EXPERIMENTAL HORTICULTURE. 
445 
basis than individual effort, and be conducted on carefully 
planned and well-defined lines. It is not sufficient to record 
that a new varietal form of a certain vegetable thrives in one 
garden, and some other new introduction gives good crops else¬ 
where, unless we know something about the conditions under 
which they were each grown, and the points in which they 
differ from closely related forms in general cultivation when 
grown under precisely the same conditions. Experiments con¬ 
ducted otherwise than systematically must fail to be of any 
appreciable value, and they may be, as indeed many are, mis¬ 
leading. I mention this for the purpose of impressing upon 
those who have novelties submitted to them for trial and report, 
that it is not sufficient to subject the new introductions to a 
special course of culture while the standard varieties with which 
they are to be compared are grown under ordinary conditions. 
Experimental horticulture has hitherto received but little 
attention from the innumerable societies that have been founded 
with the avowed object of contributing to the progress of 
horticulture, and of experimental stations strictly speaking 
there are but few. Foremost among these is unquestionably 
the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden at Chiswick, where, 
since its foundation, an immense amount of excellent work 
has been accomplished, as proved by the records in the Society’s 
Journal. It would be difficult to place too high an estimate on 
the value of the information obtained in the course of the 
trials of fruits, flowers, and vegetables, that have been con¬ 
ducted at Chiswick during the long period the garden has 
formed part of the Society’s possessions. But it is seldom 
that work, however satisfactory it may appear, is so well done 
that it might not have been better; and in the case of our 
garden we have not as yet taken full advantage of the oppor¬ 
tunity it has afforded for determining authoritatively matters 
of pressing importance to the general body of horticulturists. 
There is also the experimental fruit garden established by 
Earl Beauchamp at Madresfield Court for the purpose of sub¬ 
jecting to a thorough trial the more popular varieties of the 
several kinds of hardy fruits, with a view to assist the tenants 
on the estate in making selections for the formation of new 
orchards and plantations. 
A still more extensive experimental fruit farm is that 
