192 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  vOTTAGE  GARDENER . 
August  29,  1901. 
that  are  destined  to  grace  the  exhibition  board  ?  If  not,  you  may  be 
at  a  loss  to  realise  the  importance  of“otr  show”  in  the  eyes  of  the 
village  gardener,  but,  if  you  are  conversant  with  it  all,  there  is  hardly 
need  for  explanation. 
In  spite  of  the  sad  depopulation  of  rural  districts  and  the  migration 
to  towns,  there  remains  in  most  villages  a  community  of  gardeners. 
I  use  the  term  in  a  wide  sense,  because  they  may  be  tradesmen,  or 
labourers,  or  engaged  in  any  other  occupation,  but  they  are  gardeners 
all  the  same,  because  Nature  made  them  such,  and  the  interest  they 
take  in  the  gentle  art  is  ot  no  superficial  character.  To  these  men  the 
annual  village  show  is  the  event  of  the  year  ;  by  them  or  their  ancestors 
it  was  instituted,  through  them  it  is  supported,  and  but  for  them 
it  would  perhaps,  like  many  other  village  customs,  become  a  thing  of 
the  past.  Of  the  future  of  village  shows  one  can  only  surmise,  but  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  interest  displayed  to-day  by  fathers  will  be 
tnherited  by  the  sons,  and  that  the  popular  amusements  of  the  age 
will  not  be  the  means  of  weaning  away  the  taste  for  gardening.  I  am 
induced  to  express  this  wish  by  a  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  many 
village  gardening  societies  are  composed  of  middle-aged  and  even  old 
men,  and  one  would  like  to  see  more  of  the  younger  element  enrolled 
in  the  membership. 
To  realise  the  importance  of  “our  show  ”  in  the  eyes  of  the  village 
champion,  who  has  a  reputation  to  uphold,  you  should  pay  a  visit  to 
his  garden  some  time  before  the  great  event  takes  place.  Perhaps  he 
has  a  dirty,  well-thumbed  copy  of  the  schedule  in  his  pocket,  but 
more  likely  than  not  such  a  thing  is  altogether  unnecessary,  for  if 
funds  remain  adequate,  the  schedule  resembles  the  law  of  the  Medeg 
and  Persians  in  the  respect  that  it  changeth  not.  The  old  exhibitor 
knows  it  off  by  heart,  and  he  greets  any  new  departure  or  addition 
with  seme  suspicion,  and  is  often  content  to  let  the  prize  go  to  some 
more  enterprising  icompetitor,  for  the  first  season  at  any  rate.  We 
may  talk  about  the  monotony  of  flower  shows  and  the  need  of  novelty, 
but  the  cottage  gardener  does  not  see  it.  He  is  content  to  leave 
things  as  they  are,  and  sees  no  occasion  for  worrying  about  change. 
But  he  is  not  averse  to  novelty  in  another  respect.  Tell  him  ,the 
name  of  some  new  variety  of  Pea,  Potato,  or  what  not,  that  is 
unknown  in  the  district,  and  is  a  good  exhibition  sort.  He  will  hand 
over  the  dirty  schedule  with  a  request  that  you  will  drop  the  name  of 
the  novelty  and  the  vendor  on  the  fly  leaf,  and  feels  happy  in  the 
knowledge  that  he  has  something  to  spring  upon  the  public  at  the  next 
show.  The  ]  rice  may  appear  prohibitive,  but  by  hook  or  by  crook  he 
will  raise  the  needml  for  a  small  order,  as  was  the  case  of  the  would-be 
prizewinner  who  saw  an  illustration  of  a  new  Pea  in  the  catalogue  ol 
a  well-known  seedsman.  He  cut  out  the  picture  and  despatched  it  to 
the  tradesman  with  an  order  that,  if  the  latter  could  guarantee  the 
Peas  to  be  equal  to  the  illustration,  he  was  to  send  on  half  a  pint. 
I  have  seen  many  a  wink  displayed  by  an  old  exhibitor  that  would 
have  done  justice  to  Sam  Weller,  when  he  has  pointed  out  some  crop 
intended  to  come  as  an  eye  opener  to  the  rest  of  the  exhibitors  on  show 
day.  The  consciousness  of  the  village  champion  is  often  amusing. 
He  realises  that  he  is  a  superior  sort  of  person  in  his  own  particular 
line,  but  he  modestly  attempts  to  hide  all  that.  If  you  praise  his 
Onions  he  will  give  a  knowing  look  that  speaks  volumes,  or  a  sage 
remark  to  the  effect  that  “  they’ll  do,”  but  behind  it  all  there  is  an 
unexpressed  meaning. 
Years  of  experience  have  taught  him  to  regulate  his  crops  so  that 
they  will  come  in  right  for  the  great  event, though  weather  sometimes 
upsets  his  calculation.  You  obseive  a  Currant  or , Gooseberry  bush 
closely  netted  or  tied  up  with  canvas,  and  you  may  assure  yourself 
that  the  fruit  on  those  particular  specimens  have  a  special  office  to 
fulfil.  It  is  with  a  display  of  pride  that  the  cottage  gardener  points 
to  his  Cherry  tree,  and  informs  you  that  for  so  many  consecutive  years 
the  fruit  from  it  has  never  failed  to  secure  first  piize  at  “our  show.” 
You  note  the  appearance  of  a  particular  patch  of  Potatoes,  where  several 
varieties  are  represented,  and  learn  that  they  are  the  “  show  taturs,  ’ 
and  have  been  given  a  little  extra  attention  on  that  account.  Variety 
is  necessary  in  order  to  compete  in  the  classes  for  the  whites  anti 
coloured,  the  rounds  and  the  kidneys.  Of  one  or  two  sorts  there  are 
single  rows,  grown  purposely  for  exhibition.  Perhaps  you  wonder  at 
this,  and  learn  that  it  is  “  a  good  show  tatur,  but  not  much  for  eatin’.” 
The  village  competitor  knows  that  it  is  the  finest-looking,  and  not 
necessarily  the  best  Potato,  that  secures  the  prize,  and  he  makes 
preparations  accordingly. 
Likewise  there  are  single  rows  -  of  Carrots,  Parsnips,  and  Beet, 
looking  as  if  a  little  special  care  has  been  devoted  to  their  cultivation. 
More  likely  than  not  each  root  had  a  special  hole  drilled  for  it,  with  a 
particular  mixture  of  soil  for  its  accommodation.  The  heads  of  one 
short  row  of  Celery  look  rather  peculiar  in  their  brown  paper  collars, 
but  that  is  only  a  “  bit  of  early  Salary  ”  just  for  the  show,  and  the 
brown  paper  is  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  assistance  in  the  matter  of 
bleaching.  With  the  air  of  a  man  who  is  looking  for  something  that 
he  fully  expects  to  find,  the  would-be  competitor  rummages  amongst 
the  leaves  of  his  Vegetable  Marrow  plants  till  he  finds  a  couple  of 
infants  that  he  thinks  will  make  a  nice  pair  for  the  show.  He  has 
his  eye  on  a  couple  of  others,  but  he  doubts  they  will  be  rather  too 
old.  It  is  sometimes  a  source  of  trouble  to  keep  things  back  for  the 
eventful  day,  as  well  as  to  push  them  forward,  as  you  may  tell  by  the 
heads  of  Cauliflower  carefully  covered  with  leaves,  and  the  Cabbages 
tied  up  to  prevent  the  heads  from  bursting  open.  Of  his  labour  the 
man  takes  no  account,  and  seems  to  take  a  little  pride  in  telling  you 
how  many  times  he  has  sown  Turnips,  and  how  often  “  that  dratted 
flea  ”  has  had  them.  t 
And  the  arranging,  the  scheming,  the  labour,  and  forethought 
culminate  on  show  day,  when  the  marquee  is  erected  once  more  in  the 
old  spot,  and  one  champion  again  crosses  swords  with  another  in 
friendly  rivalry.  The  day  is  very  young  when  our  competitor  begins 
operations,  and  in  the  work  of  preparation  and  staging  he  is  not  a  man 
to  be  trifled  with ;  in  fact,  it  is  one  of  the  serious  events  of  his  life, 
and  he  can  brook  no  interference.  His  normal  condition  returns  to 
him  when  the  contest  is  over,  and  after  he  has  had  a  run  round,  just 
to  see  whether  the  judges  have  done  the  right  thing.  If  satisfied  on 
this  score,  there  is  not  a  happier  man  in  ttie  field  than  he;  but  it  must 
be  said  that  in  the  eyes  of  the  village  competitor  a  flower  show  judge 
is  by  no  means  an  infallible  being,  and  when  the  latter  does  not  give 
satisfaction  the  friends  of  the  former  know  all  about  it. 
And  this  is  the  horticultural  event  of  the  year — “  our  show,”  as 
the  villagers  call  it,  so  that  from  this  point  of  view  1  may  not  be 
far  wrong  in  picking  out  the  particular  season  and  calling  it  show 
time. — H. 
- <-<>-► - 
Drying  Fruits. 
Yearly  now,  the  question  crops  up  whether  or  not  we  can  success¬ 
fully  dry  our  Plums  and  other  fruit,  yet  never  a  thorough  satisfying 
answer  is  evolved.  Some  say  our  Plums  are  too  thin-skinned  to  stand 
the  evaporating  processes  ;  others  count  the  cost  of  drying  by  machinery 
as  too  high  to  show  a  profit.  But  that  we  have  not  seriously  enough 
considered  the  matter  or  made  great  enough  endeavours,  would  seera 
to  be  the  more  feasible  fact.  The  “Daily  Chroniole  ”  in  a  recent  artiole 
in  its  pages  referred  to  Plums  as  now  usurping  that  place  on  the  market 
whioh  has  been  left  vacant  by  the  small  fruits  of  last  month.  “  Their 
very  prodigality  in  all  varieties  from  the  humble  Sloe  and  Bullace  up 
through  the  gradation  of  Green  Gage,  DamsoD,  and  Prune,  evokes  the 
question,”  continues  the  “  Daily  Chronicle,”  “  why  another  industry  is 
not  added  to  our  villages — that  of  drying  and  preserving  fruit  on  the 
Frenoh  plan.”  A  representative  of  the  paper  we  have  named  put  this 
question  lately  to  one  of  the  leading  wholesale  fruit  merchants  of 
Covent  Garden.  His  reply  was  that  though  many  people  regard  such 
an  industry  as  impracticable,  because  of  the  insufficiency  and  uncertainty 
of  sun  in  our  climate,  he  was  now  embarking,  together  with  two  other 
mes,  upon  a  new  patent  evaporator,  from  which  they  hoped  great  things. 
He  knew  that  similar  experiments  had  been  made  before  ;  for  instance, 
there  is  an  evaporator  at  Swanley  Horticultural  College,  regarded  as  too 
costly  to  work  when  competing  against  the  suu  which  shines  more 
abundantly  in  France  and  California;  and  another  at  Chiswick,  disused 
for  the  same  reason.  Nevertheless,  as  they  aimed  only  at  preserving 
the  best  fruit  on  the  plan  of  the  Carlsbad  Plum,  and  as  the  machine 
would  stone  the  fruit,  hitherto  mostly  done  by  hand,  he  had  little  doubt 
from  his  own  experience  that  a  financial  success  awaited  their  efforts. 
For  the  present,  however,  the  name  and  details  must  be  kept  a  secret. 
In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  notice  the  immense  stride® 
being  made  in  the  cultivation  and  curing  of  Prunes  in  California.  From 
a  “  Prune  Primer  ”  we  learn  that  there  are  now  62,000  acres  of  Prune 
trees  in  California.  Last  year  they  bore  nearly  350,000,000  lbs.  of  green 
Prunes,  some  trees  having  800  lbs.  apiece.  Each  aore  has  usually  one 
hundred  trees.  The  150,000,000  lbs.  of  cured  Prunes  grown  last  year 
would  fill  6000  freight  oars,  making  a  train  forty-five  miles  long.  They 
get  ripe  mostly  in  August,  and  are  then  picked  and  graded  according  to 
size.  After  being  dried  in  the  sun  four  or  five  days  it  is  found  that 
2£  lbs.  of  the  ordinary  fruit  has  been  reduced  to  about  1  lb.  of  cured 
Prunes.  But  even  if  England  should  find  it  discouraging,  if  not 
impossible,  to  compete  with  California  in  regard  to  the  curing  of  Plums, 
there  is  no  reason  why  further  effort  should  not  be  made  to  improve  our 
native  Blackberry,  which  gives  a  character  all  its  own  to  our  hedgerows. 
As  it  is,  an  American  variety  of  Blackberry  is  steadily  winning  its  way 
into  favour  for  lusciousness,  and  has  fetched  during  the  last  few  years 
about  8d.  per  lb. 
