74 



JOURNAL OF EOETICDLTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



f July 23, 187S. 



time the food prospects for both man and beast are eapeoially 

 promising. — Beta. 



CHIPPING NORTON ROSE SHOW. 



CmrriNO NonTos had never been associated in my mind with 

 anything horticultural save James Betteridge and his Asters. 

 It will henceforth be associated with the recollection of as pretty 

 a little Rose Show as I have seen this season, with as enthusi- 

 astic a sot of florists as I have met with for some time, and with 

 people as hospitable aud genial as, even amongst horticulturists, 

 anyone might wish to be thrown into contact with. In order to 

 prove my position let me, then, endeavour to describe their 

 Rose Show, bearing in mind that it is a quiet inland town with 

 about four thousand inhabitants. Now I do not call to mind 

 any town of a similar size which, in addition to its ordinary 

 horticultural show, goes in for a Rose show exclusively. Wis- 

 beach adds stove and greenhouse plants to its list of exhibits. 

 Exeter is a city, and so is Hereford, and therefore do not stand 

 in comparison with it ; and this, I think, is a proof that it has 

 an enthusiastic set of florists. The Committee offered upwards 

 of ;£10 in prizes, and of sufficient vabie to tempt such growers 

 as Messrs. Cranston & Mayos of Hereford and Mr. Prince of 

 Oxford to come forward, while the amateurs of the neighbour- 

 hood mustered in considerable strength. 



The Show was held in the charming grounds of The Mount, 

 the residence of Mr. Wilkins the Mayor of Chipping Norton ; 

 and the tent in which the Roses were placed was well fiUed with 

 excellent stands of blooms. Messrs. Cranston & Mayos's lot of 

 forty-eight was remarkably fresh, and the blooms in it were 

 largo without being coarse. The usual fine Roses which one 

 looks for in every stand were of course to be seen here, as were 

 also Ferdinand de Lesseps, good ; Madame Laoharme, clear and 

 fine; and Sir Garnet Wolseley, rich and good in form. Mr. 

 Prince's Roses were fine but coarse. It would seem from what 

 I have seen that the seedling Briar has the tendency to foster 

 coarseness, and will probably require less manure and less 

 strength than the Manetti. There were some grand blooms of 

 Claude Levet in Mr. Prince's stands. Mr. Corp of Oxford was 

 a good third. 



The keenest point of interest about the Show was evidently 

 the contest for the cup given for twenty-four blooms in the 

 amateurs' class, and which was awarded after a very close con- 

 test to Mr. Julius Sladden, the son of as staunch a florist as ever 

 lived, well known to the horticulturists of the past as " A. S. H." 

 the editor for many years of " Gossip for the Garden," and one 

 of the earliest and most successful amateur cultivators of the 

 Gladiolus in England. It is a pleasant thing to see the son 

 treading in his father's footsteps, and it was no small pleasure 

 to mo as his old friend to award him the cup. His stand was a 

 very even and creditable one, but he was run very close by Mr. 

 H. Wilkins, in whose stand were some blooms much finer, but 

 mnre than counterbalanced by those two wretches Henri Pages 

 and Reine du Midi, which are well nigh sure always to deceive 

 an exbibitor ; their colour so soon flies, and they so soon become 

 flaccid. In Teas a very beautiful box of smallish blooms was 

 exhibited by Mr. Prince of Oxford, amongst which Comtesse de 

 Nadaillac and Marie Van Houtte were conspicuous. The pre- 

 mier prize for the best single Rose in the amateurs' class of 

 twenty-four was awarded to Mr. Wilkins for a very beautiful 

 bloom of General Jacqueminot. How these old Roses are coming 

 to the front this year ! There were some pretty baskets and 

 bouquets of Roses shown, but the rigid rule which proscribes 

 any other foliage but that of the Rose might well be modified. 

 Mrs. Betteridge exhibited a beautiful stand of blooms of hardy 

 herbaceous plants, but of these more anon. 



In the evening a dinner took place at the Crown Hotel, and 

 after it Mr. Pryer the Treasurer announced his intention of 

 giving a cup next year of the value of five guineas, to be com- 

 peted. for by amateurs. This announcement is another proof of 

 the enthusiasm that exists amongst the horticulturists of Chip- 

 ping Norton. 



After the Show I went to visit the nursery grounds of Mr. 

 James Bettekldqe. I ought to have done so under any cir- 

 camstances, if only to apologise for having so deliberately killed 

 him off last year; but I was anxious to see the home of tho 

 quilled Asters which bear his name and which he has made so 

 famous. They were not, of course, in bloom, but they gave good 

 promise of an excellent bloom next month, and they must really 

 form a beautiful sight when these large patches of various colours 

 are in flower, on the side of one of those hills which form Chip- 

 ping Norton. Mrs. Betteridge, the worthy wife of a worthy 

 man, is passionately fond of herbaceous plants, and has gathered 

 together a very nice collection. Amongst those in flower were 

 several fine Delphiniums, especially a seedling from Belladonna 

 hut move vigorous ; Pentstemon Torreyi, Campanula salicifolia, 

 Veronica spicata and spieata alba., and a dwarf variety of the same ; 

 Campanula Van Houttei, nobilis alba, and Henderson! ; Spirsea 

 venusta, Scabicsa caucasica coronata, and Myosotis Impera- 

 tiice Elizabeth, valuable not only for its colour, but as c^njirg 



into bloom when all others are over. She had also some very 

 nice specimens of British Ferns, and I was glad to find herba- 

 ceous plants so well done and so appreciated, and right glad to 

 make the acquaintance of an honest man and a self-taught florist 

 and his good wife. I am sorry to say I saw here unmistakeable 

 proofs of the existence of the Potato disease, of which after this 

 wet July I fear we shall hear much. 



Being an early bird I took the opportunity of paying a visit 

 before starting on my home journey to see Mr. Sabine, who is 

 mad enough to prefer hardy herbaceous plants to flaunting 

 Geraniums and carpet bedding. Here I found many choice and 

 valuable plants thoroughly at home, and I am not surprised at 

 the favour with which this class of plants seems now to be 

 regarded. 



I think, then, that I have proved my position as to the enthu- 

 siasm of the Chipping Norton people about flowers ; it behoves 

 me to speak but little of the kindness which I experienced both 

 from my kind host the Mayor and his family, and the various 

 officers of the Society ; from all with whom I came into contact 

 I experienced the utmost cordiality, and rejoice that amidst this 

 very dripping season they had a lovely day for their Show, and 

 I trust that they may go on still prospering in the adventurous 

 and spirited course they have taken for the encouragement of 

 the queen of flowers. — D., Deal. 



CELERY IN WIDE TRENCHES. 



Me. Douglas being a cultivator of such acknowledged ability, 

 everything he says justly carries considerable weight. On 

 page .S4 he says, in treating on Celery, that " where quantity 

 is of more importance than quality it is better to plant in 

 wide trenches;" but for Celery of "splendid quality" he 

 recommends the single-row system. Now, I cannot see how 

 a difference in the size of a trench can affect the quality of 

 Celery, but I can easily understand its having an influence 

 on size. 



For a number of years I have grown Celery having for the 

 main object quality, and, leaving undoubtedly good judges to 

 decide on its merits, I have had a fair share of success. Now, 

 the Celery which, for table use, has been so highly appreciated 

 has been grown in wide trenches of four rows in each, and the 

 sort Turner's Incomparable. With this sort, and by that mode, 

 I could obtain a greater table quantity of high quality than I 

 could by any other sort or plan. I could grow a larger quan- 

 tity, using other sorts, but it was quantity to trim away and 

 go to the rot-heap. 



Clean, sweet, crisp heads a foot in length are sufficient for a 

 gentleman's table, and big Celery I hold to be as great a mis- 

 take as is the aim at big Cucumbers. It is devoting labour, 

 space, and manure to not a profitable end. For exhibition 

 and market purposes the case is different, but for home table 

 use I hold that the best quality of Celery is found in small 

 and not large heads. 



The secret of having good Celery is in an abundant supply 

 of water and not earthing-up by dribblets. Celery wiH blanch 

 in one month as well as in three, and the longer it is earthed 

 the more liable it is to become cankered. Dwarf Celery is 

 more productive of suckers than is the taU-growing Celery, 

 and special care is necessary to pick-out these sucker eyes at 

 the time of planting, and, above all, not to plant deeply. 



The blister fly cannot be killed except by hand-picking, but 

 it may be prevented. Watch for the first bhster and then 

 keep the plants dusted with soot for three weeks. I have had 

 one row which was not sooted ruined, and those on each side 

 of it almost uninjured. That was to test the effect of soot 

 and to prove its worth. Salt and soot form a capital mixture for 

 Celery — the one conveys food and the other retains moisture. 

 I advise as the most economical mode of growing Celery for 

 table use the dwarf-growing sorts on the wide-trench system. 

 — A Surrey Gardenek. 



POROUS GARDEN POTS. 

 As the author of the article entitled " Clean versus Dirty 

 Pots," which I communicated to " The Gardener," and which 

 has occafioned the present discussion, perhaps yen will allow 

 me to say a few words in reference to an " Ex-Exhibitoe's " 

 remarks in last week's issue on the same subject. In the first 

 place, I may state that I quoted Dr. Lindley, and the adapt- 

 ability of glazed or glass pots, Ac, for plants, to dispose of 

 the common argument that dirty or unwashed pots were 

 unsuitable for plants, becauEe the dirt choked the pores of 

 the earthenware, not thinking of discUEsing the question of 

 porous yerf'is ncn-pcrous pctp, beh'tvipg that qnestion to have 



