48 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 17, 1884. 
Mr. J. Smith’s suggestion regarding a covered fernery 
or rockery at Kew is an excellent one, and it is surpritiag 
that something of the kind has not been constructed there 
ere this. It would undoubtedly furnish a great additional 
attraction, and would not occasion any very great expense, 
the only difficulty being perhaps to decide the precise form 
it should take. An ornamental so-called natural fernery, 
such as is seen occasionally in gentlemen’s gardens, would 
probably be considered unsuitable in an establishment like 
Kew, but it would not be difficult to utilise it in regard to 
the special object of the garden.] 
THOUGHTS ON CUERENT TOPICS. 
“ Gather ye Rose buds while ye may ” appears to have been 
the mottj of the Journal during the last fortnight, and this 
motto seems to have been acted on freely, for according to the 
reports of shows tens of thousands of blooms must have been 
“gathered ” for the glorification of cultivators and the gi-atifica- 
tion of admirers at the exhibitions in question. Having had the 
privilege of seeing one great show, I think those who produced 
the magnificent blooms have good reason to be satisfied with their 
work, considering the extraordinary weather obstacles with which 
they had to contend at a critical period in the growth of the 
plants, and certainly they merited the honours they won and the 
commendations that have been so justly bestowed, We may and 
do admire to the full Datfodils, Auriculas, Carnations, and 
Orchids, but the Royal Rose is the queen of all. 
And as the head of the Roses, which of the many claimants 
for pre-eminence shall we place in that proud position ? The 
Rose of which so much was heard last year and just a little this 
—Her Majesty—ought, I think, according to the fitness of things 
to occupy the throne. She was almost worshipped last July, but 
during the pi’esent season does not a])pear to have been at court 
at all. How is this ? As a loyal subject I am disaj^pointed. 
She has been sought for at the shows, and the reports have been 
scanned line by line, but no one appears to have seen her, and as 
to the chroniclers they “ Jiever mention her.” Is she of a retiring 
disposition ? Has she taken umbrage ? Is she a late riser P Or 
is she reserving herself for the grand finale to come on the stage 
like a flash of light to retire amidst the plaudits of her courtiers ? 
At any rate, let the reason of her absence be what it may, the 
cry has gone forth “ Where is Her Majesty ? ” 
Can we place Alfred K. Williams on the giddy pinnacle ? 
As a dark Rose I think this must now head the rich array. That 
other Alfred—Oolomb—must stand aside; and hard as it maybe 
to say it, so must the sweet and globing Marie Baumann. There 
has been a battle over the gender of the first Alfred, but whether 
she is an emperor or he an empress must be left to the learned 
correspondents, Mr. Murphy and another “ man of letters,” who 
appears to require the head and tail of the alphabet arranged in 
sweet confusion to clearly express his identity. Let their 
researches result how they may, Alfred K. Williams must, for 
exhibition purposes at least, be regarded as the first dark Rose. 
And among the “ lovely lights ” shall the beautiful La 
France be dethroned ? I think not, though she has powerful 
rivals in what looks like one of her children in Lady Mary 
Fitzwilliam; and a child of an older rival, La Baronne de 
Rothschild, to wit Merveille de Lyon. Of these two new Roses 
the former is shell-like—the essence of grace; the latter—well 
flatter, with a pallid white face. That is what I think of these 
stars of the season. They are acquisitions, will be largely 
grown and freely shown; but the reign of La France is not 
ended yet. 
A CORRESPONDENT on page 2 says Roses like liquid manure, 
and he is right; but another remark on page 4 is eminently 
worth repeating. Were it not that I have heard that editors 
regard italicised sentences as an apology for weak arguments, I 
should ask that “ A Kitchen Gardener’s ” remark be printed in 
italics. “ Liquid manure,” he says, “ should never be used to 
force young plants into growth, or to make sickly plants healthy, 
as in nine cases out of ten it will have the op)posite of the desired 
effect. ’ With the one reservation that plants may be made 
sickly by poverty of soil and liquid manure may then assist 
them, 1 endorse empihatically the p)rinciple embodied in the 
sentence quoted. Liquid manure cannot be given beneficially to 
plants until they have become fairly established and extracted 
most of the virtues from the soil, and it can never be given safely 
nor economically to any plants when the soil is quite di’y. If 
dry, water them first well with pure water, then while the soil is 
still moist give liquid manure when a stimulant is needed.^ That 
is my thought on the subject in question, which is one of import¬ 
ance, and “A Kitchen Gardener's ” maxim, for maxim it is, should 
be remembered by all, especially by very young men with very 
advanced notions, and inexperienced amateurs, who kill sickly 
plants when they think they are curing them with strong doses 
of liquid manure. 
A “ NEW DEPARTURE ” in judging Melons has been recorded. 
Prizes have been awarded to the fruit in one case, and a ceiti- 
ficate given in another, to Melons that have not been cut, conse¬ 
quently not tasted. This method of judging is occasionally 
adopted at local shows, but such guesswork at a Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society’s exhibition is, 1 venture to think, a step in the 
wrong direction. There are clever men in the world 1 know, and 
amongst the cleverest are the proverbially “ clever gardeners ; ” 
but there is not one of them clever enough to determine with 
accuracy the relative merits of Melons without cutting them. 
I have grown a few hundreds, or thousands, of Melons in. my 
time, won a few pDrizes and lost more, judged the fruit at some 
dozens of shows with colleagues of great exp>erience, including 
some who boasted of their competency in judging without cutting; 
but on being put to the test they were wrong in their diagnoses 
nine times out of ten. In every important show when Melons 
are shown in classes the fruit should be cut, as thei’e can be no 
certainty that justice will be done to exhibitors. When staged 
in collections including other kinds of fruit, the competition is 
seldom so close as to render this necessary. 
I AM taking the topics at random to bestow on them a passing 
thought; only one or two others can be alluded to at present. 
I thought when I read the article on hot weather that the writer 
of it would feel himself a little out in his reckonings, at least if 
he had been with me—glad to find shelter from the drenching 
rain when the postman delivered the Journal last Thursday 
afternoon. It may not have been the same in all places. I 
thought, too, the picture of the drought a little overdrawn, until 
I saw a representation in an illustrated paper of a cricket match 
being played in the bed of the Thames at Twickenham, and 
luncheon being cooked on ground above which steamers habitu¬ 
ally glide. That indicates a scarcity of water with a vengeance, and 
the advice about shading and watering, salt and dew, that did 
not fit in my case, might be useful to somebody, as it may be of 
service to me before the summer is over. 
Just one more thought—for I cannot get over it—about the 
conflicting paragraphs relative to the National Carnation Society. 
One week it is formally announced that a firm of solicitors were 
instructed by the “ executive committee ” to take legal proceed¬ 
ings ; the week following we are told by the same authority that 
the “executive committee” did not give any instructions, but 
they were given by the “ executive.” The solicitors made a 
mistake. It is curious, and not the less so that the mistake 
was not discovered sooner; for instance, when the “circular” 
was being jirepared for distribution. It is curious, too, that the 
Society has a committee and an “ executive ” as well; and it is 
still further singular, in fact unique, that a society so well 
officered with its committee and its “executive ” should have no 
rules nor regulations. It seems, too, that the “ executive ” of 
this society and its committee have different views of things. 
The question then arises. Which is the controlling power ? If the 
committee, of what use is the “executive ? ” if the “ executive,” 
of what use is the committee ? Surely I think of all extra- 
ordinai-y organisations this is the most remarkable, and the 
anomaly is the more striking, as pertaining to a “ national ” 
society ; but the greatest anomaly of all is the nameless “ execu¬ 
tive.” By whom was this acting body appointed ? 1 have been 
trying to think the matter out, but it is above my mental 
capacity.— A Thinker. 
STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR ENEMIES-MOLES. 
I HAVE given the above heading, but perhaps I ought to change 
“ their ” into “ our,’’ for the birds, &c., are rather lovers of the Strawberry 
and enemies to us, in that they wish to eat what we desire for ourselves. 
This year has been a bad Strawberry year for me, for my soil being 
exceedingly light and gravelly, the plants have been nearly dried up, and 
had it not been for Forman’s Excelsior I should have been without fruit. 
This variety I have found to succeed in my poor soil, and this year is 
bearing a heavy crop of fine well-flavoured fruit. The colour is hardly 
so good as might be wished, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, 
and anyone who grows this Strawberry will not be disappointed. 
