July 25, 1867. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



5$ 



The class for six now Vftriegatod PelarKoniums was well represontod, 

 Messrs. Soltiuarsh A; Sou apjnin being first with splendid plants of 

 Crown Jewfl, Rwunsdown. Mct«ur, Suniise, Bird of Piiradisw, and 

 Laily CuUum. Mr. P. OrinTO was Hucond with Lacy Griovo, Victoria 

 Kepina, Whito Lady, It:iUa TTuita, Lady CuUara, and Lifjht and 

 Shodo, a soedling variety of good promise. Third, Mr. Jolrn Mann, 

 of Brentwood. 



The silver cup piven by the county for the host twfdvo scfidlinf; 

 VarieRatod Pflargoninma of 1866-7, was won by Mr. Peter GrioTo, 

 with s[>leudid plants of Isabella Clay, Clemray, Kva Finh, Uothloy, 

 Allanton, Victoria Ileaina. Iliawiithu, Black Adder, Liz/.ie Paget, 

 Victor Galbraith, Bride of Dandolot, and Fanny Ntnvhum. Mr. 

 Grieve also nhowid a second lot that were nnnamod, but all wore of 

 Oitra quality. MosBra. F. & A. Smith and J. J. Chaler ahso exhibited. 



Sub-Florai< Committkk. — There were but few subjects for the 

 Committee to examine, and they were so dispersed, and probably the 

 opportunity of entering the plants respectively so diiHcult, that it is 

 possible that Bomc of them wuro overloolrud. Messrs. Vuitch received 

 a special certilicat-*! for a mo^t interesting oolleetion of new and rare 

 plants, the greater part of which had nveived first-class certilicates ; 

 and Mr. Bull bad a similar award for Dalechamiiia E-ouzliana rosea. 

 Messrs. Smith, Dulwich, received first-class certificates for two seed- 

 ling Bron/.e Zonal Pelargoniums with reddish-bronze zones on a yellow 

 gronnd. Criterion soomed very promising and distinct, though Korae- 

 what resembling WilLs's Queen Victoria. The other, Feu do Joi(», 

 is one of the same section with a more vivid zone. There were many 

 other excellent seedlings but not sufficiently distinct. The similarity 

 and the endless number of seedliugs of these high-ooloured Zonal 

 Pelargoniums, make it very difficult to discover improvements on 

 what have been determined to bo first-rate kinds. 



Mr, Tamer, Slough, received throe first-class certificates for seedling 

 Camations. and a Picotee — namely. Carnation True Blue, a beauti- 

 ful purple tlake ; Kccentrio Jack, a scarlet bizarre ; and Picotee Mrs. 

 Fisher, a light scarlot-edged variety with a pure white gronnd, and 

 Tory beautiful. A second-class certificate was awarded for Carnation 

 Anthony Dennis, a large, heav^', crimson bizarre. 



Mr. Maun, lircntwood, exhibited a splendid mass of his exquisite 

 scarlet Zonal Pelargonium Ijord Derby ; it was the admiration of every 

 person who saw it, and is decidedly the very best scarlet Zonal in ex- 

 istence. A first-class certificate was awarded it in thu spring, a special 

 certificate waM given on this occasion to certify \t^ continued good 

 character. Mr. J. Hill, Norwich, brought several plants of a double 

 aeedUng Fuchsia, gigantic in size, but of bad form ; a commendiition 

 was givou it a^* a nseful deoorative and market plant. 



Mr. Robert Pottitt exhibited a seedling Zonal Pelargonium, called 

 Reino d' Argent ; Mr. J. Denson twelve very ordinary seedling Zonals ; 

 Mr. G. Shepherd, gardener to J. Berners. Esq., six Zonals, some of 

 them of the Tricolor seetiou, but of no merit; Messrs. Wood and 

 Cngram, Zonal seedling Viceroy ; Mr. Robert Rea twelve seedling 

 Zonals : Messrs. J. Nunn it Hobday, Norwich, three seedling Zonals ; 

 but none of these could bo considered improvements on or even equal 

 to many in cultivation. In Mr. Grieve's collection of twelve Tricolor 

 seedlings of IHtJG and 18G7, Kva Fish, Isabella Clay, and the splendid- 

 ooloored Victoria Rogina were very conspicuous. 



In all yon have said of this Show I heartily concur ; but as an out- 

 aider and a hurried visitor 1 send you the following random thoughts. 



I have oft<iu heard that the inhabitants of tlie neat, clean town of 

 Bory St. Kdmuuds are somiswhat difficult tt) rouse : but once duly ex- 

 cited to take up a cause, th'iy rarely stop until they become enthusiastic. 

 That the first visit of the Uoyal Hortionltural Society to the provinces 

 was well chosen was abuuilantly manifested by the triumphal arches 

 that spanned the street-^, the mottoes all wishing well to horticulture, 

 commerce, and agriculture ; and the numerous flags that waved from 

 •ountless windows gave on appearance of life and brilliancy to oven 

 the narrowest streets, as. I should imasiine, has rarely been manifested 

 since the times of the Plantagenet kings, when the warrior was the 

 object of popular acclnim instead of the triumphs of civilisation. All 

 honour, then, to the ladie-i fair and the mtn true and leal-hearted of 

 old Bury. 



It was a g^-tind thing to see the Koyal Agricultural and the Royal 

 Horticultural Societies nu'cting together in the same place, as friendly, 

 loving sisters; destitute of jealousy, and feeling no rivalry, unless the 

 honourable rivalry which I trust they will never lose — the rivalry of 

 striving who will do most to advance the host interests of thoir fellow- 

 creatures. The Royal Ag'-irultural Society in its Wsit:^ to the pro- 

 Tinces has done much to enlari^e the sympathies, expand the intellect, 

 and subvert the narrowmindedness of agriculturists in particular, and 

 of provincial people in general, and I have no doubt that the Koyal 

 Horticultural Society, if able to make these annual migrations, will 

 be equally instrumental in undermining short-sighted prejudices, and 

 establishing a broader platform of extended usefulness. This will be 

 best done with the co-operation of provincial societies ; but with or 

 without that co-operation, the attempt must be made if the Society is 

 to be worthy of its cognomen, "The Royal," tho very title inferring 

 an absence of those little pot projects and personal prejudices that 

 arc so apt to crop up in merely local societies. 



Just as tlie throwing np a feather tells tlie direction of tho wind, so 

 will thefie meetings of tho Royal Horticultural Society expand the 



Tiews of local societies ; show them that if they are to prosper they 

 must do something elpe than foster tho whims, and be an excuse for 

 the comfortable meetings of committees, which contrive tn make away 

 with as much of the money as is offered for prizes ; and that prizes 

 must be offered that will have a possibility of clearing an exhibitor in 

 his necessary expenses, and not the few shillings which will not re- 

 imburse him for his outlay even if succossfol. And once more, in the 

 meantime, the Royal Horticultural Society will help to givn a social 

 standing to gardeners, which they as yet do not possess in the pro- 

 vinces. Say what we will— boast of independence aa we may, there 

 is a satisfaction not only in knowing that yon are respected, but that 

 a certain social position is generally assigned to you, and which yon 

 feel you can occupy without any npinshness or intrusiveness into the 

 position of others. Gardeners, as a class and according to their 

 merits, have never yet held the social position in the provinces to 

 which they are justly entitled. \Vere I tempted to cross the border 

 over iuto Scotland, that would be one of the incentives. The social 

 position of good gardeners there is much hipherthan it is in Kafjland. 

 There I should be received into good society cheerfully as an equal ; 

 but in similar society here I should often feel I was a sort of patronised 

 or complimented, or just-tolerated individual. 



Now, as an example in a small way of what the Royal Horticul- 

 tural will do. Every card at Burv was marked with the name of tho 

 gardener first, as Mr. Blair, Mr. Peter Grieve, Mr. D. T. Fish, &c., 

 recognising them as by their head and hands making the Show, 

 In many pro7incial shows tho gardener is nothing, the proprietor of the 

 garden only is recognised. Such and such are exhibited by squire, 

 knight, baronet, lady, and lord, and if the gardener is named, it is an 

 act of extra condescension. Now, wherever the Royal Horticultural 

 Society goes, I feel convinced it will always; place the gardtner's name 

 first, and I shall be vastly surprised if the gentrj' in general do not 

 feel honoured in this little testimony borne to the worth of their 

 servants. I met many gardeners on tho 16th, at Bury, and from their 

 gentlemanly appearance they well deserved the compliment thus paid 

 them. 



Let us hope the Royal Horticultural Society in its visits will be as 

 instrumental iu increasing the incomes of gardeners as I feel sure it 

 will be in giving them an improved social position. The Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society has always stood first iu the money value of prize.s_for 

 good productions, and another great benufit of the visits of the Society 

 will be to show that there are great gardeners in the provinces aa well 

 as in the neighbourhood of London. 



One thought more for tho present. Everybody and every society 

 has a perfect right to do what they like with their own, provided they 

 do no harm to anybody else. A grand feature of the Show at Bury 

 was the special prizes, above thirty in number, ranging in value from 

 .£25 to three guineas, and one gainea ; but most of them five and ten 

 guineas, offered by the Royal Horticultural Society, the (.^rdcvers' 

 Chronicle, and the Jouritalof Horticulture, the Societies in the district, 

 and private individuals near Bury. There can be no question of the 

 beneficial effect of these prizes, nor of the kind sympathy with which 

 they were offered, and yet I Iniow I shall be forgiven if I suggest, that 

 in future instead of large single prizes, there should be more of them, 

 so as to encourage competition. I ground this obsen'ation chiefly on 

 two facts— the iirat, that some of these high prizes were taken very 

 easily ; and secondly, in several cases of severe competition, the second 

 lot was very near the first in point of merit. It is true the special 

 prize-i might huvo helped to bring more splendid Fuchsias and 

 Pelargoniums from Hardwicke, and among other subjects, Lycopodii 

 like young pyramidal Cypresses ; the splendid three bunches of Grapes 

 from Mr. Meads; the Vines in pots and orchard-house trees in pots 

 from Messrs. Lane ; fine Pino Apples from Mr. Barnes; Picotees from 

 Mr. Buttrum, without a trace of a blotch or bar, remindin :; one of 

 the florists' competitions of old, such a getting-up of these fine old 

 flowers requiring incessant attention, care. Sec. Many of the high 

 prizes, however, produced nothing remarkable, even the ,f20 offered 

 for fruit and vegetables was easily won, though there conld not be a 

 doubt as to the correctness of the judgment. ** Our Journal " was 

 more successful in attaining its object, by dividing twenty guineas into 

 two. 



What I want to hint is the giving by such societies the same sums, 

 but in first, second, and third prizes, for the encouragement of exhi- 

 bitors, as we may n-st assured that few of them are able to take waggon- 

 loads to great distances without the hope of having some of their 

 expenses defrayed. Thus, the Koyal Horticultural Society offered £2.5 

 for the best ten fine-folioged and the bt-st ten flowering plants, effec- 

 tively grouped, and this was deservedly t:iken by the Messrs. Lee. of 

 Hammersmith. The second group was also very good, brought all tho 

 w,ay from Cheshire, and well deserved a second prize, but none was 

 offered, though I heard afterwards that a second prize was offered by 

 somebody else. Then the same remark would hold good of the Bury 

 prize for Ferns, the first and the i^ccond were so near— at any rate, 

 the latter were well worthy of a s^H-ond prize. And so I might go on 

 through the schedule, specifyLag what was good in the collections 

 contending for the one special, and which thus failed to secure any- 

 thing. Be it understood, I have no fault to find ; as far as I noted, 

 the best carried off the victory. I do not exhibit myself, but I know 

 something of the feelings of exhibitors. I know that there arc a few 

 who thoroughly enter into the spirit of these large special prJ7.es, and 

 who say, " All or nothing — no seconds or thirds for me ! " Bat I am 



