January 5, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
1 
A nother year ! Ah ! how differently, my brothers and 
sisters of the craft which I think far more deserves the 
title of “gentle’’than that to which old Izaak Walton assigned 
it I can understand the selfish enjoyment of the angler, for I 
have fished in my day, and even caught a salmon ; but how anyone 
can call that gentle whose chiefest enjoyment consists in the 
agonies of an unfortunate fish, and the longer these agonies are 
prolonged the greater the enjoyment, I cannot understand. What 
shall we call, then, the craft which has to do with the care and 
forethought and continued attention which mark the horticulturist ? 
Yes, we are the members of the gentle craft. But let that pass ; 
we are on the threshold of another year, and as we step across it 
how different are the feelings with which we do so. The young, 
as they cross over it with firm and elastic step, full of all the 
possibilities of youth—and to youth everything is possible—see but 
the brilliant hues of spring and summer. The aged, on whom the 
experience of life has left its mark, step over with some vague and 
undefined dread of what may happen ; the autumn tints of declining 
years and the frosted landscape of winter more engage their 
thoughts. But, alas ! I am drifting away into sermonising instead 
of dealing directly with the subject which should engage my 
pen—the retrospect of the past year and the prospects of the 
coming one. I think all who have ever taken the trouble to 
read what I have written in the Journal for so many years 
(and I believe I am its oldest regular contributor) know that I 
am no pessimist, that I believe hopefulness is a precious 
thing, and that, while the experience of many years may sober, 
it need not darken the prospect, whether we look backward or 
torward. 
In looking back at the conditions of horticulture during the 
past year we have to, as usual, think of the exhibitions, for it is 
around them (however much some pessimists may decry them) 
that the chief interest of those who are interested in the various 
branches of gardening centres ; and as far as the metropolis is 
concerned the chief event has been the International Horticultural 
Exhibition,* which was so successfully carried out at Earl’s Court. 
As might have been expected, when so accomplished a landscape 
gardener as Mr. Milner undertook the laying out of the grounds, 
and Mr. W. Marshall the arrangements of the Shows, a great 
success was achieved. I think everybody must have been charmed 
with the laying out of the grounds, while the magnificent exhibi¬ 
tions of flowers, fruit, and vegetables surpassed anything that 
has been seen in the metropolis for many years. One’s memory 
has to go back to the opening Show, at that ill-starred speculation, 
the Alexandra Palace, to find a parallel, and that was only a 
single exhibition, whereas throughout the whole season the ball 
was kept rolling, and the last was said to be the best of any. 
I was not able to see them all, but those which I did see were 
admirable. They required more space, but as a rule the plants 
showed to great advantage, while every kind of consideration 
was given to those who, either as exhibitors or judges, were 
present. There was not a great deal of internationality, it is 
true—there rarely is ; but the presence of many of the most 
distinguished foreigners from France and Belgium at any rate 
redeemed its character in this respect. I believe large crowds 
visited the gardens, but when I hear that Buffalo Bill carried 
No. 654.—VoL. XXVI., Third Series. 
off £55,000 as his share of the results, I am inclined to think that 
this was the chief attraction for visitors. 
It was probably partly owing to this cause that the Crystal Palace 
Company dispensed with two of their Shows. There was no summer 
Show and their great autumn fruit Show was dispensed with. The 
National Rose Society and the National Dahlia Society held their 
Exhibitions as usual there, and both were a success, although the 
Electrical Exhibition sadly interfered with the symmetry of the 
arrangements. Of the Aquarium I desire to say but little. Of all 
the miserable places for a flower show that is the worst. The 
wretched light, especially in November, when the Chrysanthemum 
Society holds its Exhibition, the disgusting stench of bad tobacco 
which pervades the atmosphere, and the bellowing of showmen 
each trying to shout down the others, contrive to make it the least 
enjoyable place I have ever known for such things. The Royal 
Botanic Society has also curtailed its Exhibitions. 
The Royal Horticultural Society still deserves and receives the 
support of all that is worth having in the horticultural world 
with the exception of the attendance of the general public. It is 
true the Drill Hall is not the most desirable place for a show, but 
it is the best that the Society can obtain, and I fear the scheme 
of a grand horticultural hall has collapsed, and this is a reproach 
on the horticulturists of the kingdom. It only proves what many 
people have expressed—that London, through its vastness, is about 
the worst place in which to start anything that has to look for 
general support. As one goes into that hall ou any of the fort¬ 
nightly meetings, and sees the truly grand displays of the choicest 
and most novel productions of the best gardens in and around 
London, and then looks at the handful of visitors who come to 
see them, one cannot but feel this reproach. There are many 
Fellows of the Society residing in or near the metropolis, and if 
only they or some members of their family would attend, although 
it might not add to the funds of the Society, it would unquestionably 
minister to the cheerfulness of the meetings. Of the magnifi¬ 
cent Exhibition in the Temple Gardens it is superfluous to speak ; 
it equalled, if it did not surpass, its predecessors ; and when one 
recollects that all this grand collection is gathered together without 
any prize list it speaks volumes for the hold which the R.H.S. 
has on horticulturists throughout the kingdom, both amateurs and 
professional, and the confidence which its present management 
inspires, a confidence mainly owing to the admirable qualities of its 
Honorary Secretary, who by his courteous manner, good common 
sense, and thorough business habits has done more to lift the 
Society out of the slough than anyone else. 
In the provinces there have been some changes, the most 
notable of which was the abandonment for the present year of the 
great Whitsuntide Exhibition at Manchester. The Botanical 
Society received a most tempting offer for the use of the Gardens 
for the summer, and as it would lift them out of many difficulties 
they accepted it, but I believe that it is the intention of the 
Council to renew their “suspended animation’’ this year, and 
that the Whitsuntide Exhibition of 1893 will equal if not surpass 
its predecessors. Other provincial societies have had a varied tale 
to tell, but all bear witness to the increased and increasing interest 
taken in gardening. It is a pleasing thing to be able to record the 
ever-increasing love and taste for hardy border flowers and 
alpines. People sometimes talk of the old-fashioned flowers, but 
if anyone takes the trouble of looking through a catalogue of 
such flowers he will be surprised to find how few, comparatively 
speaking, of these flowers are found amongst them ; for the same 
zeal which has led collectors to penetrate the virgin forests of South 
America in search for Orchids, or Borneo for its Nepenthes, 
has led others to the Himalayas, the Caucasus, the Alps, the 
Carpathians, and other mountain ranges in search of hardy plants, 
and have for many years been adding gem after gem to our 
gardens, and also solving many difficulties in their cultivation. 
There seems to be but little cessation if any in the love shall I 
No. 2310.—VoL. LXXXVIIL, Old Series. 
