May 25, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE, 



[supplement.] 



V. 





the progress made in the cultivation, and particu- 

 larly the improvement, by breeding with these 

 plants. ^ Sir George Holford's collection is 

 astonishing enough to-day, a generation ago it 

 would have been considered a miracle, and we 

 may justly feel proud of what has been achieved 

 in this particular field by the cultivator's effort. 

 The improvement is due to the cultivator and 

 the breeder and not to the introduction of plants 

 from their native homes. Westonbirt stands 

 alone in what may be termed the manufacture of 

 Orchids. The same influences can be seen in the 

 collections of other amateurs, and those of the 

 great trade growers. To the latter Orchid 

 fanciers owe much ; we may justly feel proud of 

 what the leaders among them have accomplished. 

 Pioneers in the collecting and cultivation of 

 Orchids, they were also pioneers in the breeding 

 of them j in this as in other departments of horti- 

 culture they deserve our gratitude. A very large 

 number of the best of the Orchids now to be 

 seen at Chelsea have been bred artificiallv, and 



use of the Rose combined with Lilac, which re- 

 sulted in such a charming decorative effect in 

 the Dutch tent. 



Carnations have also come on with a rush. The 

 progress made with them in the last 20 years or 

 so has been astonishing. It is difficult to believe 

 that the glorious flowers of the modern collec- 

 tion of perpetual-flowering Carnations are direct 

 descendants of the modest Dianthus caryophyl- 

 lus, naturalised on old walls in some parts of this 

 country. Equally remarkable is the fact that 

 while the progenitor is a hardy plant, its most 

 modern descendants can only be successfully cul- 

 tivated under glass with artificial heat. The next 

 most striking development is that made with 

 hippeastrums. Here, again, Sir George Hol- 

 ford is in the very van of progress. The Hippe- 

 astrum possesses great capabilities, and we look 

 forward with confidence to its becoming univer- 

 sally popular. Rhododendrons are now typically 

 British garden shrubs. There must be some- 

 thing in the English climate peculiarly suited to 



enlarge further on the subject here beyond saying 

 that Messrs. R. Wallace & Co., the winners of 

 Queen Alexandra's cup, show in the treatment of 

 the space allotted to them admirable taste and 

 skill, and that Messrs. Carter's Japanese gar- 

 den proves most fascinating to all who are ama- 

 teurs of that genre of garden architecture. 



Compared with Continental exhibitions, ours, 

 is strong in some features and weak in others. 

 The 6-inch pot is our general limitation. Plants 

 are small; indeed, the individual plant is not 

 the first consideration, the aim being to grow a 

 large quantity of portable size and arrange them 

 decoratively. The old style was to grow a plant 

 into a large specimen, well-balanced and freely- 

 flowered. We do not appear to have any use for 

 such specimens nowadays, nor is there left much 

 of the collector's spirit which influenced men to 

 fill their gardens with a multitude of different 

 things. Much of latter-day garden is decora- 

 tion, which is quite different from the old style. 

 However, we have much to be thankful for ^ 



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i 



Fig. 7. — grou^ of choice stove plants exhibited by messrs. james veitch and sons 



bearing in mind that within the memory of not 

 very old men it was considered to be impossible 

 to breed Orchids, what has been accomplished 

 must take rank with the very highest of horti- 

 cultural achievements. 



Roses are being enormously improved by the 

 introduction of what is known as the Rambler 

 section, and the charm of this exhibition is very 

 largely indebted to the Ramblers. A specimen 

 Rose used to be a large, stiffly-trained bush, with 

 the flowers carefully tied an equal distance apart, 

 suggesting Almonds in a pudding. How very 

 different are the graceful, airy examples that may 

 be seen in the great tent at Chelsea to-day. 



But among the many fine exhibits of Roses — 

 exhibits which are at once a testimony to the 

 beauty of the flower and the ability of the growers 

 to do it justice — the magnificently-cultivated 

 blooms of Mr. G. Mount & Son stand out pre- 

 eminent, and are worthy the cup offered by Sir 

 Jeremiah Colman for the second best exhibit 

 in the Show. Of new Roses the most notable is 

 the superb example exhibited by Mr. J. Pernet 

 Ducher, for which the Daily Mail cup is recom- 

 mended. Nor may we omit reference to the 



these plants, and it is a real blessing that the 

 crossing of several species has provided us with 

 a race of plant which for all-round usefulness 

 rivals the Rose itself. 



Another striking development is to be seen in 

 the popularity of herbaceous and Alpine plants. 

 Formerly they were grown in borders more or 

 less sheltered. Now, however, it has become the 

 general practice to build what are known as rock- 

 gardens for the accommodation of the smaller 

 herbaceous plants, so that a construction of soil 

 and pieces of stone, with small plants set among 

 them, forms a part of every well-ordered garden. 

 It is pleasant to record the fact that the best 

 rock-garden exhibits in the Exhibition won the 

 admiration of their Majesties and also the un- 

 stinted praise of foreign horticulturists. If we 

 were pointing morals instead of making a general 

 survey of the Exhibition, we should digress to say 

 that it would be safe to prophesy that rock-gar- 

 dening will become simplified and rendered yet 

 more artistic in the immediate future ; but Mr. 

 Farrer has expressed in these columns already the 

 hopeful views of not a few horticulturists in this 

 branch of gardening, and therefore we need not 



gardening is universally popular because it has. 

 been made easy and cheap. Sir George Hol- 

 ford's exhibition group now at Chelsea is valued 

 at a fabulous sum, but one can buy for £5 10O 

 Orchids that will make a nice display if managed 

 with a little intelligence. 



We cannot conclude this general review with- 

 out expressing, on behalf of British horticul- 

 turists, the pleasure that we feel in welcoming: 

 so many distinguished horticulturists from- 

 abroad. We know that we have had the- 

 advantage of position over them, but we recog- 

 nise with deep appreciation and gratitude the 

 magnanimity which led them to bestow such 

 unstinted praise on our exhibition. One of the 

 most distinguished, M. de Vilmorin, remarked 

 with characteristic grace that the show was 

 without rival, and added pleasantly that we had 

 gone abroad to learn with good effect, had 

 grasped the lesson we had travelled forth to 

 master, and could vie with the French them- 

 selves in the arrangement of an exhibition. 

 Warm praise indeed, and though perhaps a little 

 high, we accept it, if only for the charming: 

 courtesy with which it was given. 



