432 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



. — 



J ULY 9, 1898. 



We we have no doubt as to the variety becoming highly popular and being |_| ow w£ MADE OUR R 0 SE SHOW^Mo^ 



•J ilZ LnVof the most valuable of the roses that have originated in the ^ opnj W&UCCESS 



considered one of the most vaiud UNTIL the eve of April 23, 1884, roses i 



Waltham Cross Nurseries 



in North Lonsdale 



u t'f; a *■ fi /i «v> t fk • unknown, except as roses. As to H.P.'s, teas &r *t WCre virtu ally 



De5 P oiling the Country.-We are much graUhed to find that the V1 ew 5 ; ' exce £ t that tea leaves th ' e Dr ' ^ V ? WCre al *<*t 



u u * c ;„ n h** teen so frequently given in the Gardeners' Magazine mystics, cav. f 3 were tne proper food for tM . 



to which expression has been so irequem / & ^ f M , _ Certainly we had a few enthusiasts in our midst, but that te 



with regard to the necessity of protecting ferns and some other of our wild plants 

 from the vandals are meeting with support in the pages of the general Press. A 

 contemporary, in referring to the question, observes : " Much has been done by 

 legislation for the protection of wild birds, and it looks as if the day may come 

 when it will be necessary to do the same for wild flowers, especially for ferns. The 

 fondness for ferns grows apace. Those in towns and cities pent are year by year, 

 in ever-increasing numbers, making or renewing acquaintance with rural scenes 

 and the charms of wood and water. A glimpse of the delicate fronds of a fern, 

 j ust peering forth above! withered leaves and grass, excites a desire to take the 

 whole plant home. It is taken up so unskilfully'.that it is carried back to the town 

 only to wither and die. Every season thousands of ferns are thus taken (only to 

 be sacrificed) from the wooded banks of the Blyth, Wansbeck, and Couquet. To 

 meet the demand for ferns, some persons carry on a regular traffic in them. Living 

 in the locality, they know the [habitats of the different kinds, take them up by the 

 score, establish them in|small pets, and whip them off to a neighbouring market. 



The rarer sorts are in danger of being exterminated. Many districts in Cornwall John Ruskin, whose 

 are in this way being robbed of their finest ferns. It has been suggested that the 

 Parish Councils should at least take measures to save those that grow in the way- 



be grown out of doors in our northern climate,' there wlsT, T** C ° Uld 

 and that was, it could not be done. Our horticultural „,..♦:« \,° ne ldea > 



**— j horticultural meeting ti, » • ' 



resolved itself into a Rose Show Committee, and much as t n ' ght 

 regretted, the flower show has been abandoned for lack of enerlV° n, 

 the original committee of seventeen only four remain not that a \ 

 been very rife, but perhaps enterprise has shaken the lackadaiS has 

 out of office. cai 0n cs 



Our first show was held on July 1 1, 1884, and the same date wa< fi a 

 in 1890 and 1894. At our first show a lady handed the Vort^ 

 a ten shilling piece, and great was our gratitude, as the total l*?V 

 amounted to £6 4s. 6d. We commenced with nothing, as thfvS 

 Lonsdale Rose Society was a daughter society of the local Hortfcult?,™ 

 Society's, hence we were not allowed to solicit subscriptions, and this 1, 

 rigidly adhered to, as the same hon. secretary worked both 



— 77 — . ' , , -^'"■"j yvuikcu ooin societ pc 



and about this time had some correspondence with the Coniston S 

 John Ruskin, whose kindness of thought and finance was hi£ 

 appreciated, and one regret of the writer is that this great critic hZ 



aiiv cli rwxr t n nncn pvArir tv*-/-v*-v*v*. i_ _ i l *db 



ide hedgerows. 



Switzerland in making regulations to prevent the Alps being stripped of the edel- 

 weiss ; County Councils should be empowered to extend protection to certain wild 

 flowers, as they at present do to specified wild birds and their eggs. Only thus 

 will some of Nature's rarest floral beauties be saved from extirpation." 



The Fruit Crop.— Writing from Kirkby-in-Furness, Mr. Alfred Darbey ob- 

 serves : " As a subscriber to the Gardeners' Magazine for twenty years, I have 

 derived much pleasure and assistance, as a fruit grower, from the sound teaching 

 contained in the articles during that time. I am particularly interested in an article 

 from your correspondent A. D., in reference to his note on 1 Fruit Blooms and 

 Fruit Prospects,' and as he invites opinions as to the cause of the disparity, may I 



,ou,a »i .«» u,* c ^ — , «. ~ ~ — 6 ~~ never visited our show, though every proper means has been used to 



The authorities of the Austrian Tyrol have followed those of £ am h 'f presence. The struggle was great ; in fact our initial balance 



was chiefly composed of prize money returned, and discount deducted 



venture to express my opinions on the chief cause of disparity to which he refers. 



ly opinion is that the cause was the very low temperature during May, 

 accompanied here with the coldest east wind experienced for the past seven years, 

 the foliage on four pyramids of Beurre d'Amanlis pear having been completely 

 blackened. Here we have no plums worth mentioning ; pears are worse, for 

 even the Hessel has failed in some places. I find Rivers Fertility very hardy. 

 Apples are producing a moderate crop, some as Lord Grosvenor, Grenadier, 

 Bramley, are set too thickly, but the most disappointing of all is the Ecklinville 

 Seedling. I believe this is the third year the results have been nil, and 

 unfortunately I have forty trees of it. I should like to say more but my letter is 

 too long already. I grow sixty varieties and have tried all the leading sorts 

 within half a mile of the sea shore, and perhaps my experience might have been 

 helpful." We shall be pleased to publish the experience of our esteemed 

 correspondent as it cannot fail to be otherwise than interesting and useful to a 

 large section of our readers. 



The Leeds Flower Show, held a few days ago, proved a financial failure* 

 and we much regret to hear that the committee is left with a deficit of about 



for cash payments. Cash payments have greatly helped the popularity 

 of the society, and it has generally been our proud position to be free of 

 all debts within a fortnight of show day. 



Our first show was held in a charming new auction room ; we had 

 two German roller canaries and a musical box for music, and two large 

 cucumbers as extras. The second show was held in the same room 

 which was greatly beautified, as the walls were covered with exquisite 

 pictures, value £11,000, which were there on sale, and the owner 

 generously presented a special prize, and refused admittance to two old 

 skinflints who wanted to see the pictures, as an excuse to gain free 

 admittance, though they were retired individuals. Unfortunately on this 

 show day the Sunday school anniversary was held, so that a general 

 exodus from town was the order of affairs, though the few loyal visitors 

 were warmly welcomed, but by a little persuasion the genial vicar, Canon 

 C. W. Bardsley, M. A. (a brother of the Bishop of Carlisle) allowed the 

 procession to be dismissed in the square opposite our rose show, somewhat 

 to the discomfort of a few old maids who had anticipated singing " God 

 Save the Queen," out of a shop window, instead of dutifully and loyally 

 paying their respects to " Our Queen." 



One jovial genius with a giggling girl on each arm looked fair quarry 

 at the station on arrival of the train for enterprise, so that the chance to 

 burst upon him the glorious news that a rose show was in their midst was 

 not to be lost, but all the return was a vacant stare and — " Is there ? " This 



mode of advertising was never adopted again ; ink and paper, whether 

 writing or printing, has been our main sheet. Again, an alteration had 

 to be made so that no clashing or general exoduses took place on our 

 date. To this end every clergyman in the town was advised of our future 

 dates, and asked to make a note of it, and now we can thankfully say 

 our date is respected. Our third show was held in the same room, but 

 j£i5o. This unlooked for result is unaccountable, as the weather was. fine and the by dint of pen, ink, and paper some two hundred ladies were written to 

 display good. On the first day half-a-crown was charged until six p.m., and only t0 lend their presence and they turned out in grand numbers. 



j£i$ was taken up to that hour ; later, 2,800 people passed into the show upon 

 payment of one shilling. On the second day there were 3,800 visitors ; but on 



the closing day, although only sixpence was charged after four p.m., only 1,200 , , 4 



passed the turnstiles. The lack of half-a-crown admissions seems to have done Peonage and presence." Perhaps not a little of our success was due to 



From this date we credited ourselves as being the fashionable gather- 

 ing of the district, or, as our circulars to-day say, " The Queen of Flowers 

 holds a reception on in , and commands the honour of your 



more than anything else to bring about so large a deficit. It is proposed to appeal 

 to the influential residents of the city for help. 



Failure of Black Currants.— An interesting case of the failure of bushes 

 of the black currant to produce fruit for several years is reported upon in the 

 Highland Society's transactions. It appears that Mr. John Speir, of Newton, 

 Glasgow, called the attention of the society's Scientific Committee to a plantation 

 of bushes which, although apparently healthy, had failed to produce crops for 

 four years. He stated that shortly after flowering the blossoms became sickly and 

 dropped off, although for some years after the bushes were planted they bore well. 

 Mr. Speir suspected some injurious constituent in the soil, though it is not clear 

 why he should have entertained such a suspicion, seeing that the bushes had been 

 fruitful. The Science Committee considered the subject worth investigation, and 

 directed their chemist, Dr. Aitken to analyse the soil. lie found that there was 

 a deficiency of lime and potash, buc does not consider that this accounts for the 

 failure of the bushes to fruit. He found nothing injurious in the soil, and sug 

 gests that an examination of the air might throw light upon the subject. Mr. Speir 

 would, no doubt, have detected the presence of the black currant mite if the bushes 

 had been infested with that pest, but nothing is said about their freedom from it. 



Lyons International Horticultural Exhibition -The programme of 



the international exhibition to be held in the city of Lyons in September next is 

 now published, and the exhibition has the promise, the president informs us, of 

 being of exceptional importance. It is expected that both exhibitors and visitors 



the presence of that veteran but enterprising rosarian the late Rev. F. H 

 Gal), who, be it understood, was duly announced " as coming " in all the 

 papers. We lost no points of this kind, and his reverence was a very 

 Triton amongst the minnows and a regular lady's man. He offered a 

 prize value 16s. 6d., which did the secretary's heart good. Would there were 

 more like this genial soul, but, alas ! no longer with us. Of him it is written 

 in our then weekly paper : " It is plucky of an old veteran at rose- 

 showing, the Rev. F. H. Gall, to come some two hundred miles or more to 

 show Ulverston folks how prizes could be won. He must have been a 

 regular teazer, as he carried all before him in the tea rose line " ; and 

 amongst our original exhibitors none have forgotten him. It was 



through him our society became affiliated to the N.R.S., which was one 



k^o* -i— j 1- .1-- - _ j- j In jgg 7 we a dded nursery- 



:e money from ^13 t0 

 15 14s. 7d. The show was 



in a marquee. Of course, it was Jubilee year No. 1, so we had to 

 break out somewhere. Our railway company were interviewed by our 

 to-day's chairman, and they magnanimously granted us the exceptional 

 privilege of return tickets for single fare over a certain area, which was 

 the first time ever granted. Admitting enthusiasm usually ends m 

 success, getting the right man to be the ambassador is a potent factor in 

 any scheme. Always keep the newspapers fed with the rosiest trutn* , 

 it greatly helps attendance. This year (1887) T. B. Hall, Esq., w 

 Budd, Rev. F. H. Gall, Messrs. Harkness, Dicksons (Newtownards ana 



1 6s. 6d., though we only had a balance of £ 

 held 



Csr^sr z^zz^rx were 0ur iocai - m * time - and our bab 



conscqucnc 



leave over the article, «n «. a 7- H "T e on our s P ace we are com P e »ed to 

 " Rose, in Deco"uS " "Tea-Ro** for Market," and 



Then it dawned upon us that the society could not keep itself going, 

 so that a concert was decided upon. The concert eventually was i 

 entertainment of the season ; as a matter of fact in 1892 the concen 



eX i? e u Se f, WCre IIS -4d-, and our balance increased to £41 '9 ^ - 

 which all meant very hard work, with careful expenditure and atten ion 

 detail, such as having the genial vicar at the show to greet the visiro 



