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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 19, 1874. 



Iboee who wish to add to their colleclions had better be on the 

 look-out, altbouph very little of novelty, as Mr. Douglas ob- 

 served in last week's Journal, has been added since our good old 

 trieud John Salter had to give up his cultures, those which have 

 been brought forward being only sports of old«r kinds, and not 

 new seedlings. No flower is more easily grown ; but let no one 

 imagine that such blooms as were exhibited at Kensington are 

 to be obtained by the slipshod system of cultivation to which 

 the flower is too often subjected, nor in truth would I for one 

 care to grow them thus. I much prefer a quantity of medium- 

 sized blooms to three or four, or even one large one, on a plant. 

 This will satisfy the many ; the exhibitor will " gang his ain 

 gait," and produce these large flowers with which he in truth 

 astonishes the natives, and would most likely astonish the 

 Celestials themselves. — D., Deal. 



and Sons, seed merchants, Reading, took place on the 9tb. 

 This year, owing to the increase in the number of hands, tLe 

 annual dinner was served-up in one of the spacious seed-storts 

 in the new buildings, which was fitted-up for the occasion, in- 

 stead of in the Abbey Hall, at five o'clock. An excellent and 

 substantial dinner was partaken of by about 160 employes. 



It is many years since an exhibition of this flower has been 

 held in London at all approaching in extent to this, which quite 

 filled the centre of the large conservatory and overflowed into 

 one of the arcades. The collections of plants in pots were the 

 subject of much criticism; the style of training is considered 

 too formal, the method of tying the growths down to produce 

 dwarf specimens being objected to. One or two of the collec- 

 tions were very bare of foliage, which brought into rather pro- 

 minent notice the sticks and matting used in training — indeed 

 one or two specimens were as nearly dead as possible ; and if 

 exhibitors thought they were worth the cost of conveyance to 

 the Show they were certainly not worth carting home again, as 

 they were not adapted for any decorative purpose whatsoever. 

 But this was a very small matter in an Exhibition where there 

 was so much to admire that was really good, and that displayed 

 no small amount of horticultural skill. 



First in the schedule was the large-flowered section, divided 

 into classes for nurserymen and amateurs, and some of them 

 being wisely left open, so that amateurs and the trade could 

 enter the lists in friendly combat, the former, as the prize list 

 proclaimed, proving the victors. For twelve specimens Mr. 

 James, gardener to W. F. Watson, Eeq., of Isleworth, was first ; 

 and this exhibitor does not so much try for large plants as for 

 quality of flowers, and the plants well furnished with healthy 

 deep green foliage. Messrs. J. Cutbush & Son, of Highgate, 

 p bowed well in this class, as did Mr. J. Herrington, gardener to 

 J. Price, Esq., of Clapham Park. But the best specimens in 

 the Show were exhibited iu the next class, which was confined 

 exclusively to amateurs. Those holding the highest position 

 came from Mr. \V. Hall, gardener to W. Stevens, Esq., of Brix- 

 ton ; Mr. J. Douglas, gardener to F. 'Wbitbourn, Esq., of Iliord, 

 being placed second, and Mr. James third. The best specimen 

 in the nurserymen's class was a very fine one of George Glenuy. 

 Mr. Douglas bad a well-flowered specimen of Mrs. G. Bundle, 

 which had the highest award in the amateurs' class. 



In the open class for twelve Pompon sorts Mr. Douglas had 

 the first prize, Messrs. Cutbush being second, and Messrs. S. 

 Dixon & Co. of Hackney third. The amateurs' class was exceed- 

 ingly well filled, but as all the prizetakers' names were published 

 in your advertising columns last week it is not necessary to 

 enumerate them again. A passing remark may be made about 

 the size of the pots in which the plants are grown. At Stoke 

 Newington, Stratford, and other local centres a limit is made, 

 and this has the advantage of causing a uniform growth ; 

 exhibitors likewise compete on more equal terms. At Kensing- 

 ton I was told that three plants were potted in one pot in some 

 cases. Lly own plants were grown with only one in each pot, 

 and so that the stem could be distinctly seen above the soil; 

 the Pompons in 8i-inch pots and the large-flowered specimens 

 in 11 {-inch, except in tne case of the large single specimen, 

 which was grown in a 17d-inch pot. 



Cut blooms were very numerous and of excellent quality. I 

 do not remember to have seen better specimens than those ex- 

 hibited by Mr. E. Smith, gardener to T. D. Galpin, Esq., of 

 Pntney Heath. Mr. J. H. Hennell, gardener to F. A. Davis, Esq., 

 Surbiton, had also very fine examples, and his first-prize 

 Japanese flowers were the best ever exhibited. Messrs. Veitch, 

 of Chelsea, had some good flowers of both sections, but the best 

 were over before the Show, as, fine though their flowers were, 

 they were not equal to some I saw at Chelsea more than a week 

 previous. The same firm also exhibited some veiy distinct new 

 varieties ; amongst them a hybrid between a large-flowered 

 Anemone and a Japanese ; it seems to have some of the Jane 

 Salter blood in it. The disc is rosy lilac, the florets shaped like 

 those of Jane Salter, but pure white ; if it is from this variety 

 the colour is iu the disc. Altogether it is a very distinct plant, 

 and may be the forerunner of a new class. Gold Thread has a 

 tuft of slender golden- bronze-coloured florets, and is very dis- 

 tinct and attractive. These two and one named Cossack had 

 first-class certificates awarded to them. — J. Douglas. 



EARLY ENGLISH WRITERS ON GARDENING. 



No. 1. 



THOMAS HILL. 



In the sixteenth century a taste for gardening had become 

 so widely diffused among the higher classes of society, that 

 they sought for information concerning its practice. Practical 

 gardeners were totally uneducated, and the only men capable 

 of publishing information were those who would write upon 

 any subject for which the booksellers would pay them. Thomas 

 Hill was one of this tribe, and as he knew nothing of gardening 

 his only resources were the old Greek and Latin authors. 

 These he translated, and unreservedly acknowledged that they 

 were the sources from which he drew his particulars. 



Thomas Hill seems to have been born in the year 1543, for 

 his portrait prefixed to his " Pleasant History declaring the 

 whole art of Physiognomy," states it represents him in his 



The Royal Beeks Seed Establishment Annhai. SoiKfiE. — 

 TLe annual soiree given to the emjitoyes of Messrs. Sutton 



Fig. 126.— Tliomas nUl. 



twenty-eighth year, and the volume was published in 1571. 

 He is described on the title-pages of his publications " citizen 

 of London " and "Londoner," but whether those designations 

 indicate his birthplace as well as residence I cannot determine. 

 It seems evident that he adhered to the Protestant party, for 

 his first publication is dedicated to Sir Henry Seymour, of 

 Harwell in Hampshire, who was enriched by many grants of 

 conventual lands before his death about 1578 ; his translation 

 of Code's work on " Physiognomy " is dedicated to " the Right 

 worshipful Master George Keable, Esquier," another Protestant ; 

 and his posthumous work, " The Gardeners' Labyrinth," is 

 dedicated by his friend and editor Henry Dethicke to Cecil, 

 Lord Burghley, Queen Elizabeth's leading statesman. 



That Hill was of gentle blood is intimated by his liberal 

 education and by his friendship with such a man as Heniy 

 Dethicke, who was the third son of Sir Gilbert Dethicke, prin- 

 cipal King at Arms and an antiquary. His brother. Sir William 

 Dethicke, was one of the antiquaries who in 1503 originated a 

 Society that was the seed of our Society of Antiquaries. Henry 

 was a sizar of Gonville Hall, Cambridge. His variotis pro- 

 motions are detailed in " Notes and (Queries," 2 series, xii., 3H;i. 

 He died in 1613. 



Hill's first publication appeared in 15C3 in the form of a 

 small duodecimo entitled, " A most hriefe and pleasaunt 

 treatyse teachynge how to dress, sowe, and set a Garden." 

 This was enlarged by degrees to the quarto volume, " The 

 profitable Arte of Gardening, to which is added much 

 necessarie matter and a number of secrets, with the Phisicko 

 helps belonging to each hearbe, and that easily prepared. To 



