December 2, 1905. 
tHE GARDENING WORLD 
927 
* SOCIETY DOINGS. © 
The Editor will be 'pleased to receive particulars oj the Fixtures, Meetings, Lectures , <L-c, or 
Horticultural Societys. Secretaries or Members willing to send us brief notes of general interest are 
invited to forward name and address to the Editor, who will gladly send supply of stamped addressed 
contributors’ slips. 
Society. Thc^Stoke Newington Chrysanthemum 
Society was resuscitated twelve years ago. Thus, 
though Stoke Newington lias not the honour of 
having held the first show of the kind, it Ls 
notable for being the second place in the kingdom 
to organise such an exhibition. 
TTT V YYTYTTY YTTY TT 
N.B.— Secretaries and others who kindly send 
vs particulars of Society Doings are again re¬ 
minded that, owing to our limited space, we 
cannot insert reports of shows and lists of prize 
competitions and winners. 
Occasional Intervie vs. 
A number of these have been prepared, but 
owing to the pressure on our space have had for 
the last few weeks to be held over. In our next 
number, however, we hope to give an interview 
with Mr. A. E. Cresswell, Secretary of the Forest 
Gate and Stratford Amateur Chrysanthemum 
Sjciety. 
A Grand Show of Potatos. 
The display of Potatos at Westminster last 
week was a spectacle to have thrilled the heart of 
Paddy, for somehow an allusion to the Potato 
irresistibly suggests the poor Hibernian with his 
inevitable patch of praties for food and the pig 
that pays the “lint.” If Sir Walter "Raleigh, 
who is reputed to have first grown the Potato in 
this country, could have revisited the glimpses 
of the moon and gazed upon these thousands of 
well-scrubbed tubers, most of them of pheno¬ 
menal size, he might possibly have been struck 
dumb with amazement. For the show was a 
very notable one, and provided an eloquent illus¬ 
tration of the immense stiides made during the 
past decade or so of years in the cultivation of 
this indispensable vegetable. It was also calcu¬ 
lated to impress the visitor with a sense of the 
capital and brains which are now invested in the 
raising and improving of this humble but in¬ 
valuable esculent. 
Lack of Public Interest. 
Owing to the somewhat recent Potato boom a 
halo of romance has gathered about this now* 
great industry. In the hands of certain astute 
and clever men, Potatos have been, as it were, 
transmuted into more than their weight in gold, 
although some in quest of this particular kind of 
philosopher’s stone must regret having looked in 
this direction for sudden wealth. Seeing, how- 
; ever, tire sensational paragraphs which have 
figured in the Press,the geaeral public might have 
been expected to take a keen interest in this very 
fine exhibition. But they do not appear to have 
done so. 
Plain Hall, Bald Show. 
The Horticultural Hall—that is to say, the 
special apartment at the headquarters of the 
R.H.S. in which displays are made—is almost 
painfully undistinguished-looking and barn-like, 
but it has the redeeming feature of an abundance 
of light. Add to the plain ball a bald show of 
horticultural produce, and you have an ensemble 
which does not appeal to the cultured and artistic 
eye, and can scarcely tend to draw the general 
public, to educate whom is presumably one of the 
aims of the R.H.S. as of the N.P.S. They would 
do these things better in France ; they do them 
better in the N orth. 
Crude and Inartistic. 
Long tables on which were long parallel lines of 
Potatos heaped in plain, not too cleanly-lookin" 
baskets, and on white platters, detract from the 
pleasure of such an exhibition, and emphasise 
an unavoidable monotony. Along the centres of 
one of the tables were some foliage plants, 
attenuated and of melancholy aspect, which might 
have been borrowed from some neighbouring' 
tenement window-sills. Some of the Potatos 
Were actually on plates with a bit of frayed carpet 
Under them ! On other plates the Potatos rested 
uncomfortably on wood shavings ! One exhibitor 
had seemed great prominence by a pyramidal 
wooden structure, covered with alternate strips 
off red, white and blue cloth, the Potatos being 
placed around this on narrow horizontal shelves. 
The result was grotesque. There was a marked 
absence in the whole show of artistic embellish¬ 
ment and variety and originality of treatment. 
Even if the exhibition had been intended solely 
for farmers and professional gardeners, the utility 
of it would not have been lessened by a little 
adventitious decoration and some attempt to 
break through the wearisome uniformity in the 
staging arrangements. 
DIums at Stoke Newington. 
The mayor-elect, Alderman W. H. Savery, of 
Stoke Newington, who took part in the opening 
ceremony of a splendid show held last month 
under the auspices of the Stoke Newington, 
Stamford Hill, Clapton, and Hackney Chrysan¬ 
themum Society, observed that Stamford Hill was 
the first place in England in which the Chrysan¬ 
themum was grown. The remark was also made 
that Stoke Newington was the venue of the first 
Chrysanthemum exhibition. The facts, however, 
are not so. 
Secretaries, Please Note. 
i 
shall feel obliged if Secretaries 
of Horticultural Societies will 
kindly send at the earliest possible 
moment the fixtures of Meetings, 
Annual Dinners, Shows, &c., for 1906, 
in order that they may be notified 
in our weekly tabulation under the 
heading of 
DIARY OF SHOWS AND MEETINGS. 
We shall be glad to receive copies 
of Annual Reports and Schedules 
to notice in these columns. 
The First Chrysanthemum in England. 
According to the best authorities the Chrysan¬ 
themum was originally introduced to England 
from the Celestial Empire in 1754, and was first 
cultivated by that celebrated gardener, Miller, of 
Chelsea, but soon afterwards was lost. The 
second introduction of the flower was by way of 
Marseilles, in 1789 ; it reached London in 1795, 
and in Curtis’s “ Botanical Magazine ” for 1796 
we find a coloured figure of Chrysanthemum 
sinense, the result of the second advent. The 
first Chrysanthemum that ever flowered in Eng¬ 
land, says Burbidge, bloomed in Colville’s nursery 
in the King’s Road, Chelsea, in 1795. Sabine, 
Avho was secretary to the Horticultural Society at 
the beginning of the last century, placed it on 
record that the Chrysanthemum had been grown 
in Holland nearly as far back as 16SS, but, 
strangely enough, in 1821 no gardener in Holland 
knew anything about the flower. 
Norwich First. 
With respect to Chrysanthemum exhibitions, 
Norwich inaugurated the first in 1843. Three 
years later this was followed by one in London 
under the auspices of the Stoke ‘ Newington 
Chrysanthemum Society, afterwards called the 
Borough of Hackney Chrysanthemum Society, 
and later still the National Chrysanthemum 
A Claim that Fails. 
Apropos, a Yorkshire paper commences a report 
of tbe Norton Chrysanthemum Show as follows : 
“ The second oldest institution of its kind in the 
country. This is the proud distinction which the 
Norton (Malton) and District Chrysanthemum 
Society claims for itself, and although there are 
societies of more recent growth which have out¬ 
stripped in influence this pioneer of Chrysanthe¬ 
mum culture, success still smiles on the institu¬ 
tion in its forty-first year.” It will thus he seen 
that the Norton Show was not instituted until 
twenty-one years after that at Norwich and 
eighteen years after the Stoke Newington Society. 
How They Do It at Gravesend. 
They do things in style at Gravesend. And 
why not ? A little show and ceremony add 
flavour and eclat to affairs of this kind as of 
others. Tbe opening ceremony of the Gravesend, 
Northfieet and District Horticultural Society’s 
Autumn Exhibition was performed by tbe Mayor 
of Gravesend, Mr. G. M. Arnold, J.F., D.L., his 
wor.-hip wearing his robe and chain of office, and 
being accompanied by the Mayoress. At the 
head of an imposing procession, attended by the 
Sergeant-at-Mace and flanked by police officers, 
and led by the Chief Constable, the Mayor and 
his fair consort, and the officers and committee of 
the society entered the Market Hall to the strains 
of the string hand of the 1st K.R.G.Y.A. Again, 
on the following evening, on the occasion of the 
presentation of prizes by Lady Parker, Sir Gilbert 
and Lady Parker were received by the committee, 
and, headed by the police, a procession was 
formed from the Town Hall to the Market Hall, 
and heralded by a trumpet blast the party were 
ushered into the building as the band struck up 
a rousing air. Now, t at is doing the thing pro¬ 
perly if you like, and such means are calculated 
to draw a big public. Happy the society which 
has the enthusiastic co-operation of such a 
mayor and such a mayoress, and of such influen¬ 
tial friends as Sir Gilbert and Lady Parker, who 
love horticulture, and back up their love in such 
practical manner. Dating the evening, Sir Gil¬ 
bert expressed his objection to becoming bank¬ 
rupt, but nevertheless he would, he said, give the 
society a blank cheque and sign it. What will 
it cost the generous knight ? 
“ The Hedgerow Planters.'’ 
The newest society is one founded by Lord 
Carlisle and his daughter, Lady Cecilia Roberts, 
for the planting and protection of shrubs and 
flowers along the highways and byeways. There 
can he no question that, in the neighbourhood of 
large towns more especially, wild flowers are 
rapidly disappearing owing to the depredations of 
thoughtless and mischievous people. Not the 
least destructive are the men who uproot (lowering 
plants and ferns which they offer for sale. Legal 
enactments by local authorities have done little 
to check the evil. 
R.H.S. Examinations. 
The annual examinations of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society in the principles and practice of 
horticulture will he held on March 28th next. 
These examinations will he held simultaneously 
in as many different centres in Great Britain and 
Ireland as circumstances may demand. A 
scholarship of £25 a year for two years is offered 
by the Worshipful Company of Gardeners in con¬ 
nection w ith this examinarion. full particulars of 
which may lie obtained from the secretary. On 
April ll.tla the Society will hold an examination 
in cottage and allotment gardening, which is in¬ 
tended for elementary and technical school 
teachers. An examination specially intended for 
gardeners employed in public parks and gardens 
belonging ro county councils, city corporations, and 
similar bodies will he held on January 11th next. 
