4Bi 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t June 8, 1876. 



hoary truok with their Bupple twining branches will begin to 

 flower, and find a welcome shade for their delicate blooma 

 beneath his wide-spread sheltering arms. 



The birds sing. The ecstatic nightingale, who makes the 

 night melodious with his song, has a rival in the skylark, that 

 bright spirit whose melody has inspired Shelley's most mag- 

 nificent ode and been the theme of a Shakespeare. 



" Hark ! hark ! The lark jit heaven's gate sings, 

 And PhdbUH 'tiinfi arise 

 His speeds to water at whose springs 

 On chaJiccil flowers that Ilea." 



Wordsworth apostrophises the lark in a more serious spirit — 



" Leave to the nightiDgalr the sliady wood; 

 A privacy of glorious light in thine, 

 ■Wlience thou dost pour npon the world a flood 



Of harmony with lapture more divine : 

 Type of the wise, who s^ar but never roam, 

 True to the kindred points of heaven and home." 



Thus in May we have indeed the fulness of young life. It 

 ia above all months the month of promise, when untrammelled 

 Nature spreads her beauties to the sun, and man having sown 

 the seed looks hopefully forward to a plenteous harvest. 



" Be gracious, Heaven ! for now laborious man 

 Has done his part. Ye fostering breezes blow; 

 Ye Rnftening dews, ye tcodcr showers descend; 

 And temper all, thou world-reviving snn, 

 Into the perfect year." 



— T. S. J. 



BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND SOCIETY'S 

 SHOW AT HEREFORD. 



The horticultural tent is again under the stewardship of the 

 Hon. and Rev. J. T. Boscawen, whose great experience in the 

 direction of these exhibitions has secured to them a reputation 

 which is unique in horticultural shows ; but, unfortunately, in 

 consequence of a delay on the railway some of the most im- 

 portant plants had not arrived on the day of the opening, con- 

 Bequently the horticultural tent was not open to the public till 

 Tuesday. 



Among the contributors were Mr. Paton, gardener to Sir 

 Henry Stanhope ; Mr. Bye, gardener to J. H. Arkwright, Esq. ; 

 Mr. Nash, gardener to J. E. Ranken, Esq.; Mr. Carmichael, gar- 

 dener to Henry Tugwell, Esq., of Crowe Hall, Bath ; Mr. Digs- 

 well of Mynde Park. Messrs. Cranston & Mayos of King's Acre 

 Nurseries had a beautiful exhibition of Rhododendrons flank- 

 ing the tent on the right, the masses broken-up with triangular 

 designs of mosaic work composed of alpine and succulent plants, 

 edged with miniature variegated Conifers, and backed with 

 Thuja aurea, Kalmias, &c. Messrs. Cranston had also a very 

 fine rockwork of alpines, Japanese and rock plants on the left 

 hand on leaving the tent. Messrs. Wheeler & Son of Gloucester 

 had a fine collection of Indian Azaleas grown and retarded for 

 the occasion by their skilful foreman Mr. Cousins, whom we 

 have missed for some years from the exhibition tents. 



The principle on which Mr. Boscawen conducts these exhi- 

 bitions is not the same as is usual on such occasions. There 

 are no prizes offered, and there is no competition between the 

 exhibitors. But they do not go unrewarded for all that. A sum 

 of money is set apart by the Council of the Society, which is 

 entrusted to Mr. Boscawen to distribute among the exhibit«rs 

 according to the merit of their plants ; and as Mr. Boscawen is 

 himself a thorough horticulturist and knows when a plant is 

 well grown, he exercises his judgment as to the amount which 

 is to he given lo each exhibitor. There is one advantage in this 

 mode of exhibiting which is apparent on entering the exhibition 

 tent— there being no classes a plant is placed where it is seen 

 to the greatest advantage, and where it produces the most 

 artistic effect. This method gives great facilities for grouping, 

 and this is admirably carried ont. 



BALSAM CULTURE. 



Balsam seeds may be sown at various times of the year, 

 but the best months are April and May, for the simple reasons 

 that the Balsam is a sun-loving plant, and that is rather a 

 scarce commodity in Britain early in spring and at the fall 

 of the year. Choose flat pans in which to sow the seed, 

 first draining well before putting in the light sifted compost 

 they delight in. Drill the surface into separate lines, in 

 which scatter the seeds thinly, allotting a line or two, according 

 to the demand for plants, for each variety ; cover the seeds 

 well before watering well with a fine rose. 



General Cultural Hints. — Onr opinion respecting the proper 

 place in which to grow Balsams is, that the old mode followed 

 in dung-heated frames snrpassea any other, no matter how 

 complete the structure in its appointments : the exhalations 

 arising from such a bed eeem to supply the wants of the plant 



better than any other material or appliance in use. The bod 

 should be well fermented, and all noxious gases dispelled 

 before the seed pans are partially plunged in sand, sawdust, 

 or leaf mould, which ought to form a covering of .? or 4 inches 

 over the surface. After fixing the seed pans, cover each with 

 a piece of flat glass, and keep close for a few days. When 

 germination takes place admit a little air by raising the glass 

 on edge. At the same time moisten slightly the soil ; shade 

 lightly for the following few days should the sun shine power- 

 fully, but not otherwise ; guard against cutting winds reaching 

 the young plants, but on no account let them become drawn for 

 want of ventilation at any stage of their existence. Balsams 

 always do best when kept near the glass : never have their tops 

 at a further distance than a few inches, lowering them as they 

 grow. 



Pntthuj — This must be conducted with almost punctual 

 regularity, the progress of growth being so rapid and regular. 

 The first set of pots used ought to be those known as 

 " thumbs ;" in these the plants require no drainage whatever. 

 Proceed with the potting as soon as they have formed the 

 second pair of leaves, singling them out carefully with as 

 much soil clinging to their roots as possible. Lower the plants 

 deep into the pots, so that the leaves only stand clear of the 

 soil, and do not press the compost too severely to the roots 

 on the first and second occasions of potting. Water well with 

 tepid water as soon as they are potted, and return them into 

 heat again. Potting should be performed in the evening, or 

 at least after the excessive heat of the day ; and by the time 

 the sun is upon them the day following, they will have re- 

 covered the slight shock caused by being separated and having 

 their roots exposed in the operation. The next shift may be 

 into 4 -inch pots, and the compost ought to be enriched by 

 an additional amount of fresh sifted horse droppings, and a 

 goodly proportion of rich brown loam added to the lighter 

 material used for the seed bed and first shift ; further, the 

 loam ought not to be sifted, only broken with the hands into 

 turfy lumps, the other constituents being made to form the 

 finer parts of the compost. Without going further into detail, 

 they ought to be shifted into larger pots when they show 

 symptoms of getting pot-bound, and be repeatedly shifted 

 until the recjuired size of plants is reached. Remove all 

 flowers before they show colour till the time they get the last 

 shift. Supply them freely with tepid water, giving occasional 

 waterings of liquid manure from the time that they are in 

 6-inoh pots until the flowering is nearly over. Turn the 

 plants at regular intervals of time to prevent them getting 

 malformed in growth. Keep up a lively bottom heat as long 

 as growth is required, but lessen the heat to some extent when 

 they form flowers. Air them freely throughout their whole 

 growth, and lower the temperature somewhat previous to 

 their being placed in the conservatory. Gather the seeds 

 before the pods burst, and preserve them dry in paper in a 

 dry room. — A. Kerb, Royal Winter Gardens, Edinburgh (in 

 The Gardener). 



MANCHESTER HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITION, 



OLD TRiFFORD, MANCHESTEE. 



This Exhibition, which claims for itself the title of National, 

 is not incorrectly named, for I question if even our metropolitan 

 shows better deserve the name ; while of all the great provincial 

 shows, this great Whitsuntide one, held under the auspices of 

 the Botanical Society, holds the first place. The liberal cha- 

 racter of the prizes, the excellence of the arrangements, and the 

 courtesy of the well-known Curator, Mr. Bruce Fiudlay, have 

 all combined to elevate it to that position. Some fears had 

 been entertained that the sale of the grand specimen plants of 

 thf! Messrs. Cole would have interfered with the success of the 

 Exhibition this year; but these fears were unfounded, and a 

 brilliant sunshine, not always to be had in Manchester, added 

 to the enjoyment of the large number of visitors who came to 

 see and be seen. 



Instead of entering into details of the plants exhibited, which 

 have more interest for local people than for the general public, 

 I will endeavour to give a general idea of the whole. The Exhi- 

 bition was held in a tent some 100 feet in length by, I should 

 say, about CO feet wide; the ground being broken up into beds 

 of large size edged with turf, and, being slightly undulating, the 

 whole looked exceedingly well. It was somewhat in the stylo 

 of the Regent's Park Exhibitions with which Londoners are so 

 familiar, while Orchids and other tender plants were shown iu 

 the large conservatory. 



Viewed from the mound at the entrance of the tent a grand 

 scene of beauty presented itself, and the intermixture of flowers 

 and foliage was never better managed. On the mound itself 



