720 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 16, 1892. 
many could assist the few in all matters 
pertaining to the avocation of the members, 
and particularly the protection of the pro¬ 
fession from those who may be gardeners 
only in name. The reader disavowed any 
antagonism to employers, and protested 
that anything like trade unionism was not 
intended, but it was evident that the 
majority of the visitors had their doubts 
about that, and these were intensified when 
another speaker advocated combination 
among gardeners for trade purposes, and 
the co-operation of labour and capital in 
order to secure a greater share of the 
profits for labour. “ Fruit Culture as an 
Industry ” was the burden of another 
speech, and that subject being foreign to 
the object for which the meeting was called 
only helped to make the cbnfusion worse 
confounded. 
It was decidedly incumbent on the 
promoters of the meeting, if they believed 
it was desirable to form a union of gar¬ 
deners’ societies to have presented some 
sort of scheme that the delegates who 
attended the meeting could have accepted, 
or rejected wholly or in part, and so have 
answered the question that was put to 
them. Our own opinion is that an 
amalgamation of existing societies for the 
purpose of improving the status of gardeners 
by means of properly conducted examina¬ 
tions would be a distinct gain to horti¬ 
culture, but for such an amalgamated 
society to gain the universal sympathy and 
support of gardeners, and attain any re¬ 
spectable measure of success, it must have 
its headquarters in London. No local or 
provincial body can hope to deal with the 
subject in a sufficiently comprehensive way 
to render any such organisation of value to 
the whole gardening community, and unless 
it does that, it had better be lefc alone. A 
union or combination of societies for any 
other purpose than that which we have 
indicated, or rather we should say plainly 
for “ protective" purposes, would be 
distinctly disadvantageous to the craft, 
and would receive no support from us. 
While gardening in its highest form 
remains a luxury for the wealthy and 
affluent, trade unionism can do nothing for 
gardeners, and every sensiblejnan knows it. 
he Peas of the Season. — Amongst the 
more pleasant of the functions which 
some few times in the course of the summer 
the working committees of the Royal 
Horticultural Society are called upon to 
undertake, are the gatherings at the 
Chiswick Gardens when flowers, fruits, 
and vegetables, old and new, are examined 
and awarded marks according to merit. 
The old practice of granting a smaller 
award of lesser than the maximum number 
of marks seems to have happily died out, 
as anything that is not good enough to 
receive the full Award of Merit can hardly 
be considered good enough to merit any 
award at all. 
Just recently the Fruit and Vegetable 
Committee met at Chiswick to go over the 
trial of Peas which is annually instituted 
there, with the unusual result that orllyone 
new variety received an Award of Merit, 
although several old ones had previous 
awards confirmed. Peas are not always 
consistent, showing diverse features in 
different seasons according to soil or 
moisture or other considerations; any 
variety that is always reliable under all 
conditions is therefore specially meritorious. 
This element of consistency is very marked 
in Duke of Albany, one of the most popular 
Peas of the da}', and taking it as a 
standard of merit the Committee found it 
very difficult indeed to discover in other 
varieties qualities that excelled it. 
The only new one was a dwarf form, if 
it may be so termed, of Duke of Albany, 
as it is about 3^ feet in height and is 
perhaps even earlier than is the taller 
form. This was on the ground not unfitly 
named Duke ol York, and we may add 
that it was sent for trial by Messrs. 
Cooper, Taber & Co., of Southwark 
Street, S.E. So good as well as plenti¬ 
ful are Peas now that it is obvious only 
varieties that have extra special merit 
should receive awards. We have all that 
can be desired in productiveness, pods, 
colour, and size of Peas, variation in 
heights, etc., but there is room for the 
introduction of greater flavour, and there¬ 
in some of the newer Peas are not so good 
as some of the older ones. 
Whe Colchester Roses.— The remark- 
able success which has so far attended 
upon the exhibits in Roses of the Messrs. 
Frank & B. R. Cant, of Colchester, shows 
that there must be some forces at work in 
that part of Essex which tend to produce 
flowers of exceptional excellence. Why 
Colchester should enjoy this proud dis¬ 
tinction over other localities where in the 
past wonderfully fine Roses have been pro¬ 
duced is perhaps a mystery to most, yet to 
those acquainted fully with the conditions 
under which the flowers are produced,easily 
explained. With those conditions we do 
not profess to be fully familiar ; certainly 
they are not absolutely climatic, because 
there cannot be so constantly such diver¬ 
sities of climate as between Colchester 
and other famous Rose growing centres as 
should create such diverse results in flower 
production. 
We may take it for granted too that there 
is no special diversity in skill or in know¬ 
ledge of the elements of good culture. The 
problem seems to be solvable only in con¬ 
nection with the soil, and that may not be 
the correct solution. In any case the 
Messrs. Cant have shown to us at the 
various Rose exhibitions some glorious 
flowers, as bright, fine, and beautiful as 
could be. Whatever may have been the 
atmospheric conditions earlier in the year, 
and they generally seemed to be leaden 
enough, there has been no lack of fine 
Roses in some localities, whilst flowers 
have been abundant everywhere. 
We saw but the other day at Croydon 
some very fine blooms of what was regarded 
as the finest Rose of its day, Her Majesty, 
and they served to remind us that although 
it has not justified by a long way yet all 
that was expected from it, yet it is a grand 
Rose still, and it may be a few years hence, 
when its weak points are better understood, 
it will take rank amongst the most widely 
shown of Roses. 
Wrozen Flowers.— It need hardly be 
— said that the frozen consignment of 
flowers of the Chrysanthemum which is on 
its way to this country from Mr. J. Ear- 
land, of Wellington, New Zealand, and 
expected to arrive in the Thames at 
the end of next week, will be looked 
for with exceeding interest. It may be 
that the flowers when they reach here, if 
in ever such fresh condition, may be not at 
all up to the standard of quality now seen 
so generally in this country. That is not 
to us a matter of much moment, although 
it may be so to the gentleman who is taking 
such pains and incurring such expense to 
enable us to see the form of the best of the 
New Zealand seedlings. 
But whatsoever may be the quality of 
the blooms it is obvious that there may be 
behind the experiment, if successful, a 
great future. Of course there is no novelty 
whatever in sending perishable commo¬ 
dities in a frozen state very long distances, 
but the one on which we are commenting 
certainly is novel, so far as relates to flowers. 
Once it is shown that Chrysanthemum 
blooms come many thousands of miles, and 
are found at the end of the journey to be 
fresh and sweet, then may we see many 
such consignments, and the flora of distant 
colonies, as it were, brought to our doors. 
Not that because of this possibility there 
is any need whatever that our market 
growers of flowers should take alarm lest 
our markets should be flooded with 
Australian flowers. Whatsoever may 
come, and there is no telling what may yet 
happen, at least the cost of bringing flowers 
so far, even should the method of transit 
be ever so perfect, must prevent their 
being sold here in competition with those of 
home growth. 
But if we can have flowers sent so far in 
fresh condition, may we not return the 
compliment by sending so far also, and 
what possibilities of trade in plants and 
seeds may not grow up between our 
colonies and other countries with us if 
sample flowers may be thus safely sent to 
all parts of the world. The matter is one of 
considerable moment, and the success or 
failure of the new experiment shall be fully 
reported. 
--*■- 
Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg 
visited the International Horticultural Exhibition on 
Saturday afternoon, and were shown round the 
gardens by Mr. H. E. Milner. The Royal party 
also inspected the side shows, including the floral 
maze, the ant house, and the Indian tea garden, with 
all of which they were much interested, and after¬ 
wards went to the Welcome Club, to listen to the 
band of the Belgian “ Guides." 
Mr. W. J Da'e, late gardener at Walburton Park, 
Arundel, has been engaged as gardener to Leicester 
Hibbert, Esq., Holfield Grange, Coggeshall, Essex. 
Rose Show at Moseley Botanic Gardens, Birmingham. 
—We hear that the entries for this exhibition on 
the 19th and 20th inst. are most satisfactory, and 
that a very fine display is expected. Many years 
ago Birmingham was celebrated for its annual Rose 
Show in the Town Hall. Now there is every 
possibility of this being continued on an extensive 
scale at these gardens, recently opened, and so 
pleasantly situated in one of the best localities 
adjacent to Birmingham, and easily got to by tram 
and rail. 
Trinity College Botanic Garden, Dublin. —One ofthe 
chief events of the Fellows' garden party in connection 
with the tercentenary of Trinity College, Dublin, last 
week was the planting of a Mulberry tree by Miss Sal¬ 
mon, the daughter of the Provost. The ceremony took 
place in the presence of T E. the Lord Lieutenant 
and the Countess of Zetland, the Marquis and 
Marchioness of Dufferin, and several thousand 
visitors. Miss Salmon was presented with a beauti¬ 
ful silver and bog oak spade, and was assisted in her 
task by Mr. Burbidge, curator of the Gardens. 
The Oxford Carnation and Piootee Union. —Since 
making the announcement last week that the annual 
exhibition of the Oxford Union would take place on 
the 28th inst., which was Mr. Dodwell’s desire, in 
order not to clash with the Carnation Show at 
Earl’s Court on August r and two following days, a 
meeting of the Midland counties growers has taken 
place at Birmingham, and a strong representation 
was made to Mr. Dodwell that they would have no 
flowers in full bloom by the aSth, the plants being 
backward through the dull showery weather. Acting 
upon this the Oxford Show will now be held on 
Tuesday, August 2, as usual, in Mr. Dodwell's 
garden, Stanley Road, Oxford. There is no doubt 
a very fine exhibition may be looked for. 
Plants Certificated in Ghent.—At the meeting of 
Belgian horticulturists held at the Casino early last 
week, Certificates of Merit were awarded to M. Ed. 
Pynaert for a new variety of Streptocarpus grandi- 
florus; to M. Leon Poelman for Clivia Dr. H. \ an 
Cleemputte ; to MM. Vervaet et Co. for Miltonia 
vexillaria leucoglossa; to M. Jules Hye for Cypri- 
pedium Crossianum superbum, Oncidium Lanceanum 
Odontoglossum Pescatorii sulphureum and Cattleya 
Mossiae alba Wagneri. 
