148 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND OOTTAGB GAKDENER. 



[ Angnst 19, ISCS. 



was toased about in Ihe crowd, when the Maorios showed their 

 faoes to welcome the Prince. There were some fifty or Biity 

 all mounted on horseback to the astonishment of us Europeans. 

 Their good behaviour needs no comment. We settlers natu- 

 rally asked ourselvos, and argued the point together. Why 

 ehould we Europeans hero take advantage of a native race 

 more ignorant, in some respects, than ourselves, and take from 

 them all they possess ? Common sense says it is wrong. 



What I have written openly and candidly, are strong im- 

 pressions on my mind about the indigenous race of human 

 beings here. 



Now I must have my say on this subject, as an old settler 

 here. Our present provincial government have offered £1000 

 as a premium for the best system of preserving a certain quan- 

 tity of meat in tins ; £1000 ditto for the best manufacture of a 

 quantity of woollen goods out of our own grown wool; £1000 

 ditto for the best sugar, a certain number of tons, manufactured 

 from our own-grown Beetroot in Canterbury. This, I hope, 

 will be a great inducement to capitalists to come out here. 

 This is what wo want, some money ; population will follow. I 

 will conclude by saying, that we pay now for a leg of mutton. 

 Is. ; a whole sheep, 4s. 9,/. ; a whole lamb, 4s. ; beef, 2d. to 7d. 

 per lb. I am dining to-day (May 22nd), family included, on a 

 prime cut from the Eirloin, at C>ii. per lb. We are perfectly 

 glutted with butcher's meat here for want of population and 

 capitalists. — Willuu Swale. 



KETARDING FRUIT TREES IN AN ORCHARD 

 HOUSE. 

 Mi garden, consisting of about half an acre of garden ground, 

 ifl surrounded by houses, and, therefore, in spring is very warm. 

 In consequence of this warmth, early in spring my pot trees in 

 a lean-to orchard house blossom much too soon, and invariably 

 Peach and Nectarine trees bear no fruit. I have read atten- 

 tively Mr. Kingsley's mode of piling the pots in the open air, 

 and thus retarding the trees bursting into blossom. Do you 

 think I might try it with any chance of success ? Would the 

 trees in pots now in the orchard house bear the same treat- 

 ment ?— H. V. Fev. 



[You may safely retard your fruit trees in pots by keeping 

 them out of doors, and protecting the pots and heads from 

 severe frost. However warm your position is, yon might re- 

 tard the trees in the orchard house by giving plenty of air 

 night and day, and dulling the glass with a little whitened 

 water. With a free ciiculation, trees in an orchard house may 

 be kept late in blossoming.] 



TxVUNTON DEANE FLORICULTUEAL AND 

 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



This Society, which was established in 186(5, held its fourth 

 annual Exhibition on the 12th inst., and I have no hesitation 

 m saying it was one of the very best exhibitions which ever 

 took place out of London. 



Some idea may be formed of the magnitude of the Exhibi- 

 tion, when I state that five large tents were filled with a varied 

 and most excellent cjUection of flowers, fruits, and vegetables • 

 a sixth tent was also partly filled with choice collections of 

 liardy I'erns. The following are the dimensions of the tents • 

 —No. 1, 4(5 by 30 yards ; No. 2, 35 by 36; No. .■}, 41 by 36 • 



*n" i' ^^ ^7 ^'' ' ^°- ^' '^^ ^^ ^'^ ' No. 6, 23 by 36. To have 

 filled the above large space with such a magnificent collection 

 as that I had the pleapure of seeing on Thursday is a great 

 and lasting credit to the gardeners, amateurs, and cotlacers 

 residing in the neighbourhood of Taunton ; it also augurs well 

 the future of horticulture in Somerset, and shows that the 

 spare hours of the gardener, the amateur, and the cottager are 

 turned to good account, both in developing the beauties which 

 deck our land, and in improving by superior cultivation what 

 13 sent for our sustenance. The man who could by constant 

 care and watching produce sucli splendid results as those I 

 allude to, be lie cottager, amateur, or gardener, shows that he 

 18 possessed of something more than the ordinary amount of 

 intelligence— he does not labour for gain; his is simply and 

 purely a labour of love, which the owners of the soil not only 

 in Somerset, but in every other county, would do well to en- 

 courage by every means in their power. This would greatly 

 tend to lessen crime, and cause the benches of the alehouse 

 to remain unoccupied, more than all the acts that could be 



passed in the best parliament that ever existed, or that ever 

 will exist. The streets of Taunton on Tiiureday also presented 

 such a scene as I have never before witnessed ; business ol all 

 kinds seemed to be forgotten, and the whole town seemed to 

 have but one thought— that of participating in the pleasora o{ 

 witnessing and adding to the beauty and usefulness of the 

 Exhibition. Every street, and I may almost say every house 

 bore some testimony to the interest felt by the inhabitants in 

 the proceedings of the day. 



Now that wo have entered the Show ground wo ninsl stroll qoickly 

 tbrongh tlio varions teuta, only stoppiop to notice the greatest rarities, 

 or tboao commanding an extra share of notice, and even this will b« 

 a dillicult matter, seeing that there were so few eibibitions which did 

 not deserve the hiRliest meed ol praiBO that conld be awarded. If. 

 therefore, there are any that I have not noticed, it is not from want oi 

 inclination, bat of time and space, for to mention oil wonld take a 

 considerable amount of both. 



The whole of the tents were arranged alike, all having a centre 

 stage or table, with a flanking table on each side, having ample space 

 between the centre table or stuga and the flanking tables for the pnblic 

 to pass comfortably through withont damaging the cihibition subjects 

 on cither side. This is a hint that might be acted npon with advan- 

 tage by some cf the managers of oar metropolitan exhibitions. 



Tent No. 1 was set apart for the classes in which the principal prize 

 collections were exiiibited. These consisted of stove and greenhooae 

 plants, ornamentalfohnged plants, and Ferns, which were shown in 

 great abundance and in excellent condition. The Brst prize in the 

 class for twelve stove and creenbonse ]daDtR was taken by J. B. Saon- 

 ders, Esq , The Laurels, Taunton. This, like the collection that waa 

 awarded the second prize, consisted of a fine lot of plants. The pre- 

 ference was given to Mr. Saunders's collection in consequence of there 

 being a greater number of flowering plants in it. In the first-prize col- 

 lection were fine plants of Iiora cocciuca snpcrba. Phienocoma proli- 

 fera Bamesii finely bloomed, Allamanda nobilia, and ]>ipladenia crassi- 

 noda. The second-prize group coiilaiued a splendidly-bloomed pUnt 

 of the pretty Lagcrstrtcmia iudica, bo seldom met with in coUectiona 

 of the present day- — a plant which should, however, have a placo in 

 every collection ; a fine Allamanda Hcndersoni ; and the finest plant 

 I hard ever seen exhibited of Cassia coryrabosa — another grand old 

 plant not grown half so much as it ought to be. This I believe may 

 be made one of our best early summer decorative plants by proper 

 management. There was also shomi in this collection the finest 

 Maranta Vcitcbii ever exhibited ; also a splenthd Maranta roscopicta. 

 Both of these plants were shown in excellent condition. The collec- 

 tions to which the other prizes in this class were awarded, also con- 

 tained many plants which, for high cultivation and general excellence, 

 conld scarcely be sarpassed. 



The class for twelve exotic Ferns was well contested, splendid plants 

 being exhibited in each collection ; here the beautiful and Tacefol 

 Adiautum farleyenso and A. scutum — Ferns put in commerce by Itfr. 

 Koliert Vcitib, of the Exeter Nurseries. Mr. R. Veitch also exhibited 

 splendid specimens of these in a large collection of new and rare plants, 

 which occupied a coneiderable portion of the centre stage. There was 

 also a very choice collection of Ferns exhibited by .T. Wilmot, Esq., of 

 St. Thomas's, Exeter. In this collection was a noble .\diantam farley- 

 enso. In front of the plants I have just reviewed were placed on the 

 ground pans of Lycopods in splendid condition. Mr. Williams, of 

 Ilolloway, also occupied a large space on the centre stage with a 

 collection of plants, among which I noticed an exceedingly fine Lapa- 

 geria rosea, perhaps one of the finest plants that have ever been ex- 

 hibited. Mr. Williams likewise exhibited a choice collection of new 

 and rare plants. Fine gronps of Fuchsias were also exhibited in this 

 tent, and on the side tables Gladiolus, by Mr. Kelway, of Langport. 

 Mr. Cipher, of Cheltenham, exhibited some very finely-grown stove, 

 greenhouse, and omamental-foliaged plants ; so did Messrs. Dix and 

 Nelson, the prizes being awarded in the order in which these names 

 appear. There was. besides, a grand display of cut Verbenas shown 

 ou the side tables in this tent, as well as of cut Roses, Pbloxca, 

 DahUas, and Zonal Pelargoninms. Cockscombs were well repre- 

 sented. 



Tent No. 2 contained splendid collections of plants, chiefly con- 

 tributed by amatenrs and gentlemen's gardeners. In this tent I 

 noticed some of the finest douhlo Pelargoniums 1 ever remember 

 having seen exhibited. I can only name a few of the gems amongst 

 the many in this tent, such as Vinca ocniata, splendidly bloomed ; a 

 nice pot of the pretty Coprosma B.aneriana variegala, one of the 

 coming bedding plants of the age ; and the graceful Cupauia Jaca- 

 randa, with its beantifnl Fem-like leaves, undoubtedly one of the 

 most beautiful plants we have for table decoration, and a worthy com- 

 panion to the graceful Grevillea robnsta. Standing on the ground in 

 this tent I saw a large specimen of the carious Amorphophallos 

 nobilis, with its handsomely mottled stems ; this is, perhaps, one of 

 the most remarkable plants we have for rapid growth, a few days only 

 being required for it to mature its ^.agantic stem and fohago. Thet« 

 were also nice specimens of Terinijialia elegons and Cossignea bor- 

 bonica, two excellent plants for table decoration. 



Tent No. 3 waa much longer than the preceding two, and contained 

 a fine collection of fruit and vegetables, arranged on a table extending 

 the whole length of the tent. Diriding the fruit from the regetables 



