336 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r April 25, 1889. ' 
service to those persons, and they are increasing, who need instruction 
on the important subject to which it is devoted. 
The question of fruit culture in the open air in England is at the 
present time engrossing a large share of public attention, and, in my 
opinion, not more than the importance of the subject deserves. Any¬ 
thing that will add to the income derivable from the cultivation of the 
land by the employment of manual labour, and at the same time add to 
the supply of wholesome and nutritious food, should receive the amplest 
and most direct encouragement. Our gardening papers have been fully 
alive to this fact, and have ably discussed the question. But the matter 
has not been allowed to rest there. We have had fruit conferences, fruit 
leaflets, a controversy in the Times, and articles on the subject in the 
National Review and the Nineteenth Century. 
Now it may probably be a matter of surprise to some that this 
simple question should have given rise to such a diversity of opinion as 
to leave the outcome a matter of perplexity and doubt. To thosejwho 
know the issue is clear enough, but to those who do not know the sub¬ 
ject must, I think, appear to be left in a hopeless tangle. Much that 
has been said and written on this subject has about it the clear ring of 
truth, but statements have also been made which, if accepted and acted 
on, will surely lead to disappointment, vexation, and a wasteful ex¬ 
penditure of money. To be told on the one side that “ the salvation of 
England depends on the future of its fruit culture”—to be advised to 
break up rich meadows already giving a good return to owners and 
occupiers, to form them into orchards, even in questionable situations ; 
and, on the other side, that England cannot compete with foreigners in 
the open market on account of climate, facilities of transport, and un¬ 
limited competition, seem to me to be extreme views which will not 
bear the test of sober investigation. 
There is no greater mistake than to suppose that the ordinary and 
uninstructed farm labourer can plant and manage an orchard properly. 
You might as well set him to make a coat or a pair of shoes. The 
results would not be so quickly visible, but they would be as unsatis¬ 
factory in the end. It would surely make some of the present writers 
on this subject blush to find how much wiser their forefathers were on 
this subject. Hear what Henry Dethicke says, in the “ Gardener’s 
Labyrinth,” published more than 300 years ago “ Not sufficient is it 
to a gardener that he knoweth, or would the furtherance of the garden, 
without any cost bestowed, which the works and labour of the same 
require. No. The will, again, of the workman, in doing and bestowing 
of charges, shall small avail, without he have both art and skill in the 
same. For that cause it is the chiefest point in every faculty and busi¬ 
ness, to understand and know what to begin and follow.” And this 
view has been endorsed by every subsequent writer who knows his busi¬ 
ness until a very recent period. But now, at the close of this nineteenth 
century, when everyone writes, it has become fashionable for those who 
do not know to undertake to instruct the public. Blind leaders of the 
blind, they substitute bold and reckless assertions for the thoughtful and 
painstaking deductions from experience, made and recorded by writers 
of the past. 
I should not be acting honestly if I were to withhold my opinion 
that most of the statistics lately put forward in favour of fruit growing 
in England are not worth the paper they are written on. They are 
ample enough on the score of returns, but meagre in the extreme when 
dealing with expenditure. But I would also distinctly say that I make 
no charge of wilful misrepresention against the authors of them. I 
know from experience how carelessly such statistics are often made up, 
in answer to inquiries relating to the past, and how eagerly and incon¬ 
siderately they are received when they tend to strengthen the precon¬ 
ceived opinions of the inquirer. And beyond this, some men delight in 
making themselves appear cleverer than their neighbours ; and to this 
end will give forth the results of one profitable year. But as one 
swallow does not make a summer, by the same rules of argument one 
year’s crop cannot be taken as an estimate of the future yearly income. 
A heavy crop of one year is often succeeded by a light one in the next, 
and to place this estimate on a sound basis, the average of three, four, 
or five years should be taken. Statistics, to be of any value, should 
begin at the beginning. An account should be kept on both sides, from 
the first shilling spent up to the period when the trees give a market¬ 
able return. The sum totaj to this period may be treated as capital 
sunk. After this, the average of not less than four years should be taken 
as the probable yearly returns. Or the matter may be looked at in 
another way. 1 he capital expended may be set down as money bor¬ 
rowed, on which a fixed interest is to be paid till it is returned. An 
orchard of the larger fruits may be estimated to last in a good condition 
from thirty to fifty years, according to the soil and management. Fruit 
trees come into bearing sooner, and die out sooner, when planted on 
sandy and light soils than on soils of a heavier or stronger nature. 
Fruit culture in England may be judiciously extended in a very con¬ 
siderable degree. But it should be guarded and guided by the appro¬ 
priate selection of climate, soil, sorts, and above all a high system of 
cultivation directed by a knowledge of the business. With regard to 
the question of supply and demand, I believe that a much larger quantity 
of English fruit would meet with a ready sale if put before the public 
in a tempting state. I may also say that I am clearly and decidedly of 
the opinion that there are thousands upon thousands of acres of land 
in Great Britain, at present bringing little or no profit to owners or 
occupiers, which, if planted with fruit trees, might be made to return a 
good profit to both. Not that I think large fortunes are to be made by 
the enterprise, but that a fair remuneration will be secured for the out¬ 
lay of capital, and the application of knowledge, industry, and skill. 
Fruit-growing as a recreation, or for one’s own use, is one of the most 
fascinating and diverting of occupations, and may be pursued with 
satisfaction by the uninitiated. But fruit-growing for profit is a 
different thing. Here, knowledge is wanted. The possession of it, 
rightly applied, will be attended with success ; the absence of it with 
failure. It is the height of folly to suppose that this, any more than 
any other business or profession, can be made profitable without pre¬ 
liminary instruction and training. 
Events of the Week. —To-day (Thursday) the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society of Ireland will hold their Spring Show at Dublin. Saturday, 
April 27th, is fixed for a general meeting of the Royal Botanic Society. 
On Tuesday, April 30th, there will be a meeting of the Royal Botanic 
Society of Manchester, and the National Auricula Society’s (northern 
section) Show will be held in connection with it. There will be auction 
sales at the rooms of Messrs. Protheroe & Morris, Cheapside, London, 
and Mr. J. C. Stevens, King Street, Covent Garden, during the week. 
-At a general meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
held April 23rd in the Drill Hall, James Street, Victoria Street, West¬ 
minster, Mr. James Douglas in the chair, the following candidates 
were elected Fellows—viz., Miss E. Bloom, R. H. Fremlin, C. S. Gordon, 
Miss E. Phillipps Russell, Geo. Hyde Wollaston, M.A., F.G.S., and Dr. 
Edward P. Wright, M.D., F.L.S. 
- The Weather. —A favourable change occurred in the South 
on Good Friday, the day being quite genial. Subsequent days have 
also been generally fine, with occasional showers. Fruit blossom is 
opening rapidly, and appears abundant in most gardens. “ B. D.” 
writes from Perthshire :—“ The past week has been very unsettled, 
marked by much showery weather, with occasional sunshine and cold 
westerly winds. Vegetation progresses, but slowly.” 
- Eucharis Twenty Years in a Pot. —Sir C. W. Strickland, 
Bart., writes :—“ There have been some articles lately in the Journal on 
the cultivation of Eucharis amazonica, most of them recommending its 
being repotted every two or three years. I have a plant in an 11-inch 
pot which has not been moved or the earth changed in any way for at 
least twenty years. It is just now throwing up five spikes of flowers, 
and this is the fourth time that it has done the same during the last 
six months. I attribute its having flowered so often to having cut the 
flowers as soon as the first one on each spike opened ; but, as you may 
suppose, the plant is in the rudest health.” 
- Mr. II. Cannell laconically writes:—“I send you a rare 
buttonhole to wear on Easter Sunday, and if the parson asks you what 
it is tell him Blandyana.” The rev. gentleman was not so inquisitive ; 
but we say without being asked that “ Blandyana ” means a Violet of 
that name as double as the old Russian, but all the flowers striped with 
white. It was “ rare ” to the extent that we did not see another of the 
same character either in church or anywhere else on Easter Sunday, but 
there appear to be plenty at Swanley. 
- Gardening Appointment. —Mr. Thomas Hobday, for the 
last seven years foreman in Rangemore Gardens, Burton-on-Trent, has 
