432 
fHE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 12, 1892. 
the value of which in cash and medals 
amounts to some £ 2,000. 
The dates finally fixed upon for the 
special exhibitions are:—May 27 and 28— 
the Grand Summer Show, which will 
embrace all the usual subjects available 
at that period ; June 6, 7, and 8—for a 
display of plants and flowers cultivated by 
market growers; July 5 and 6—a Rose 
show, with classes for Tuberous Begonias, 
herbaceous plants, and table decorations, 
and twenty classes for fruit; August 1, 2, 
and 3—a show of Carnations and Picotees, 
cottage garden and market growers' pro¬ 
duce ; September 9 and 10 — Dahlias, 
Gladioli, and other autumn flowers; 
October 5, 6, and 7—hardy fruits; and 
October 26, 27, and 28—Chrysanthemums, 
plants and cut blooms, and trees and 
shrubs. The schedule will be issued as 
soon as possible, and intending exhibitors 
who do not happen to receive an early 
copy should apply for one to Mr. G. H. 
Loveday, International Horticultural Exhi¬ 
bition, Earl’s Court, S.W. 
/ItLD Gardeners. —We alluded last week 
to the prospects open to young men in 
the gardening profession. It may be that 
many a young man full of knowledge and 
intelligence still has been unfortunate in 
his situations, because he has not found 
that outlet to which he has aspired. 
Generally, however, capable young men 
who have devoted hard study to gardening, 
as well as hard practice, find their proper 
reward eventually. But the case of the 
old gardener is much worse than is that of 
the jmung man. The latter has life before 
him, and often if he finds that he has mis¬ 
taken his vocation, or does not find that 
encouragement looked for, may take up 
some other means of living. 
The old gardener is in no such position, 
not only with him has the fire of youth long 
since burned low, but he has probably been 
vegetating for some twenty or thirty years 
in one or two places, and at the age of 55 
to 60 finds himself, through no fault of his 
own, but perchance through death, or the 
breaking up of a family, or to some other 
cause, thrown out of employment He is 
past the prime of life, has become bent and 
grej 7 in the service of horticulture, has per¬ 
haps saved a little money which he has care¬ 
fully invested, but which is far too small in 
amount for his maintenance. What is he 
to do ? He finds the younger men invari¬ 
ably selected to fill places now, for there 
are hundreds of them only too ready to do 
so, and the old gardener, and chiefly be¬ 
cause he is old, is elbowed aside in the race 
for existence. 
What is he to do ? Trust his all in some 
horticultural or market business; take a 
public-house or a shop, emigrate or what ? 
It is a terrible problem which in the decline 
of life he is called upon thus painfully to 
solve. This is no over-drawn picture. 
There are hundreds of such cases, and they 
merit all our deepest sympathy^. It is too 
evident that the gardening vocation has its 
deep shadows, as it also has its periods of 
sunshine. 
Jj^ASM anian Apples.— A paper enjoying an 
enormous circulation, the other day 
gravely informed its readers that consign¬ 
ments of Australian Apples were being 
arranged for, and that they would reach 
us in July. If these fruits are not here 
for our delectation in April and May, 
they will be too late, for even the best 
of imported Apples can hardly hope to be 
very good long after being kept for several 
weeks in refrigerating chambers, and then 
exposed to our summer heat. Naturally 
the Tasmanian Apples come to us in a 
fairly fresh condition, because they are the 
products of the Australian autumn, which 
is coeval with our spring. They have also 
the advantage that they come to us at a 
time when not only our own stocks, such 
as we have, but also the American supplies 
are pretty well spent, hence they have the 
market to themselves. 
It may be pleaded as against this advan¬ 
tage that they come to us after we have 
been consuming Apples for several months 
and have become nearly satiated. That so 
far is true, but all the same it is doubtful 
whether the British people ever tire of good 
Apples. It ought to be recognised, al¬ 
though hitherto it has hardly received the 
attention merited, that these regular and 
considerable importations of fresh, whole¬ 
some fruit and other similar products 
should materially help to sustain and im¬ 
prove the public health. That is one 
aspect of the question none too largely 
considered. Our home growers have very 
little to fear from the Tasmanian Apple 
importations. The Cape soft fruits may 
create some uneasiness, but still both come 
to us in what may be termed our dead 
fruit season. Meanwhile all these competi¬ 
tions should serve to spur us up to greater 
efforts, and inspire us with renewed energy 
not to be beaten. 
JJThe Spring. —Although we still have of 
^ an intermittent kind weather which 
seems to have been wintry enough in all 
conscience, yet is there no evidence of any 
continued hard frost or of an exceedingly 
cold nature, and specially with this' inter¬ 
mittent weather we are getting a compara¬ 
tively dry period. There may be some 
sanguine souls whose energies it is hard to 
repress who want to be gardening, and are 
anxious to be sowing and planting. These 
soon became impatient of unsettled weather, 
and rail against what seems after all to be 
a wise protection of nature, the which 
checks active work of that description in 
gardens, until the sun has more power, and 
the winds under its benign influence become 
tempered to the shorn lamb of vegetation. 
There is almost always very much of 
unwisdom in being too sanguine as to the 
late winter weather, and in striving to 
anticipate the spring. So far as our ex¬ 
perience goes, we should say that the 
weather is all that Avell can be desired for 
the time of j'ear. We maj 7 commit seeds 
and plants to the soil, but there is little 
hope that growth of a healthful robust kind 
will speedily follow. A few days of warm 
sunshine does not make a spring, and when 
a much longer period of sharp frost or of 
keen biting east wind follows, then some 
understand how real has been our mistake. 
The best of growth is that which coming 
in the natural course of things is constant 
and unchecked, therefore is it better to 
sow and plant a couple of weeks later 
than so much earlier ; we are having vege¬ 
tation, especially fruit trees, well held in 
check. There will be no undue precocity 
to lament this season, and therefore we 
look for a beautiful spring and a prolific 
summer. 
-- 
The Dutch Horticultural and Botanical Society, at 
its meeting held on February 7 10th, awarded a First- 
class certificate to Mr. C. G. Van Tubergen, of 
Haarlem for Lachenalia Garnet (a cross between L. 
quadricolor and L. Nelsoni), and Botanical certifi¬ 
cates to Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son, Haarlem, 
for Crocus Korolkowii and Galanthus Fosteri. 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. — We have 
much pleasure in announcing that the 53rd anniver¬ 
sary festival dinner of this institution will take place 
on Wednesday, June 29th, at the Whitehall Rooms, 
Hotel Metropole, on which occasion Sir Julian 
Goldsmid, Bart., M.P., has kindly consented to 
preside. The secretary of the institution, Mr. 
Ingram, will be much pleased to hear from gentlemen 
willing to act as stewards on the occasion. 
Tasmanian Apples. —-The Peninsular and Oriental 
Steamship Company have arranged that their 
steamers shall make twelve visits to Hobart, Tas¬ 
mania, for the purpose of bringing to England a 
consignment of 240,000 bushels of Apples. The 
first lot has been despatched and will arrive in 
London towards the end of the present month. 
The fruit is packed in cool chambers during the 
voyage. 
The Potato Disease. —With the commendable 
object of benefitting their friends in the Western 
Counties Messrs. Robert Veitch & Sons, of Exeter, 
last season conducted a series of experiments with 
the Bouille Bordelaise, to the satisfactory results of 
which we called attention last autumn. The Messrs. 
Veitch also sent a report upon their experiments to 
the Devon County Agricultural Association, which 
they have now 7 reprinted in handy pamphlet form. 
We have a copy before us and recommend its perusal 
to anyone who may be contemplating a trial of the 
Bordeaux mixture during the coming season. 
Banana with red foliage.— It is related by L'lllus- 
tration Horticole that Musa sapientum foliis rubris 
should be destined to become one of the most marked 
plants of our gardens during summer. It has been 
discovered by M. J. Dybowski, in a recent journey, 
near Lake Tschad, in the French Congo. This 
novelty attracts from a distance by the vinous red 
colour of its foliage. The traveller precited saw it 
for the first time near the village of Bateke, not far 
from Brazzaville. The plants attain a height of 
four yards, and its leaves acquire a length of four to 
five feet. 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. —Mr. A. Dean v 7 rites from 
Kingston:—“The meeting of gardeners alluded to 
last week, was held here on Saturday evening, twenty- 
five responding to the invitation issued. Amongst 
these was Mr. Burrell, of Claremont, who w 7 as unani¬ 
mously elected chairman of the meeting. The pro¬ 
posal to organise a concert in aid of the fund was 
most warmly agreed to, and a general determination 
expressed to make the affair a success. We venture 
to hope that once the proposal takes shape, we shall 
receive very w 7 arm support from every gardener in 
the locality. A sub-committee was appointed to 
arrange for the concert, w 7 hich it is hoped may 
take place in one of the large halls here soon after 
Easter. I have undertaken to act as secretary, and 
Mr. Burrell will be our chairman.’’ 
The Sunderland and District Gardeners' Mutual Im¬ 
provement Society. —The executive of this society 
have just issued their first annual report, a record of 
twelve months' admirable work. The society held 
some two dozen meetings, at which papers were read 
on a wide range of subjects, and also promoted a 
Chrysanthemum Show for the benefit of the local 
infirmaries, which was the means of adding £30 10s. 
to the funds of two of those institutions. Should they 
decide to repeat the experiment, we hope they will 
not forget the claims of the Gardening charities. 
The society has an admirable chairman in Mr. J. W. 
Bolam, of the Sunderland Cemetery, and an energetic 
secretary in Mr. J. T. Richardson, Moorlands Gar¬ 
dens, Sunderland. 
The Esher Gardeners recently held the annual 
meeting of their Mutual Improvement Society, and 
subsequently, to the number of fifty, sat down to a 
“ High Tea, ” presided over by Mr. Bedser, who 
during the evening proposed success to the society, 
which was acknowledged by Mr. Holden, the secre¬ 
tary, and Mr. C J. Waite, of Glenhurst. Air. Waite 
spoke of the great advantages to be derived from 
membership of such associations, especially by 
young gardeners, who should be encouraged in 
every way to qualify themselves for the serious duties 
of life in front of them. Gardeners could not be too 
practical or too well educated now-a-iays, as gentle¬ 
men now only looked out for this class of men. 
Birmingham Chrysanthemum Society. —It may be 
interesting to exhibitors and committees of other 
societies, to know that the committee of this society 
have decided to divide their class for forty-eight 
blooms into two classes, viz., one class for twenty- 
four incurved and one for twenty-four “Japs," their 
usual liberal prizes likewise being equally divided 
between the two classes. The open class for twenty- 
four blooms too will be divided in a similar manner. 
This it is anticipated will facilitate competition, and 
simplify the judging, inasmuch as it will be simply 
