33G 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
October  8,  1903. 
A  Great  Disappointment. 
As  fate  would  have  it,  the  district  auditor  cited  uie  fgr  the 
29tli  ult.  to  attend  at  the  Board  Room  at  Bradfield,  Berks,  for 
the  purpose  of  auditing  my  pooi-^s  rate  for  the  parish  of  Sul- 
hanistead.  How  much  more  congenial  it  would  have  been,  for 
me  to  vi.'^it  the  dear  old  garden  at  Chiswick,  which  has  been 
familiar  to  me  through  all  its  successes  and  vicissitudes  since 
the  year  1835.  I  was  for  the  first  time  taken  there  to  a 
R.H.S.  annual  fete  by  the  then  president,  T.  A.  Knight,  as 
these  pages  of  long,  long  ago  have  chronicled.*  I  mention  it 
now  to  show  how  much  I  should  have  enjoyed,  and  grieved, 
being  there  for  the  last  time,  and  also  delighted  to  have 
attended  the  gardeners’  dinner;  perhaps,  as  a  V.M.H.,  I  may 
have  been  expected  to  attend.  But  district  auditors  are  great 
potentates,  and  must  be  obeyed! 
What  with  attending  to  voting  lists,  to  jury  lists,  to  assess¬ 
ment  committees,  and  as  churchwarden  seeing  to  the  completion 
of  a  thorough  reparation  and  embellishment  of  our  St.  Michael’s 
Church,  and  our  harvest  festival,  you  may  conceive  that  your 
oldest  contributor  has  spent  a  tolerably  lively  time  lately. 
Besides  the  care — seeing  to  the  “  getting  up  ”  of  and  housing 
of  my  new  strains  of  North  American  hybrid  Potatoes — this 
has  been  a  test  year  for  them.  They  are  behaving  veiw  well 
indeed,  but  it  will  take  five  to  six  years  for  the  majority  of 
them  to  be  made  fit  for  commerce. 
By-the^by,  what  men  we  have  in  the  Potato  world  nowadays! 
And  what  wonderful  iDrices  they  are,  it  is  said,  receiving  per  lb 
for  their  new  seedlings!  Of  course,  we  well  know  that  the  last 
well  advertised  Potato  is  the  best.  Nevertheless,  I  lay  claim 
to  be  still  taking  the  lead  by  introducing  new  blood,  so  to 
speak.  I  trust  that  disinterestedness,  like  in  the  honest,  enjoy¬ 
able  old  games  of  cricket,  football,  &c. ,  are  not  departing  from 
us  in  regard  to  the  Potato. — Robt.  Fenn,  V.M.H.,  Sulhamstead, 
October  5,  1903. 
The  Gardeners’  Dinner. 
I  am  desired  by  the  committee  of  the  above  to  return  you  their 
grateful  thanks  for  thei  generous  help  and  support  you  gave  this 
function  in  the  pages  of  the  Journal,  thus  heliiing  to  make  it  a 
mo.st  successful  and  memorable  gathering  of  gardeners. — Yours 
very  truly,  Owen  Thomas,  Chairman  of  Committee. 
Four  gardeners’  dinners  have  been  held  since  that  of  1866  at 
St.  Martin’s  Hall,  Long  Acre,  at  which  Lord  Henry  G.  Lennox, 
M.P.,  pre.sided ;  viz.,  one  at  Leicester,  in  1868  or  1869,  at  which, 
I  think,  the  Mayor  of  Leicester  presided  or  the  present  Dean  of 
Rochester.  This  was  in  connection  with  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society’s  Provincial  Show ;  another  a  little  later  at  Nottingham, 
and  on  a  similar  occasion,  when  Mr.  Alderman  Manning  took  the 
chair ;  a  third  was  held  at  the  Lower  Grounds,  Aston,  Birming¬ 
ham,  on  the  occasion  of  a  large  flower  show,  at  which  Mr.  Joseph 
Chamberlain,  then  Mayor  of  Birmingham,  and  not  then  an  M.P., 
filled  the  chair.  This  dinner  was  largely  attended,  and  it  goes 
without  saying,  the  chairman  was  a  great  success.  The  foiurth 
was  held  at  South  Kensington  some  years  ago  in  connection  with 
one  of  the  large  flower  shows  of  the  R.H.S.  in  the  gardens  ;  on 
this  occasion  the  late  Mr.  William  Thomson,  of  Clovenfords,  pre¬ 
.sided.  It  is,  therefore,  not  correct  to  state,  as  your  reporter 
did,  that  no  such  dinner  has  been  held  since  1866.  [W^e  meant  in 
magnitude  and  .splendour. — En.]  I  acted  as  the  .secretary  to  the 
Dinner  Committee  in  1866,  and  I  attended  all  the  dinnei's  to 
Avhich  I  have  referred. 
A  gardeners’  dinner  on  the  evening  of  a  show  day  is  always  a 
risky  affair.  Exhibitors  and  judges  are  wearied  over  the  day’s 
exertions,  and  many  soon  become  impatient  of  talk.  The  King’s 
Hall  is,  as  I  know  from  experienoe,  a.  trying  room  to  speak  in  ; 
it  i,s  difficult  to  send  the  voice  into  all  its  parts.  On  the  29th,  the 
R.H.S.  was  made  a  little  too  prominent,  and  we  could  well  have 
.spared  the  superfluities  from  its  trumpeters.  By  the  time  the 
toasts,  more  particularly  those  relating  to  gardeners,  were 
reached,  the  patience  and  sense  of  the  countixunen  had  risen  in 
rebellion  against  the  incessant  preaching  of  enthusiastic  speakers. 
I'he  gardeners  would  tolerate  none  of  their  kind  as  orators.  I 
am  free  to  admit  the  disturbing  element  was  on  the  fringe  of 
one  side  of  the  hall,  and  it  wa.s  .strenuous  enough  to  dominate 
over  the  large  majority  w'ho  were  disposed  to  listen.  There  were 
too  many  toasts  and  far  too  many  speakers.  I  had  ill  placement 
in  following  the  encore  of  a  rollicking  .song,  which  added  to  the 
♦  See  “  Pre  Victorian  D.ays”  in  issue  of  April  19th,  1900. 
difficulty  of  gaining  a  hearing.  A  little  more  forbearance  would 
have  finished  thei  progranmie  in  good  time.  Nevertheless,  the 
occasion  was  a  memorable  one.  Everyone  appeared  good 
humoured  :  even  the  discomfited  speakers  knew  there  was  no  ill 
feeling  on  the  part  of  the  tired,  but  assertive  audience. — 
R.  Dean.  ^ 
Lessons  from  the  Chiswick  Show. 
A  great  combined  exhibition  of  fruit  and  vegetables  like  that 
recently  held  in  the  historic  gardens  at  Chi.swick  cannot  fail  to 
teach  lessons  which  will  have  a  lasting  effect  on  the  community 
of  gardeners  at  large,  and  one  of  them,  which  does  not  appear 
to  have  dawned  on  the  authorities  before,  is  the  practicability 
of  holding  a  vegetable  show  in  conjunction  with  one  of  fruit. 
I  say  practicability,  but  the  word  .should  be  qualified,  and  I 
am  reniinded  of  that  absolute  necessity  which  is  referred  to  in 
the  opening  remarks  of  the  show  report  (page  312),  namely, 
money.  An  autumn  show  like  the  one  under  notice  cannot  be 
expected  to  be  a  paying  concern,  because  gate  money  is  not  a 
big  item,  and  though  the  society  is  reputedly  in  a  prosperous 
condition  it  has  the  expenses  of  the  new  hall  and  the  prospective 
expenses  of  the  new  garden  hanging  over  it,  so  that  increased 
revenueiS  are  invested,  so  to  speak,  in  the  business. 
Money  is  the  great  motive  power  which  turns  exhibition 
machinery  as  it  does  most  other  things.  Unless  it  is  forth¬ 
coming,  what  hope  can  there  be  of  a  continuation  of  shows  .such 
as  that  recently  held?  It  is  the  business  of  the  Royal  Horticul¬ 
tural  Society  to  know  what  funds  it  will  be  able  to  spare  for 
future  shows,  and  how  the  .subscriptions  came  in  on  this  occasion 
I  know  not,  but  I  simply  mention  the  point  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  talk  glibly  of  what  should  be  done  next  year  Avithout 
apparently  taking  the  financial  part  of  the  business  into  con¬ 
sideration.  Can  the  R.H.S.  afford  to  run  big  shows  at  a  financial 
loss  ?  It  appears  to  be  part  of  the  programme  of  the  sister 
aocicfty,  the  Royal  Agricultural,  to  do  this,  and  yet  they  keep 
running;  but  hoAV  the  R.H.S.  stands  in  this  respect  is,  of  course, 
another  matter.  It  is  only  fair  that  the  Fellows  should  expect 
something  for  their  money,  and  I  take  it  that  shows  are  included 
in  the  .something,  but  how  many,  and  of  what  proportions  they 
should  be  is  a  point  belonging  entirely  to  the  cpiestion  of  finance. 
[According  to  the  Rev.  W.  Wilks,  Secretary  to  the  Society,  the 
Fellows  already  receive  a  tenfolcl  return  for  their  guinea  sub¬ 
scription. — Ed.] 
As  a  rule,  vegetables  do  not  occupy  a  leading  position  at  large 
shoAvs.  It  is  true  they  are  represented  at  most  of  them,  but 
there  seems  to  be  a  general  impression  that  they  do  not  attract 
in  the  same  Avay  as  fruit  and  flowers.  Let  us  hope  that  the 
lesson  taught  at  the  last  of  Chiswick’s  many  shoAvs  will  abolish 
that  idea  for  ever.  There  Avas  grand  fruit  in  plenty  at  the  shoAv 
in  ciuestion,  but  instead  of  monopolising  the  interest  it  was 
ecjually  divided,  or  perhaps  it  leaned  on  the  side  of  the  vege¬ 
tables. 
The  latter  division  attracted  unqualified  attention,  and  I  do 
not  see  hoAV  anyone  could  observe  the  splendid  displays  set  up 
by  Messrs.  Beckett,  Gibson,  and  BoAverman  amongst  the 
amateurs,  and  Messrs.  Dobbie,  Richard  Smith  and  Co.,  R. 
Veitch  and  Son,  Cheal,  Bunyarcl,  Cannell,  and  others  amongst 
the  trade  groAx  ei-s,  Avithout  admitting  that  they  alone  were'  Avorth 
going  a  long  Avay  to  see. 
Size  Avas  not  aimed  at,  and  coarseness  was  avoided,  which  was 
another  useful  lesson  to  those  who  still  seem  to  hold  the  im¬ 
pression  that  a  vegetable  must  be  a  giant  in  order  to  come  up  to 
exhibition  standard.  There  were  giants,  of  course,  especially 
amongst  the  Onions ;  but  these  are  an  exception,  and  Avhile  it  i.s 
generally  admitted  that  size  is  no  drawback  to  the  quality  of 
an  Onion,  provided  the  bulb  is  well  grown  and  harvested.  Onion 
groAving  has  a  peculiar  fascination  for  those  who  make  vege¬ 
tables  a  speciality,  and  they  could  hardly  help  going  in  for 
monsters  if  they  Avished  to. 
I  plead  guilty  myself  to  a  little  weakness  for  Potatoes,  and 
spent  considerable  time  over  the  magnificent  display  set  up  by 
Dobbie  and  Co.  Nothing  avouIcI  have  pleased  me  better  than  to 
have  seen  the  faces  and  have  heard  the  remarks  of  a  few  scores 
of  cottage  garden  Potato  gro Avers,  Avhom  I  knoAV,  if  they  could 
have  been  present.  The  Rothesay  tubers  taught  a  lesson,  too, 
not  only  in  the  AA-ay  Potatoes  may  be  grown,  but  also  in  the  art 
of  presenting  thefn  for  shoAv.  There  were  varieties  both  old 
and  neAV,  all  free  from  blemish,  and  in  the  pink  of  condition, 
whioh  Avent  to  prove  that  in  some  quarters  at  lea.st  Potato 
gnoAving  is  reduced  to  a  fine  art.  Another  notable  collection 
from  the  North,  Avas  the  dozen  varieties  from  Ormskirk 
Avhich  Avon  the  first  prize  for  Lord  Lathom’s  gardener,  Mr.  B. 
Ashton. 
FeAA’  people  avIio  visited  the  sIioav  needed  any  lesson  about  the 
scarcity  of  outdoor  fruits  this  year,  but  they  got  one  ahj  the 
same,  and  those  Avho  are  used  to  seeing  the  grand  clisplays  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  in  the  past  probably  voted  the  fruit  to  be  small 
in  qxiantity,  small  in  .size,  and  not  overburdened  Avith  colour 
and  finish.  Here  and  there  one  observed  notable  exceptions,  but 
signs  of  the  general  failure  of  fruit  crop  were  painfully  apparent 
