190 



JOUBNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 18. 1B69. 



of superior flavour, weighing nearly 2 ozs. ; I have also had from 

 forty to fifty berries, all ripe at once, from a one-year-old plant 

 of the same. 



The above-named have been grown with the same treatment, 

 and only a short distance from Dr. Hogg, Mr.Kadclyffe, Wonder- 

 ful, Cockscomb, Sio., which have borne fruit profusely of first- 

 class flavour, though not quite so prolific as Marguerite. The 

 sorts named in my list I find answer admirably for forcing as 

 well as for out-door culture ; but do not find that any of them 

 require coddling in winter.— J. W., jun. 



ROYxVL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Fjrst Si'Rixi:: Snow. — March i;)th. — Successful as the March 

 Show at Kensington was last year, that of Saturday last was 

 decidedly the best the Society has ever held at the same season, 

 for though sometimes there may have been a greater diversity 

 ■of subjects, at no season could richer masses of colour, more 

 '■varied hues, have been brought together in the same space. 

 'Perhaps, too, the display was rendered even more brilliant in 

 ■ the imagination than it was in reality by the contrast between 

 within and without — the one all warmth, brightness, and 

 beauty, the other bleak, gloomy, and bare; for a second winter 

 has set in, or rather the first winter we have had, and the east 

 wind blew piercingly, the sky was overcast, and snow fell at 

 intervals, but not enough to whiten the ground. Notwithstand- 

 ing, there was a large concourse of visitors, among whom was 

 Her Koyal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, who ever 

 testifies the interest she takes in gardening by her attendance 

 4lt the London shows. 



The exhibition of Hyacinths, for nnmber and magnificence, was 

 ■sncU as we have never before witnessed, for although on one or two 

 former occasions individual collections may have slightly surpassed i 

 those shown on Saturday, yet taken a3 a whole they have certainly 

 not been equalled. The spikes in the grand collections from Mr. 

 William Paul and Messrs. Cutbnsh were massive and stately, symme- 

 trical, beautifully coloured, and evenly matched. The contest between 

 these two competitors for the first place in every class where they met 

 was extremely close, and carried on vnth var^-ing success, but nowhere 

 was it keener than for the prizes given by the Dutch bulb-growers for 

 thirty-six distinct sorts, and for twelve sorts, three of a sort. In the 

 former Messrs. Cutbush were first with Iicda : Gigantea, Princess 

 Beatrice, pale pink, Von Schiller, Duke of Wellington, Lady Sale, 

 deep crimson, Prince of Orange, Florence Nightingale, Ornement de 

 da Nature, Solfaterre, Macaulay, Howard, Emmeline, and La Jeuue 

 Anne, pale rose. Blue : Lord Palmerston, very beautiful. Baron Von 

 'Tuyll, Couronne de Celle, Grand Lilas, Garrick, Charles Dickens, 

 •Oroudates, Kimosa, Mario, and L'eonidas. M'hi'tc: Paix del'Europe, 

 Alba snperbissima, Mirandoline, (^ueen of the Netherlands, Princess 

 Helena, Alba maxima, and Mont Blanc. The others were Haydn, 

 mauve ; Due de Malakoff, buff, striped with pink ; Ida, yellow, 

 splendid ; and of dark, nearly black kinds, La Nuit, splendid, Feruck 

 Khan, and General Havelock. Mr. William Paul was second with 

 7iVrf — Fabiola, (.iifiantea, Prince Albert Victor, one of the newer kinds, 

 a splendid crimson, with a fine close spike : Von Schiller, Garibaldi, 

 Le Prophute, Princess Helena, soft pink, very beautiful ; Vuurbaak, 

 deep crimson with a shade of scarlet, new in I3(J7 ; Koh-i-Noor. Ma- 

 caulay, La Joyeuse, and Princess Clothilde. Blue: Garrick, Baron 

 Von Tuyll, Grand Monarqne, new, in the way of Grand Lilas : 

 Laurens Koster, Grand Lilas, Sir Lawrence, dark blue ; Couronne de 

 Celle, remarkably fine, both in bells and spike ; Bloksberg, Charles 

 Dickens, splendid ; King of the Blues, magnificent ; and Princess 

 Mary of Cambridge, pale blue, both new kinds. White: Grandeur 

 a MerveiUe, Tubiflora, blush, stained externally with purple; L'lnno- 

 cence. Snowball, Alba maxima, and La Grandesse. a splendid new 

 white. The others were Haydn and Sir Henry Havelock, of the 

 mauve class ; Ida and Bird of Paradise, large and beautiful yellow ; 

 Due de Malakoff, buff, striped; and of the very dark kinds General 

 Havelock and Feruck Khan. It is impossible to speak too highly of 

 these two collections ; the spikes were large and remarkably perfect 

 throughout, and it would be superfluous to add to the name of each 

 variety any comment ; all that could be said would be, that a few were 

 less remarkable than others. 



The third prize went to Mr. G. Davies, of the Green Lane Nursery, 

 Liverpool, whose collection, though far from equalling those just re- 

 ferred to, was yet very good, especially his Von Schiller, General 

 Havelock. Haydn, Madame Van der Hoop. Nimrod, Duke of Welling- 

 t«u, Gigantea, and some others. Mr. C. Turner, of Slough, was 

 fourth, with a collection containing many excellent spikes, but not set 

 up to the best advantage — a circumstance the more remarkable in one 

 noted for the excellent taste of his arrangements. Messrs. Van 

 Wavera &: Sons, Hillegom, near Haarlem, exhibited in this class a 

 collection of Hyacinths in glasses, with such large and well-grown 

 spikes, that many supposed they had been grown in pots. For tliese 

 an extra prize was awarded. Good exhibitions also came from Mr. 

 Hawkins, OaklanJs Nursery, Shepherd's Bush, and Mr. T. Potter, 

 gariener to B. Noakes, Esq., North Hill, Highgate. 



The class for thirty-six Hyacinths, three of a sort, was one in which 

 only such great growers as Messrs. Cutbush and Mr. William Paul 

 were expected to enter, for even with the greatest care in selecting and 

 growing the bulbs, there must be a large number to choose from to 

 secure three of a kind of such size and so evenly matched. Accord- 

 ingly the struggle for the first place was confined to the two exhibitors 

 named, and very close it was ; some said one would be first, some the 

 other, bnt the .Judges, after careful comparison, decided in favour of 

 Messrs. Cutbnsh. Their collection consisted of Florence Nightingale, 

 Gigantea. Due de Malakoff, Grand Lilas. Marie. Baron Von Tnyll, 

 Feruck Khan, General Havelock, Ida, Macaulay, Snowball, and Queen 

 of the Netherlands. Mr. William Paul, who was second, had Gigantea. 

 Fabiola, Garibaldi, Von Schiller, Grand Lilas, Princess Mary of 

 Cambridge, Garrick, Feruck Khan, Ida, Snowball, with remarkably 

 large spikes for that variety ; Grandeur ;i Merveille, and La Grandesse, 

 magnificent, pure white. In these two collections there was scarcely 

 a shade of difference between the threes of each variety, so equally 

 were the spikes grown. Garibaldi, Florence Nightingale, Von Schiller, 

 and Gigantea were especially fine among the red kinds, Grandeur a 

 Merveille and Snowball among whites, and of other colours Ida and 

 General Havelock were equally remarkable for excellence. The only 

 other competitors were Mr. W. Cutbush, of Bamet, and Mr. Hawkins, 

 of Shepherd's Bush. 



Coming now to the Society's classes. Class 1 was for eighteen Hya- 

 cinths, distinct sorts. In this Mr. William Paul took the first prize 

 with a splendid set. consisting of Ornement de la Nature, pale rose 

 with pink stripes ; Von Schiller, pink, striped with crimson, brilliant 

 in colour, with a large and very close spike ; Fabiola, rose, striped 

 with deeper rose; Koh-i-Noor, salmon rose ; Vuurbaak, new, crimson 

 tinned with scarlet ; Charles Dickens, new, single mauve, fine close 

 spike ; Baron Von Tuyll. Grand Monarqne. Charles Dickens, pale 

 bine ; (rrand Lilas, remarkable for the size of its spike and bells ; 

 Ida and Bird of Paradise, yellow, the latter especially fine ; Garrick ; 

 King of the Blues, well worthy of its name ; Prince Albert ; Sera- 

 phine ; La Grandesse, with pure white bells of great size and sub- 

 stance ; and L'Innocence. Messrs. Cutbush, who were second, had 

 also a splendid eighteen, the kinds being Haydn, Gigantea, very large 

 and fine ; Due de Malakoff, Grandeur ;i Merveille, Emmehne, Mrs. 

 Beecher Stowe, Alba maxima, Queen of the Netherlands. Ornement 

 de la Nature, Marie. Grand Lilas, Ida, Mirandoline. Baron Von Tuyll, 

 (ieneral Havelock, Florence Nightingale, Charles Dickens, blue, and 

 Macaulay. The above were so remarkable for the excellence of the 

 spikes, that it would be mere repetition to remark on each particularly. 

 Mr. Davies, of Livei-pool, was third with an excellent collection, con- 

 sisting mostly of kinds already named; and Mr. Turner, Mr. W. 

 Cutbush, and' Mr. Hawkins, also exhibited in this class. Messrs. Van 

 Wavern had in this class also a fine exhibition of Hyacinths in 

 glasses, aud it may be useful to note the names of the kinds. These 

 were — Mina, white ; Argus, Solfaterre, L'EcIipse, Amphion, Mont 

 Blanc, Regina Victoria, General Lauriston, beautiful dark violet; 

 Laurens Koster, Uncle Tom, Madame Marmont, porcelain ; double 

 Lord Wellington, Charles Dickens, Paarlboot, Mimosa, and Queen 

 Victoria. The only two not good were Heroine and Prince of Waterloo. 



In Class '2, for eighteen red Hyacinths, Messrs. Cutbush took the 

 first prize for Von Schiller, Duchess of Richmond, Cynthia, double 

 Duke of Wellington, Milton, Lady Sale, Prince of Orange, Hogarth, 

 Princess Clothilde, Gigantea, Florence Nightingale, Macaulay, La 

 Prophi-te, Solfaterre, Mrs. Beecher Stowe, Susannah Maria, Ornement 

 de la Nature, and Cavaignac, all of which were very fine. Mr. W. 

 Paul exhibited Von Schiller, Princess Clothilde, Annie Lisle, splendid 

 bright crimson ; Prince Albert Victor, fine; Reine des Jaeinthes. Noble 

 par Mcrite, Linna?us, crimson, very close spike ; Princess Helena, 

 and some others, very remarkable for their excellence. 



In the Amateurs' class for six distinct kinds, Mr. Weir, gardener to 

 Mrs. Hodgson, The Elms, Hampstead. was first ; Mr. Potter, gardener 

 to B. Noakes, Esq.. Highgate, second; and Mr. Wheeler, gardener to 

 Sir F. Goldsmid, Bart, Regent's Park, third. A great improvement 

 was visible in this class over the exhibitions of previous years, and 

 there were really excellent examples of Charles Dickens, Grand Lilas, 

 Von Schiller, Gigantea, Mimosa, &c. In the class for the same num- 

 her grown in windows, the prizes went to B. Noakes, Esq., Miss Wild- 

 ing, Chesterfield Street, Enston Square, and Mr. Janes. Highgate, 

 who each exhibited good well-formed spikes, especially the first two. 



There was in addition a class for new Hyacinths, notes on which, 

 as well as some other subjects, will be found further on. 



Following the order of the schedule, Narcissi came next, and of 

 these the best six were from Mr, W. Paul, and consisted of Lord 

 Canning, yellow, with an orange cup ; Her Majesty, white, with an 

 range cup ; Queen of the Yellows, pale yellow, with an orange cup; 

 Queen of the Netherlands, white, with a yellow cup ; Grand Soleil 

 d'Or, yellow, with a rich orange cup ; and Gloriosa, white, with a 

 large yellow cup. Mr. Turner was second with Bazelman Major, 

 Bathurst, yellow, with an orange cup ; Gloriosa, Medio luteo de 

 France, white, with a yellow cap ; Grand Monarqne, white, with a 

 pale yellow cup ; and Belle Princesse, yellow, with a reddish orange 

 cup. Mr. W. Cutbush, of Bamet, was third. 



Tulips were not numerously shown, and were not equal to what have 

 been seen in previous years, when they formed an important feature 

 at this show. They appear to be very backward this season — a re- 

 mark which holds true of many other plants under glass. For six 



