July 10, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUnE AND COTTAGE GABDENRR. 



21 



by the Snperintendcnt of the show as his office, and the other 

 by the Local Secretary ; tlie largest room hciug reserved for 

 the club room. The latter should be uuder the charge of a 

 trusty and well-informed attendant, who might receive all 

 letters addressed to exhibitors at the show ground and distri- 

 bute them to their owners on application ; he might also be 

 the depository of messages, &c. A large room would not be 

 needed, but it should be furnished with a long table and chairs, 

 writing materials, Ac, and might be used for letter- writing, 

 interviews, itc. The building would in reality be the official 

 head-quarters, and, having been seen once, would be recognised 

 readily enough on all future occasions. Frequenters of these 

 shows know too well the bewilderment they are always in as to 

 where the officials are to be met with. With such a structure 

 placed conveniently near the tents, this source of annoyance, 

 loss of time, and inconvenience would be entirely removed, and 

 a desideratum would be supplied by the club room. If expense 

 be a consideration, then I venture to think that exliibitors will 

 cheerfully contribute their share of the cost in order to secure 

 snch a great addition to their comfort. 



Fourth. But now suppose the executive committee to be on 

 the ground in advance, the ofScial head-quarters to be duly in- 

 augurated, the macliinery of the show perfect, there yet remains 

 a lubricating agent wanting to insure the smooth working of 

 the machine. Need I say that courtesy is the lubricator ? I 

 mean, let the Council and their officials then insure a good 

 stock of courtesy to keep things smooth ; let them show a fair 

 consideration to those who alone make these shows a possi- 

 bility — not a fussy condescension, but a thoughtful ijeutlemanly 

 bearing towards their fellow horticulturists, and the future of 

 the provincial shows will be more flourishing than has been 

 their past. — Local Committeeman. 



I EXTiREi.T concur in the pertinent remarks of Mr. Peach 

 relative to the shortcomings of the Royal Horticultural Society, 

 with one exception — his exoneration of the director of floral 

 shows, as he calls him, from any blame. Now, in many of the 

 points I believe the blame to be mainly due to him. He had a 

 cartf blanche for the arrangement of the tent, the Local Com- 

 mittee were willing to allow him whatever he needed, and what 

 was the result ? First of all the tent. This and the arrange- 

 ment are simply a reduced copy of the International Exhi- 

 bition tent designed by Mr. Gibson, and yet show after show 

 we get the same — the same bare poles and beams, the same in- 

 significant cascade, the same absurd fountain. And then the 

 disposition of the plants. Who is accountable for the mal- 

 urr&ngement of them if it be not the director of the floral 

 shows ? Who but he placed Mr Baines's and Messrs. Cole's 

 plants where they were, or hid the splendid Fuchsias out of 

 sight, or filled up the centre with plants ? — interesting, no 

 doubt, but that made no show. He is evidently no originator. 

 That he is no artist one can at once see. Let the difference 

 between the gardens at South Kensington now and what they 

 were bear me out. 



And then t)ie arrangement (?) for the luncheon. Surely it 

 was left to him, and he could have at least arranged that those 

 who were engaged in hard work should have had a quiet meal 

 instead of being mixed up with any who chose to come in. 

 Could not the Council make some change, and place the direc- 

 tion of this provincial show either in the hands of the local 

 committee, or in that of some one who has some taste, and 

 who can combine the fuaviter in modo with tho fvrtiter in re > 



lONORAHUS. 



The Secretary, W. H. Lindsay, Esq., has consulted some of 

 the leading exhibitors and others of sound judgment to ascer- 

 tain what measures should bo adopted xo render the country 

 exhibitions of the Society far more satisfactory than was that 

 recently held at Bath. After much discussion it was unani- 

 mously agreed that each Show should be of four days' dura- 

 tion, commencing on Tuesday, opening each day at 2, and 

 closing at G i'.m. on the Friday, and that articles for exhibition 

 shonld be received not later than 9 a.m. of the first day. The de- 

 sirability was Inlly recognised of having a tent or room on the 

 exhibition ground where the committees and exhibitors can 

 meet. It was unanimously recommended that tlie Council 

 should consult competent persons relative to persons desirable 

 to act as judges, and that the judges should be in threes to 

 each division assigned to them ; also that there shonld be a 

 manager appointed to each tent to give information and to see 

 that care be taken to faciUtate the inspection of tho exhibits. 



Moreover, very strong opinions wpre expressed that exhibitors 

 shonld be shown more attention and courte.sy. 



THE GLADIOLUS. 



It was somewhat curious that the week before Mr. Wither- 

 spoon's letter appeared in the Journal I had been talking to one 

 or two persons as to the probability of nitrate of soda being good 

 for tho Gladiolus. I had noticed the remarkable difference 

 in some fields of Wheat near me where the nitrate had been 

 used, and admired the wonderful glaucous character of the 

 blades ; and although I believe there is no analogy between 

 the Wheat and the Gladiolus, yet it had occurred to me that 

 perhaps what was good for one might be beneficial to tho 

 other, and Mr. Witherspoou's letter clearly establishes tho 

 fact. He does not say how he uses it, or in what proportions, 

 and as he ha,s found it so beneficial, it would be a boon to 

 many to know more about it. By-the-by. in writing about the 

 advice given by some to plant in new ground and deprecating 

 it, I had not Mr. Witherspoon in my thoughts, but, notwith- 

 standing what he says about the wireworms not liking the 

 nitrate, I am not quite convinced ; they seem so impenetrable 

 to anything that I have ever tried, that I should be delighted 

 to hear that anything was too much for them. 



As far as we have gone this season I can say my Gladiolus 

 look well ; but, then, I never like to rely on their appearance, 

 as so many things come in to mar one's hopes and prospects. 

 I hardly think that the spikes will be quite so large, but there 

 is a good deal of health in the shoots, which makes me hope- 

 ful. My friend, Mr. Banks, complains of his having suffered 

 by the dry weather ; from other growers the accounts vary, but 

 probably in a week or two we shall hear more about them. — 

 D., Deal. 



THE BOTAL VINEYAED GRAPE. 



In the Journal of June 2Gth (page 507), "J. T." holds up 

 this as " a first-class late white Grape," but does it set freely? 

 A few years since I gave the result of my experience of this, 

 the worst-setting Grape I know, and how I succeeded in set- 

 ting every berry by simply drawing the hand over the bunch 

 when in flower, charging tho hand with pollen from Lady 

 Downe's, which is in flower at the same time. I agree with 

 " J. T." that it is of vigorous constitution and a good bearer, 

 producing splendid bunches and berries with a Muscat flavour. 

 What few berries can be kept remain plump up to February. 

 I have never, however, succeeded in sending a presentable 

 bunch to table ; more than half the bunch has to bo cut during 

 the ripening of the part which remains, being so much affected 

 with spot, or something in appearance more like a scorch, but 

 scorch it cannot be, as the foliage is so dense. This spot, as 

 I shall call it, commences just as the fruit is swelled-off to its 

 full size, and goes on more or less until fully half the bunch is 

 gone. I tried the Vice pots, and had good bunches and ber- 

 ries, but the result was the same as in the case of the Vine 

 which is planted in tho border. I have it planted on a south- 

 east wall outside, where it is equally vigorous and prolific ; but 

 our summers have not been so warm during the last two years. 

 In 1870 I had one tolerable bunch from outside, which was 

 nearly ripe and quite eatable. 



I would not recommend this Grape to anyone. Wo retain 

 it simply because we can make up a dish of the bits of bunches 

 to go along with Lady Downe's for very late use. Muscat of 

 Alexandria, if properly managed, will keep to go with Lady 

 Downe's, and for size of bunch and berry we have no Grape to 

 equal it. Like Mr. Douglas, I cannot see any improvement in 

 our new late Grapes. Give me Black Hamburgh, true, and a 

 Muscat of Alexandria ; I would grow nothing else to any ex- 

 tent. I could enumerate many meritorious Grapes ; but if I 

 only had space for two Vines, the Black Hamburgh and Mus- 

 cat of .(Vlexandria would be the two. — C. M. McCeow, The 

 Oardens, Nash Cotvrt, 7iear Faversham, Kent. 



Mktbopohtan Flobal Society. — Will you allow me to an- 

 nounce to our members, and to florists generally, that tho 

 autumn Show of this Society will be held in one of the oldest 

 haunts of the older generation of florists now rapidly passing 

 awpy — tlie Koyal Surrey Zoological Gardens, and tliat the 

 schedule will be more liberal than we have been enabled to 

 offer for the last three years, that the competition will be ex- 

 clusively for flowers, and that every effort will bo made to 

 make it a success. The days fixed for it are August 20th and 



