262 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 24, 1892. 
on walls, although hard frost has a deal to answer 
for, both on trees with the protection of walls and in 
the open garden, acting on unripened or even old 
wood, a rupture is caused, gumming sets in and the 
branch gradually decays. Over this we have little 
or no control, but under glass it is quite different. 
It is only b" attention in a great measure to minor 
details that satisfactory results can be obtained in 
the cultivation of the Peach, as in other branches of 
horticulture. This class of tree must have careful 
attention from the first in regard to disbudding the 
young shoots carefully, and expeditiously tying 
them in as occasion requires, and rigorously thinning 
out the old branches after the fruit is gathered (so 
that the wood may get thoroughly consolidated 
before the sun's rays have become less powerful), 
leaving also a fair number of natural spurs on the 
older wood. 
We water abundantly during the summer, and 
about the end of November give the borders a 
thorough soaking of diluted liquid manure to plump 
up the buds. The trees are dressed and carefully 
tied up in December. We have no gumming, little 
or no bud dropping, and by carefully fertilising the 
blossoms daily with a soft brush we always secure 
fine crops,’ the trees being in fine health and vigour 
— William Minty, Raasay, Strome Ferny, N.B. 
-- 
GARDENERS IN COUNCIL. 
A Year’s Proceedings of a Gardeners’ Society. 
At the last meeting of the Devon and Exeter Gar¬ 
deners’ Improvement Society, Mr. Mackay, the able 
nursery manager of Messrs. Robert Yeitch & Son, 
Exeter, gave a capital address on the year's work of 
the society, which included a resume of the papers 
read, from which we take the following extracts :— 
The Apple. 
It is now over twelve months since Mr. Powell 
delivered his opening essay on the Apple, and it was 
thought by the committee that the present would be 
a most fitting time for a short review of the year's 
work of this society, thus refreshing our minds once 
again with the ideas and experience of past essayists, 
and if possible to still gain some further knowledge 
of these most interesting subjects, and by discussion 
to impart to one and all the experience of those who 
had been cultivators, successful or otherwise, during 
the past season. This interchange of ideas and 
results under certain treatment should be of great 
benefit to all, more especially so to members of an 
improvement society like ours. 
Taking the Apple as our starting point, it would 
be most interesting to know hew certain kinds do on 
certain soils in certain districts, so that such kinds 
as do badly may by future planters be avoided. Mr. 
Powell has told us what kind of soil is most adapted 
to successful culture, but what to my mind is more 
important to the cultivator is how to adapt the Apple 
to any and all kinds of soils ; this can -only be done 
by carefully selecting from actual experience such 
kinds as do well in certain places and under certain 
conditions. I firmly believe that many good kinds 
which are but indifferent growers in some soils 
might, by judicious treatment in the way of branch 
and root pruning at the proper seasons, and by care¬ 
fully manuring on the poorer soils, be made to pro_ 
duce better results than at present. Most failures, 
I quite believe, are more the result of improper 
pruning and an altogether neglect of root pruning 
than of anything else. It would be of great advan¬ 
tage to such a society as this if each member would 
make a list of the kinds he grows, with a table of 
the results in each case, with any remarks that he 
may have to make as to nature of soil and reason 
of failure, if any, and in doing this I think considera¬ 
tion should be given to the crop of the former year, 
as but few kinds continuously bear heavy crops. 
It is not only essential that Apples should be well 
grown but they also require to be well gathered and 
well stored, the old fashioned mode of storing in 
well-heated fruit rooms and in single layers on stages 
fitted for the purpose has had much to answer for in 
the way of premature decay and degenerated flavour. 
On being gathered they should at once be placed in 
barrels or hampers, to me the latter are preferable, 
and then placed in a cool dampish room, if possible 
opening to the north, .which should be well aired even 
during the coldest of weather, provided the frost 
does not affect the fruit, the greatest mistake possible 
is to keep them too warm or too dry and without 
air. 
Pears may with advantage be kept in the same 
way up to a certain time, that of ripening, when 
they should be selected out and placed singly in a 
warm dry room; in this way they come quicker to 
maturity, and their flavour is greatly enhanced. 
So tar as I can judge Mr. Powell is so very correct 
in his ideas as to the best mode of cultivation that 
there is very little in his paper to take exception to. I 
would however say I cannot quite agree with him 
when he advises that when planting a tree after the 
roots are well covered the tree should .receive a 
good shaking. I may have a wrong conception as to 
his mode of doing this, but undoubtedly, if the tree 
be in any way lifted in doing so many of the smaller 
roots would be drawn up, and not having sufficient 
strength to push their way back again, would become 
doubled and their proper action retarded. 
And as to manuring, I should in any soils, much 
prefer winter mulching to the mixing of manure with 
the soil. 
Root Pruning. 
It does seem a pity that so valuable a paper as that 
given by our valued friend Mr. George should have 
been entirely lost to the society ; and it has occurred 
to me whether in a case of this kind when the essayist 
has so much practical knowledge of his subject—and 
added to this, shall I say, that most excellent gift for 
such a purpose, the “ gift of the gab,” that he has no 
need to write his paper—whether it would not be 
money well spent if the society were to pay a reporter 
to make a full report and thus secure for the society 
what in this, and one other case I could mention, 
has been an irreparable loss. 
Mr. George, in his lecture on the Peach and Nec¬ 
tarine, went most fully into the question of root 
pruning, and told us what an advantage it was to 
fruit trees if properly and carefully done ; and to any 
right-thinking man who does not pin his faith to 
such nostrums and old-day superstitions as have been 
from time to time formulated by old women of 
either one sort or another, with or without petti¬ 
coats, I mean, it must be patent, that by keeping 
the roots well within a given space you not only en¬ 
courage them to form a mass of fibrous or feeding 
roots, but you prevent these roots from being led 
away to feed in subsoils, which in nine cases out of 
ten would be most injurious to them, and should extra 
feeding become necessary you know exactly when to 
apply it to obtain the best results. 
Value of Horticultural Exhibitions. 
It is quite possible to over-rate the value of these 
exhibitions. Especially so is this the case when 
they are looked upon as simply a thing to pay, and 
of pleasure rather than of instruction. Shows of 
this class cannot be said to be of much .value to any 
one, more especially to exhibitors, unless each 
exhibit possess some high point of merit, and be ex¬ 
clusively the result of high scientific cultivation on 
the part of the exhibitor, and not as in many in¬ 
stances a combination of results of many individuals, 
or as in some instances obtained at the expense of 
whole plantations of crops, completely spoilt and 
denuded for the sake of one superior dish. To be 
of any real value to the horticulturist, they should be 
considered more as large classes of instruction. All 
exhibits should also be truly and carefully named. 
Much evil attends the practice of showing vegetables 
and fruit under false names or without any names. 
The public generally, and gardeners in particular, 
go to these shows to make notes of the prize winners, 
and it is of the utmost importance to them that 
things obtaining honours should be properly named 
and true ; and where younger gardeners especially 
should be allowed to attend, and by a comparison 
of results, and an interchange of ideas and 
modes of obtaining these, gain a better knowledge 
of what is essential to successful gardening. 
I am afraid that money prizes, however small, 
are more or less a temptation to many of our gar¬ 
deners to endeavour to bottle up their knowledge, 
and rather mislead others than instruct them; 
human nature, or that worst part of it, will bubble 
uppermost even amongst gardeners. 
A society such as ours, if properly worked and 
supported, might be of infinitely more value to 
gardeners than exhibitions, which to me seem to be 
of more pleasure and enjoyment to such as go to see 
and admire the lovely productions of nature and art, 
to meet friends on the same errand, who at the same 
time do not care one straw about any particular prize 
either first or second. 
Where exhibitors strain after the present craze of 
growing and bringing either flowers or fruit, flowers 
especially, to the largest possible size, by limiting the 
supply the result may tend to show what can be 
attained in this way, but in ever}' other respect is 
misleading and disappointing. Take the Chrysan¬ 
themum, for instance; of late years the great 
craze at shows has been the largest possible flowers, 
arranged leafless and in monotonous rows on ugly 
green boards. What can be more misleading ? The 
ordinary visitor makes notes, buys plants, and 
expects the same results from ordinary plants under 
ordinary cultivation. 
More prizes should be given for the best results, 
when quantity as well as quality is the desiderata, 
and for the most artistic arrangement either in 
groups or on the show-boards, upon which foliage 
should have a more prominent position than at 
present. Cultivate rather that most manly and 
best of all curiosity to gain knowledge and experi¬ 
ence when and wherever you can; and fed with 
this, " the truest of all ambition will follow and lead 
to good results.” 
“ Dare to do all that doth become a man, 
Who dares do more is none.” 
Our friend Mr. Bartlett has, in his paper, 
endeavoured, and laudably so, to fire his younger 
friends with ambitious desires. I would say don’t 
be hasty in becoming ambitious, or possibly you may 
be led astrny. Some people’s ambition is never 
satisfied, they want and intend to climb, and care 
not oftentimes upon whose ladder they do so, and 
then as Shakespeare has it— 
“ Lowliness is young ambition's ladder, 
Whereto the climber upward turns his face ; 
But when he once attains the upmost round. 
He then unto the ladder turns his-back, 
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 
By which he did ascend.” 
Vegetables for Exhibition. 
Then as regards vegetables for exhibition, the Rev. 
Mr. Cruwys’ paper is to my mind a most valuable 
one. He not only tells us what to grow but how to 
grow it; this is as it should be, for although many 
may differ as to the mode of treatment, yet all who 
know him, and the good results he gets, must admit 
he is one of our most successful growers. His paper 
should have made many ambitious to do as well as 
he has, and this possibly at the expense of his 
extensive experience. 
fc Too many vegetables, however, obtain first-class 
honours at our exhibitions, which, as productions 
for the table, are completely worthless. This is to 
be regretted, and if judges of vegetables were able 
to and did their duty, this would soon be past history, 
and those useless showy kinds would soon be weeded 
out and find their true level both at exhibitions and 
in the garden. I quite agree with Mr. Cruwys that 
a time has arrived for fixing a standard as to size, 
and that prizes should be awarded for high quality 
and to such as are of a fair average table size. 
The judging and judges should have far more con¬ 
sideration from committees of flower shows than at 
present. A little more money spent in this way, 
even at the expense of the prize list, would be of 
great benefit to the exhibitor and the public. 
The number of judges appointed at large exhibi¬ 
tions, and the time at their disposal, is too totally 
inadequate to the amount of work they have to do. 
Mr. Cruwys gives sound advice when he says that 
more attention should be paid to the Potato, in the 
way of good soil, carefully prepared, and good sound 
seed, frequently changed. Many people even at the 
present day are too content to continue to plant the 
same stock of Potatos over and over again ; this 
has undoubtedly been proved to be a great mistake. 
ON PROTECTING ROSES. 
Now is the time when a little judicious protection is 
beneficial to Roses. In fact, just enough protection 
to keep off the sharp frosty winds is all that will be 
required. Too often, gardeners and amateurs afford 
their Roses too much protection, or else none at all. 
I do not know which is worse of the two. If it be a 
mild winter, protection does harm. But one can 
place a few branchesof Gorse, Birch, Fir, etc., among 
their dwarf plants, and be sure that they will derive 
much benefit from it during frosty weather ; while, 
should it be a mild and wet winter, no harm will 
accrue from such protection, the same as from shak¬ 
ing short straw or hay among the tops of the plants. 
If there is a little soil drawn up around the base oi 
dwarf Roses, and a few twigs stuck in the ground and 
