September 25. 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
291 
then can be had in bloom by the first weeh in November. These 
varieties are next to useless for decoration in pots, and should 
always be planted thickly tof»ether in boxes and pans for cutting 
purposes only. The bulbs are not so certain to Hower as Roman 
Hyacinths; we have been very much disappointed with them 
some seasons and resolved not to grow them again, while in 
other years they have done well. A few only are grown to 
produce flowers until we can get States General into bloom, 
which is the next eaidiest variety. The double Roman is about 
ten days earlier than Paper White when the bulbs are potted 
together, and if those of States General could be obtained at 
the same time it would not be far behind them. 
The secret of having bulbous plants in flower early is to know 
what varieties are best adapted for foiling, then secure the 
bulbs directly they arrive, and pot or box them at once. Success 
afterwai’ds is certain if thev are forced into bloom as steadily as 
possible on the lines above indicated.—W m. Bardney. 
A GOOD FRUIT ROOM. 
“Will you give us a plan of a good fruit room ? ” That is the full 
text of a letter before us. The writer of it must either be a busy man 
or think editors have not time to read long letters. Whatever may have 
been the predominating idea of our correspondent, this we can say, that 
short letters receive the same attention as long ones, and we answer all 
that we can answer usefully. We have more than one plan of the 
structures in question, and smce our laconic inquu-er is “above” par¬ 
ticulars we give a sketch that we think may be generally useful. The 
fruit room figured was erected for W. Hatton, Esq., at Hill Grove, by his 
gardener, Mr. J. Anderson. Fig. 49 is a section of it, and shows the 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
FRUIT SHOW. — Septesiber 23rd axd 24th. 
It had been announced that an unusually fine exhibition of Grapes was 
expected at South Kensington on Tuesday last, and the numerous visitors who 
were thus induced to assemble in the conservatory had not the slightest 
cause for disappointment. Very rarely indeed has so extensive a display of 
that all-important fruit been seen in London, and it was the unanimous 
verdict that the Society had scored another decided success in the series of 
shows which were so liberally provided for by the Health Committee. 
Although, however. Grapes constituted the great feature, Apples, Pears, 
Plums, and Peaches formed other important classes, while the vegetables were 
equally satisfactory. To brighten the whole and impart that liveliness 
which only such exhibits can do, there were several large and remarkably 
handsome collections of flowers, amongst which the varied Dahlias and 
Gladioluses were especially prominent, choice selections of autumn-blooming 
herbaceous plants adding another charm to the display. Considerable care 
was also exercised in arranging the fruit exhibits ; small graceful Palms, 
Ferns, and miscellaneous fine-foliage plants forming a centre line on the 
principal table, and also assisted in separating some of the classes. These 
served materially to relieve the monotonousness which is usually too apparent 
at fruit shows, and Mr. A. F. Barron deserves much commendation for the 
effectual manner in which this was avoided. 
GR.4.PES. 
It is seldom that the projectors of fruit shows can afford to devote £100 
to one kind, yet this was the case at the Exhibition under notice, that amount 
being divided amongst twelve classes for Grapes, the individual prizes ranging 
from £10 to 10s. As was reasonably anticipated, prizes of such substantial 
value induced some of the best growers to compete, and an excellent oppor¬ 
tunity was thus afforded of observing what is the standard of Grape culture 
in England. Over 300 bunches were staged, and though examples of deficient 
colour were not wanting, still, taking the exhibits generally, it is seldom that 
horticulturists have had an opportunity of seeing so many fine Grapes 
together. In some instances the contributions possessed all the qualities 
which are essential to first-rate Grapes in the highest degree, but, as is usually 
the case, the largest and what might be termed the most attractive bunches 
were surpassed in colour by small or medium-size examples, and amongst the 
Fig. 49. 
Section. 
a, Tables; B, Pathway; 
Fig. 50. 
Ground Plan. 
Seale 8 feet to the inch. 
c, Trellis shelves ; d, Air space in walls ; e, Lids for admitting hot air from pipes underneath; /, Ventilator. 
ventilator at the far end of the room, It is at the hack of the north 
wall of the garden where it is erected, so that the aspect is north. One- 
half of the door of entrance to the room is louvres with slide, so that we 
can have a cui’rent of air through the room, or shut it up as requh-ed; 
the windows open also as ventilators if required. There is an open space 
in the walls with ventilating air-bricks bottom and top, which prevents 
all danger arising from a damp inside wall, and is also much more 
effectual in resisting the frost than a solid wall. 
The interior arrangements, as will be seen from the drawings, consist 
of trellis shelves all round, and opposite each window is a table with 
drawers underneath; the former is useful for examining or comparing 
fruits, the latter for storing any choice sort. There is also a table down 
the centre of the room 20 feet long, and a pathway all round laid in 
diamonds with 6-inch paving bricks, red and blue alternately. In the 
pathway will be seen two lids ; these are to admit heat if necessary from 
hot-water pipes underneath. The pipes are mains, flow and return, 
which supply a range of houses on the opposite side of the wall. The 
ceiling is covered with match-planed boards, and all the woodwork is 
planed smooth, and the sharp edges taken ofl’ the strips to prevent any 
indentation of the fruit, and the uprights and strip in front of each shelf. 
The ceiling and table-tops are all varnished, so that the whole presents a 
very neat appearance, and the owner along with his friends enjoys a 
walk round the fruit-room quite as much as round the garden, examining 
the different sorts of fruit, which are laid out singly and named, and 
with their supposed time of r'pening also noted. 
latter were to be found the finest finished Grapes in the Exhibition. In seme 
classes this occasioned the Judges a little difficulty and a certain degree of 
dissatisfaction where the best ripened were passed over for the largest 
bunches that might be considered second-rate in other respects. Such must, 
however, be invariably the case, and we saw no instance in which the Judges’ 
decisions could have been altered without equal grounds for dissatisfaction 
on the other side. 
Exclusive of the collection from Chiswick nineteen varieties were re¬ 
presented, five of these having classes siiecially devoted to them. The most 
numerously shown was Alicante, of which forty-two bunches were entered. 
Next came Muscat of Alexandria with thirty-six bunches. Black Hamburgh 
with twenty-one, Gros Colman and Madresfield Court tw'elve each in ad¬ 
dition to those in the collections. The other varieties represented by a less 
number than the above were Golden Queen, Alnwick Seedling, White 
Tokay, Lady Dowue’s, Gros Maroc, Buckland Sweetwater, Gros Guillaume 
(named Barbarossa in nearly every instance), Mrs. Pearson, Muscat 
Hambm-gh, Trebbiano, Chatsworth Seedling, White Frontignan, and Mrs. 
Pir.ee. 
Collections .—The leading class in the schedule was that for a collection 
of ten varieties, six black and four w'hite, two bunches of each, for which 
£10, ±‘6, and £4 were offered as prizes. This brought four competitors, 
who staged some meritorious samples, but not so nearly equal as to cause 
any great difficulty in determining their positions. Premier honours were 
accorded to Viscount Eversley, Heckfield (gardener, Mr. Wildsmith), who 
had twenty even, well ripened, and beautifully coloured bunches on steeply 
sloping stands neatly covered with w'hite paper. Taking them in the order 
they w'ere arranged fiom left to right, the varieties were as follows :— 
Black Hamburgh, medium size bunch and berry bearing a fine bloom ; 
Golden Queen, clear and fine colour ; Madresfield Court, good bunches and 
berries, fair colour; Muscat of Alexandria, very handsome bunches and 
splendid colour ; Alicante, large, but not symmetrical bunches, fine berries, 
and dense bloom ; Alnwick Seedling, bunches and berries of moderate 
size, excellent colour ; White Tokay, large and well ripened; LadyDowne’s, 
one bunch large with a shoulder on one side, the other smaller, bui 
