September 11, 1878. 1 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



191 



TVe pass over for the present Classes 79 and 80 for twenty-four 

 and twelve varieties of Potatoes, as they were, as before said, 

 in a separate tent. In the next. Class 81, for two Cauliflowers, 

 there was a large entry, but the prize was easily won by Mr. 

 Hunter, gardener to the Earl of Durham— another instance of a 

 gardener successful both in fruit and vegetables. 



In Cabbages, white, the prize was won by two huge specimens, 

 which would have required nothing much less than a twenty- 

 gallon copper to have boiled them in, and two cooks to have 

 taken them out when boiled. The competition for Savoys was 

 close, and the Judges must have had some difficulty in coming 

 to their awards. The same may be said, too, with regard both 

 to spring-sown Onions, for which there were nearly fifty entries, 

 and for Tripoli, in which Mr. W. Skinner, of Cheltenham, gar- 

 dener to H. AskaU, Esq., carried off the prize with Large Red. 

 For Turnips, six white and six yellow, there was a very pretty 

 dish shown by Mr. A. Fallows, of Stretford, very small and very 

 clean, to which was awarded the first prize, the second falling 

 to Mr. J. Rylands, Warrington. 



There was a remarkably good collection of Carrots shown, the 

 first prize being adjudged to Mr. E. Smith, Cheltenham, for a 

 short but even Carrot, very clean in the skin, called Nantes ; 

 the second to Mr. J. Turk for Long Red. The whole class was 

 good. We cannot say the same for the next class, the Peas, for 

 though there were about sixty entries, yet there were none of 

 any particular merit ; still it is somewhat late for good Peas. 



The Dwarf Kidney Beans were good, the first prize being 

 carried off by Mr. Lumsden, gardener to Lady M. Nesbit Hamil- 

 ton, Sleaford. In twenty-four pods of Scarlet Rimners there 

 was also a large competition. 



The Vegetable Marrows comprised, as usual, every size and 

 quality from the huge Pumpkin Squash to the Vegetable Cream. 

 This is always a difiicult class to adjudge, and the Judges, 

 wisely in our opinion, gave the prize to some medium-sized 

 evenly-grown Marrows fit for present use. 



For the brace of Cucumbers we may almost repeat our re- 

 marks. These were shown in every size and every quality — long 

 and short, rough and smooth, dark green and light green ; there 

 were Cucumbers out of the fifty-three entries which would suit 

 every taste. The first prize was won by a very smooth and 

 round, and evenly-grown pair, shown by Mr. Fallows, of Stret- 

 ford. Mr. John Heywood, of Stretford, was second ; and Messrs. 

 CopeUnd & Doran, of Stretford, fourth, and, oddly enough, these 

 were the only exhibitors from Stretford, and each won a prize. 

 Are the good people of Stretford particularly fond of salmon ? 



Classes 94 and 9.5, for Lettuces, were not good. In Class 96, 

 for Celery, Red ; and 97, for Celery, White, the exhibits were 

 good and the competition close. The other exhibits of G-ourds, 

 Beet, and Leeks do not require much notice. 



We will now turn to the Potato tent, which to our mind was 

 the most interesting feature in the vegetable exhibition. Lovers 

 of the assthetic art might say there was not much to please the 

 eye in a large tent about 100 feet by .W, devoted entirely to Pota- 

 toes in dishes, there being no less than 8G1 dishes in competition, 

 and one hundred varieties shown by Mr. Harrison, of Leicester, 

 not for competition ; but unless all the dishes were cooked, there 

 is no better way of judging the merits o IPotatoes than by com- 

 paring the diBerent qualities of sorts as shown from different 

 localities. In Class 79, for twenty-four varieties of Potatoes, 

 eight in a dish, there were thirty-two entries, but nine of them 

 did not exhibit. The first prize was carried off by Lady Mary 

 Hamilton, of Sleaford, gardener Mr. Lumsden. Second by Mr. 

 Peter MacKinlay, Beckenham. Third by Mr. Richard Dean, of 

 Ealing. The winning collection comprised the following: — 

 Harrison's Red-skinned Flourball, coarse; Early Rose, Bresee's 

 Prolific and Peerless, both coarse ; Callao, a deep red variety ; 

 King of the Earlies, The Bloomer ; Lapstone, good ; Climax ; 

 Ashtop Fluke, very fine and good ; Dunbar Regent, a fine-look- 

 ing Potato ; Carter's Maincrop, a fine-looking red variety, but 

 wc are informed of questionable quality ; Victoria (Paterson's), 

 good ; Prizetaker, fine ; Paxton's Woneler, Prince 'Teck, Milky 

 White, Willard, a very coarse-looking red ; Jackson's Seedling, 

 promising ; Sandringham Kidney, Veitch's Improved Ashleaf, 

 Dorrington Hero, the three last much of the same class of 

 Potato. The above lot of Potatoes were on the whole fine, but 

 seemed deficient in quality, especially the Americans, which 

 were very full of eyes. In the second-prize lot, by Mr. Peter 

 MacKinlay, of Beckenham, were Prince of Wales, fine; Late 

 Bose, coarse ; Hayes Kidney ; Early Rose, rough ; Bresee's Peer- 

 less, fine-looking; Salmon Kidney, good; Hundredfold, Climax, 

 Bresee's ProUflc, Ashtop Fluke, Duncan Seedling, red and 

 coarse ; Pioneer, a white Kidney ; Early Emperor, red ; Head- 

 ley Nonpareil, showing signs of disease ; King of the Flukes, 

 and King, these were in our opinion quite identical, neither of 

 them being King of the Flukes; Lady Paget, Royal Albert, 

 Lapstone, good ; Wheeler's Milky White, Sextus, a very good- 

 looidng Potato, Parkes' Seedling, Rcston Pippin, diseased; 

 and Chanapion. The third prize was won by Jlr. li. Dean, of 

 Ealin", with a very interesting collection, comprising some of 

 Mr. Fenu'g seedlings, and some very high-quality Potatoes, 



decidedly better in point of quality than the first two oollections, 

 though not BO large. Among the best, Woodstock Kidney, 

 Seedling of 1871, Feun, English Rose, Rector of Woodstock, 

 Onwards, all seedlings of Mr. Form's, with remarkably fine skius 

 and small eyes. There was also a promising seedling of Mr. 

 Dean's called Cottager's Red. Waterloo, Lapstone, and Yorkshire 

 Hero were also very fine, though we are inclined to think York- 

 shire Hero only an improved Lapstone, and doubt if it is really 

 a variety, but only a selection. The worst two Potatoes in this 

 collection were Scotch Blue and Sm-prise. Amongst others. King 

 of the Flukes was the best we have ever seen of this sort, and 

 a kind called Belgian Kidney seemed nearly identical with 

 Salmon Kidney. Are they synonymous ? 



In the class for twelve varieties there were forty entries, of 

 which there were twenty-six exhibited. Here the first prize 

 was easily carried off by Mr. Dean, and we never remember to 

 have seen a better quality of Potatoes exhibited. The varieties 

 were a selection from those shown in the twenty-four, and we 

 need not particularise, except to notice the very fine examples 

 of Rector of Woodstock, Onwards, and Y'orkshire Hero. The 

 second prize was again adjudged to Mr. Peter MacKinlay for a 

 collection which we liked better than his twenty-foiu", as some 

 of the coarser ones were eliminated. 



The collection of a hundred varieties of Potatoes shown by 

 Messrs. Harrison & Sons, Leicester, was very interesting, but our 

 space will not permit us to particularise further. Of one thing 

 we were convinced, that Hundredfold is only an old variety, 

 called Gleesou's Late, come up again under a new name. The 

 two were shown near together in this collection, and we could 

 not find any difference whatever. This Exhibition has more 

 than ever confirmed us in our opinion that we need not go 

 to America for new sorts of Potatoes, nearly every kind of 

 American Potato exhibited being coarse, with deep-set eye?, 

 or with a gi'eat number of protuberant eyes on the flat part of 

 the Potato. They may be great croppers, but unless they are 

 far better than they look we are gaining in quantity at the ex- 

 pense of quality ; and if immunity from disease is aimed at, 

 owing to stronger and more vigorous growth, we can only say 

 that almost the firBt specimens of thorouglily dise.ased Potatoes 

 we have seen this year were Red-skinued Flourball, which 

 were pronounced proof against disease, and we do not believe any 

 Potato has ever or will ever achieve the hoped-for pedestal of 

 fame of being able to resist the insidious attacks of the "Pero- 

 nospora infestans," and at all events we seem at present to be 

 stepping in the wrong direction when the exhibition tables are 

 filled with such sorts as Early and Late Rose, &c. 



We must not omit honourable mention of a very large and 

 fine assortment of vegetables shown by the Loughborough Hor- 

 ticultural Society in one of Mr. Perry, of Banbury's, greenhouses. 

 We especially noticed the Cauliflowers, Veitch's Autumn Giant 

 being very fine. The Onions were also very good, likewise the 

 Potatoes. We append the following particulars furnished to us 

 by Mr. Pickworth : — " There were thirty-nine different kiuils 

 of vegetables, all gi'own within a radius of three miles of Lough- 

 borough, and almost exclusively the jiroductious of amateurs 

 and artisans. As nearly as could be ascertained, the weight 

 exceeded a ton. They were staged by Messrs. Smith, Hickling, 

 and Mounteny, of Loughborough ; Mr. McLean, gardener t > 

 Col. Packe, of Prestwold Hall ; and Mr. Lane, gardener to W. 

 P. Herrick, Esq., of Beau Manor Park, President of the 

 Loughborough Horticultural Society. Regret was felt at the 

 small competition in this class, as the Loughborough Society 

 sent their collection more to measure their strength than for 

 pecuniary compensation. The expense incurred exceeded i'20, 

 all of which was met by the contributors, the Society's funds 

 not being interfered with." 



CUT FLOWERS. 

 Although fruit and vegetables formed the main feature of this 

 grand autumnal Exhibition, the finest that has ever been held, 

 yet with that wisdom which has for years marked the proceed- 

 ings of the Manchester Botanical Society, flowers and plants 

 formed by no means a contemptible portion of it. Liberal prizes 

 were offered, and the result was the gathering together a fine 

 collection of autumn flowers. Foremost amongst them, as ac- 

 knowledged on all hands, was my favourite the Gladiolus. Mr, 

 Kelway has many a time exhibited collections of his fine seed- 

 lings, but he never had such an opportunity of setting forth 

 their excellencies as on this occasion. At one end of the avenue 

 there was a mound, and the front of this formed a orescent ; 

 into this Mr. Kelway had inserted several hundreds of his seed- 

 ings at about a foot apart, and covered the whole surface with 

 lawn mowings, and nothing could possibly be more effective, as 

 tier above tier they rose, each standing separate, not one hiding 

 the other, and many of them of singular beauty and excellence ; 

 while on the stands for competition ho had placed some of his 

 very finest. In the class for twenty-lour he was, of course, 

 first with Meyerbeer, Virgile, and the remainder his own seed- 

 lings, foremost amongst them being Xerxes, Heloris, Damon, 

 Protherus, Uelle, Lady Bridport, J. Thompson, lutornalional, 



