July 13, 1876. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTURB AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



27 



to Sir" D. Sassoon; Mr. Edwards, gardener to W. B. Tristram, 

 Esq. ; and Mr. Kemp, were placed in the order named. 

 ^.Peaches were very good; Mr. Sage, Ashridge Park, winning 

 with highly coloured Violette Hatives, followed by Mr. Strong, 

 Woburn Park, Weybridge, and Mr. Kemp, gardener to R. Curtis, 

 Esq., Kingston. In Nectarines Mr. Sage, Mr. Howard, gardener 

 to J. Lovibond, Esq., Farnborough, and Mr. Kemp had the 

 prizes ; and for Cherries Mr. Strong, Mr. Sage, and Mr. Foster. 

 Mr. Sage exhibited splendid Figs, and Mr. Lovibond remarkable 

 fasciated Strawberries. 



For a collection of twelve dishes of fruit in six distinct kinds 

 Mr. R. Strong, gardener to W. J. Alt, Esq., Woburn Park, had 

 the first place with Pines, Grapes, Peaches, Melons, Strawberries, 

 and Raspberries ; Mr. Kemp being second, and Mr. Cornhill 

 third, each staging good collections. 



Vegetables were very well exhibited. The best dish of Beans 

 was Seville Longpod, and the best dish of Peas Commander-in- 

 chief. For a collection of vegetables the prizes went to Mr. 

 King, Wolsey Grange, Mr. Cornhill, and Mr. Croxford in the 

 order named. The best brace of Cucumbers came from Mr. 

 Langstone, who exhibited a new variety — Empress of India, a 

 handsome very dark fruit having an intense hloom. 



The Exhibition was well managed, the best attention being 

 paid to plants and visitors by Mr. Dean. 



THE REIGATE ROSE SHOW. 



The Reigate Association for the cultivation of Roses held its 

 tenth annual meeting in the grounds of A. J. Waterlow, Esq. 

 It had been postponed from the 24th ult. because of the lateneBS 

 of the Beason, and an excellent Show justified that generally 

 undesirable proceeding. Under the fostering care of its two 

 presidents— Mr. Wilson Saunders, F.R.S., of world-wide floral 

 fame, and now Mr. Baker— the Reigate Association has been 

 gradually educating its members into an advanced stage of Rose- 

 growing, so that, as has been lately seen in the great London 

 contests, its members can encounter with success the first 

 amateurs in England. At present this Association keeps all its 

 good thingB for itself, unlike its once foster child the MaidBtone 

 Association, which collecting the trade and amateurs from all 

 parts of the kingdom, has gained the glory of having this year 

 the best show of the season. 



Reigate has no strangers' prizes; the chief interest of her 

 Show centres in three challenge cups — the ladies' cup for the 

 best twelve Roses, to which is annexed the onerous task of 

 winning it at three consecutive shows ; the cup for the best 

 twenty-four, and that for twelve Teas, which latter will be 

 taken whenever they have been won three times by the same 

 individual. Mr. Sargant having won the twenty-four cup twice, 

 and being fresh from the scenes of his victories at the West- 

 minster Aquarium, great interest and expectation were excited 

 by his competition. But the glories of the day were with the 

 house of Waterlow; in every class its Roses were unap- 

 proached. Two cups were assigned to them, the third, or ladies' 

 cup, being won for the second time by Captain Christy. The 

 members are to be congratulated on the excellence of the Show. 

 The twenty-fours were pronounced by the Judges of a high 

 excellence, and such as would have held their own in any com- 

 petition. The bouquets and devices were also many in number 

 and much to be admired. 



The Judges were Mr. George Paul of Cheshunt, Mr. Francis 

 of Hereford, and Mr. Mitchell of Uckfield. 



TUNBRIDGE WELLS FLOWER SHOW. 



July 7th. 



Few places can present greater attractions for visitors from 

 London than Tunbridge Wells with its numerous villaB and 

 pleasant drives, and there is scarcely any district near London 

 where so much attention is paid to the villa gardens, with their 

 lawns and evergreens and shady walks; but an additional at- 

 traction was held out on Friday the 7th, when the annual Show 

 of the Tunbridge Wells Horticultural Society was held in the 

 great Hall and grounds immediately contiguous. The Show has 

 now gone on and prospered till it is second to few country shows, 

 and it is particularly noted for the amount of support that it 

 receives from local gardeners and amateurs ; indeed few societies 

 can muster so many good competitors within a limited area. 



We entered first into the Hall arranged with six sets of tables, 

 two of which were devoted to Roses, two to table decorations, 

 bouquets, &c, and two to fruits. 



We will begin our observations, as in duty bound at this time 

 of the year, to the queen of flowers. Two classes, one of forty- 

 eight trebles and another of twenty-four trebles, were devoted to 

 the nurserymen. In Class 1 (forty-eight trebles) Mr. Mitchell, 

 Piltdown Nurseries, was first. Amongst his were some very 

 fine examples of Marie Rady, Marie Baumann, always beautiful 

 for form ; Henri Ledechaux, fuller and larger than it is usually 

 exhibited; Josephine Malton, Baroness Rothschild, exhibited in 



great perfection in many stands ; Madame C. Joigneaux, Monsieur 

 Noman, &o. There was also a promising seedling of the type 

 of Senateur Vaisse, and a sport from Clemence Joigneaux, 

 almost the colour of Capitaine Christy. The second prize fell to 

 Messrs. Bunyard & Son of Ashford — a good collection, well set 

 up, but not so large or fine as MeBBrs. Mitchell's. Amongst others 

 they had very good Marfichal Niel, Mdlle. Eugenie Verdier, 

 Fisher Holmes, Baroness RothBchild, and Madame Willermoz. 

 Mr. Piper of Uokfield was third with smaller compact blooms, 

 amongst which were good specimens of Jean Rosencrantz, Jean 

 Cherpin, and Miss Ingram. There were four other collections. 



In twenty-four trebles there was a very close competition for 

 the first prize between Mr. Piper and Mr. Knight, and Mr. Bun- 

 yard was a very good third. We need not particularise Roses in 

 these stands, except to name two very beautiful blooms of Louis 

 Van Houtte in Mr. Knight's stand. Miss Ingram, La Fontaine, 

 Comte de Paris, and Madame M. Rady were also well exhibited 

 in Mr. Piper's Btand. There were four classes for amateurs and 

 gentlemen's gardeners, and rarely have we seen closer or better 

 competition than in ClaBB 17 for twenty-fours and 18 for twelves. 



In Class 17 there were seventeen entries, and three extra 

 prizes were awarded besides the first four which were allotted. 

 Mr. A. Gibson exhibited a very fine collection, which would 

 have done credit to any show both for colour, size, and quality. 

 Amongst others a most perfect Dupuy-Jamain, very good La 

 France, Marie Rady, Marechal Vaillant, and Duke of Edinburgh. 

 The second, third, and fourth were but little inferior. In the 

 second were very good specimens of Etienne Levet, Dupuy- 

 Jamain, and BaronesB Rothschild. 



Class 18 had twenty-three competitors, and here again the 

 competition was very close ; but the twelve shown by Mr. H. 

 Bensted were most uniformly good, indeed we have rarely seen 

 a better twelve : amongst them M. Lacharme, a bloom which 

 would have rejoiced the heart of "D." of Deal; Marechal Niel, 

 very good ; Charles Lefebvre, the best in the room of its kind; 

 Reynolds Hole, with more petal and substance, and more nearly 

 approaching his or her synonym (by the way, the genus Rosa 

 is feminine ; how about those Roses, as Reynolds Hole, Charles 

 Turner, Rev. J. B. Camm, Rev. H. H. Dombrain, &c. ?) ; Alfred 

 Colomb, Xavier Olibo, and Camille Bernardin. The worst RoBe 

 in the lot waB Capitaine Christy, and if we mistake not it will 

 not long enjoy high honours as an exhibition Rose. It is apt to 

 open flat and to discolour. Mr. Rid out, who had the second 

 prize for twelve singles, had some very good specimens of 

 Camille Bernardin, Reynolds Hole, Exposition de Brie, unusu- 

 ally good; Marie Baumann, and Pierre Notting. 



Class 19, twelve Teas and Noisettes, had nine entries, and 

 there was a much better and closer competition for them than 

 usual ; but somehow or other, beautiful and sweet as Teas and 

 NoisetteB are, they never make a really good show when set up 

 together, and yet unless exceptionably good they very often let 

 down a stand of Hybrid Perpetuals. The best Teas exhibited 

 were Souvenir d'nn Ami, Marechal Niel, Souvenir d'Elise, 

 Cheshunt Hybrid — but query, is not this a cross between a Tea 

 and Bourbon with but little Tea Ecent? There is some confusion 

 between Teas, Noisettes, and Bourbons. For instance, some 

 call Marechal Niel a Tea, whereas it is a Tea-scented Noisette; 

 and Gloire de Dijon a Tea when it is more than four parts 

 Bourbon. Gloire de Bordeaux again, Madame Levet, Louise de 

 Savoie are much nearer Bourbons than Teas. 



Clasa 20, a level class, twelve single blooms, not less than four 

 had some good Roses; but we think it would be better to make 

 it six or eight singles, separate varieties, or at once four trebles, 

 as it is rather confusing some with four, some five, six, seven, 

 eight, nine, &c, varieties. 



So much for the Roses, which does not leave us much space 

 for the other exhibits. There were very good collections of 

 table decorations, though with the exception of two, one of 

 Poppies, white Dog Daisies, and dark purple-leaved Beech; and 

 anotner a single vase with yellow (Enothera and purple-leaved 

 Beech, evidently by the same exhibitor, there was nothing new or 

 different from what we generally see exhibited ; still the first 

 prize both for three pieces for table decoration and for one piece, 

 and the second prizes were good. We could almost wish we 

 could get rid of the stereotyped Grasses, blue Cornflowers, &c. 



There was a very large entry for vases of wild flowers, and as 

 a rule exceedingly good. We could have wished the one with 

 white Water Lilies had been noticed by the Judges. We 

 counted forty-seven entries for pairs of button-hole bouquets, 

 but the quantity was greater than the quality. 



We must not stop to particularise the Fruit, but the com- 

 petition for Grapes was good, and also for Melons, and there 

 were some very fine Peaches and Strawberries, Sir J. Paxton as 

 usual to the fore. 



There were three tents for the plants. Mr. Ward, gardener 

 to F. Wilkins, Esq., Leyton, was facile princess in stove 

 and greenhouBe plants, and unless we are mistaken in every- 

 thing he exhibited, his eight Btove and greenhouse comprised 

 three very good Ericas, Stephanotis, Bougainvillea glabra, 

 very evenly bloomed; Clerodendron Balfourii as usual very 



