220 



JODBNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COXXAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ Septembor 18, 1873. 



glories of our land, although in the eyes of demagogues the 

 abodes of tyrauuical oppressors and hardhearted despots. Be 

 it mine to add a httle mite to these notes on Gardening in the 

 West, by telling what I saw in a more humble way during a 

 hurried visit to Cheltenham, so dear to valetudinarians ; and 

 in so doing I will just take a representative of each of the two 

 classes of horticulturists, amateurs and nurserymen — men who 

 have made their mark. When I mention the name of Mr. 

 Cypher I mention one who is well known to the liabitm'.s of 

 our exhibitions as among the most successful and tasteful of 

 our exhibitors of table decorations, and also of fine stove and 

 greenhouse plants ; while it was only the other day that a first- 

 class certificate was awai'ded to a yellow Carnation, King of 

 Tellows, which came from the garden of Dr. Abercrombie, the 

 amateur of whose garden I now wish to say a few words. It 

 is not often that we see a square as private property, but this is 

 the case with Suffolk Square, Cheltenham. Xhe owner built 

 his own large house and kept the square for himself, each 

 house having a stipulation in the lease to that effect. The 

 owner has left or passed away, but the garden remains as before 

 in the possession of the tenant of his house. Formerly it was 

 held by Capt. Lambert, who is well known as an enthusiastic 

 grower of Roses, and is now tenanted, as I have said, by Dr. 

 Abercrombie, an eminent physician, who delights in his garden 

 as a means of recreation and of Ughtening the cares of a labori- 

 ous profession. 



The square is laid out with a central lawn of grass, in which, 

 however, are some very fine fruit trees — Apples laden with a 

 fine crop, Mulberries equally rich, and Pears. All round there 

 runs a wide border ; and in the first of these, 90 yards long, is 

 arranged a very effective ribbon border, with ten rows of plants 

 in it. It was at the period of my visit a little past its best, 

 but still very handsome ; the great trouble being to get plants 

 that would agree as to size and period of blooming, whites 

 especially being a desideratum. Will any of the readers of the 

 Journal say what would be the best white for, say, the fourth 

 row in such a border ? Geraniums such as Madame Vaucher, 

 &C., wiU not do. Would Centaurea candidissima not be a 

 good plant for that purpose ? Along another border was a fine 

 quantity of seedling Carnations and Picotees ; amongst them 

 large quantities of the King of Yellows, also another called 

 Maiden's Blush, and a fiery red one called Geant des Batailles. 

 These are aU selfs, but very effective, deliciously fragrant, and 

 «xcelleut for cutting for bouquets. But it is noi, to these alone 

 that Dr. Abercrombie confines his attention. He grows a 

 good coUectiou of named sorts, and has some promising seed- 

 lings. Along another border he has some " gem " beds, circles 

 comprising one sort of flower which form a sort of trial-ground 

 and nursery from whence stock is obtained for the future. 

 Amongst other things were some Phlox Drummondi, which my 

 friend Mr. Banks told me he has largely used this year to 

 supersede the Verbena. It is to be had in nearly all the'colours 

 that it includes, and is, moreover, so easily managed, so free 

 from disease, and lasts so long, that it seems worthy of more 

 extended cultivation than it obtains. There were also some 

 good plants of Chrysanthemums in pots which were being 

 prepared for the winter exhibition. But perhaps the finest 

 things I saw were some zonal Pelargoniums intended for the 

 Flower Show. I have seen them this year in many places. I 

 thought them fine at York and at Leeds, and good at Bath, 

 but I have not seen anywhere any to equal those I saw here. 

 One recollects the grand show Pelargoniums exhibited by 

 BaUey, Turner, and others in former days. Now, these zouals 

 were on the same model, were as full of bloom, perfectly dwarf, 

 and the most perfect specimens of zonals — no trusses tied down 

 or across, but all straight up — I have ever seen. If they are 

 beaten I would go fifty miles to see the plants that do it. Here 

 let me say that my acquaintance with Dr. Abercrombie is an- 

 other instance of the influence of our Journal. 



I think I have ere now mentioned that Mr. Cypher is an 

 instance of the old proverb " Amor omnia vincit." In his in- 

 stance the object of the amor was that fair, and, I must say, 

 most affable young lady, Miss Flora. He managed to ingratiate 

 himself into her good graces, and made the garden he had care 

 of famous through the gracious manner in which she met his 

 advances ; and when the opportunity came he brought her 

 to a home of his own, and there house after house has been 

 put up for her convenience, and he and she are more devoted 

 to each other than ever. When I went through Mr. Cypher's 

 houses, which are mainly used for specimen plants for exhi- 

 bition, some of the best had been sent off to Manchester; 

 but there were still some grand plants of Allamanda, Dipla- 



denia, Stephanotis, Azaleas, Heuchrysums, &c., all portending 

 future conflicts and triumph. I saw here what I have failed 

 to see for many, many years, that curious and fine old plant 

 Gloriosa superba, which has been shoved out of the way for 

 newer and less woi'thy things. Mr. Cypher is well known also 

 for his great taste in decoration, and from what I saw he is in 

 no little degree helped by his daughter, who was deftly arrang- 

 ing some bouquets when I went there. I was glad to hear 

 that his services are largely sought after in Cheltenham for 

 this purpose ; and everything about the nursery, small though 

 it is, showed that what he entered into he did thoroughly. 



Such are the hurried notes of a hurried visit, but there may 

 be something in them to those who care to know of the pro- 

 gress of horticultui-e in all parts of oiu- " tight little island." 

 — D., Deal. 



THE AUTUMN KOSE SHOW AT BRIE-COMTE- 



ROBERT. 



Having been pressed by one of the worthy Editors of The 

 Journal of Horticulture to accompany him on an expedition 

 to France, to be present at the autumn Exhibition of the Society 

 D'Horticulture des Arroudissements de Melun et Fontaiuebleau, 

 I send an account which I hope may be interesting to many of 

 the readers of The Journal of Horticulture, as helping some- 

 what to compare the manner in which French exhibitions of 

 flowers, &c., are managed, and the manner in which the flowers, 

 &c., are displayed, as contrasted with others in our country. 

 Having promised to be present at a soiree at Darlington on 

 Thursday evening, to inaugurate the presentation of a Gardeners' 

 Institute and Keading-room to the gardeners in the neighbour- 

 hood of Darlington, given by Mr. Edward Pease, I had to travel 

 down by the night mail, and joining Dr. Hogg in Loudon, we 

 an-ived at Paris at 8.30 on Friday evening, having travelled 

 exactly five hundred miles in twenty hours, which was not bad 

 work to start with. 



We were off early on Saturday morning, leaving Paris for 

 Brunoy at nine, taking the omnibus at Erunoy for Brie-Comte- 

 Robert. Our omnibus was very full, and the first novelty in 

 Rose-showing, at least a novelty to me, was seeing a veteran 

 Rose-grower numbering seventy-nine summers, on the top of 

 the omnibus with his Roses in a large round hamper lying 

 loosely one on the top of the other. The mystery was, however, 

 solved when we got to the end of our journey. We passed 

 through two country villages on the way to Brie-Comte-Robert, 

 where the Show was held; the first part of our way lying 

 through an orchard district, and on one side, where a hill sloped 

 down to a valley and the lay of the ground W' as very favourable, 

 there were dwarf Vines growing, but the quaUty of the Grapes 

 not suf&ciently good for making wine. We went along the flat 

 top of a hill, the church of Brie-Comte-Robert being a con- 

 spicuous object towering above the town some way off. On 

 entering into the town the Place de L'Exposition was soon 

 reached, as it lay on our right-hand side just outside the town. 

 We were set down at the gate and went in for a short time, but 

 were soon summoned to a dijei'rner at the Hotel de la Grace de 

 Dieu, where the Jury were to assemble. After partaking of a 

 thoroughly French dejciiner, which would be somewhat strange 

 to an Englishman, as it was to me, we returned to the Show, 

 which was still not ready for the Jury, alias the Judges, to com- 

 mence their task. Unfortunately the previous day had been 

 exceedingly wet, and many of the preparations had to be de- 

 ferred, as the ground had been visited with a thunder.>torm some- 

 what similar to the storms which passed over the neighbour- 

 hood of Birmingham previous to the show there last year. 



I will now endeavour to describe the Show itself, and I will 

 preface it liy saying, that as the district about Brie is one of the 

 chief in France for Rose-growing, so one of the chief features, 

 and the most distinctive feature, of the Show were the Roses. 

 These were not shown in boxes in individual blooms on stages 

 as in our English shows, but iu masses on sloping banks, and in 

 beds on the sides of the tent. The central tent was about 100 feet 

 long and 50 wide, and two side annexes opened out from it, one 

 for fruit and the other for vegetables. The annexe for fruit 

 extended some way beyond the central tent, and on the further 

 side, also beyond the vegetables, were exhibitions of different 

 horticultural instruments and implements, with iron houses, &c. 

 In the central space outside the teut, and between these two 

 annexes, the ground was laid out in walks and beds on grass, 

 the grass being formed of grass seeds sown on rich light soil ; 

 and in the beds were arranged different exhibitions of zonal 

 Pelargoniums both double and single, double Zinnias, Cannas, 

 Fuchsias, Begonias, Vincas, and other plants. The central tent 

 was also laid out much in the same way, one side being broken 

 with rockwork and a jet of water, which flowed into an artificial 

 stream which passed through the tent and curved into the 

 grounds beyond, where there were some young gold fish swim- 

 ming up aud down. This little artificial meandering stream was 

 crossed here and there by bridges, both outside and inside the 



