334 



JOUfiNAL OF HOBHO0LTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



I May IS, 186D. 



I very muah wish, tof , some well-meaning people would get this 

 notion out of their heads, that sooietiee confer an immense 

 favour on nurserymen by offering them prizes which do not 

 half compensate for vne expense and trouble they are at ; while 

 as to private growers, I do not wonder, with all his love for his 

 garden, that Lord Cornflower, or Sir James Arbutus, objects to 

 having his houses filled with huge unwieldy plants, which are 

 only permitted to be seen now and then, and are in a constant 

 state of tying, training, &c. This would be all obviated if 

 classes were introduced for smaller-sized pots. 



2. It would enlarge the area of competiUon. — Suppose a grower 

 fired with the noble desire of entering the horticultural race- 

 ground, and of running his steed there, were to try to put his 

 plans into execntior , the very first thing that would suggest 

 itself to him, woala oe. What possible chance can I have, unless 

 I can buy some of those large plants which have already been 

 engaged in the race ? And so he hesitates, and finally decides 

 not to attempt it. Let me take Pelargoniums. For years the first 

 and second places have been maintained with varying success 

 by Messrs. Turner and Fraser. Other nurserymen attempted 

 to compete, but they drew oil one after the other ; their plants 

 ■were some years old, and unless you had plants of a similar 

 age, it was not within the bounds of possibility to compete 

 •with them ; but if a class had been open for smaU plants in 

 6-moh pots, would not many have entered into the arena, and 

 tried to win their spurs in Flora's tournament ? 



3. It would he of greater practical benefit to horticulture. — 

 We are certainly more interested in looUing at things which 

 come within the reach of our own pockets and exertions, than 

 by those which are beyond them. Now, when a visitor to our 

 shows sees these enormously overgrown plants, he (or she) at 

 onee says, I can never attempt this, and so passes on to some- 

 thing more within reach. Hence the space io front of the 

 great collections is invariably clear, while the small pot Koses, 

 the cut flowers, and things of a similar character, have always 

 a host of admirers. Moreover, it would give us a far better 

 opportunity of seeing what are the merits of new plants. Take 

 Pelargoniums as an example. A new variety of first-class merit 

 is brought forward, it receives no end of certificates, and then 

 retires into private life. About five or six years afterwards, by 

 the time you have had, perhaps, some three or four dozen 

 newer ones to look at, it has attained its majority, can sup- 

 port a sufficient number of stakes, or rather is supported by 

 them, and then, of a fitting size to appear in company with 

 other full-grown gents, it reappears. Now, all this would be 

 altered if we could get a class for 32's. Good handsome plants 

 can be produced in them, and hence the newer and better kinds 

 would come forward this year. Mr. Turner has sent out some 

 of the best fancy Pelargoniums ever seen, but when shall we 

 see them again ? Not for some years unless some alteration be 

 made. And so it is with new and rare plants. How many are 

 discarded after a time, because they are not good exhibition 

 plants — that is, will not bear twisting, torturing, staking, and 

 all sorts of barbarities ! An inferior plant that will patiently 

 submit to all this is preferred. Then there is another point 

 not to be disregarded ; we are in these days trusting a great 

 deal to flowers and glass for the ornamentation of our dinner 

 tables, rather than to heavy masses of plate, and it is just plants 

 of these sizes that would be the most desirable, and we can thus 

 see which are best suited for our purpose, so that in all these 

 matters we should be serving the true interests of horticulture 

 by insisting on smaller pots being need. 



4. It would certainly conduce to a better arrangement of horti- 

 cultural productions at our shown. — I suppose we never have 

 seen so grand a display as the International Exhibition, and 

 never have Mr. Gibson's unrivalled talents as a landscape gar- 

 dener been so marvellously shown as then. Yet surely, not- 

 withstanding the wonderful masses of bloom of the Azaleas, &c., 

 a more pleasing effect would have been produced by smaller 

 plants equally well done. Just look at some of the photographs 

 taken of the Exhibition, and see what formality it displays. 

 Moreover, where these plants are once fixed they must stay, it 

 ■would be idle to attempt to move them, however great the 

 mistake may have been in placing them in the position they 

 occupy. Were the plants smaller they could be the more 

 TeadUy moved. If along with this the great societies would 

 undertake to do what the zealous curator of the Glasnevin 

 Gardens, Dr. Moore, does for the Koyal Horticultural Society 

 of Ireland — grow some fine Palms, Ferns, &o., to give verdure 

 as a counterfoil to the mass of colour, I, for one, feel that 

 a great advance would be made in the arrangement of our 

 shows. However, as I have always maintained so I still hold. 



the plan of the Eoyal Botanic Society is as near perfection as 

 possible, and I do not at all join in the cry, that they manage 

 these things better in France. 



Now, it is idle to talk about the folly of restrictions and 

 such-like things ; we must have restrictions. Those who com- 

 plain of any attempt to reduce the size of pots, would hardly 

 relish seeing huge tubs twice as big as their pots brought in. 

 Restrictions have been made, and all I am contending for is 

 making them a little more stringent. I would allow some 

 classes to remain, but I hope to see the skill of our horticnl- 

 tural giants show us what can be done in small pots as well as 

 the larger ones they have hitherto used. — D., Deal. 



CRYSTAL PALACE FLOWER SHOW. 



Grand flower shows at the Crystal Palace are always highly 

 attractive, the number of ■visitors annually ranging between 

 15,000 and 20,000. The ample space at command for the show 

 and promenade all under cover, and protected from weather, 

 enables arrangements wholly imattainable elsewhere to be 

 carried out with certainty for the comfort of visitors. 



The show of the present season, Saturday next. May liith, 

 will be of unusual extent. In stove and greenhouse plants, 

 Azaleas, Orchids, Pelargoniums, and pot Eoses, large displayE 

 may be looked for. The novel feature of prizes for the three 

 classes of bouquets — viz., wedding bouquets, ball bouquets, and 

 vase bouquets will be most interesting, leading to great compe- 

 tition, not only amongst theEnglish and continental bouquctistcs, 

 but also among the large number of lady visitors and other pri- 

 vate cultivators, who, from the entries being made (if wished) 

 under initials, will have the opportunity of privately entering 

 the lists, and giving the public some idea of the artistic ability 

 and taste in the display of flowers, which characterise so many 

 in our domestic circles. The ornamental gardens of Kockhills 

 will be open during the afternoon, to enable visitors to inspect 

 the great Wistaria sinensis now in full bloom. 



BEET AS A FLOWER-BORDER PLANT, 



I FIRST used Beet as a flower-garden plant six years ago- 

 Having a large extent of flower beds and borders to fill, I was 

 very desirous to use as many effective colours as I could com- 

 mand. Although I had then never seen Beet used for orna- 

 mental purposes, 1 had often thought what a pleasing effect it 

 would produce along with almost any good contrasting colour. 

 My desire was to obtain the dwarfest-growing sort I could, and 

 having in former years grown Nutting's Dark Select Beet, and 

 having proved its capabilities for several years when grown in 

 the usual way in the kitchen garden, I determined to try it in 

 the flower garden. For this purpose I sowed it in pans in the 

 middle of March, and placed them on gentle bottom heat. As 

 soon as the plants could be handled, which was in about three 

 weeks after sowing, I had them put singly into thumb pots, 

 taking care to cut back the leading root. My object in doing 

 so was to prevent strong growth and their forming what we all 

 like to see in Beet when grown for kitchen use— namely, a long 

 and handsome tapering root. 



The first season I tried Beet in the flower borders its ap- 

 pearance exceeded my expectations. I had one row about 

 150 yards in length in a gracefully curving border, with a grass 

 walk, 9 feet wide, in front. The border was made to slope 

 towards the walk, and shrubs behind filled up all the corners, 

 giving the border a uniform width. The shrubs being newly 

 planted, and consequently small, I had the tall-growing Agera- 

 tum mexioanum planted in front of them, then a Nosegay 

 Pelargonium, the Beet for the middle row, and Aurea floribunda 

 Calceolaria in front, with, next the grass, Lobelia speciosa. 

 Thus there were in all five rows, forming the ribbon border. I 

 had the same number of rows in the opposite border, but no 

 Beet. During that season some hundreds of visitors saw the 

 gardens, and when an opinion could be elicited from any of 

 them while vievfing it from a short distance, it was to the 

 effect, " Ah ! that border having the dark and glossy shining 

 leaves in the centre is by far the most telling." And many 

 were the inquiries. What new and wonderful-looking plant have 

 you in one of your long ribbon borders ? it has such a beauti- 

 fully dark and glossy leaf, altogether forming quite a new fea- 

 ture in ribbon-border decoration. Such were the expressions 

 of surprise and inquiry that were addressed to me during the 

 first season I used it. 



I also used one row of Beet in the formation of a border 

 of ornamental foliage, about 25 yards long, and that, too, not 



