.300 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ Jime 20, 187: 



mode of address will be, Mr. A B , Qidlter's Holte Hotel, 



Aston, Birmiugham. 



G, The Local Committee have arranged for many of the lead- 

 ing manufactories in Birmiugham and district to be open for 

 inspection, free of charge, on production of an introduction from 

 the Local Hon. Sec, Mr. E. W. Badger, who wiU be on the show 

 ground all the days of the Show. A complete list of these 

 manufactories will be issued in the oiHcial catalogue, which will 

 contain a list of exhibitors in the horticultural and implement, 

 itc, dejiartments ; a complete list of horticultural buildings, 

 heating apparatus, garden implements, garden furniture, gar- 

 den engines, vases, and other decorative appUances, wirework, 

 &c., exhibited at the Show. 



7, The Show will be opened on Tuesday next, at one o'clock, 

 by H.K.H. Prince Arthur. Holders of tickets will be admitted 

 to the gardens adjoining the show ground at 11 a.m., but none 

 others will be admitted imtil after l^.'SO. As soon as the Prince 

 has entered the great Kxhibition tent the barriers will be with- 

 drawn, and the visitors assembled will be allowed to enter the 

 show grounds, where at one o'clock precisely an address from 

 the Local Committee will be presented to H.K.H. Prince 

 .Vrthur, who, after replying, will declare the Exhibition open. 



8, At half -past one a public luncheon, at which the Pi-ince will 

 be present, will take place in a marf|uee in the grounds. Pro- 

 vision will be made for five hundred guests. The luncheon will 

 he of the best possible character, the charge for which, including 

 wines (which are to be of first-class quality), will be 21s. for 

 gentlemen, 16s. for ladies. Immediate application must be made 

 tor luncheon tickets to Mr. A. Forrest, 10, CheiTy Street, Bir- 

 mingham. Prizes amounting to t^O have been offered for the 

 floral decoration of the luncheon-tables. 



9, The Horticultural Congress will take place on Wednesday 

 and Thursday, 26th and 27th iust., at four o'clock each day. 



10, On Wedjiesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday the Ex- 

 hibition will open at 10 .i.m., and close at half-past 7 p. si., and 

 the ground will be cleared at 8, except on Satui'day, when it will 

 close at 6 p.m. 



11, On every day except Tuesday an ordinary will be provided 

 jit a time to be announced. The charge will be moderate, and 

 it is to be hoped that this arrangement will afford more oppor- 

 tunities for social intercourse than the usual gardeners' dinner. 

 The chair will be taken each day by some well-known horticul- 

 tiu'ist. A cold dinner will be provided daily for those who 

 lu'efer it. 



12, Ample arrangements as to refreshments generally have 

 been made. 



In our next number we shall publish a full and illustrated 

 report of the Exhibition. 



We are happy to be able to auuouuoe that Messrs. Sutton 

 accede to the suggestion which has been made to them, and 

 win not withhold the special prize offered by them for the 

 best collection of six sorts of Peas iu the event of its not in- 

 cluding then- new late Pea, " Best of All," which may not be 

 ready in time owing to the backward season. 



8TKAY NOTES ON THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY'S SHOW AT SOUTH KENSINGTON, 



June .5. 

 In the palmy days of the old Chiswick shows it was often 

 urged iu the gardening iieriodicals of the time, that employers 

 of gardeners ought to afford them the means of visiting one 

 show each year, so as to enable them to see what was going on 

 in the horticultui'al world. Times, however, have altered since 

 then, and although the liOudon sliows have multiplied, they 

 have lost the attraction they once possessed, partly in conse- 

 Huence of provincial exhibitions competing with them, and 

 partly owing to the abseuce of new or striking productions, or, 

 indeed, owing to such shows following too much in the same 

 track. Be this as it may, it is certain that the metropolitan horti- 

 cultural shows of the present day do not attract in equal degree 

 the class of visitors who used to throng the gi-ouuds of old 

 Chiswick upwards of twenty-five years ago. I remember the 

 crowds that followed a foreign prince — I believe it was Ibraham 

 Pasha — through the tents at one of the shows before the period 

 alluded to, and the glowing accounts of the exhibition that were 

 given in the papers at the time ; now, excepting in journals de- 

 voted to gardening,' the details in the daily papers are often 

 meagre and imperfect. Nevertheless, horticultural shows have 

 their attractions ; enthusiastic admirers of fruits and flowers 

 continue stUl to assemble in tolerable force, their numbers 

 being materially increased by that very numerous class which 

 may be called fashionable loungers or sightseers, and a recent 

 visit to a show at South Kensington enabled me to foi-m some 

 kind of judgment as to how far the objects there exhibited met 

 the general approval of the mass. Some other jottings or 

 criticism may likewise be acceptable to such of your readers as 



waut to know something more than the official details of the 

 prizetakers. 



The whole of the exhibition was under canvas, one large tent 

 being devoted to gi'oups of Rhododendrons from an entei-prising 

 nurseryman iu Surrey; another large tent contained all the 

 plants and cut flowers, and a third and similar one the fruit. 

 The contents of the last-named tent need veiy little comment, 

 as that has been already made by others, but in general it 

 may be said the Black Hambm'gh CiraxJes were good and well 

 coloured. The other black Grapes were not so good, and iu- 

 diftereutly coloured. Black Prince taking a prize ; and as this 

 variety generally colours best of any, it ought not to have been 

 so. White Graj)es, including some of the largest and best-grown 

 bunches of Muscats, iu most cases were not ripe. Golden 

 Champion and Foster's White Seedling were far from ripe. 

 Peaches and Nectarines were very good; but there was a lack 

 of Cherries. Melons it is so difficult to judge, that only those 

 who have the privilege of tasting can give any opinion of their 

 merit ; they were not so numerous as I have sometimes seen, 

 nor AVere there any that I should admire for their appearance, 

 and that is a point of great importance. Strawberries consisted 

 of President, Sir Charles Napier, and British Queen, all pretty 

 good. Pines were not so large as at a September show, antl, 

 excepting one Cayenne, they seemed aU Queens. Figs were 

 also exhibited, and one grower had sent a dish of Loquats — a 

 fruit not by any means plentiful. Oranges, Lemons, and Citrons 

 were also shown, and not the least interesting of the fruit were 

 specimens of Apples of 1870, 1871, and 1872, those of the first 

 two years being Easter Pippin or French Crab. 



Passing on to the large plant tent, I found, on entering, that 

 the ground had been formed into embankments "\vith steps or 

 small terraces on which to jjlace the plants— a plan that receives 

 a much higher degi-ee of praise elsewhere than I am disposed to 

 give it ; for although there are many instances iu which it 

 answers admirably, and shows off the j)lants to the best advan- 

 tage, I thiuk it is not so desirable for displaying the large plants. 

 In most instances the exhibitors of these had found it necessary 

 to prop-up the back of their plants to a degree that made it 

 painful to look at them lest they should tojiple over. It struck 

 me forcibly at the time that if these large plants could exchange 

 places with the general public, so as to give the latter the higher 

 ground, the x>lants would in reality look better, and there would 

 be no occasion for that ugly tilting on one side. Besides, the 

 exhibition plants of a pendulous character are so few that there 

 would not be mucli loss if this were done, and if the plants were 

 «ewed more from above there would be less excuse for that 

 vei-y unnatural mode of tying-iu and trimming so often met 

 with, and which, iu my opinion, spoiled a very fine Ixora with, 

 probably, upwards of threescore blooms ; the shoots of this 

 plant had been twisted about in all directions to spread the 

 flowers over the front of the specimen — an unnatiual process 

 which I hope to see in a great nieasiu'e abandoned. Some Aza- 

 leas accompanying this plant were less stiff and formal than 

 they usually are, but several other plants were kept iu stays. 

 Some there were in which the tying-up contrivance formed the 

 principal object to look at. Much of this, I thiuk, might be 

 avoided if a new arrangement could be made of the ground, 

 foi-miug in places sunken panels for large plants, and others 

 either on the level or slightly raised, as is generally the case. 

 I know I am speaking something very much like treason to find 

 fault with the plant shows of the present day, but I hope to Uvc 

 to see this suggestion carried out, and to see such plants as 

 are capable of supjiorting themselves without sticks and ties 

 being allowed to do so. A little wajTvarduess of gTowth and 

 flowering are not so offensive to good taste as the truly artificial 

 mode so often adopted. An open expression of pubhc dislike 

 to such artificial treatment would do much towards securing the 

 exhibition of plants with a more uatund appearance, and if it 

 were insisted that only such plants were admissible for prizes, 

 they would be siu'e to be forthcoming. 



Turning to other parts of the Show, I may add that a much 

 more attractive feature (judging by the numbers who hngered 

 over them) was a collection of new plants exhibited by Messrs. 

 Veitch, and certainly there was much to admire in them. Here, 

 again, I was soiTy to see the number of flowering plauts was 

 veiy few — in fact, I am not sm'e if the whole were not there as 

 being remarkable for their foUage. This is unfortunate, as the 

 number of exhibition flowering plants has been diminishing 

 instead of increasing of late years, while those remarkable for 

 their foliage receive additions almost eveiy day. There were 

 certainly promising-looking plants amongst Messrs. Veitch's 

 collection, not the least interesting being some that evidently 

 would become hardy. 



I will now advert to another feature — namely, a collection of 

 flowers from bulbous plants exhibited by Messrs. Hooper, of 

 Covent Garden Market ; this was one of the gayest objects iu 

 the Show, the varieties of Ixias, Babiana, Sparaxis, Iris, &c., 

 presenting almost every imaginable hue, including bright gTeeu 

 and a good black. The flowers were all named, but perhaps a 

 Utile crowded iu the stand, aud if the beholder could have seen 



