..r/S 



Jane 11,1868.] 



JODBNAL OF HORTICOLTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



421 



of Azaleas, itc, and was frequently tempted to buy Bomo that 

 he saw under canvas, but that when ho obtained them and 

 flowered them in the open air, there was very little if any im- 

 provement on the older kinds ; and so, although you may find 

 many of the newer varieties here, yet the older and hotter- 

 known kinds are the moat relied on. After all, it is not so 

 much the individual plants as the judicious massing that makes 

 the charm of this garden ; and I venture to say that no one 

 who takes my advice and visits this garden will be disappointed, 

 but, on the contrary, will say that I have given a very poor 

 idea of its unique beauty.— D., Deal. 



OUR WILD PLANTS ON THE ROOF OF A 

 LONDON RESIDENCE. 



When in the west end of London the other day I saw what 

 I think you may be interested to know. I was staying at the 

 house of a lady who is fond of Ferns, and who, in summers' 

 outings in Scotland and Westmoreland, had collected some 

 plants to form, if possible, an oasis in the desert of town life, 

 and thought, and truly, that her success had been great. On 

 the leads, without any shelter, or any care beyond that which 

 ladies know so well laow to give, I saw amongst many others 

 two healthy plants of Osmunda, a fair Allosorus crispus, and, 

 what astonished me more, a very fine plant of the Grass 

 of Parnassus. You may judge how often such a sight has re- 

 freshed the owner, who, though an ardent lover of the country, 

 is aeoessitated to live in town. — W. Stokes Shaw. 



NOTES ON THE MANCHESTER HORTICULTURAL 

 EXHIBITION. 



The demand for building sites has hemmed-in not only the 

 London parks but similar places near other large towns, often 

 much to the detriment of the trees, shrubs, and other plants 

 there cultivated. So it has been with the Manchester Botanic 

 Garden ; for although it might at one time have been com- 

 paratively clear of the smoke and dirt inseparable from a large 

 manufacturing city, the increase of trade is, of course, at- 

 tended with a corresponding augmentation of all the evils 

 which affect vegetation. Factories and dwelling houses rise 

 up where smiling meadows and corn fields once refreshed the 

 eye ; long lines of streets and lofty manufactories vomit from 

 their chimneys that black smoke which taints everything it 

 comes in contact with. This state of things is by no means 

 confined to the Manchester Botanic Garden, nor can it be well 

 avoided, for to remove such a garden to what may be called a 

 safe distance, would be to deprive so many of its use that the 

 remedy would be as objectionable as the evil. Considering the 

 evil, therefore, as one which could not be avoided, 1 was 

 pleased to find on the late as well as on a former occasion 

 when I visited this garden, that the plants under the care of 

 the able Curator and his assistants were very well grown, al- 

 though the trees and shrubs showed unmistakeable tokens that 

 all hopes ©f their attaining their proper proportions were out of 

 the question. Soot, thick almost as the bark that encases 

 them, formed an outer covering excluding all access of air, 

 and giving that gloomy appearance to the whole which the 

 spectator from a more healthy district sees more readily than 

 those who are accustomed to a smoky atmosphere. To contend 

 against this is extremely difficult, and can only be done suc- 

 cessfully in the case of subjects whose existence is short, or 

 which are immediately under the care and control of the cul- 

 tivator — in other words, only plants cultivated under glass, or 

 which occupy the flower beds during the summer. No doubt 

 these would do better if they were in a more healthy neigh- 

 bourhood ; but as it is, those in the Manchester Botanic Garden 

 are creditable, and many of those under glass are well-grown 

 specimens, showing that much care and skill had been exercised 

 in their management. 



The Botanic Garden of the great metropolis of the cotton 

 trade occupies a nearly level position on the south side of the 

 town. The country, it may be remarked, is level for several 

 miles round, not so dead a level as those alluvial lands known 

 as fens or marshes in other parts of the kingdom, but desti- 

 tute of any great elevation. The soil is of a black, sandy 

 nature, evidently well adapted for the Rhododendron and 

 Potato were the atmosphere more pure ; and many other 

 placts would thrive well in the garden were it not for its 

 proximity to chimneys. The entrance is a fitting one, with 



suitable offices adjoining it; and, partially concealed by trees, 

 to the left is the range of houses for plants, while to the 

 right is the large conservatory which, like that at Kensington, 

 is more used as a receptacle for plants exhibited at the various 

 shows than for those grown in it. Indeed, tlie building, I believe, 

 was designed solely to hold the horticultural shows in ; but 

 shows, like other things, outgrow their original dimensions, 

 and additional space was, in the case of the recent exhibition, 

 obtained by uniting the exhibition building to a large tent, or 

 rather a series of tents. In one of the principal of these the 

 ground is thrown up into a series of terraces and turfed over bo 

 as to form stages for the plants, instead of the latter being placed 

 on the too-common wooden tables covered with green baize. 

 Other tents adjoining were devoted to cut flowers and some 

 special purposes, but the bulk of the flowering plants (Pelar- 

 goniums, Calceolarias, and Fuchsias excepted), were in the ex- 

 hibition building and the tent with the turf banks. A sort of 

 elevated platform where the two united gave the visitor a good 

 view of both. 



I now come to the subjects of exhibition, and in the first 

 place may say that most of the stove plants. Orchids, and other 

 tender plants were placed in the permanent building, and the 

 more hardy ones under canvas. The arrangement of the former 

 was necessarily confined by the nature of the building, and as 

 a whole did not look so well as the latter, many of the plants 

 being at so great a distance from the observer. The house 

 was divided longitudinally, and the plants staged against the 

 two sides, with a large space for a path in the centre. Most 

 likely it would be difficult to arrange the plants otherwise ; but 

 if it could have been done so as to have placed some of the 

 plants that were 12 or 15 feet from the spectator somewhat 

 nearer, it would have been better. As it was, those at the 

 back were only imperfectly seen, and the groups were not so 

 well defined as at some other exhibitions ; nevertheless, the 

 general effect was good. 



Many of the plants were very large, and those from the 

 garden of H. Micholls, Esq., of Bowden, and from Messrs. 

 Cole, nurserymen, Manchester, were excellent specimens of 

 cultivation. Not less so were those of other cultivators, who 

 showed them in smaller numbers. An important prize for a 

 group of plants deserves to be more generally adopted by the 

 managers of exhibitions ; it was one for ten plants in flower 

 and ten fine-foliaged plants. The combining of the two in one 

 group had a good effect, and deserves to be repeated at most 

 shows of a like kind ; only where such combinations are made 

 it is certainly advisable to exclude the mathematically trained 

 Azaleas and other plants, which present too rigid and formalan 

 outline to keep company with those having graceful and flowing 

 foliage. There can be no objection to Azaleas and similar plants 

 forming part of the group, but it is certainly bad taste to intro- 

 duce those which are stiffly trained ; and if the latter had showed 

 less conspicuously that they were indebted to wires, sticks, and 

 strings for the form they appeared in I would have liked them 

 much better— in fact, I am not sure but that the whole would 

 have been better without being trained at all if they could have 

 been brought to the Show, but this is more difficult to do than 

 with a stiff-trained plant. In the mixed group stiff training 

 ought to be excluded. 



I'elargoniums of the Show and Fancy varieties were less 

 numerous and hardly so well managed as I have seen them at 

 some of the London shows ; but the Calceolarias were good, 

 and there were several groups or collections of the now popular 

 Tricolor Pelargoniums, including most of the varieties already 

 known to the gardening world, and several new ones. A large 

 collection of seedlings from some one whose name I failed to 

 find out, promised to be very fine. Other novelties there 

 were, amongst which I noticed a collection of Coleuses from 

 Messrs. Veitch, which I was told were those recently purchased 

 from the Royal Horticultural Society. Of the merit of these 

 it may yet be premature to give an opinion ; but unless the 

 after-foliage improve in appearance there seems really little to 

 admire in them. 



Cut flowers were hut sparingly exhibited, and I missed the 

 baskets of cut flowers which I have seen elsewhere. Haiid 

 bouquets of the usual type were numerous, and the prize 

 wreaths for the head were the prettiest I have seen. The 

 bridal bouquet was also well arranged. Maiden-hair Fern 

 formed a portion of almost all the bouquets exhibited. 



A tent devoted to the Tulip was very sparingly occupied, and ,,■ 

 the merits of those exhibited might have been better under- j^ 

 stood some forty or fifty years ago than npsr,,,,,,A%it,,y;^, tji6.,^,(j 

 general public paid them little attention. 



