January 13, 1912. 



TH£ GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



31 



REVOLUTION IN VEGETABLE 



GROWING. 



(Continued from page 14.) 



Shows, Showing:, and Judging;. 



For the purpose of this article we may 



each dish. In other respects village shows 

 are not yet perfect ; perhaps they never will 

 be^ but nevertheless they figure conspicu- 

 ously amongst the national institutions of 

 the country^ and have, perhaps, done more 

 thain anything else to raise the standard of 

 gardening in general, and vegetable grow- 

 ing in particular, amongst the working 



It occurred to sone enthusiastic gardener 

 in the years gone by that, by getting hl-i 

 spring onions a bit bigger he would stand 

 a better chajice of winning first prize, so 

 Jie devised the method of sowing seeds earlv 

 under glass and transplanting, 

 marked the beginning of the 



This 



taKe two types ot sliow&; hrst the one ac population of rural Britain, 

 wiiich prote^riionai gardeners compete with 



each oi/Uer i^tor some reajson or otner exni- 

 Diting iias iittle attraction for the market 

 gara^nerj ] and secondly the cottagers^ and 

 village siiow. Of the tormer it mubt be said 

 tliat a vegetable show pure and simple does 

 not attract the public like a nower siiow. 

 At any rate, in London, and it this were 

 iJie case there would nave been no need tor 



t^Q \iafinTi?^l Vptr:-itahi(^ Socictv tO iVdVG 



Stocks and Types. 



\fter admitting everytliaig that growers 



and exhioitors 



bringing 



cnanged th.e place of its next exhibition to 

 Watiord, buu at the big mixed shows in 

 the provinces vegetables play a conspicuo 

 part, and they never tail to arouse interest, 

 iou see three things which strike you in a 

 keen vegetable competition at a big sho.v^. 

 ii'irst there is the obvious evidence of the 

 wonaeriul improvement in types of vege- 

 tables^ and shows have done much to bring 

 improved varieties to the trout. Secondly, 

 as compared to former days, there is a 

 ked J^bs<^n<-fi ot coarseness, in short 



iiave done in 

 vegetable growing up to its present nign 

 standaa'd tnere i em a ins the raiser, uie 

 skilled expert, who, by crossing, se- 

 lecting, and roguemgj lias put material in 

 the siiape ot modern varieties in the hanus 

 ot cultivators. It is a woiideriul story tliis 

 evolution m the vegetable world, and no 

 one man or one generation of men can 

 claim credit for it all. Take tiie cmmo- 

 politan potato, for instance, JSir Walter 

 xialeigh introduced it, so the story g 

 but tnat famous old gardener, Gerard, w 

 amongst the first to realise its value, ami 

 he figured the potato in his "Herbal," 

 publisiied in 159/. But what of the ups 

 and dow^ns in potato culture since ? There 



pot 



--- — — o ^ ^ big onion 



craze ; the result is the magnificently -grown 

 specimens that are now seen on show 

 boards, but the varieties, the Ailsa Craig, 

 Cranston's Kxcelsior^ etc., were supplied by 

 the trade, and one of the latest introduc- 

 tions which is growing in favour is tho 

 remier^ a variety sent out byi Messrs. 

 Dickson and Eobmson, Manchester 

 may further be said of the 

 method that. 



P 



Jt 



exhibition 



in a m o<l i fi ed d e «; r e e , the 



exhibitors have learnt that size is not, ao-; famine which began m 1815, when it was 

 should It be, the first consideration, and ^^rioiKslv thought that the —"^'—^^ 



dish is stamped 

 marK of quality. Lastly, there is arrange- 

 ment of vegetables at shows, and to such 

 men as Messrs. E. Beckett and Gibson must 

 be given credit for raising this to a fine 

 art. In fact, the methods of arranging 

 collections of vegetables at show^s has im- 

 proved out of all knowledge in recent years, 

 nor do I think we have reached the limit 

 of possibilities in this direction. If another 

 w^ord may be added, it is that vegetables at 

 a modern show bear tribute to the skill of 

 raisers, and prove the British gardener to 

 be a master hand at the cu'tivation cf 

 utility crops. In passing, a special tribute 

 must be paid to the trade exhibits at 

 modern snows, and, even if they are set 

 up for the purpose of advertisement, those 

 wc^nderful di^lays of vegetfrfbles istaged 

 from time to time by the leading firms 

 afford evidence of the revolution that has 

 taken place in vegetable culture. 



Vegetahles, of course, take pride of place 

 at the village show^, and when at one of 

 these events you see a horny-hainded son 

 of toil going round after the judges, jot- 

 ting down with a Jialf-inch stump of lead 

 pencil on the margin of a soiled catalogue 

 the amount of his winnings, you observe a 

 humble champion of the cause at the hour 

 of his tiiimiph, but you should also think 

 of the hours he has spent in the garden at 

 home, early and late, growing those vege- 

 tables that adorn the show board. 



indoor raising and transplanting of onions 

 is now largely cmploye<i in the culture of 

 crops for purely utdity purposes. 



The members of the brassica tribe have 

 lent themselves to wonderful improvement, 

 and it is hard to think that the wild cab- 

 bage, w^iich one finds flourishing on the 

 clitfs at Dover, and in some otlier parts <.f 

 this country, could have been the possible 

 parents, say, of Ellam's Early or Flower of 

 Springy and in addition to this section 

 raisers have presented us with splendid 

 autumn cabbages of the type of Debbie's 

 Winningstadt. Safvoys have been known 

 in gardens for hundreds of years, but the 

 plant has shown its willingness to lend itself 



drop out of curtivation. Fortunately, how- piaut nas snown « uimgne.. .x.^ 

 ever, it did not. and why not Y Zarsely to further possibilities, for recently Messrs. 



^^^^ ^ 



ever, it did not, and why not Y L-argely 

 because raisers saw the necessity of intro- 

 ducing new blood in tfie shape of varieties 

 with vigorous constitutions that had SK>mo 

 capacity for resisting disease, and so the 

 situation was saved. Some varieties have 

 made history. Amongst them Suttons 

 Magnum Bonum, whicn came just at the 

 moment when a potato of its splendid type 

 was wanted, ana when it waned Findlay s 

 Up-to-Date 'and other varieties of the type 

 stepped into the breach. The wondertul 

 boom in potatoes, when Northern Star and 

 Eldorado appeared, and single tubers were 

 worth their weight in gold, is a matter of 

 modern histoiy, and the same may be said 

 the ill-fated National Potato Soci 



Sutton and Sons sent out a type which pro- 

 duces a savoy on the top, with sprouts up 

 the stem that resemble small savoys. A 

 collection of modern kades- 



gated, 



plain curled^ 

 bear tribute to the skill 



and 



green, vane- 

 hearting 



of raisers, and 



the 



in 



them in 

 flowers 



raisers, 

 who mentions 

 Herbal,'^ the cauli- 

 doubtless of a different 



days of Gerard, 

 his 



w^ere oou otiess oi a 



stamp to Veitch's Autumn Giant and Sut- 

 ton's Magnum Bonum ; while in the way of 

 broccoli, which is ea*id to have made its ap- 

 pearance at the beginning of the eighteenth 

 century, from out of the early types have 

 come the splendid self -protecting varieties, 



and white and sprouting forms. 



Every 



ot the Ill-fated iNationaL Potato ^ciezy ^^^^.^j. Brussels sprouts knows the advan- 

 but the position ^ far is that the grovying S ^ ^^^^^^ ^ 



Now 



then you ses the exl 

 ' and look astonished 



specimens the like of which won first prize 

 the year before passed over, but this is 

 where judges are at fault. More consis- 

 tency is wanted amongst the gardeners who 

 adjudicate at village show^s. There are too 

 many of them w'ho still act on tlie prin- 

 <iiple that in a cottagers' class the prizes 

 must necessarily be given to the biggest 

 specimens, and they tempt exhibitors to 

 aim for size alone. Then when a change of 

 judges takes place, and men come along 

 who have studied the Royal Horticultural 

 Society's rules for judging, the big things 

 which lack quality are left out, and the 

 exhibitor is naturally puzzled and disap- 

 pointed. Let us then have consistency 

 amongst village show judges, and in the 

 <^a6e of collections of vegetables I would go 

 one better and have point cards plac^ on 

 the exhibits, sho wine the marks accorded to 



of potatoes is a more important muustry 

 now than ever before in the history of the 

 wwld . 



We are told that green peas were first im- 

 ported from Holland in tlie days of Queen 

 JtJess, but for years they remained a luxury 

 for the few, not, as now, a commodity for 

 the million. Now tlie varieties of peas are 

 legion, and the cottager can have as good 

 peas on his table as tiie millionaire. We 

 iiave passed through the period of small 

 rounded seeded peas, which are now con- 

 sidered to be only good enough for field 

 culture, and we have seen how the raiser 

 has introduced into the dwarf section the 

 long pods and flavour of the Marrowfat 

 type. Take Sutton's Little Marvel as an 

 illustration, and compare, say. Early Giant, 

 introduced by the ,san*e firm, with the best 

 first early of half-a-century ago. In Car- 

 ter's Quite Content we have a pea that 

 might have been specially designed for the 

 exhibitor, with Veitch's Autocrat as a 

 standard 'variety, with others of the Duke 

 of Albany type, for those who want big 

 quantities, and have room for growing tall 

 peas. Truly it is a story of progress, this 

 revolution in pea culture! 



Go into any vegetable sliow you like, 

 even a cottagers' show, and note the scarlet 

 runner beans— long, straight, fleshy pods of 

 first-class quality, having little in common 

 with the original type of scarlet runner. 

 What are they ? Here again give the 

 raiser credit, for, ten to one, they are Sut- 

 ton's Prizewinner, Carters Emperor, or 

 some similarly selected type. 



because in the case of a superior variety 

 one can rely on obtaining firm hard sprouts 

 all the wav up the stems. 



In the above instances, we see evidence 

 of the most marked unprovements, but no 

 crop in the kitchen garden has been over- 

 looked. For instance, the types of modem 

 lettuces are quite a study, tomatoes may be 

 described as a (Meatiou of recent years, and 

 every other grower you meet has his own 

 selection. The introduction of what is 

 called French gardening has prompted 

 raisers to turn their attention to types 

 suited to this class of culture. Even with 

 the most commonplace vegetables tlie gar- 

 dener to-day can choose between ordinary 

 types and improve<l relations, and, gener- 

 ally speaking, it is to his advantage to take 

 the latter. In short, by an equal dLsplay of 

 skill and intelligence these two great 

 parties the seedsmen on the one hand and 

 frrowers on 



with wonderful effect in bringing about the 

 revolution in vegetable culture, the effects 

 of which are to be si^en in gardens of every 



description at the present day. 



G. H. H. 



Primula poculiformis, can 



Primula Obconica.— Anyone ac- 

 quainted with this little primula thirty years 

 ago, when it was H^nired in the "Botanical 



Magazine ''as . . ^-u 4. 



fully appreciate the great improvements tHat 

 have been effected by a g-radual process of 

 selection. Now not only are the flowers large 

 and boldly displayed, but there is also a wide 

 ran^c of colour among them. — ^W. T, 



