THE 



GARDENERS 



MAGAZINE. 



SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1898. 



T 



ATIONAL 



CHRYSANTHEM U M SOCIETY, separate rooms for apples and pears where the quantity of fruit is 



»»r t'tt'o rimnrf Ta nan est. CKrvsanthemums, Groups of 011 /y- . .t • , . . r „ n , . . , 



sumcient to justify this being done cannot be too strongly insisted upon, 

 as apples keep in the most satisfactory condition in a structure in which 

 a low temperature and a moderate degree of atmospheric humidity are 

 maintained ; while pears require a moderate degree of warmth and a dry 

 air to ensure the full development of their colour and flavour, 



iyi " a rvif 4 t? titnt Westminster. — Grand Japanese Chrysanthemums, Groups of 

 1% ?TDeS October xx, 12, and 



^'Schedules Secretary, Ranelagh Road, Ealing, W. 



THE ' t ^ 



tadtctot fHRYS ANTHEM U M SOCIETY (in consequence of the Great 



R R I? rnkton Hal!) will hold their 35th ANNUAL SHOW in the 



V Fire at the Colston UWwn* RAU ^ 3£ UEEN . S ROAD, 



On WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, and FRIDAY, 



November 16, 17 and 18 next. 



c • 1 n«v«; and Prizes for Amateurs: Twelve Guiuea Challenge Vase to be competed 

 ^ % Five ^taef Chalto^ Cup for Amateur Comoetion. The Veftch Memorial Pnze for 

 fc£ d 'Sid Suve" and Bronze Sedate, Solid Silver Cups, &c. 

 ^hedules free of the Secretary, ^ & 



Mervyn Road, Bishopston, Bristol. 



T t NITED HORTICULTURAL BENEFIT AND PROVIDENT 



U SOCIETY— The ANNUAL DINNER of this Society will take place at the Holborn 

 BrcrAnsANT on WEDNESDAY, October 5, at 6.30 p m. • . _ 



Mr. Georgd Bunyard, V.M.H., will preside. Tickets g. each to be had of the Secretary, 



W. Collins, 9, Mamndale Road, Balnam, a«W. 



0 SECRETARIES OF FRUIT SHOWS, &c— JUDGING OF FRUITS, 



FLOWERS and VEGETABLES, by Stephen Castle. F.R.H.S., Consulting 



Horticulturist, Bottesford Vineries, Notts, 

 Terms on application. Telegrams, '* Grapes," Botte sford. 



ORTICULTURAL SHOW ADVERTISE 



I~l column at One Shilling per line, the minimum char 

 mem Office, 148 and 149, Aldersgate Street, London, E.C. 



NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS. 



Owing to continued increase in circulation, the " Gardeners' Magazine 



it 



WATER. 



The abnormally long spell of drought under *which all plant growers 

 are now suffering brings home to us the immense importance of a com- 

 modity of which usually the abundant supply vouchsafed by Nature 

 renders it one of those common things which we take as matters of course 

 without troubling our brains about them. When we do give it a thought, 

 we regard water as a mere adjunct to our comfort, and forget that, taking 

 our world as a whole, we earth-dwellers occupy but a minor pait of it, and 

 certainly form a very decided minority in the whole census of the vitality 

 ^which peoples it. Not only do the ocean areas form a watery empire far 

 exceeding in extent that of the land, but the land areas are invaded and 

 occupied by an innumerable army of watery settlers in the shape of lakes, 

 little and big, grading down to ponds and puddles, and also permeated 

 in all directions by these channels of supply, grading up from the thread- 

 like rills oi water, the offspring of the latest shower, to mighty rivers of 

 hundreds or even thousands of miles in length. Above a certain level, 



Notes of the Week. 



u 



now goes to press on Wednesday. No advertisement can be guaranteed too, even in the Torrid zone, water again monopolises the earth's surface 

 insertion, or altered, unless received before Four p.m. on that day, in the shape of perpetual snow and ice, and at both poles does this so tho- 

 roughly that man himself, with all his arts and sciences, is baffled in his at- 

 tempts at penetration. This, however, by no means defines the extent of 

 the watery domain ; the very air is pervaded with it in its invisible form of 

 vapour; and going further still, instead of its being a mere adjunct to our 

 comforts, man and all living things are mainly built of it, and our needs 

 There is unquestionably some room for a difference of opinion as to of ^ w h e ther for ourselves or our plants, are mainly dictated by the 

 hcthcr it is more profitable to store late-keeping apples and pears grown neC essity of keeping up the internal supplies to prevent ourselves and 

 • -arket, especially the former, until they are approaching maturity, or them from s h r ivelling into comparative nothingness. Man forms the 



FRUIT STORAGE. 



ill 



U them within a short time of gathering, as so much depends upon Qne except j on among created beings whose needs are not satisfied by 



conditions- But there can be no question as to the importance of his boc jii y sup piies, he has pressed water into his service in many other 



■wage in the case of the supplies of varieties intended for late use, ways , and by allying it with heat profits by its expansive force under 



Withe experienced cultivator makes his arrangements accordingly. The suc h alliance not merely to make it do the bulk of his work on land, but 



Jestion of fruit storage is, therefore, one that immediately concerns all tQ tum tra i t0 ' rj as ft wer e, and enable him to invade the ocean's wide ex- 



*o are engaged in the production of supplies of hardy fruits for ge ag easil ' y and a i m0 st as rapidly as he does that of the dry ground, 



jnvate establishments, and, consequently, should have fuller consideration thanks t0 j ts beneficent invasion of the land, invisible as aerial vapour, 



JJ» « bestowed upon it by the general body of cultivators. It is essen- Qr yisibly in the f orm of legions of clouds, not only are our lovely 



the trees should be carefully pruned, kept free from insect enemies, landscapes shape d into hill and dale by the resulting rains, but are 



supplied with fertilisers, according to individual requirements, to c i ot h e d with all the beautiful vegetation in which we plant lovers revel, 



an abundant harvest ; but unless the fruit is stored under condi- Thanks to the cloudy army sweeping athwart the skies from their birth- 



"favourable to it keeping satisfactorily the efforts of the cultivator will ^ ^ Qcean not omy do our gardens teem with flowers, but our 



^of much avail. An immense improvement has of late years been f^ds a re clad with verdure from end to end, our country is seamed 



with waterways, and the immense majority of our ex. jjoyments and plea- 

 sures may be traced to the use of the facilities and forces a«orded 

 and derived from, the water thus conveyed tons Small wonder then that 

 a perceptible diminution of the rainfail, extendmg over months should 

 cause a Ueral sigh for a restitution of the average, and groans from not 

 a few gafdeners ^the sight of their floral pets suffering the d.re distress 

 of drought which is now so general. 



NAMING SPECIMENS AT EXHIBITIONS. 



IT is evident that managers of flower shows are in ".any cases 



, Z . m ■HUB 



•ind t ^ ie . met ' 10 ^ °^ stora ge in many instances, and when we call to 

 the admirably arranged, yet inexpensive, fruit rooms that are to be 



Cfctri 1D many gardens > lt is astounding so large a number of makeshift 

 n g . nces tllat are in existence should be tolerated. In some instances 



*** room S at baClc °* a * orc * n £ or P lant ' house converted into a 

 tot for h m ° tllers a lo ft over a sta ble is considered to be an admirable 

 * whi-h 1 h St ° rag . e of choice fruits, and we might give other examples 

 fepingitsfini 1 1S placed under conditions equally unfavourable to 

 fct th<L gth of time > and attaining to a high state of perfection. 



m ust suffice for the purpose of showing that there is in many 



'llid*nc a ?i. Urg ! nt necessit Y for reform, and impressing upon the owners It is evident mac man***'- - - - ,. in{r tn the 



1 I*oper nlo/^ - * in ^* . , „- f L *Vio rpcnit that a considerable pro- 



°P«r place 



!»that mwhich to keepj it until it is ready for the table. We 



**** e^a y fn,i! tiVat0rS - fail l ° ° btain P ermission t0 execute their Vortion of the compeunvc ***** -~ ^ . 

 * some'l I r °° ms m acc ° rd ance with advanced ideas, because their educational value. The object * ^wer snows 



equipped fruit n room is proved r hods 



rt is no fctJ T ' the experienced fruit grower is so. well aware necessarily accomplished by prcsenu h F flowers, 



^ lO txn^A - ! . ^monf r^f rpnrpcentative collections 



m i bm iii* considerable sum in building and fitting up a fruit 



n _ . ine ^sults 1 



becoming very U» in u.« considerable pro- 



naming of specimens exhib. 1 e much 



portion of the competitive S^ ^Z r shows is to promote im- 



- «a lne . Wl11 not be more satisfactory than those obtained 

 ^hes. j nsive structure, provided, of course, it is designed on 



m atters not if the room be severely plain, provided it is 



I^ted thauSijn T "Sf' ? ^ " " ^ fit SSS S?Sm5 K was held ; and 



r^Perature, to J V* n0t exp0Sed t0 Sudden 0r matenal chan S es must of necesSlty fad t0 f C °T«f time and money to hold a show that 



necebbaruy ^" 7^1. diffusion of a knowledge of plants, flowers, 



of cultural excell ^ence the d A ™° q{ nt ^ vt collectlons 



frmts, «d vegetables^by ^ ewo J ^ ^ of becoming 



at the exhibition and ^by afford g - ^ 



acquainted with lhe f f.^^^JLystematically ignored the exhibition 

 when the naming of the Spearnens y y ^ ^ ^ 



must of necessity tan w. ^ f rf ^ ^ mQney tQ hold a show that 



~nequahilit„ tZ 1 ' r 11 a PP ears t0 us \ g l ^ tn the district beyond providing a pleasant 



^ S » S£b£Z£ r^Tl 6 readUy ° bta5ned by meanS ° f Cann0t he J^ t ^t n aee. we would asl, is it\o exhibit plants grown to 



, W a f rf*c ti on unless those interested have an opportunity 

 the highest degree ^P^J^ lants ^presented by the specimens? 

 of learning the name o he p ^ 



Of what avail is : to -the he ascertain ^ 

 fruits, and vegetables presenieu 



Aatnu h ? arching atmosphere, or an excess of atmospheric 

 t d w i y ° f tem P erat "re is readily obtained by means of 



^v- ^th 0 slVdrvnl WOOd ; intervenin ^ S P ace of the Iatter hoiida ^ ° f 7 hat TiSon ^th^ iteiited have anop^rtonit, 



^? teen *cheT n ^thickness T?"? ^ ^ higheSt cSTplants represented by the specimens ? 

 ^J* 1 be easj. 3 ,n mickness. The hygrometnc conditions of the Lommtr the names oi uic v r . * , .. * l 



^ ^ ventilation J 6 * 1 by th& ventilators > but in the case of apples 



n will be necessary. The desirability of providing 



