2 
JOURNAL  ON  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  January  7,  19C4. 
harvest ;  but  alas !  on  Ma}^  14  occurred  one  of  those  sad 
frosts  which  ruined  the  hopes  of  the  fruit  grower.  Why 
was  it  so  disastrous  ?  .  I  have  known  frosts  when  the 
thermometer  fell  lower,  and  j-et  did  not  do  so  much  damage. 
Whatever  the  cause,  the  result  was  disastrous  in  the 
extreme.  In  one  of  our  most  famous  localities,  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood  of  Sittingbourne  and  Faversham,  there  were  only 
two  Cherries  to  be  counted  in  one  orchard.  In  the  same 
manner  in  our  gardens  everything  was  uncanny. 
Herbaceous  plants,  moreover,  did  not  thrive,  and  Lilies  and 
bulbous  roots,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  very  hardy  ones, 
were  unable  to  hold  their  own. 
The  bad  charactei*  of  the  season  has  so  impressed  itself 
on  my  mind  that,  contrary  to  my  usual  custom,  I  have 
dwelt  upon  it  instead  of  rushing  at  once  into  what  I  may 
call  the  horticultural  history  of  the  year.  Turning  to  it, 
we  have  here  a  much  happier  picture  presented  to  us. 
There  were  two  subjects  which  were  much  before  the  mind 
of  metropolitan  horticulturists,  and  opinions  were  divided 
as  to  which  of  these  was  the  more  important,  and  which 
should  be  taken  up  first.  A  more  commodious  meeting 
place  was  wanted  for  the  fortnightly  meetings  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society  than  in  the  dingy  hall  in  James’ 
Street,  and  then  there  was  the  more  important  subject  of 
the  substitution  of  some  garden  for  Chiswick.  There  are 
many  friends  of  the  Society  who  hold  an  almost  superstitious 
reverence  for  the  old  gardens  of  Turnham  Green  ;  but  it 
was  evident  that  they  would  be  no  longer  available  for 
carrying  on  the  experimental  side  which  had  been  so  ably 
conducted  by  Mir.  Barron  for  so  many  years.  Baron 
Schroder  had  very  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  liall, 
and  had  given  a  munificent  donation  towards  obtaining  it. 
His  Majesty  the  King  and  His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of 
Wales  had  both  become  subscribers  to  it ;  but  as  usual 
when  anything  is  started  in  this  country  people  consider 
they  are  best  fulfilling  their  role  by  picking  holes  in  every 
plan  suggested. 
Matters  were  in  this  position  when  all  at  once  the  Society 
was'  startled  by  the  announcement  by  Sir  Thomas  Hanbury 
(whose  garden  at  Mortola  in  the  Riviera,  had  long  been  the 
admiration  of  the  visitors  to  that  favoured  region)  that  he 
had  purchased  the  garden  of  the  late  distinguished  horti¬ 
culturist,  Mr.  G.  F.  Wilson,  of  Wisley,  near  Weybridge,  and 
had  presented  it  to  the  Society.  It  is  about  sixty  acres  in 
extent,  and  thus  the  Society  is  free  from  any  difficulty  on 
that  ground,  arid  though  not  direct  on  the  railway,  there  is 
very  little  doubt  that  in  these  days  of  light  railways  and 
trams  this  defect  will  soon  be  remedied.  Of  course,  a  good 
deal  of  expenditure  will  be  necessary  for  putting  up  suit¬ 
able  buildings  such  as  gardeners’  houses  and  the  other 
accessories  of  a  great  horticulturist  establishment,  and 
which  will  involve  considerable  anxieties  on  the  officials  of 
the  Society  ;  but  when  ive  consider  what  has  been  done 
under  the  guidance  of  Sir  Trevor  Lawrence,  the  president, 
and  the  Rev.  W.  Wilks,  the  indefatigable  secretary,  we 
feel  confident  that  all  difficulties  will  be  ultimately  sur¬ 
mounted. 
Another  great  change  has  taken  place,  the  demolition  of 
what  used  to  be  called  the  Royal  Aquarium,  and  purchase 
of  the  site  by  the  great  Wesleyan  body  has  removed  the 
place  of  exhibition,  which  from  its  central  position  ought 
to  haA'e  commanded  success.  It  was  here  that  the  exhibi¬ 
tion  of  the  National  Chrysanthemum  Society  and  other 
special  societies  were  held,  and  its  loss  has  been  keenly  felt, 
although,  no  doubt,  the  breach  will  be  in  some  way 
repaired.  The  Royal  Botanic  Society  does  not  seem  to  be 
able  to  get  out  of  the  unhorticultural  line  that  it  has 
adopted,  and  its  exhibitions  in  a  horticultural  point  of  view 
find  little  favour.  Of  the  provincial  exhibitions  Shrews¬ 
bury  seems  to  hold  a  prominent  place,  and-  although  its 
exhibitions  are  a  great  mixture  yet  some  of  the  finest 
exhibits  of  the  year  w’ere  to  be  found  on  the  show  ground 
of  the  QuaiTy,  while  the  large  quantity  of  gate  money 
obtained  has  greatly  helped  the  various  charitable  institu¬ 
tions  of  the  quaint  old  town.  On  the  whole  I  think  that  the 
prospects  of  horticulture  generally  are  very  bright.  The 
transference  of  the  shows  of  the  National  Rose  Society  from 
the  Crystal  Palace  to  the  Temple  Gardens  has  greatly 
helped  forward  the  cause  of  tlie  Society,  for  it  has  led  to 
a  large  increase  of  members  which  now  number  more  than 
a  thousand,  and  it  is  proposed  to  raise  a  reserve  fund  so 
that  in  case  of  bad  weather  the  Society  shall  not  be  crippled. 
The  new  hall  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  be 
opened,  it  is  hoped,  in  the  autumn  by  an  exhibition  of 
Roses.  There  are  many  who  are  auxiously  calling  out  for 
such  an  exhibition,  and  it  will  then  be  seen  what  Rose 
growers  will  be  able  to  do.  I  think  it  ought  to  be  distinctly 
understood  that  Roses  shown  ought  not  to  be  grown  under 
glass.  What  we  want  to  see  is  whether  our  gardens  will 
be  much  enriched  by  any  of  the  new  introductions  which 
our  hybridisers  bring  under  our  notice.  I  think  that  there 
is  one  source  of  supply  which  promises  well,  namely,  the 
single  Tea  Roses  which  have  been  introduced  by  Messrs. 
Alexander  Dickson  and  Sons,  Newtownards  (and  to  which 
additions  have  been  made  this  year),  for  these  have  a  two¬ 
fold  claim  on  us  ;  they  are  sweet  scented,  and  they  bloom 
continuously — not  like  the  single  ones  wffiich  we  have  now, 
which  are  essentially  summer  Roses.  The  surface  of  our 
globe  seems  very  well  ransacked  for  new  productions.  The 
opening  out  of  Northern  China  and  Thibet  may  probably 
introduce  something  fresh  to  our  gardens.  The  low 
temperature  prevailing  in  those  regions  will  probably  furnish 
hardy  plants,  and  to  the  great  majority  of  horticulturists 
these  will  be  the  more  acceptable. 
During  the  year  the  usual  large  number  of  certificates 
have  been  granted  by  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  but 
most  of  the  plants  thus  decorated  have  but  an  ephemeral 
existence,  such  as  Dahlias,  Chrysanthemums,  Carnations, 
&c.,  which  another  season  will  be  superseded  by  others  in 
the  same  class,  and  who  recollects  those  which  ten  years 
ago  came  to  the  front?  Indeed,  several  of  them  are 
treated  almost  as  annuals  and  as  carefully.  Hybridised 
seed  can  now  be  readily  obtained  ;  growers  prefer  treating 
them  in  this  manner  to  troubling  themselves  with  named 
collections.  The  elaborate  care,  for  instance,  with  which 
some  of  them  were  exhibited  deceived  those  who  were  not 
in  the  secret  of  the  exhibitors’  art.  Seeing,  for  instance,  the 
beautifully  arranged  though  thoroughly  artificial  Carnations 
and  Picotees  which  came  from  our  principal  growers,  it 
was  thought  that  any  ordinary  exhibitor  might  follow  in 
their  footsteps,  but  they  soon  found  out  their  mistake  and 
discovered  the  beauty  of  the  exhibit  was  not  only  due  to 
the  grower  but  also  to  the  “  dresser.” 
I  remember  once  asking  a  celebrated  exhibitor  of  the 
incurved  Chrysanthemum  how  long  it  took  him  to  prepare 
liis  flower.  He  said  he  generally  gave  tliem  half  an  hour 
each.  What  wonder,  then,  that  the  advent  of  the  irregular, 
fantastic,  but  beautiful  Japanese  varieties  was  hailed  with 
satisfaction  ?  Of  late  years  I  am  afraid  there  is  a  tendency 
especially  among  Northern  growers,  to  treat  our  much¬ 
loved  Rose  in  the  same  manner,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  judges  at  our  Rose  exhibitions — especially  among  the 
National— will  be  on  the  look  out  to  discountenance  such 
malpractices  and  let  the  flower  be  shown  in  its  natural 
condition.  The  N.R.S.  has  discountenanced  overdressing, 
but  this  does  not  seem  to  have  done  away  -with  the  practice, 
indeed,  some  growers  say  it  is  impossible  to  do  without  it. 
An  important  resolution  has  been  adopted  by  the  N.R.S.  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Pemberton,  that  the  meti^- 
politan  show’  shall  never  be  held  earlier  than  July  6;  the 
differences  of  climate  and  situation  effectually  excluding  some 
who  live  in  some  of  our  more  backw’ard  districts  from 
coming  forward  at  an  earlier  date. 
I  now  come  to  what  has  alw’ays  been  the  most  painful 
part  of  my  annual  review,  the  roll  call.  The  names  on  it 
have  not  been  so  numerous  as  in  some  seasons,  and  few 
of  them  are  much  known  in  the  metropolis  ;  but 
culturists  received  one  serious  blow  in  the  death  of  Mr. 
Archibald  F.  Barron,  more  especially  in  his  w^ork  of 
arranging  the  fortnightly  shows  in  the  Drill  Hall,  than 
which  a  more  uusuitable  place  for  a  flow’er  show  it  would  be 
difficult  to  conceive.  Then  again  amongst  amateurs  the 
loss  of  that  kindly,  'genial,  and  thoroughly  straightforward 
friend,  Mr.  .John  D.  Pawle,  has  been  keenly  felt.  In  his 
earlier  days  he  w'as  a  keen  exhibitor  of  Roses,  and  carried 
off  many  prizes  at  Reigate  and  other  provincial  shows. 
Another  good  grower,  and  one  who  has  greatly  advanced 
horticulture  in  Ireland,  was  Mr.  John  Bain,  for  many  years 
the  esteemed  curator  in  the  Trinity  College  Gardens  at 
Pembroke  Road,  Dublin,  who  has  during  the  past  year 
closed  an  honoured  life  of  usefulness  and  good  works  m 
those  gardens  which  Mr.  W.  F.  Burbidge  has  invested 
so  much  interest.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  London  to  Cardiff.' 
The  death  of  Mr.  Andrew  Pettigrew  has  removed  from  us 
