The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-11 00:00:00

The :Royal Horticultural society.
Sir Joseph Paxton, MT. is addressed the fol-
lowing letter to the Assistant-Secretary:-
7, Pall-mall East, London, July 20.
Sir,—Having been requested to give my opinion as to
the nature and character of exhibitions which the Royal
Horticultural Society should encourage for the true ad-
vancement of horticulture and its accompanying sciences, I
have draughted out this letter, in order to form a founda-
tion or data on which this matter can be discussed, and I
trust with a good result.
1. No doubt the tesult of the society's exhibitions has in
many respects been very advantageons to the cause of hor-
ticulture, particularly the earlier ones. They have en-
couraged great improvements in the culture and manage-
ment of plants, particularly such plants as can be pro-
duced in flower at what may be called the London fashionable
season; but they have by no means been productive of
unmixed good. They have brought into existence an un-
natural and artificial condition of things, which is not only
objected to in the interests of gardeners themselves, but is
also opposed to the interests of the public, by causing what
may be termed a spasmodic effort and exertion, which at
other seasons of the year is unemployed and to a great de-
gree unproductive. I may illustrate this by stating that a
good many years ago (and the same state of things now
exists to a certain extent) I called to see a first-class Londcn
garden—forgetting that it was one of the exhibition days—
and I found only about six or eight plants in the garden,
and others having all been trained—like a horse for racing
and had been taken to the show to win the stakes, In the
same season, some time after this, I called again, and found
the plants having been their round of racing, all flowerless,
and beginning to be placed under training for the next
season for the same purpose; and this training was effected
by keeping some plants back and forcing others, so that
they might all flower together, and such plants as would
not bear this treatment were not cultivated.
2, Everyone, of course, says he has a right to do what
he likes with his own plants, which I do not deny; and if
a gentleman does not mind being 10 months in the year
without flowers in order to make a great display, I have no
fault to find with him ; all I contend for is, that should not
be the main aim and scope of the exhibitors of the Horti-
cultural Society. In one respect the exhibitions of the pre-
sent day have produced a good result by giving prizes for
col:ections of beautiful foliage plants, as the culture of_theso
,plants (which look beautiful all the year round) is thus
stimulated, and they are a great improvement in the
garden.

But in other respects those great show cultivators grow
very few plants which do not flower at the show season,
and therefore leave the flowers which might be cultivated
with great effect for other seasons of the year without much
attention.
4. The true object of horticulture should be, in my
opinion, to increase the enjoyment derivable from it, and to
diffuse it as widely as possible; to enable the owners of gar-
dens to get the greatest amount of pleasure and satisfaction
from their possessions, and to enable the general public to
procure the greatest number of fruit flowers and vegetables
in the greatest quantity, of the best kinds, and at the
cheapest prices.
5. In order to carry out this, there should be something
like a continuous exhibition, so that a gardener would have
no interest in forcing his plants unnaturally into flower;
but if be had a beau iful specimen at any time he would
know he could exhibit it where it would be seen and appre-
ciated and its merits rewarded. When the Horticultural
Society was in its palmy days, one of its great sources of
benefit and attraction was the fortnight!) shows at their great
room in R-gent-street. It was then the practice for any

gentleman in the country, if he had a new plant or a new
fruit, to send to one of these exhibitions at any time in the
year, and the nurseryman brought every new plant there
from their respective establishments. Dr Lindley explained
the nature and properties of everything as it appeared in each
exhibition with his lucid and agreeable manner, in which on
this subject he has no rival, and these meetings were in-
tensely fashionable, and often densely crowded.
6. When the Horticultural gardens at Chiswick were the
leading gardens iu the country for new plants many gardens
were supplied thence, and so they were nevsr without great
interest. They could not trust altogether to country gen-
tlemen and nurserymen for plants for exhibition, and when
the entries were deficient the shows were made up of beau-
tiful plants from the Horticultural Gardens. Though then a
Certificate of Merit from the Society meant something and
was prized at a high rate, it insured the sale of any plant
which received it, and often practically represented a prize
of some hundreds of pounds sterling—as many nursery•
men had orders before the exhibition closed for very large
amounts. It therefore appears to me that these fortnightly

exhibitions should be renewed at once, and every attraction

given to them. And considering the increase of commercial
transactions relating to horticulture, the facility of carrying

anything from a distance, and the great influx of visitors
into London in the season for a temporary sojourn, for the
spring and summer months, it would be well to try a weekly
exhibition without the descriptions, which, in point of fset,
would almost amount to a continual show. And they
should be held in a place suitable for plants, where many
nurserymen would not mind allowing then to remain all
the time they were in full flower. One or two of the great
shows might be still held in the gardens, where the fashion-

ables could attend to show themselves and look at each
other; which they do on th,sa occasions quite as much as
at the flowers.

7. It would be tao much in a letter of this sort to go into
details as to how many branches of horticulture have re-

mained stagnant for many years past; though it would not
be irrelevant, it would occupy more space and time than I
.._

can now afford to give to it. But there is one subject that
has pressed upon me so long, and I am so convinced of its

damaging effects upon the commercial part of the supply of
the finer fruits in the public market, that I cannot help re-
verting to it in this letter, and that is—the growth of fruits
for sale by private establishments, in competition with
the market gardeners. Many gentlemen keep gardens,
partly for their own use, and partly for the sale of the pro-

duce, which they sell to cover part of the gardening ex-
penses; and this is done to a vory large extent and by some

of the highest private garden establishments in the country.
The result is that fruit, with all the facilities of cheap glass

and cheap coal all over the country (compared with 40 years
ago), is absolutely dearer than it was 40 years since; while
the produce of real market gardens is perhaps 50 per cent.
cheaper and 100 per cent, better, the forced fruits in which
the private establishments compete have made very little

progress in goodness. Ryon went to Covent-garden market
between 30 and 40 years ago and looked at the fruit, you

'Would find the grapes were grown by Mr Andrews, the
great market gardener at Vauxhall, Mr William Wilmot,

of Is'worth, or some other good market gardener of the
day, whereas, if you go there now, the same kind of fruit is
from some private garden ; and supposing a large quantity

of fruit is wanted for a big party, none of the great fruiterers
will undertake to supply you until they have written or
telegraphed to some private establishments to know what
they can get.
8. The first question that naturally strikes you is—

How is the public worse off for this change? I can answer

,his, I think, to everybody's conviction in a few words. A

private establishment will very often sell in the early season
lib of grapes or a dozen peaches, regardless of cost, at a
price which it would ruin a market gardener to attempt.
This price will content a private gentleman who does not

know the cost of growing them, but competition at these
prices would ruin any market gardener, who is nearly de-
terred from growing them at all ; and therefore the regu-
lation ct the supply of the market is left in the hands of
these limited private establishments. If the market gar-
deners were not mot there they would try to excel each other

in the cheapness and goodness of the fruit, as they do in all
other things, and in a short time the market would have a
regular supply at half the present cost of spring fruit, which
is not attempted now on a scale large enough to compete
with the great number of private establishments who send

he best of their things, and pocket their losses, and the

public have in consequence a very limited supply. I dare-
say it answers the purpose of the fruiterers very well, but
it is very detrimental to the public.
a ,9. And now, sir, before I close my letter allow me to say

a word or two about what is done in the sale way by the
Royal Horticultural Society. It is quite legitimate and
right to propagate and distribute any new plants (which it
has brought into the country) to Felloss, but I object
tote to buying new plants, cultivating them, and ballot-
ing for them ; this is (allow me to say) an infringement of
the legitimate business of the nurserymen, who can do h
much better and cheaper than the society can.—l
JOSEPH FAXTON.

THE MAIL ROBBERY.—Cash, the engine-driver,
was tried at the Chester assizes, on Tuesday, for the rob.
bery of a mail bag from Chelford station, near Macclefield.
The prisoner was sentenced to ten years' penal servitude,
INCOME WITHOUT RisK.—Agents wanted for Arthur
Granger's
(New Patent) Ladies' and Gents' Paper Co lars
and Cuffs in every variety at 1,4. 63.,28. ed., 3s. ed., and 4s.fid.
per gross; Patent Safety Envelopes ls., is. 3d., and :s. 6d.
per gross ; Samples and terms 3 stamps.-- Cheap Stationery,
Printing, and Toy Warehouse, 30S, 111;1i liolt,orn, W.C.—
Advt.

filled with stained glass by Hardman, and are il-
lustrative of the life and death of St, Stephen, who
is depioted in the discharge of I.l' ;,7., various diaconal
duties, and meeting in the end a mari;
is death.
The east end probably contained windows orig..n"
ally, as the chapel above undoubtedly did ; but, as
the Palace now adjoins the east end of the crypt,
no windows can now be obtained there. The panel-
ling is therefore occupied with full length figures
on gold grounds representing St. Peter and St.
Stephen, St. Oswald, St. Ethelreda, St. Edmund,
St. Edward the Confessor, St. Margaret of Scot-
land, and St. Edward the Martyr.
It is to be hoped that no time may be lost in fit.
ting up the crypt and making use of it as the
private ohapel of the New Palace at Westminster.
No permanent seats are contemplated, bat the
chapel is proposed to be furnished with chairs to
accommodate 2,50 or 300 persons.—Times.