HORTICULTURAL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2569, 11 April 1887, Page 2

HORTICULTURAL.

Mr-Jolm MclYliirtorhas.knded.ii3- : the foHoyfing letter for"' piiblicutidh• : ' . to' 1 ' .write.you p-account .of. what wo are' Boc^ty.'"as a nmtteiv of .mot,') wo are doing, .nothing. ' Tho last, autumn show convinced everyone that soihetiimg was radically wrong, but ; the .Committee has done nothing to •prevent another failure -next year, Thero has been some talk about initial -ting a " cottagers class" ;p«ad several letters have appeared in tlie papers on the. subject, while I don't flunk much of tho ■ proposal, because, tho - success" which will attend it will bs only tern* porarv, yet I anv -wilGidg :.to. tay and ■mate it:a success if such a 'class, is i placed • upon >, tlie/vcatajogud, y it -is; /laughable'.to list6n *£K6' opuiion3 ; that' are expressed on the. '.subjeot, one person, k( practical •who •. possess greenhouses • mors' .tbin' as if the size of the greenhouse made of aplai}t7 who: hire !Jaboius,.'npiatter. : whether it. jT'emV-' .ployed in growing plants.'oi not, at feist I; supposo' that"..' is . what -' •they 'mean- for, as'l ..olmafteir of ■ fact,.. no; one. ih, . Slayeton "'em-' ploys■'labour in'-their greenhouses.; It is true lliat one of our: ingst energetic exhibitors (a lady] 'Has 'a-uian. ..servant working on the premise's,"tut: I know thai, ehe allows no oiie.to.'attend to her plants but liorself. What we really, want is to discover, sop ..means! whireby our young wiU ;bo !.;in- ; ducedto cultivate a taste for flower culture, if we can do that the Society must-succeed. That we • have- failed in this may be judge'd t s6m ; (lio; -fact' ■that during.the last seven years . only oue ; of our Slaveton youth's" "(Luke Milton), has exhibited pot. plants -at our shov/s, and J am glad to: say' that, ho has always gained a good share tif Ihe prizes, Young people are.open- to receive' instruction, and- there' arosevGral • authusiasVs in ■ Slaveton J who would be glad to impart information' to anyone making a commencement jbut with the cottager class it is entirely' different, old fogies are not partial to receive. ' tngy bring their, plants to" the show fed find that jiiey do not win prizes, they attribute their failure to every cause' but the right one, Besides, most of the olderly poople here oannot dovoto the time neceasajflor tho production of woll grown .plants, "Others,. however, can find tie time, but owing - toa lack" of lmowled#Q oven-each .them- ■ solves, You recollect how one man started with; an excellent - seleotion and: how he'tried to .grow ' hot- house plants together'with cool-houeo plants, aiid^ho'-w" : he : faile d ign'dniinoußly» all aiid I can • assure yOu that with. 1 til© exooption of J a. few. .calceolarias which.somehow ' ; struggled' into bloom in spite' of him, he.nerergrew. a single plant durint thei,wo'.-years-.that. -'ever ipproaohea ■ perfection'and now he.. has lost heart : - cdiirse blading eya-yihing but his ofwn -stilpidity, Nov.^rithour young people itns totally different.. One las.only to Walk down our streets to ced as fco the...quantity,- of' spars, time •. which is at; tho' disposal <ff a great number ofotir BlojVoton,youth,'indeed . the oiily. "kind v of. plant whioh;our townsfolk' see©' to' cultivate' is that known as .the; jfast'orloiim Lamhinus, and that rather objectionable plant flourishes lfcre 1 to an. astonishing degree. lam thorefore in hopes- that when the committee does meet, someone will endeavor to have a; juvenile ' class addedto our catalogue, and that some organised system will be adopted whereby the youth of Slaveton will receive some practical encouragement to deVote a little of their spare time, to floriculture. As I said before there is some talk of establishing a cottager's class, but unless the committee meet soon and revise and publish a cata-' logue, it will be impossible for cot- . .tagera to select and grow their plants in time for next Spring show, Personally I do not think I shall grow pot plants .again (grapes; pay better),' I have always held that an exhibitor of pot plants no matter who ho may be, must loseimoney by growing plants for a show, but he has a right to oxpect that if he is a fairly competent' florist,, ho should receive from the Society in prize money sufficient to replenish his green house with any new and desirable plants, thus giving, his time for nothing; I also maintain that oommittees should be careful to .eucourago pot - plant exhibitors by' evory means in their power, as pot ; ...plantnhvays must bo tlio bftokboiifli of every show, without thou any show i must bo a failure. It is a totally difi fereni matter to grow plants for ones ■ own,gratification, and to growthem for !, a show. • .In the first place you mu6fc ; when growing for. a show have your i plants perfect-By an'arbitrary date, thus' increasing..the attontion necessary, either .in retarding or pushing , forward your exhibits.". You must not let your plants bloom when they like, . or yo.u will have very little "for the ■ show.day.' ' Then, "again, you are . -bound down- to keep an arbitrary num- " ber; of each kind of plant, ia order to ■ 'conform to the requirements of each olass. . There, are a number of-other < disadvantages which an exhibitor . labors under, and while .the public of. ; Slaveton-are extremely'.-liberal in encouraging' our .flower, shows,. the - committee has' invariably''-negleoted ■the pot. plant exhibitors. As an : 'instance of this, I may tell, you jbat ' when the special prizes jvere allocated one year, 7s'was 'the "highest prize given for any pot plant exhibit, while they wanted to-give £1 to a bunch of six turrips. This, however, was too -.much for one of the-pot plant exhibi- ; tors, who got wind of it in time to cause ail alteration. .• . . I must now' close' this somewhat' long letter, and remain, Yours Truly, AWBED Deebikßi