October 17, 18*9. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
325 
I )ECENT exhibitions of Apples and Pears, and especially the 
l imposing display at the Crystal Palace last week, have forced 
a question to the front that appears to require the attention of 
exhibition authorities. For some time the practice has been 
steadily growing of including Apples and Pears which have been 
partially or wholly grown under glass in the collections exhibited, 
without indicating the method in which such splendid fruit has 
been produced. It is true the public are beginning to be informed 
in a negative way that the practice alluded to exists, by some such 
notification as that “ all the fruit in this collection has been grown 
in the open ground.” Over and over again at the Palace we were 
requested to direct attention to the artificial production of hardy 
fruit as a method of handicapping the produce of exhibitors who 
have neither the means nor the desire to resort to similar means 
•of enlarging and improving the appearance of the specimens. No 
one condemned the practice of growing the fruit in the manner 
suggested, but only that of associating the dishes with others of 
samples grown in the open ground. We have also received letters 
on this subject, and in the whole of them we find almost identical 
expressions to the effect that the time has arrived for separate 
-classes being provided for Apples and Pears grown under glass or 
in pots, also for those grown in a natural manner in the open 
ground. 
Nor is the desire for a change on the lines indicated confined to 
gardeners and amateurs who have no orchard houses, but it is 
•shared in by nurserymen who either have suitable glass structures 
at their disposal, or who could speedily erect them ; but they do 
not consider it is the best way to place before the public varie¬ 
ties of hardy fruit grown with the aid of glass, which ninety-nine 
•out of a hundred of the purchasers of trees must grow out of doors. 
They evidently suspect that present honours, won by extra 
•aids, may lead to future disappointment ; and there is the possi¬ 
bility of the public mind being impressed with the view that the 
splendid Apples seen at exhibitions, and which are really produced 
by garden or orchard trees, are grown under glass, and if 
that should come to pass they will not be encouraged to engage in 
the occupation of fruit culture. 
For ordinary purposes of supply Apples and Pears must be 
grown in the customary way, or such improvements on it as 
experience suggests, so long as the principle is adhered to ; and 
nothing can be more desirable than that the best examples and 
'varieties grown on the same lines should be displayed where the 
public can inspect them, as they show what is within the reach of 
purchasers of trees if they are favourably situated, choose the best 
varieties, and bestow on them the best cultural attention. Exhi¬ 
bitions are then practically instructive, but if inexperienced visitors 
are tempted by the most handsome specimens which have been 
grown under glass, to order trees of the same varieties on the 
assumption that they can produce equally fine samples in their 
gardens, they will be misled, not instructed, by the shows, and no 
long time will elapse before the great expectations incited will end 
in disappointment. 
The culture of Apples and Pears under glass, or partly under 
glass and partly in the open air, is a very delightful and, well con¬ 
ducted, a profitable occupation, because the magnificent specimens 
produced realise high or “fancy” prices for festival occasions, 
No. 480.—Vol. XIX., Third Series. 
when only the best is sought for regardless of cost; also for dressing 
the windows of high-class fruiterers’ establishments ; moreover, 
those who derive pleasure from growing hardy fruit, such as Apples 
and Pears in orchard houses, are equally justified in doing so, as 
are those who grow hardy flowers under glass, such as Hyacinths, 
Liliums, Roses, and others which give so much satisfaction to 
their owners. About that there cannot be two opinions ; but there 
is an unmistakeable feeling, deepening yearly, that orchard house 
fruit of the kinds under notice should be separately classed at 
public exhibitions of hardy fruit. 
A distinguishing trait in the Anglo-Saxon character is not only 
the desire to excel but the determination to do so. It is this 
persistent endeavour that has enabled the race to assert its 
supremacy in production and colonisation. It is an admirable 
spirit, and it happily pervades the world of horticulture. If one 
competitor for supremacy adopts fresh methods by which he gains 
prominence others will inevitably follow ; and if it is found in 
contests of hardy fruit that orchard houses give to their possessors 
an advantage, more and more of such artificially aided produce will 
be forthcoming, and the possibility is not very remote that the bulk 
of the dishes of Apples and Pears that are placed in competition 
for the leading prizes will consist of such fruit, which cannot be 
regarded as fairly representative of that grown in British gardens 
and orchards. 
No one for a moment suggests that the inclusion of glass-aided 
Apples and Pears in collections of hardy fruit is done with the 
intention of leading visitors to suppose they can grow equally 
handsome specimens if they purchase trees and plant them in their 
gardens. Nothing of the kind is intended by the exhibitors. The 
object of each is to provide the most effective display. Exhibitors 
think much less about the public than of their fellow competitors 
when preparing for shows ; but it must never be forgotten that the 
public are influenced by the exhibits, and it cannot answer in the 
end for them to be misled by lack of knowledge simply through the 
method in which one grower feels compelled to meet another in 
arranging his products for the approval of judges who award the 
prizes for the best examples. These gentlemen cannot take cogni¬ 
sance of the conditions under which fruit is grown, but must 
follow the schedules in making their awards, and until a distinction 
is made in them between glass-aided and garden-grown fruit the 
honours must inevitably fall to the best regardless of methods of 
production. 
One of the most satisfactory thoughts that arise in the con¬ 
sideration of this question is the absolute non-necessity of glass- 
aided Apples for representing a high standard of excellence. No 
better fruit could be desired than that represented in hundreds of 
dishes at the Palace Show, as gathered from trees in gardens. As 
produce for supplying the markets it could hold its own with the 
best from orchards in other lands, and every year proves more 
conclusively than the past that the lost supremacy of British 
growers of hardy fruit is only temporary, and the time is approach¬ 
ing when it will be regained. The advance that has been made 
during the past few years, and particularly since the great Apple 
Congress at Chiswick in 1883, is both gratifying and encouraging; 
and there is not the slightest reason to suppose there will be any 
cessation of endeavour now that substantial agencies are estab¬ 
lished for the attainment of the object in view. 
A division of classes which is now called for would be satis¬ 
factory to the majority of cultivators ; growers of fruit would be 
placed on a greater equality at exhibitions, and the public would 
have fairer representative collections placed before them as 
standards of excellence not beyond their attainment in the outdoor 
section ; while connoisseurs would see the advance in superiority of 
that resulting from extra appliances, and it is not unlikely that an 
impetus would be given to both forms of cultivation. Be that as 
it may, the present mixed method of exhibiting Apples and Pears 
is very far from meeting with general approval, and the whole 
No. 2142,—Yol. LXXXI., Old Series. 
