:869.] 



BRAMCOTE TULIP EXHIBITION. 



329 



BRAMCOTE TULIP EXHIBITION. 



On the 21st May the members of the above Society held their annual festival at 

 the pretty rural village of Stapleford, a few miles from Nottingham. The mem- 

 bers mustered in strong force, as usual, but the blooms were not in such full 

 numbers as we have been accustomed to see them staged, and consequently the 

 stands were not so closely contested as in previous years. This was owing en- 

 tirely to the ungeuial month of May, throughout the whole of which the plants 

 and buds had to struggle on against cold north-east winds and rains, varied very 

 frequently with violent and pelting storms of hail of no small dimensions, when 

 woe to those devoted beds without protection ! We heard of instances where 

 plants, buds, and blooms in various stages were left a total wreck. And even 

 with the teuderest care and most unremitting attention, the progress of the 

 buds was so slow that numbers very promising in appearance, notwithstanding 

 all that tenderness could devise, were not to be coaxed into fully-developed 

 blooms for the day of trial, and had in consequence to be left at home, with the 

 prospect and hope, weather permitting, of being in time for the " National," to 

 be held a few days later in the month ; others, mere buds, were cut from sheer 

 necessity, the growers having nothing better to take their places. 



On the whole, the show proved a good one, and very interesting; but the judges 

 had no alternative but to place stands, not so correctly supplied with feathers 

 and flames, in correct proportions, as the schedule set forth. However, the ex- 

 hibitors did their best, but certainly feathered blooms were but few in number, 

 and those not of first-class qualities ; and tlcat was a very favoured stand, indeed, 

 that could boast the required number. On the contrary, flames abounded, and 

 some remarkable specimens were to be seen in the stands, amongst which those 

 chosen for premiers might receive honour-able mention. 



"VVe found beds generally had lost this year their proportion of feathers, these 

 having run into flames, and again flames into selfs in a number of instances. This, 

 doubtless, was owing to the excessive wet wdnter we had passed through. Hogg 

 in his Supplement, published about 1836, makes an observation that winters with 

 heavy snowfalls were sure to bring a superabundance of colouring matter into 

 the Tulip the following season. Now it is questionable whether a fine Tulip, after 

 exhibiting so great a profusion of colour, can ever be brought again to its original 

 fine qualities, so as to bear its exact proportions as in previous years, leaving 

 growers at a loss for varieties for years to come to make up their stands with. 



Mr Haynes of Derby undertook the duties of judge, assisted by three or four 

 of the leading growers, and their decisions wei'e received with satisfaction by the 

 exhibitors generally. The seedlings of Mr Storer formed quite a feature of the 

 exhibition. They are deservedly held on the highest esteem for exhibitional pur- 

 poses, as well as for their attractions on the bed. Several were in the room, 

 as will be seen by running the eye along the stands ; the character of the mark- 

 ings being sharp and clear, and their general constancy, which prevails in the 

 whole, will make them favourites for many years to come. 



The following were the awards : — 



STANDS OF TWELVE BLOOMS. 



First — Mr Hextall, Ashby de la 

 Zouch. — Headley's Adonis, fine ; Walk- 

 er's Duchess of Sutherland, fine flame ; 

 Headley's John Linton, a fine heavy 

 flame, and rich in colours ; Slater's 

 Masterpiece and Charles X., two fair 



feathers; Storer's J. D. Hextall, a 

 richly-coloured flamed Bizarre, full too 

 heavy as shown ; Henry Groom, mode- 

 rate, but of very dull colours ; Lea's 

 Industry and Heroine were fine feath- 

 ers ; Triomphe Royale and Headley's 



