February 9, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
373 
men, market gardeners, gardeners, etc., of whatever 
country, are invited to take part in this exhibition. 
Besides the permanent exhibition and all that per¬ 
tains to the same, there will be four temporary 
exhibitions, the fixed dates of which will be 
announced later on. Provisions are also made for 
miscellaneous exhibits not mentioned in the pro¬ 
gramme, and awards will be made according to the 
propositions of the j udges. For the permanent exhibits 
of trees, shrubs, Roses, etc., ground will be allotted 
gratuitously, as well as leaf soil and manure, and 
the plants will be watered and kept in order by the 
commission. The awards will consist of a cross of 
honour, and medals of gold, silver, and bronze and 
in diplomas. Demands of admission from other 
countries should be addressed before the 20th 
February to the Chief Secretary of the Commission, 
Isaac Bulk. For temporary shows applications may 
be made a fortnight previous to the same. 
The Gardening Charities— W. C. writes: “The gar¬ 
deners of Worcestershire are bestirring themselves in 
a novel and praiseworthy manner, on behalf of the 
Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution, and the 
Royal Gardeners' Orphan Fund. A thoroughly 
representative and well attended meeting of the 
gardeners and nurserymen of the county was held at 
Worcester on Saturday last, when the claims and 
advantages of these societies were pointed out and 
discussed. It was shown that these institutions paid 
considerably more money in the shape of pensions, 
than was annually subscribed in the county taken by 
itself; also that a contribution of sixpence per week 
from anyone would pay the full subscription to both 
societies, viz., one guinea to the Benevolent, and five 
shillings annually to the Orphan Fund. The result of 
the meeting was that many names were given in, and 
the meeting further resolved itself into a General 
Committee, so as to canvass every individual gardener 
and nurseryman in the county. Directories were 
produced and a roll call instituted, each person 
present undertaking to bring his personal influence 
and acquaintanceship to bear upon those residing in 
his district. It was also suggested that each indi¬ 
vidual gardener should respectfully call the attention 
of his employer and other patrons of horticulture to 
the movement. Progress will be reported on March 
2nd. We hope to merit the reward of " well done " 
Worcestershire, and hope other counties will follow 
suit.” 
The Shrewsbury Horticultural Show. —The schedule 
for the great August Show at Shrewsbury has just 
been issued, and is of a very representative character 
with most liberal prizes throughout. Stove and 
greenhouse plants and groups of plants have liberal 
prizes allotted in the various classes, and a new 
class for the most meritorious flowering or foliage 
plant not in commerce before January, 1895, with 
a gold medal as the first prize, and a silver medal as 
the second, should create interest amongst the intro¬ 
ducers of new plants. Increased prizes are offered 
for a display of floral arrangements ; liberal prizes 
for bouquets, collections of Roses, Dahlias, hardy 
border flowers, Carnations, and for hardy bulbous 
and tuberous rooted plants. A large sum of money 
is set aside for fruit, such as £10 as a first prize for 
six bunches of Black Grapes, two classes for smaller 
collections of fruit, and a new class for twenty-four 
varieties of fruit to be arranged with plants with 
prizes of ^20, £15, £^o, and £6, to encourage a 
more artistic arrangement at horticultural exhibi¬ 
tions. Nearly £800 is offered in cash, and the 
Society is also generous in awarding silver medals. 
The Wolverhampton Floral Fete Committee has also 
issued their Schedule, and are extending the value of 
several of their prizes, stove and greenhouse plants and 
groups getting very liberal encouragement, and Roses 
are especially encouraged, a new class being added for 
the most decorative arrangement of Roses in a space 
12 ft. by 5 ft., with Ferns and other plants allowed. 
There are international challenge prizes for arrange¬ 
ment of Pansies and Violas in a space 10 ft. by 3 ft., 
and a new class for a collection of nine varieties of 
fruit, with a first prize of £10. 
The Grand Yorkshire Gala Schedule is also issued, 
and on much the usual lines, very liberal prizes 
generally being offered, a new class now being 
for a collection of Roses in pots, with a first prize of 
£15. There is also a first prize of £10 for a 
group of Carnations in pots. Orchids, Pelar¬ 
goniums, stove and greenhouse plants, and groups 
are always striking features at York, and the usual 
large prizes are again offered. 
AFFORESTATION OF 
WASTE LAND. 
The estate of Holkham in Norfolk is evidently one 
of the best managed in England, although previous 
to 1775, when Thomas William Coke succeeded to it, 
the land about there formed a large, bare, rabbit 
warren, extending over a considerable portion of 
West Norfolk. Now the cultivated portion con¬ 
stitutes one of the richest and best farmed tracts in 
the kingdom, while 1,100 acres of woodland have 
been covered, and improvement still continues. The 
greater portion of this was planted by the first and 
second Earl. Mr. Coke commenced planting in 
1775, and made the first thinning in 1802, and the 
process was continued at intervals till 1815, when the 
first extensive thinning was made,and the wood fetched 
a high price. Ever since then the work has been 
regularly carried on every year, and the sales attract 
a large number of buyers from various parts of the 
country, Many kinds of wood are grown, but Ash 
is the most profitable, for on account of its high 
quality it fetches the largest price of any. As much 
as four shillings have been obtained per cubic foot 
for it. Originally the land was practically valueless, 
now it is worth £60 per acre. 
Lord Leicester is the present 'proprietor, and still 
recognises the value of forest plantation. His 
forester, Mr. Hugh Munro, graduated on the estate 
of the Duke of Sutherland, in Sutherlandshire, and 
has occupied his present position since 1877. He 
states that the amount obtained for the thinnings is 
sufficient to pay all expenses for the keeping of the 
forest, including rates and taxes. He still continues 
the improvement, reclaiming land as it becomes fit 
for planting. The estate extends down to the sea¬ 
shore, which here consists of loose sand, only pre¬ 
vented from blowing over the neighbouring land by 
the long, creeping, underground stems of the 
Marram Grass (Isamma arenaria). When the sand 
forms a bank above high water level, this Marram 
Grass creeps over and binds, making a kind of land, 
but very poor, as might be expected. The grass, as 
is well known to those on sandy sea coasts, grows 
about 18 in. to 2 ft. high, and loose sand sand blown 
amongst it is fixed there while the grass continues to 
to surmount it by fresh growth. Knowing the value¬ 
less character of this land, the present Earl com¬ 
menced experiments upon it 1855, planting it with 
Larch and Firs. The former failed to thrive, and 
no more were planted there; inland, however, the 
Larch succeeds well. Since the last named date 
350 acres of these sand dunes have been planted, 
and the work is still in progress. The trees are 
planted six yards apart, the object in view being 
merely the ornamentation of the bare coast line. 
For commercial purposes, that is for the production 
of good timber, the trees should be planted two 
yards apart. 
Mr. Munro estimates that the planting of the sand 
dunes at this distance, the fencing, the price of the 
plants and all other expenses connected with them, 
could be accomplished for £5. Some thinning 
would have to be effected in twelve years, in twenty- 
five and again in thirty years from the time of 
planting, After this, annual thinnings may be made 
and the trees so cut down pay all expenses in main¬ 
tenance. By the time the trees had attained the age 
of 80 or 100 years they would be full grown, at the 
present prices of timber would be worth £60 or 
more per acre, according to the facilities for its 
disposal. Setting down the primary cost at £5, 
the additional compound interest on the original 
outlay, at 2| per cent per annum, would in the 
aggregate at the end of 28 years be about £10. For 
the first four years the expenses for superintendence 
would be 5s. per acre, but only 2s. during the next 
twenty years, after which the thinnings would pay 
the cost of working and interest, so that the whole 
outlay would be about £13 per acre. After pay¬ 
ment of rates and taxes a good margin of profit 
would be left. 
The trees are grown in the home nursery treated 
and reared on the most approved principles under 
the experienced and skilled directions of Mr. Munro. 
The trees most extensively planted are the Corsican 
Pine, (Pinus Laricis), 50 per cent, the Austrian Pine, 
(P. Austriaca), 25 per cent, the Scotch Pine, (P. 
Sylvestra), 20 per cent, and the Sea Pine, 5 per cent. 
Larches are most valuable, and would fetch £70 to 
£80 per acre at present prices, after attaining an age 
of 120 years, but it will thrive only when planted 
inland. All the other trees require to be planted on 
dry soils, as stagnant water is inimical to them ; but 
wherever the land is sufficiently soft for a spade to 
be pushed into it, the above trees may be expected 
to thrive. 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
How to Grow Vegetables and Fruit for Profit 
and Exhibition.— A handbook for the amateur 
and cottage gardener, tenant farmer, &c. By 
George Garner. Liverpool : Blake & Mackenzie. 
This is a small octavo volume of 113 pages exclu¬ 
sive of a full index, which the author directs to the 
attention of those named on the title page. Parts of 
the book have already appeared as articles in 
Gardening Journals, and the author encouraged or 
induced by the enthusiasm which he finds amongst 
amateurs and cottagers for cultivating and exhibiting 
fruits and vegetables, has collected these articles, 
and written others which he now puts in book form. 
In so far as he vouchsafes information for the 
guidance of those who desire to gain a knowledge of 
the two most important branches of horticulture, he 
does well; but we more than suspect him of being 
somewhat enthusiastic himself, especially in the 
matter of fruit culture, and although we have not the 
slightest desire to throw cold water on any attempt 
to increase the acreage under fruit culture, yet we 
would offer a word of caution to the inexperienced 
not to undertake any large or extensive enterprise 
rashly, without that assurance and fortification 
which comes of a good practical knowledge. This 
would apply more particularly to the tenant farmer, 
who might be led away by the first glow of a prom¬ 
ising field for his energies. 
The author is himself a gardener, as one could 
readily perceive from the instructions given for the 
cultivation of various subjects, but particularly 
vegetables. In the space at his command there is no 
room to go greatly into details, but the leading 
points in good cultivation are generally grasped, and 
set forth in language that any intelligent amateur 
could hardly fail to understand. The details will 
have to be filled in by the cultivator himself, as his 
work proceeds ; but in all cases a good point is 
gained if a correct start has been made, and further 
pretensions no book could make, however good, 
while so limited in size. Some woodcut illustrations 
scattered through the book, help the inexperienced 
reader in getting a notion of what he should aim at 
in the production of well shaped vegetables for 
exhibition. Lists of the more popular and generally 
esteemed varieties of vegetables are given at the end 
of each article, so that the amateur who intends to 
exhibit would do well to secure them from reliable 
sources, than trust to the cheap seeds that generally 
bring disappointment. 
Those who are often much troubled with the 
Onion Maggot, and intend to exhibit, should try the 
method of raising Onions and Leeks under glass for 
planting out about the end of April and the begin¬ 
ning of May. This gives the plants the advantages 
of a good start and a long season in which to make 
their growth. Many amateurs and most cottagers 
have not the convenience of glass structures of any 
kind, but those who are earnest and enthusiastic in 
their hobby can do much by means of fermenting 
manure, and some squares of glass in the raising of 
seeds. The directions concerning Peas should also 
be of material service to those who labour under the 
disadvantages of dry and poor soils in the warmer 
districts of the country. The article on judging and 
the faults and merits of produce should be useful as 
a guide to amateurs and cottagers. 
The chapter on insect pests and diseases is 
the weakest portion of the book, not altogether on 
account of its briefness, nor because nothing new 
has been promulgated, but because of the indefinite 
character of much that relates to the insects. Nor 
are we sure that the work of insect and fungus is not 
sometimes confounded, asj in the case of clubbing 
amongst the cabbage tribe. This is attributed to the 
presence of a white grub ; but it is now well known 
that a fungus is responsible for the production of the 
greatest amount and degree of clubbing, and for the 
great destruction that oftens occurs to the members 
of the tribe. This is known as Anbury or Fingers- 
and-toes. The Winter Moth and the Codlin Grub are 
also confounded. We should have liked to know 
the name of the grub that has the peculiar habit of 
hiding in the crevices of the bark, curling itself up in 
the leaves and finally eating its way into the fruit of 
the Apricot. Nor do we believe that Peach-blister 
is caused by cold winds when strong sunshine has 
full power upon the foliage. 
The National Chrysanthemum Society’s Year Book 
for 1895.— Edited by Mr. Harman Payne, F.R.H.S. Price, is. 
post free, is. i£d., from the Publisher of the Gardening 
World, i, Clement’s Inn, Strand, W.C. 
