September 25, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



233 



again, the clips take hold of the pot under the rim and lift it 

 clean from the ground. Yon will observe, also, that when 

 the handles of the truck are the proper height for wheeling, 

 the clips point upwards at an angle of about 45", throwing the 

 tree into a slanting position to enable one to get tall trees 

 through doorways of an ordinary height. — J. Gamett, TIic 

 Grange', Bolton. 



[The following still more simple contrivance was described 

 by Mr. Eadie in the twenty-fifth volume of our old series :— 



It consists of two com- 

 mon hand-spikes, in this 

 ease about G feet long, 

 1 J inch thick, and 3 J inches 

 wide, with a sUt or mortice 

 in the centre through the 

 side to receive freely the 

 cross or tie-pieces ; and 

 two, what I will call the 

 pieces, being boards 1 inch 

 thick, and wide enough to 

 be strong, with one end 

 fastened with a pin or bolt 

 so as to work on a pivot in 

 the mortice of the hand- 

 spoke ; the other end made 

 with a bevel of about 40", 

 or enough to close the tie- 

 pieces as fast as the hand- 

 spikes are closed ; then a 

 pin on the outside of the 

 hand-spike put through a 

 hole in the tie-piece fastens 

 the whole together. The 

 end of the mortice is made 

 to fit the bevel of the tie- 

 piece, so that the pressure 

 of the pot cannot push it 

 back. To take it off the 

 pot, you draw out the pin 

 from the hole on the out- 

 side of the hand-spike, and 

 draw the tie-piece out of 

 the mortice. The pins are 

 fastened to the hand-spike 

 by a string or chain, so 

 that they cannot get lost. 

 The curve or circle in the 

 tie-pieces need not fit the 

 circle of the pot exactly, 

 but may be about a me- 

 dium of what it is intended 

 to carry ; if intended to 



Ko. 1 shows the maimer tbo tie-pieces 

 lie in the mortice; a a are the two ties ; 

 i> b are the mortices ; c c are the perma- 

 cent pins ; d d are the pin holes to hold 

 it together ; c f are the closing sides. 



Ko. 2 is a side view of the hand-spii^e, 

 showing the size of the mortice. 



No. 3 is a cross view, showing the man- 

 ner of catching the pot ; // are the two 

 pins holding the hand-spikes together. 



carry from 10-inch to 18-inch pots, the curve might be 7 inches 

 wide or 14 inches diameter. — Eds.] 



EXHIBITION FRAUDS. 



It was with considerable interest that I read in your issue 

 of July 31st a paragraph by Mr. W. Paul on exhibition frauds ; 

 and now that the subject has been again referred to in a letter 

 by M. Sisley, I am desirous of adding my protest against a 

 system, the working of which I have had abundant oppor- 

 tunities of observing. The honest exhibitor will, I think 

 accept the exposure made by Mr. Paul as a timely one. 



The practice of borrowing plants for exhibition has in places 

 with which I am acquainted become so general, that it is re- 

 garded as a matter of very sUght importance. An evil which 

 I have noticed in connection with it is this : when persons 

 who themselves practise this kind of fraud, or connive at it 

 in others, are placed in oftice, false awards and other forms of 

 favouritism have not unfrequently been the result. 



With M. Sisley I believe that interest in trade is not in the 

 smallest degree favoured by such frauds, but more than this, 

 they who practise them show their utter disregard of prin- 

 ciple. — S. Waltebs, Hilpi'Tton Nurseries, Trowbridge. 



LoBELU toMPACTA, ou CiiYST.u, Palace Blce. — I think the 

 snperior qualities of the above-named plant for bedding can- 

 not be generally known, otherwise we should not sec so many 

 speciosa seedlings used. These have very much deteriorated 

 of late years, being neither one variety nor another, but only 



a mixture of all sorts, and the habit has been quite unmanage- 

 able ; for, to keep the plant within bounds, frequent trimming 

 has been necessary, and this involves cutting away the best 

 blooming part of the plant. L. compacta, on the other hand, 

 requires no trimming, btit wiU form a dense line of very dark 

 blue, and for a front row in a ribbon border, or for mixing 

 along with other contrasting colours — such, for example, as 

 Golden Pyrethrum, in carpet bedding, it is quite unique. AU 

 it requires is, during the growing season, to open the plants 

 a little in the centre and gently push them flat on the ground, 

 which will induce them to spread. — J. Andebson, Hill Grove, 

 Kidderminster. 



THE AUTUMN ROSE SHOW AT BBIE-COMTE- 

 IIOBERT.— No. 2. 



To take up the subject where I left off in the last number of 

 the Journal, I will turn next to some of the other interesting 

 features in the Show. I have already said in my last that both 

 the large tent and the grounds outside were laid out in winding 

 walks, with raised beds of flowers set in grass. If the grass 

 had been Uke our good EngUsh lawns it would have added a 

 great charm to the whole ; but we do not see good lawns in 

 France, and the effect was produced by fine seeds sown and 

 coming up very evenly, but the grass was not intended to be 

 trodden upon. Among the beds inside, the most noticeable 

 were — first, a bed of varieties of Begonias. The Begonia 

 boUviensis, of which there was also a large bed by itself outside, 

 was exceedingly well done ; and besides this, inside was Sedeni, 

 Ingramii, ascotiensis, a fine, tall, red variety, and another fine 

 variety quite new to me, called Emeroud ; this had a large red 

 flower opening wide, showing many of its flowers upright, and 

 one I measured was 3 inches across, each petal very broad. 

 This is the largest-flowered Begonia I have yet seen, and if as 

 free-flowering as it seems to be, a very great acquisition to any 

 garden. 



There were several very fine collections of ornamental plants, 

 chiefly of the size for house decoration. Among them Dracionas 

 in many varieties, the old termiuaUs and Cooperi being still 

 among the best; then Cordyhnes, CurcuUgo, Aspidistra, 

 Crotons, &c. The Palms were shown in a separate group by 

 themselves, but I did not notice any which are not pretty well 

 known in England. 



There were several groups of Pelargoniums, both double and 

 single Zonals. Though not being an admirer of double Zonals, 

 stiU I looked carefully through them, and did not see any im- 

 provement on the older sorts exhibited there, as Marie Lemoine, 

 Marie Kendatler, &c. There were two good pinks, MerveiUe de 

 Lorraine and Imperatrice Eugenie, but Mr. Laxton's seedlings 

 are certainly finer in quality of pips to any I saw here. One 

 double one was called Mistress Proloc, which was evidently 

 our Mrs. Pollock under an altered name transferred to a double. 

 I was also amused among the single ones to see Buisson Ar- 

 dente, or Burning Bush. 



Among the collections of single Pelargoniums, the class for 

 which. No. 13, was far the most beautiful collection of Pelar- 

 gonium Zonale inquinans, not less than twenty-five varieties, not 

 more than two plants of each variety; there were a great variety 

 exhibited. Among those I had not seen before were MdUe. 

 Nillson, a pink Nosegay, good ; Deuil de Lorraine, dark Zonal, 

 fine colour but small truss ; Lansandgo, hke Duchess (Donald 

 Beaton's variety); Madame Bureau, a fresh pink, something 

 like Pearson's new variety, Contessa Quarto; Mexico, a cerise; 

 Lady Kulam (sic), fine scarlet, white eye, (?) Lady CuUum; 

 Anne Pastry {sic), a large-petalled salmon Nosegay of the stamp 

 of Lizzie, and one or two others. I am not, however, inclined 

 to think them any advance on existing varieties we have in 

 England ; indeed, Mr. Pearson's Hybrid Nosegays amoug the 

 Hybrid Nosegays, and Dr. Denny's, Mr. George's, Mr. Paul's, 

 and Mr. Laing's, and others among both Zonals and Hybrid 

 Nosegays, have made such rapid strides lately, that it will, in 

 my opinion, be very difficult to obtain any very great improve- 

 ment now. Among old friends I saw well shown were Jean 

 Sisley (which, by the way, has been exceedingly good with me 

 both spring and autumn this year, but failed very much during 

 some hot weeks in July, as many of the pure Zonals do, from 

 casting its petals), Leonidas, Jean Valgeau, Firefly, Striking, 

 Merrimar, Le Grand, the last not up to the mark, Madame 

 Hoste. The effect of the masses of Pelargoniums in mixed 

 colours was very good, but some of the beds which were outside 

 the tent were much dashed with a heavy rain, which came ou 

 about 2.30, and soon found its way inside the tents as well, 

 making all the walks very wet and puddly, reminding me pain- 

 fully of the Birmingham Exhibition. 



Among other beds outside the tent were some fine collections 

 of Cannas, some very tall in flower, others dwarfer, and in many 

 shades of foliage. The beds of double Zinnias, especially one, 

 were very fine, some of the heads very perfect. This is a flower 

 which evidently requires warmth to bring it to perfection, and, 



