Marcli 12, isr»i. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
211 
ment :—“ Mr. Morris is about to resign the post of lion. Treasurer to the 
Royal Horticultural Society, which he has held for such a length of 
time ; indeed, at a meeting of the Council on the llth inst. he formally 
tendered his resignation. Mr. Morris is about to sail to the West Indies 
on a Government mission, and as this will necessitate his absence from 
England for a period of three or four months he feels that under these 
■circumstances he could not attend to the duties of Treasurer to the 
R H.S. to his entire satisfaction. Daring Mr. Morris’s term of office he 
has been most energetic in bringing the financial affairs of the old 
"Society to a satisfactory state, and that he has succeeded and his 
-services appreciated may be seen from the following resolution, passed 
by the Council :—‘ The Council of the R.H.S., in accepting with 
unfeigned regret Mr. Morris’s resignation of the post of Hon. Treasurer, 
-which he has filled with such signal success and advantage to the 
Society, beg to express to him their grateful sense of the value of his 
services, of the judgment and discretion with which he has conducted 
his duties, and of the devotion with which he has in every way for¬ 
warded the interests of the Society.’ ” 
This reads very much like an extract from the minirtes of Council. 
If not, what is it ? Mr. Wilks said at the meeting that “ Mr. Morris had 
resigned and Mr. Crowley had been appointed to fill the vacancy thus 
•caused,” and that “ Mr. Morris had been nominated for re-election 
because his services had proved so valuable to the Council.” Mr. 
Morris, therefore, undoubtedly resigned, and his resignation ought, 
under the circumstances, to have appeai'ed on the balloting papers as 
4vn extraordinary vacancy, as is imperative according to by-law 81. 
We have been convinced from the first that the vacancy created by 
Mr. Morris an extraordinary vacancy, and we wanted Mr. Wilks’ 
precise admission of the fact, which we now possess. This settles the 
■caie against the Council, because it is impossible they can show that 
"the clearly defined course provided in the Charter and by-laws was 
iollowed at the annual meeting. The balloting lists were indisputably 
informal, and the action founded thereupon was consequently invalid.] 
MELONS AND THEIR CULTURE. 
JRead by Mr. W. PAI.MRR, Thames Ditton, at a recent meeting of the Ealing and 
Chiavvick Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Society.] 
( Concluded from page 182,') 
III. Judging Melons. —This is rather a difficult task at times, 
although if the judges’ faces are anything to go by it is a very pleasant 
one, especially when they get hold of a really good fruit. I have often 
watched them from afar at the Crystal Palace and such large shows, 
w-here you are allowed to have a bird’s-eye view of them. Melon 
judging has of late raised much controversy, some holding that the 
Melons should be judged without being cut ; others that they should 
be cut, as they generally are. I certainly cast my vote in with the 
latter, since, if they are not cut, where is the man that can judge a 
Melon by the smell ? I have often tried the experiment, and have as 
often failed, and as Melons are grown to be eaten, let us encourage 
"the good flavoured, and not give their owners the chance to say. 
That Melon ate like a Turnip last night; ” rather let them say, 
What a splendid Melon it was you sent in last night, it is the best 
I ever tasted.” This is what we want to encourage, and it is our duty 
to do so. How often is the saying, “ You must not take me by my 
looks,” verified in the Melon, especially when we see one about 2 lbs. 
in weight beat one of 4 lbs. and over. In this I think great care should 
be taken that the flavour of the small one should be of sufficient merit 
-to warrant it being placed in front of the large one. When staged 
in pairs of course one cut is then quite sufficient, and the second one 
should be judged as equal to the first. I have now arrived at my last 
part. 
IV. Diseases to "which Melons are subject and their 
Prevention. —Foremost amongst these is canker. This is prevented 
by making a little mound round the stems as recommended at the time 
•of planting; the soil in time becomes dry, and so as'ists to keep 
canker away. This I have proved by considerable experience. I have 
not lost more than two plants in the last seven years, although growing 
■some forty or fifty plants every year. If any sign of canker should 
be discovered remove the decayed part, and rub on the place some 
■quicklime two or three times a day. This should also be done on the 
^Approach of decay, and withhold the syringe from the parts affected 
until healed. Black fly is also a very troublesome pest to some ; to 
those I would strongly recommend a compost even lighter in texture 
than what I have already advised, as I have never known the fly to 
attack plants except when the loam used is of a very stiff nature. I 
had this information given me some years ago now, and since I have 
followed it I have never been troubled with this pest. If plants should 
be attacked the only remedy I know of is smoking with tobacco 
paper or rag. When this has to be done it should never be attempted 
to kill it in one night, rather smoke lightly for three successive nights, 
as an overdose is sure to seriously affect the Melons, the foliage being 
of such a tencler nature. I once saw a deplorable result of careless 
smoking, the fruit was about three parts grown, and the foliage com¬ 
pletely burnt up. Insecticides should never be used if they can be 
avoided, as the leaves will only stand a very weak solution, not strong 
enough to kill the insects. Melons also club the same as Cucumbers ; 
in fact this is the most troublesome thing I have had to deal with, and 
I gladly invite discussion on it, as although I have tried several good 
remedies I have failed to thoroughly get rid of it, although I have to a 
certain extent kept it under by using more lime and soot in preparing 
the soil, also by watering the little mound round the stem in very fine 
weather, and thoroughly soaking the whole border. Red spider is a 
deadly foe to Melons, and the plants should be carefully watched for 
this pest. It usually commences on the parts near the pipes. The 
syringe should always be used well on the plants that are near the 
pipes, and if the enemy should appear well syringe every portion of the 
plants on a fine morning. This, if done with care, will keep the spider 
w-ell in check ; but growers should always endeavour not to let it 
appear, as prevention is far better than cure. 
STRAY NOTES. 
Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? A good many readers of 
the Journal are probably now wanting to settle whether to prune their 
newly planted Apple trees or to leave them alone, and a large pro¬ 
portion of these would no doubt pay a good deal of deference to the 
written opinions of the well-known specialists, J. W. and G. B. But 
they would find that the first says, “ Prune,” and the other says, 
“ Don’t.” And, to add to the confusion, though it is most difficult to 
believe how G. B., with his great experience, can be wrong, it is plain 
on the face of it that the other is (W)right. In this dilemma I would 
suggest a compromise—nothing that would require the Editor of the 
Journal to provide a No. 15 Committee-room, or anything of that sort, 
but the following simple modi/s tdvoidi—between the two opinions ;— 
Prune orchard standards, and don’t prune pyramids, &c. Different 
things are required from standards, and surely they therefore require 
different treatment. We want standards to grow, and not to form fruiting 
spurs for the first two or three years at all events, whereas "we want the 
others not to grow too much, and to bear as soon as possible. It would 
be allowed, I think, that pruning will produce more strong young wood 
than leaving alone would do, which would be more apt to form fruiting 
spurs. I expect all newly planted fruit trees will require more assistance 
than usual this summer, in thorough watering at times. 
I am glad to see the farm department of the Journal still hammer¬ 
ing at liquid manure and sewage, on which (because it was not 
generally held as such) even Victor Hugo could talk common sense. If 
sewage was not so generally wasted not only every gardener, but even 
every labourer with an allotment, ought to have so much that he would 
want no other fertiliser. The great advantage that liquid manure has 
over solid is, as I have before pointed out in these notes, that you can 
apply it just w-hen it will do most good and no harm, and every gardener 
knows the advantage of that. Every drop that comes from my house, 
stable, cows and pigs’ places, goes on my garden, and a great deal of the 
solid manure can thus go on the grass, where the liquid cannot well be 
so evenly distributed. I have also the drainage from several cottages 
and a malting, and in the spring, when Roses are growing, go cadging 
still further abroad, buying if need be. If the Surveyor or the 
Inspector of Nuisances has a trouble about drains, and a temptation to 
take them to the river, it generally ends, “ Oh, drain it away to W. R. R., 
he’ll take it and be glad of it.” 
If we are to have technical education let our labourers’ sons be 
taught a little of their trade as cultivators—just the elements of the 
theory of the fertilisation of the soil—and then perhaps I should not 
see, as I did the other day, a huge ditch full of veritable sewage, poison¬ 
ing the adjacent cottages, absolutely alongside of the allotment of a 
labourer, who told me he “ did use a little of it last year, and some of 
his Potatoes went bad.” _ 
A great advertiser once said, I think, that however much you laid 
out in advertisements, it would always bring in a certain percentage 
as return, if one proviso was adhered to—viz., that the article advertised 
was really sound and good. Horticultural novelties, unless introduced 
through a society, undoubtedly stand in need of advertising as much as 
other new products. Where did I read that some time ago a^ nursery¬ 
man had actually to burn a large stock of Cox’s Orange Pippin Apples 
because the public would not take it up or believe in anything to equal 
the Ribston Pippin in table properties? And, indeed, it is strange to 
notice how a man will generally stick up for his local (and perhaps 
wrongly named) Apple as the best in England, even more stubbornly 
than he will for the local breed of cattle and horse.^ I come across 
some still who do not seem to know the merits of Cox s Orange ; was 
this a fault of want of advertising ? And, on the other hand, for the 
other side of the question, is it perhaps a remembrance of Raphanus 
caudatus which makes us shy of Stachys tuberifera? The certificate of 
the R.H.S. is the natural guide of the public in such matters as these, 
and ought, I think, to be more sought for by buyers, and more depended 
upon as a hall mark than it is. 
