IRISH GARDENING. 



IX 



SHOWS. 



Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland. 



Summer Show. 



I. Gener.^l. 



The summer show of the Ro)al Horticultural Society 

 was held in Merrion Square on July 20th in splendid 

 weather. There was a larg:e number of visitors, and 

 throughout the afternoon the grounds presented a very 

 animated appeamnce. Her Excellency the Countess of 

 .•Vberdeen paid a visit to the show during the after- 

 noon, and spent a considerable time examining the 

 exhibits. The entries in the various classes were well 

 up to the average, and the exhibits throughout were of 

 a verv high standard. 



There was good competition for Lord .Ardilaun's cup 

 for roses, which went to Mr. W. H. Calvert, of 

 Helen's Bay, for a fine stand of blooms. Mr. C. M. 

 Doyne, of Gorey, was successful in the class for dahlias 

 (24 blooms), the flowers being excellent in form and 

 quality. 



The cup for carnations brought a fine prize-winning 

 exhibit from Dr. Mark McDonald, of Portaferry, which 

 included the varieties — Rory Buchanan, Miss Wilmott. 

 The sweet pea challenge cup went to Mr. Edward 

 Uowdy for eighteen bunches, which were splendidly 

 staged. 



In class 1 1 for garden roses there was keen com- 

 petition, but the exhibits appeared rather stiff, and 

 scarcely did justice to these valuable decorative kinds. 



Malmaison carnations were well shown, the first 

 prize being awarded to Captain Greer for an exhibit of 

 th.-it excellent variety. Princess of Wales. 



The fruit shown was of good quality, with most 

 classes well filled. The loganberr)' is evidently gain- 

 ing favour, the entries of this very useful fruit becoming 

 more numerous each year. 



A gold medal was awarded to Messrs. Drummond 

 for their exhibit of herbaceous plants. The Japanese 

 iris was especially noticeable, and the whole group 

 formed a most attractive feature of the show. There 

 was only one exhibit of vegetables, and this was very 

 nicely staged. It is to be hoped that the classes for 

 vegetables at the autumn show will be better filled. 

 .Anyone who has seen the magnificent displays of 

 vegetables staged at shows in other centres cannot but 

 deplore the very slight interest taken in this branch of 

 the society's work. 



.■\ group of roses staged by Mr. Hugh Dickson, in- 

 cluding the varieties Betty, Ljon, Jules Grolez, and the 

 the popular Frau. Karl Druschki, attracted much 

 attention. Herbaceous plants were very nicely shown 

 by Reamsbottom & Co. Messrs. .Alex. Dickson & Sons, 

 who again made use of a dark green background, had 

 put up an excellent stand of these plants in which we 

 noticed that particularly fine chrysanthemum maximum 

 " Lothian Bell." Messrs. Pennick's stand included some 

 fine Oenotheras and potentillas, as well as a nice col- 

 lection of rock plants. 



-A new sweet pea, "The Colleen," of Messrs. \V. 

 Deal, was not in very good form at the show, but it 

 appears to be a promising variety. A first class certifi- 



cate of merit was awarded to a new seedling carnation, 

 .Mrs. Laidlaw, which the judges asked to have again 

 brought before them. The table of plants sent by her 

 Excellency the Countess of .Aberdeen, in which the 

 carnations were particularly good, was awarded a 

 cultural certificate. The arrangements for the show 

 had been well thought out, and though there was at 

 times difficulty in getting about, owing to the attention 

 attracted by particular exhibits, there was never any 

 confusion. The secretary has, apparently, warmed up 

 to his work, and both he and the executive body are to 

 be sincerely congratulated on the results of this year's 

 summer show. 



II. Roses. 



Roses at the Royal Horticultural Show were on 

 the whole good, considering that the climate at the 

 present time has not been genial. In some classes 

 the competition was most spirited ; and what is more 

 satisfactocy to the society than this? 



In the 24 or cup class, Mr. Calvert won with a power- 

 ful and heavy stand, his best blooms being White 

 Cochet, Mrs. T. Roosevelt, and Hugh Dickson. Dr, J. 

 Campbell Hall was second, his box containing several 

 seedlings of his own raising— viz., Mrs. J. C. Hall, 

 (Tea), Mrs. Dacre Hamilton, and an unnamed seedling of 

 a fine scarlet colour. In the 18 H. T.s, Dr. O'Donel 

 Browne showed a level, even lot, for which he was 

 awarded first prize, his best blooms being J. B. Clark, 

 Mildred Grant, and Marquise of Lita. Dr. Campbell 

 Hall was a close second, his best bloom being Killarney. 

 There was spirited competition in the 12 blooms. In the 

 six lights {or six any one variety) there was a great 

 turn out, nearly all the exhibitors using Frau. K. 

 Druschki (purest \\hite). This class was well won by Mr. 

 Crozier, Dr. Browne being a very close second. The 

 six darks were poor. In the smaller classes perhaps 

 the best and neatest was Mrs. M 'Camus' stand of 

 twelve blooms — clean, fresh, and very level and even 

 in size. In the biggest class for Teas Dr. Browne had 

 a walk over, his best being White Cochet and Mme. 

 Constant Soupert. The other Teas were good, Maman 

 Cochet being very prominent. 



Turning to the nurserymen, Messrs. Hugh Dickson 

 were first, beating Messrs. Alex. Dickson in the 72 

 and 12 new roses, but the order was reversed in the 24 

 Teas. Both firms were very strong, and showed re- 

 markable blooms. In Hugh Dickson's stand the best 

 blooms were Hugh Dickson, Lyon Rose (superb), 

 Comtesse de Ludre, Horace Vernet, Charles J. 

 Grahame (very fine), and Lohengrin. Alex. Dickson 

 showed many seedlings, notable amongst which were 

 Brightness (grand), George Dickson, Lady Helen 

 Vincent, Nita Weldon. In the 24 Teas Alex. Dickson 

 were alone, their bo.x containing lovely novelties to 

 this grand class — Mrs. Mawley, Mrs. Foley Hobbs, 

 Alex. Hill Gray, Nita Weldon, and manj' others. In 

 the 12 news amongst Hugh Dickson's flowers I saw 

 Lyon Rose (grand), Mrs. Stewart Clarke, Renee Wilmart- 

 L'rban, whilst Alex. Dickson showed magnificent 

 blooms of .Avoca, Nita Weldon, W. E. Lippiatt. The 

 class for table of roses was left alone to Hugh Dickson, 

 who did it splendidly, but it was lost in being placed in 

 the sweet pea tent. " Spy. " 



