1920.] 



Ideal Homes Exhibition. 



83 



war craze for food production has not been a spasmodic or 

 temporary effort, but has come to stay, and that the number 

 of allotments is likely to continue to increase in the future. 



To raise their productivity by even 20 to 30 per cent, is a 

 work well worthy of the efforts of the Ministry, and it is hoped 

 to accomplish it by combining systematic lecture cours< s 

 and practical demonstration work (by means of model plots) 

 with private effort. The value of the extra produce would 

 run into millions of pounds sterling, and the general commercial 

 market-gardening of the country would not be detrimentally 

 affected. 



The allotment movement has been responsible for a greater 

 consumption of vegetables amongst the working classes, and 

 in thickly-populated areas householders not possessing allot- 

 ments have vied with their neighbours and purchased on the 

 open market to a greater extent than previously to furnish 

 a greater variety for the table. 



All this has tended to the national good and helped to build 

 up a healthier and more independent population. The social 

 and moral influences of the allotment movement may possibly 

 prove incalculable, for no man can cultivate properly a small 

 piece of ground without being brought face to face with the 

 problems of nature and being made to think, and in the maj ority 

 of cases the effects of the environment of the allotment will 

 be to make him a better man intellectually and socially. 



Fruit Tree and Fruit Bush Exhibit. — Being aware of the 

 ignorance which exists amongst amateurs and small holders 

 generally with regard to the pruning of fruit trees and bushes, 

 the Horticultural Division of the Ministry arranged with 

 Messrs. Spooner of Hounslow to exhibit a certain number 

 of specimens which they considered would prove of educational 

 value. The trees were pruned by the Minister's experts 

 and have been carefully examined by great numbers of those 

 visiting the exhibition. • 



The demonstrations were so apparent as to appeal at sight 

 to the novice, but all were labelled in bold type with the object 

 of enlightening cottagers and villa gardeners who possess a 

 few specimens or who may desire to plant their gardens in the 

 near future. 



Bush apple trees were shown on the Paradise stock as they 

 usually appear when purchased from the nursery, and during 

 the first, second, third, and fourth year of their growth. In 

 each case the pruned and unpruned specimen was shown. 

 In addition, the novice was shown a neglected bush apple 



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