e.iteniber  13,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDEELK. 
247 
The  awards  of  the  committees  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
certainly  call  for  comment.  In  the  published  regulations  I  read  that 
the  objects  of  the  committees  are  : — (1)  “  To  encourage  the  production 
of  new  and  improved  varieties  of  fruit,  flowers,  and  vegetables  by 
examining  and  reporting  upon  the  merits  of  such  as  may  be  submitted 
to  them  for  the  purpose.”  (2)  ‘‘  To  collect  and  disseminate  trustworthy 
information,”  &c. 
A  few  weeks  ago  the  Fruit  and  Vegetable  Committee  had  before 
them  a  collection  of  Potatoes,  and  gave  an  award  of  merit  to  Beauty  of 
Hebron.  This  Potato  has  been  in  general  cultivation  over  twenty  years; 
it  is  popular,  and  all  will  admit  a  most  useful  variety.  Even  more 
recently  the  same  committee  honoured  the  variety  Puritan  with  a 
similar  award.  If  I  mistake  not,  this  variety  has  already  been 
certificated  more  than  once  by  the  R.H.S.,  of  course  under  other  names. 
But  turning  to  the  reports  of  the  trials  of  Potatoes  at  Chiswick,  I 
find  that  in  1896  the  committee  say  of  Beauty  of  Hebron — ‘‘ A  well 
known  variety  ;  crop  excellent ;  free  from  disease.”  In  1897  it  is 
reported  on  as  “the  soil  at  Chiswick  does  not  suit  this  variety,  it 
being  weak  in  growth,  and  the  crop  light;”  but  now,  three  seasons 
later,  it  receives  an  award  of  merit.  But  what  about  the  regulations  ? 
The  variety  cannot  be  called  “new”  or  “improved,”  and  the 
information  which  it  is  intended  the  committee  should  disseminate 
will  be  of  little  importance  or  utility,  and  instead  of  it  being  a  matter 
of  the  R.H.S.  guiding  the  public,  it  is  the  latter  that  are  guiding 
the  R.H.S. 
As  to  Puritan.  Some  five  and  twenty  years  ago  I  paid  a  great  deal 
of  attention  to  Potatoes,  and  somewhat  about  this  time  Beauty  of 
Hebron  was  introduced  from  America.  I  made  a  selection  from  it, 
which  produced  tubers  with  a  white  skin,  and  named  it  and  sent  it  out 
as  Queen  of  the  Earlies.  Three  years  later  Puritan  was  introduced, 
which  proved  to  be  identical  with  Queen  of  the  Earlies  ;  and  later  on 
we  had  Duke  of  Albany,  Early  White  Beauty,  and  White  Beauty  of 
Hebron.  After  repeated  trials  these  all  proved  to  be  one  and  the  same 
thing.  But  what  I  wish  to  get  at  is  this  :  In  1884,  sixteen  years  ago, 
I  sent  to  Chiswick  some  of  my  Queen  of  the  Earlies  for  trial.  The 
following  season  I  wrote  to  the  superintendent  for  information  respecting 
the  trial,  and  was  told  that  “  the  variety  was  no  improvement  on 
existing  kinds.”  Sonie  three  seasons  later  I  again  sent  the  same  variety 
and  Puritan,  but  never  inquired  as  to  the  result.  Now,  only  after  a 
trial  of  sixteen  years  are  the  merits  of  this  popular  variety  discovered  ; 
and  in  the  case  of  Beauty  of  Hebron,  twenty  years  at  least  are  required. 
With  such  results  as  this,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  certificates  and 
awards  of  merit  have  little  or  no  weight  with  practical  growers  ? 
— W.  J.  Godfrey,  Exmouth. 
Scliool  Boys  as  Professional  Gardeners. 
Judging  from  an  account  in  the  “  Times”  of  the  4th  inst.  of  the 
education  of  boys  in  practical  gardening  at  Boscombe,  the  “men” 
gardeners  of  the  district  have  what  may,  perhaps,  be  described  as  a 
“new  terror  ”  to  reckon  with  in  their  competitions.  A  few  years  ago  the 
inauguration  of  “  lady  gardeners  ”  had  a  disturbing  influence  on  some 
masculine  minds  of  the  craff,  but  this  in  a  short  time  subsided ;  and 
now  up  springs  another  little  bogey — the  creation  of  some  wonderful 
committees  of  local  horticultural  societies. 
The  teaching  of  practical  gardening  on  plots  of  ground  at  Boscombe 
to  boys  in  the  higher  standards  at  the  school  appears  excellent,  as 
conducted  by  a  professional  gardener  (not  a  “boy”),  and  the  head 
master  of  the  school  finds  that  this  outdoor  afternoon  teaching  at  stated 
intervals  does  not  interfere  with  the  progress  of  education  in  the  school. 
The  scheme  is  based  on  information  that  was  derived  from  the  continu¬ 
ation  school  woik  of  the  Surrey  County  Council,  established  in  1892. 
It  is  a  combination  of  this  plan  (in  which  only  youths  who  have  ceased 
school  attendance  can  participate),  and  taking  advantage  of  the 
Elementary  Education  Act,  which  enables  boys  in  schools  to  be  taught 
gardening  by  their  teachers  on  adjacent  plots  of  ground. 
In  some  instances  where  these  school  teachers  enjoy  gardening,  and 
have  learned  a  good  deal  about  it,  this  elementary  school  garden  work 
is  highly  commendable ;  but  in  others,  where  the  supervision  is  not 
practical,  the  “teaching”  is  very  much  of  a  farce — a  mere  dancing 
about  and  playing  with  tools,  government  grants  being  based  on 
“  attendances  ”  alone.  This  is  a  very  unsatisfactory  policy.  Perhaps, 
recognising  this,  Mr.  T.  G.  Rooper,  school  inspector  for  Southampton, 
seems  to  have  kindly  found  the  means  for  having  the  work  conducted 
on  continuation  school  lines,  and  carried  out  in  a  thoroughly  useful 
manner. 
According  to  the  “Times”  narrative  it  has  been  very  successful, 
and  certainly  the  boys  have  been  honoured  in  a  remarkable  way.  It 
is  represented  that  they  were  for  the  first  two  or  three  years  allowed 
to  compete  as  amateurs  at  local  shows.  Whether  they  defeated  the 
adults  or  not,  and  thus  deprived  them  of  prizes,  is  not  stated  ;  but  it 
is  announced  in  all  seriousness  that  the  committees  of  the  shows 
withdrew  such  permission  on  the  ground  that  as  these  elementary 
schcol  boys  were  “  taught  on  their  plots  by  a  professional  gardener” 
they  themselves  “  ranked  as  professional  gardeners.” 
This  is  a  ruling  without  a  precedent,  and  it  would  be  a  pity  were 
it  to  go  unrecorded.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  occurred  to  these 
committees,  that  by  the  same  reasoning  the  lads  must  rank  as 
professional  schoolmasters.  The  simple  course  adopted  by  many  other 
show  committees,  of  providing  boys  with  a  class  to  themselves  for 
exhibiting  their  garden  produce,  might  have  been  deemed  derogatory 
to  the  dignity  of  these  Boscombe  precocities,  and  hence  their  elevation 
to  “  professional  gardeners  ”  by  discriminating  authorities.  Mr.  Rooper 
will  appreciate  the  compliment  paid  to  his  diligent  pupils. — A  Reader. 
Perpetual  Strawberries. 
I  SHOULD  be  very  pleased  if  Mr.  H.  R.  Richards  would  come  and 
see  my  rows  of  St.  Joseph  Strawberries.  Not  only  have  I  not  yet 
(September  7th)  missed  a  day  in  picking  a  dish  of  ripe  fruit,  but  now 
that  the  early  selected  runners  are  coming  into  bearing  I  have  a  greater 
show  of  flowers  and  fruit  than  at  any  time  since  June.  I  can  quite 
imagine  they  would  be  a  failure  if  all  runners  were  not  suppressed 
regularly  after  the  first  few  to  each  plant  have  been  selected.  This 
seems  considerable  labour,  but  I  do  not  find  it  so  when  once  the  plants 
are  in  bearing,  as  I  do  it  when  I  gather  the  fruit ;  every  runner  is 
pinched  off  at  the  same  time,  as  I  go  up  each  row.  Of  course  they 
would  soon  be  all  the  better  for  more  heat,  as  suggested  by  “  W.  S., 
Wilts,”  but  I  quite  expect  to  continue  gathering  till  well  into  October. 
— W.  R.  Raillem. 
Peaclies  arid  Nectarines  ii|  the  Opeii. 
I  HAVE  noticed  in  the  Journal  and  other  papers  reports  of  Peaches 
and  Nectarines  fruiting  in  the  open  this  season.  In  our  own  nurseries 
at  Lowdham,  in  the  Trent  valley,  but  on  land  some  100  feet  above  the 
river  level,  we  have  had  quite  a  crop  of  these.  Alexander  and  Waterloo 
Peaches  were  gathered  a  fortnight  since,  and  Early  Rivers  Nectarines 
are  nearly  ready ;  Pitmaston  Seedling  has  a  heavy  crop,  there  are  some 
nice  fruits  of  Early  Grosse  Mignonne  finely  coloured,  and  even  Sea 
Eagle  has  plenty  of  fruit,  though  I  do  not  think  they  will  ripen.  This 
will  show  that  it  is  not  only  in  the  sunny  south  that  Peaches  and 
Nectarines  will  ripen  in  the  open  without  the  aid  of  a  wall ;  but,  alas! 
“  one  swallow  does  not  make  a  summer,”  and  I  strongly  counsel 
amateurs  not  to  pin  their  faith  upon  this  somewhat  rare  occurrence 
becoming  a  general  rule.  Like  your  correspondent  “  An  Old  Fruit 
Grower  ”  I  attribute  the  fruitfulness  of  these  trees  to  the  unusually 
well-ripened  state  of  the  wood  last  autumn,  and  I  think  this  is  borne 
out  by  the  fact,  that  although  the  trees  which  were  grown  in  the  open 
last  season  have  here  and  there  an  odd  fruit,  some  trees  alongside  which 
were  grown  and  trained  in  pots  under  glass  last  year,  and  which  were 
planted  out  in  April,  are  in  some  instances  roped  with  fruit. 
We  are  most  of  us  aware  that  the  bloom  of  Peaches,  Nectarines,  and 
Apricots  is  not  nearly  as  tender  as  is  often  supposed,  and  one  has 
frequently  seen  Apricots  on  walls  with  the  blossoms  filled  with  snow, 
and  subsequently  carrying  a  good  crop;  but  I  do  not  think  that  in  any 
except  the  very  warmest  and  most  sheltered  spots  we  can  depend  upon 
these  fruits  being  sufficiently  well  ripened  in  the  autumn  to  enable 
them  to  carry  a  crop  the  succeeding  summer.  I  remember  on  two 
occasions  seeing  grand  cnops  of  fine  Peaches  on  standard  trees  in  the 
late  Mr.  R.  D.  Blackmore’s  garden,  but  I  do  not  fancy  even  with  him 
they  were  as  a  rule  fruitful,  and  I  feel  sure  that  in  the  Midlands  it 
would  be  a  waste  of  time  and  energy  to  attempt  their  cultivation. 
May  I,  in  conclusion,  say  how  fully  I  endorse  your  correspondent’s 
remarks  about  the  failure  of  wall  fruits  ?  Most  of  the  ordinary  run  of 
county  gentlemen’s  gardens  have  about  half  the  labour  employed  that 
would  be  necessary  to  keep  them  in  order ;  the  croquet  lawn  must  be 
kept  in  order,  and  the  ornamental  grounds  which  the  ladies  frequent 
must  also  have  attention  ;  the  cook  demands  vegetables,  and  gets  them, 
or  there  is  trouble,  but  when  one  walks  round  the  kitchen  garden  and 
looks  at  the  wall  trees — well,  the  less  said  about  them  the  better.  I 
know  men  who  strive  and  struggle  from  four  o’clock  on  a  summer’s 
morning  to  seven  or  eight  o’clock  at  night ;  they  could  not  really  be 
paid  for  the  work  they  do,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  are  not ;  they 
do  not  complain,  because  they  love  their  work,  and  they  most  of  them 
know  that  the  times  are  out  of  joint  with  their  employers,  also  that 
when  things  are  so  the  garden  is  generally  the  first  department  to  feel 
the  strain.  They  are  content  to  struggle  on  and  do  their  best,  but  they 
do  think  it  hard  when  their  diminished  staff  is  called  upon  to  wait  at 
table  and  assist  in  the  hayfield,  and  then,  like  the  Hebrews  of  old,  they 
are  called  to  account  for  the  tale  of  bricks,  for  under  such  circumstances 
how  can  their  fruit  trees  be  pinched,  freed  from  insect  pests,  or  even 
supplied  with  water  P  1  regret  to  say  that  in  many  gardens  these 
attentions  are  frequently  lacking. — A.  H.  Pearson. 
