2 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  2,  1896. 
and  crew  manning  her,  and  again  becoming  a  power  in  the 
horticultural  world.  He  has  many  years  of  usefulness  before 
him,  and  I  have  no  doubt  will  give  a  loyal  and  steady  support 
to  his  successor.  He  has  seen  many  disastrous  failures  in  the 
exhibitions  of  the  societies,  such  as  those  of  Liverpool  and  Preston, 
and  he  hag  had  no  little  share  in  the  success  which  has  attended 
the  exhibitions  in  late  years  in  the  Temple  Gardens. 
The  grand  idea  which  originated  some  years  ago  with  Baron 
Schroder  and  others  of  a  hall  in  which  the  Society  might  hold  its 
meetings  and  exhibitions  is  no  longer  heard  of,  and  I  think  that 
its  failure  is  no  small  disgrace  to  horticulture.  There  are  some 
half  a  dozen  Fellows  of  the  Society  to  whom  it  would  be  nothing 
to  take  the  matter  in  hand  themselves,  and  so  wipe  away  a  stain 
which  rests  on  the  patrons  of  horticulture  in  the  metropolis.  So 
still  is  the  Society  doomed  to  that  dreary  Drill  Hall,  where  its 
exhibitions,  beautiful  and  varied  as  they  are,  certainly  gain 
nothing  from  their  surroundings.  These  exhibitions,  or  fortnightly 
meetings  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  have  been  well  upheld 
during  the  past  year  ;  but,  alas  !  how  few  take  the  trouble  of 
going  to  see  them.  Surely  we  might  hope  that  the  Fellows  of  the 
Society  who  live  in  or  near  London  might  with  their  families  gain 
much  pleasure  and  profit  from  attending  such  meetings.  At 
Chiswick  various  flowers,  vegetables,  and  fruits  have  been  grown 
and  subjected  to  critical  observation,  and  no  doubt  in  this  respect 
the  Gardens  are  doing  useful  work,  and  will  do  more,  even  if  they 
are  very  much  surrounded  by  buildings. 
The  show  at  the  Temple,  favoured  as  it  was  with  fine  weather, 
was  an  unqualified  success,  and  in  a  financial  point  of  view  I 
believe  the  best  that  the  R.H.S.  has  ever  held.  Of  course,  it  must 
follow  very  much  on  the  lines  of  its  predecessors  ;  but  there  are 
always  novelties  which  help  to  keep  up  its  interest,  and  I  think  it 
shows  not  only  an  interest  in  horticulture,  but  great  loyalty  to  the 
R.H.S.  that  so  many  exhibitors  are  willing  to  come  forward  and 
put  themselves  to  so  much  trouble  and  expense  without  any  money 
prizes  being  offered,  and  with  only  the  inducement  of  a  few  silver 
cups  held  out  to  them.  This  is  one  of  those  cases  in  which  the 
tried  experience  of  Mr.  Barron  has  been  found  so  useful,  and  where 
he  will  be  most  sorely  missed. 
Turning  to  the  Royal  Botan:c  Society  we  find  ourselves  in  the 
region  of  clouds  and  darkness.  The  Gardens,  so  beautifully  laid 
out  by  Robert  Marnock,  are  each  year  increasing  in  beauty,  and 
afford  a  pleasant  promenade  for  the  bourgeoise  inhabitants  of  the 
neighbourhood  ;  but  as  to  the  benefits  that  it  confers  upon 
horticulture  one  utterly  fails  to  see  where  they  are  ;  nay  more, 
it  has  degraded  horticultural  exhibitions  by  its  ridiculous  f6tes, 
where  donkeys,  ponies,  and  carriages  florally  decorated  (?)  com¬ 
pete  for  prizes,  thus  copying  one  of  the  worst  examples  of  our 
Gallican  neighbours.  It  has  now  evidently  got  into  shallow 
waters  ;  prizes  are  unpaid,  and  it  talks  of  asking  for  Government 
aid.  This  is  a  daring  flight ;  for  surely  if  such  aid  is  to  be  granted 
to  any  society  it  ought  to  be  able  to  better  justify  its  claim.  But 
I  do  not  suppose  there  is  any  probability  of  the  Government 
acceding  if  the  request  be  made,  it  being  contrary  to  the  practice  of 
our  nation  to  give  Government  aid,  as  is  done  abroad,  when  private 
enterprise  can  be  relied  on.  The  Horticultural  Club,  which  will 
attain  its  majority  in  1896,  for  it  was  founded  in  1875,  has  been 
doing  its  useful  work  ;  it  has  brought  together  in  social  intercourse 
horticulturists  of  all  kinds,  both  home  and  foreign,  while  the  papers 
read  at  its  monthly  meetings,  and  the  discussion  from  them,  have 
distributed  much  useful  information  to  the  horticultural  world. 
The  general  taste  for  horticulture  has  not  been  much 
“depressed”  during  the  year,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  condition 
of  some  of  those  special  societies  which  exist  for  the  advance¬ 
ment  of  its  industry  ;  and  certainly  foremost  amongst  these 
must  be  reckoned  the  Nati  mal  Chrysanthemum  Society,  which 
not  only  held  this  year  the  best  exhibition  that  it  has  ever 
had,  but  is  about  to  commemorate  next  year  its  jubilee  by  such  a 
schedule  as  no  special  society  has  ever  before  iisued.  The  National 
Rose  Society  has  also  done  well,  although  it  cannot  command  so 
large  a  clientele,  from  the  very  fact  that  Roses  cannot  be  grown 
where  Chrysanthemums  can.  The  National  Carnation  and  Picotee 
Society  also  seems  to  be  in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  will  also 
increase  its  schedule  next  year.  The  National  Dahlia  Society  still 
exists,  and  held  a  good  exhibition  last  autumn  ;  while  horticultural 
societies  throughout  the  kingdom  have  had  as  usual  their  fluctua¬ 
tions  as  far  as  exhibitions  are  concerned,  and  I  fear  that  it  is  more 
evident  every  year  that  something  must  be  added  to  the  ordinary 
attractions  of  a  flower  show  to  make  them  palatable  to  the 
general  public.  Music  has  always  been  considered  a  legitimate 
item,  but  in  many  places  this  has  not  been  thought  sufficient,  and 
York  and  Shrewsbury  both  witness  to  the  extent  to  which  these 
adjuncts  are  used. 
We  have  again  witnessed  one  of  those  changes  in  public  taste 
which  has  so  often  affected  horticulture.  I  think  we  may  say  that 
the  Daffodil  craze  is  over.  I  do  not  mean  that  it  will  cease  to 
be  a  very  favourite  flower  ;  but  the  catalogues  of  200  or  300 
varieties,  and  the  high  prices  at  which  some  of  them  were  fixed, 
are  things  of  the  past.  When  we  do  get  hold  of  a  hobby  we 
generally  ride  him  very  hard,  and  so  it  has  been  with  the  Daffodil. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  interest  which  it  has  excited  has 
greatly  tended  to  the  enlarged  growth  of  a  most  beautiful  flower, 
and  has  brought  out  many  varieties  which  have  heretofore  been 
unknown.  But  unquestionably  the  Chrysanthemum  must  take  the 
first  place  in  public  favour  and  estimation,  especially  as  judged  by 
the  number  of  certificates  awarded,  for  I  find  that  there  have 
been  no  fewer  than  sixty-three.  How  utterly  impossible  for  an 
amateur  to  keep  up  with  such  an  addition  to  his  stock,  and  one 
may  ask,  I  Ihink,  whether  there  might  not  be  a  more  sparing 
distribution  of  honours.  These  new  varieties  are  mostly  in  the 
Japanese  section,  and  there  really  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  its 
variation.  How  far  ahead  it  stands  in  this  respect  above  other 
flowers  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  oDly  ten  Dahlias  and  seven 
Carnations  have  received  the  same  honours. 
Turning  from  the  more  humble  florists’  flowers  to  the  aristocratic 
denizens  of  the  greenhouse  and  stove,  we  find  that  Orchids  still  hold 
the  highest  point  in  favour,  and  that  of  these  some  families  stand 
pre-eminent ;  thus  of  Cattleyas  twenty-seven  have  been  certificated, 
,  of  Cypripediums  twenty-six,  and  of  Lselias  twenty-two.  Florists 
have  sometimes  been  soundly  rated  by  puerists  for  their  multiplica¬ 
tion  of  varieties,  but  I  think  this  is  a  tolerably  good  record  of  the 
Orchid  grower.  Nothing  specially  remarkable  has  been  brought 
forward  among  ordinary  stove  and  greenhouse  plants.  Amongst 
half-hardy  plants  the  dwarf  or  Gladiolus-flowered  Gannas  have 
greatly  increased  in  beauty  and  popularity.  Both  foreign  and 
English  growers  have  been  engaged  in  raising  new  varieties,  and 
many  of  these  are  most  beautiful,  both  in  flower  and  foliage  ; 
while  there  is  said  to  be  another  race  taller,  with  the  same  fine 
flowers,  which  probably  will  become  suitable  for  decoration  in 
summer  ;  while  the  dwarf er  section  is  not  only  good  for  the  same 
purpose,  but  is  also  under  proper  treatment  available  for  pot 
culture  in  the  winter. 
The  most  noticeable  literary  feature,  as  far  as  matters  with 
gardening  are  concerned,  is  the  completion  of  the  “  Index 
Kewensis,”  which  is  a  monument  of  painstaking  research  and 
diligence,  of  which  both  the  Royal  Gardens  and  the  compiler  may 
well  be  proud  ;  nor  must  the  “  History  of  Gardening,”  by  the 
Hon.  Miss  Amherst,  be  overlooked.  Mr.  Foster-Melliar’s  “  Book  of 
the  Rose  ”  belongs  rather  to  last  year  than  this,  but  it  has  certainly 
increased  in  popularity,  and  must  be  considered  a  standard  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  Rose.  The  gardening  press  still  flourishes 
and  the  Journal  shows  no  symptoms  of  decrepitude,  though  some 
of  its  contributors,  myself  included,  have  got  into  the  sere  and 
yellow  leaf,  and  the  others  whose  power  is  apparent,  maintain  their 
separate  and  well-defined  positions. 
I  now  come  to  that  which  is  always  the  most  painful  part  in 
my  New  Year’s  address-— namely,  the  roll  call,  and  the  marking  out 
