2 
JOURXAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  5,  1890. 
in  many  places  the  question  of  the  supiDly  of  water  for  domestic  uses 
even  has  altogether  failed.  Springs  v  Inch  w-ere  never  before  known 
to  fail  have  given  in  ;  wills  have  become  useless,  and  ponds  dried 
up.  So  much  so  has  this  been  the  case  that  Lord  Onslow  had  to 
leave  his  residence  in  the  Surrey  hills  and  come  to  his  town  house, 
because  his  supply  of  avater  had  altogether  failed. 
What  chance  then  has  our  poor  plants  hatl  ?  To  draw  water 
even  from  a  little  distance  adds  much  to  a  gardener’s  labours,  but 
when  it  has  to  be  fetched  three,  four,  and  five  miles,  it  is  clear  the 
gardens  must  suffer  much ;  and  so  it  has  been  in  this  year  of  Grace 
1898,  but  not  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  east  and  south  have 
been  the  chief  sufferers,  and  no  better  idea  can  be  formed  of  the 
difference  between  various  parts  of  the  country  than  that  afforded  by 
the  fact  that  during  the  three  months — August,  September,  and 
October — the  rainfall  in  S.  Wales  amounted  to  upwards  of  15  inches, 
and  in  East  Kent  to  4  inches. 
All  through  it  has  been  a  year  of  disappointments.  Nothing 
lovelier  than  the  appearance  of  the  orchards  in  their  blossoming  time 
can  possibly  be  imagined  ;  the  Plum  and  Cherry  orchards  with  their 
sno’w-white  garb,  and  the  Apples  with  their  pink-tinged  flowers 
afforded  a  dream  of  beauty  not  to  be  forgotten.  But  alas  !  the 
promise  was  tar  greater  than  the  performance.  Everywhere  we  found 
the  same  complaints — Plums  and  Cherries  a  complete  failure,  while 
Pears  and  Apples  were  only  a  tithe  of  what  they  generally  are,  and 
the  same  was  true  about  flow'^ers. 
The  Kose  gave  promise  in  the  earlier  p\art  of  the  year  of  a  grand 
season.  We  had  no  frest  or  snow  of  any  consequence,  and  everybody 
looked  forward  to  an  early  blooming  season ;  but  there  came  a  long 
spell  of  drought,  accompanied  with  harsh  winds,  and  the  hopes  of 
Pose  growers  were  blighted.  I  take  the  National  Rose  Society 
as  a  piretty  sure  index.  Its  show  at  Bath  was  the  smallest 
southern  provincial  show  that  was  ever  held,  and  the  Crystal 
Palace  was  comparatively  small  in  extent,  and  the  one  adjective  that 
was  used  by  Rose  growers  as  to  the  season  was  that  it  was  very 
disappaointing. 
The  prolonged  dry  weather  which  we  experienced  in  some  parts 
of  the  country  destroyed  the  hopes  of  those  who  look  to  the  embel¬ 
lishment  of  their  gardens  by  annuals;  they  could  not  grow,  and 
consequently  did  not  bloom.  Those  who  had  not  gardens  looked 
upon  the  season  with  very  different  eyes ;  the  dry  weather  meant 
for  them  long  tours  on  bicycles,  pdeasant  afternoons  at  lawn  tennis 
or  croquet,  and  out-of-doors  enjoyments  of  all  sorts. 
In  reviewdng  the  horticultural  events  of  the  past  year  our  attention 
is,  of  course,  first  fixed  on  that  which  is  (he  great  centre  of  horti¬ 
culture  in  these  islands  —  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.  Time 
was  when  this  was  a  dangerous  theme  to  touch  upon ;  there  were 
so  many  shoals,  quicksands,  and  rocks  ahead  that  it  would  have 
required  no  small  amount  of  courage  to  venture  into  the  stormy 
sea.  Ilapqnly,  all  this  is  changed  ;  its  energies  are  now  devoted 
to  the  interests  of  horticulture ;  its  Conned  has  only  to  think 
how  best  those  interests  may  be  promoted  ;  it  is  conqaosed  of 
men  thoroughly  alive  to  this,  and  under  the  guidance  of  their  able 
and  genial  Secretary  (whoso  views  are  like  theirs)  they  are  con¬ 
tinually  putting  forward  some  new  schemes  for  the  advancement 
of  horticulture.  It  is  true  that  there  hgs  been  no  such  project 
before  it  as  the  most  gracious  one  that  they' carried  out  last  year  in 
the  establishment  of  the  Victorian  Medal  for  Horticulture,  but  they 
have  added  this  year  to  the  graciousness  of  their  act  by  presenting 
each  of  the  recipients  wiih  a  dipfioma  of  honour.. 
The  garden  at  Chiswick  has  been  greatly  improved,  and  though 
probably  too  much  surrounded  by  houses  to  carry  out  its  expreri- 
ments  and  trials  in  as  satisfactory  a  manner  as  might  be  wished, 
still  there  is  much  of  interest  in  what  is  being  done  there.  The 
fortnightly  meetings  in  the  Drill  Hall  have  probably  been  better 
filled  with  plants,  flowers,  and  fruit  than  any  previous  year,  while 
the  attendance  has  certainly  been  somewhat  better. 
The  grand  vision  of  a  Horticultural  Hall  seems  to  have  vanished 
into  thin  air.  One  felt  that  when  the  first  effort,  inaugurated  by 
Baron  Schroder  and  other  leading  men,  fell  through,  that  it  must  be 
so,  for  the  only  available  site  was  lost,  and  then  those  who  advocated 
it  in  providing  a  hall  hardly  knew  what  they  wanted,  and  so  the 
Royal  has  been  compelled  to  put  up  with  a  very  indifferent  place* 
■w'ith  very  inartistic  surroundings.  The  National  Chrysanthemum 
Society  has  to  put  up  with  that  noisiest  of  all  places,  the  Royal 
Aquarium ;  an  attempt  was  made  this  year  to  remove  the  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  Society  to  the  Crystal  Palace,  but  the  subscribers  would 
not  have  it,  and  one  sees  that  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way.  It  is 
not  an  easy  matter  at  any  time  to  get  garden  produce  up  Sydenham 
Hill,  but  when  it  has  to  be  accompalished  in  the  depth  of  winter  the 
task  is  made  still  more  difficult  and  unpleasant. 
The  Crystal  Palace,  all  the  same,  still  holds  its  own  as  the  place 
for  exhibitions.  Its  light  and  protection  from  the  elements  combine 
in  asserting  its  superiority,  and  under  the  new  management  it  looks 
as  if  there  would  be  improvement  in  every  direction.  There  the 
National  Rose  Society  held  its  grand  exhibition  ;  there,  too,  the 
National  Dahlia  Society  gathered  together  a  grand  show,  while  the 
autumn  exhibition  of  British  grown  fruit  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  made  its  magnificent  display,  and 
there  is  every  prospect  of  the  year  1899  carrying  forward  its  best 
traditions. 
The  Royal  Botanic  has  made  a  strong  bid  for  popular  favour,  but 
it  does  not  seem  as  if  that  would  be  brilliantly  successful.  The 
National  Carnation  and  Picotee  Society  has  suffered  loss  by  going 
there,  and  was  this  year  removed  to  the  Crystal  Palace  with  manifest 
advantage.  It  is  a  great  pity,  for  the  gardens  so  ably  laid  out  by 
Robert  Marnock  are  yearly  increasing  in  beauty. 
Of  course  the  palm  of  metropolitan  exhibitions  is  carried  off  by  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  show  in  the  Temple  Gardens.  This 
was  held  as  usual  at  (he  end  of  May,  and  was  a  great  success  in 
every  point  of  view ;  the  rveather  was  very  fine,  and  there  was  a 
magnificent  display  of  plants  and  flowers  of  all  kinds,  and  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  There  is,  it  is  true,  little  change  from 
year  to  year,  and  one  can  pretty  well  tell  before  entering  the 
ground,  where  the  principal  exhibits  are  to  be  seen.  This  is  probably 
a  necessity.  There  is,  however,  one  point  in  which  improvement 
might  be  made — viz.,  the  setting  up  so  many  duplicates,  and  the 
consequent  contraction  of  space  for  the  more  remar kahle  exhibits;  it 
was  also  financially  a  success,  and  the  resources  of  the  Society  have 
thereby  been  improved. 
Though  there  have  been  no  very  startling  novelties  brought  forward 
either  in  plants  or  flowers,  the  most  remarkable  plant  has  been 
Acalypha  S.inderi.  It  was  brought  forward  by  the  well  known  St. 
Albans  firm ;  it  is  a  greenhouse  shrub,  producing  long  crimson  panicles 
in  the  axils  of  each  leaf,  reminding  one  very  much  of  the  old  garden 
annual.  Love-lies-bleeding.  But  doubts  have  been  expressed  as  to  its 
really  being  a  novelty,  it  being  said  that  it  has  already  been  intreduced 
into  our  gardens  under  another  name. 
While  I  think  we  may  take  the  awards  of  merit  granted  b}''  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society  at  their  fortnightly  meetings  as  com¬ 
prising  most  of  the  best  flowers  of  the  year,  this  does  not  hold  true 
in  all  cases,  chiefly  when  there  are  especial  societies  for  the  culture 
of  each  particular  flower.  Take  for  example  the  Rose.  As  far  as  I 
can  recollect  no  gold  medal  Rose  has  received  an  award  at  the  Drill 
Hall ;  the  raisers  of  new  varieties  will  rather  submit  them  to  a  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  National  Rose  Society,  and  their  awards  are  highly 
prized.  Messrs.  Alexander  Dickson  &  Sous  of  Newtownards  have 
never  exhibited  any  of  their  grand  seedling  Roses  there.  So,  again, 
with  Chrysanthemums.  There  are  many  of  these  flowers  brought 
forward  at  the  National  Chrysanthemum  Society’s  exhibitions  which 
do  not  come  before  the  Floral  Committee  of  the  R  H.S.,  the  “certifi¬ 
cate  ”  given  by  that  Society  being  more  valued  than  an  “  award  of 
merit  ”  by  the  other. 
The  reason  of  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  Floral  C  mmittec  is 
composed  of  men  many  of  whom  know  nothing  of  florists’  flowers, 
while  in  the  special  societies  already  named  the  committee  is  com¬ 
posed  of  those  who  are  experts  in  the  flower  on  whose  merits  they 
