276 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 20,1894. 
MODERN GARDENING. 
[A Paper read at Birmingham by Mr. H. DUNKIN'.] 
During the course of my remarks on this subject I shall endeavour 
to show the marvellous progress that has been made during recent years, 
and which is still going on in the horticultural world. In order to do 
this clearly it will be necessary for me to take a retrospective glance to 
a more distant date than my own experience will carry me, so that I 
may compare past methods of procedure and results to present ones. In 
doing this I trust the older members of the vocation will neither 
consider it presumptuous on my part, nor the less interesting to them, 
that I should treat of matters more antiquated than my own existence, 
because I have that which I consider to be of more value than the 
experience of any one man to bear out my assertions, viz., the opinions 
of the leading gardeners of those days, as recorded in the horticultural 
press. In some cases, again, I may, through enthusiasm for modern 
times, be led to under-estimate the work of gardeners of the past; this, 
however, will not be through want of belief in their capacity and skill, 
as I yield to no one in real admiration of those grand old gardeners who 
have gone before and laid such a splendid foundation, upon which the 
continued progress of horticulture has been so firmly established. On 
the other hand, I recognise that the advance of modern requirements 
and the facilities of modern times render it absolutely imperative for 
horticulturists of to-day to move out of the beaten track to cope with 
difficulties as they arise, and advance in whatever direction sound reason 
may suggest, instead of clinging with our national tenacity to customs 
which have only their antiquity to commend them, and which, although 
they may have answered their purpose in bygone years, under the altered 
conditions of modern times should no longer be tolerated. 
I believe the majority of garleners will agree with me that there are 
few more remarkable achievements connected with the horticulture of 
recent years than can be noted in the immense advance made in the 
cultivation of the Chrysanthemum and in the many splendid 
varieties which have been raised. We have them now large enough 
and small enough to please the most fastidious. The perfect models 
formed by well grown incurved flowers, the varied colours, grace¬ 
ful and fantastic forms to be seen in the Japanese section, are a 
source of unfailing interest to all who once become engrossed with 
them. I dwell with especial interest upon this part of my subject, 
because the advance made has been principally within my own memory. 
Eighteen years ago I saw, for the first time, a Chrysanthemum show, 
and ^ ever since then their gorgeous flowers have exercised a great 
fascination over me. Since that time I have seen many of the best 
shows in the south, and noted with keen interest the battle waged 
between growers from north and south for the trophy offered so°me 
years ago. But so great has been the advance that the winning standi 
of those days would have no chance now against the perfect incurved 
blooms or the massive Japanese flowers staged now-a-days. The progress 
made is not in their cuUure alone, but also in the splendid new 
varieties continually brought forward which are decided acquisitions, as 
they enable exhibitors to dispense with those small varieties which were 
80 frequently required to complete a stand, and which often spoilt the 
evenness of it. I shall not soon forget the splendid show of these 
popular flowers which I saw a few years ago at Swanmore Park. I was 
fortunate in paying my visit just before Mr. Molyneux cut the grand 
flowers which finally won the last of the challenge cups he carried away 
from Kingston. If I had not already been a great admirer of the 
Queen of Autumn Flowers,” that one visit would have made me so. 
^hiis far my remarks on Chrysanthemums apply to those grown for 
exhibiting as cut blooms, but it is doubtful if specimen plants were 
ever grown so well as they have been during the last ten years. 
Although comparatively few undertake this branch of Chrysanthemum 
culture, those who do fully demonstrate their practical skill. South¬ 
ampton, Portsmouth, and Bath have long been famed for their fine 
specimen plants. I remember on one occasion a well-known gardener 
from the metropolis was judging at the first named show when he 
declared that the plants he had adjudicated upon were the finest he had 
ever seen, and the only ones that came near them in point of merit 
were staged at the Guildhall in London twenty years before. Since 
that time I have seen better single specimens at Bath, but never twelve 
plants so large, even, and splendidly flowered. They were exhibited, I 
believe, by Mr. Joy, a nurseryman near Southampton, and Mr. Wills, 
his great opponent, usually ran him very close. Judging from the many 
fine plants I saw at the Chrysanthemum show held in Birmingham the 
city growers are on the right road to beat all previous records. 
Another department of gardening in which not only great expansion 
but real improvement has taken place is in the production of those fine 
plants in small pots, which are in such great demand for decorative 
purposes, and in the highly artistic manner in which decorative work is 
carried out. Since the age of cheap glass and improved methods of 
heating much more suitable structures have been provided for the 
growth of these plants, and the advance made in this department is 
perhaps not so much due to increased skill as to the greater advantage 
under which we labour. Go into the great flower markets of this country 
and take note of the beautiful and remarkable plants there exposed for 
eale, possessing as they do luxuriant foliage, abundant flower, and robust 
health ; and yet these plants, which approach so nearly to our ideas of 
perfection, are all grown in comparatively small pots. That they can 
be thus brought to such a high state of cultivation is not alone due to 
the fact that they are grown in light houses and kept near the glass, 
but also in a great measure to the comparatively modern practice of 
feeding regularly with chemical manures. I refer especially in this 
case to the plants grown by the market gardeners, because they were 
undoubtedly the pioneers in the production of this fine type of plants; 
but in cases where private gardeners have the same facilities, such as 
suitable houses devoted to one subject, they are well able to hold their 
own against all comers. _ 
I now come to that portion of my subject which deals with the 
progress made in the manner of arranging both pot plants and cut 
flowers, and I think in this direction the work and responsibilities of 
gardeners of recent times has been enormously increased. If we turn 
to the gardening press of forty or fifty years ago we find no reports 
giving a minute description of the way in which groups of plants were 
arranged at the leading shows of those days. Groups of plants arranged 
for effect were then not so much in vogue, and judging from the facts 
gleaned from many old and respected gardeners with whom I have come 
in contact, the prevailing style then was to put up a background of 
Palms, and then to form an even sloping bank from them to the front. 
The great points aimed at were evenness and plenty of colour. A 
complete revolution has, however, been made in our ideas since, and 
greater freedom of arrangement has been adopted. The new departure 
rap'dly took the public eye, and we now find groups of plants put up 
with exquisite taste at the principal shows throughout the country, and 
they certainly form one of the most attractive features of modern 
exhibitions. This is not to be wondered at when we notice the highly 
artistic and finished manner in which even small groups are arranged, 
and when the work is carried out on a large scale, as at Shrewsbury 
and Manchester, it is surprising what a variety of features a single 
arrangement possesses. In the subdued light, under arching Palm 
fronds, brilliant bits of colour are dotted about, then a series of mounds 
of irregular heights and sizes have a most telling effect when they spring 
from a groundwork of greenery, and the whole undulating surface is 
dotted with Orchids, Crotons, graceful Palms and Grasses, while here 
and there a plant of elegant growth rises well above its varied setting, the 
outline of the group being finished off in such a way as to hide every 
pot, any of which if visible greatly mar the effect. Our aim should 
be to copy the outline of some of the landscape scenes and quiet nooks 
that surround us, and work them out on a miniature scale, with the 
choicest materials the hybridiser can produce, or the indomitable 
traveller collects from every quarter of the globe. 
Gardeners of the past were wont to speak, and those veterans happily 
still with us tell us now, with justifiable pride of the days of Heath 
culture, which fine plants were then important features in the majority 
of the best gardens. They tell us also of the giant Cockscombs and perfect 
examples of Pelargoniums staged in days gone by, and they say with 
regret that such fine plants are not so much grown now. As they 
linger on the pleasure the past has afforded them, I cannot help thinking 
they forget the great variety of plants equally beautiful, and in some 
cases more useful, which now adorn our British gardens. What of the 
marvellous Orchids, the grand Begonias, the wonderful Amaryllis, the 
improved Cinerarias, the double Primulas, the bright Crotons, and hosts 
of other plants too numerous to mention which are now grown, or we 
might almost say manufactured, by thousands, all of which are wanted 
to supply the great demand for plants adapted for room embellishment 
or for supplying cut flowers. Where plants were formerly used by the 
dozen for these purposes they are now employed by the hundreds, if not 
thousands. It seems to me to be a matter of the survival of the fittest, 
and so long as any particular class of plant becomes the fashion of the 
hour and is better adapted to supply the prevalent demand, old subjects, 
though good in many ways, must make way for the new comers. Under 
the high pressure that gardeners of the present day are working they 
can ill afford a feeling of sentiment to stand in the way of progress. 
Should Heaths again become popular men to grow them in superb style 
will quickly be forthcoming. _ 
When a decided demand for any plant is created the British gardener 
soon finds out the way to grow it. A careful study of the matter from 
an impartial point of view will, I think, show that the gardening of 
to-day is a much more complicated calling than was the case half a 
century ago. Fruit and vegetables were perhaps then in as great demand 
as now, but I fancy our predecessors would have been amazed at the 
elaborate decorations now carried out in many private places, and would 
experience great reluctance in resigning so many choice plants to a 
weekly sojourn in dwelling-rooms. In this branch of their calling the 
difficulties of gardeners have been greatly increased, and a close 
adherence to systematic culture must be carried out to maintain the 
supply required. In estimating the work done, and the results accom¬ 
plished by gardeners of recent times, I am incline 1 to think that too 
little credit is given them for their achievements in this branch of their 
calling, for the simple reason that only a very limited portion of it is 
seen by their brother gardeners. 
Then, again, the flowers required for and the amount of time spent 
in carrying out dinner-table decorations is very considerable, to say 
nothing of the tax on the inventive faculties to supply variety and 
originality of design. In these days of high artistic development such 
' work must be carried out according to the true principles of art. There 
