this season affords a very 

 pertinent and practical proof of what has just been stated. 



In the report of the Club's fourth meeting fur 1880, it is 

 said, "Morpeth is picturesquely placed amid the shelter of a 

 background of trees ; closer to it are cultivated fields, market 

 gardens and orchards, and spacious nurseries." Notwithstanding 

 the protection thus provided by nature and art, the orchards 

 are this year almost fruitless. The universal testimony of both 

 market and amateur gardeners is, "Not a single Apple and 



