«i6 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t AprU 20, 187B. 



subject, entitled " An Essay on Planting, and a Scheme tor 

 making it Conducive to the Glory of God and the Advantage 

 of Society." 



In 1759 and two succeeding years oratorios and other 

 musical meetings were held at Church Langton to increase 

 the funds. 



In 1760 he published " A Plan for a Pablic Library at Church 

 Langton," the profits also to be devoted to furthering his 

 plans. In 1761 his winter's sale of trees amounted to more 

 than £1000. Iq 176." the portrait was painted which we have 

 partly copied. In 1765 he had made so muchpi-ofit that, after 

 building an organ and adding bells to the church , he had £1500 

 Burplus. In 1767 he executed deeds of trust for endowing a 

 Bchool, beautifying the church, aiding the library, an annual 

 beef feast, a picture gallery, a printing office to print devotional 

 tracts for gratuitous distribution, foundation of a hospital, and 

 professorships of science. 



In 1773 he published his largest work, "The Complete 

 Body of Planting and Gardening," in two foUo volumes. The 

 profits were to go to forward his plan of raising £10,000 a-year 

 to carry out his intentions. The cultural details are generally 

 excellent ; and full as he was of general information relative 

 to the plants, he has interspersed much of historical interest. 

 One sentence as an example must suffice — " Broccoli was first 



with spare flowers of twelve leading sorts, while it will be a 

 joke to " Hercules." 



While speaking of this Show I wish something might be 

 done to clear the ground, after the time of closing arrives, of 

 all people except exhibitors, and these should retire for a short 

 time that there maybe no mistake. This is done at Hereford, 

 where the arrangements are capital, and no difficulty is ex- 

 perienced by any exhibitor in removing his boxes. Not so, 

 however, at the Palace, as my experience will show. The 

 Rose Show being hitherto on a Saturday, and the last train on 

 the South- Western leaTing at i p.m., I am obliged to leave 

 before the Show is over, or else the same catastrophe (?) would 

 happen here as once did in certain parishes in Devon and 

 Cornwall, the parsons of which, taking it into their heads to 

 visit Lundy Island one Saturday, arrived there all right, but 

 when they essayed to depart the wind had changed, and they 

 were kept there for a fortnight, much to the (may I say, Messrs. 

 Editors) dismay of their respective flocks. My man had to see 

 after boxes all over the Palace Show, and wanting a bloom or two 

 from one box at the other side he crossed over and found blooms 

 and box alike vanished. A policeman standing by told him 

 that two men had calmly put on the Ud and walked off with it ; 

 but " there they are," and just in time the box was recovered. 

 Another fellow played me an equally sharp trick. " A gentle- 



brought into England by the father of my late worthy friend i man, zur, at least he was dressed hke von, cum np to I and 



CosmuB Neville, Esquire, of Holt in Leicestershire. 



He' was married, and lais second son and only daughter are 

 buried in the mausoleum with him. He died February 28th, j 

 1778, in his fifty-third year. 



THE COMING EOSE SHOWS. 



A LiiE Easter, nothing could be better ; but what a late 

 spring it is also ! I do not remember things so backward for 

 years past, but yet there seems good promise. Certainly round 

 here the blossom on the fruit trees is most abundant, particu- 

 larly on the Plums. The last two nights, however, have been 

 unusually cold for the time of year ; we had here, within three 

 r»i]es of the sea, ice half an inch thick the night before last 

 (April 10th), and last night a heavy fall of snow. My Eoses— j 

 the Eoses that I congratulated myself would be in bloom just 

 in time for the Crystal Palace Show— have been so pinched by 

 the frost that I doubt whether the trees that have been planted 

 last of all will not be before them. 



I find it an exceUent plan to plant my Eoses at certain inter- 

 vals from the beginning of November to nearly the end of 

 March. I know that it is a httle hazardous to buy plants so 

 late as the last week in the month ; but, as a rule, if they are 

 not long on the road, very few if any die, and the plants give 

 you blooms just at the time when the Hereford giant's and 

 northern swell's are in full bloom. The Crystal Palace fixture 

 this year is unusually early, even for the Sydenham people — 

 June lOth and 17th ; a very good fixture for cutbacks, but how 

 about the maiden blooms ? I feel confident that, unless we 

 have most genial weather in May, Mr. Cranston, for one, wiU 

 not put in an appearance at Sydenham. 



The Birmingham and Nottingham fixtMSs are not yet out ; 

 but supposing they are the week after the Alexandra and 

 Aquarium — and I do not see how they can be before — the Rose 

 show season will be spread over a mouth. It will be hard 

 work even for " Hercules " to keep up the steam for that time, 

 but I shall be much surprised if he does not do so. 



The Crystal Palace schedule is different in several particulars 

 from any 'former one. First there is a class (for nurserymen) 

 for twelve Tea-scented and Noisette Eoses, distinct. Hurrah ! 

 I always felt it was such a shame that the Palace people never 

 gave a class for Teas. Now, the early lixture will just do for 

 these, the aristocracy of Eoses, and we shall see Mr. Cant in 

 fine form. 



Next there is a most important alteration in the amateur 

 classes. Instead of twenty-four single trusses in class 8, 

 twenty-four trebles have to be shown, and instead of twelve 

 singles twelve trebles, and also there is no restriction as to 

 sho°wing in this last class. In days of old the aU-conquejing 

 " Hercules " was debaiTed from picking this little plum from 

 the Eose pie, which was prepared for infants like myself, so 

 that we too might have a chance. Now, " Hercules " can eat 

 up the whole pio and leave not even a crumb for us poor 

 little fellows, and he will do it too, see if he does not. I cannot 

 help thinking, however, that twelve trebles is too large a 

 number for the lowest class in any schedule. Small growers 

 will have difficulty in bringing those perfect blooms together 



says, ' Where be Meester Camm ?' ' Gone home,' I says. ' Gone 

 home I impossible !' says he. ' Yes, he be ; he's gone home.' 

 ' But,' said he, ' he promised to dine with me to-night, and 

 said I was to have all his Eoses.' ' He said nought of that to 

 I.' ' But he did to me. Come, bring them out. Is that all ? 

 Have yon no more over the way ?' And the end of it all 

 were that he walked off with them all, but here's his card." I 

 need not say that the card was as new to me as the invitation 

 to dinner was news. It is, however, no joke to lose Eose boxes 

 full of tubes, and I hope the Palace people will protect ex- 

 hibitors from thieves for the future. 



My letter to you upon the subject of the superiority of the 

 Manetti as a Rose stock over the Briar and all other stocks 

 has elicited several letters, all more or less flattering to myself. 

 One large nurseryman regrets that I should have formed such 

 a bad opinion of the Briar as a stock, and in order that I may 

 give it another trial most kindly offers to present me with a 

 number of his best standards next autumn ; and Mr. Cranston 

 of King's Acre, Hereford, the largest cultivator of the Manetti, 

 and the most successful exhibitor from that incomparable 

 stock, writes, " I am dehghted with your article, ' Manetti 

 versus Briar.' There is no doubt at all of its (the Manetti) supe- 

 riority, and for one tltousaiid grown on Briar or oun roots we 

 see a hundred tJwusand grown on Manettis. What more proof 

 need we than this ?" I was so dehghted when I received this 

 letter that I did not, as Mr. Eeynolds Hole says he did when 

 he felt that aU his difficulties about instituting the first 

 National Eose Show were over, " whistled whilst in the act of 

 shaving," but I heaped a lot of old Eose stakes which had 

 come from Starveacre, the scene of my inglorious failure and 

 ignominy last year, on my fire ; and do you know that my bad 

 luck followed me even to the very end, for these stakes im- 

 mediately set my chimney on fire, and I had to sit up till 

 i A.M. holding wet sponges against the wall of my bedroom. 

 — John B. M. Camm. 



THE BOYAL AQUABIUM FLOTVEE SHOW. 



Amidst a storm of thunder, hghtning, and snow this new 

 candidate for the favour of the public and the sympathy and sup- 

 port of horticulturists opened its first Exhibition ; and taking 

 into account the early date at which it was held and the extreme 

 severity of the season, the Directors and their able Superin- 

 tendent Mr. Wills may congratulate themselves on a decided 

 success. 



It was not to be expected that Mr. Wills, who has gained so 

 wide a reputation for skill as a decorator, would be contented 

 with running in the ordinary groove nor be satisfied with the 

 straight formal lines which generally mark our flower shows ; 

 and I was therefore not surprised to find that the Exhibition 

 was arranged in a different manner, the plants being placed in 

 semicircular groups of two, three, or more, trees and fohage 

 plants being introduced amongst them. The effect was in pleasing 

 contrast to those melancholy arcades at South KenEington. The 

 most pleasing group was one which was specially arranged ac- 

 cording to Mr. WiUs'fi ideas. It consisted of some Eoses in pots 

 from Messrs. Paul & Son of Cheshunt, with Palms at the back; 

 some round baskets of glorious blooms of Marfichal Kiel from 

 the eame firm, splendid in size and colour; two also from Mr. 



