September 19, 1878. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
229 
are perfectly flat; others, however, are a step in the right 
direction, being dotted with many varieties of succulents and 
ether plants, which help to relieve the extreme flatness con- 
sidered so unnatural and objectionable by some. The brightest 
<oloured plant used is the Alternanthera amcena ; the prettiest 
and best green, the Mentha Pulegium gibraltarica. The Golden 
Feather is still indispensable and is used in large quantities. 
The old-fashioned bronze Oxalis corniculata rubra is also used 
and looks extremely pretty. Some of the designs are quite 
original and well worthy of imitation. 
Pelargonium Bonfire is the only variety found with any 
quantity of bloom, most of the others looking very weather- 
beaten and appear to have suffered more than those in many 
private country gardens. Mixed beds still look attractive, 
notably two filled with a mixture of silver variegated Pelar- 
gonium Miss Kingsbury and Iresine Lindenii, surrounded with 
Golden Pyrethrum and edged witha blue Lobelia ; and another 
pair filled with a mixture of silver variegated Pelargonium 
Ariosto, and edged with Alternanthera paronychioides major 
margined with Hcheyerias. 
It is, however, between the Wellington and Albert Gates, or 
south-east side of the Park, where the most generally interest- 
ing beds are to be seen. These are also plain beds, and are 
irregularly placed on both sides of the drive and intermingled 
with the large deciduous and other trees. Some are on, others 
above the level, and others again springing out of the banks. 
Raised beds are frequently found fault with, but for showing 
off subtropical plants they are unequalled, and being better 
drained are certainly more conducive to success. Many of the 
largest beds are filled with subtropical plants, and there are 
many specimen Palms dotted and grouped among them. Very 
noticeable are two fine specimens of Seaforthia Cunninghamii. 
Of other specimen Palms used are good examples of Chamzerops 
Fortunei, Phoenix farinifera, P. reclinata, Latania borbonica, 
&c. Two beds of succulents arrest attention, in which plants 
ef Yucca aloifolia variegata appear to the best advantage. A 
bed of Musa ensete also looks grand, as do the Cannas and 
Solanums, although I did not observe anything new among 
them. One large bed_filled with Erythrina crista-galli, with 
a few plants of variegated Maize intermingled and edged 
with ordinary bedding plants, was earlier in the season very 
attractive. Among the general bedding plants I noticed 
Coleus refulgens as being a capital substitute for the Perilla. 
Tt is nearly as compact as Coleus Verschaffeltii, and the colour 
the counterpart of the Perilla. Tricolor Pelargonium George 
Sandy looked very bright, but is scarcely so vigorous as one 
would wish. This, however, is a recommendation if used as at | 
Hyde Park—i.e., dotted among Lobelias. 
A short distance from and nearly opposite to the Albert | 
Gate is to be found a delightful nook or dell, which is undoubt- 
edly one of the prettiest spots in the Park. It is nearly trian- 
gular in shape, and is surrounded on two sides by banks of 
evergreen shrubs and deciduous trees. The enclosure gradually 
slopes to the ends in an irregular line down to a watercourse. 
Springing out of this on both sides at intervals are Ivy-covered 
banks, on which are grouped plants of Aralia Sieboldii, Phor- 
mium tenax variegatum, Monstera deliciosa, &c.; and follow- 
ing the water in the distance are to be seen large specimens 
of Cordylines indivisa and australis springing from among the 
banks of evergreens. In the centre of the enclosure is plunged 
a magnificent specimen of Latania borbonica fully 15 feet in 
diameter ; and about this are artistically grouped but not 
crowded, the pots or tubs being plunged in the turf, numbers 
of fine tall specimens of Cordylines nutans, australis, and 
lineata ; Seaforthia elegans, Latania borbonica, Musa ensete, 
Chamzrops excelsa, Pandanus ornatus, &c. On the banks 
sloping towards the drive, running past the Albert and Wel- 
lington Gates, are placed several very fine beds filled with sub- 
tropical foliage plants. The largest, a circular bed 36 feet in 
diameter, is undoubtedly the grandest bed in the Park. In 
the centre is a very fine Musa ensete, and around this are 
arranged other Musas, Ricinuses, Solanums, Hucalyptus, Pol- 
hymnia grandis, variegated Maize, &c., surrounded with a band 
of Perilla nankinensis and fringed with Funkias: all look 
healthy and yery vigorous. Near this is a bed filled with 
Palms. Large beds of Cannas also look well. 
Many large clumps of deciduous and evergreen flowering 
trees and shrubs with a margin of herbaceous plants help to 
make the Park attractive. Altogether there is much in the 
Park worthy of imitation by gardeners, and no doubt there is 
something to avoid ; but I am reminded that it is easier to find 
fault than to suggest remedies, to criticise than to instruct. Mr. 
Gibson and his coadjutor Mr. Chamberlain deserve a hearty 
vote of thanks for the excellence of their work ; let it be given 
ungrudgingly by the many who haye derived pleasure and in- 
struction from the exercise of their taste and skill—W. J. O. 
BRENTWOOD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
AUTUMN SHOW, SEPTEMBER 12TH. 
Do not committees frequently err by holding flower shows early 
in the season? If (when only one show can be provided for) in- 
stead of June and July they selected the end of August or early 
in September, a much more varied and interesting show of fruit, 
vegetables, and florist flowers would be obtained, and nearly, if 
not quite,as good a display of plants; the only real loss would be 
hardwooded plants, but the gain in other classes would be abundant 
compensation. Fruit, especially when well and largely shown as 
at Brentwood, cannot fail being admired ; it is also instructive to 
a number of competitors and visitors. 
At the Show under notice plants were of secondary importance, 
and but few prizes were offered for them. For a miscellaneous 
collection Mr. Bones, gardener to D. McIntosh, Esq., was first, and 
Mr. Bradley, gardener to O. E. Coope, Esq., M.P., was second, both 
showing excellent groups. Mr. Mann, nurseryman, Brentwood, 
had some excellent Fuchsias, and received the first prizes in both 
classes for them. The baskets of plants in pots were very good 
indeed, and other societies would do well to provide a similar 
class. Messrs. Saltmarsh & Son, Chelmsford, were first, and Mr. 
Ford, Warley, second. Pelargoniums.were also well shown, Mr. 
Mann haying the best. 
Cut flowers were exhibited in great numbers, the Dahlias and 
Asters being very fine. In the class for twenty-four Dahlias 
Messrs. Rawlings Bros., Romford, were first with a very fine and 
even lot, the names of which, for the benefit of exhibitors, we 
append :—John Bennett, James Willing, John Standish, James 
Service, J. H. Keynes, James Cocker, Rey. J. B. M. Camm, Clara, 
Rey. J. Goodday, O. E. Coope, Countess Tasker, Flora Wyatt, 
Mrs. Harris, Alexander Cramond, Julia Davis, Monarch, Chris- 
topher Ridley, T. Goodwin, Countess of Pembroke, Mrs. J. Downie, 
Willie Eckford, Henry Walton, Mrs. Shirley Hibberd, and J. W. 
Lord. Messrs. Saltmarsh were second. In the amateurs’ class 
for twelve Mr. J. Hill, Warley, had an excellent stand and was 
first, and there were also several other good stands both in this 
and the class for six, where Mr, C. Lavender, Sherfield, was first. 
For twelve Roses Mr. Atkinson, Brentwood, was first with excel- 
lent blooms of Souvenir de la Malmaison, Marie Baumann, Madame 
Victor Verdier, Dupuy Jamin, Alfred Colomb, Sénateur Vaisse, 
Baronne de Rothschild, Countess of Oxford, Charles Lefebvre, 
Duke of Edinburgh, Maréchal Niel, and Etienne Levet, all alike 
of good size and colour, and superior to stands which sometimes 
gain the premier awards at local summer shows. Many of the 
varieties named were in the other stands and classes, und we 
noticed some excellent blooms of Marquise de Castellane, Beauty 
of Waltham, La France, John Hopper, Captaine Christy, Edouard 
Morren, and Madame Pauline Lafonte. 
The vases for table decoration were very tastefully filled, but 
were much too tall, several of them bemg fully a yard or more 
| in height. Messrs. Burley, Bailey, and Soder were successful in 
these classes. 
For a collection of six varieties of fruit Mr. Bones was a credit- 
able first, and Mr. Pope, gardener to W. R. Preston, Hsq., Harold 
Wold, a good second. None of the Grapes in the various classes, 
with the exception of Lady Downe’s, shown by Mr. Carver, gar- 
dener to C. Postans, Esq., Brentwood, and Mr. Worthing, gardener 
to A. Moss, Hsq., Chadwell Heath, were particularly good, in some 
instances being too ripe, in others—the Muscats more especially— 
being scarcely ripe enough. Messrs. Ford, Carver, and Bones were 
all winners of first prizes in the classes for Grapes. Mr. 8. Ford 
was first for a green-fleshed Melon with an unnamed fruit re- 
sembling Eastnor Castle, and Mr. Bones for a scarlet-flesh with 
a small fruit of Hero of Bath. The first prizes for both indoor 
and outdoor Peaches were awarded to very fine fruit of Late 
Admirable, the former being staged by Mr. Clark, Brentwood, and 
the latter by Mr. S. Ford; and the chief prize for Nectarines 
grown on the open wall was awarded to Mr. Parker, gardener to 
the Countess Tasker, for a fine dish of Murrey Nectarine. Pears 
were shown in great quantities, but in many instances Williams’ 
Bon Chrétien was too ripe, the first prize for a dish fit for the 
table being awarded to Mr. J. Smith with Louise Bonne of Jersey. 
For dessert Apples Mr. Iggulden, gardener to R. B. Wingfield 
Baker, Esq., Orsett Hall, was first with Red Astrachan, the ma- 
jority of the opposing dishes being unripe. A fine clean dish of 
Lord Suffield, staged by Mr. Bones, gained the first prize for 
kitchen Apples. The Judges, however, preferred appearance to 
weight, as there were many heavier dishes of good varieties un- 
noticed. Plums were staged in comparatively small numbers. 
Magnum Bonum and Pond’s Seedling were the best kitchen, and 
Coe’s Golden Drop and Jefferson the best dessert varieties. 
Vegetables were staged mm very good condition both by the gars 
deners and cottagers, though in smaller quantities than usual, 
