GARDENERS' HORTICULTURAL SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 4193, 24 November 1883, Page 8 (Supplement)

GARDENERS' HORTICULTURAL SHOW.

The tirst Horticultural Show under tho auspices of tho Gardeners' Society was hold in tho Drill-shed on Friday and Sat unlay (last week). The Committee in connection therewith deserve public thanks an well as a much better patronage for placing such an exhibition before the public. As tho first show of this Society, it proves that they have tho materials within their body of making,a good Horticultural Society in Auckland. In working up tho details for the last show, tho Committee will have learned some usolul lessons; to guide them in future. Tho weather for .1 wuck before the Show was exceptionally wet and boisterous, thereby curtailing the exhibition of cut flowers, many intending exhibitions not being able to raise n collection, their flower* all being spoiled by tho wind and rain. Tho collection of vegetables was fully up to tho mark, many line specimens being exhibited. The pot plants wore also well represented, some splendid forns, colons, etc., being placed on the tables. Tho fruit was represented by a few well-preserved apples and pears, with a good number of oranges, lemons, strawberries, gooseberries, ami loquats, forming altogether a first-class collection. Messrs Morrin ami Co. and Messrs Porter and Co. exhibited splendid collections of garden implements. Mr Boyd, of the ISowton Pottery, displayed a lino collection of garden pottery. One of tho best foatures of the Snow was tho collections of seeds exhibited by Messrs Wren, Yates, and Steadman. In this department Sir Wren exhibited nearly 250 test samples of seed growing in pot, which wcro duly admired. There wero also a groat number of other s{>ecialtios worthy of admiration. Tho Committee won great praiso for tliu manner in which tho hall was decorated. The judging of tho different exhibit-, generally ono of the most onerous duties, was divided into threo classes, and entire satisfaction was expressed at tho different awards. Tho weather during the two days of the exhibition was wet, thereby curtailing the number of visitous, but I hope for better weather and moro visitors for future shows of tho above Society.

Fruit-Grpwlng—(continued).

In the colonies, evory year wo hoar a great deal nboutyoung, nowly-plantedtrees fruiting tho first year of their growth. Certainly the temptation to sco fruit tho lir.st year, if it will eomo, is very groat to most amateurs. After planting trees, how anxiously tho plants are watched for a result; and if fruit shows, all the neighbours must bo informed; and what an amount of credit is takon !Of course, tho production is the rosultof tho care and skill of the owner. Tho above attractions, lam aware, are very tempting. But theso considerations must bo thrown asido, as they can only he gratified at tho expense of the futurs prospects of tho tree. A young trco fruiting too early is a sign of weaknoss, which should bo guarded against by pluckin;; off the. flowers before they set or the fruit forms. A young tree must acquire sufficient roots, and what I may term body, in tho wood boforo it should bo allowed to fruit. Tho fruit of a tree is the means by which it propagates itself; and if a tree is allowed to exert itself in the production of fruit while too young, it can only bo at the exponso of tho future. No tree,_ in_ my estimation, should be allowed to fruit till it is at least two yeai-s planted out from tho nursery—that is, tho third season of its growth from tho graft, — and then very sparingly. The first two seasons the cultivator's energies ought to bo expended in trying to induco tho tree to form a nice, handsome habit, and spurs from which fruit buds will eventually come. Whatever

habit is wanting must be formed the first few years of the tree's growth, as it can never properly be done again. If such a course were pursued, in moat eases we would not hear so much about the early fruiting capabilities of some trees; and these trees we seldom hear much about afterwards. In fact, in some eases the stamina seems to have been taken out of them the first year. Of course, lam not referring to what are called "advance" trees, which are grown in some of the nurseries so as to give purchasers the opportunity to purchase trees which will fruit the first season. Trees of this class, if they hove been properly grown, have all the necessary elements in their constitution for fruiting, and if they are properly lifted and transplanted, it will help their fruiting capabilities. In Britain the nurserymen always grow a large number of this class, and if they are properly trained in all the different shapes required, I believe they are tho most profitably trees to purchase—that is, for small orchards—as you have a tree with its habit properly formed, and the first or second season ought to produce almost as much fruit as will recoup tho first cost of tree, even at what might be called a very advanced cost. Extracts. Tho air of a forest is more moist than that of the fields, the difference being greatest in summet. Evergreen trees have more action in this respect than such as are deciduous. The Thirsty Eucalyptus.—Whore there is surplus moisture to dispose of—as, for example, a cesspool to keep dry—a large eucalyptus will accomplish not a little, and a group of them will dispose of a vast amount of house sewage. _ But if you have water which you do not wish to oxhaust, as ill a good well, it would be wiso to put tho eucalyptus very far away. Daniel Swctt, of Bay 1 slandfarm,Alameda county,recontly found a curious root formation of tho eucalyptus in the bottom of his well, about sixteen feet below the .surface. Tho tree to which tho roots belonged stands fifty feet from tho well. Two shoot* pierced through the brick wall of the well, and, sending out millions of fibres, formed a dense mat that completely covered tho bottom of tho well. Most of these fibres are no larger than thread, and are so woven and intertwisted as to form a mat as impenetrable and strong as though regularly woven in a loom. Tho mat when first taken out ot tho well was water-soaked and covered with mad, and nearly all a man could lift, but when dry it was nearly as soft to touch as wool, and woighed only a few ounces. This is a good illustration of how the eucalyptus absorbs moisture, its roots going so far to find water, pushing themselves through a brick wall and then developing enormously after tho water is reached. Ml Swett thinks one of the causes of the drying up of wells is the insatiablo thirst of these vegetable monsters. —"Pacific Rural Press," Soptember 2(1. There are no known natural laws through the aid of which florists can produce at will doublo flowers. But as all double Mowers are unnatural monstrosities, tho florists seek to produce through unnatural sources —that is, by cultivation— stimulating, forcing tho growth to unnatural proportions, and perhaps in .somo instances dwarfing and checking certain parts, while others are permitted to grow unchecked. The larger proportion of double flowers are the result of stimulation, the plants being given extra care, and then their seeds saved, and tho young plants forced to make rapid and vigorous growth. Sometimes severalgoncrations of those forced unnatural plants will bo produced before a "break" can be secured, but OS noon as it cloo.-< occur, further changes are ([tiito certain. Tho needs from a pemi-doublo rose are far more likely to produce varieties with full double flowere than those from a single one. Occasionally double flowers are produced on a branch or •stem of a plant, that has never before shown any but single flowers. In such cases the new departure is called Q "sport," a freak of Nature, out of the usual course. These sports, when removed from the parent and propagated, often retain their peculiar characters, and becomo permanent or fixed varieties. Florists are constantly on tho lookout for sports and other variations from original forms, and for this reason are more likely to discover new varieties than tho.se who are not so familiar with plants.