852 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 10, 1903. 
the great shows formerly held at the Crystal 1 alace. The 
clearness and purity of the atmosphere are certainly not always 
the best, but most of the exhibitors of hardy fruits are suffi¬ 
ciently far removed from the metropolis as not to be affected by 
its local atmospheric conditions. We must, therefore, fall 
back on the soil to account for the excellent results obtained 
for the counties or districts indicated. 
Latitude and elevation must not be overlooked in accounting 
for the differences between the best fruits from one county or 
district and those of another. The difference of a few degrees 
in temperature in the mean average for the. locality gives won¬ 
derfully different results in the cultivation of fruits. Tem¬ 
perature affects the growth and proper maturing of the fruits 
to a remarkable degree. For the same reason, the fruits attain 
larger size where the. climate isi warm and the season relatively 
longer, by comparison with those districts where the summer is 
short and the temperature not very high. Pears would seem 
to 1 be more readily affected by temperature than Apples, and 
in practice we find Apple® may bei grown to fair perfection, even 
as far north as the Orkney Islands; whereas such things as - 
Pears and Plums Jo not reach a. stage of maturity that would 
make them useful in so far north a district. 
Another lesson of the fruit show is that all the exhibits came 
from relatively young tree®; that is, the fruits which had 
been remarkable for size. Fruit-growers have learnt that if 
they are to win prizes in classes where competition is keen 
they must get fruits of large size, and to get that they must 
he obtained from young trees. Old and crowded orchards, 
therefore., have been, disappearing in the background as far as 
these shows are concerned, and we hear little about tree® rang¬ 
ing to ninety years of age, such as we heard of at the first 
Apple Congress, in 1885. Old orchards are not conducive to 
size or freedom from skin diseases, and in a season like the 
past the fruits are more than usually likely to suffer from 
skin diseases, as we have remarked in, more than one locality 
outside the show. We have, therefore, to thank these ex¬ 
hibitions and conferences for the development of young 
orchards and plantations for the production of fine fruits. 
Another feature in relation to the size of fruits is that the 
newer varieties tend to be of large size by comparison with 
many of the old favourites. Fruit, for dessert purposes may 
only be cf moderate size, and then, only have, they a. chance if 
they have excellent flavour to recommend them. Many of 
the favourite old varieties of Apple® and Pears have, however, 
disappeared from.the show-boards. Probably also, they will 
disappear from gardens in the course of a few years. No 
doubt many of them have had to. give place to the. newcomers. 
Scotland was represented from two places in the south only, 
and the fruits were, better coloured, if not larger, than those 
from some parts of the north of England. It is natural. to 
expect fruits: from the best districts in any country, but. during 
all these shows that have been, held under the auspices of the 
Royal Horticultural Society it is remarkable how little we 
have seen or beard of the Carse of Gowrie Apples, which 
have been notable time out of mind in Scotland. It may be 
that most of the fruits grown there are hurried off to market 
a® soon, as they are fit for use. We might, however, have 
expected seme from the private establishments. Fruits from 
Ireland were not present, in great quantity, but they were 
wonderfully well coloured. The Channel Islands were not re¬ 
presented, as far as we observed. 
New fruits, were not a, conspicuous feature of this show, as 
the season has apparently been against them. All the more 
noticeable, therefore, was the Apple Norfolk Beauty, shown in 
the gathered state, and also as the fruits grew on the branch. 
Fruits that turn out well in bad seasons must in future find 
their way into cultivation like disease-resisting Potato®. Two 
other Apples we may mention were Charles Ross and Bamack 
Beauty, the latter being a, greenish-yellow Apple streaked with 
red, and this year, at all events, only of moderate size. Its 
recommendations are that it fruits heavily, and the fruits are 
in season from April to May. 
Campanula pyramidalis in Pots. 
(See Supplement .) 
There are very few flowering plants which are more beautiful 
to. look upon than the white chimney Campanula- It is, in¬ 
deed, one of the most graceful and free flowering of the many 
occupants of the herbaceous border, and, when well grown m 
pots, bears not unfavourable comparison as a specimen flower¬ 
ing plant with many of the more tender occupants of the stove 
or greenhouse, especially when we remember that a plant from 
5 ft. to 8 ft. in, height which is a. perfect mass of bloom can 
be produced in a little more than sixteen months from an 
almost minute seed. 
Although the plant, is. perfectly hardy and will flower readilv 
in the open border, it can hardly be expected that the blossoms 
will be as fine or expand as perfectly and evenly as when placed 
under glass to develop. 
During recent years Campanula pyramidalis has become 
popular as a plant for house and conservatory decoration, for 
which purpose it is eminently suitable; and whether arranged 
in groups or used as isolated specimens, their effect is always 
noble and imposing. At this place we grow a goodly number 
annually, which are used chiefly for the decoration of a rather 
lofty conservatory and the embellishment of a spacious front 
hall, in which they retain their beauty for a considerable 
length of time, and are always greatly admired. 
The plants illustrated (see Supplement) are similar in char¬ 
acter to what we have had during the past few years, the 
methods employed in their production being of the simplest 
possible character, which I will detail as briefly as I can. 
At the outset let me explain that the two largest plants have 
thirty and thirty-one spikes respectively, and are in 10-in. 
pots. For their production seed was sown early in March of 
last year, in a box well drained and filled with sandv soil, 
taking care to only lightly cover the seed, the box being placed 
in a, warm house until germination had taken place, and as 
.soon a® the- young seedlings were large, enough to- handle they 
were pricked off a. good distance apart- in another box contain¬ 
ing a compost similar in character to that used for seed¬ 
sowing and returned to a warm house until they became estab¬ 
lished in the new soil, when they were removed to a cold frame 
to be gradually hardened off. 
We plant outside the first week in June on a specially pre¬ 
pared piece of ground. As our soil is naturally very light 
and sandy, and consequently very deficient, in plant-food, we 
dig in a. good dressing of half-decayed farmyard manure, wood- 
ashes and fine bonemeal. During the summer months thei hoe 
was. kept constantly moving amongst the growing plants, and 
in diy weather water was applied, one good watering being at 
all times preferable to a little and often. In this, position the 
plants remained through the winter without any protection 
whatever, and were taken up on the 15th of March last and 
potted into, pots 9 in. and 10 in. in diameter, using a compost 
consisting for the greater part of loam, to which was added a 
small proportion of loam, leaf-soil, wood-ashes, and fine bone 
meal. The roots should be gone over with a sharp knife, so 
that the ball will readily go into the pot; make the soil as 
firm as possible, afterwards standing outside on a hard bed of 
ashes. Directly the spikes, are noticed we apply weak manure- 
water 1 at each time of watering, keeping the plants outside 
until the spikes are well up to prevent their becoming drawn. 
As soon as. the flowers show colour the plants are removed to 
a well-ventilated house, which is kept, as cool as possible. Here 
they are safe from the injurious effects of wind or rain, and 
soon become a perfect mass of flowers. 
Any plants required for the herbaceous border are removed 
from the nursery rows and planted in their positions during 
favourable weather in October, making them as firm as possible 
in the soil, afterwards placing a. mulch round each plant, which 
is beneficial both as a protection and as a source of food supply, 
as well as retaining moisture during hot, diy weather. 
W. Henry Wilson. 
Moor Hall Cardens, Stourport. 
