October 22, 1891. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
353 
Mr. N. N. Sherwood had the next toast—namely, “ The Health of 
the Chairman,” which he did in most complimentary terms, very justly 
observing that Mr. Yeitch was always willing to do his utmost for 
gardeners and gardening. He mentioned the convalescent fund, which 
he had been the means of starting, and since that £15 had been subscribed. 
Having invited honorary members to contribute to this special fund, he 
stated his intention to make his three children annual subscribers of a 
guinea for that object. Mr. Yeitch, in reply, thanked the members heartily 
for their reception, and said he would be pleased to contribute £25 to 
the convalescent fund. Mr. Sherwood also proposed the “ Officers of 
the Society,” coupled with the names of Mr. Jas. Wheeler and Mr. 
Collins. Mr. R. Dean proposed “Kindred Societies,” for which Mr. 
G. J. Ingram, Secretary of the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Exhibition, 
responded in an excellent exhaustive speech, reviewing the history and 
progress of the Institution since its foundation ; and Mr. J. Laing 
proposed “ The Horticultural Press,” which was responded to by Mr. 
George Gordon. Votes of thanks were also accorded to the donors of 
plauts and flowers—Messrs. J. Laing & Son, B. S. Williams & Son, 
H. Cannell and Sons ; for the fruit to Messrs. Thomson & Sons of 
Clovenfords, with many others. It should be added that Mr. J. R. 
Cha r d, of Stoke Newington, had charge of the table decorations, and 
employed his artistic arches with excellent effect. 
THE MANCHESTER FRUIT SHOW. 
A special Exhibition of hardy and other fruits was opened at the 
Town Hall, Manchester, on October 20tb. The fruit generally was 
exceptionally fine, affording satisfactory evidence of high culture. It 
was an Exhibition of a very representative character, especially the 
fruit in the large collections. Of those not for compe‘ition was a fine 
display of 250 dishes of Apples and Pears from Her Majesty the 
Queen’s gardens at Frogmore. General excellence was a characteristic 
of this display. Among the finest fruits were of Pears Chaumontjl, 
Doyennd du Comice, Beurrd Diel, Vicar of Winkfield, Marie Louise, 
very fine ; Flemish Beauty, Beurrd Bachelier, and Pitmaston Duchess ; 
and of Apples Mere de Manage, Striped Beefing, Sandringham, Winter 
Peach, Dr. Harvey, quite model fruit; Alfriston, very fine indeed ; 
Bismarck, Golden Noble, Frogmore Prolific, a lovely dish of Brown’s 
Codlin of a rich golden yellow, and an attractive dish of the pretty 
little Fairy Apple. 
Messrs. Veitch came next with sixty-six dishes of Pears, and 146 
dishes of Apples. The fruit in this collection was really magnificent; 
so fine were all the dishes that it was not an easy matter to make a 
selection. This fruit was from trees, pyramids, ready for sale this 
season. The best Apples were Seaton House, very free bearing ; Jeffer¬ 
son, a lovely striped dessert Apple, very large; King of Pippins; 
Alexander, very fine ; Transparent de Courcelles ; Benoni, a charming 
Italian dessert Apple ; Barnack Beauty, and King Harry. 
In the open class Messrs. G. Bunyard & Co., Maidstone, were first with 
eighty dishes of Apples, kitchen and dessert kinds. The whole of this 
fruit was very fine, not an inferior dish in it. The sorts were :—Lord 
Derby, Dutch Mignonne, Small’s Admirable, Lord Grosvenor, The 
Queen, very fine ; Golden Spire, Annie Elizabeth, Jolly Beggar, Rose¬ 
mary Russet, Potts’ Seedling, Hoary Morning, Councillor, Roundway 
Magnum Bonum, Calville Rouge Prbcoce, King of the Pippins, Melon 
Apple, Duchess of Oldenburg, Bedfordshire Foundling, Sandringham, 
very fine; Northern Dumpling, King of Tomkins County, Ecklinville, 
Schoolmaster, Swedish Reinette, Brownlee’s Russet, Belle Pontoise, 
Cox’s Pomona, Kentish Fillbasket, Lord Derby, Twenty Ounce, Alex¬ 
ander, Golden Noble, Wealthy, Farmer’s Seedling, Calville Rouge, Manks 
“Codlin, Gold Medal, Mbre de Mbnage, Peasgood’s Nonesuch, Gloria 
Mundi, Stirling Castle, Blenheim Pippin, Baumann’s Reinette, Golden 
Reinette, Egremont Russet, Castle Major, Washington, Stone’s Apple, 
Bismarck, Alfriston, Lane’s Prince Albert, Tower of Glamis, Gascoigne’s 
Seedling, Seaton House, Old Nonsuch, High Canons, Claygate Pear- 
main, Cellini, Grenadier, Warner’s King, Reinette de Canada, Queen 
Caroline, Cornish Aromatic, Evagil, Mother, Royal Russet, Beitig- 
heimer, Beauty of Kent, Lady Henniker, New Hawthornden, Graham’s 
Royal Jubilee, Brabant Bellefleur, Bramley’s Seedling, Ribston Pippin, 
Worcester Pearmain, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Hormead Pearmain, 
Tyler’s Kernel, and Waltham Abbey Seedling. Mr. John Watkins, 
Withington, Hereford, was second, and Messrs. J. Cheal & Son, Crawley, 
Sussex, were third. 
For the best fifty dishes of Pears, Mr. John Watkins was first 
with a well-balanced collection of fair sized fruits; the Earl of 
Harrington, Elvaston Castle (Mr. J. H. Goodwin, gardener), was second ; 
and Messrs. Bunyard & Co. third, with some fine fruit. 
For thirty-six dishes of Apples, kitchen and dessert, Messrs. 
Rothschild, Gunnersbury Park (Mr. G. Reynolds, gardener), were first 
with excellent fruit, the Earl of Harrington being second, and C. Lee 
•Campbell, Esq., Glewston Court (Mr. S. T. Wright, gardener), third. 
In this class an extra prize was awarded to Sir E. G. Loder, Bart., 
Leonardslee. 
For eighteen dishes of Apples C. Lee Campbell, Esq., was first, Mrs. 
Evans, Moreton Court, Hereford, second, and Mr. Joseph Such, Mount 
Pleasant, Davenham, third. For twelve dishes of Pears Sir E. G. Loder, 
Bart., was first with an excellent display, the second prize going to 
H. St. Vincent, Esq., Westbury-on-Trym, and the third to C. Lee 
Campbell, Esq. 
The Earl of Durham, Lambton Castle (gardener, Mr. J. Hunter), was 
an excellent first for twenty-six dishes of Apples and Pears grown under 
glass. This collection was remarkable, as showing what can be done in 
the north by the aid of glass. The second prize going to Sir J. W. Pease, 
Bart., Hutton Hall, Guisborough (Mr. J. Mclndoe, gardener), and third 
prize to Samuel Barlow, Esq., Llandudno (Mr. J. Hilton, gardener). 
Messrs. J. Cheal & Sons were first for a collection of eighty dishes of 
Apples and Pears grown under glass. This collection contained many 
dishes of fine fruit. For six dishes of Pears A. Smith Barry, Esq., 
Monbury Hall, was first; Mrs. Grundy, Westleigh, being second, and 
James Watts, Esq., Abney Hall, third. 
The Cheshire fruit was really very good having regard to climate, and 
prizes were taken by C. Sherwin, Esq., Ashbury Hall, Allington ; James 
Watts, Esq., Abney Hall ; and Mrs. Grundy in the order named. For 
Apples grown within twenty miles of Manchester A. Smith Barry, Esq., 
was first ; R. P. Gill, Esq., second; and Mrs. Grundy third. 
The display of Grapes was a fine one, some Muscat of Alexandria in 
a first prize collection of ten bunches being beautifully finished. This 
prize went to the Earl of Harrington; the other varieties being Gros 
Colman, Alicante, Alnwick Seedling, and Muscat Hamburgh. The 
second prize went to Messrs. Rothschild, Gunnersbury Park, fora collec¬ 
tion showing great cultural skill. These were large bunches of Trebbiano 
and other good bunches of Alicante, Chasselas Napoleon, Gros Maroc, 
Black Hamburgh, and Muscat of Alexandria. For three bunches of 
black Grapes C. Lee Campbell, Esq., was a good first with grand bunches 
of Alicance ; the Earl of Carnarvon (Mr. J. Read, gardener) being 
second ; and Sir J. W. Pease third with very fine Gros Colman, rather 
deficient in colour. 
A collection of six dishes of Tomatoes, for which J. F. Campbell, 
Esq., Woodseat, Uttoxeter, was first (Mr. J. Hollingworth, gardener), 
had grand fruits of Elvaston Castle, dark red ; and Hackwood Park, 
equally fine. Some clusters of Colchester Black Bullace, exhibited by 
Mr. A. J. Harwood of Colchester, were worthy of notice. They were 
dense clusters of fine fruit, having the appearance of Cluster Damson. 
WORKjoi\theWEEK,. 
HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 
Root-pruning. —The present is the best time for this operation 
before vegetation becomes inactive, so that fresh roots may be formed 
previous to winterly weather setting in, although it may be carried out 
any time from now until the period when the buds burst again in the 
spring if the weather is suitable. Root-pruning may easily be carried 
to excess. It is at best a necessary evil, and should only be resorted 
to when other means of inducing fruitfulness have failed. Where 
the top growth can be allowed to extend, and the wool is kept well 
exposed to sun and air by judicious thinning, a heavy crop of fruit will 
eventually come, which will reduce the vigour of the tree to reasonable 
limits, and no further inconvenience will be experienced. The trees 
will form abundance of fruit spurs and bear well in all favourable 
seasons, but in the case of fruit trees which persist in growing with 
excessive vigour and do not bear fruit root-pruning is the only way out 
of the difficulty. Trees which, from surrounding circumstances, have 
to be kept to a certain size and are annually cut back to this limit, 
are very apt to grow vigorously year after year at the expense of fruit¬ 
fulness. Again, the roots of fruit trees find their way at times into bad 
subsoils and the fruit becomes poor in consequence; very often the 
growth of the tree is hindered by the inactivity of the roots from this 
cau^e, the leaves become yellow and thin, the flowers are imperfect, 
and if allowed to continue in this state the tree eventually cankers and 
dies. Timely lifting and root-pruning w r ill remedy this also, and wi h 
good attention in other ways will restore vigour to the trees. 
This operation requires considerable judgment and experience. The 
operator should be well acquainted with the growth and character of 
each individual tree, and must have a good idea of the balance of power 
so to speak, in order that he may judge accurately how much root is 
required to carry a given amount of top with a heavy crop of fruit. 
This will vary with the character of the soil to a certain extent. A tree 
in a light and dry soil will need more roots to supply the necessary 
amount of sap than it would if it were growing where moisture was more 
easily obtained. In all cases it should be borne in mind that fibrous 
roots mean fruitful branches, stout fleshy roots mean timber, therefore 
in removing or root-pruning fruit trees all fibrous roots should be 
saved. 
Commence operations in all cases by digging a trench with a spade 
some distance from the stem of the tree. This distance should vary 
with the age and size of the tree, for a young pyramid Apple 10 feet 
high leaves 3 to 4 feet of ball all round the stem when digging the 
trench. After this the soil must be worked out carefully from among 
the roots with steel forks, preserving all the fibrous roots by tying them 
back as the work proceeds, and covering them from the air as soon as 
possible, so that they do not become dry and perish. A little moist 
strawy litter or some old sacks are very useful for this purpose. It may 
not be advisable to do the whole of the ball of roots in one season, and 
in this case the trench should only be carried half way round. With trees 
that have been undisturbed for a number of years it is best to spread 
the work over two seasons, or a serious check will be given to the tree, 
