December 8, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
501 
It was determined, after mature consideration, to abandon the summer 
show for the present year at least, and that an autumn one instead be held 
in the Exhibition ground on the 31st August and 1st and 2nd September. 
As the success or otherwise of the Society, financially at least, appeared to 
your Council to depend so grea' ly upon the results of this venture, to which 
they were now fully committt>J, they at once concern rated their efforts, 
and spared no expense which they thought would bring in an adequate 
return, to accomplish the desired result. The main feature aimed at, as an 
attraction for the autumn show, was to secure an exceptionably large and 
rare display of fruit, and to this end an unusually liberal prize list was 
drawn up and widely circulated amongst the most eminent fruit growers in 
the kingdom. The schedule included a special Jub lee prize, amounting to 
£50, for exhibits comprising fifty dishes of fruit each ; £21 10s. 6d. for fruit, 
vegetables, and flowers, to be competed for by artizans exclusively, and an 
additional attraction was afforded by a horse-leaping competition on the 
last day of the show, for which prizes to the amount of £26 10s. were 
offered.. Fully conscious of their responsibility in publishing a prize li?t, 
which, including the horse-leaping competition, amounted to £470, by far 
the largest ever offered at any one of the Society’s shows, and the large 
expenditure which must necessarily be incurred in connection with a show 
of the dimension contemplated, your Council appealed by letter to the 
Executive of the Exhibition for a contribution towards the special Jubilee 
prize fund, which was generously responded to with a donation of twenty 
guineas, for which the Council desire to record their grateful acknowledg¬ 
ments. To the numerous other contributors to the special prize fund, who, 
in order to relieve the strain of the extra expenditure wi re appealed to by 
the Secretary, the best thanks of the Council are respectfully tendered. The 
results of the Show, financially and otherwise, were an unqualified success— 
the display of fruit, flowers, and plants being of exceptional extent and 
excellence, whilst the attendance during the three days reached the enor¬ 
mous total of 87,680, an average of more than 29,000 per day, and far 
exceeding the most sanguine anticipation of all concerned. 
As shown by the accounts, the year commenced with a deficit of 
£126 19s. 9£d., and closed with the handsome surplus of £323 9s. lid. £300 
amoun .t h as heen invested with the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Imperial 
Building Society at 4£ per cent, interest per annum, and the balance of 
£23 9s. lid. is in the hands of ihe Treasurer. 
The ^ )es *' thanks of the Council are tendered to Sir Benjamin C. Browne 
for his occupancy of the presidential chair during the year, and for his 
donation of £10 10s. to the funds of the Society ; to the Vice-President, Mr. 
George Davidson, Mayor of Gateshead, for his services and donation of 
£5 5s. ; to the Corporation of this city for their renewed contribution of 
±10; and to the Trustees of the Charles Turner Memorial Fund for their 
very acceptable donation of £10 to the special prize fund. 
During the year, two active and useful members, Mr. W. Dinning and 
cn j jhii Wardle, a v e retired from the Council, and their places have been 
filled by Councillor Alex. Hepburn and Mr. Augustus M Loades respectively. 
The Spring Show for next year will be held in Town Hall and Corn Ex¬ 
change on the 18th and 19th April, and the arrangements for subsequent 
shows are left to be dealt with by the Council, particulars of which will be 
duly announced in the public press and by circular. 
In closing their report of this most eventful year, the Council desire to 
express their satisfaction at the gr> atly improved financial position of the 
Society, which encourages them to look forward with hope that the future 
may bring with it a period of long-continued prosperity and increasing 
popularity and usefulness. 
The financial report showed that the iotal receipts bad heen £193119s. 3d. 
and the expenditure included last year’s deficit, £126 19s. 9d., and this year’s 
outlay, ±1481 9s. 6d., the balance remaining being ±300 invested, and 
£23 9s. lid. in the Treasurer’s hands. 
The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, congratulated the 
Society on its financial position. Previously, during the last eleven years, 
the balance had only heen once on the right side, that was in 1883, when 
they had a balance of ±57 9s. 7d. In all other y- ars they had been on the 
wrong side, the deficiency ranging from £13 3s. 7d. to £396 Is. 3d. Gentle¬ 
men, however, would bear him out in saying that, during all these years, 
they had kept up their hearts, and determined to develope the interests of' 
horticulture in that district. The Spring Show had been gradually losing 
its attractiveness to the outside public during the last two years, and it 
might be thought that, with the falling off in receipts, it would be desirable 
to give it up. But they had to bear in mind that that Society had a very 
large number of members and associates, and it was only fair and due to 
them that the Council should give them some attractions for their money. 
The advantage of having members, as against gate money only, was that, 
whatever the weather might be, they bad their fund in hand. Therefore, 
instead of decreasing th‘ ir attractions, he thought it would be a wise thing 
to increase them,so as to insure a larger number of members and associates! 
With respect to the Summer Show, the deputation that waited on the Ex¬ 
hibition Executive was very courteously received, and a disposi ion was 
shown to fall in with their views. The terms agreed on, he believed, had 
been advantageous equally to the Exhibition and the Society. The numbers 
attending the Exhibition up to that time had been exceedingly small, and 
the number for the week previous to the Show was not equal to what they 
had had on each day. This showed that the Newcastle people not only ap¬ 
preciated the Show, but that people from a distance also did so, for he had 
the authority of Mr. Smith for saying that never before were the trains with 
visitors to the Exhibition so wi 11 filled as they were in the Show week. 
They had to thank the Railway Company for contribu ing, by their arrange¬ 
ments, to the success of the Society. There were complaints by many 
members, who could not get near the tents nor see the Show on the opening 
day, and some of them went so far as to threaten to withdraw their sub¬ 
scriptions. He hop- d, however, they would see that the Council were not 
to blame, and would be satisfied. With regard to the future, he thought it 
would be well, perhaps, if they could establish a Chrysanthemum Show in 
connection with the Society. This, he believed, would not only tend to 
keep the members who had taken a little offence at the Autumn Show, but 
might get them a large increase both in members and subscribers. He 
was very anxious about that, for at one time they had had about double 
the number of subscribers they had now. Anything, therefore, that would 
tend to increase the number of subscribers, he thought, was desirable. 
Benjamin Plummer, jun., seconded the adoption of the report, and 
added that he thought the Show had been advantageous not only to the- 
bociety but to the Exhibition, as they had shown the Exhibition authorities- 
an example m the catering of sports and attractions that had been of great- 
benefit to that institution. 
Mr. James Joicey, M.P., Longhurst Hall, wag elected President; the 
Mayor of Newcastle (Mr. W. D. Stephens, J.P.) Vice-Piesident, and seven, 
members were e ected to the Council. At the conclusion of the proceedings 
votes of thanks were passed to Sir B. C. Browne and Mr. Geo. Davidson 
(Mayor of Gateshead) for officiating as President and Vice-President du ine 
the past year, and a vote of thanks was also given to the Chairman. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
December is not a fiusy month in the vegetable garden so far as 
cultivation goes, but it is a time when alterations and improvements 
should be pushed forward. There are many who almost neglect their 
kitchen garden from the time the crops cease growing in autumn until 
it is time to sow again in spring, but we do not approve of this system,, 
as it cannot be followed with advantage, and a garden that is neglected 
in winter is never forward in spring or the most productive in summer. 
On the contrary, when all work is done in good season, everything will 
be ready for sowing and planting in proper time and in a proper manner 
in spring, and the advantage of this is very great as a rule. 
Trenching and Digging. —These are two important aids in the 
production of high-class crops, as in practice we have invariably found that 
the heaviest crops and finest produce are secured from deep well-tilled 
soil. There is no exception to this rule, and all with a few spare hours 
days, or weeks, in winter, would do well to devote them to trent hing or 
digging- Where the soil is very shallow, and the subsoil is poor or 
worthless, bringing the bottom to the top would not be beneficial, but if 
a quantity of old vegetable refuse is trenched down without raising the 
bad material to the surface, it will improve the subsoil for bringing it 
up at another time, and if a quantity of soil of any kind can be placed 
on the surface of shallow land it will assist the crops wonderfully. No- 
one should be satisfied until their vegetable quarters everywhere are at 
least 2 feet deep, and trenching and adding should be practised every 
winter until this is secured. Digging may always be done on those- 
parts that have been trenched in recent years, and the surface cannot be 
left too rough after this operation, as an open surface admits the air and 
frost, and these always pulverise the soil. Indeed in the case of stiff 
clay they are almost as good, and certainly as useful as a dressing of 
manure, and every vacant quarter should be dug at once. 
Manuring. —We do not approve of winter manuring, and seldom put 
any in the soil until immediately before cropping. The land which is 
dug now does not receive any manure, but a quantity of manure may 
be wheeled on immediately aft r digging, and made into a heap to- 
remain there until the spring. This is a much better way of keeping 
manure than allowing it to lie in some odd corner where its virtues 
when washed out do not benefit the soil, but run away or sink into some 
waste ground and are lost. By looking at the spot where the manure 
heap rested on a vegetable quarter during the winter the extra quality 
of the produce will always indicate the benefit of this manner of storing- 
it, but this does not apply to refuse, which should always be put 
under the soil, but only to such material as will benefit the crops im¬ 
mediately after being applied. There is hardly a private kitchen garden 
in the whole country where the supply of manure can be regarded as 
ample, and in cases of scarcity the best manure should go to the ground 
that is intended for the crops requiring most nourishment, such as 
Onions, Leeks, Cauliflowers, Celery, &c., and the lighter material to- 
Potatoes and other root crops, such as Carrots, Beet, &c. ; but apart- 
from this, various mixtures have often to be made up to make the 
manure go as far as possible, and this is a good time to look to it. Of 
late many leaves have been collected from pleasure grounds and else¬ 
where which are not valuable in themselves, but if they are mixed 
with manure from the cow sheds, piggeries, or stables they will absorb 
many of the qualities from the rich manure. This is a plan we have to. 
follow ourselves, and it is a good one. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
riNES.— Judgment and considerable skill are required to maintain 
with limited means a successional supply of ripe Pine Apples throuo-h- 
out the year. The cultivator with his tens or twenties is often at his. 
wit’s end how to obtain fruit at the right time, but with hundreds of 
successions there is no difficulty in maintaining an unbroken supply 
of fruit. Where a supply of ripe fruit is required in May and June, 
which is the time when home-grown fruit is most in request and the. 
plants are not showing fruit, it will be desirable to select from those! 
started last March, which have completed a stout growth and are now 
in a state of rest, such as show the best indications of starting inta 
fruit when subjected to a higher temperature both at the roots a'nd in 
the atmosphere. If the plants can be accommodated in a structure to. 
themselves it will be an advantage, but failing such they should 
have a light position in the fruiting house. It is not desirable. 
