548 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 13,1894 
“(2) That the building shall be what is known as a‘temperate house,’suit¬ 
able that is, for such plants and flowering trees as only require moderate heat 
durin^ winter* and none in summer—such plants in a word as are to be 
found^in the much-admired ‘temperate house’ at Kew. This means as 
much economy in maintenance as is consistent with a first-rate con¬ 
servatory. 
“ The building proposed to ba erected consists entirely of steel, iron, 
and glass (the lower tier of windows being of plate glass) except the doors, 
which are of oak, and the basement wall, which would be of red Peterhead 
granite polished. With the approval of the city authorities I am prepared 
to erect the building and equip it with plants, on the understanding that it 
be open freely to the public, week days and Sundays, and that the city will 
undertake its proper maintenance. I should add that in selecting a suitable 
site and in various details of the building I have had the advant*ge of the 
experience of Mr. Fred. Smith, Chairman of the Parks Committee, and of 
Herbert, the Superintendent of the parks. The site selected is marked 
red on the enclosed plan, and is in the immediate neighbourhood of the most 
frequented portion of the park.” 
Alderman Bowring moved the following resolution, “ That the offer of 
Mr. Henry Yates Thompson to erect in Sefton Park and equip with plants a 
public conservatory, for the benefit of the citizens, be accepte 1 upon the 
conditions epecified in his letter of the 4th of December, 1894, and that 
the best thanks of the Council be accorded to Mr. Yates Thompson for his 
generous and valuable gift.” Alderman Bowring considered that the 
conservatorv would be a great ornament to one of the most noble and 
beautiful parks in the kingdom. He was sure the public would appreciate 
the generosity of Mr. Yates Thompson and value his gift. 
Alderman Radcliffe seconded the motion, and expressed the opinion that 
the public would be greatly indebted to Mr. Yates Thompson for his 
thoughtful gift. 
Alderman F. Smith remarked that the gift was intrinsically valuable, as 
it would cost something between £7,000 and £10,000 to erect and equip the 
conservatory in the way contemplated by Mr. Yates Thompson, who 
deserved their warmest thanks for the wise, thoughtful, and generous w.^y 
in which he had dealt with this matter. With regard to the place being 
opened on Sundays, Mr. Smith mentioned that on one Sunday recently the 
show of Chrysanthemums was visited in one hour by no fewer than 
840 people. 
The resolution was unanimously carried, and on the motion of Alderman 
Bowring, seconded by Mr. Miles, it was referred to the Parks, Gardens, and 
Improvement Committee. 
We are confident that Mr. Yates Thompson’s thoughtful generosity 
will be as highly appreciated by the public as by the members of the 
City Council of Liverpool. Mr. Alderman Smith’s reference to the 
attractive force of Chrysanthemums, reminds us that upwards of 300,000 
persons visited the collections of plants arranged in plain structures 
in five of the London parks this season. In the course of time we 
shall hope to see mors imposing structures in prominent positions in 
these parks, now so well cared for, in harmony with the pleasant 
surroundings.] 
GRAPE GROWING IN KENT. 
I AM pleased to find “ A Kentish Gardener ” (page 516) repudiating 
the suggestion that good exhibition Grapes cannot be grown in Kent. 
Of course the suggestion was absurd. It does not at all follow that 
because Grapes were not shown in special force at the Crystal Palace 
in September from that, or indeed any other county, that such county 
must necessarily be backward in Grape culture. All who have fine 
Grapes do not exhibit them, and for southern counties September is 
rather late for many growers. If at any time at some future great fruit 
show a kind of county competition were established for, say, twelve 
bunches in six varieties, any grower in a county being allowed to 
contribute the finest bunch or bunches towards the collection he may 
have, we should then have the question of county Grape growing put in 
a very diverse light. I think that would make a most popular class.—D 
“A Kentish Gardener” (page 616) says I am under a wron- 
impression on the above question, but gives no proof that such is actually 
the case. The inquiry I made was whether Kent as a county was favour¬ 
able for the production of exhibition Grapes, a Kentish gardener of 
some eminence asserting—not to me personally, but to the party of 
which I was one of the number—that the county had no reputation as a 
producer of high-class Grapes. I merely asked the question of your 
readers so that they may substantiate or otherwise the statement made ; 
but “ A Kentish Gardener” seems to take it in quite a different light, 
judging from the nature of his reply. He says that after very careful 
observation he found that from Scotland came the best examples of no 
less than six varieties, taking the bunches singly, not the whole stand ; 
and in giving the names of the varieties of this exhibit he mentions two 
sorts that were not in the collection at all—namely, Mrs. Pince and Gros 
Guillaume. Both varieties were staged in grand condition by Mr. James 
Day, another Scotch grower, but not by Mr. Kirk, the champion ex¬ 
hibitor. His stand of twelve bunches was a source of considerable 
attraction and comment, and, so far as I could learn, the Judges had not 
the least difficulty in deciding on the merits of this particular collection. 
It was generally admitted to be the finest collective exhibit ever seen. 
“ A Kentish Gardener ” asserts that from his county were more 
perfect examples staged of the most popular Grapes than all the other 
English counties put together, and is open to furnish particulars if I 
dispute his statements. Trebbiano is one of the sorts which he claims 
as popular, but I venture to think it fails to lay claim to that distinction 
among a large class of English Grape growers. That Alicante, Trebbiano, 
Buckland Sweetwater, arid Muscat of Alexandria were staged in splendid 
form I am quite prepared to admit; but I do not find Kentish names 
in the reports of the Crystal Palace show who staged them in better 
form than all other English counties put together. I assume, whether 
rightly or wrongly, that Mr. Bury’s exhibit, which included the varieties 
mentioned by your correspondent, is claimed as Kentish grown ; but I 
was under the impression that Forest Hill was in the county of 
Middlesex. However, if Mr. Bury’s collection came from Kent, I 
would venture to say that it does the county and the grower very great 
credit; and other readers of the Journal, beside myself, will be glad of 
the information offered by “A Kentish (Jardener” that Kent does, and 
has produced Grapes equal to any other English county. That such is 
the case would naturally have been taken as a foregone conclusion, but 
as my informant says it is not so, I did not expect that the information 
asked for would give any offence whatever to anyone.—W. S. 
On reading the notes by “ W. S.” (page 493) under the above heading 
I was surprised. I think taking Kent as a whole it is not behind, 
although Grapes may not be well grown in some places, as there are 
various kinds of soil. I was born in Kent; have lived in various parts 
of the county all my life, and have had to deal with the different soils 
from clay to chalk and even rock stone, I ha^e seen fine crops of 
Grapes at different places up to the present date for many years past. 
On the other hand, I know a few places where the reverse is the case, 
owing, from my own judgment, to bad management. I expect it is 
the same in most counties at times. I am now speaking of forcing both 
early and late varieties. Your correspondent’s remark on the soil being 
some of the best in England is right as regards certain places. I 
know of several gardens, and also of some poor soils, where I have seen 
good Grapes. 
I will now mention one or two cases of cool treatment, the first by 
an amateur, who grew his Vines in a small greenhouse, where plants 
were grown on a stage. A Black Hamburgh Vine was planted here, and 
from this I have seen the finest Grapes of the sort that were ever sent to 
table ; also those from another Vine of the same kind outside on south 
wall proved nearly equal. Here was poor soil ; no real border. This 
was near the south coast, so near that in rough winds the spray from the 
sea would damp everything. Pruning was done on the long rod system. 
This is about fifty years since. 
My first place as gardener, a few years previous to the above date, 
was single handed. There were no glass houses, but after a time a 
greenhouse was built. Here I planted two Vines, a Hamburgh and 
Black Prince, pruned on the long rod system. There was no border, the 
lawn reaching to within 2 feet of the stem. I had splendid crops here 
for ten years, but the first season after leaving it there were no Grapes 
fit for the table owing to bad management. 
I next moved to another part of the county, forty miles farther 
inland, as head gardener. It was a fine garden, good soil, a light sharp 
loam, but to my surprise not a Grape Vine on the premises. This 
I quickly remedied by planting some against south walls with excellent 
results, the only glass structure being a large cool house for everything 
all the year round. At one end of this house outside I planted a Black 
Hamburgh in March 1854. Not being a strong cane I cut it back to 
about 2 feet, sufficient to reach through the wall at the base, the space 
for planting being about 4 feet square. Intendingit to fill the house, which 
was 24 by 14 feet, by degrees, I gave it time to strengthen, adding one rod 
yearly, and pruning on the long rod system. The Vines first fruited in 
"Oct jber 1857, the bunches being fine. One rod was added each year till 
the house was filled, bringing more fruit every season. For about twelve 
years this Vine has carried 1 cwt. of fruit each year, good in bunch and 
berry, including this season, and is as healthy now as ever before. The 
upright stem to where the rods commence is 10 feet, girth from bottom 
to top 1 foot. 
From this statement you will see it is not the county or soil alto¬ 
gether that is at fault. One cause I feel is quite certain, from what I 
have seen, is overcropping and forcing too hard without sufficient 
nourishment at the roots at proper time. Not long since I called on a 
gardener who had just settled in a fresh situation where he found a 
beautiful crop of Black Hamburgh Grapes fast colouring. The house 
was flooded with water, and this was often repeated, but not for red 
spider. I wondered if the berries would not half decay. I may, by 
your permission, give a few lines another time on Grapes I have grown 
in open air in Kent.— One of the Old School. 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
December 11th. 
The Committees of the Royal Horticultural Society met for the last 
time this year at the Drill Hall, James Street, Westminster, on the 
above-mentioned date. As is usual at this season the exhibits were not 
very numerous. Orchids were fairly well represented, but greenhouse 
and stove plants and flowers were only shown in small numbers, the 
same applying to fruit and vegetables. 
Fruit Committee. —Present: T. F. Rivers, Esq. (in the chair), 
with Rev. W. Wilks and Messrs. G. Bunyard, H. J. Pearson, J. H. 
Veitch, P. Veitch, G. W. Cummins, T. J. Saltmarsh, G. Norman, 
H. Balderson, F. Q. Lane, G. Hudson, C. Ross, W. Bates, A. J. Laing, 
A. Dean, C. Herrin, J. Smith, and J. Wright. 
As will be seen, there was a good attendance of members at this the 
