JOUKNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGK GAEDEN'ER. 



517 



ami imUistry, to carry on the business of <a mai-lcet gardener ? 

 Could we not raise funds at a single stroke to start us on an 

 extensive fruit and vegetable farm, and, if need be, add to 

 ourselves that of nursery and seedsmen ? Brother of the 

 spade, let us j^ut forth our strength ; let us show to the world 

 that we are above the secret and underhand deaUug which 

 precedes and results in a strike ; let us find for our brethren 

 out of employment profitable employment, give them an in- 

 terest in the cause, wliich they would have by placing at the 

 disposal of the concern the moneys they are bound to expend 

 in maintaining themselves and families between leaving one 

 place and securing another. It would be a gain to us all. 

 We should be able to give employment to all our unemijloyed, 

 and I have no doubt would return good interest on the funds 

 invested. 



Such, then, is the union I consider needful for gardeners, 

 and not only for them, but those engaged in every other branch 

 of industry. We need self-help, self-improvement, as well as 

 that which is mutual, extending to others. Let everyone 

 now commence. It is never too late to begin a good work. 

 True, we have shown very great antipathy to every movement 

 having for its object the bettering of our position as members 

 of a useful art. It will be remembered by many of the readers 

 of this Journal, that in the spring of 1863 the subject was 

 brought prominently before them (see JonRXAL of Hoeticul- 

 TUKE, vol. iv., New Series, page 189), that it ended in the 

 propounding of a Benefit Society (vol. iv., page 305), and 

 my views on the subject wUl be found at page 345 of vol. v. 

 Since then they have undergone no change. I say now as I 

 said then, that the whole scheme as first propounded will ulti- 

 mately be carried out with the unanimous consent of all 

 sections of the gardening community. Of unions framed only 

 with a view to the advancement of gardeners as apart from 

 the interest of other parts of the great and powerful gai'dening 

 community, I am equally sanguine that they will fail, and I 

 appeal to them as an " iuteUigent and industrious class," to 

 refrain from a movement that is calculated to end only in 

 disaster. 



Of the second circular little need be said. Everything 

 is set forth in the circular and paper accompanying " The 

 Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution, instituted in 1838. 

 For providing relief by means of pension for life for aged 

 gardeners, their widows, and others connected with horticul- 

 tural pursuits." There is no disputing the value of a society 

 such as this ; it is one eminently suited to the gardener. The 

 time is not of a veiy late date when gardeners could shield 

 themselves, or have an excuse, for not subscribing to its funds 

 from their having no more prospect of being placed on its 

 funds than anyone who had not contributed to them. Happily 

 there is now no necessity for seeking election by a round- 

 about and expensive course of canvassing members. All that 

 is now necessary is to contribute for fifteen consecutive years, 

 and then preference is given to such contributors over non- 

 subscribers, or subscribers for a less number of years. Let us 

 hope none of us will need such aid ; but as the best of us know 

 not what is to befall us through life, ought we not to lay up in 

 store against the evil, which is tlie better for us if it do not 

 come, better again if it come and find us prepared? Shall we, 

 then, give this excellent charity nothing but the cold shoulder ? 

 I say not. Those who ajre not subscribers ought at once to 

 send in their names, and we shall have the pleasure of feeling 

 that we are doing good whilst we live, and is there not more 

 pleasure in giving than receiving ? 



In hope that some measures may be taken to reheve the 

 suffering of gardeners in adversity and affliction, I commend 

 these observations to all classes of the gardening community, in 

 the firm belief that they are just and commendable. — G. Abbey. 



EOYAL HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY'S 

 EXHIBITION AT BIRMINGHAM. 



June 25 to 29. 

 There ai-e some places in the world that we do not readily 

 associate with flower shows, and perhaps if anyone were to be 

 asked off-hand where the best, most extensive, and varied 

 exhibition connected with horticulture had been held of late 

 years he would hardly have said, unless he were better ac- 

 quainted with the people, Birmingham ; yet when we recoUect 

 that the poultry and dog shows of Birmingham take precedence 

 of all others, and that a cup won there is a higher honour than 

 one taken anywhere else, we might suppose, if once the in- 



habitants pnt their shoulders to the wheel, they would initiate 

 an exhibition of equal importance in its way. Time was when 

 Birmingham was associated in the minds of most with that 

 only which was trumpery. " Brummagem " became a synonym 

 for a sham, and its traders were looked upon as simply smart 

 and unscrupulous. It was said, we know not how truly, that 

 the same ship which carried out some devoted missionary, who 

 left home and kindred to tight the battle of the Cross in heathen 

 lands, can-ied out also casks of idols chiefly manufactured at 

 Bh-mingham ; that Bu-mingham traders suppUed the guns with 

 which New Zealand chiefs cariied on their wars_ with the 

 EngUsh colonists ; and that even now many a claim in the 

 Cape diamond fields has been sold above its value by the 'cute 

 owner scattering about it a few Bh-mingham-made diamonds. 

 Now, however, Bu-mingham from its numerous trades and 

 occupations, more especially in all connected with metals, has 

 become the worship of the world ; its merchants are princes ; 

 and nowhere can we meet with more remarkable examples of 

 what men call " self-made men," nor any place where art has 

 received more liberal encouragement. Witness Mr. GiUott, 

 the steel pen manufacturer, who in his early days made the 

 pens in a garret while his wife poUshed them, and whose col- 

 lection of modern pamtings of the English school sold for 

 188,000 guineas; or Josiah Mason, who commenced life as a 

 cake-seller in the streets of Kidderminster, but who at Bir- 

 mingham made his large fortune, which he has so nobly ex- 

 pended in foimdiug and endowing, at a cost of £250,000, an 

 orphanage for children and almshouses for aged women. But 

 there ! I am not going to write a history of Birmingham or 

 tell of all its deeds ; anyone who wants to know about it may 

 consult Mr. Tanner's "Industrial History of Bii-mingham and 

 the Midland Hardware District," or some very readable articles 

 in the " Leisirre Hour " of this year. 



There is one name, however, connected with Bu-rmngham 

 and with horticulture we cannot pass by— one noble-mhided 

 woman whose name, perhaps, is likely to be forgotten in that 

 of her husband, but without whose aid his works would pro- 

 bably never have been produced— Mrs. J. C. Loudon, who was a. 

 native of the neighbourhood, and who, when all her husband's 

 earnings were absorbed in his great work, the " Arboretum 

 and Fruticetum," for many years supported her family by her 

 pen ; and who, when he was compiling his " Encyclopc^dia of 

 Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture," says herself, "Mr. 

 Loudon and I used to sit up the greater part of evei-y night, 

 never having more than four hours' sleep, and drinking strong 

 coffee to keep ourselves awake." 



That the people of Birmingham can appreciate horticulture 

 and gardenhig is proved by the fact of theii- purchasing Aston 

 Hall and grounds, and which in 1858 were opened by_ our 

 gracious Queen, by one of whose sons the present Exhibition 

 is also opened. The enthusiasm on that occasion was so great; 

 that the whole distance from the Town Hall to the park, nearly 

 three miles, was lined with galleries tilled with spectators; 

 and amidst the toucMng scenes of that visit nothmg was more 

 remarkable than the assemblage of 47,000 children, who, as the 

 Queen passed, each took up then- refrain, and many a one heard 

 the sweet chUdren's voices with a full heart. No such gather- 

 mg took place on Tuesday last, but crowds of people who gladly 

 welcomed the young son of Her Majesty testified, by the hearti- 

 ness of their reception, that the old loyal feeling of England 

 stUl remained. 



Tuesday, the day of Prince Arthur's entrance mto the town, 

 the whole place was en fete. Bunting to an enormous extent 

 was displayed in everv direction, but more especially in the 

 route traversed by the Prince. Triumphal arches were erectvd 

 at various mtervals, and immense masses of people were con- 

 gregated in the streets ; the shops were closed early, and at 

 night the whole town was briUiantly Ulummated, and no one 

 would have imagined that they were in the town of which 

 Thomas Attwood and John Bright are the political idols- 



As I am writing for those who are not present at the Show, 

 and not for those who are, I may as well, before entenug on 

 my own special department, give a general outline of the 

 ground. A reference to the plan published in last weeks 

 Journal will show that the shape of the ground is triangular, 

 the base of the triangle being about half of the sides. At this 

 base the principal tent, containing the stove and greenhouse, 

 fine-fohaged plants. Ferns, Palms, Geraniums, Ac, is placed. 

 This tent is laid out in a style similar to that at the Inter- 

 national Exhibition and at Nottuigham ; but I may say that 

 the arrangement is the best I have seen, the banks or terraces 

 are wider and more shallow than I have seen tjiem before, and 



