558 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 23,189C» 
fruit worth gathering, but since the root-pruning operation we 
have had excellent crops of good clean fiuit, similar to the speci¬ 
men sent. I had one crop weighed which was 112 lbs. weight of 
fruit, giving an average per Pear of 12 ozs. ; every one of the 
Pears was sound and fit for use. 
Winter Nelis comes next. The specimen sent is a fair size 
fruit of this sort ; we have had fruit larger. The tree is upon a 
west wall, is about twenty years old, planted upon tiles. We have 
good crops of fruit, and when well grown it is of good flavour. We 
have four trees of this variety, which give us a long season of 
dessert fruit, planted in different aspects and gathered at different 
times. We often have this variety in use five and six weeks. 
Glou Mor^eau follows. The tree is on south wall and about 
twenty-five years old, and bears well every year. The fruit is very 
useful, coming in at Christmas every year, and a most excellent 
Pear for market purposes. Our tree is in good health and looks 
well. The Catillac Pear sent is from a tree in open quarters, but 
a very fair specimen. 
I may say in passing I had a Marie Louise Pear tree removed 
from a north wall to a south wall a few years ago. This tree has 
given excellent crops of fruit since, except the first year after 
removal. This year we had twenty-two dozens of clean Pears. 
Again we have an old tree (against a building on a wall 14 feet 
high) of old Brown Beurre, which never fails to crop ; we had 
eighteen dozens of good fruit this year. 
The paper I read at Brighton, and which you have kindly 
referred to, gave my system of cultivation, and I have no hesitation 
in saying that old Pear trees on walls can be made useful and to 
bear good crops of fruit by a similar system of cultivation to 
the one I advocate. The trees could be cut back and grafted 
with known varieties to succeed in the district. If grafting is 
decided upon root-pruning will not probably be required for some 
time afterwards, and perhaps not at all.— Robert Smith, Yalding. 
Kent. 
[The specimens sent are very fine and fully bear out all that 
Mr. Smith says respecting his practice.] 
Review of the Past Season. 
There are no doubt many enthusiastic cultivators of this flower 
who have no opportunity of comparing their own produce with that of 
many others at the leading exhibitions, therefore have not the means of 
knowing whether the season just past has been as favourable as others 
have been to the development of Chrysanthemums. The horticultural 
press, and especially the Journal of Horticulture , devotes a considerable 
space “ in the season ” to reports of the numerous exhibitions, and 
has thus earned the thanks of an army of workers for disseminating so 
much information. The practice of recording the names of varieties in 
first prize stands is of great service to cultivators, many of whom go 
carefully through the reports at the end of the season and revise their 
lists for next year’s display ; and readers who do not require such in¬ 
formation readily forbear for a short space for the benefit of others, and 
then find all they desire on general subjects. 
In spite of many drawbacks to which the plants were exposed during 
their progress since last December, it would be very wrong to say this 
has not been a good season. Taken altogether Chrysanthemums never 
have been more satisfactory than during the season of 1S90. 
It is wonderful to note the great change that has taken place in the 
competitive ranks. Where there were half a dozen exhibitors then, six 
or seven years ago, in any particular class, and that number then was 
considered to be a large one, three times as many are now to be found 
struggling for the premier honour. This, I take it, is a most remarkable 
advance, yet some would have us believe that Chrysanthemums have 
had their day, and so on. When twenty exhibitors enter for one class, 
and eighteen out of that number “turnup” to compete in a difficult 
class, such as was the case at the Birmingham Show, it speaks volumes 
for the spirit of emulation that exists. The class referred to was for 
twenty-four incurved ar d the same number of Japanese blooms, all to 
be distinct. This is a far more difficult class to fill than where the same 
number of blooms can be staged in thirty-six varieties only, and there 
is more credit due to a man who can win in such a great variety class 
than there is in duplicated classes, for it is in the “timing” of the 
blooms of so many that are distinct where several growers fail. There 
are two reasons which account for the increased number of competitors 
in the “difficult” classes—namely, a great increase in superior varie¬ 
ties and much larger prizes than formerly. 
Not only in these large classes has the competition increased, but in 
the “ twelves ’ and “sixes” in the cut bloom department the same is 
noticeable. It is a very common occurrence to find twelve entries in 
these classes, and occasionally half as many more. It is in the classes 
devoted to Japanese blooms that the great increase in competitions at' 
shows is the most marked. It has been said, and I think with some 
trutb, that the stands of incurved blooms, taken as a whole, do not com¬ 
pare so favourably in the manner in which they are “ set up ; ” they do 
not possess as much neatness and smoothness of floret as they should. 
I do not mean to say there are no stands of the present day to compare- 
so favourably with those of the past ; but what I mean is, there is a 
more general roughness throughout, even in spite of the improvement 
which is manifest in the extended list of varieties. There is too much 
striving for size of bloom at the expense of solidity and evenness of 
outline, which are the most important items to study in the presenta¬ 
tion of perfect examples of incurved blooms. I suspect the chief- 
cause of this defect lies in the fact of growers endeavouring to 
make their plants “ look well ” during the growing season ; they overdo 
it by gorging them to such an extent with stimulants that it is not 
possible to mature the wood in such a manner as to produce such* 
examples as is possible to obtain from perfectly matured plants. 
Depend upon it if growers would pay more attention to maturing - 
the wood of the plants and less to making the leaves so gross they would' 
have more cause for satisfaction when November comes round in 1891.. 
The Centenary Show at the Aquarium bore evidence of the justness of' 
my remarks, as many stands of blooms were but indifferently “ set up,” 
and by cultivators who surprised many persons that I have since met,, 
and who visited the late Show for the first time with the object of 
“ picking up a wrinkle” or two ; but as far as the manner in which 
many of the blooms were staged they were much disappointed, and did 
not fail t > say so. 
The prizes offered by the proprietor of the Journal of Horticulture r 
which were for the object of encouraging symmetry of bloom rather 
than size, and merit in staging the blooms, was productive of good. 
The winning stand especially was meritorious in the quality of the 
specimens staged, and deserved all the praise it received. 
In staging the Japanese blooms there has been a tendency to place- 
them too low. There is just a certain height at which they look their 
best, but lifted up too much they have a gaunt appearance ; but 
“ flopped ” down close on the boards they look lost and quite out of 
character. The offering of the Veitch Memorial medals for both in¬ 
curved and Japanese blooms to be staged with not less than 8 inches 
of stem and foliage, afforded test cases for future schedule makers who 
are wishful to improve the present method by dispensing with the ugly 
green boards and show cups. The Japanese did not look amiss. The 
results in this case were worth repeating, but the same cannot be said 
of the incurved blooms. Even these did not look so ridiculous as some 
very fine blooms I saw at an exhibition later. They were dressed in. 
the ordinary manner, supported in tubes, but elevated at least 8 inches 
above the boards in the back row, and as they were minus their foliage- 
they had the appearance of mops upon poles. 
It would be a difficult task to devise means to revolutionise the pre¬ 
sent system of staging cut blooms for competition. Especially in the 
incurved section is this difficulty felt to be serious, so that the blooms 
could be represented in the same high state of cultivation as at the 
present moment. 
A few words about the quality of the blooms staged. I do not think 
Japanese varieties have ever been better than those seen at some exhi* 
bitions. Particularly rich and bright has been the colours, and with 
improved kinds the stands have had a more massive appearance, the 
tendency nowadays being for varieties which have full centres, semi- 
drooping florets or incurved ones, rather than those which are remarkable 
for their breadth than anything else. Meg Merrilies is a type of this, 
and which is not so popular as wa3 the case some two years since even. 
Such varieties as Avalanche, Mr. A. H. Neve, W. \V. Coles, and Etoile 
de Lyon, or Mrs. C. Wheeler being more preferred. Certainly they 
give a more massive appearance to a stand. 
In the incurve! section the “ Queen ” family has exhibited a general 
falling off in the quality of the blooms, but there has been an increase 
in merit in middle and front row blooms. In no case have I seen the 
“ Queens ” well represented. If th-y were wide at one place they 
lacked depth and solidity, and in many instances exhibited a great want 
of freshness, which is most detrimental to their appearance. Of all the 
families of Chrysanthemums the “ Queen ” prefers a hotter and drier 
summer than we have had this year. The wood needs more maturing 
than any other family or kind to present the varieties in first-rate 
condition. Gross immature growth may give size in diameter, but fails 
to produce depth of bloom, solidity, and smoothness of petal, and these 
are the points which the Queen family, without exception, has lacked as 
far as my experience has gone. In many instances it has been impossible 
to find the premier bloom amongst this type of flower, recourse has had 
to be taken in selecting Princess of Wales for that honour. This could 
not be so if Lord Alcester was himself, I venture to say. This variety 
since it was introduced has taken more premier awards than all other 
sorts put together. 
The Queen family has given trouble to cultivators all through the- 
season. Many complaints were heard during the summer of the per¬ 
sistent manner in which buds formed at the point of growth much 
more often than was required or good for the plant’s future. It would 
have been strange indeed if these discrepancies in the growth of the 
plants could be made without any adverse result when the time came 
to produce the blooms. The commencement of the trouble dates as far 
back as last December, when suitable cuttings were difficult to obtain. 
