The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-04-27 00:00:00

Sgriculturt.

HORTICULTURAL BoarrY.—The grand annual spring
meeting of this society way held Thursday at Bt. James's I
Hall, Piecadilly, for the first exhibition of spring flowers '
and fruit, and for the natal yearly election of Fellow'.
The hall on this occasion presented • coup cr mil that was
rich and dazzling beyond description ; every part of it
glowed with all the hues of the rainbow, and only inch
a hall could have withstood • contrast with the banks
of flowers beneath and nothing short of such an exhi-
bition of plants could have borne without injury the
bright tints and gilding' of the roof and walls around.
The flowers were displayed in large banks and groups
according to their clue, and arranged with the best
possible taste and good effect, so that while there was
no paucity in the rows none of the plants were so crowded
as to prevent all from seeing the merits of eaoh to
, the best advantage. Round the orchestra were grouped
the fruit' with the most artistic skill, and • more rich
and beautiful displi7 was probably never made at any
of the previous exhibitions of this society. The grapes
and pears in particular deserve the highest praise. What
much increased the effect of the whole exhibition was
that the hall was lighted up with the little gas stars in
the roof, and the flood of light that poured upon the
colours below and around gave an unspeakable charm to
the whole. Before the admission of the public Her
Majesty honoured the building with • visit, and had •
private view of the Hall and the exotic display which
the horticultural skill of the members of the association
had collected within its walls. Her Majesty accompanied
by the Princess Alice, and attended by Lady Macdonald,
was conducted round the building by Or. Lindley and Mr.
Dilke, and inspected the whole display minutely. After
devoting more than half-an-hour to the inspection, the
Queen retired in the same private manner in which she
bed arrived. Before leaving, however, Her Majesty was
pleased to express to Mr. Owen Jones her approval of
the taste and skill with which the hall was decorated,
and the beautiful and novel manner in which it was
lighted up. Her Majesty having left, the business of
the annual meeting was commenced, his Royal Highness
the Prince Consort taking the chair as the newly-elected
president of the society. At the conclusion of the busi-
ness His Royal Highness quitted the hall, and the
flower show was formally opened to tire public. It was
much crowded throughout the rest of the day, and even
more so during the evening, up to the hoar of its closing
at 10 o'clock. A very long list of prizes was aweirded to
' the successful competitors in the various classes of fruits

and flower'.
ECONOMY OF WORKING OXEN AS COMPARED WITH
HORSIER—Under this heading a valuation is given of
the cost of the food of each animal; and on that valua-
tion allow me to say a few words. The turnips are
valued at lOs per ton; I think that valuation is too
high, and I think that this will be the general opinion;
If not, what more profitable crop can be grown? especial-
ly as no part of it is taken off the farm. At the same
rate, Mr. Cooke's crop, for consumption on the farm,
would be worth £lB 10e. per acre; if they are, I con-
gratulate Mr. Cooke most 'heartily. Oxen are used in
Norfolk and can do as much in a day as a pair of ordinary
horses, and in comparison with them they should be
placed, for it is only an ordinary pair of horses that can
ho purchased at £5B, 4 years old, and I think • higher
figure ought to be placed against " deterioration, acci-
dents, and death," for who would insure • horse's life,
or insure his doing another day's work? By using say
only one pair of oxen on a farm, the capital required for
stock is lessened, and all means should be taken to make
this as small as possible, so as to make the capital avail-
able for improvements and efficient cultivation as large
as possible. I write these few lines, as the subject is
one that requires ventilation; there are many advocates
for the system' and many who have not tried it, adverse
to it. A few fair trials would determine the matter
satisfactorily; it is one that would amply repay investi•
gation.—Senex
•

TRANSPLANTING ANNVALlL—Whatever annuals 11/*
chosen to decorate the garden should be forwarded in •
gentle hotbed, or, at least, under the shelter of glass.
Nothing of the kind can ever be trusted to the open air
In April, especially if, as WIN the case this morning. the
13th, there are r of frost within the walls of a green-
house. We have been manipulating with our own col-
lection in • rather large way, and we will detail our
plans, not because all our readers are in circumstances to
adopt then as their own, but from a oonvictiun that if
the general principles indicated are attended to, the
gardener on the smallest male may be benefitted by
them. Presuming that the asters, zinnias, phloxes,
stocks, &a. are half an inch high, and have formed the
first pair of rough leaves, you must determine to pot
them off, and the first thing to settle is where to put the
pots when that work is done. A common garden frame
ought to be available, but if not something may be ex-
temporised to keep out frost, wind, and heavy rains.
This being accomplished decide upon the number of
plants you mean to keep ; • calculation depending, we
presume, on the means of shelter, the stock of pots, and
the size of the garden. We mention this particularly,
because it is common for gardeners to overstock them-
selves, and thus omission much labour and trouble for
nothing. If, therefore, your seed pans exhibit hundreds
of young things, and you really want only a few, look
round and see whether there is a friend who would like
some of your superfluities, and if not save what you
want and throw the rest away. For thumb pots or
those of the smallest size, one strong plant will be
enough; but two or three may be pieced in those which
are a little larger. Taking all these circumstances into
account, it will be easy to measure the extent to which
the process of potting is to be carried on. The soil
should be rich and light, but it is • mistake to sift it, or
in any way to make it line. We take ours just as it
comes, and pieces of dick and small stones do no harm,
provided they are dexterously placed away from the
roots of the plants. Place one crock just to cover the
hole of each pot; have your pots, mould, and trans-
planting stick or dibble ready, and on a still morning
you may commence operations. A windy day should on
no account be chosen, unless a shed is at hand in which
the work can be done. Elementary as a potting stick
or dibble is, we find so many gardeners are ignorant of
it, that we think it best to describe its form and uses,
since no transplanting of annuals can be done well and
rapidly without it. What is wanted is to make a hole
in the soil with a firm bottom and large enough to allow
the roots of the young plants to fall easily into it ' • and
for this purpose a round piece of stick cut square at the
bottom and with smooth sides is employed. The plant
being held in the hole thus made with the thumb and
finger of the left hand, the soil is pressed firmly around
it with the stick in the right. If this methodic not em-
ployed, and the hole is made with the finger and the
plant pressed down with the same implement. time
lost, and the work is much leas effectually done. As
five or six pots are filled let them be removed to the
frame where they are to remain, be watered with a fine
syringe, and shaded from the hot sun until they get
established. Afterwards they must have all the light
and air possible, and in giving them these necessary
sources of health an sustenance a new subject of anxiety
will present itself to the gardener. The pots being small
the mould in them will speedily become dry, and water-
ing will be needed more than once a day in hot weather,
and even then it will be often found that the plants have
perished from drought. To avoid this evil and the
labour of frequent watering, a very simple plan is found
sufficient. The pots must be bedded up to the rims in
fine clean mould spread on the flour of the frame, or in
sawdust, spent hops, tan, or any other convenient material ;
but garden mould is, perhaps, better than anything else.
If the pots are well watered when first placed in this
surrounding medium they will retain moisture for a long
time, and a syringing now and then will be all they re-
quire. Cover up at night, but do nothing to make the
plants tender, remembering that your object is to
harden them and fit them for an early removal to the
beds and borders. The bloom is secured a month
earlier than it could be if the seeds were left to
chance in the open air.—C. B.
12,08 Rs.—Often when attending country flower shows
I have been grieved to see fine stands of cut Roses
spoiled in effect, and rendered difficult to judge simply
by the " setting up." They are generally in the shape
of handsome clusters in round stiff bunches "in the true
posy style," as an old gardener once observed to me.
Cut roses, as stated by the Horticultural Society some
years ago, should be shown in loose cluster]; or groups,
correctly named, with their own foliage and bride in va-
rious stages of growth in order to exhibit, as far as pos-
sible, the habit or aharacter of each variety in the most
natural and instructive manner. It would be well for
local committees in offering prizes for cut roses to specify
in their schedules the desireableness of this style of
arrangement, which greatly assists the censor, for it is
not easy to judge fairly of the merits and character of •
rose when three or more clusters are crowded into one
small tube, as is most frequently the case at country
shows. The plan generally considered best, most dis-
tinct, and interesting is to group on green moss, in
separate tubes, three specimen]] of each variety with
their own foliage, showing, if possible, the same rose,
full, half blown, and in bud. The labels stuck in the
moss should be of • pale neutral tint—white being rather
too conspicuous.—H. C., Ashburton, Devon.
Till SEM or &lats.—The Academie des Sciences
publishes in its " Comptes Rendws" the title only of a
note addressed to it by M. Geniis, who thinks he has
discovered the clue to the secret whether the contents of
an egg be male or female. M. Genin smms rip his pro-
position thus :—" There are two classes of poultry
traders; first, those who want female eggs only, to rear
hens for the sake of their eggs; and secondly, those who
want male ma only, to produce cooks and canons SO
ed. Now if these eggs are not priori dietinginelieble,

the netural results of hatching must be I
neceesity, vrlience there arises a dead loss I
these classes of poultry breeders. Without
trading prodt I have long attempted the w
problem which professional poulterers prono
ble. Long have I remained in incertitude
I discovered my way by starting from the fJ
bones of woman ars smoother and cleaner
tore than thous of men, as may be seen from
tire examination of the skeletons of the
Applying at the outset this point of comp
able, after three years study, to state with as
all eggs tiontaining the germs of males have
their sinaller end, while female egg' are Eli
at both extremities, Such Is M, Cienin's so
this WWII of the year, it would be very re
tain by experiment whether the test has an
in fact or no. —E. S. D.