June 24. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
18!) 
liaries on some occasions, leaf-removal, wholly or partial, 
retardation, &c. 
Stopping has a direct tendency to augment the elabo- ! 
rative powers in the immediate vicinity of any given 
fruit or fruits; its ellects on the system of tho tree are 
to equalise the sap, and to exercise a temporary restric- I 
tion on the rampant propensities of the tree. The en- \ 
lavgement of tho volume of tho principal or first-formed ! 
loaves, and, by consequence, the increase of their powers, \ 
is one of the most important matters connected with a 
judicious stopping. It must be remembered, that this 1 
stopping must be judiciously managed; it will not do 
to stop at any period. Every tree, every shoot, must 
first be permitted to develops what may bo considered 
a proper amount of healthy leaves, or reciprocity in the i 
functions of the tree will be deranged. 
The application of manurial matters is next in order; 
and it need scarcely be observed, that such is an assistant 
in increasing the capacity and powers of the leaves. 
We trust that none of our younger readers will suppose 
that the crude juices of manurial matters will pass at 
once into the fruit. No; they must first bo appropriated 
by the foliage, and thus be made into food such 
as the fruit is qualified to receive—accretive matter. 
It is most absurd to witness the immense mystery with 
which some of our growers and exhibitors of big goose¬ 
berries enshrined their processes. Ask some of these 
worthies how they get them so large, and they will 
shrug, nod, or wink, as the case may be, and remain 
obscure. “ Obscurity,” said Burke, or some other fine 
writer, “ is one source of the sublime;” ergo, the growers 
of big gooseberries are most sublime gentlemen. To be 
fair; it is the minority, in holes and corners in the far 
west, or, rather, north west, that is meant; we have met 
with many far superior to this description. About six¬ 
teen years since, at a “ show” of this kind, one old squire 
bravely asserted that he could introduce lumps of fat | 
into the gooseberries; and surely his “ Eagles ” were 
enough to sap the foundation of the faith of those not 
“ well up,” for he had a berry of tho Eagle—then a 
first-rate kind—which had a huge white lump beneath 
the skin on one side. If any one asks why Lancashire ] 
and Cheshire are so famous for big gooseberries, we 
answer, because the gooseberry, although it loves a mel- I 
low soil, equally loves a moist atmosphere. We have J 
known these gooseberry men place a saucer of water 
beneath the supposed winning berry; no doubt to meet, j 
in a high degree, tho absorbing powers of fruit as well j 
as loaf, and to ward off or soften down any vicissitude 
tending to dryness. Doubtless, the old chap’s lump of 
fat was simply the results of a high amount of absorb- ! 
auce preponderating on one side. 
Thinning the fruit; extra thinning, we mean, for 
exhibition purposes. The influence of this proceeding 
all must be familiar with ; nature herself gives us first ! 
lessons in this case. Who has not seen an apple-tree, j 
or a cherry-tree, cast off fruit that could not well be : 
sustained without prejudice to the remaining crop, and | 
even to the well-being of the tree? Those who want to 
scrape acquaintance with the gold medals of our so¬ 
cieties must thin with no niggardly hand. This kind 
of thinning is by no means compatible with the highest 
amount of profit, and hence our market-gardeners are ! 
not fond of rushing into tho exhibition arena. Of 
course, a given tree can only elaborate a given amount 
of accretive matter, that amount regulated by the aggre¬ 
gate surface of well-disposed foliage. Too heavy a draw 
on this alimentary stock will not only render the fruit 
smaller, but will tax the very vitality of the tree. 
Thinning of the young spray. —Not every tree produces 
that even amount of young shoots which is most condu¬ 
cive to the most fruitful condition. The thinning for 
exhibition fruit must be of a more special character 
than is conveyed under the ordinary term and practice 
of disbudding. Here, not a surplus shoot should bo per- , 
mitted on any pretext; not one which is not either con- 
tributary to the fruit or conducive to the welfare of tho 
system of the tree. Thinning, here, is intended as a total 
removal of the spray in question. A good vine dresser, 
having an exhibition in his eye, will not encourage 
many surplus shoots. Vines, however, form a slight 
exception to fruits in general; of all our fruits, nono 
appears to submit to, or require, a more severe hand than 
the vine. Notwithstanding all this, a good vine dresser 
is as chary of a fine loaf on his favourite bunch-shoot 
as a miser of his gold; and we should like to see the 
man who would dare to strip one of the principal leaves 
off a shoot containing an exhibition bunch in the pre¬ 
sence of the ardent proprietor; such a man would possess 
valour enough to lead an expedition against Nicholas of 
the far north, although his amount of prudence might 
be doubted. 
Wo have thus touched some of the principles which, 
judiciously applied, are capable of enhancing the size 
and quality of fruits. In a subsequent paper, wo will 
endeavour to show their application, and bring the 
matter closer home. R. Eheinqion. j 
EXHIBITION OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY ; 
AT THEIR GARDEN, REGENT’S PARK. 
June 9th. 
They say that the proper education of cooks and 
gardeners ought to embrace the circle of the sciences, as 
much to teach them the necessary patience to endure 
the disappointments incidental to their respective call¬ 
ings, as that they have to deal with subjects—simples, 
and compounds—which aro founded, or ought to be so, j 
and also compounded, on scientific principles. Cooks 
say that the most trying and tiresome thing in the world 
is to have to stand the heat and hurry of getting up a 
dinner under a full conviction that one must sit down 
and eat it in solitude, and ten times worse if, after in¬ 
viting and expecting a large company, none of the guests 
can come. But gardeners assert, with better reason, 
that that is as nothing to the disappointment of provid¬ 
ing for an exhibition of plants and flowers, and, after all, 
the show-day turns out so wet and dreary, that people 
cannot leave their homes but at the risk of their lives. 
So it happened on the last Derby-day at Epsom, on 
the best day at Ascot, and on the finest exhibition which 
the Botanical Society has yet had to record. The rain 
began that eventful morning about four o’clock, and, in 
the neighbourhood of London, continued, without inter¬ 
mission, for six-and-thirty hours; and it was as warm as 
it was wet, and “ as still as thought,” so that the most 
delicate plant could tako no harm. All the tents were 
brim full of the finest grown plants which this country 
could produce, and which no other country can imitate. 
The Rhododendrons under the monster tent were just 
about their prime, and tho garden itself, as far as one 
could judge, was in its best summer dress; but all this 
was lost to the thousands who would have been there if 
they could have ventured out of doors. 
At all these great exhibitions, the first prize, or the 
largest medal, is given to the best collection of stove and 
greenhouse plants. The number of plants have varied 
from time to time; on this occasion there were twenty- 
five plants in the large collections, and every one of the 
five-and-twenty would have been admitted, ton years ago, 
to compete as single specimens of extraordinary merit, 
and prizes would have been awarded to at least a score 
of them. Both this Society and the Horticultural Society 
still keep up a class for specimen plants; that is, they 
will give a handsome prize to a single plant, if the judges 
think it is better grown than any plant in a collection 
This was a very 'great stimulus to plant-growers for a 
