560 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 7, 1892. 
the lad was not receiving any better educa¬ 
tion than millions of children are at the 
presentmoment obtaining inour elementary 
schools free of all cost. 
Gardener’s lives are often of a dull, quiet 
kind because so many are located in gardens 
remote from society. No wonder in such 
case they find the company of their children 
to be blessed, whilst those not so favoured 
find the deadly dulness not only intoler¬ 
able but provocative of moroseness and 
wretchedness. It is perhaps the case that 
the antagonism which so many employers 
of gardeners formerly exhibited towards 
children is not so great now as it used to 
be. Still we meet with far too many 
evidences of it even now. Employers want 
married steady men, and it is cruel to check 
surrounding them with the ordinary attri¬ 
butes and enjoyments of domestic life. 
Childless persons may sometimes be 
prosperous but they are not always the 
happiest. 
he Future of the Tomato.— A note 
of ala rm has been sounded with respect 
to the culture of these fruits for sale, to the 
effect that the market will soon be overdone, 
and growers will find their returns to be 
practically nil. We are not sufficiently 
pessimistic to be disposed to hold so gloomy 
a view. Tomatos, unlike so many other 
products which have somewhat suddenly 
sprung into popularity, have the merit of 
being something to eat, and that is a 
strong recommendation to popular favour. 
Then they are favourites also with the 
cooks, and that is very important. Any 
edible product which fails to find favour in 
the kitchen has a poor prospect of pros¬ 
perity. 
But we have our hopes for the yet much 
wider popularity of the Tomato upon the 
belief that it will yet become a common 
article of consumption as food in an un¬ 
cooked state. It is true that in this 
direction it has found a vast number of 
admirers, and we think it will yet find 
myriads more in a few years. Then there 
must always be some limit to the home 
production of Tomatos, because the bulk 
we have for consumption are grown under 
glass, and it is only when the summer is 
exceptionally warm that there is any 
appreciable produce out of doors ; of course 
we have an immense quantity of fruit sent 
us from warmer c’imates, but those are in 
no case equal in beauty, quality and flavour 
to those we produce under glass at home, 
and which for eating uncooked can certainly 
never be beaten by imported produce. 
Already preparations for the production 
of big crops are everywhere being made. 
Everybody who has a little glass tries 
to grow Tomatos, and a goo 1 number of 
people who would once have Cucumbers 
have taken to Tomatos in preference with 
excellent results both horticulturally and 
physically. It may be that the Tomato 
has been credited with medicinal viitues 
which it does not so fully possess ; still it 
is better to ascribe virtues than to be called 
bad names, and those who have learned to 
like Tomatos because presumably health¬ 
ful, will now learn to appreciate them 
because delicious fruits. 
otato Stocks.— It is a long time since 
we got up our main crop Potatos. It 
is now the first week in May, and the stocks 
of tubers now being consumed were pro¬ 
bably lifted six and a-half months ago. 
Then we have already got over our spring 
plantings, so that very much has been done 
towards the securing of a crop for the 
present year. In spite of these facts we 
know that, so far as the general bulk of 
consumers are concerned, there will be no 
new tubers for them to eat for fully two 
months longer, if not even longer still, so 
that we see the abundant evidence thtreis 
for the need of special care being taken in 
the preservation of tubers so that they shall 
retain all their vitality and flavour to the 
last—a matter of considerable importance 
when it is realised that for the Potato we 
have no substitute, and that further it is in 
daily demand. 
We have never yet fully realised what it 
is to have a Potato famine. It is true that 
in some previous years it was found hard 
work to eke out the stocks with the aid of 
foreign importations, but those days of 
deprivation are we hope gone for ever. So 
far as our markets are concerned we have 
now no need, even at the latest period of the 
season, to import tubers, for there are plenty 
at home. Even now indeed we hear of 
stocks on hand so plentiful that sales can 
hardly be effected. The consumers do not 
derive the full benefit of this abundance, 
but still prices rule low. It is a happy 
condition of things that we ordinarily work 
off our more southernly grown stocks early 
in the winter, and then have the produce 
of the later lifted and cooler kept and stored 
stocks of the north—the chief potato¬ 
growing district of the kingdom—for our 
sustenance. Hence with good seasons we 
have good Potatos until new tubers come 
in, and these the southern districts give us 
from June onwards. 
Of course only a portion of the commu¬ 
nity can enjoy these new tubers for a time, 
and the general body of consumers have to 
be content with the old ones until the,new 
roots become cheaper, and doubtless it is 
all the better for them, for Potatos which 
are young and immature are poor diet. 
Altogether we have room for congratulation 
that, despite alarms and faddists, we have 
an abundance of Potatos and to spare. 
"JJ.LUM Prospects.— Under no conditions 
i of weather does it seem possible for us 
to avoid that invariably disastrously cold 
period commonly known as Blackthorn 
winter. We have had two or three tastes 
of that cold cheerless time this spring, and 
if the intensity of its coldness is to be in 
accord with the Blackthorn bloom then is 
it no matter for surprise that this taste of 
winter flung into our springtime has been 
particularly severe, because the bloom of 
the Blackthorn has been particularly 
abundant. But as the Blackthorn is in our 
hedgerows and wood', so invariably are the 
Plum trees in our gardens, and these have 
been laden with bloom in most cases, and 
we have seen some notably in market 
orchards about London, where the bloom 
has been almost beyond precedent in its 
density and abundance. 
Plum bloom gives us little of colour. It 
is chiefly marked by its snowy whiteness, 
especially on some v arieties, such as the 
Goliath. Plum bloom is also fairly hardy, 
and well it is that it should be so, as it 
usually has to pass through much trial and 
tribulation. It would be a sad misfortune 
for Plum growers, especially for those who 
grow largely for sale, were the recent 
weather found to have seriously injured it. 
We can but hope that it may not prove to 
be so,especially that because of the immense 
bulk of bloom two-thirds of it could well be 
spared, and it seems almost certain that if 
some has been destroyed equally much has 
been left unharmed. We hope it may be 
so. 
Plums are very' accommodating fruits. 
We may begin with Early Prolific in July 
and end in September with Prince Englebert 
on open trees, and on walls have a range 
of fully three months, as Coe’s Golden Drop 
will retain its best qualities on a north wall 
up to the end of October. Plums too give 
us nice variations in colour, form, and 
flavour. They are very wholesome fruits, 
admirably suited for the dessert, for cook¬ 
ing and preserving. Some of the culinary' 
forms, the Dove Bank especially, make 
delicious preserve in a green state. Plums 
will also can or tin remarkably' well, so 
that there are so many uses to which they 
may be put, that after all the fruit, even 
when there is a heavy crop, is largely in 
demand. We hope yet to be ableto record 
a good Plum crop for the season. 
The International Horticultural Exhibition. —For the 
information of those of our readers who intend to be 
present at Earl's Court, on Saturday, we may state 
that the Inaugural ceremony will take place at 
12 o’clock. 
The Ashridge Beeches. —We have heard with great 
regret that one of the famous Beech trees at 
Ashridge Park, Herts, was blown down during one 
of the gales experienced a few weeks ago. It was 
"The King” of the notable pair shown with pride 
to all visitors as The King and Queen, and when laid 
low was found to be perfectly sound. Its bole 
measured 103 ft. 6 in. to the first branch, and was 
literally as straight as a gun barrel. There are 
many grand Beeches at Ashridge, still the loss of 
“ The King " must have been keenly felt by its noble 
owner Lord Brownlow. 
Mr. Frederick Mau, who from 1880 to 1884 was 
collecting Orchids in South America for Mr. Sander 
and subsequently set up in business as an Orchid 
importer in New York, died at Orange, New Jersey, 
on April nth, aged 48 years. He is believed to have 
been the first collector to ship Orchids direct to New 
York, and was also the discoverer of Cattleya 
Sanderiana, C. Schroderae, and others. 
Plants Certificated in Holland. —The floral com¬ 
mittee of the Dutch Horticultural and Botanical 
Society, at a meeting held on the 13th ult., awarded 
First-class Certificates to Messrs. De Graaff Brothers, 
of Leyden, for Narcissus tridymus E. H. Krelage, the 
result of a cross between N. Polyanthus and N. Ajax 
minor. To Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son, Haarlem, 
for Frittillaria Sewerzowii var. bicolor and F. lati- 
folia Ivoning van Zweden. To Mr. G. Van Tuber- 
gen, Junr., Haarlem, for Frittillaria Sewerzowii var. 
bicolor, Erythronium Hartwegii, Lachenalia Ruby, 
(tricolor frot Superba), and Marica hybrid nova 
(gracilis frot Northiana) ; and to Messrs. Ant. Roozen 
& Son. Overveen, for Clivia miniata var. H. Tort. 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.—At the usual monthly 
meeting of the Executive Committee, held on the 
29th ult., the honorary secretary announced the 
receipt during the month of the following contribu¬ 
tions:—Mr. J. B. Stevenson, Bournemouth, produce 
of a dramatic entertainment £10 ; Young men, 
Broomhall Gardens, Holmwood, £1 15s.; Mr. 
Kipling, Knebworth, collected from skaters, £1 10s. ; 
Alderman B. Watson, Wakefield, birthday gift, £10 ; 
and Mr. A. Dean, produce of a concert given at 
Kingston-on-Thames, £11. Votes of thanks were given 
to all the contributors; and Mr. Dean was unani¬ 
mously elected local secretary for the Kingston 
district. Progress was reported with regard to the 
arrangements for the annual dinner to take place 
at the Hotel Metropole on the 17th inst., under the 
presidency of Sir James Whitehead, Bart., the 
invitations to which are now being sent out. A very 
successful festival is anticipated. 
The Royal Botanic Society of Manchester held its 
second spring show in the Town Hall last week, in 
conjunction with the annual exhibition of the north¬ 
ern section of the National Auricula Society, and 
the combined forces made a very pretty and interest¬ 
ing display, the special feature of which, next to the 
Auriculas, was a magnificent group of Orchids from 
the very valuable collection of Mr. George Hardy, 
of Timperley. The following were the awards :— 
Gold Medal to Mr. George Hardy ; Special Certi¬ 
ficate of Merit for hand cut flov»ers to Mr. J. Broome, 
Llandudno ; First-class Commendation to Messrs. 
Barr & Son, Covent Garden, for collection of plants ; 
to Messrs. Dicksons, Limited, Chester, for show of 
Narcissus ; to Messrs. Dickson, Brown & Tait, and 
Messrs. Dickson & Robinson, Manchester, for mis- 
