February 1, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
351 
Mr. Alfred Austin, the Poet Laureate, has joined 
the Royal Horticultural Society. 
It was a sad instance of vegetable depravity when 
the first Apple tried to destroy the first pair. 
Devon and Exeter Gardeners’Society.—At the meet¬ 
ing of the 23nd ult. Mr. Andrew Hope read a paper 
on “The Cultivation of Small Fruits," prepared by 
Mr. Berry, F.R.H.S., instructor in horticulture 
under the Devon County Council, who was unavoid¬ 
ably absent. He pointed out the possibility of grow¬ 
ing small fruits at a profit, naming the best varieties, 
soils, and situations for them, and the methods of 
treating the bushes, both in summer, autumn, and 
winter. Black, Red, and White Currants, Goose¬ 
berries, and Raspberries were dealt with. 
Brighton and Sussex Horticultural Society.—The 
annual meeting of this society was held at the Im¬ 
perial Hotel, Queen’s Road, Brighton, on the 17th 
ult., when Mr. J. M. Kidd presided over a large 
attendance of members. The statement of accounts 
showed a balance of £185 10s. sd. in favour of the 
Society. The election of officers for the ensuing 
year was then carried out, including the re-election 
of Mr. Kidd as President, Mr. W. Balchin, Jun., as 
Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Cheal as Vice- 
chairman, Mr. Johnson as Secretary, and Mr. 
Miller as Assistant Secretary. Mr. Alderman 
Davey was elected as Treasurer. 
Birmingham Amateur Gardeners’ Association.—The 
annual meeting of the Birmingham and District 
Amateur Gardeners’ Association was held in the new 
rooms at the Technical Institute on the 23rd ult. 
Alderman White (president) occupied the chair, and 
in moving the adoption of the annual report said he 
was extremely anxious to see the practice of amateur 
gardening very widely extended. He could not 
imagine anything more civilising, more tendering to 
the heart, more elevating from many points of view 
than the pursuit of gardening, and all that accom¬ 
panied it. If there was any study in which the 
learning was never complete, it was that of botany 
and horticulture. He was pleased to know that the 
association was a progressive institution, and was 
every year gathering more and more people into 
membership. Councillor Martineau seconded the 
motion, and, as a member of the Technical School 
Committee, welcomed the association, which was an 
educational body, to that building. The prospects 
of the society seemed to be excellent, and the number 
of points awarded to members for exhibits had 
increased in an extraordinary way—from 71 in the 
first year to 509 in the second and 1,108 last year— 
showing that the cultivation of plants bad been 
carried to a very much higher point. There could 
be no hobby so healthful for mind and body as the 
cultivation of flowers and plants. The motion was 
passed. 
The Chrysanthemum Album.—Evidently we must 
always be prepared for fresh surprises from that enter¬ 
prising cultivator of the autumn queen of flowers, Mr. 
H. J. Jones, Ryecroft Nursery, Hither Green, Lewis¬ 
ham,S.E. Not content with a merely descriptive cata¬ 
logue, he has issued a Chrysanthemum Album , measur¬ 
ing 12J by g\ in., and containing thirty-five plates of 
Chrysanthemums and one representing his Gold 
Medal group at the Royal Aquarium in December 
last, All are reproductions from photographs, so 
that they are perfectly true to nature. The frontis¬ 
piece consists of a photograph of Sir Edwin 
Saunders, F.R.C.S., F.G.S., President of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society. The paper is 
stiff and otherwise excellent, and the Chrysanthe¬ 
mums have been admirably executed. Every right- 
hand page is devoted to one bloom with the accom¬ 
panying foliage of the respective variety. In some 
cases the foliage is heavily overshadowed by the 
bloom, but as prominence had to be given to the 
flower first and foliage afterwards, this defect is 
purely a third-rate matter. Every flower or rather 
variety selected has come under the personal notice 
of the author, and with few exceptions all were new 
last autumn. They include beautiful representations 
of Alice M. Love, Herbert J. Cutbush, H. T. 
Wooderson, H. Woolman, Miss Muriel Goschen, 
Mr. P. Purnell, Mr. A. G. Hubbuck, Mrs. G. H. 
Smart, Miss Phyllis Fowler, Lago Maggiore, Olive 
Oclee, and others which cannot fail to be appreciated 
by all lovers of Chrysanthemums. The left-hand 
page furnishes a description of each variety opposite 
the same. We appreciate such aids to horticulture 
and admire the enthusiasm of the man who furnishes 
them. 
Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland.—The annual 
general meeting of this society was held in the 
Central Lecture Hall, Westmoreland Street, on the 
16th inst. Viscount Powerscourt, K.P., presided 
over a large attendance. The secretary, Mr. G. M. 
Ross, read the report, which showed the society to 
be in a flourishing condition, notwithstanding adverse 
weather and the clashing of the spring exhibition 
with the date of other local attractions. The 
accounts showed an increase of £25 in subscriptinns 
and /40 in receipts from the spring, summer, and 
autumn shows combined. The chairman, in moving 
the adoption of the report, considered the society in 
a much better position than it had ever been before. 
The Rev. F. Hayes, in seconding the adoption of the 
report, also concurred in this view, but was not 
altogether satisfied. He thought the time had come 
when they ought to extend their franchise and bring 
in by hook or crook members of a different class at a 
lower subscription, and advocated education of the 
amateur element by means of lectures. The report 
was adopted unanimously. Some additions were 
made to the rules, and the officers for the ensuing 
year were elected by ballot. 
Liverpool Horticultural Association.—The annual 
meeting of this society was held on the 25th ult., in 
the library, William Brown Street, Mr. T. White 
presiding over a numerous gathering. The report 
as read by Mr. W. Dickson, secretary, gave evidence 
that the summer and autumn shows had been well 
patronised, the numbers for the year being 14,937, 
and made up as follows:—Spring show, 2,536, 
summer, 6,939, autumn, 5,452. The treasurer, Mr. 
G. Blackmore, submitted his statement of accounts, 
which showed the incomes as follows :—Spring show, 
taken at the door, £43, total £57 ; summer show, 
taken at gates, £166, total £189; autumn, taken at 
door £161, total £200 ; subscriptions, /450; other 
income, £54, making a total income—general fund— 
with the balance from last year of £8 7, of £621. The 
expenses for the spring show were £86 in prizes, and 
a total of £208; summer, in prizes, £215; total 
£426; autumn, in prizes, £146; total £275. The 
excess of expenditure over income for the various 
exhibitions was asTollows :—Spring, /151 ; summer, 
£236; autumn, £75. The balance remaining is 
£58 17s. iod., thus showing a loss on the year’s 
working of £57. The report and accounts were 
adopted. The annual donation of £3 was granted 
to the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution, and 
the Gardeners' Orphan Fund. Earl Derby was 
elected president for the year ; the treasurer, sub¬ 
treasurer and secretary were re-elected. After some 
considerable discussion it was resolved that spring 
and autumn shows be held during the ensuing year ; 
the summer show being discontinued for one season, 
it was hoped would be the means of improving the 
exchequer. A vote of thanks to the chairman 
terminated the proceedings. 
——- 
PEOPLE I HAVE MET. 
Mr. Robert Fife, of Messrs. Dobbie & Company, 
Rothesay and Orpington, is now a familiar figure at 
the meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society and 
other horticultural gatherings in London. He is a 
native of Ayrshire, Scotland, where his people have 
been noted farmers for generations. From his 
schooldays Mr. Fife has been more of a horti¬ 
culturist than a farmer. When about fourteen years 
of age he was fired with the ambition to become a 
successful cultivator of flowers and vegetables, and 
every spare moment was devoted to growing a few 
favourites. He soon made his mark as an exhibitor 
at the local flower show in the adjoining town of 
Kilbirnie. This did not satisfy him, and the 
competitors at Ayr, Kilmarnock, Largs, Troon, 
Irvine, Dairy, and other places had to reckon with 
“ Fife of Kilbirnie " in the classes for Dahlias, Roses, 
Marigolds and vegetables. In competition in these 
classes he was most successful, and the same success 
seemed to follow him when he ventured, about 1880, 
into the lists at Glasgow show, where competition in 
cut flowers and vegetables is always keen, and where 
it, therefore, takes faultlessly-grown stuff to “get a 
ticket." 
It was during these busy years of growing and 
competing that Mr. Fife came to know, as most 
competitors do, the house of Dobbie & Company. A 
warm friendship sprang up between him and Mr. 
William Cuthbertson, and the result was that when 
Mr. James Dobbie retired, Mr. Cuthbertson assumed 
Mr. Fife as his partner, and events have amply 
proved the wisdom of his choice. In the ten years 
that have intervened the firm has risen to the front 
rank among horticulturists. Our readers know how 
Messrs. Dobbie & Company are associated with 
Pansies and Violas because they see their exhibits of 
these at all the principal shows ; but in writing of 
Mr. Fife one naturally associates him with Dahlias. 
On January 1st, 1886, in the midst of a fierce snow¬ 
storm, Mr. Fife arrived in Rothesay to take up his 
new position. He brought with him about 100 roots 
of his prize-winning Dahlias (which Mr. Dobbie, 
who did hot believe in Dahlias, suggested he should 
put in the stoke hole) and these formed the nucleus 
of the splendid collection now grown by the firm. 
Mr. Fife had certain ideas of his own as to the way 
a Dahlia trade could be worked up, and, being 
allowed a free hand, soon put his theories into 
practice. Knowing thoroughly the wants of 
amateurs he set himself the task of supplying them. 
Like most men who come to a new business he had 
unbounded enthusiasm and confidence in himself, 
with nothing to unlearn. One of his leading ideas 
was to keep the lists of varieties as short as possible 
and to retain a selection only, not a collection. 
Though he bought every new variety for trial, it 
was ruthlessly thrown away if not up to his 
standard. 
Like all good florists Mr. Fife likes the double 
Dahlia best, yet he grew all sections, especially the 
popular Cactus varieties. 
Mr. Robert Fife, F.R.H.S. 
Before being long in “the trade" he resolved to 
offer Dahlia cuttings at one-third of the cost of 
plants. His firm has pushed this branch, and last 
year sold about 100,oco cuttings, every one named 
with a printed label. Mr. Fife, knowing that the 
length of an amateur’s pocket dees not keep pace 
with his enthusiasm, also conceived the idea of 
offering novelties the second year at low prices and 
immediately a great demand was created. By anew 
method of cultivation he succeeded in keeping all his 
roots of new and scarce varieties, and this, of course, 
went a long way to help the reduction of prices. 
For the first few years Mr. Fife was greatly troubled 
with damp or fungus in the propagating houses, 
arising, no doubt, from the humidity of the climate of 
Bute. After trying several schemes which &ere all 
failures and still continuing to lose thousands of 
cuttings he built a house on a higher level, specially 
for rooting Dahlia cuttings ; kept a strong bottom 
heat, left air on the top night and day in all weathers, 
and beat the damp ! 
Since Mr. Fife came south to manage his firm’s 
new seed farm at OrpiDgton, the Dahlias at 
Rothesay have been under the charge of Mr. 
Stephen Jones, formerly of Shrewsbury. We know he 
enjoys the confidence of his employer, and is 
sustaining the high standard set before him by Mr. 
Fife. Three acres of ground are annually planted to 
supply roots for stock, and this fact alone gives some 
idea of the magnitude to which a trade in one 
speciality will grow when given enthusiastic personal 
attention. Mr. Fife is a member of the Fruit Com¬ 
mittee of the Royal Horticultural Society. We 
observe from the “ Arrangements for 1896 ” that he 
is to lecture on “ Seed Growing, " at the Drill Hall 
in November. 
At Orpington, as we can testify, visitors are 
always sure of a hearty welcome from Mr. Fife, and 
he is ever ready to explain fully the operations he is 
there carrying on, Horlnlanus, 
