JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
201 
\ 
August  29,  1901. 
the  back  woods  of  Great  Britain.  Travelling  has  altered  us  much  ; 
we  were  like  the  rest  of  you  at  one  time,  very  wild,  and  always 
produced  runners  (laughter).  Education  doe@  wonders  to  us  all.  We 
were  at  one  period  called  Woodberry;  but  since  the  days  of  two 
celebrated  Dutch  gardeners  we  have  been  called  Strawberries,  because 
they  put  straw  for  us  to  lie  upon  to  keep  us  from  being  soiled  (‘  hear, 
hear  ’).  Feeling  as  we  do  so  lively  an  interest  in  this  great  meeting 
concerning  additional  food  for  the  masses  of  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
I  feel  it  my  incumbent  duty  to  give  my  most  cordial  consent,  for 
charred  peat  alone  has  proved  good  to  my  family  ”  (tremendous 
applause). 
The  meeting  becoming  impatient,  loud  cries  came  from  all  parts 
of  the  room  for  Mr.  “Perfection”  Cucumber,  from  Broxbourne.  He 
coolly  rose  and  said,  “May  it  please  your  Royal  Highness  and  gentle¬ 
men,  I  have  no  drawing  to  show  you,  as  my  only  practice  in  that 
with  it.  I  propose  there  to  have  at  least  Bix  enormous  reservoirs, 
each  to  hold  the  flow  of  at  least  forty-eight  hours,  and  parallel  to 
each  other,  with  thorough  drainage  to  draw  off  the  clear  water 
(hear,  hear),  with  engine-house,  with  glass  and  iron-roofed  drying 
sheds.  The  space  occupied  might  be  some  50  acres  (hear,  hear). 
We  all  know  that  there  are  some  3  millions  of  acres  of  rich  black 
vegetable  peat  in  Ireland.  It  is  now  in  a  ripe  state.  Why  allow 
it  any  longer  to  lie  there  in  waste  ?  I  have  tried  it  for  years  up  m 
my  family  in  its  naked  state;  but,  had  it  been  mixed  with  the 
sediment  of  our  great  sewers,  it  would  have  been  the  best  of  food. 
I  also  know  many  other  relations  who  have  used  it  for  years.  I 
am  well  aware  that  this  is  a  momentous  question,  and  aware,  also, 
that  many  valuable  salts  will  be  lost  in  the  solution;  but  to  tell 
me  that  the  sediment  will  not  be  worth  saving  is  just  saying  that 
there  is  no  goodness  in  the  mud  of  ponds  (‘  hear,  hear,’  from  Mr. 
DAHLIAS  AT  THE  CRYSTAL  PALACE. 
has  been  with  the  family  of  the  Vice-President  (great  laughter  and 
‘  hear,  hear,’  from  Mr.  Radish).  I  have  listened  with  profound 
respect  to  all  that  has  been  said,  and  it  does  seem  to  me  strange 
that  an  enlightened  country  as  this  is  should  so  long  misunderstand, 
and,  above  all,  have  such  a  prejudice  against,  the  very  food  of  the 
earth.  You  may  call  it  muck,  or  dung,  or  litter,  or  filth;  hut  I  tell 
you  all  that  it  ought  to  go  by  its  proper  name — the  food  of  plants 
(great  cheering),  deposited  in  the  earth  tor  our  benefit  ”  (“  hear  hear,” 
lrom  Mr.  Parsnip.  The  President  here  interrupted,  and  said  that  he 
had  bad  a  telegraphic  message  that,  unless  the  speeches  were  short,  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture  representative  could  not  stay,  as  he  had  to 
attend  dsewhere).  “Quite  right ;  I  shall  give  you  just  a  few  humble 
ideas  of  my  own  upon  this  interesting  subject.  I  really  turned  yellow 
when  Mr.  Onion  told  us  how  they  do  in  Spain — that  even  the  children 
in  his  country  know  the  value  of  the  food  of  plants.  My  family  in 
this  country  have  nothing  to  complain  of.  We  belong  to  the 
aristocratic  side,  and  very  often  complain  of  the  gout,  and  have 
white  powder  on  our  head  (roars  of  laughter).  My  plan  is  simply 
this — that  wherever  the  sewage  of  London  may  be  carried  down 
Father  Thames,  it  is  at  the  terminus  that  we  should  have  to  do 
Melon).  Tbe  reason  why  the  mud  of  a  pond  is  not  rich  wheD  first 
taken  out  is  owing  to  its  having  been  excluded  from  the  air.  Turn 
it  over  a  bit,  and  then  try  its  strength  (‘  hear,  hear,’  from  Mr. 
Swede)  I  wish  to  make  this  London  manure  portable  to  all  our 
country  friends  ;  and  I  wish  every  town  to  husband  up  and  assisf 
in  saving  the  food  of  the  land.  Let  townspeople  only  think  that  if 
we  were  to  keep  back  our  good  things  for  even  one  week  (‘  bear 
hear,’  from  the  Staff  of  Life)  from  this  great  metropolis,  they,  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  would  be  in  a  terrible  pickle  (great  laughter). 
The  President  concluded  the  meeting  by  saying,  “You  have  every 
one  done  famous  duty.  This  great  meeting  will  go  forth  to  the  world 
through  the  active  columns  of  th q  Journal  of  Horticulture.  We  are 
deeply  indebted  to  Mr.  ‘Perfection’  for  his  crispness  of  observation 
(cheers,  and  ‘  hear,’  from  Mr.  Celery).  I  am  well  aware  that  many  of 
you  from  a  distance  are  half  starved,  and  you  show  it  (general 
murmurs).  You  have  to  live  on  a  barrowful  of  wasted  manure  to 
6  square  yards  (cries  of  ‘Not  so  much  as  that,'  and  ‘Shame,  shame  ’). 
Go,  then,  and  report  this  meeting  to  every  corner  of  our  islands,  and 
tell  your  towns  to  put  the  right  men  in  the  right  place  ”  (“  hear,  hear  ” 
— great  confusion,  many  of  the  members  going  away). 
