808 
August 22, 189i. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
that taste which marks the successful 
exhibitor, constitutes after all a picture 
which for attractiveness anything in the 
other sections of the Show can hardly rival. 
We take special pleasure in seeing the 
Vegetable products of the Cottager classes 
as seen at their special exhibitions. These 
are held all over the country in the autumn, 
and although they do not obtain that 
general publicity which is given to more 
pretentious Shows, yet rarely are they 
ignored by the local press, and to those 
engaged in them they are full of interest. 
When properly conducted, no doubt, 
these Shows give a great stimulus to 
cottage garden and allotment culture ; 
they help to show the humble grower of 
Vegetables that a much higher estimate 
exists of the relative merits of different 
sorts and samples than he has hitherto 
understood. Such displays as that seen at 
the Crystal Palace on Saturday last could 
hardly fail to impress beholders with the 
exceeding interest which now attaches to 
Vegetables, but after all there seems to be 
no displays which possess the value found 
in the innumerable local Shows held all 
over the kingdom. 
SgHE Plum Crop.— Whilst it is generally 
^ admitted that the Plum crop will this 
year be an enormous one, it must not be 
overlooked that a huge crop is productive 
of two special evils. First, the trees are 
so distressed with the great crop that they 
require two, and often three, years to fully 
recover; and, secondly, the exceeding abun¬ 
dance of the crop makes prices so low that 
often the returns are so small as not to give 
the growers much profit. But whilst fruit 
enthusiasts will be pointing to this year’s 
crop of plums as evidence of the great suc¬ 
cess which attends hardy fruit culture, we 
may mention a case where the grower has 
this year truly a marvellous crop of some 
hundreds of tons weight, and yet during 
the two previous years lost by the lack of 
crop several hundreds of pounds in ex¬ 
penditure without any return. 
Intending fruit growers, dazed for the 
moment by successes one year, very soon 
realise the matter of fact routine of Plum 
cropping, which consists of about two 
abundant seasons in every seven years, 
with two very moderate ones, and three 
practically barren. Thus it is needful in 
estimating the profits likely to be derived 
from hardy fruit culture, to cast the average 
over seven years at least. When that is 
done the product shows, after all, but a 
moderate balance, perhaps on the right 
side, but not unfrequently it is the other 
way. We ought in such a season as the 
present to be able to utilize our immense 
Plum crop far more profitably. In America 
the energetic growers can their surplus 
and sell it in the European markets at a 
good profit. We allow our surplus to spoil 
or decay, except, of course, the largeportion 
which is employed to make jam. 
Still, it is not creditable to us as a busi¬ 
ness people that when we get a really good 
crop we should be so unprepared to profit¬ 
ably utilise it that vast quantities of the 
fruit are sold, as it were, for a mere song. 
It is pleaded that our Plums do not ripen 
sufficiently to render canning profitable. 
All that, however, has to be shown. It 
will be deplorable if, with such abundance, 
we have nothing to show in the following 
years, which may be barren ones, of the 
great abundance of the present season. 
Cardiff and District Chrysanthemum Show —We 
are requested to state, for the- information of 
exhibitors, that, owing to local circumstances which 
now cannot be avoided, the Cardiff Show, announced 
to be held on November nth and 12th, will take 
place in the Park Hall on November 18th and 19th. 
Agave Americana in bloom.— A very fine specimen 
of the American Agave is now flowering at Lord 
Rosse's seat near Parsonstown, in Ireland. The plant 
is said to have been in the possession of the Rosse 
family for seventy years. 
The Pendell Court Collection of Plants will be sold 
on the premises, by Mr. J. C. Stevens, on September 
2nd and 3rd. 
Roman Hyacinths. — "A young Seedsman ” writes : 
— "Can you, or any of your readers, tell me what 
there is about some Roman Hyacinth bulbs which 
causes so much irritation of the skin of the hands 
after handling them, while others have no such 
effect ? I can handle the roots from one grower 
with impunity, while those of another irritate my 
skin in the most annoying manner, and the worst of 
it is that if one should touch one's face the irritation 
commences there. I have noticed the same thing in 
previous years, and should be glad to know the 
cause.” 
A pretty hardy Annual.—Just now there is in bloom 
at Chiswick, a wondrously pretty annual in Linaria 
aurea reticulata, also named purpurea; although 
the variety shows rich crimson in combination with 
gold in some of the flowers, as also purple. It is a 
rare variety so far as gardens are concerned, because 
so little grown ; but it is a truly lovely thing indeed, 
and quite one of the features of the flower garden at 
Chiswick. In height it is about 10 inches, and 
blooms profusely in a mass. 
Fruit Exhibition and Conference at Manchester.— 
We understand that arrangements are being made 
for the holding of an exhibition of hardy fruits and a 
conference on the same subject, at the Botanical 
Gardens at Old Trafford, Manchester. The exhibition 
will be opened on October 20th. and the conference 
will take place on the following day. Mr. Bruce 
Findlay is reported to have the matter well in hand, 
and further particulars may shortly be expected. 
Rose Culture in New South Wales. —We have 
received from our esteemed correspondent, Mr. 
Charles Bennett, of the Standard Nursery, Home- 
bush, who is " making history ” in the cultivation of 
the Rose in New South Wales, a copy of A Practical 
Treatise on the Culture of the Rose, which, we believe, 
is the first Colonial work on this favourite flower 
which has been issued from the press. Mr. Bennett 
carried with him from the old country much valuable 
knowledge on all matters appertaining to the cultiva¬ 
tion of the Rose, which, with his several years of 
Australian experience, has enabled him to publish for 
the benefit of Colonial amateurs, and we should 
imagine of not a few Colonial practicals, a little 
manual that will be found of great value in pro¬ 
moting the cultivation of the flower with which the 
name of his family is so honourably identified. 
Hooper & Co. (Limited). —The winding-up order 
against this company was made upon a creditor’s 
petition, presented on May 25, 1891. The company 
was registered on December 9, 1886, for the purpose 
of taking over the business of Messrs. Hooper & Co., 
seed merchants, carried on for nearly fifty years at 
Covent Garden and elsewhere. The nominal capital 
of the company is£ioo,ooo, divided into 10,000 shares, 
of which 4,500 were offered for public subscription. 
The total number of shares allotted is 2,556, inclu¬ 
ding 1,500 issued to the vendors as fully paid, and 692 
so issued to the proprietor of the Maida Vale Nurser¬ 
ies, which were purchased by the company in 1887 
for the amount thus represented. The number of 
shares applied for at the date of the first allotment 
(February 23, 1887) appears to have been 264. The 
purchase price agreed upon for the assets of the 
business was £23,640, of which £15,000 was paid in 
shares, £2,000 in mortgage debentures, and £6,640 
in cash. The insolvency is attributed to the expen¬ 
ses having exceeded the profits, and to loss by the 
purchase of stock at the Maida-vale nurseries. The 
unsecured liabilities as regards creditors are returned 
at £10,686, and the assets are estimated at the same 
amount, the liabilities towards contributories being 
£24,112. 
Taunton Deane Flower Show. —Favoured with fine 
weather the Taunton Flower Show was a great 
success. The attendance, both at the show in the 
morning and at the fireworks in the evening, sur¬ 
passed all previous records, and as the financial 
result the committee will be able to add to the 
reserve fund, which already amounts to £250. Of 
course the fine weather had a great deal to do with 
the increased attendance, but the policy of the 
Great Western Company in issuing cheap tickets 
from South Wales, Torquay and other distant places 
contributed greatly to the result. The experiment, 
tried for the first time last year also, of doing away 
with the half-crown admissions, and giving the 
shilling subscribers an extra hour among the 
exhibits, also tended to popularise the show. The 
takings at the fireworks amounted to nearly £200, or 
£50 more than was taken last year, representing an 
attendance of nearly nine thousand persons, and this 
sum added to the gate money in the afternoon made 
a total of about £405 taken during the day, exclusive 
of subscriptions and donations. It may be stated 
that the flower show closes at 6 p.m., when the 
tents and grounds are cleared, and a sixpenny 
charge is made to witness the fireworks, and the 
sum of £197 17s. 6d. resulted. We may well ex¬ 
claim—Well done Taunton ! 
National Chrysanthemum Society. —The first meet¬ 
ing of the General Committee held since February 
took place at Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street, on 
Monday evening, when there was a good attendance 
of members, and Mr. R. Ballantine presided. The 
committee accepted with much regret the resignation 
of Mr. H. Briscoe Ironside, who on account of ill- 
health has been obliged to seek a milder climate. 
His place on theGeneral Committee was filled up by the 
election Mr. Williamsof Hackney ; while Mr. Norman 
Davies was elected to the Floral Committee, and 
Mr. Taylor to the Catalogue Revision Committee. 
After some discussion it was unanimously resolved 
to hold a conference on Chrysanthemum sports at 
the November show, such conference to take place 
in the Board Room at the Royal Aquarium at 6 p.m. 
on the first day of the show. Two papers will be 
read, the first by the Rev. George Henslow, dealing 
with sports from the Botanist’s point of view ; and 
the second by Mr. Norman Davis, who will discuss 
the subject culturally. It is desirable that as many 
sports as possible should be shown on this occasion, 
together with specimens of the parental varieties, 
and members are requested to aid the committee all 
they can in making this an instructive feature of the 
show. Fifteen new members were elected, and the 
Evesham Chrysanthemum Society and the St. 
John’s Gardeners’, Amateurs’ and Cottagers’ Society, 
Sevenoaks, were admitted into affiliation. 
Erchless Flower Show. —The second exhibition, 
organised by the Erchless (Inverness-shire) Horticul¬ 
tural Association, took place on the 8th inst., in the 
large Hall at Erchless Castle, kindly lent by the 
shooting tennant, Mr. Loder, and in all departments 
showed a marked improvement on last year’s effort. 
The Vegetable department was particularly good, 
and Mr. Grant was successful in winning the High¬ 
land and Agricultural Society’s Silver Medal for 
garden produce. In the plant and cut flower classes 
the principal winners were the Rev. Mr. Fraser, Mr. 
Mackintosh, Mr. and Mrs. Gold, Mr. Chisholm, 
Mr. Mackenzie, Mr. MacDonald, &c., and Mr. 
Mackintosh, the energetic secretary, took the premier 
award for the best short essay on how to keep a 
garden clean and trim. 
The Phylloxera in France —The Paris correspon¬ 
dent of a London daily paper states that matters 
have assumed a very serious aspect in the Champagne 
districts, owing not to the spread of the phylloxera, 
but to the check sustained by those who have been 
taking measures to combat it effectively. Many of 
smaller wine-growers persist, as you are aware, in 
their opposition to any precautionary steps, on the 
ground that the disease has not made its appearance 
in the country—a statement which, unfortunately, is 
controverted by facts. At Epernay a meeting was 
recently held for the purpose of electing the Com¬ 
mittee of Direction of the syndicate, consisting of 
25,000 members, which has been formed for the 
suppression of the scourge. Those present were 
making arrangements for the choice of suitable 
candidates when suddenly a large band of the 
smaller growers, headed by a young man bearing a 
flag, appeared on the scene with cries of " There is 
no phylloxera. Down with the wine merchants ! " 
and in a short space of time outvoted the practical 
members of the syndicate completely. Another body, 
altogether hostile to the adoption of any protective 
measures, was chosen. These ignorant and obstinate 
people are furious at the attitude assumed by the 
great wine merchants in the Champagne districts, 
who naturally support the steps taken for the preser¬ 
vation of the vines. It is to be hoped devoutly that 
the authorities will see their way to a continuation of 
the campaign against the phylloxera, otherwise the 
consequences will be simply disastrous. 
