May 20, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
597 
“ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man."— Bacon. 
fyfet ifM. 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , MAY 20 th, 1899. 
NEXT WEEK'S ENGAGEMENTS 
Wednesday, May 24th.—Anniversary Meeting of the Linnean 
Society; Opening of the 5 days show in connection with 
the Bath and West and Southern Counties Society, at 
Exeter; Exhibition of Tulips at York. 
t UESTioNs Relating to Fruit Cult¬ 
ure.— The discussion which followed 
the reading of Mr. Bunyard’s paper at the 
meeting of the Society of Arts on the ioth 
inst., might be said to have been fairly rep¬ 
resentative of the more important points 
that yet have to be mastered by British 
fruit growers in general, and might also be 
regarded as some of the leading or burning 
questions of the day in regard to that in¬ 
dustry. Fruit orchards cannot be renovated 
in the course of a year or two as in the case 
of annual crops; and when the young 
orchards have been planted they require a 
number of years to become matured, so to 
speak. All the same they are being planted, 
and an important point is to so rouse the 
general apathy of fruit farmers to the 
technicalities of the subject that they may 
be induced to adopt modern and improved 
methods of preparing the soil before they 
proceed to plant. The chairman, Major- 
General Sir Owen Tudor Burne, G.C.I.E., 
said that the cultivation of fruit was found 
to pay better in some places than hops or 
barley. From this we must assume that 
some places, dependent on soil and climate, 
are better adapted for the purpose than 
others, which is in the nature of things. 
But if all the suitable parts of the country 
are planted with orchards they would 
amount to a very respectable acreage. He 
commented on the fact that Mr. Bunyard 
had drawn attention to deep cultivation by 
means of steam preparatory to the planting 
of trees upon the ground. Subsoiiing could 
also be effectively and expeditiously 
carried out by means of steam, at small 
cost and without bringing the relatively 
barren subsoil to the surface. He also cited 
Ceylon as an active little island, which, 
when the Coffee crops were ruined by 
disease, turned to the cultivation of Pepper 
and Tea. There is no use in wasting time 
in vain regret over impossibilities when 
something else of a paying nature can be 
substituted for a failing industry. 
Mr. W. W. Berry tackled the subject 
of fruit packing, the old method of which 
no longer pays for the trouble of doing. 
The modern commercial spirit is to have all 
goods of a uniform grade, so that when 
customers have seen the top of a basket or 
hamper they can gauge the character of all 
the rest without the necessity of turning 
out and inspecting the whole. He would 
select, say 60 per cent, of the best to send 
to market, even if he had to sell the other 
40 per cent, at a greatly reduced figure to 
the jam or cider maker. The remuneration 
for the 60 per cent, alone would pay for the 
trouble of grading. He also corroborated 
the previous speaker as to the utility and 
economical advantages of steam ploughing, 
and even for the clearing of old woodlands. 
He strongly advocated the use of artificial 
manures on account of their efficiency, 
cheapness and portability, as well as the 
little expense attached to their distribution. 
As another speaker later on remarked, farm¬ 
yard manure has other uses besides the 
manurial ingredients it may contain. For 
instance, there is the question of soil mois¬ 
ture, and nothing will retain it better than 
humic matters, of which farmyard manure 
so largely consists. This would apply more, 
forcibly to the more southern counties of 
Britain which often suffer in droughty 
seasons from the lack of moisture; and 
without a sufficiency of that it is impossible 
to get plant food conveyed into the crops, 
for water is the only vehicle. Much has 
been said about foreign competition, but 
Mr. Berry practically showed that foreign 
aid has largely helped to develop a market 
for fruit all the year round, instead cf for 
three or four months as formerly. There 
were now hundreds of fruit shops for dis¬ 
tributing the produce, whereas a few years 
ago, relatively, the shops were few and far 
between, and totally incapable of effecting 
the distribution of the fruit, even if were 
placed on the market. The fruit grower 
had reason to be thankful for the market so 
created. Fruit culture would also be the 
means of keeping people on the land. Agri¬ 
cultural depression, by driving the people 
to the towns had made labour scarce and 
dear in rural districts, and he was now pay¬ 
ing ^1,000 in wages annually, where £100 
used to serve when he was young Fruit 
had never been overdone except in 1886 
when there was a glut of it,ow’ingpractically 
to the inadequately developed means of 
distribution. 
Mr. Assbee, of Covent Garden, stated 
that the importation of various fruits from 
abroad had stimulated the public taste for 
this wholesome kind of food. Growers had 
emigrated from California to the Cape, and 
he had no doubt the quantity of grapes and 
other fruit that will come from thence dur¬ 
ing the next decade, when the vineyards 
and orchards come into bearing, will quite 
surprise people here ; but fruit from that 
quarter arrives after the home supplies have 
been consumed, so that it would not affect the 
sale of the home grown article. Hundreds 
of acres of land were being planted with 
fruit trees at the Cape. 
Mr. George Gordon considered that a 
cultivated Orchard was preferable to one on 
grass. It was open to discussion whether 
Cherry orchards might not be treated in the 
same way, for he had been observing one 
that was simply kept clean for a number of 
years till the trees came to a standstill. 
Then it was trenched by hand and the 
results in a short time were marvellous. 
He had also seen an orchard of old Blenheim 
Orange Pippins, that was considered worn 
out, completely renovated by trenching and 
applying manure to it, both farmyard and 
artificial. Mr. E. D. Till spoke of the use 
of surplus fruit for the purpose of cider 
making, and the modern improvements that 
are taking place in the manufacture of that 
article. He regarded poultry rearing as an 
adjunct to fruit farming, and which he con¬ 
sidered had been greatly neglected. Mr. D. 
Louis also spoke of the great value of farm¬ 
yard manure to land, and even went so far 
as to say that artificial manures, when 
rightly applied, were merely adjuncts to 
farmyard manure and not substitutes. 
Mr. Bunyard in reply, strongly recom¬ 
mended the planting of new orchards on 
arable land, except in the case of Cherries. 
He had been called to give advice in the 
case of a Cherry orchard that had been too 
highly manured with the result that the 
trees went all to wood, making growths of 
6 ft. in a year, only to be ruined by the first 
severe winter. Cherry orchards must be 
allowed to develop slowly and naturally to 
ensure the best results. 
Mr. G. W. Webster, formerly foreman to E. K. 
Muspratt, Esq., Seaforth Hall, Liverpool, as head 
gardener to G. H. Warren, Esq , Strawberry Fields, 
Woolton, Liverpool. 
Mr. W illiam Ellis, for upwards of ten years head 
gardener to G. H. Warren, Esq,, Strawberry Field, 
Woolton, Liverpool, has been appointed head 
gardener to Mrs. Balfour, Dawyick, Stobo, Peebles. 
Hybrid Ferns .—The Fern Bulletin advocates the 
sowing together of ripe spores of two species (spores 
of the same age) in the hope of testing whether a 
natural hybrid would not result. The case has 
never been thoroughly proven. Varieties are readily 
enough crossed. 
The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association have 
offered to provide seats when the new Hermit Road 
Recreation Ground, at West Ham, comes to be 
opened. They are also trying to secure Leystone 
Churchyard and Granville Square, Clerkenwell, with 
a view of converting them into public gardens. The 
association has a representative on the committee 
formed for the acquisition of the Dollis Park estate, 
to be known as the Gladstone Park. They earnestly 
desire the sum of £ 5 ,000 before May 15th for the 
completing of the necessary purchase money, as the 
option of purchase then expires. It is expected that 
Albion Square, in Dalston, and the Paragon, in New 
Kent Road, will shortly be made public. 
The •' Hurst Sc Son ” Musical Society and friends to 
the number of 120 or so assembled for their first 
annual smokiDg concert at the " Talbot,” London 
Wall, E.C., on Monday evening. May 15th, N. N. 
Sherwood, Esq., in the chair. At the same table 
with him sat Mr. Jno. McKenzie, of the N.Z. 
Legislature, and Messrs. Innes, Adler, and Fagg. 
After the opening remarks the accompanist went 
" To the Front ” and played a selected pianoforte 
solo, and that " Lass o’Mine,” named “ Mary,” or 
the " Lily of Laguna,” was partner in the ” Petite 
Marche” to “The Wide World Man,” “The 
Frenchman,” seeing this, asked her if she was 
“ The Lass that Loves a Sailor." Then “ Oh ! Her 
Face!” But " Ze Poleet Moozeer ” said reassur¬ 
ingly just ” Fancy I'm the Earth.” "The Cricket 
Match of Red Nose Flat ” was a grand affair. We 
fancy the Australians would have had to do " The 
Cane Walk” had they been the opponents. Well, 
the “Miniature Trio” now had a go at “Mr. 
Phoonoodlepecker’s Recital.” They then tried 
“The Death of Nelson,” and under their artistic 
rendering they soon made this appear as wonderful 
as the "Wonders of the Deep.” But “The 
Message” came that our “Bonnie Barque” was 
ready, and " The Silver Tide ” was full, so we 
“Marched in the Skippin, O!” to the pleasant 
strains of “Dresdina” (what a pity that “Adam 
missed It ”). The company spent a pleasant evening, 
dispersing about 10.45 P m - 
Trip to Holland.—Here we have one of the 
cheapest and most instructive tours under proposal 
that anyone could desire. For a £5 note, arrange¬ 
ments have been made by the Essex Technical In¬ 
struction Committee, whereby agriculturists and 
horticulturists may visit some of the most important 
farms, nurseries, and gardens in Holland. The 
number of persons to join this trip is limited to 
twenty persons, so that those who wish a berth must 
be active in making enquiries from Mr. T. S. 
Dymond, County Technical Laboratories, Chelms¬ 
ford. The visit will last from Monday, May 29th to 
Saturday, June 3rd, 1899 ; so that four clear days are 
spent on the Continent. The sail only lasts some 
seven hours. The visits, on the day of arrival, will 
be to the Agricultural Winter School at Yves, and 
to the Wilbelmina Polder. The latter place was 
once a morass, but has been converted to a hand¬ 
some farm by drainage. On the second day the 
company travels to Waddingsveen, to have a look 
round Mr. Van der Breggen’s dairy farm ; and on 
the same day to Messrs. Rosters' Nurseries at Bos- 
koop, where Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Lilacs, and 
other flowering trees and shrubs are grown in large 
quantities for exportation. The next day will be 
occupied in a visit to the Co-operative Dairy at 
Amsterdam, which is a very large place, and to the 
Agricultural Analysis Station at Hoorne ; also to the 
cheese farm. Other trips will be to a cheete market, 
the bulb farms, and fruit and vegetable gardens. 
