THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 197 



give no testimony of its suitability for greenhouses. Is it not strange, that 

 three gardening periodicals, having an aggregate of many thousand readers, 

 cannot produce, either through correspondents or from the manufacturers them- 

 selves, a plain defence of an invention which was brought out under the distin- 

 guished auspices of Mr. Fleming, of Trentham, and subsequently advertised and 

 sold as the ne plus ultra for possessors of plant houses requiring artificial heat ? 

 Messrs. Thomson have been gently dealt with ; they have had every opportu- 

 nity of explaining, or of adducing instances in which the invention may have 

 given satisfaction, but as they appear to have nothing to say, and none of their 

 customers come forward in their defence, we think we may fairly conclude that 

 Thomson's Gas Stove does not accomplish the end for which it was designed — 

 that it is, in fact, one of the mistakes of horticultural invention. 



Among the forthcoming exhibitions, and which may be regarded as the con- 

 cluding batch of the season, the following are the most important. On 

 Wednesday and Thursday, the 1st and 2nd of September, the Aberdeenshire 

 Horticultural Society will hold a Grand Exhibition, in conjunction with the 

 Highland Society's Cattle Show, at Aberdeen Links. The prize list is not on so 

 grand a scale as we may anticipate the show to be, for they do not amount to £50 

 in the whole, but the pride of Scottish Gardeners' will ensure a display worthy 

 of the city of Aberdeen and its many noble gardens. The 1st of September 

 will be a fete day for London folks who are fond of London flowers. 

 There will be two distinct exhibitions within a stone's throw of each other at 

 Stoke Newington ; one at the Manor Rooms, by the old established society 

 which holds its meeting at the Rochester Castle, and the other at the neighbour- 

 ing Hare and Hounds, where, during the past summer, the proprietor has 

 kept his garden open for the free inspection and entertainment of the public ; 

 Dahlias, hollyhocks, and asters, will be the principal subjects at each of these 

 shows. The 8th of the month is the day for the second show of the Stamford 

 Horticultural Society, the most flourishing of the associations of the Midland 

 Counties. In addition to the published schedule, a silver cup will be given 

 for the best 24 Dahlias; a silver medal for the best 12 fancy Dahlias ; and 

 second, third, and fourth prizes for flowers in the same classes. Extra prizes 

 will also be awarded for the best asters, French and German, in collections of 

 24 and 12 each. These are open to all England, and additonal prizes are de- 

 termined on, for plants in pots. We can but wish well to a society so spiri- 

 tedly conducted. 



At the meeting of the Pomological Society, to be held in the minor room, 

 at St. James's Hall, Piccadilly, on the 9th, the following prizes will be offered, 

 namely ; £2 for the best seedling grape with muscat flavour ; £2 for the best 

 seedling grape not of a muscat flavour ; £2 for the best grape, not a seedling, 

 and not in general commerce ; £2 for the best seedling late strawberry ; and 

 £2 for the best dish of golden Hamburghs. If not taken this year, these 

 prizes will be offered again next season, and repeated until such are brought 

 forward as the society may consider worthy of them. 



The Brighton and Sussex Society, will hold its last exhibition for the season, 

 at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, on the loth and 16th ; and, to conclude the 

 entertainments of the month in London, the 23rd is to be celebrated at St. 

 James's Hall, by the first National Exhibiton of Dahlias, which is to be con- 

 ducted in a similar manner to the late exhibition of Roses in the same place. 

 A liberal subscription has been opened, and the reins of management are in 

 the hands of Mr. Turner, of Slough, and Mr. Keynes, of Salisbury. 



Lovers of the Chrysanthemum will be glad to learn that the directors of 

 the Crystal Palace have announced a grand exhibition of that flower, to take 

 place on the 6th of November. Exhibitors will there command a larger 

 audience, and visitors an abundance of amusement and elbow-room ; but, for 

 examples of culture, Sydenham, with all its facilities for staging and grouping, 

 will never put Stoke Newington in the shade. There it is that the chrysan- 

 themum connoisseur must take his yearly lessons, and make and compare notes. 



