8 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENEll. 
beiug debarred from showing bis garden produce, and 
competing with a neighbour having a less dignified 
employment; but in this district the advantages are not 
so important as might bo expected. Spade husbandry, 
or gardening on a largo scale, has made most of the 
routine duties of horticulture pretty well known, espcci- j 
ally the most common operations; digging by the acre j 
being done to an extent nearly equalling the ploughing j 
around us, and grafting and budding the various i'ruit- 
trees being mostly done by labouring men, as well as j 
I he rearing, planting, and pruning of small fruits and ; 
other things; and there is no horticultural produce j 
I which receives so close attention as the Hop does; its | 
experienced cultivator being able to tell whether the 
])lant looks better, or worse, one day than it did two days 
before that; and the various diseases to which it is; 
liable having all here the subjects of experiments, with ; 
a view to remedy or prevent them. 1 know of an exten¬ 
sive jdanter, who was said to expend several hundreds of \ 
jiounds, last year, in cll’ecting a cure for the blight in bis 
Hops, soft-soap and tobacco being the principal sub¬ 
stances used. This operation, of course, could not bo 
done without being witnessed by the cottagers around; 
and their general acquaintance with varieties of fruits, 
and the peculiarities attached to them, tends to mak'e 
them very formidable opponents in an ojicn class; for I 
have seen as good Morelia Cherries in a cottager’s 
garden as ever I saw elsewhere, and Apples, Pears, and 
several other fruits, equally fine. 
Now, where all the most useful operations of culture 
are going on around him, the latest imported Irish 
labourer to a bricklayer pretty soon may become a com¬ 
petitor with the best in the parish. It need, therefore, 
afford little surprise, to learn that the cottagers’ produc¬ 
tions at our Horticultural Show equal in quality that of 
the subscribers’ in many things, exotic articles alone 
excepted. 
This is the bright side of the question, which admits 
of little dispute ; and then the inquiry arises. Have the 
number of exhibitors increased the last half-dozen 
years ? I fear not. A few, more spirited than the rest, 
and, probably, more favoured, too, have contrived, by 
some of those preparatory measures known to all expe¬ 
rienced exhibitors, to usurp to themselves a greater 
proportion of the prizes given, so that the names we are 
apt to see ticketed up as receivers of prizes aie very 
often repetitions of former shows. To say this is 
unjust, would be using too severe a term ;' but it is cer¬ 
tainly unfortunate, and tends to prevent some praise¬ 
worthy cottagers showing, by the fact that they think 
they have no chance with the favourite ones, who, by- 
the-by, may, and, I have no doubt, do, act with jierfect 
integrity in the matter, and are every way eligible to 
think it could be remedied in this case ; but J have 
often heard it remarked by gentlemen visiting the Show, 
“ What excellent productions! but bow few exhibitors! 
1 wish so-and-so would show.” There was no lack of 
j)roduce, but so much of it came from the same hands. 
Nevertheless, with all those disadvantages, added to 
several weeks of very dry, hot weather, the Sliow on the 
12th of September was an excellent one in most re¬ 
spects, vegetables and fruits both being good. But the 
flowers gave tokens of the dry weather being too much 
for them,—the DaMixs, especially, being small, com])ared 
to former years. Good fruits, however, were to be 
found in tolerable abundance, and vegetables were also 
good, including Lettuce, which, after a period of dry 
weather, is not always so good as in more nioist weather. 
Ccdiliflower was most deficient, and Celery was not so 
good as usual; while Potatoes and Onions wore both 
fine, as were also Bed Cabbage, Kidney Beans, and some 
other things. 
October 2 . j 
! 
Certain privileges arc accorded to cottagers at the ] 
shows: no subscription is required, and a greater 
number of extra prizes are given than amongst the 
general subscribers. The show is also open to them 
after a specified time. 'There are two shows, one in 
June, the other in September; the latter is held in the 
large market-room ; the former in a field, commanding a 
fine view of the town and neighbourhood, and is so well 
attended, that the Committee usually take about one 
hundred pounds at the gate,—no despicable sum for a 
provincial show. Of course, the usual attractions of a 
fete are added, as military bands, &c.—a second Chis¬ 
wick, in fact; the garden and grounds of the latter 
being very well compensated for by the richness of the 
landscape around, second to none, perhaps, in the 
kingdom, for the variety and quality of the produce; 
and, I need hardly add, that the votaries of fashion 
make it their duty to be there, and, altogether, aideasant 
afternoon is often siicnt, the elements being invariably 
propitious, and are looked for as being such, much in the 
same way as they are booked the reverse for Chiswick. 
Of the quality of the things exhibited, little need be 
said beyond that, for a provincial show, they are gene¬ 
rally good. 
As cottagers and cottagers’ gardens are my. subject at 
present, I may say, that the tent, or department where 
their produce is exhibited, receives as much attention as 
any, and deservedly so ; and a stroll through the country 
will convince a stranger that cottagers, as a class, have 
often chances of producing as good o ops as any one. 
Apples, which are this season a very irregular crop, are 
most plentiful on the trees in cottagers’ gardens; and a 
Plum, Morelia Cherry, or Apricot, planted against the 
gable-end of a cottage, often produces as fine fruit as 
can be seen anywhere, although its branches may not 
be trained with that matliematical ]irecision which 
formed the criterion of young gardener's skill in years 
long since gone by. These advantages result, probably, 
in the adaptation of the district to the growth of hardy 
fruits; but I am far from thinking it the best suited for 
Apjdes: on the contrary, there are more unhealthy trees, 
and orchards in a consumptive state, than might be 
expected, and, certainly, more than in many other dis¬ 
tricts. But tbo cottagers’ trees, as a whole, are more 
exempt than the more extensive growers; and their 
pursuits being mostly identical, the cottagers have the 
opportunity of obtaining grafts or buds of the most 
approved sorts in the district; and it is well known that 
some kinds are better suited than others for certain soils 
and situations, oven only a few miles apart Good 
hedges are also an ornament to a garden where that 
fence is used; hut I cannot, in a general way, compli¬ 
ment the cottager in that respect; some are neat; but 
usually, much value is placed on a garden, be it ever, 
so small; while tboso who have a more extensive 
one contrive to make a few shillings each year from 
something or other. Of course, no prudent man sells 
anything that he can economically use liimself. 
In regard to cottagers’ prizes at a Horticultural Show, 
I have long been of opinion that such shows ought to 
bo more numerous, in order that the more diffident 
might be induced to compete; for, as stated above, a 
few individuals, iavoured by circumstances, might usurp 
all the prizes at the general show of a country town, 
and only confer on them a just amount of credit; yet, 
at a small village show, where limits are placed to the 
abodes of the competitors, a fair share of competition 
will be found to exist, and, no doubt, all will go on well. 
It is a poor excuse to abandon a show because one 
dishonourable individual unjustly obtains a prize by 
exhibiting borrowed produce. 'J’ho act itself, when 
known, is a sufficient punish incut to the pciqiotrator, 
without further measures; and his cximlsiou ought to 
satisfy the other members; but, somehow, we often bear 
