October 11, 1890 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
89 
THE FRUIT SHOW AT THE 
GUILDHALL. 
It may safely be said that never has there been in this 
country such a magnificent display of our principal 
hardy fruits—Apples and Pears—as was on exhibition 
on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the Guildhall 
of the City of London ; never, indeed, since the great 
show in St. James’s Hall has there ever been anything 
approaching it. As our readers are aware from recent 
announcements in our columns, the show was organised 
by the Worshipful Company ot Fruiterers, with a view 
to promoting “the restoration and improvements of 
orchards and the growth of hardy fruits in our home¬ 
steads and cottage gardens,” and that, so far as the 
first exhibition held by the Company is concerned, it 
must be admitted by all who were privileged to be 
present, unqualified success attended their well-meant 
efforts. What promised, from the extraordinary 
thinness of the crops this year, to be of almost insig¬ 
nificant proportions, rsally proved to be a surprising 
revelation, for few could have imagined that in such 
a season could such a truly magnificent array of 
the very best the country produces have been got 
together. Some idea of its extent may be gleaned 
from the fact that the number of exhibitors was 211, 
who among them made 419 entries, the number in 
some of the classes, and those by no means the least 
important, numbering over thirty. The total number 
of plates requisitioned by the exhibitors was nearly 
4,500 ; and the area of tabling required was no less than 
3,900 ft. super. The great hall of Gog and Magog held 
only a tithe of the wondrously fine fruit sent in ; the 
Art Gallery, Council Chambers, Committee Rooms 
and approaches all had to made use of, in providing 
the space required. For the purposes of classification 
the Court of the Company which had the assistance of a 
small body of well-known experts, arranged the fruit 
display into seven sections, with two additional ones 
for jams and preserves. Very properly also, in order 
to place exhibitors from different parts of England and 
Wales on a comparative equality, in sections one to 
four, the country was divided into three zones as 
follows (1) Northern Zone. — The counties of 
Northumberland,Cumberland, Westmoreland, Durham, 
Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Notting¬ 
hamshire, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, 
Leicestershire, Rutland, Flint, Denbighshire, Car¬ 
narvonshire, Anglesea, Merionethshire, Montgomery¬ 
shire, Cardiganshire, and Radnorshire. (2) South¬ 
western Zone.—The counties of Cornwall (and Scilly 
Islands), Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wilts, Gloucester¬ 
shire, Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, 
Warwickshire, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, 
Glamorganshire, and Brecknockshire. (3) South¬ 
eastern Zone.—The counties of Hants (and the Isle 
of Wight), Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Middlesex, 
London, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, 
Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, 
Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Hertfordshire. 
Placing the productions of each zone in the order of 
merit brought out by the exhibition, it will surprise no 
one to learn that the south-eastern carried the palm, the 
South-western standing second. It was, in fact, a grand 
field day for the men of Kent, who triumphed all along 
the line in those competitions in which the produce of 
the Garden of England was allowed to compete. To Mr. 
Woodward, gardener to Roger Leigh, Esq., Barham 
Court, Maidstone, is the great credit due of attaining 
champion honours, for, with remarkably fino samples 
all round, he secured the Gold Medal of the Fruiterers 
Company for the best collection of Apples and Pears 
shown by gardeners and amateurs, open to the United 
Kingdom, and several other first prizes. 
The honour of showing the finest single dish of 
Apples in the exhibition belongs to Mr. Samuel Barlow, 
Stakehill House, Castleton, Manchester, whose remark¬ 
able samples of Peasgood’s Nonsuch constituted the finest 
dish ever seen. Each fruit was perfect in outline, free 
from spot or blemish of any kind, and weighed in the 
aggregate 8lbs. 14 ozs. ,the individual specimens ranging 
from 27 ozs. to 30 ozs. each. They were grown under 
glass, planted out at Llandudno, on a tree about six years 
old, which this season carried seventeen grand fruits. 
Mr. Barlow had also noble specimens of Gloria Mundi, 
Adam’s Pearmain, Cornish Aromatic, Hawthornden, 
Blenheim Orange, and the old Catshead ; and among 
his cleanly grown collection of Pears, superb specimens 
of Beurre Bachelier and Pitmaston Duchess. 
The demands on our space do not permit cf our 
going closely into details, nor would it serve any 
useful purpose to merely repeat the names of varieties 
which figured conspicuously in the leading collections ; 
and which may be learnt from the list of awards of 
merit which we append. We may, however, usefully 
record the names of the varieties which constituted the 
Gold Medal collection. The samples w'hich Mr. 
Woodward staged were of uniformly high merit 
throughout, large in size, and beautifully coloured 
where colour is a distinguishing characteristic of any 
particular variety. The Apples were Warner’s King, 
Belle Dubois, Stone’s Apple, Emperor Alexander, 
Claygate Pearmain, Yorkshire Beauty, Royal Russet, 
Golden Spire, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Brabant Bellefleur, 
New Hawthornden, The Queen, Flower of Kent, 
Bismarck, Ribston Pippin, Northern DumpliDg, 
Minchall Crab, Gascoigne’s Scarlet Seedling, Alfriston, 
Lady Henniker, Peasgood’s Nonsuch, Lord Derby, 
Mere de Menage, Reinette de Canada, Cox’s Pomona, 
Grenadier, Washington, Tower of Glamis, Bedfordshire 
Foundling, and Calville Malingre. The Pears were 
General Totleben, Doyenne de Merode, Emile d’Heyst, 
Marie Louise, Easter Beurre, Hacon’s Incomparable, 
Louise Bonne of Jersey, Doyenne du Comice, Pitmaston 
Duchess, Yineuse, Glou Morceau, Catillac, Doyenne 
d’Alengon, Conseiller de la Cour, Beurre Diel, Beurre 
Superfin, Noveau Poiteau, and Beurie Benoist. 
The show of Grapes was limited in quantity, but 
included a few very fine examples. Mr. Allan, of 
Gunton Park, with perfectly finished Lady Downes, 
Black Alicante, Alnwick Seedling, Gros Maroc (very 
fine), and Black Hamburgh, secured the Silver Medal 
for six bunches of Black Grapes, Mr. G. Reynolds, 
Gunnersbury, being a good second ; and for three 
bunches of Muscats, and the same number of other white 
varieties, Mr. J. Crawford, gardener, Coddington Hall, 
Newark, secured the premier award with Muscat of 
Alexandria, Royal Vineyard, Mrs. Pearson, and 
Golden Queen, all good and well ripened samples. Mr. 
Goodacre, Elvaston, with superb specimens of Muscat 
of Alexandria, White Tokay, Barbarossa, and Gros 
Colmar, wonderfully fine bunches and berries, was 
awarded extra prizes in both classes, being ruled out of 
the competition through a misinterpretation of the 
terms of the schedule. 
The exhibition was opened by the Lord Mayor, on 
Monday afternoon, and has since been visited by 
many thousands of persons. 
AWARDS OF THE JUDGES. 
Section' I.—Cottagers, Northern Zone. 
Class 1.—Three dishes of five cooking Apples, one 
variety in each dish : First, John Wilson, Latham, 
Ormskirk ; second, John Cope, Hermitage, Rugeley, 
Staffordshire ; third, R. Hird, Freshfield, Forraby, 
Lancashire ; fourth, J. S. Baron, Ley land, Lancashire. 
Class 2.—Single dish of five cooking Apples : First, 
T. J. Pullett, 82, Russell Street, Loughborough ; second, 
J. S. Baron, Leyland, Lancashire; third, G. Berrington, 
Julian Road, Ludlow, Shropshire ; fourth, C. Leeson, 
Melton Road, Wrawby, Brigg, Lincolnshire. 
Class 3.—Three dishes of five dessert Apples, one 
variety in each dish : First, T. J. Pullett, Lough¬ 
borough ; second, J. S. Baron, Leyland ; third, J. 
Cope, Rugeley ; fourth, R. Weatherell, Skelton, 
Penrith, Cumberland. 
Class 4. — Single dish of five dessert Apples : First, 
T. J. Pullett, Loughborough ; second, J. S. Baron, 
Leyland ; third, J. Weatherell, Skelton. 
Class 5.—Three dishes of other hardy fruit (which 
may include Pears, Medlars, Quinces, Nuts, Walnuts, 
Plums, Damscns, and any other hardy fruit not named 
above), one variety in each dish : First, R. Weatherell, 
Skelton. 
Class 6.—Two dishes of five Tomatos, one variety 
in each dish : First, withheld ; second, C. Leeson, 
Melton Road, Wrawby, Brigg. 
Section I.— Cottagers, South-western Zone. 
Class 1.—Three dishes of five cooking Apples, one 
variety in each dish : First, John Copp, Brimley, 
Teignmouth; second, Allan Williams, Bodenliam, 
Leominster ; third, H. J. Hooper, East Coker, Yeovil ; 
fourth, Wm. Yates, Coventry. 
Class 2.—Single dish of five cooking Apples : First, 
A. Williams; second, S. French, Marstow, Hereford¬ 
shire ; third, W. Yates, Coventry ; fourth, H. J. 
Hooper, Yeovil. 
Class 3. —Three dishes of five dessert Apples, one 
variety in each dish : First, S. French, Marstow ; 
second, A. Williams, Leominster ; third, W. lhites, 
Coventry ; fourth, H. J. Hooper, Yeovil. 
Class 4.—Single dish of five dessert Apples : First, 
S. French, Marstow ; second, A. Williams, Leominster ; 
