clxXXViii PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of tubers produced, their weight, and so on. This year, each com- 

 petitor was given one 4 oz. tuber, and was only permitted to cut 

 it into two parts. The highest yield had been 17J lbs. from the two 

 sets. He suggested that a similar competition should be promoted 

 by the R.H.S. between the various affiliated Societies as tending to a 

 general healthy interest between the various Societies concerned. 



Mr. Gregory, speaking on behalf of the Croydon Mutual Im- 

 provement Society, urged that quality was no less important than 

 quantity, an aspect of the competition which should not be lost 

 sight of. 



N.B. — This matter engaged the careful attention of the Council at 

 its meeting on Tuesday, October 12, but it was considered almost, if 

 not quite, impossible for the R.H.S. to organize such inter-Society 

 competitions. It was suggested that they could be far better ar- 

 ranged by Societies themselves within prescribed and limited districts 

 with convenient access to each other. The Council hope to hear that 

 the competitions have been taken up on these lines as being conducive 

 to a healthy spirit of rivalry and good fellowship between the Societies 

 concerned. 



3. The Organization of Town Gardening. 



Mr. Cyril Harding, of the Heart of Mid-London Society, which, for 

 some years past, has been doing such excellent work in back-garden 

 and window-box gardening in the crowded district of Walworth, spoke 

 as follows on this subject : — 



In Walworth, one of the most crowded areas, the " Heart of Mid- 

 London Horticultural Society " is doing good work. A garden com- 

 petition is held every year, and three flower shows take place an- 

 nually in the Browning Hall. These shows are — the Bulb Show early 

 in April, the Summer Show in July, and the Dahlia Show in Sep- 

 tember. About 140 entries are received annually in the garden 

 competition, and the gardens are mainly situated in slum districts. 

 The Gardens Guild is endeavouring to do, throughout the whole 

 London area, what is now being done in Walworth. It is our ex- 

 perience that as a means of moral and physical reform there is nothing 

 that can surpass the cultivation of gardens. One of our chief prize- 

 winners was, a year or two ago, a very strenuous patron of the local 

 public-houses. Now he is seldom if ever seen there, and his wife and 

 children fully appreciate the difference. All that was done was to 

 get the man interested in his garden. The result of our work in 

 Walworth is a distinct improvement in the appearance of the district, 

 and fewer bare front and back gardens. The children are being 

 gradually drawn in by means of competitions for drawings and paintings 

 of flowers. 



Throughout London and the larger cities there are numerous 

 societies performing a similar work. But there is as yet nothing of 

 the nature of cohesive effort, and there is much overlapping. Many 

 societies suffer for lack of expert advice. There are numbers of 



