152 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 1. 
numerous pomological societies and publications furnish 
ample evidence of. In France, it has a great measure of 
support, although, perhaps, not so great as in those 
countries already mentioned; but certainly iai gieatei 
than in our own. And in Belgium it is found not 
unworthy of government patronage and support. Need 
it be wondered, then, that so little is known, when so i 
little interest is manifested on the subject in this 
country? Wo trust the time is coming when tho same i 
vitality and energy will be exhibited as there was at the I 
time when Mr. Ivuight and Mr. Sabine devoted so much 
of their attention to it.’’ 
This hope, we believe, will bo realised very shortly; j 
for we have received the prospectus of an Association to | 
be entitled, The British Bornological Society ; tire 
President of which is to be Sir Joseph laxton, and the 
Secretary (provisionally), Mr. Spencer, gardener to the 
Marquis of Lansdown. It has tor its objects “ com¬ 
paring and classifying the fruits ot Great Britain, 
America, and the Continent; and likewise for examin¬ 
ing and reporting on newly-introduced or seedling 
varieties.” The meetings are to be in Kondon, and 
prizes given as soon as the Society’s funds will allow 
such expenditure. 
A Society having so especially for its object the 
improvement, and better knowledge ot hardy iruit, 
commands our best wishes for its success. I he annual 
subscription is only ten shillings, and wo commend it 
to the patronage of our readers. 
Whilst on the subject of fruits, we may record, that | 
ripe Strawberries were gathered from open ground bods, 
at Winchester, on the 20lh of May. They were borne 
by young plants of Cuthill's Bloch Prince. 
[from a correspondent.] 
We have received the prospectus of “ The British 
Pomological Society,” to be under the presidency of Sii 
Joseph Paxton, with others, as office bearers, who rank j 
high in the horticultural world. We need hardly say i 
how cordially we give our assent to such a movement, 
since on several occasions wo have, in the pages of this 
Journal, regretted the non-existence of such an in¬ 
stitution, and suggested how desirable it would be to 
disseminate a taste for, and communicate information on, 
such an important subject. We have shown, also, how 
even in an economical point of view an extended cul¬ 
tivation of fruits would conduce towards the good of the 
country. When the Horticultural Society was in the 
zenith of its glory, the subject of Pomology formed one, 
if not the most prominent, of its features. When T. A. 
Knight was at work, and giving to the world the result 
of his experiments and practice; and when Joseph 
Sabine and Robert Thompson were, note book in hand, 
peering from tree to tree, in tho Society’s Gardens, 
making those minute observations which resulted in 
“ The Catalogue of Fruits, &c.,” there was something 
doing in and for Pomology; then wo could get inform¬ 
ation upon new and old varietios alike; but for the last 
twelve or fourteen years, what has been done ? Nothing, 
except that some three acres of the Society’s orchard 
have been converted into a yard, where vans stand three 
•days in the year, on the Chiswick show days; but as 
regards the procuring of newly-introduced or seedling 
varieties of fruits, there has been but little done—very 
little; although there is the same Robert Thomson, as 
able as ever to make the observations, if he had the 
opportunity. No man can work without tools, and as 
the Society does not furnish Mr. Thomson with tools, 
he is deprived of the power to enqdoy his skill advan¬ 
tageously. 
As an illustration, take the “ Supplement to the Cata¬ 
logue of Fruit-trees,” price one shilling, and let us turn 
to the Pears. There has been a great addition to the 
varietios of Pears of late years. The Belgian nursery¬ 
men urge and tempt us to buy these new sorts, and 
many of our own nurserymen are not far behind them 
in this respect; but what do we know about them ? 
How do they succeed, and what are their qualities in 
this climate? If we refer to the “ Supplement” for in¬ 
formation, we find R. C. where the information ought to 
bo ; and what, reader, do you suppose this li. C. to 
signify ? Neither more nor less than “ reputed character," 
all of which, and a great deal more, we could get from 
any continental nursery catalogue for nothing. Now, 
this R. C. is not an occasional, but a general occurrence, 
and it certainly says very little for the Horticultural 
Society, that after ten years they had nothing better 
to offer by way of “ Supplement,” but the lean and 
meagre production recently issued. But why should 
this be when there arc such resources at command, and 
those in the establishment who are so well able to un 
dertake such work ? It is not from any want of ability 
on tho part of those to whom these matters are entrusted 
for carrying out the practical details, but from an evi¬ 
dent carelessness and lethargy on the part of the 
management, whose sole object appears to be a sub¬ 
serviency of the use of the -gardens for personal pur¬ 
poses, and whose self-sufficiency is so great that nobody 
dare “ show their noses,” or express an opinion. 
If, as was the case in former years, the Society made 
a point of procuring both at homo and from abroad the 
new varieties of fruits as they appear, and proving their 
adaptability, or non-adaptability, to the climate of this 
country, instead of idly waiting till somebody sends 
them “ one or two new things,” we should have had a 
very different “Supplement” to that now published. 
But there is no trouble taken in the matter, everything 
being conducted as if all that could be done for horticul¬ 
ture had been dono long ago, and as if there were no 
plants worth cultivating but Orchids, and as if there 
were no world outside the walls of Chiswick Gardens. 
supply these deficiencies, and we wish tho new Society 
all success. Its subject is a popular one, and wc do not 
doubt but that under good management, and with tho 
excellent collections of fruits now in the country to 
work upon, it will be eminently useful. 
