Uucb 2S, ISM. ] 



JOUKXAL OF HORIICULTURE AND COIIAGE GAEDENEK. 



247 



chosen committee of ladies. The difficulty for any man to 

 decide iu the matter arose from the simple fact that they 

 were all so beautiful. Ladies did award the nurserymen's 

 prizes here, and Mr. Cutbush, of Highgate, and Mr. Eylanoe, 

 were the successful competitors. There vrere at least a 

 dozen bouquets in the best taste, and of the richest ma- 

 terials. We hope the ladies satisfied themselves, and if 

 they did they far outshone the gentlemen judges. The deci- 

 sion among amateurs and gardeners at length rested quite 

 as much on a matter of style as of intrinsic merit. The 

 first bouquet was centred with a fine white CameH'.a, raised 

 well in the centre, suiTounded with a band of flowers of blue 

 Hyacinths, sUghtly dotted with 3Iaiden-hair Fern and the 

 crimson liowei-s of Euphorbia jacquiniajfiora, and then a broad 

 band of white and red Eoses, bordered with flowers of white 

 Fuchsia and a little garnish of Maiden-hair. The second was 

 one of some half a dozen in the flat style made of the rarest 

 Koses, Stephanotis, ic, relieved by Mosses and Ferns, and 

 decorated with lace. The third was very pretty though of 

 simple materials. The centre was considerably raised, con- 

 sisting of a circle of flowers of red Hyacinths, from which 

 went four spokes or lines of red to the circumference, which 

 again was formed of a rim of red and pink Hyacinths. This 

 left four spaces to iill, and two of these were filled with 

 bands of blue and lilac Hyacinths, and the two others oppo- 

 site each other with flowers of the white Hyacinth ; some 

 Maiden-hair, ic, was used as garnishing. The successful 

 competitors were for first and third Mi-. Lythgoe, second 

 Mr. Turner. We have been led on to this as it will suit 

 several correspondents, but we have strayed from the de- 

 scription of the plants. These nosegays alone, so numerous 

 and so good, gave an idea of the floral treasures of the 

 district. 



On the lefthand side &om this orchestra end, a bank of 

 Azaleas ran the whole length of the Hall, and on the right- 

 hand side a bank was filled with Ehododendrons, and other 

 plants. The centre of the room was occupied with thi-ee 

 tables, with wide spaces for visitors between, that on the 

 lefthand side was chiefly filled with fine-foliaged plants. Pri- 

 mulas at the sides, Narcissus, and fine pans of Lily of the 

 Valley. The central table was wholly fiUed with Hyacinths 

 at the s'.des, and bush and standard Mignonette in the centre. 

 The other table w.as filled with Tubps and Cinerarias, and 

 the end opposite the orchestra had some fine single speci- 

 mens of greenhouse and stove plants, ic. 



Leaving a correct list of the prizes to the Liverpool news- 

 papers, we will just take a glance of the prominent features, 

 with such running comments as may be useful and inter- 

 esting. And first, of -izaleas, as perhaps, the most pro- 

 minent feature iu the Show, the first prize was taken for sis 

 small, basby, compact plants sent by Mr. Sorley, gardener 

 to ZwUchenbart, Esq., consisting of Duke of Devonshire, 

 Elegans, Esquisita, C.^ronata, DUecta, and Fielding's White ; 

 the second prize was t.iieu by the same growerfor plants 

 very similar: all the twelve' being dense, low bushes, as 

 ■wide as they were high, and mostly ooncealins at least one- 

 half of the pot. The" third prize was taken by^'Mr. Williams, 

 gardener to C. Mozley, Esq., and contained good large plants 

 of Empress Eugenie, Prjestantissima, Queen of Whites, 

 ic, but they were not so well furnished at the base as the 

 smaller and younger plants. In three Azaleas, tiie plants 

 were very fine, and here Mr. WilUams took first and third; 

 Mr. "Wood, gardener to F. \T. Medley, Esq., second; and 

 Mr. Sorley, third; and extras were given deservedly to 

 Messrs. Turner and Leadbetter. For single plants, the'first 

 prize was given to Mr. Williams, for a' large broad-based 

 plant densely loaded with bloom ; second to Mr. Lvthgoe, 

 for a dense massive plant of Apollo; and a thii-d for a fine 

 plant to Mr. Orr, gardener to H. Pierce, Esq. 



For forced hardy plants, the first prize was taken by Mr. 

 Morris, gardener to W. D. Holt, Esq.. for well-bloomed 

 plants of. Weigela rosea, Deutzia graciUs, Ehododendrons, 

 and hardy Azale-is, and second and thud were taken by Mr. 

 Leadbetter, chiefly for Azaleas and Ehododendrons. Passing 

 from this b-anfc and along the end of the Hall, we come to 

 the single specimens of stove and greenhouse plants, the 

 first prize being given to a fine plant of Acacia Drummondi, 

 a mass of yellow flowers, growing in a pot about 14 inches 

 in diameter, and we should judge the plant to be about 

 6 feet in height, and the same in diameter of head. The 



second was a Bletia Tankervillia?, with eleven spikes of 

 bloom : and the thh-d was a barrel-shaped Ehyncospermum 

 jasminoides, the scent of which would have been more 

 telling, but for the perfume from the Hyacinths. On the 

 righthand corner, first and second prizes were taken for 

 standard Eoses in pots, by Mr. Maunderson, gardener to 

 H. Jones, Esq. ; and for dwarf Eoses in pots, prizes were 

 taken by Mr. Maunderson, Mr. Eignett, and BIi-. Wood. 

 Here, too, a prize was awarded to a fine-grown plant of the 

 double-flowering Peach. 



For six stove or greenhouse plants, the prizes were taken 

 by Mr. Dunbar, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Wood. Besides 

 good Azaleas, the fh-st gentleman had neat plants of Pimelea 

 Jfieppergiana, and spectabUis, an interesting plant of Acacia 

 longiflora magnifica, Eriostemon buxifolium, and Franciscea 

 contertiflora. JXr. Williams had fine plants of Adenandra 

 fragrans, with pinkish bloom heads, and that rather trouble- 

 some plant, Boronia serrulata, in a robust state. The bank 

 of Ehododendrons was nicely in bloom, and the prizes were 

 well divided, but there did not seem anything remarkable 

 except a light variety, Ehododendron precox, a hybrid raised 

 by Jir. Davies, of Larkfield Nursery, Wavertree, and said to 

 be very suitable for early blooming, whether forced or not. 

 I We have now arrived at the orchestra again, after passing 

 I several baskets, such as are used for flat packing-baskets in 

 [ nurseries, some 3 and 4 feet in diameter, fUled with plants 

 I in bloom. Two or three of these were done with much 

 elegance and taste so far as the flowers were concerned, but 

 others were pitched or tumbled in, to look more natural we 

 presume, and certainly they bore little traces of art ; and in 

 ; one case only did we notice any attempt to hide the rough 

 I unpeeled sides of the willow baskets. We would recom- 

 I mend all such rough baskets to be dispensed with in future, 

 I and to substitute for them neat baskets of a definite size, to 

 [ be filled w-ith plants in pots, but the pots all hidden, or to be 

 filled with cut flowers ; and if all the boxes or baskets are 

 ; of one defined size, we have no hesitation in saying, that if 

 ,' the same taste is exercised upon them as upon the bouquets, 

 the place in their vicinity will be as crowded and impassable 

 as it was round the nosegays. 



The hanging baskets, tliough seemingly much admired, 



1 were a failure, simply because one set were fUled with 



Hyacinths with their upright growth, and the others seemed 



a gi-eat variety of things stuck into wooden Orchid-boxes at 



random. Hanging baskets ought to have drooping plants 



j dangling from them. To compensate for these suspended 



: baskets in fi'ont of the orchestra, and separating the bouquets 



of the gardeners and amateurs from those of the nurserymen, 



I were some stands of cut Camellias, which deservedly received 



! a great amount of attention. 



Having thus walked round the outsides, we come now to 



the three long tables, the first filled with fine-foliaged plants, 



i Primroses, S'arcissus, Lily of the Valley, &c. ; the middle 



I table with INIignonette, as bushes and standards, alonsr the 



! centre, and the sides with three plants at least in depth, of 



Hyacinths in pots ; and the third table on the right was 



filled with Tulips on one side, and Cinerarias on the other. 



Taking this outside table first, we would say that the 

 Cinerai-ias were very passable, but much behind the fine 

 Azaleas and Ehododendrons. The Tulips, however, were 

 very fine, and gave the table a noble appearance. Here, 

 among nurserymen, Messrs. Cutbush, of Highgate, took first 

 and second prizes, for twelve pots of double, and twelve pots 

 of single Tulips — that is, for thirty-six plants of each, there 

 being three bulbs in each pot, and not less than six vai'ieties 

 in each collection. As affording some information to those 

 proposing to force these plants next season, we here give the 

 list of the varieties of double Tulips thus exhibited : — Eex: 

 Eubrorum, bright red; Gloria Solis, brown, crimson, and- 

 yellow edged; Overwinnar, crimson and white: Yellow 

 Tournesol; Golden Yellow-; Duke of York, rose, with white- 

 border ; Tournesol, Eed and Yellow. These were first. 

 The second lot also had Overw-innar, Gloria Solis, Yellow 

 Tournesol, Duke of York, Tournesol, and Imperator, crimson. 

 The following are the first twelve single Tulips : — Duchesse 

 de Parma, brown, crimson, and orange; Cramoisie Superbe, 

 crimson; Fabiola, -violet and white; Couleur Cardinal,, 

 scarlet ; Alba Eegalis, creamy white ; Grand Due, yellow 

 and crimson; Cottage Maid, rose, pink, and white; Ver- 

 milion BriUiant, scarlet, fine ; Eoi Pepin, fine white, crimson. 



