58 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  ANIL  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  18,  1900. 
paying  adieu  to  niy  Scottish  friends  to  visit  Ireland  and  see  how  matters 
stood,  in  case  I  should  meet  an  Irishman  at  the  corner  of  every  street 
in  every  town  in  the  U.S.A.  holding  forth  on  the  grievances  of  “  Ould 
Ireland,”  so  that  I  should  from  personal  knowledge  be  able  to  say, 
“  Pat,  shut  up,  if  your  love  for  Ireland  is  as  great  as  your  hatred  of  the 
Saxon  ;  the  Irish  farmer  is  in  a  better  position  at  present  than  the 
same  class  in  England  and  Scotland.”  I  am  glad  to  say  I  met  none  in 
my  travels  who  had  an  evil  word  to  say  about  England ;  but  I  actually 
met  with  parties  who  regretted  that  the  U.S.A.  and  Great  Britain  were 
not  one  and  the  same  country.  The  feeling  was  universally  favourable 
to  a  close  alliance  of  the  States  and  Britain. 
I  sent  yon  from  time  to  time  newspapers,  showing  you  what  an 
active  class  of  men  the  American  interviewer  presents  to  the  world ; 
these  papers  were  intended  as  an  apology  for  a  letter.  To  show  you 
how  my  correspondence  stood  when  I  reached  Japan,  I  was  somewhere 
about  100  letters  in  arrears,  and  if  you  wonder  what  100  long  letters 
mean,  take  this  one  as  a  sample.  I  arranged  the  letters  in  alphabetical 
order,  and  am  getting  to  the  end  of  the  list,  but  as  each  mail  brought 
some  new  correspondence  to  be  attended  to  a  portion  of  my  time  in 
Japan  has  been  taken  up  letter  writing. 
Now  for  my  tour.  I  reached  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A.,  April  18th, 
after  seeing  the  big  storm  in  mid-ocean,  when  the  water  was  tumbling 
about  in  great  masses  as  large  as  the  twenty. storied  houses  of  the 
States.  I  did  not  see  the  typical  storm  represented  on  canvas  and 
described  in  books  of  the  great  crested  waves  rolling  one  after  the  other 
and  the  good  ship  “  Scythia  ”  climbing  the  one  roller  with  the  bow 
high  out  of  the  water  and  descending  the  other  side  with  the  stern  up 
in  the  air  and  then  into  the  trough  of  the  sea,  getting  ready  for  the 
next  mount,  but  we  sailed  in  the  midst  of  three  great  lumps  of  water; 
any  one  of  them  falling  on  the  deck  would  have  given  us  a  watery 
grave. 
Arriving  at  Boston  Harbour,  the  tirst  demand  made  was.  How 
much  money  have  yon  ?  The  next  was  2  dollars  for  a  short  ride  in  a 
cab  to  my  hotel.  My  face  washed  and  clothes  put  in  visiting  order, 
I  made  my  tirst  call  on  a  dry  goods  man,  who  sent  one  of  his  young 
men  to  show  me  the  Hons  of  Boston.  The  first  was  the  Monument  on  a 
■“  humplock”  of  soil,  whence  the  men  of  the  Eevolution  had  repulsed 
the  British  forces.  After  that  I  was  able  to  see  more  quietly  the 
philanthropy  that  permeates  the  monied  men  of  Boston.  Hospitals 
all  about,  and  little  hospitals  sufSciently  numerous  to  take  in  accident 
patients,  attend  to  immediate  wants,  and  then  convey  to  a  larger 
hospital. 
The  next  day  was  Patriot  Hay,  when  there  is  a  great  gathering 
to  commemorate  the  triumph  of  the  Revolution.  The  day  was  threaten¬ 
ing,  so  I  turned  my  attention  to  nurseries,  and  managed  to  do  two,  but 
was  not  impressed  by  either  ;  then  I  called  on  a  Rose  grower  in  a  private 
place,  and  found  some  excellent  work  in  the  production  of  Roses. 
After  this  I  saw  some  other  sights  and  then  settled  down  to  make  a 
study  of  the  schools  and  find  out  through  them  the  success  of  the 
U.S.A. 
Theii  educational  system  is  older  than  ours,  but  developments 
of  an  important  nature  commenced  about  the  time  we  established 
Board  Schools,  and  they  have  kept  well  ahead  of  Europe.  One 
advantage  the  schools  have,  they  are  not  hampered  by  sectarian  or  any 
other  intiuences  of  a  partisan  character  such  as  seem  to  prevail  in  the 
older  countries  of  the  world.  I  spent  a  good  part  of  three  weeks 
amongst  the  schools  from  the  lowest  down  where  the  strangers  from 
Russia,  Poland,  and  Hungary  are  at  once  taken  hold  of  and  taught 
English  and  thus  turned  into  citizens,  up  to  the  training  schools  for 
teachers.  The  work  throughout  is  splendid.  One  thing  strikes  a 
stranger  —  the  almost  total  absence  of  those  who  twang  their 
nasal  language  in  your  ear.  Much  of  this  you  hear  in  London  Yankees 
is  put  on.  The  schoolmaster  is  destroying  this  as  he  is  putting  the 
h’s  in  their  right  place  in  England  and  clearing  away  the  sweet 
drawl  of  Edinburgh  and  the  rough  tone  of  Glasgow. 
Having  linished  my  work  in  Boston  I  worked  down  towards  New 
York,  taking  the  towns  on  my  way  and  looking  up  friends,  and  the  man 
near  Middleton  who  had  invested  his  money  in  catching  gold  from  the 
sea.  The  thing  came  about  in  this  way.  A  preacher  conceived  the  idea 
that  to  tax  people  to  listen  to  him  was  not  gospel,  so  he  trusted  to  faith 
and  his  congregation,  and  the  congregation  not  averse,  let  the  preacher 
live  in  faith,  and  as  this  did  not  till  his  stomach  nor  cover  his  back,  he 
bethought  how  he  could  raise  the  wind,  and  attending  a  lecture  on 
one  occasion  the  lecturer  said  there  was  gold  floating  in  the  sea  ;  then 
came  the  question  how  to  catch  this  much-needed  article.  He  thought 
out  a  plan,  put  it  in  motion  by  securing  a  foreshore,  letting  the  sea 
water  in  and  then  closing  it  up,  so  that  in  the  return  passage  it  had  to 
pass  through  his  machine,  with  the  result  he  caught  gold  and  silver. 
Then  he  approached  a  well-to-do  Scandinavian  nurseryman  who 
advanced  2000  dols.,  and  the  work  went  on  merrily  ;  more  money  was 
advanced,  till  like  other  benenolent  speculators  he  thought  the 
public  should  share  the  loss  and  gain,  if  any.  I  think  the  London 
papers  told  the  rest  of  the  story  in  1898. 
I  reached  New  York,  found  Mr.  Leonard  Barron  and  Mr.  Withers  on 
American  “  Gardening”  ;  both  showed  me  great  kindness.  I  met  other 
friends,  and  then  went  oft'  to  Rathmore.  Here  my  good  luck  continued 
with  me,  and  an  English  gardener  took  me  about,  and  in  their  great 
park  is  a  fine  monument  to  Sir  William  Wallace,  raised  by  a  patriotic 
Scotchman.  My  next  town  was  Washington,  D.C.,  here  I  spent  most 
of  my  time  in  the  State  agricultural  department,  giving  and  receiving 
information.  A  mighty  work  is  going  on  in  this  department,  the 
head  of  it.  Secretary  Wilson,  is  a  Scotchman.  There  are  professors  to 
look  into  and  study  diseases  of  plants  and  injurious  insects,  collecting 
together  every  kind  of  produce  imported  into  the  States  to  see  if  the  same 
cannot  be  grown  in  one  or  other  of  the  States  of  the  Union.  I  entered 
every  branch  to  see  what  was  being  done  for  the  good  of  the  country. 
If  you  do  not  get  the  annual  report  you  should  apply  for  it.  Every 
citizen  of  the  U.S.A.  is  entitled  to  a  copy  if  they  want  it,  but  they  give 
freely  to  anyone  out  of  the  States,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if 
one  is  at  King  Street  for  me,  if  so  you  can  have  the  loan  of  it. 
As  a  country  Great  Britain  is  in  the  tail  end  of  all  countries 
educationally,  even  Japan.  We  leave  all  to  private  enterprise,  and  only 
in  the  building  of  big  battle  ships  does  the  Government  take  the 
initiative.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  a  million  or  two  otherwise  spent 
were  not  devoted  to  bringing  us  in  line  with  the  work  done  for  the 
tillers  of  the  soil  in  the  U.S.A. 
I  then  went  to  Pittsburg  to  see  Mr.  Falconer,  superintendent  of 
Sepley  Park,  and  formerly  on  the  horticultural  press  of  London,  spent 
some  days  with  him,  and  visited  Andrew  Carnegie’s  steel  works,  then 
the  Quaker  city  (Philadelphia),  but  saw  none  I  could  recognise  as 
Quakers ;  the  Penn  hat,  the  stand-up  collar,  and  the  draped  coat  had  all 
gone.  Here  I  found  a  lot  of  good  growers,  Mr.  Drew’s  nursery  is  a  big 
concern,  and  a  great  work  goes  on  amongst  out-of-door  Water  Lilies 
and  Victoria  regia  Tuckeri.  Returning  to  New  York  Mr.  Hicks 
Arnold  considered  my  not  seeing  the  Yellowstone  Park  would  be  a 
mistake,  so  off  I  started  direct,  a  long  railway  journey,  running  day 
and  night  on  a  quick  train.  No  one  can  form  any  idea  of  a  railway 
journey  till  he  gets  a  taste  of  it  in  crossing  the  American  continent. 
From  the  time  of  leaving  the  train  to  the  time  I  was  again  back  to  New 
York  was  about  eighteen  days. 
Next  follows  a  description  of  the  Park  and  a  drive  with  one  of  the 
wives  of  a  Mormon  Bishop. 
JUDGING  MELONS. 
In  referring  to  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Temple,  on  page  565,  respecting 
the  judging  of  Melons,  I  feel  assured  that  to  abolish  the  practice  of 
cutting  the  fruits  when  in  competition  to  ascertain  their  chief  merit 
— viz  ,  flavour,  would  not  only  cause  dissatisfaction  among  the  judges,  but 
would  also  be  a  great  injustice  to  exhibitors.  It  is  practically  impossible 
for  any  judge  to  arrive  at  a  correct  decision  as  regards  the  quality  of 
a  Melon  without  tasting  it.  There  are  numbers  of  fruits  staged  at 
horticultural  exhibitions  from  time  to  time  which,  so  far  as  appearance 
goes,  are  'par  excellence,  being  perfect  in  shape,  beautifully  netted,  and 
highly  coloured,  but  deficient  in  flavour.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
aroma  is  a  fair  criterion  as  to  flavour,  but  even  this  sometimes  is  not 
reliable. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  Fruit  Committee  of  the  R.H.S. 
would  not  favour  the  abolition  of  cutting  Melons  when  submitted  for 
their  approval,  as  flavour  and  depth  of  flesh  are  the  chief  points.  These 
gentlemen  knowing  what  constitutes  a  good  Melon  regard  size,  shape, 
netting,  and  colour,  which  go  to  make  up  the  external  quite  of  secondary 
importance,  and  only  first-class  varieties  find  favour  and  meet  with 
recognition.  We  all  believe,  do  we  not,  in  the  old  saying  that  the  proof 
of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating  ?  and  it  is  equally  applicable  to  the 
Melon. — J,  Barkham,  Longfoid  House,  Haven  Street,  I.W. 
I  KNEW  well  what  I  was  writing  about  when  making  a  few  remarks 
on,  what  has  been  so  often  discussed,  the  judging  of  Melons  by  the 
“non-cutting”  system,  I  therefore  did  not  unconsciously  emphasise 
the  need  of  cutting  the  fruit  to  ascertain  its  condition.  I  never  could 
at  any  time  tell  what  the  flavour  of  a  Melon  was  from  any  external 
signs.  Neither,  scent,  colour,  form,  nor  the  absence  of  these  points 
gives  indications  as  to  the  quality  of  the  fruit.  “  K.”  (page  8)  may 
lest  assured  that  I  am  not  at  variance  with  him  as  to  cutting  the  fruit. 
There  are  other  points  to  be  considered  besides  flavour ;  mere  sweet¬ 
ness  is  not  the  most  tangible  proof  of  a  first-rate  Melon.  I  have  seen 
Melons  have  the  highest  awards  on  exhibition  tables  which  were  totally 
unfit  to  hold  a  position  in  a  well  appointed  dessert.  Fruits  tough  like 
leather,  with  flesh  of  no  depth,  which  required  masticating  like  an 
Apple,  are  not  among  the  qualities  of  a  first-rate  Melon.  No  con¬ 
noisseur  would  tolerate  such  on  his  table. 
It  is  the  same  with  most  other  fruits.  Those  who  have  been 
accustomed  to  have  the  wants  of  their  palate  gratified  with  the  finest 
qualities  which  can  be  produced  in  fruits,  are  not  easily  satisfied  with 
what  I  have  hinted  at  as  being  too  much  in  evidence  on  exhibition 
tables.  Young  beginners  should  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the 
points  which  are  essential  to  render  the  fruit  of  first-rate  merit  before 
they  begin  judging  by  flavour.  If  horticultural  societies  insert  in  their 
schedule  rules  (as  numbers  are  doing),  there  is  no  help  in  the  matter 
of  making  mistakes  as  to  flavour,  and  judges  will  be  relieved  of  a  part 
of  their  duties,  which  are  not  always  agreeable.  During  a  lifetime 
(each  season)  engaged  at  such  work  one  learns  a  thing  or  two. — • 
M.  Temple,  Carron,  N.B. 
