248 



JOUENAL OF HORTIGULTTJBE AND COTTAaE GARDENER. 



[ Muroh 28, 1B65. 



flakes; Cramoisie Koyale. red and white; Proserpine, rich 

 rose ; Keizcrkroon, rich yellow and red. 



The second twelve were as i'oUows : — Cramoisie Superbe, 

 Keizerkroon, Fabiola, Grand Due, Conleur Cardinal, Ver- 

 milion Brilliant, and Proserpine, as above ; to which were 

 added — Duohesse de Parma, crimson and orange ; Due 

 d'Aremberg, brown and yellow ; Pottebalcker, white ; Rouge 

 Luisante, fine rose. The very repetition of the kinds by one 

 of the most eminent growers, will give a good idea of the 

 best sorts for early work, and this will farther be promoted 

 by noting the lists of such exhibitors as Mr. Paul, at Re-. 

 gent's Park and Kensington. 



Fine collections of Tulips were exhibited by Mr. Maunder- 

 son. Ml-. Williams, Mi'. Sorley, Mr. Dunbar, Mr. Mossdale, 

 lie, but the bulk of the kinds will be found in tue above 

 lists. We noticed besides showy specimens, among doubles, 

 of Imperator Rubrorum, large red ; Marriage de Ma Fille, 

 red and white striped ; La Belle Alliance, purple and white ; 

 Lord Wellington, singular dark lilac. 



The coUeetions of bush and standard Mignonette on the 

 middle of the central table had been good, but were mostly 

 past their best, and might be full of flower in a few weeks 

 hence. The magnificent show of Hyacinths was here the great 

 attraction. Among Nurserymen Mr. Cutbush again bore off 

 the prizes of fii'st and second for twenty-fours ; Mr. Grey, of 

 West Derby, second with good plants; Mr. G. Davis, Old 

 Swan, thii-d ; and extra prizes to Messrs. Davies, of Waver- 

 tree. Mr. Cutbush's coUection of twenty-four pots that took 

 the first prize, were as foUows : — Grand Lilas, azure blue, 

 large ; Princesse Clothilde, pale pinlc and carmine, large ; 

 Charles Dickens, grey blue, large; Mncaulay, deep rose; 

 Princess Charlotte, rosy shaded pink ; Marie, purplish blue, 

 indigo stripe, fine ; Argus, blue with white eye, fine and strik- 

 ing ; Alba Maxima, fine large white ; Garrick, dark blue ; 

 Baron Von Tuyll, dark blue ; Grandeur a Mervcille, pale 

 blush ; Snowball, pure white, large bells, new and dear; Von 

 Schiller, s.ilmon pink ; Haydn, lUac mauve ; Mimosa, purplish 

 black ; Van Speyk, pale, striped with dark blue ; La Pro- 

 phete, pale pink and carmine striped; Maria Theresa, pink 

 and red ; Florence Nightingale, pink and carmine stripes ; 

 Mont Blanc, fine white ; Mrs. Beecher Stowe, fine pink ; Bleu 

 Aimable, violet shaded with blue, fine ; General Havelock, 

 deep purple, very fine ; Queen of the Netherlands, fine, pure 

 ■white. In the second twenty-four Princesse Clothilde, Argus, 

 Grand Lilas, Charles Dickens, Queen of the Netherlands, 

 Macaulay, Mont Blanc, La Prophete, Mimosa, Graudeur a 

 Mei-veille, Haydn, Mis. Beecher Stowe, General Havelock, 

 Van Speyk, Marie, and Florence Nightingale were repeated; 

 the fresh ones being as follows; — Laurens Koster, dark blue, 

 fine ; La Dame du Lac, rosy pink ; Enimeline. blush with pink 

 stripes; Gigantea, fine deep blush ; Duke of Wellington, rose, 

 with Ciimine stripes ; Lina, bright crimson ; Lord Palmer- 

 ston, greyish blue with light eye, good, like Argus ; Von 

 Schiller, salmon pink. 



These collections were distinguished not only for good 

 spikes on the whole, but good-formed bells, and dense 

 enough to conceal the stems, which proceeded from among 

 abort stiii' foliage, that shoved the bulbs had been encou- 

 raged to do their best, without leaves and stems being 

 drawn or enervated by heat. As fine individual flowers 

 could be found in plenty, but these collections above were 

 very good and regular throughout. Among the plants of 

 Mr. Davis were good specimens of Von Schiller, Prince of 

 Orange, rose, striped and shaded with orange; Lord Wel- 

 lington, Mirandoline, fine white; Latour d'Auvergne, pure 

 white, Ac. In the extra awards, among other fine spikes 

 were extra good specimens of Howard, orange crimson ; 

 HomeruB, dark red ; Alba Maxima, fine whito^ Baron Roths- 

 child, dark red ; Albion, dark blue ; Anna Paulownia, a fine 

 blush, &c. 



Very fine collections of Hyacinths wore also exhibited by 

 gentlemen's gardeners, as Messrs. Cahill, llignett, Williams, 

 Dunbar, Wilson, Sorley, Lytligoe, Turner, i'leming, &c. 

 Among the sorts not mentioned above were fine specimens 

 of Cavaignac, salmon with roay stripes; Seraphine, fine pale 

 blush ; Ida, fine yellow ; Alba superbissima, worthy of the 

 name, Ac. Were wo to go in earnest into Hyacinths, we 

 should like to have every one of these naund, with an addi- 

 tional dozen from every celebrated grower of his best kinds. 



Lest we forget we may also mention that there were some 



beautiful Hyacinths that had been grown in water, some 

 very strange flowers of some kind of Arum, that we could 

 not obtain the name of some nice showy plants sent by 

 friends to fill up, a very neat plan of a flower garden, with 

 the colours arranged, and a nice box of black Grapes, sent 

 by Mr. Meredith, that had a very fresh appearance, and the 

 beiries covered with bloom. We understood that they had 

 been cut from Vines in 12-inch pots which had been started 

 into growth on the 14th of January, 18C4, and though thus 

 fresh, they had been ripe more than eight months. We 

 prosi me it was Kempsey's Alicante. 



We have now glanced at all except the long table in front 

 of the Azaleas, flUed with fine-foliaged plants, which were 

 very creditable without afl'ording anything very striking; 

 with Polyanthus Narcissus, which pleased more by their 

 vigour and delightful scent than by their variety ; also with 

 nine shallow pans of Lily of the Valley, over which some 

 ladies bung in raptures, and the first three of the nine being 

 extra good, and well worthy of the first prize awarded; and 

 last of all, with a fine lot of single Primulas, the most of 

 which had been better a month ago, and the finest appear- 

 ing in very small pots. The double Primulas were also 

 showing signs of exhaustion from free blooming, but the 

 first prize was given to fresh small plants, some of which 

 seemed to be seedlings, and which were named Delicata, 

 Candida, Pimbriata, Atro-rosea plena. Rubra, and Old Double 

 White. Next the entrance end of tbis table stood a pretty 

 silver-chased epergne with one elevated vase in the centre, 

 and four smaller vases branching out at an equal and lower 

 level ; and these were so nicely filled with Acacias, CameDias, 

 Epaci'ises, &c., and wreathed into a light airy whole by 

 means of pendent shoots and drooping Perns and Mosses, 

 as to impart the lesson that great elegance and pleasing 

 eifects may be produced in such circumstances in little 

 room, and with but little variety and a small amount of 

 material. 



There are several things which this fete would bring for- 

 ward as worthy of ventilation, but want of time prevents 

 our alluding to more than the three following : — 



1. Arrangement. The noble Hall has galleries at two sides 

 and at one end, and from the latter especially a fine view 

 was obtained of the whole floral display. From these points 

 it struck us that the efiect would have been more striking, 

 if there had been a background of green branches or green 

 baize, Ac, to throw back the colours of the Azaleas, and the 

 Rhododendrons, and if the three tables had obtained variety 

 and u-regularity, even as to height, by placing a thin row of 

 the greenhouse and stove collections along their centre. 

 Even the twelve standard Roses stuck up in a corner would 

 have had a good effect on the centre table along with the 

 Mignonette. Others may think quite diiferently, and they 

 have a perfect right to do so. 



2nd. A lesson may be gained as to the hours during which 

 exhibitions in towns should be open to the public. We have 

 known many once-flourishing societies come to grief, and 

 end in loss and bankruptcy, at least be unable to meet their 

 liabilities, and chiefly because the public were admitted only 

 for a few hours in the afternoon. Mr. Tyerman and his 

 r.onfn'rcs are wiser in their generation. St. George's Hall 

 was open on the 15tli, from 1.30 r.M. to 10.30 p.m., and the 

 crowded state of the Hall and the galleries during the even- 

 ing, the well-dressed and well-behaved people being scarcely 

 able to move along and obtain a view of the flowers, in 

 which they seemed much interested, proved incontestably 

 that the system is a good one. It ever seems natural to 

 associate the flowers of earth with the still sweeter flowers 

 of humanity, and a flower fete would be poor indeed, if not 

 graced by our sister woman ; but one striking feature of tho 

 evening company was tho great preponderance of men, and 

 especially young men, showing that they as well as their 

 mothers, and sisters, and sweethearts, were recognising the 

 powers of floral beauty as a refining, softening, and ele- 

 vating influence. 



And, lastly, such successful gatherings should impress on 

 gardeners oven a deeper sense of responsibility conjoined 

 with true manly self-respect. As we witnessed the Show, 

 we could not help reflecting that then there weio three great 

 educational establishments witliin a stone's throw of each 

 other. First, there was the railway terminus, a good type 

 of a system which has contributed most efi'ectually for tho 



