June  27,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
541 
Autumn  Sown  Sweet  Peas. 
An  article  appeared  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  for  November 
8th,  1900,  under  the  above  heading.  It  was  written  by  Alger  Petts, 
recommending  autumn  sown  Sweet  Peas,  in  preference  to  spring  sown 
ditto.  The  system  was  as  follows  : — “  Sow  the  peas  in  pots  about  the 
first  week  in  November,  and  then  put  them  in  a  cold  frame,  allowing  them 
to  remain  there  until  about  the  middle  of  March,  by  which  time  the  Peas 
will  be  from  2  inches  to  4  inches  high.  They  should  then  be  planted  in 
deeply  dug,  well  manured  ground.”  I  think  it  would  be  very  interesting 
if  any  of  your  many  readers  who  may  have  adopted  the  above  method 
of  Sweet  Pea  growing,  would  be  kind  enough  to  give  their  opinions  of 
the  same.  The  Sweet  Pea  having  taken  such  a  prominent  position,  I 
feel  sure  that  every  particle  of  information  concerning  their  cultivation 
would  be  welcomed,  and  eagerly  sought  after  by  every  grower  of  this 
lovely  flower. — A.  W.  C.,  Devon. 
- - 
Shrewsbury  Schedule. 
To  a  casual  reader,  the  controversy  between  Messrs.  Crump  and 
Iggulden,  as  published  iu  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  of  June  6th,  would 
convey  the  impression  that  one  or  other  of  the  combatants  were  fighting 
the  Shropshire  Horticultural  Society  on  my  behalf,  which  is  not  at  all 
so.  The  arguments  are  more  of  the  sword  and  spear  than  of  the  pruning 
hook  and  ploughshare  type.  I  am  sorry  my  name  has  been  mixed  up  in 
the  affair,  entirely  without  my  knowledge,  and  making  it  appear  as  if 
the  great  Grape  class  had  been  framed  for  my  convenience  and  benefit, 
instead  of  being  entirely  open  to  all  comers  alike  from  any  part  of  the 
world.  I  hope  there  will  be  a  large  muster  of  exhibitors,  as  it  will  be  a 
reward  for  the  present  and  encouragement  for  the  future.  I  always 
consider  it  is  a  far  greater  honour  to  be  awarded  a  minor  position  in  a 
big  competition  than  to  be  at  the  top  in  a  small  one  ;  but  it  is  a  little 
uncertain  at  present  whether  I  shall  be  in  a  position  to  compete,  as 
the  season  until  now  has  been  against  our  chances.  It  is  quite  useless 
to  hope  to  find  a  place  on  the  prize  list  unless  the  very  highest  specimens 
of  both  cultivation  and  varieties  are  staged. 
I  was  glad  to  see  in  last  week’s  issue  an  official  interpretation  of  the 
schedule  by  the  honorary  secretary,  Mr.  Adnitt,  which  will  elucidate 
matters  very  materially  were  any  doubt  in  existence  as  to  what  might 
or  might  not  be  shown.  On  first  reading  the  schedule  I  quite  thought 
an  exhibitor  could  stage  twelve  bunches,  “  all  different  varieties,” 
without  any  risk  of  disqualification,  but  only  four  bunches  of  any  white 
Muscat,  but  these  four  could  be  one  or  more  varieties,  and  the  judges 
would  treat  them  as  one  variety,  let  them  be  Muscat  of  Alexandria, 
Canon  Hall,  Bowood,  or  Tyninghame  Tokay ;  and  this  arrangement 
was  made  to  prevent  any  dispute  at  the  show. 
The  correspondence  in  last  week’s  issue  hints  that  some  former 
complaint  had  been  made  by,  or  on  behalf  of,  Mr.  Taylor  re  Canon 
Hall’s  exclusion  from  the  Grape  class  two  years  ago.  I  am  glad  to 
note  that  Mr.  Taylor  is  likely  to  forget  his  threat  some  ten  years  old, 
and  come  amongst  us  again,  for  he  is  one  of  the  best  and  most 
constant  Grape  growers  we  have  of  many  years’  standing.  I  trust  he 
may  stage  some  of  the  grand  examples  of  Canon  Hall  he  so 
graphically  describes.  I  am  not  the  only  grower  of  Canon  Hall 
Grape  by  a  long  way,  but  I  have  had  many  years’  practice  with  it,  and 
in  many  parts  of  the  country,  and  I  know  no  Grape  that  varies  so  much 
under  different  treatment. 
The  only  true  characteristic  is  the  strong  footstalks  and  sappy 
unripened  growths,  that  remain  quite  green  long  after  the  fall  of  the 
leaf  in  autumn.  This  wood  usually  dies  back  to  the  old  growth  during 
winter.  On  taking  charge  of  these  gardens,  hard  on  thirty  years  ago,  I 
was  pleased  to  find  a  Canon  Hall  Vine  highly  prized  by  the  owners, 
as  it  was  planted  pretty  well  a  century  ago  by  some  of  their  ancestors. 
I  have  supplied  grafts  and  eyes  from  this  old  Vine  over  half  the  land. 
I  have  grafted  it  on  numerous  varieties  of  stocks,  in  the  hope  of 
making  it  more  constant  and  reliable,  and  have  had  a  fair  amount  of 
success.  In  some  instances,  however,  both  bunch  and  berries  are  so 
changed  as  to  be  almost  beyond  recognition,  so  under  the  circumstances 
perhaps  the  Shrewsbury  committee  do  wisely  in  not  admitting  Canon 
Hall  as  a  distinct  variety  from  Muscat  of  Alexandria.  As  all  are  under 
the  same  treatment,  we  may  console  ourselves  and  show  something 
instead.  I  may  farther  add  that  I  do  not  think  the  variety  compensates 
the  grower  for  the  extra  trouble  it  requires  to  perfect  it,  but  so  far 
as  eating  is  concerned,  it  is  decidedly  the  most  luscious  of  all  Grapes, 
and  I  can  readily  understand  old  connoisseurs  becoming  so  infatuated 
with  it.. — J.  H.  Goodacre,  Elvaston  Castle. 
Copings  for  Walls. 
Many  thanks  to  Mr.  Challis  for  his  reply  to  my  question  re  coping. 
I  think  a  width  of  2  feet  keeps  nearly  all  the  rainfall  from  the  trees, 
which  then  become  the  abode  of  red  spider,  &c.,  &o.,  just  as  the 
trees  would  in  a  cool  house  if  they  were  not  constantly  syringed  and 
watered.  If  you  have  to  syringe  the  trees  under  the  fixed  glass  coping 
the  cost  of  labour  would  vastly  exceed  the  cost  of  putting  up  and  taking 
down  a  movable  coping,  for  an  ordinary  carpenter  can  put  up  and  take 
down  100  yards  of  wood  coping  1  foot  wide  (which  I  find  sufficient)  in 
one  day.  I  infer  that  Mr.  Challis  incurs  the  great  expense  of  constantly 
syringing  all  his  protected  wall  trees,  and  would  ask  him  whether,  if 
such  expense  cannot  be  afforded,  he  would  recommend  a  fixed  or 
movable  ooping  ?  Of  course  all  trees  must  be  syringed  or  sprayed 
occasionally  to  destroy  insects  or  prevent  the  attacks  of  mildew,  &3. — 
C.  C.  Ellison. 
National  Rose  Society. 
I  have  been  looking  forward  with  a  good  deal  of  interest  to  the 
National  Rose  Society’s  show  in  the  Temple  Gardens,  and  have  looked 
to  the  advertisement  columns  week  by  week  to  ascertain  the  prioe  to 
be  charged  for  admission.  In  this,  I  presume  to  say,  lies  the  answer  to 
“  D.,  Deal's ,”  query  in  the  leader  of  last  week’s  Journal  as  to  how 
Londoners  will  take  it  If  the  committee  of  the  Rose  Sooiety  has 
deoided  to  make  the  price  of  admission  prohibitive  (and  anything  above 
Is.  will  be  so  to  thousands),  I  think  I  shall  be  justified  in  saying  that, 
as  far  as  London  popularity  goes,  it  is  doomed  to  failure.  But  if  the 
society  really  wishes  to  oater  for  Londoners,  let  them  advertise  the  show 
in  the  popular  London  morning  papers,  as  the  “  Daily  Mail,”  “  Leader,” 
and  “  Express,”  and  ask  these  journals  to  plaoe  the  information  before 
their  readers,  that  there  is  to  be  held  in  central  London  the  greatest 
Rose  Show  ever  seen,  and  that  the  price  is  only  6d.,  and  I  guarantee 
that  London  will  come  in  its  thousands,  and  you  will  have  not  only  a 
popular  success,  but  a  financial  one  as  well.  There  are  thousands  of 
workmen  and  women  in  London  who  would  jump  at  the  chance  given 
them,  but  who  would  pass  sadly  by  were  the  prioe  of  admission  above 
the  nimble  6d. — One  of  the  Crowd. 
Preserving  Nature. 
It  is  a  relief  to  see,  from  your  issue  of  the  13th  inst.,  that  a 
movement  has  at  length  been  set  on  foot  in  the  western  counties  for 
the  protection  of  Ferns  and  wild  plants.  Your  same  issue  contains  two 
paragraphs,  entitled  “  Extermination  of  British  Flora,”  and  “  The  Raid 
upon  Wild  Flowers,”  both  of  which  point  to  the  necessity,  not  only 
for  preservation  committees  all  over  the  kingdom,  but  for  general 
legislation  on  the  subjeot  The  hedgerows  in  my  part  of  north-west 
Yorkshire,  once  redolent  of  Primroses,  have  now  been  depleted  of  that 
favourite  flower,  and  my  attempts  to  introduce  fresh  plants  are 
rendered  nugatory  by  being  carried  off  the  first  season  they  are  in 
flower.  Within  the  last  few  years  I  have  tried  to  introduce  the  Broom 
into  our  lanes  to  prolong  the  golden  riches  of  the  Gorse,  but  only 
yesterday  I  found  that  a  passing  waggoner  had  wantonly  taken  a  fancy 
to  my  handiwork,  and  out,  and  carried  off  in  triumph  on  the  top  of  his 
waggon,  a  severe  tithing  of  my  beautiful  flowering  shrubs,  making 
quite  a  parade  of  them  as  he  passed  through  the  village.  He,  of  course, 
takes  his  stand  on  the  law,  which  practically  makes  the  hedgerows 
adjoining  public  roads  a  veritable  “  no  man’s  land.”  I  want  to  see  that 
law  altered. — E.  O.  M.  F. 
Should  Exhibitors  act  as  Committeemen  ? 
Mr.  George  Wadesgn,  page  525,  finds  a  grievance  in  gardeners 
who  happen  to  be  committeemen  of  a  particular  sooiety  being  at  the 
same  time  an  exhibitor.  What  reason  is  there,  I  would  ask,  for  their 
not  being  so  ?  If  Mr.  Wadeson  objected  to  an  exhibitor  acting  as  a 
judge  in  classes  in  which  he  was  interested  we  could  join  with  him,  but 
in  his  capacity  as  a  committeeman  there  is  absolutely  nothing  to  debar 
him  from  exhibiting,  when  impartial  judges  are  engaged  to  adjudicate. 
We  know  of  many  gardeners  who  are  committeemen  of  various  shows, 
and  who  annually  compete,  but  have  never  heard  that  other  exhibitors 
suffered  any  injustice  because  of  it.  So  long  as  societies  engage  judges, 
preferably  strangers  to  the  locality,  to  determine  the  relative  merits  of 
exhibits,  it  does  not  matter  a  jot  who  form  the  committee,  whether  they 
be  exhibitors  or  non-exhibitors,  and  my  experience  teaches  me  that  men 
experienced  in  the  art  of  exhibiting  make  much  the  best  oommitteemen, 
because  their  experience,  bought  by  actual  practice,  is  distinctly 
apparent  in  the  schedule  and  regulations  of  the  show.  True,  it  does 
not  require  that  all  committeemen  should  be  composed  of  exhibitors  ; 
that  would  be  fatal  to  the  progress  of  the  work  of  the  day,  and  this  is, 
I  think,  their  only  objection. — W.  S. 
