552 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
June  25,  1903. 
rampant  through  the  island — the  peaceful  present,  and  pro¬ 
mising  future  form  a  pleasant  and  striking  contrast.  That 
there  is  a  good  time  coming  is  generally  believed,  and  one 
is  loth  to  discount  the  feeling  of  optimism  which  prevails  ; 
but  there  are  undercurrents  affecting  the  stream  of  life  in 
Ireland  which  even  our  political  rulers  possibly  fail  to 
discern  in  the  interval  ’twixt  their  coming  and  going,  and 
these  have  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the  prospective  balance 
sheet  of  Ireland’s  political  economy. 
How  is  it,  may  be  asked,  that  even  in  the  poorer  parts  of 
the  remote  West  during  the  dark  periods  of  distress  there 
have  been  little  communities  who  have  lived  on  the  land, 
and  by  the  land ;  lived  and  paid  their  way,  perhaps,  owing 
to  the  reign  of  terror,  by  stealth  1  How  is  it  1  Well !  that’s 
another  story  ;  better  thought  about,  maybe,  than  spoken 
of,  but  such  thoughts  arise,  and  they,  too,  cannot  be  kept 
out  of  calculation.  However,  all  that,  we  hope,  is  of  the 
dead,  irrevocable  past,  and  history  may  not,  can  hardly,  in 
fact,  repeat  itself  in  the  unborn,  unfathomable  future  on 
parallel  lines.  Yet  so  often,  ah !  so  often,  have  our  rulers 
drawn  around  themselves  curtains  of  comfort  spun  from  the 
yarn  of  imagination  in  framing  Acts  to  settle  the  Irish  ques¬ 
tion  on  lines  which  were  neither  applicable  nor  acceptable, 
that  one  may  be  pardoned  in  taking  a  little  percentage  off 
the  jubilation  called  forth  by  the  'birth  of  this  infant 
Hercules. 
An  impoverished  people  in  a  fertile  country !  There  is  no 
question  about  the  poverty  ;  there  is  no  question  about  the 
fertility  of  the  Irish  soil ;  the  general  geniality  of  the 
climate,  or  its  great  natural  resources.  Long  ago  when  it 
was  practically  a  terra  incognita  to  the  mass  of  English 
people,  that  keen  observer,  Arthur  Young,  Avho  came,  and 
saw,  and  investigated,  gave  high  meed  of  praise  to  its  pro¬ 
ductive  capabilities,  and  to-day  we  are  credited  with  breed¬ 
ing  the  finest  cattle  for  the  English  markets,  and  the 
sturdiest  children  for  America  ;  and,  one  may  add,  the  pick 
of  the  harvest  of  sea,  lake,  and  river  to  feed  our  English 
friends.  But  as  we  are  considering  the  Land  Bill  and  not 
a  Water  Bill,  the  latter  is  not  in  direct  relation  to  our  theme. 
The  first  visible  benefits  in  the  initial  stage  of  the  crea¬ 
tion  of  a  peasant  proprietary  that  may  reasonably  be 
expected,  is  a  check  to  the  flow  of  emigration,  and  that  the 
best  of  “  the  children  who  go  to  make  the  greatness  of 
America  ”  will  remain  to  till  their  native  soil,  heirs  apparent 
to  the  little  bit  of  land  they  have  always  evinced  so  much 
love,  and  in  many  cases,  a  passionate  greed  for.  And  then 
if - “  if,”  as  said  the  late  Mrs.  S.  C.  Hall,  whose  charming 
sketches  of  Irish  life  showed  her  sympathy  with  its  people, 
“  if  they  would  only  work  instead  of  talking,  how  different 
they  might  be.”  But  few  of  our  writers,  indeed,  have  so 
well  understood  the  humbler  side  of  life  in  Ireland  of  which 
the  bulk  of  peasant  proprietorship  will  consist ;  and  but 
few  of  our  rulers  either.  Plenty  profess  to  do  so  wifh  the 
ideal  ever  before  their  eyes  of  the  thrifty  Scottish  crofter, 
or  frugal  English  farmer,  and  would  fain  impress  the 
desirability  of  the  Irish  peasant  accepting  them  as  models. 
It  is,  in  one  sense,  a  mistake  arising  from  ignorance  or  mis¬ 
understanding  of  that  strongly  marked  individual  Irish 
character,  and  all  attempts  to  veneer  it  with  English 
manners  or  Scottish  customs  begin  in  irritability  and  end 
in  failure.  Encourage  thrift,  foster  industries,  teach  utilisa¬ 
tion  and  development  of  natural  resources,  and  leave 
Ireland’s  birthright  of  individuality  alone. 
The  Board  of  Agriculture  and  Technical  Instruction  for 
Ireland  is  doing  such  a  vast  amount  of  good,  that  as  a  factor 
in  the  grand  times  coming  it  must  prove  of  inestimable 
value  ;  and  it,  too,  came  at  the  right  time  by  preparing  the 
people  for  opportunities  ahead.  More  directly  relevant  to 
these  pages,  perhaps,  is  the  appointment  of  County  Council 
instructors  in  horticulture,  and  we  cannot  but  regard  this 
more  refined  teaching  of  soil  production  as  a  powerful  lever 
to  lift  our  people  out  of  the  bog  of  ignorance  and  apathy 
which  so  forcibly  strikes  the  observant  tourist  as  he  pere¬ 
grinates  the  Green  Isle  ;  and  which  brings  their  habits  of 
life  and  modes  of  living  into  vividly  painful  contrast  with 
the  cottagers  of  Great  Britain.  When  one  views  the  squalid 
cabins  and  the  superb  ecclesiastical  edifices  towering  above 
them,  chiefly  paid  for  by  those  housed  in  the  former,  other 
reflections  crop  up,  one  only  of  which  may  be  mentioned 
here,  viz.,  that  Ireland  is  a  land  of  splendid  poverty. 
Apropos  of  horticultiu’al  teaching,  there  is  some  danger, 
possibly,  of  false  or  worn  out  doctrines  being  promulgated. 
With  bulb-culture,  for  instance,  some  still  regard  this  as  a 
veritable  gold  mine  in  a  climate  so  well  adapted  to  it ;  but 
it  is  a  gold  mine  all  but  played  out.  Eor  the  last  two  years, 
at  least.  Daffodil  blooms  of  the  finer  varieties  have  been 
sold  in  the  streets  at  prices  scarcely  covering  carriage  and 
packing,  often  not  that,  and  Dublin  is  liberally  stocked  each 
season  with  the  surplus  of  London  and  Manchester  markets, 
grown  in  Scilly  or  elsewhere.  Extraordinary  circumspec¬ 
tion  is  necessary  in  this  direction,  for  false  teaching  is 
as  fatal  as  ignorance. 
Dublin,  doubtless,  is  an  excellent  market  for  many 
things,  especially  for  high  gi'ade  fruit  of  the  perishable  kind 
in  which  distant  competition  is  jDractically  powerless,  and 
once  Patrick  is  imbued  with  the  ethics  of  sound  culture,  his 
own  inventive  faculties  and  prescient  acumen  should  not 
only  lead  him  to  supply  what  there  is  a  brisk  demand  for, 
but  create  demand  by  supplies  attractive  enough  to  make 
new  wants.  Will  the  Irish  Land  Bill  in  operation  stimu¬ 
late  our  people  to  elevate  themselves  ? — give  them  ambi¬ 
tion  ?  This  is  a  thought  not  rarely  expressed  by  some,  who,, 
in  the  country,  but  not  of  it,  stand  a  little  aside  of  party 
politics  or  creed.  It  ought  to  do  so.  If  it  does  not  do  so 
it  is  a  dead  Act,  merely  burying  one  grievance,  from  the 
grave  of  which  others  will  surely  arise.  The  supineness  of  the 
masses  who  will  be  affected  by  the  Land  Bill  has  been  the 
curse  of  the  country.  Blight  amongst  the  Potatoes,  murrain 
in  the  cattle,  hay  in  the  fields  till  Christmas,  nettles  in  the ' 
garden  all  the  year  round.  Kismet !  “  It  is  the  will  of 
God.”  So  Patrick  smokes  the  pipe  of  peace,  keeps  all  the 
saints’  days — a  dozen  or  more — and  has,  generally,  a  strong  . 
weakness  for  taking  things  easy  all  round. 
Other  people,  of  course,  have  other  opinions  and  are 
entitled  to  hold  them.  The  writer’s,  however,  are  not  set 
down  in  malice  towards  a  country  which  is  now'  the  dearest  * 
to  him  on  earth;  or  to  a  warm-hearted  people  with  whom 
his  duties  have  for  twenty-five  years  brought  him  in  daily 
contact,  and  in  hinting  at  some  banners  to  progression, 
none  is  more  desirous  that  the  Irish  Land  Bill  may  prove 
an  unqualified  blessing  to  them  than — K.,  Dublin. 
Royal  Agricultural  Show. 
The  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England,  having  lost  heavily 
at  many  of  their  annual  exhibitions,  which  have  hitherto  been 
held  at  different  great  centres  in  the  country,  resolved  that  a 
more  saving  course  w'ould  be  to  hold  their  shows  on  a  permanent 
ground.  The  Council  of  the  Society  appointed  a  commission  to 
inquire  into  the  matter  and  report,  with  the  result  that  a  com¬ 
modious  site,  lying  between  Ealing  and  Willesden,  a  little  west¬ 
ward  from  London,  has  been  purchased  for  all  time.  This  show' 
ground  comprises  116  acres  of  nearly  level  surface,  and  has  been 
named  Park  Royal — one  of  the  most  beautiful  ancl  adaptive 
names  that  could  have  been  chosen.  The  leading  railway  com¬ 
panies  have  laid  special  lines,  and  constructed  handsome  stations 
to  every  entrance  at  Park  Royal,  and  quick  services  of  trains  ply 
from  all  parts  direct  to  the  show'. 
Inside  the  show'  ground,  another  light  railw'ay  meanders 
through  those  parts  where  the  machinery  and  heavier  exhibits 
are  stationed.  And  the  novitiate  to  the  Royal  Show  this  week 
has  no  intellect  to  value  if  he  does  not  leave  this  remarkable 
exhibition  with  a  mind  quickened  and  impressed  wdth  the  intri¬ 
cacy  of  the  principles  of  agriculture,  the  first  of  industries. 
Well-formed  roads  have  already  been  made  through  the  main 
sections  of  the  area,  and  here  and  there  are  finger  posts  to  direct 
the  visitors  to  the  various  sections  w'hich  lie  wide  apart.  A  post 
office  has  been  built,  and  mails  are  lifted  at  regular  hours ;  tele¬ 
grams,  too,  are  sent  off  direct.  Towards  the  Royal  Pavilion, 
itself  a  beautifully  modelled  structure,  set  about  with  a  shaven 
lawn,  there  is  an  ambulance  department  Avith  a  dozen  men  on 
duty.  Every  convenience  seems  to  exist,  and  it  is  sincerely  to 
be  hoped  that  the  London  shoAV  Avill  be  successful  from  the  first 
to  the  last. 
Tuesday,  the  opening  day,  was  one  of  sunshine  and 
breezes,  and  the  dozens  of  wind-wheels  on  AA'ater-pumps  and  other 
appliances  buzzed  and  Avhirled  Avith  determined  vim ;  engines 
puffed  and  spurted  ;  stone-cutting  machines  slu.shed  and  switched 
Avith  a  constancy  that  made  one  flee ;  and  from  eA'ery  point 
around  the  grounds  hundreds  of  bright  flags  unfurled  their 
patterns  so  that  all  might  read.  It  is  unnecessary  here  to 
describe  the  show  in  detail.  Its  horticultural  aspects  are  noted 
on  our  back  pages ;  but  Ave  must  commend  the  Agricultural  Edu¬ 
cational  Department — a  section  instigated  by  the  society  with 
the  aid  of  the  agricultural  colleges,  who  have  brought  exhibits 
of  diseased  crops,  injurious  insects,  sections  of  lands  manured 
and  unmanured,  to  sIioaa’  the  effects,  and  similar  exhibits, 
all  teaching  a  lesson;  and  this  should  be  largely  deA'eloped. 
Lastl.A',  Avere  also  dairying  and  horse-shoeing  competitions,  sheep¬ 
shearing  by  machinery,  and  bee  demonstrations. 
