260 
JOURNAL  of  horticulture  and  cottage  gardener 
October  6,  1898. 
smaller,  and  regarding  the  display  in  its  entirety  it  is  very  doubtful 
if  a  higher  average  standard  of  merit  has  been  attained  on  any 
former  occasion. 
Broadly  speaking,  though  there  were  brilliant  exceptions,  the 
colouring  of  Apples  was  not  so  highly  developed  as  usual,  and  the 
best  coloured,  as  a  rule,  were  from  south-westerly  districts  where  the 
heat  and  drought  have  been  less  severe  than  in  some  other  parts 
of  the  kingdom  in  which  fruit  usually  colours  well.  It  has  been 
found  by  extensive  growers  of  Grapes  for  market  that  high  night 
temperatures  retard,  rather  than  otherwise,  high  colouration  in  their 
Gros  Colmans,  and  certainly  outdoor  Grapes  have  been  seen  to  colour 
densely  when  cool  nights  have  prevailed  in  September  and  early. 
October.  May  not  similar  restful  conditions  exert  an  influence  in 
the  colouration  of  Apples  ?  There  was  not,  however,  any  very  great 
deficiency  in  that  respect  at  the  Palace,  and  the  Show  in  the 
aggregate  may  be  fairly  described  as  exhibiting  in  a  striking  degree 
the  force  and  power  of  intelligent  cultivation. 
Reverting  to  colour,  it  may  be  noted  that  a  few  exhibitors  had 
endeavoured  to  make  good  the  shortcomings  of  Nature  in  coloura¬ 
tion  by  recourse  to  polishing,  and  overshot  the  mark.  The  attention 
of  the  Judges  was  officially  drawn  to  the  presence  of  polished  fruit, 
the  natural  bloom  of  which  had  been  rubbed  off,  and  the  surfaces  made 
to  shine  like  mahogany  after  a  dressing  of  furniture  cream.  No 
instructions  were  given  to  the  Judges,  but  we  think  in  one  instance  an 
exhibitor  deprived  himself  of  a  prize  by  his  handiwork,  and  another 
had  a  narrow  escape  of  sharing  the  same  fate.  There  are  different 
ways  of  polishing  Apples.  Some  persons  are  said  to  use  a  cloth  made 
damp  with  milk;  but  it  is  very  well  known  that  a  more  disgusting 
method  is  commonly  resorted  to,  and  it  is  perhaps  time  it  was  made 
public.  It  is  a  method  with  a  variation.  Some  peisons  spit  on  the 
fruits  and  rub  them  briskly  with  a  soft  cloth  or  coat  sleeve.  Others 
can  say  they  do  not  spit  on  the  fruit,  but  they  cannot  say  with  truth 
that  they  do  not  spit  on  the  coat  sleeve,  and  in  that  way  apply  the 
polish.  These  are  facts,  and  now  that  they  are  made  known,  and 
not  too  soon,  it  is  hoped  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  consider 
the  desirability  of  an  announcement  in  their  schedules  to  the  effect 
that  artificially  polished  fruits  will  be  disqualified  at  the  Society’s 
shows. 
Perhaps  the  polishers  may  take  refuge  in  the  dictum  of  a  bacteri¬ 
ologist  that  the  skins  of  fruits  are  affected  with  microbes  which  are 
better  destroyed.  They  need  be  under  no  perturbation  of  mind  on 
that  score  if  the  allegation  is  true  that  a  scientist,  who  when  at 
dessert  was  observed  to  dip  the  Cherries  in  a  glass  of  water  and  wipe 
them  before  eating  said,  in  reply  to  a  question,  it  was  done  to  get  rid 
of  the  microbes;  and  then  soon  after,  absorbed  by  the  conversation, 
in  a  moment  of  forgetfulness,  drank  the  water,  microbes  and  all, 
without  being  a  penny  the  worse.  Thus  the  microbe  defence  falls  to 
the  ground,  and  fruit  polishing  may  well  cease  by  exhibitors. 
As  indicative  of  the  magnitude  of  the  show,  it  may  be  said  that 
it  comprised  1332  exhibits,  staged  by  161  competitors,  apart  from 
collections,  many  of  them  of  groat  extent  and  merit,  that  were  not 
staged  for  prizes,  but  were  all  the  same  deservedly  honoured. 
On  the  subject  of  medals,  it  may  be  stated  that  after  the  death 
of  Dr.  Robert  Hogg  a  movement  was  set  on  foot  to  obtain  subscrip¬ 
tions  from  those  who  valued  this  eminent  pomologist’s  services  to 
obtain  a  medal,  to  be  given  for  meritorious  exhibits  in  hardy  fruits. 
The  necessary  amount  was  collected,  and  the  Rev.  H.  H.  D’Ombrain 
and  Mr.  Harry  J.  Yeitch  were  appointed  to  make  the  necessary 
arrangements.  A  suitable  die  was  obtained,  and  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  for  issuing  the 
medals  at  their  discretion,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Banksian  and  other 
medals.  The  first  distribution  of  “The  Robert  Hogg  Memorial 
Medal,”  in  oxidised  silver  (see  page  263)  was  made  at  the  Palace 
Show  to  the  following  gentlemen,  placed  in  alphabetical  order — 
namely,  Mr.  George  Bunyard,  Mr.  T.  Francis  Rivers,  and  Mr.  Harry 
J.  \  eitch,  for  their  splendidly  meritorious  exhibits,  alluded  to  in  our 
report  of  the  show — a  show  highly  creditable  to  all  who  shared  in 
producing  it,  and  worthy  of  the  nation. 
CRYSTAL  PALACE  FRUIT  SHOW. 
SEPT.  29th  and  30th,  and  OCT.  1st. 
The  display  of  fruit  brought  together  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  by  the 
efforts  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  during  the  latter  half  of  last 
week,  came  as  a  surprise  to  many  people.  It  was  thought  by  many 
persons  that  the  intensely  dry  and  hot  summer,  following  upon  a  cold, 
late,  ungenial  spring,  would  have  so  prejudiced  the  crops  as  to  preclude 
the  possibility  of  a  really  excellent  and  representative  exhibition.  Happily, 
however,  the  result  proved  otherwise.  Some  districts,  it  is  true,  were 
noticeably  weak  in  contributions:  but,  on  the  other  hand,  several  were 
equal,  if  not  superior,  as  compared  with  previous  seasons.  The 
enormous  numbers  of  Apples  and  Pears  that  were  staged  in  such  splendid 
condition  told  an  emphatic  tale  of  sound  culture,  and  would  probably  come 
as  an  eye-opener  to  many  hundreds  of  the  visitors.  The  best  of  the 
specimens  had  medium  to  large  size  and  colour,  with  fine  substance.  We 
do  not  mean  to  say  that  all  reached  the  same  high  standard.  This  was 
by  no  means  the  case,  for  there  were  examples  both  of  Apples  and  of 
Pears  that  were  far  from  being  perfect.  But  this  must  always  be  the 
case,  and  so  long  as  each  year  shows  a  higher  average  of  quality  than  did 
its  predecessor,  the  aim  of  the  show — the  improvement  of  British-grown 
fruit — may  be  said  to  have  been  achieved. 
Turning  to  the  collections  of  choicer  fruits,  we  have  to  record  a 
marked  advance  over  the  show  of  1897.  Not  only  were  these  of  high 
average  quality,  but  they  were  seen  in  decidedly  larger  numbers  than 
has  hitherto  been  the  case.  Peaches  and  Nectarines,  both  in  this  section 
and  in  the  classes  devoted  expressly  to  them,  were  finely  coloured,  and 
in  one  or  two  instances  of  exceptional  excellence.  Figs,  which  last 
season  were  shown  in  comparatively  large  numbers,  did  not  make  a 
great  display,  only  two  competitors  facing  the  Judges  in  the  single 
dish  class.  Taken  as  a  whole  the  Grapes  were  an  improvement  on  last 
season,  but  were  not  yet  so  good  as  they  ought  to  be  at  an  exhibition 
of  such  importance.  There  was  too  great  a  disparity  between  the 
several  bunches,  some  being  almost  perfect,  while  others  were  decidedly 
poor.  They  lacked  colour  and  finish,  in  black  varieties  as  well  as  white. 
Black  Hamburghs  were  very  mixed,  and  the  major  portion  of  them 
w'ere  losing  colour  ;  but  Madresfield  Court,  though  not  large  in  bunches, 
were  handsomely  shown,  as  were  Gros  Maroc.  In  each  of  the  two  last 
named  some  of  the  berries  were  very  large.  Appley  Towers  was 
good,  as  was  Lady  Downe’s  in  one  instance.  A  few  of  the  Muscat  of 
Alexandria  were  beautifully  coloured,  but  others  were  badly  withered,, 
and  lacked  colour  and  finish. 
Plums  were  superb,  and  rarely  has  such  a  display  been  seen.  There 
were  scores  of  dishes,  and  the  evenness  in  quality  was  nothing  short  of 
remarkable.  Examining  them  closely  time  after  time  hardly  brought  to 
light  really  bad  dishes,  but  on  the  other  hand,  many  good  ones.  Cooking 
and  dessert  varieties  alike  were  far  above  the  average,  and  it  would 
be  impossible  to  say  that  any  individual  variety  was  better  than  its 
neighbours.  The  quantity,  richness  of  colouration,  size,  depth,  and 
intensity  of  bloom  elicited  from  some  of  the  fruit  judges  the  opinion 
that  it  was  one  of  the  finest  collections  ever  brought  together. 
So  far  as  the  actual  number  of  exhibits  are  concerned,  there  was  an 
advance  of  three  only,  there  being  1332  this  season,  as  against  1329  last 
year.  But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  about  forty  more  classes  are 
scheduled  this  time  than  was  the  case  in  1897,  so  that  though  there  were 
three  more  entries  there  is  really  a  large  decline.  We  have  previously 
said  that  the  collections  w  ere  much  larger  in  numbers  than  is  customary, 
and  the  falling  off'  therefore  must  be  credited  to  the  single  dish  classes, 
which  were  not  nearly  so  keenly  contested.  Some  that  usually  bring 
from  eight  to  a  dozen  entrants  had  only  three  or  four,  and  such  dis¬ 
crepancies  as  this  soon  account  for  a  considerable  difference  in  numbers. 
Then,  too,  the  section  for  market  growers,  to  which  twenty  classes  were 
allocated,  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  failure,  as  there  were  very  few 
exhibitors,  and  none  of  them  sent  anything  strikingly  novel  or  new,  the 
regulation  systems  being  strictly  adhered  to.  This  is  a  matter  for  regret, 
as  this  section  if  thoroughly  good  would  be  a  very  valuable  one. 
Before  entering  upon  the  individual  classes  we  must  say  a  word  in 
favour  of  the  managers  of  the  Show,  who  carried  out  their  by  no  means 
light  duties  in  the  most  praiseworthy  manner.  So  careful  had  they  been 
that  no  class  was  out  of  place,  and  every  one  could  be  found  with  the 
greatest  ease.  Each  section  w'as  kept  to  itself,  and  the  classes  ran  con¬ 
secutively.  The  Rev.  W.  Wilks  and  Mr.  S.  T.  Wright  were  simply 
indefatigable,  both  being  on  the  spot  ready  and  willing  to  give  assistance 
and  advice  to  anyone  who  cared  to  ask  for  them.  There  is  just  one 
thing  we  should  like  to  suggest,  which  is  that  after  the  judging  the 
exhibits  be  spaced  out  so  as  to  occupy  the  whole  of  the  tabling.  It 
would  involve  some  amount  of  labour,  but  the  improvement  in  the  general 
appearance,  would,  we  are  sure,  be  so  great  as  to  more  than  repay  the 
trouble. 
AMATEURS’  AND  GARDENERS’  SECTION. 
Collections. 
In  the  class  for  a  collection  of  twelve  dishes  of  ripe  dessert  fruit,  of 
not  less  than  six  kinds,  there  were  only  two  competitors,  and  some 
highly  creditable  produce  was  staged.  It  may  be  noted  that  in  addition 
to  the  above,  the  schedule  specified  that  only  one  Pine,  one  Melon,  one 
black  and  one  white  Grape  could  be  shown,  and  not  more  than  two  varie¬ 
ties  of  any  other  kind,  and  no  two  dishes  of  the  same  variety.  The  premier 
position  was  accorded  to  Mr.  J.  Mclndoe,  gardener  to  Sir  Joseph. 
