. Wales, Channel Islands, Scotland. 685 



Sept. 29. This was one of the best shows this year ; and, as individual 

 specimens, the gems of the day were decidedly Mr. Hooper's (nurseryman) 

 ^Salvia patens grandifidra, in fine bloom, which attracted general notice, and 

 Mrs. Du Feu's Fuchsia fulgens, about 3 ft. in height, and perhaps as fine a 

 plant of it as was ever shown, the magnificent foliage, quite perfect, feathering 

 down to the pot, and the whole crowned with a fine truss of blossom ; the lower 

 leaves were 9 in. in length, and of proportionate width. The cottagers' pro- 

 ductions were a subject of surprise and admiration to all who examined them; 

 in very many cases they surpassed what was produced from gentlemen's gar- 

 dens ; and the number of competitors in this class is becoming so numerous, 

 that, in order to do justice, the judges were forced to award nearly twenty 

 extra prizes, besides the fifty which were advertised by the Society, and which 

 were almost all competed for. In this way about eight pounds sterling were 

 distributed. (Ibid., Oct. 4.) 



SCOTLAND. 



The Caledonian Horticultural Society. — The exhibitions this year have main- 

 tained their usual excellence. Specimens of fruit were not numerous, but 

 they were of very superior quality, especially the peaches. The silver medal 

 was voted to Mr. George Shiells, gardener to Lord Blantyre, Erskine House, 

 for magnificent specimens of the new galande and George the Fourth peaches, 

 each of the former weighing eight ounces imperial. It is believed that larger 

 or higher-flavoured fruit than these were never produced at the celebrated 

 peach gardens at Montreuil. [A plan and description of the kitchen-garden 

 and hot-walls at Erskine House, furnished to us by Mr. Shiells, will be found 

 in a former volume, It is remarkable that, in a climate at all times unfavour- 

 able for the ripening of fruit, and in a season more than usually unpropitious, 

 Mr. Shiells should have been so singularly successful. Even in England, this 

 year, peaches and nectarines are deficient in flavour. We should be glad to 

 hear from Mr.Shiells on this subject; for, no doubt, he can assign some reason 

 for his success.] The articles sent by nurserymen, on this occasion, were marked 

 " not for competition." It would be unpardonable to omit to mention the 

 noble orange trees, and splendid .Ericae, from the Royal Botanic Garden ; 

 together with two most magnificent fuchsias, F. grandifidra Youngs, 10 ft. 

 high, and F. recurvata, 8 ft. high, both covered with their pendent scarlet 

 blossoms. The Society's garden likewise supplied several specimens, remark- 

 able for their rarity or beauty, particularly Banksza speciosa in flower, Mau- 

 randya Lacey«M«, and pots of mixed species and varieties of Ferbena, fan- 

 trained, and having their various-coloured blossoms intermingled. (Caledonian 

 Mercury, July 18.) 



Sept. 5. The display of fruits at the anniversary festival was much greater 

 than could have been anticipated from the backward and ungenial weather 

 which has prevailed. The quality of the open wall fruit has certainly been 

 excelled on former occasions, but grapes, pine-apples, and melons were never 

 finer. After dinner, the chairman, W. Gibson Craig, Esq., M.P., said, in pro- 

 posing as a toast the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, he felt it unne- 

 cessary to dwell at any length on its merits ; it was sufficient to point to the 

 exhibition which was now before the meeting. The Society had been eminently 

 instrumental in advancing the science of horticulture by means of its publi- 

 cations, by the care it had taken in the introduction of various kinds of fruit, 

 by the stimulus it had given to the enterprise of gardeners, following the ex- 

 ample of another Society which had in a most eminent degree advanced the 

 agricultural prosperity of this country. Such an institution as this had been 

 established with peculiar propriety in Scotland ; because, high in litera- 

 ture and science as this land might be rated, yet it could not in these respects 

 boast a preeminence over other lands ; but, in horticulture, Scotland stood 

 without a rival. In every country Scottish gardeners maintained the supe- 

 riority, and it was incumbent on the Society to furnish information to that 

 class of individuals who had, in this department, so highly raised the name 



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