228 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ Beptomber 10, 1874. 



instractiona or variations from his programme were needed. 

 Being freed from executive duties, bis mind would be at liberty 

 to deal promptly and coolly with the multitudinous questions 

 constantly arising on such occasions, and so delay, incon- 

 venience, and vexation would be to a very large extent pre- 

 vented, and hitches rendered almost impossible. 



We will suppose the exhibits all staged ready for the judges, 

 and the tents cleared of everyone but the foremen and their 

 assistants. The judges wiU now enter on the scene of their 

 labours, and the first thing they will do will be to confer with 

 the foreman and ascertain from him what absentees there are, 

 conforming their list of entries to the actual exhibits. Every 

 judge will at once perceive the value of this step. They will 

 then set about their work attended by their messenger, who, as 

 the awards are made, will convey them to the secretary, bring- 

 ing back to the foreman the prize cards, which he and no one 

 else should alEx in their proper places. Meanwhile, however, 

 the foreman wUl have run his eye over the exhibits, and as 

 there will certainly be plots of unoccupied space, his next work 

 will be to decide how they are to be dealt with, for dealt with 

 they must be before the public are admitted if an effective 

 exhibition is to be produced. A competent man will soon 

 decide what must be done. His attendants will now be busily 

 occupied in carrying out his instructions. If the tent is 

 sparsely occupied their labours will be heavy, for they will 

 have to delude the eyes of the spectators so that they may 

 not be aware of anything wanting. How this may be done 

 will depend on so many circumstances that want of time and 

 space prevents my entering in detail on the subject, but those 

 who have had experience will readily understand all that might 

 be said about it. 



The general manager by this time will have gone the round 

 of the tents ; he will have detected all the weak places ; he will 

 have ascertained what changes in the arrangements must be 

 made to meet the exigencies of the hour ; he wiU have given 

 his foremen their orders, and they with their assistants will 

 rapidly carry them out, so that as the hour for opening arrives 

 the feast will be duly set ; everything will be in order ; all the 

 machinery by means of which the effect has been produced will 

 be pushed away into the background, and a delighted assem- 

 blage of spectators will throng the tents, and warmly express 

 their admiration of everything and everybody. 



But it was not quite thus at Aston. There were two if not 

 three managers, all of them competent men, and all sadly over- 

 worked in consequence of the absence of proper organisation, 

 and a sufficient staff of assistants rigidly kept to do what might 

 be required of them, and so a good deal of work was done, and 

 had to be undone, and much that might have been done was 

 left untouched. This, however, will not, in all probability, 

 occur again, for Mr. Qailter was painfully aware of the de- 

 fective arrangements, and will be sure to prevent a repetition. 

 But it is not only at the Aston Show that confusion and over- 

 worked managers are to be met with, or I should not have 

 offered the foregoing suggestions. So far as my experience 

 goes they are to be found at most of our shows, and especially 

 at onr more extensive ones. 



There was onevery pleasant feature of the Aston Show which 

 I should like to put prominently before the readers of the 

 Journal, because it seems to me to be a step in the right 

 direction, and one which may be wisely followed elsewhere, 

 and especially at the provincial exhibitions of the Boyal Hor- 

 ticultural Society. The judges' luncheon was provided as 

 customary, but on the evening of the first day of the Show 

 there was a dinner at which judges, managers, the press, <S:o., 

 met together, and which was presided over by Mr. Quilter. 

 The labours of a busy day were ended, the cool of the evening 

 had arrived, it was but meet that after labour should come 

 refreshment ; and in a pleasant room some twenty persons, not 

 a few of them leaders in the horticultural world, assembled 

 together to enjoy a bounteous repast and indulge in pleasant 

 talk. I have taken part in many pleasant gatherings, but the 

 evening of July 7, 1874, stands out in my memory as one of 

 the most pleasant of the number. The company was indeed a 

 congenial one ; they were everyone backbone horticulturists, 

 professional or amateur. After the usual demonstrations of 

 loyalty and success to the Midland Counties Horticultural So- 

 ciety had been drunk, there came other toasts which afforded 

 apt speakers a rare chance for doing justice to pleasant themes. 

 It is no intention of mine to mention names, but I cannot 

 omit to record what pleasantries were indulged in by him 

 who proposed the horticultural world in the fanciful toast of 

 "Spades, Hoes, andrropjgating Houses,'' nor the earnest and 



touching manner in which he who spoke for his brethren re- 

 sponded; the horticultural press, too, was warmly proposed, 

 and representatives of three of the journals spoke from the 

 heart how much they felt the manner in which their labours 

 were appreciated. A very pretty toast was proposed — " Pansies 

 and Daisies," and associated with it was the name of him 

 to whom the world is indebted for that pleasantest of hor- 

 ticultural pursuits, spring gardening. The speaker who pro- 

 posed this toast told for the edification of the company how 

 spring gardening commenced at Cliveden, and, extensively 

 followed at the Lower Grounds and elsewhere, was influencing 

 the little garden plots at back and front of Uttle cottage homes 

 and artisans' humble dwellings round Birmingham and the 

 surrounding districts ; how dreary mangy spots had been made 

 bright and cheery with hardy spring flowers ; and how working 

 men were spending their leisure, not in the publiohouse but in 

 their tiny gardens. AU honour, then, to him who had done 

 so much for his fellows by means of Pansies and Daisies. 

 Surely man was never prouder, or happier, or more overcome 

 than he whom his friends applauded to the very echo. This 

 is but a brief and meagre outline of a most enjoyable evening, 

 the proceedings of which wUl Live long in the memories of 

 those who were fortunate enough to take part in it. 



Surely such meetings as these bind man to man. Gardeners, 

 men of literature, nurserymen, amateurs here met on common 

 ground, thoughts and feelings were interchanged, pleasant me- 

 mories were stored up, renewed strength was imparted to oid 

 friendships, new friendships were started into being, and every- 

 one returned to his home all the better for the social inter- 

 course which Mr. QuUter's hospitality had made possible and 

 brought about. — Philanthes. 



KOSE-GKOWING AND EOSE-SHOWING. 



I THINK it was a great pity Mr. A. Paul should have written 

 so long a letter, when he might have summed it all up in one 

 sentence — " Don't buy your Roses at Cheshunt, but buy them 

 at our nursery." I have seldom read a more unfair or untrue 

 production : unfau', because it is an attempt to disparage cer- 

 tain growers m the trade because they are exhibitors, and un- 

 true because he ought to know that the Roses which fill the 

 exhibition table are not from those plants which are offered 

 for sale, but from maiden plants, which will not leave the 

 nursery for another year. I have seen both the nurseries, 

 and can tell the Eose-loving pubUc that they are both equally 

 goad. 



I presume Mr. A. Paul is a young man ; if so, he had better 

 tarry awhile ere he put pen to paper again ; or, at any rate, 

 strive to have a little more of the commodity commonly known 

 as — Justice. 



[This is one of those discussions which are apt to lead to 

 pamful personalities, and we must beg that any further com- 

 munications on the subject may be in our advertising columns. 

 — Eds.j 



NOVELTIES IN THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW. 



In the house No. 1 Clavija ornata is in flower. The stem is 

 unbranched, and for 3 feet below the leafy portion (where it is 

 several years old), the racemes of orange-coloured flowers are 

 freely produced. From this peculiar habit it draws attention 

 from the most superficial observer. But for a slightly dis- 

 agreeable smell the racemes would be valuable for bouquets, 

 from their unique character and beauty. The genus is con- 

 fined to South America. This species is native of Brazil and 

 Guiana. It is sometimes cultivated in stoves, partly for the 

 sake of its handsome Theophrasta-like foliage. It requires the 

 usual stove treatment, and is grown from imported seeds. 



In the collection of hardy aquatics, Nymphiei tuberosa is a 

 rare 'Water Lily, with white flowers similar to those of N. alba, 

 from which it is, however, distinct. Its chief character rests 

 in the tubers of the rootstock, which are spontaneously 

 detached, and often compound. It is a native of the northern 

 United States, and consequently quite hardy. 



Polygonum sachalinense, a comparatively new species, is 

 producing its pale green flowers. It is of ornamental value 

 for the " wild garden " and the backs of herbaceous borders on 

 account of its habit and fine foUage. Native of the island of 

 Sachalin and eastern Amoorland. Clematis tubulosa, native 

 of North China, is in flower on the wall. It has bold dark 

 green foliage ; the flowers are blue, and so freely produced as 

 to be effective, in form they are tubular, and therefore quite 



