October  8,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
337 
at  Chiswick.  Under  tlio  circumstances,  it  could  hardly  be  other¬ 
wise,  and  I  was  somewhat  surprised  to  see  this  part  of  the  show 
so  good  as  it  was. 
The  orchard  house  fruit,  however,  made  up  for  any  de¬ 
ficiencies  in  the  outdoor  section,  and  was  superb.  It  mostly 
came  from  Messrs.  Bunyard  and  Co.,  Maidstone,  but  it  had  a 
lesson  to  teach  to  wealthy  garden  owners,  namely,  that  if  they 
Avould  have  fine  fruit  irrespective  of  season,  the  line  is  to  erect 
orchard  houses  and  adopt  this  style  of  culture.  It  has  been 
proved  without  doubt  that  tlie  finest  Apples  and  Pears  can  be 
grown  in  pots  under  glass,  and  in  these  days  of  great  wealth  it 
IS  the  finest  and  the  host  that  are  needed  for  the  tables  of  the 
affluent.  Considering  these  facts,  and  also  the  imcertainty  of 
the  British  climate,  as  experienced  this  year,  it  will  not  be  sur¬ 
prising  if  there  is  a  great  extension  of  orchard  house  fruit 
culture  in  the  future,  and  such  displays  as  that  recently  seen  at 
Chiswick  can  hardly  fail  to  give  impetus  to  the  movement. 
There  were  notable  absentees  amongst  the  exhibitors  in  the 
gardeners’  division.  One  missed  the  burly  form  and  smiling  face 
of  the  late  Mr.  McKenzie,  of  Linton  Park,  near  Maidstone,  as 
well  as  the  fine  Apples  he  invariably  staged.  But  the  angel  of 
death  has  been  busy  since  the  last  R.H.S.  fruit  show,  and  “  old 
Mac,”  as  his  intimate  friends  called  him,  has  been  taken  away. 
The  redoubtable  Mr.  AVoodward,  too,  was  not  in  the  fighting 
line,  and  one  naturally  concludes  that  the  frost  last  spring  upset 
his  calculations,  as  it  did  that  of  many  others.  It  seems,  how¬ 
ever,  that  a  Kentish  grower  must  always  be  the  leading  single 
dish  man,  and  chief  honours  fell  to  Mr.  Stowers,  of  Sitting- 
bourne,  who  staged  some  really  fine  fruit  for  the  season,  and 
proved  by  illu.stration  that  a  few  places  escaped  from  the  rigours 
of  wintry  weather  at  blossoming  time. 
Why  does  the  R.H.S.  fruit  show  not  bring  out  more  talent 
among  the  private  growers  of  fruit  under  glass?  We  have  the 
recollections  of  the  great  fights  at  Shrewsbury  and  Edinburgh 
fresh  in  the  mind,  after  which  mighty  London  has  to  take  a  very 
low  place.  The  prizes  are'too  small,  do  I  hear  someone  whisper? 
Ah!  now  we  have  it,  and  of  course  choice  fruits  are  not  carried 
about  the  country  for  nothing,  and  gardeners  are  not  so  wealthy 
that  they  can  afford  to  exhibit  purely  for  honour.  Still,  one 
can  hardly  understand  only  one  exhibit  appearing  in  the  class 
for  nine  dishes  of  de.ssert  fruits.  AVhere  were  all  the  redoubtable 
growers  of  the  Midlands  ? 
Mr.  Goodacre  was  there  from  Elvaston,  staging  a  grand  collect 
tion :  but  it  was  disappointing,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  that  he 
should  have  it  all  to  himself.  In  the  class  for  a  collection  of 
six  dishes,  too,  there  was  only  one  competitor,  and  again  in 
class  3,  for  a  collection  of  Grapes  in  six  varieties,  the  Elvaston 
champion  was  the  only  exhibitor  who  staged.  Muscat  of  Alex¬ 
andria  appeared  to  be  the  most  popular  Grape,  and  with  this 
exception  the  competition  was  cjuite  commonplace  in  the  single 
variety  classes. 
This  state  of  affairs  needs  some  explanation,  because  the  frost 
did  not  affect  indoor  fruit,  if  it  ruined  that  outside.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  exhibitors  have  not  got  so  used  to  seeing  the  name  of 
Goodacre  on  first  prize  cards  that  they  do  not  care  to  comiDete 
with  him,  but  evidently  there  is  something  wrong. 
The  lessons  were  not  taught  alone  by  the  show  itself,  as  there 
were  useful  hints  to  bo  picked  up  from  the  different  papers  read 
at  the  conference,  which  was  attended  by  a  fairly  large  muster, 
and  the  final  one  was  that  w’hich  illustrated  the  good  fellowship 
and  freemasonry  of  British  gardeners.  It  was  given  in  the 
King’s  Hall  at  the  Holborn  Restaurant,  and  the  occasion  was 
the  long-talked-about  gardeners’  dinner,  and  next  to  a  good 
show  there  is  nothing  that  the  average  gardener  enjoys  more 
than  a  good  dinner.  I  believe  they  got  both. — G.  H.  H. 
Potato,  Northern  Star. 
Having  read  so  much  just  recently  of  the  fabulou.s  prices 
secured  for  this  Potato,  I  am  naturally  interested,  as  doubtless 
many  other  readers  of  your  popular  journal  are,  and  wish  to 
know  more  about  it.  What  is  thei  history  of  its  origin?  One 
would  also  like  to  know  whether  the  accounts  of  its  heavy  crop¬ 
ping  and  disease-resisting  qualities  are  reliable.  If  all  one  reads 
of  its  behaviour  in  the  present  and  last  seasons  (1903  and  1902, 
admittedly  such  bad  Potato  years)  is  correct,  then  “  Northern 
Star”  should  indeed  prove  a.  real  acquisition,  and  I  venture  to 
think  we  shall  all  offer  our  heartfelt  thanks  to  the  raiser  for 
giving  us  a  “spud”  that  will  yield  a  good  crop  without  the  end- 
le.ss  trouble  of  spraying,  re-spraying,  and  spraying  again. 
Will  someone  who  knows  be  kind  enough  to  give  mej  a  little 
information?  Also  if  the  still  more  recently  introduced  “King 
Edward  VII.”  and  “  Evergoods  ”  are  improvements  upon 
“Northern  Star”?  One  naturally  supposes  that  such  enormous 
cropi>ers  require  to  be  planted  at  much  greater  distance  apart 
than  is  customary  with  ordinary  varieties. 
What  has  our  old  friend,  Robert.  Fenn,  to  .say  on  the  .subject  ? 
— WiLMOT  H.  Yates,  Rotherfield  Park,  Alton,  Sants. 
The  variety  wa,s  rai.sed  by  Mr.  Findlay,  of  Markinch,  Fife- 
shire,  N.B.  The  tubers  are  roundish,  smooth  skinned,  and  have 
both  a  whitish  skin  and  white  fle.sh.  The  accounts  of  its  heavy 
cropping  and  diseasef-resisting  merits  seem  to  be  true  so  far.  The 
continual  rapid  propagation  of  it  from  both  “  sets  ”  and  cuttings, 
cannot,  wo  think,  do  the  plant  justice,  and  the  conse(|uences  may 
be  apparent  in  a  year  or  two.  Thirty  inches  should  be  allowed 
between  each  set.  It  ha.s  been  stated  that  seedling  varieties  of 
Potatoes  are  more  or  lessi  disease-resisting  during  the  first  fifteen 
years  of  their  history.  We  trust  our  own  remarks  will  be  supple¬ 
mented  by  tho.se  from  readers. — En. 
- - 
Annie  Elizabeth  Apple. 
A  tree  of  this  variety  was  planted  in  an  orchard  here  about 
twenty-seven  years  since.  The  yield  for  the  last  ten  years  would 
average  seven  biishels  a  year.  The  Apple  crop  this  year  is  con¬ 
sidered  nearly  a  failure,  but  I  have  a  fine  crop  of  tiiis  variety. 
Through  the  high  winds,  two  and  one-half  bushels  have  been 
blown  down,  and  I  now  estimate  the  quantity  on  the  tree  at 
seven  bushels.  It  is  one  of  the  very  best  cooking  Apples  grown ; 
a  good  cropper,  with  fine  fruit,  very  few  small  ones,  and  is  of 
beautiful  appearance  if  kept  for  a  time.  It  al.so  keeps  well  into 
the  spring.  I  have  no  trouble  to  sell  them  at  what  I  consider  a. 
good  price. — North  Hants. 
