216 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 3 , 1887. 
THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 
I SEE by your issue of November 26th that the 
council of the Royal Horticultural Society have finally 
determined to abandon South Kensington. It will, 
therefore, be necessary for them to find some new 
home, and, possibly, to re-construct the society on more 
popular lines. I cannot help thinking that if the 
monthly meetings next year were held in London, say 
St. Stephen’s Hall, Westminster, or possibly a site 
might be obtained in the City, say, perhaps, the gardens 
of Finsbury Circus, and the second meeting in the month 
during the summer season at the old garden at Chiswick, 
properly advertised, it would go far to place the society 
in a better financial position. I should welcome the 
change, and I have no doubt that many genuine 
horticulturists would enjoy a visit to Chiswick in the 
summer to study the good work there done. It would 
bring more prominently under notice the interesting 
experiments and valuable seed-testing trials conducted 
in these gardens under the superintendence of Mr. 
Barron. 
I should like to see bona fide gardeners elected from 
throughout the kingdom as associate members at a 
small payment, say 10s. I think that the present 
Floral Committee should be broken up into sections, 
say from nine to twelve members for each section. 1 
would establish a section for Orchids, Roses, Chrysan¬ 
themums, spring flowers, &c., &c. I believe by this 
means a larger number of persons would be brought 
together who have a real interest in the development of 
horticulture, and it would help to enlarge the clientele 
of the society. I think each section of the committee 
should be composed of one-third amateurs, one-third 
gardeners, and one-third of the trade. Each committee 
should keep minutes, and should record the names of 
the members voting pro and con for the awards, and 
these should be published in the gardening papers, as by 
this means the value of the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s certificates would be enhanced in value. At 
present many horticulturists place no value on the 
certificates, because it is felt that many members of 
the present committee are asked to sit in judgment on 
plants of which they have no special knowledge, and 
mistakes are apt to be made and discontent caused. 
The society must not be allowed to drift into a 
quasi-scientific institution—a hybrid between the 
Linnsean and Kew. If it does it will assuredly break 
up for the want of £ s. cl. I hold that its object is to 
promote horticulture, to improve and educate the 
popular taste for flowers and fruit, to stimulate the 
trade, to cultivate and bring out new plants and 
varieties, to pass judgment on the value of the 
various new horticultural inventions and appliances, 
and to certify the value of the same as regards cost and 
construction. The gardens at Chiswick are admirably 
adapted for testing the value of new plants and appli¬ 
ances. In the orchard and vineries every kind of 
fruit and Grape should be cultivated, so that genuine 
horticulturists may have an opportunity of seeing for 
themselves the merits and demerits of each variety. 
The council ought not to expect Mr. Barron, the 
able superintendent of these gardens, to make a money 
profit, as if they were kept up as an ordinary market 
garden, and the produce sold as a commercial specu¬ 
lation. 1 trust that older and more able horticulturists 
will speak out through the press their views of what 
they think necessary and desirable to make the society 
in the future a greater success horticulturally and 
financially than it has been of late years.— A . H. Sm.ee, 
The Grange, Haclcbridge, Nov. 2Wi. 
Whilst it is not possible to withhold a tribute of 
admiration for the staunch support which Sir Charles 
Strickland and some other real amateur horticulturists 
have given the Royal Horticultural Society, it must be 
asked of Sir Charles whether the society has justified 
his kindness. Throughout its career there has been a 
tendency to limit its operations and sympathies—- 
indeed, it has been cursed by a species of cliqueism, 
which has ridden rough-shod over every generous 
proposition or broad-minded proposal, or, if not suc¬ 
cessful in every case, then it has done its best to 
strangle bold suggestions. All the special societies to 
which Sir Charles refers have grown out of the supine¬ 
ness or cold opposition of the cliqueism of the council 
from time to time, and never at any moment from a 
desire on the part of the promoters of these institutions 
to harm the Royal Horticultural Society. 
Apparent incapacity to adapt itself to the needs of 
the times has had its natural result, in leading the 
society into a deplorable position, from out of which 
there seems to be no road but that of destruction. I 
venture, however, seriously to differ from Sir Charles 
with regard to the statement of his that we fritter 
away our efforts on small societies. Poes not the 
Rose, Chrysanthemum, Carnation, or similar bodies 
perform work in relation to these particular flowers 
which the Royal Horticultural Society never could 
have accomplished 1 Take agriculture : even with so 
popular a body as the Royal Agricultural Society in 
the field, yet we have side by side with it the Dairy, 
Short-horn, Cart Horse, and similar special institu¬ 
tions doing remarkable work, and which are not viewed 
with jealousy by the Royal Agricultural Society, just 
because that body is governed by wider principles and 
men of broader minds than the unfortunate Royal 
Horticultural Society has ever been. — Observer. 
I think Sir Charles Strickland hits the right nail 
on the head when he says “it is the habit of English¬ 
men to fritter away their efforts in small independent 
bodies, rather than combine extensively for any large 
purpose.” And this maybe one of the reasons why 
the Royal Horticultural Society is retrogressing. It 
has never been purely representative of all classes of 
horticulture. A suggestion was made a short time ago 
in one of the gardening journals by a correspondent, 
that gardeners should be admitted as members on 
payment of an annual guinea subscription, which means 
that they, as a body, must still be onlookers, for how 
many gardeners, at the present rate of wages and 
current expenses, could afford their annual guinea. A 
national society in these times, to be popular, must be 
representative, and gardeners should be allowed to 
become members or be represented upon much easier 
terms. 
The work of the Royal Horticultural Society has also, 
to a great extent, been purely local, giving their awards, 
decisions and opinions at such a distance that few could 
approach them. An effort was made by them some 
time back to pay annual visits to the provinces, and I 
believe that the flower show at Bury St. Edmunds, in 
1867, was their first attempt. That was a step in the 
right direction, and had they persevered in this way, 
and allowed the country societies to amalgamate with 
them and be represented on easy terms, they would 
have been more popular, and not in their present 
position. A national society, to be successful, should 
have a centre in London, but periodical visits must be 
paid to the provinces. I have previously advocated in 
your columns that a national society should bo formed 
representative of all classes, not as a combination to 
secure a higher rate of wages among gardeners, as one 
of your correspondents seems to think, but for higher 
purposes, and to meet a want which I still believe is 
much felt and is highly necessary to the welfare of the 
horticultural community at large ; and whether it be 
founded upon the ruins of the present Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society or whether a new one be formed, I 
sincerely hope it will not lose the valuable services of 
such gentlemen as Sir Charles Strickland.— Alfred 
Gaut, The Gardens, Copped Hall, Totteridge. 
--h-— 
THE LOQUAT. 
When walking through a private garden near 
London a few days ago, I saw a fine specimen of the 
Loquat, and I was informed that it had been raised 
from seed by an old lady, whose son had sent home 
some seeds from Japan. She thought it was a very 
wonderful plant and asked a big price for it, but it 
was eventually purchased for a guinea or so, and under 
careful treatment it has grown into a large plant. 
Mr. Leo. Grindon tells us in his book on Fruits and 
Fruit Trees, that the Loquat Is a native of Japan and 
China, and in its native countries “the tree is a hand¬ 
some evergreen, attaining very considerable dimensions 
and living to a great age. It was brought to Europe 
in 1784, and three years afterwards direct from Canton 
to Kew, and in 1818 first ripened fruit in England.” 
Mr. Grindon states that its fruit might be ripened in 
this country as easily as indoor Peaches, and it is a 
fact that three or four years ago a good crop of fruit 
was gathered at Stawell House, Richmond. But there 
is one peculiarity about the tree—it flowers in mid¬ 
winter long before even Peaches begin to blossom, 
and when the difficulty of setting the fruit is great; 
but English gardeners have overcome this difficulty, 
as vdtness the case of fruiting above mentioned. 
But it is by no means a tender plant. I have known 
it to stand the winter in the open air in Middlesex, 
planted on the south side of a villa residence, an 
against the wall. “ Under cultivation the leaves are 
nearly a foot in length, broadly lanceolate, corrugated 
above, and curiously dressed with fur underneath. 
The flowers come out in dense clusters at the ends of 
the branehlets, individually resembling those of the 
Hawthorn, creamy white and delightfully fragrant. 
The peduncles and calyx are overlaid with the same 
kind of fur as that upon the leaves, but paler. Hence 
the scientific name, Eriobotrya. Fully developed 
clusters of the fruit consist of as many as twelve or 
fifteen.” It is easily raised from seed, and it is said to 
do well grafted upon the quince stock; but even if it 
does not fruit, it is a good large-leaved ornamental 
plant for a conservatory, where,- if it has attained 
to anything like size, it is sure to be a conspicuous 
object. A few years ago I saw a plant standing outside 
a broker’s shop in Ealing, exposed for sale with 
miscellaneous goods ; I was interested in the plant, 
and, on making inquiry, was told the price was far 
beyond its actual value, under the belief that it was a 
new large-leaved Laurel from Japan ! It remained 
unsold for a good time, but whether it died, or what 
was its ultimate destination, I am unable to say.— 
R. D. 
--- 
HARDY HEATHS. 
For. beds or the margins of shrubberies the many 
beautiful varieties of the Common Ling (Calluna 
vulgaris) of our native Heaths, are not only highly 
suitable but interesting, and when grown in a mass 
withal effective. An extensive collection of varieties is 
grown by Messrs. T. Methven & Sons, Leith Walk 
Nurseries, Edinburgh. A number of sorts are charac¬ 
terised by their habit of growth, and by particular 
kinds of variegation ; but those that differ in the 
colour of their flowers, the quantity produced, or by 
doubling, coupled with a free habit of growth, are 
decidedly the most handsome and effective. 
Foremost amongst the erect and tall-growing kinds 
we would place C. v. Alportii, which has now been 
many years in cultivation, but not so extensively 
disseminated as its beautiful appearance would warrant. 
The flowering shoots are long, freely produced, and 
closely furnished with bright crimson-red flowers, and 
may be cut when in perfection and dried in the same 
way as everlastings. Of similar habit is C. v. Ham- 
mondi, but the flowers are white. There are, moreover, 
several white-flowered forms, including C. v. alba, 
differing in habit and in the purity of the blooms 
themselves. Equally noteworthy is C. v. flore pleno, 
the beautiful and perfectly double flowers of which 
thickly clothe the ascending shoots. 
Various forms of Erica cinerea and E. tetralix, the 
true Heaths of our moors, are also grown ; but the 
varieties of the former are most numerous, including 
red, white, purple, and crimson-purple sorts. E. cinerea 
alba, E. c. atropurpurea, and E. c. spicata are the best. 
The Cornish Heath (E. vagans), and its white variety, 
E. v. alba, would create a void amongst hardy shrubs, 
were they omitted. There are also about eight or ten 
varieties of E. mediterranea, besides the universally 
popular winter and spring-flowering E. carnea, and its 
white variety, commonly named E. lierbacea in gardens. 
Another little Heath-like shrub common in northern 
moors, namely. Empetrum nigrum, or the Crowberry, 
is grown in considerable quantity. 
--—— 
CHINA ASTER, PYRAMIDAL 
BOUQUET BOSE. 
Amongst the numerous and varied types of the 
China Aster grown for trial at Chiswick, none, per¬ 
haps, created a more lively interest than Pyramidal 
Bouquet Rose, a fact attributed to the neatness and 
prettiness of the flower-heads, and the floriferousness 
of the plants themselves. "When grown in the open 
ground they attain a height of 18 ins. to 24 ins., 
forming compact pyramidal specimens of great beauty. 
It can, however, be grown very much dwarfer in pots, 
for cultivation in which they are very well suited, as 
was evident from some specimens which were so grown 
and exhibited at one of the committee meetings of 
the Royal Horticultural Society at South Kensington, 
where they were much admired. Owing to the medium 
or small size of the flower-heads, this type is classed 
amongst the Pompons. The outer florets are flat, 
forming a kind of ray or guard, while the full or semi- 
globose centre consists of quilled or tubular florets. 
The whole head is of a beautiful rosy lilac, and 
extremely handsome for cut flower or other decorative 
purposes. 
