January  (5,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
13 
times  the  judicious  use  of  suitable  stimulants  either  in  the  form  of  arti¬ 
ficial  manures  or  drainings  from  the  cow  house. 
The  dreaded  Celery  fly  is  almost  sure  to  make  its  appearance  on  the 
plants,  and  must  be  kept  in  check  by  [licking  oS  all  affected  parts,  while 
frequent  dustings  of  soot  will  check  its  ravages  and  prove  beneficial  as  a 
food.  Celery  intended  for  exhibiting  must  have  plenty  of  room  allowed 
for  growing  sturdily,  15  inches  from  plant  to  plant  not  being  too 
much,  while  if  double  rows  are  preferred  the  trenches  will  need  to  be 
20  inches  in  width,  and  the  plants  placed  alternately  in  the  rows.  In 
addition  to  thorough  drenchings  of  water  whenever  required,  the  plants 
will  need  to  lie  examined  to  remove  all  sucker  growths,  as  well  as  outer 
leaves  as  soon  as  they  show  signs  of  decay. 
Earthing  the  plants  should  not  be  commenced  until  they  have  attained 
a  considerable  size,  and  pains  must  be  taken  in  order  that  the 
work  shall  be  properly  done;  a  thorough  soaking  of  water  should 
be  given  the  previous  evening,  and  the  stems  allowed  to  become 
([uite  dry  before  any  soil  is  placed  about  them,  or  they  will  bo 
sure  to  decay.  It  will  save  time  if  two  pairs  of  hands  are  set  to  the  work, 
one  holding  together  the  leaves  while  the  other  places  fine  soil  about 
them.  Care  is  necessary  in  order  to  avoid  adding  too  much  soil  at  any 
one  time,  as  experience  has  taught  us  that  it  is  better  to  err  on  the  side 
of  too  little  than  too  much.  The  plants  will  require  more  soil  to  be 
added  every  nine  or  ten  days  until  the  final  earthing,  when  the  soil  should 
be  placed  well  up  to  the  leaves,  and  the  sides  neatly  finished,  but  not 
beaten  with  the  spade,  as  the  process  does  no  good  to  the  soil  or  the 
plants  themselves. 
For  exhibition  during  August  and  September  the  best  and  easiest 
method  of  bleaching  is  accomplished  by  wrapping  round  the  stems 
strong  brown  paper,  strips  cut  about  9  inches  in  width  being  vers 
suitable.  This  process  should  commence  about  a  month  before  tbe 
exhibition  with  white  varieties,  but  it  is  better  to  allow  coloured  Celery 
a  week  or  ten  days  longer.— C.  Fo.ster. 
THE  HALL  FOR  HORTTCLLTURE. 
What  is  the  Real  Need  ? 
I  THINK  that  this  may  lie  desciibed  as  a  hardy  decidtioits 
perennial.  It  is  continually  starting  up  ami  making  apiiarcnt  growth, 
and  from  time  to  time  various  cultivators  come  forward  to  assure  the 
world  that  they  know  how  to  make  it  grow  faster  ;  but  somehow  or 
other  it  refuses  the  treatment  proposed  for  it,  it  dies  down,  and  the 
inexperienced  say,  “  Oh  !  the  thing  is  dead.”  Rut  no,  after  a  while 
another  expert  comes  forward,  tells  us  he  kttows  all  aboitt  it,  and  that 
if  we  only  listen  to  him  the  thing  must  succeed.  Able  linanciers 
have  propounded  plans  for  it;  would-lie  reformers,  who  like  to  see 
themselves  “leading  the  Avay,”  have  oracularly  delivered  their 
sentiments ;  hut  all  to  no  purpose,  the  whole  thing  falls  flat,  and 
English  horticulture,  the  first  in  the  world,  lays  under  the  reiiroach  of 
having  no  habitation  which  it  can  call  its  own.  Let  it  not  be 
supposed  for  a  moment  that  I  am  going  to  [iropound  any  scheme.  I 
rather  want  to  clear  the  air  of  many  things  \vhich  seem  to  me  to 
hinder  its  fultilmcnt. 
I  think  the  first  thiug  for  jieople  to  consider  is  what  tliey  really 
w’ant.  Rome  of  the  projects  put  forward  seem  as  if  the  projectors 
washed  to  embrace  every  possible  thing  connected  wdth  horticulture  — 
to  abolish  Covent  Garden,  to  dp  away  with  the  Royal  Botanic,  to 
deprive  the  Crystal  Palace  of  its  flower  shows,  and  to  wipe  out  the 
Royal  Aquarium.  I  need  hardly  say  that  such  plans  as  these  are 
preposterous.  But  coming  down  to  less  ambitious  schemes  I  would 
ask,  What  do  people  want?  If  they  want  a  place  where  such  large 
exhibitions  as  those  of  the  National  Rose  Society  and  the  National 
Ohrysantliemum  Society  can  be  held,  1  would  ask.  Have  they  really 
considered  what  this  means  ?  It  might  be  used  three  or  four  times  in 
the  year,  but  what  is  to  be  done  with  the  building  during  the  rest  of 
the  time  ?  The  expenee  of  keeping  it  uj)  will  be  no  small  thing,  and 
retpiire  a  considerable  sum  of  money. 
Then  again  we  might  ask,  ^Vhere  could  such  a  building  be  placed  ? 
There  is  no  jilace  where  ground  could  be  had  sufficient  for  the  purpose 
in  any  central  position,  and  that  is  indispensable  ;  and  it  is  tolerably 
certain  that  if  the  Crystal  Palace  could  have  I'emained  where  the  first 
exhibition  was  held  it  would  have  been,  instead  of  as  now  in  financial 
difficulties,  a  thoroughly  jirofitable  cone  rn.  Wus  not  the  truth  of 
this  exemplified  xvhen  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  held  its  show 
at  the  Agricidtural  Hall,  Islington  ?  It  was  a  gnmd  exhibition,  the 
place  was  full  of  beautiful  jilants  and  the  only  thiuT  wanted  was  the 
visitors.  'I'he  same  cause  has  interfered  with  the  conferences  of  the 
Society  held  at  Chiswick.  Valuable  as  they  have  b  *cn,  few  persons 
ventured  to  attend  them,  and  those  who  did  felt  how  unsuitable  the 
place  was  for  any  purpose  of  that  kind. 
Dismissing,  then,  all  such  ambitious  schemes  I  would  ask.  What 
is  it  that  horticulturists  really  do  need?  They  reipiire  a  building 
where  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  could  find  really  a  home. 
A  more  suitable  building,  though  not  a  much  larger  one  than  the 
Drill  1  ball,  is  recpiired  for  the  fortnightly  exhibitions — one  with  better 
light  and  fewer  cold  currents  of  air;  attached  to  this  they  require 
a  theatre  or  lecture  room  where  the  lectures  could  be  delivered. 
Nothing  could  be  more  unsatisfactory  than  the  present  condition  of 
things.  A  curtain  is  drawn  across  the  upper  end  of  the  room  ;  behind 
this  the  lecturer  and  his  audience  are  assembled,  while  in  the  Hall 
itself  the  exhibition  is  going  on.  There  is  a  continued  shuffling  of  feet 
and  conversation,  and  of  course,  were  the  attendance  better,  these 
evils  would  be  considerably  aggravated  ;  and,  altogether,  it  is  not 
a  very  exhilarating  task  that  the  lecturer  has  to  perform. 
There  should  be  rooms  also  where  the  various  committees  might 
meet,  and  where  the  ordinary  committees  of  special  societies  might 
hold  their  gatherings.  This  would  bring  the  societies  themselves 
more  into  touch  wiih  the  Royal,  and  xvonld,  I  am  sure,  conduce  to  the 
well-being  of  such  societies,  and  the  Royal  also.  At  present  these 
special  societies,  with  the  exception  of  the  Chrysanthemum  Society, 
are  indebted  to  the  Horticultural  Club  for  a  convenient  place  in  which 
to  hold  their  meetings.  If  I  take  for  instance  the  National  Rose 
Society,  I  am  sure  its  members  would  hail  with  satisfaction  anything 
which  would  link  them  with  the  Royal.  Here,  of  course,  too,  the 
Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent  and  the  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund, 
and  any  other  benevolent  society  connected  with  horticulture,  could 
hold  their  meetings,  and,  above  all,  the  Council  of  the  Royal  would 
have  a  suitable  place  for  itself,  which  I  do  not  think  it  could  be  said 
Fni.  .8.- Begonia  Winter  Cheer. 
that  it  at  present  has.  In  such  a  building,  too,  the  Bindley  Library 
would  finrl  a  suitable  home. 
Am  I  wrong,  then,  in  saying  that,  dismissing  more  ambitious 
schemes,  such  a  building  as  1  have  sketched  out  would  comprise  al  1 
that  horticulturists  need  ?  As  I  said  at  the  beginning,  I  have  no  plan 
to  propose,  and  even  this  less  ambitious  scheme  may  be  unattainable; 
but  at  any  rate  it  will  be  something  if  horticulturists  will  agree  iqion 
what  they  really  want  when  they  talk  about  the  Horticultural  Hall. 
— D,,  Deal. 
