544 
F H E GARDENING WORLD. 
April 30, 1892. 
which will run through the whole of the 
season, being of course varied as different 
classes of plants, fruits, etc., come into 
bloom or to maturity. Practically this 
feature of the show will put horticulture in¬ 
to a kaleidoscopic form, the exhibition for a 
long season being permanent, the features 
ever changing. This element still further 
should prove of exceptional interest to the 
public because it is too much the case or¬ 
dinarily that the objects presented at any 
of these shows in May remain the same 
until October. That cannot well be so in 
horticulture, hence the constant variation 
should prove to the public to be a special 
attraction, and of exceptional interest. 
It is one of the weak features of ordinary 
annual exhibitions that they can never be 
much other than exact reproductions of 
those held at the same time in previous 
years ; but the whole of the Earl’s Court 
Shows, whether ordinary or special, will 
certainly have the merit of variation, and 
will for that reason afford all the greater 
gratification. 
Nature’s New Suit.— The season is just 
now evolving out of the chrysaloid 
stage of existence, the period of rest or 
stagnation is over, and the new and beauti¬ 
ful foliage and flower tints are decking her 
with all the liveliness of the gaudiest but¬ 
terfly. Almost as fleeting too will be these 
charms as is the ephemeral colouring of 
the winged insects. We have nearly 
seven months of decadence or rest, then 
comes a month or so of new brightness 
and beauty, a month or so of density of 
coloration in leafage, another month or so 
for maturation ; then comes another month 
for gradual decay, and we are at the end of 
our all too short season. All is over, the 
beauty and the charm are gone, and a long 
period of dull monotony must elapse ere 
nature again adorns herself in a fresh suit. 
How needful therefore is it that we make 
the utmost of these all too evanescent 
periods of freshness, of beauty, of matura¬ 
tion, and of gradual decay. We are almost 
into May, and yet the masses of deciduous 
trees are but just dressing themselves in 
their coats of vivid green,and by the end of 
October most of the trees will be wearing 
the mourning of leaf coloration which is 
the precursor of death. Generally if the 
season be so short, it is a beautiful time, 
and we have no wish to exchange our 
changeable climate with its short seasons, 
yet occasionally beautiful variations,for any 
exotic clime where leafy greenness ever 
reigns. The immediate future of the 
season is, perhaps, the most lovely ; it 
comes upon us when satiated with the bar¬ 
ren aspect of Nature through a long trying 
winter, and it comes full of life, and sweet¬ 
ness, and colour. 
We hardly know whether most to admire 
the varied and wondrous tints of green— 
Nature’s ever-refreshing hue in foliage and 
verdure—or the much more wondrous color¬ 
ation found in the flowers of trees, shrubs, 
and plants. How much we should revel in 
it. Yet does it somehow happen, such are 
our wayward follies, that just when the 
earth is the most beautiful and nature at 
her loveliest, we shut ourselves up in cities 
and towns, deep in concerns of business or 
politics, and let all this feast of beauty pass 
us by unnoticed. Then when we do take 
holiday Nature is putting on her garb of 
drab, soon to change it to that of decay and 
death. 
he Frosts and the FruitBloom. --When 
we look out upon the luxuriant bloom 
seen on the Plums, Cherries, and earlier 
Pears it seems difficult to realise that only 
a few days have elapsed since this was 
under the vicious influence of exceedingly 
sharp frosts and cold, biting north-easterly 
winds. Did we but judge of our fruit 
prospects by reports of the harm done to 
the bloom, then we should feel that the 
season had already been robbed of one-half 
of its great promise. Happily matters are 
not nearly so bad as they locked at the first, 
for since the change to softer weather an 
immense quantity of bloom has expanded 
which certainly looks as if uninjured— 
Plums, Cherries, and Pears being indeed 
masses of snowy whiteness, so that it would 
seem as if some hard thinning of such 
wealth would be an advantage. 
Without doubt there are low-lying dis¬ 
tricts where a good deal of harm has been 
done ; but assuming that we are now, so 
far as really cold weather is concerned, 
really out of the wood, there is ample reason 
to hope that there will be heavy general 
fruit crops all the same, and that the ensu¬ 
ing season will be one of abundance. That 
is still our hope and our anticipation. Our 
continental friends seem to have suffered 
far greater misfortunes than we have if all 
the reports are true. That Vines have 
suffered severely it is easy to realise, as 
these break so much earlier in Southern 
Europe than here ; and being so tender are 
terribly harmed by severe spring frosts. 
It is also reported that in some districts 
theordinaryfruit bloom has been destroyed. 
Possibly it will be found later that alarm¬ 
ist reports of this kind have been consider¬ 
ably exaggerated, and that there will be 
very good ordinary fruit crops on the con¬ 
tinent. All the same we are, however, 
naturally most concerned for our 'own 
products and hope to see heavy fruiting. 
Still we may well remember that a big crop 
this year again must result in a couple of 
lean years at least following. 
T^affodils. —Why April should have been 
^ designated the “ roaring moon of 
Daffodils ” is explanatory only on the 
ground that poets (such poesy as there is 
in this case not being too evident) are 
allowed a wide range of illustration, which 
often proves as wild as it is fanciful. We 
have little of “roaring” about either 
Daffodils or the April moon, but whilst the 
latter usually sheds a placid an 1 unobser¬ 
vant light upon the flowers, these have at 
least no lack of trumpets, and could each 
one fill the air with a blast the noise would 
be not so much a roar as a terrible bray. 
Happily no such discord follows upon the 
trumpeting of Daffodils. They “blow” only 
to beautify, and, whilst adorning the earth 
with colour, add something to the sweet 
perfume which spring flowers emit. 
Our Narcissi growers have not been too 
happy in the present season, although to 
the uninitiated there would seem to have 
been no drawbacks. But the spring so far 
has only in part been a model one for the 
“ Daffs.” There was too much of dry heat 
a little while since, when the flower stems 
were unduly forced into growth, ere leafage 
had become fully^ developed. Then came 
a spell of sharp frosts and bitterly^ cold 
winds extending over several days, and all 
without the much needed rain, hence the 
blooms being premature have been smaller 
than usual, and some have come out of 
character. These are of course defects not 
very evident to the uninitiated, for gener¬ 
ally there would seem to have been a splendid 
bloom, and in the markets and shops a 
wondrous wealth of flowers. 
We have so thoroughly adopted and 
popularised our Narcissi now that the 
flowers seem to have become indispensable, 
not only for garden decoration but for many 
ordinary uses. Not only the trade but the 
market growers and dealers have found 
money in them. Their sale over what— 
thanks to the Scilly Isles and other warm 
regions—is now a long season gives employ¬ 
ment to hundreds of poor women, and their 
culture has become quite an important 
industry. Probably many interested in 
our vocation would like to drop upon yet 
another flower so generally reliable as is 
the Daffodil. 
-- 
Veitch’s Manual of Orchidaceous Plants. —We have 
received Part VIII. of this publication,which includes 
the genera Oncidium, Miltonia, Ada, Brassia, 
Gomega, Ionopsis, and Ornithocephalus. 
The Or.mge Groves in Jaffa, owing to the peculiarity 
of the climate, are obliged to be watered during the 
dry season, when no rain falls, that is from May till 
October or November. The rainfall in the winter 
months, that is, from November to May, varies from 
17 in. to 30 in. The phenomenon of the " air cushion ” 
is seen in Jaffa, says Consul Gillman, to perfection. 
Before a rain sets in, it generally takes several days of 
preparation before the result appears. Great clouds 
roll up and cover the heavens with their dense 
masses, but they attempt in vain to discharge their 
contents, or, if they do succeed in dissolving, the 
thirsty atmosphere drinks up the moisture before it 
even reaches the earth. And this must continue till 
the intervening strata composing the " air cushion ” 
are sufficiently saturate to permit the rain to fall 
through, which then occurs in a violent and often 
injurious downpour. 
Sevenoaks Gardeners and Amateurs’ Society.—A 
well attended meeting of this society was held on 
Tuesday, April 19th, at which Mr. E. Hughes, 
Edenhurst Gardens, showed a splendid specimen 
Azalea, for which a Certificate of Merit w T as awarded. 
Mr. J. Westcott received a similar award for two 
large Spiraear, and Mr. West for two Hyacinths. It 
was anticipated that there would have been a large 
contingent of members of the Tonbridge Society 
present; but a letter was, however, received, stating 
that owing to the short notice the committee 
regretted their inability to get together many 
members on that evening, but were making arrange¬ 
ments to pay the Sevenoaks Society a visit early in 
May or June. Mr. Cliffe, gardener to Sir Henry 
James, M.P., Shoreham Place, was elected amember. 
The initial business having been disposed of, Mr. E. 
Hughes read a continuation of a paper on Plums, 
the first part of which was read some time ago, and 
which dealt with the preparation of the ground, and 
planting. Mr. Hughes recommended the following 
varieties for planting in the Sevenoaks district, viz., 
Coe’s Golden Drop, Black Kentish, Diamond, Rivers’ 
Early Prolific, Jefferson, Green Gage, Orleans, Kirk's 
Magnum Bonum, and Victoria. A good discussion 
ensued, after which a vote of thanks to Mr. Hughes 
was passed. 
Trentham and Hanford Horticultural Society.— 
What an immense amount of good can be done in 
any district by a local horticultural society, when ma¬ 
naged with skill and ability, is well illustrated by the 
growth of the society which has the Duke of Suther¬ 
land, K.G., as patron, and the Marquis of Stafford as 
president, and which holds its annual exhibition in 
the famous gardens at Trentham. It is but some 
four or five years ago that the society was founded ; 
it holds a one-day show only, yet we find in its 
schedule of prizes for the current year such rewards 
for skill and industry as ought to make the managers 
of even some Royal Societies we wot of die of envy. 
The competition classes for the next exhibition, which 
is to be held on Thursday 7 , July 21st, numbers one 
hundred all told, and they are fairly divided between 
professionals, amateurs, and cottagers. For a group 
of plants not exceeding 100 ft. the society offers four 
prizes, viz., £25, £16, £12, and £g, a larger amount 
than is offered in any other schedule that we have 
seen this season. It offers also £6 and a special 
prize of £5 10s. for the best forty-eight Roses ; £5 
and the National Rose Society’s Gold Medal for 
thirty-six Roses; £10 for the best collection of nine 
dishes of fruit ; £5 for the best four bunches of 
Grapes, two varieties ; and quite a formidable array 
of special prizes, including three guineas for the best 
exhibit of fruit, and two guineas for the best three 
bunches of Grapes in the show. V ith such en¬ 
couragement no wonder exhibitors do their best to 
make the Trentham show famous for high quality. 
