566 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 15, 1905. 
turned many a successful philatelist green 
with envy. Ranged in the hall was a collec¬ 
tion of the brass bed-warming pans so much 
in favour with our ancestors. Finally, not 
to multiply instances of the uncommon versa¬ 
tility shown by Mr. Andrews, a chance men¬ 
tion was made of the fact that he was formerly 
a great pigeon fancier, and a successful ex¬ 
hibitor both in England and abroad. At one 
time he kept 700 of these birds. 
But there, if I do not hurry on I shall ex¬ 
haust all the space before I have properly 
begun. In a few minutes’ time Mr. Andrews 
came in, and gave me a cordial greeting. The 
counterfeit presentment of this gentleman 
which appears here will enlighten the reader 
as to the personal appearance of the hon. 
secretary of the Woodbridge Horticultural 
Society. In manner he is urbane, alert, and 
with a certain playful vein of humour that 
trickles now and again as he talks. But, 
unlike some of the subjects which have been 
selected for this gallery, he is not a great 
talker ; at any rate, I did not find him so, 
and he was diffident, too, when talking about 
himself. He is a man of action rather than 
of words. I should have missed many interest¬ 
ing personal items and many part : culars of 
the Woodbridge H.S. had it not been for the 
ready assistance of the lady who was present. 
At the first opportune moment I plunged 
in 'medias res, and asked him to tell me some¬ 
thing about himself. 
“ Oh, that won’t take long,” he replied. 
“ Let me see. Well, I’m a member of the 
Woodbridge Urban Histrict Council and a 
governor of the Seckford Charity, which com¬ 
prises a hospital and endowed schools, and 
derives its income of over £5,000 a year from 
an estate in Clerkemwell.” 
“ Then you’re a member of the Burial 
Eoard,” prompted the lady, as he paused. 
“ Ah, yes.” 
“ And,” she continued, turning to me, “he 
is a vice-president of the Seckford Reading 
Room and Social Club and a director of the 
Woodbridge and Beccles Gas Light and Coke 
Company. ” 
“ What an exacting list of offices,” I ex¬ 
claimed. 
“ Besides,” she added. “ as you may know, 
he is the Registrar of Marriages for Wcod- 
bridge.” 
“ And, as I daresay vou also know.” said 
Mr. Andrews slyly, “ I’m honorary secretary of 
the Woodbridge Hort’cultural Society.” 
“ You certainly don’t spare yourself.” I re¬ 
marked. “Don’t you find so many duties irk¬ 
some? Why, many a younger man would 
scarcely care to undertake so much.” 
“Well, I am young,” protested Mr. 
Andrews. “ A man is only as old as he feels. 
I’m not more than fifty-six.” 
Evidently it is work which has kept Mr. 
Andrews from rusting. For years he carried 
on business in Woodbridge as a successful 
provision merchant, retiring in 1897. But 
retirement with him was something of a mis¬ 
nomer. Work is his recreation, and his appe¬ 
tite for work, for doing, for the strenuous 
life would seem to be insatiable. Indeed, his 
energy is uncommon and seemingly exhaust¬ 
less, and he •would doubtless subscribe to the 
dictum of Abraham Lincoln that rest with¬ 
out work is inaction, and inaction, save to 
the diseased body, is pain. 
“I should like some facts about the Wood- 
bridge H.S.,” I said. “From my short ac¬ 
quaintance with these parts, and judging from 
snatch conversations in the train between 
here and Ipswich, the Woodbridge Show is 
known over a wide district.” 
Mr- Andrews looked pleased, “It’s known 
a good way round,” he admitted. “And you 
want to know when it began? Well, that was 
back in 1852. My friend John Loder started 
it, and he was secretary till 1890, when I came 
in. I’ve been secretary ever since.” 
“ Why, you’ve left out quite a lot,” com¬ 
plained the lady. “ You remember that after 
ten years’ work the society’s whole proceeds 
only came to a little over £59.” 
“ That’s so ; and I might mention that in 
1873 the society held a two-days’ show at the 
time when the Suffolk Agricultural Conven¬ 
tion came to the town. The gate money waa 
£337. Two years after that it was wet, and 
the takings only amounted to about £28.” 
“And,” said Madam, as my masculine 
vis-a-vis came to another abrupt stop, “ one 
year there was a fire which burnt all the 
society’s working plant. When was that? ” 
“ Ah, to be sure; that was in 1876,” said 
Mr. Andrews. 
“ And when you became secretary what 
was the position of the society ? ” I asked. 
“ There was a balance of £12 on the wrong 
side,” was the terse rejoinder. “ But my friend 
Loder had many an uphill fight, and he did 
wonders. He always got up a good show. He 
is now vice-chairman of our committee.” 
Since 1890 and the vicissitudes of the pre¬ 
vious years the Woodbridge H.S. has never 
turned back. The first year of the new secre¬ 
tary’s management the receipts were £290 ; 
in 1895 they were £380 ; in 1904, £434 14s. 8d. 
—a steady growth, which speaks, eloquently. 
The society has now £70 in the bank; there 
are 153 vice-presidents and members and 200 
subscribers. It is affiliated with the N.R.S., 
and has given two cups for Roses of £25 
each. The schedule of the forthcoming show 
contains particulars of 156 classes, beside-- 
classes for cottagers, and the prizes represent 
many hundreds of pounds in money, besides 
rrold and silver medals. 
“ I’ve paid £2,807 for prizes,” said Mr. 
Andrews with a justifiable touch of pride in 
his voice’ “ and £650 for bands.” 
As the director of a show Mr. Andrews is 
in his element, and is the square man in the 
square hole. He is a born showman, With, 
those instincts predominant which gave Bar¬ 
naul his success and fame, and, indeed, in 
some respects he reminded me of the boss of 
the “ Greatest Show on Earth,” whom I was 
privileged to interview at Olympia during 
that last great tour of his through England 
and Europe. In consequence of Mr. Andrews’ 
extensive and original methods of advertising 
the Woodbridge Flower Show, added to thei 
excellent character of the extraneous attrac¬ 
tions. this annual event, of the little town lias 
acquired a celebrity beyond the confines of 
Suffolk which is really quite incommensurate 
with its actual importance as a horticultural 
fixture-, excellent, and even superior as that, 
is. The town and neighbouring towns, and 
the whole country, or, rather, county, side 
are . billed with striking coloured pictorial 
and other posters in a lavish manner in which 
surely no other show of the kind was ever 
billed. Mr. Andrews believes in the power 
of printer’s ink and the sweet uses of adver¬ 
tisement. These posters confront one at every 
turn, whether in the vicinity of houses or 
far away from them. The result is people 
flock from far and near to the Wool bridge 
Show, and excursion trains pour in bier con¬ 
tingents of visitors right away from Colchester 
down to Yarmouth and Lowestoft, and, 
as a matter of fact, from all parts of the East 
of England. Not only, as I have said, is the 
flower show itself large, fine, comprehensive, 
and skilfully organised and arranged, but 
there are the beautiful Grange grounds in. 
which it is held, there is invariably a tip-top 
military band and first-class music, and a 
really good display of fireworks to end up the 
day’s doings always draw when superior ex¬ 
hibits of flowers, fruits, and vegetables alone 
frequently fail. 
Just two other items of peculiar interest 
before I close. Had I extended my visit, I 
feel sure many additional tit-bits of informa¬ 
tion would have been unearthed concerning 
this quite unique personality. As an evidence 
of the regard in which Mr. Andrews is held by 
all and sundry, a magnificent inscribed oak 
canteen of silver plate and cutlery was brought 
out for me to see. This was subscribed for by 
over 400 of the townspeople and the neigh¬ 
bouring residents, and presented to him at the 
Jubilee Show of the society as a mark of their 
esteem and in recognition of the invaluable 
services rendered by him to the local horticul¬ 
tural body during the previous ten years. 
“ Good, isn’t it ? ” he said, laconically. I 
could see he was proud of the possession, 
and well he might be. It was an extremely 
handsome present, but its extrinsic value to 
a man of his calibre was scarcely to be esti¬ 
mated. 
In Woodbridge everybody knows John 
Andrews, and John Andrews knows every¬ 
body. He and the place seem indissolubly 
associated. At a later hour, when he accom¬ 
panied me to the station, he was kept pretty 
busy acknowledging the salutes of the male 
gender and raising his hat to the ladies. As 
we walked along, a chance observation of 
mine disclosed the fact that Mr. Andrews 
had for years before undertaking the Wood- 
bridge show engaged in the organisation of 
similar shows elsewhere. He started the Ips¬ 
wich Daffodil Society; for two years he 
managed the Felixstowe and Walton Floral 
Fete and Cottage Show, and for some time 
he was joint owner and manager with Mr. 
A. E. Stubbs of the Ipswich Daffodil and 
Spring Show, which owed its genesis to the 
former gentleman. Possibly he had to dowith 
yet other shows ; I should not be surprised. 
This is further evidence that he possesses 
the showman’s genius. And what he has 
spent out of his own pocket on these, to him. 
luxuries of labour and anxiety, probably he 
knows not himself. His liberality is pro¬ 
verbial, and his hospitality is on a par with 
it. On the day of the Woodbridge Show he 
keeps open house, and over one hundred 
friends and workers of his usually sit down 
to breakfast, dinner, and tea. 
The only fly in Air. Andrews’ ointment is, 
probably enough, that'he has not more to do 
and more shows to run. 
Peter Penn. 
-*- 
Mr. Hogg’s Utopia.— “ I would like to see 
in the villages every man with his own cottage 
and gai’den, and with a pound a week to live 
on.”—Mr. Lindsay Hogg, M.P., at Chil- 
dinglv Club Feast. 
A Superr White Orchid. —A small and 
unique Orchid, known as Cattleya Schroderae 
alba, which, when exhibited in flower to the 
R.H.S. was uhanimouslv awarded a F.C.C., 
was recently sold by auction for 54 guineas. 
Its sepals, petals, and lip were pure white. 
Henry Eckford Testimoniae. —The contri¬ 
butions to this fund up to Saturday evening, 
July 1, are as follows :—Previously acknow¬ 
ledged, £40 16s. 9d. Mr. T. Duncan, 2s. 6d. ; 
Mrs! T. Duncan, 2s. 6d. ; Arthur Duncan, Is. ; 
Dick Duncan, Is. ; Kate Duucan. Is. ; Louie 
Duncan, Is. ; Miss Easterbrook, 5s. ; Mr. J. 
Middleton, 2s. ; Mr. Tigwell, 2s. ; Mr. E- 
Wilson, Is.; Mrs. E, Wilson, 1. 
