JoIy 13, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



37 



plants, &c, many of the leading nurserymen are going to ex- 

 hibit large groups of miscellaneous plants for the decoration 

 of the tents ; and great interest is attached to the annual show 

 of Pelargoniums by the Pelargonium Society, which is to be 

 held in conjunction. Fruit — in competition for the liberal 

 prizes offered by Messrs. Veitch & Sons — will as usual make an 

 excellent display ; and the show of vegetables — in competition 

 for Messrs. Carter & Co.'s, Sutton & Sons', Hurst & Sons', and 

 W. Munro's prizes — promises to be of unusual magnitude. 

 The Council has wisely, as we think, reduced the price of 

 admission from 7s. 6d. to half-a-crown, and Is. on the second 

 day. 



The Lixdley Library does not belong to the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Society. It was purchased with part of the surplus 

 of the proceeds of the International Horticultural Exhibition 

 and Botanical Congress held in London in 1866, and is vested 

 in the hands of trustees, who will be grateful for any donation. 

 By permission of the Royal Horticultural Society the library is 

 deposited in its rooms. 



The Pelargonium Society's Show will be held on 



the 19th and 20th inst. at South Kensington in conjunction 

 with that of the Royal Horticultural Society. The collection 

 of zonal Pelargoniums grown at the Chiswick Gardens on 

 behalf of this Society includes many new varieties con- 

 tributed by the leading continental raisers ; and being well 

 worthy of inspection it is proposed to hold a meeting for 

 that purpose at Chiswick, on a day to be fixed at the annual 

 meeting. 



A flower show among the children of the schools 



of St. George's, Hanover Square, Grosvenor Schools, and 

 St. Mark's and Hinover Schools, was held on the 10th inst., 

 by permission of the Duke of Westminster, in the gardens of 

 Grosvenor House. The flowers were such as are ordinarily 

 chosen for window culture, and the display, though rather 

 small, was very good. The prizes, consisting of gifts of money, 

 were distributed by the Duchess of Westminster in presence 

 of a large gathering of ladies and gentlemen, among whom 

 were Lady Beatrice Grosvenor, the Earl of Shaftesbury, Mr. 

 Gladstone, Sir Henry and Lady Rawlinson, the Earl of Powis, 

 Lady Somerset, &a. At the close of the distribution the Earl 

 of Shaftesbury expressed his strong sense of the good, both 

 physical and moral, which arose from a true taste for flowers 

 and their cultivation, as being calculated to foster mental 

 refinement and habits of gentle care and attention, and could 

 scarcely fail to inspire a truer and more reverential awe of and 

 gratitude to the Great Unseen Power that watched over all. 

 Mr. Gladstone remarked that the excellent taste which they 

 were now being called upon to foBter was a pre-eminently 

 English taste; and he thought he might safely say that as 

 regarded the art and science of gardening, the English nation 

 could well take the prize from the rest of the world ; that 

 wherever a garden was laid out — not in accordance with arti- 

 ficial rules and mechanical symmetry — but in such a manner 

 as to please the eye and the sense of the picturesque, such a 

 garden was invariably termed " an English garden ;" and con- 

 cluded by urging on architects and builders of cottages and 

 other dwellings for the industrial poor, never to keep out of 

 sight the importance of the provision of facilities for flori- 

 culture. 



Some pots of Rhodanthe Manglesii are extremely pretty 



in the conservatory at Kew. Some other annuals are also used 

 with good effect, and among the best are Schizanthus retusus 

 and S. pinnatus. Some Fuchsias trained to the rafters show 

 to great advantage. It has been remarked that Fuchsias should 

 be seen from underneath, and from that point of view they are 

 certainly very effective. One of the best climbers in this house 

 is Lonicera sempervirens, of which the flowers surpass any 

 other Honeysuckle we remember, and quite equal Gesneras in 

 brilliancy. 



■ The annual Show of the Ulster Horticultural So- 

 ciety was held on the 6th inst. in Belmont Demesne, the use 

 of which was granted by Sir Thomas M'Clure, Bart. The day 

 was extremely fine, and in every sense suited for the holding 

 of a flower show. The exhibits were arranged on stands in 

 three spacious canvas tents. We are informed that never were 

 there heard at any previous show so many expressions of ad- 

 miration on the part of visitors, nor, in the opinion of the 

 Judges, did they recollect any previous display so excellent in 

 every respect. 



This has been truly "The Year of Roses." Their 



culture seems to extend more and more over all classes and 



places. The Duchess of Westminster, Viscountess Holmesdale, 

 Lady Londesborough, Lady Sutton, and Mrs. E. H. Scott were 

 among the Jcdges who awarded the prizes at the Royal West- 

 minster Aquarium ; and a Rose show was held at the Com 

 Exchange in Mark Lane on the 5th, the proceeds being 

 appropriated to the benefit of the Corn Exchange Benevolent 

 Society. The Show was well patronised and very successful, 

 as many of the Roses exhibited might bear comparison with 

 prizetakers in first-class shows held in other parts of the 

 metropolis. 



The flower show at the Winter Gardens, Southport, 



was very successful, and great praise is due to Mr. Campbell, 

 their Curator, to whom the arrangement of the whole was 

 wisely entrusted by the Directors, and who has proved himself 

 well worthy of their confidence. People little imagine that it 

 is the result of many months of labour, patience, care, and 

 perseverance. That Mr. Campbell has shown himself equal 

 to the occasion, working all the while single-handed, is well 

 declared. 



The Council of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural 



Society having resolved to award the Neill Prize every second 

 year in place of every third year as formerly, they have 

 awarded the same for the period from 15th of May, 1S74, to 

 15th of May, 1S76, to Isaac Anderson-Henry, Esq., of Woodend, 

 for eminence in botany and horticulture. 



Our report of the magnificent display of Lllium 



auratum in the garden of J. McIntosh, Esq., at Duneevan last 

 year will be remembered. This year the display, we are glad 

 to learn, is likely to be equally fine. Many of the plants are 

 growing exuberantly, the stem of one being already 10 feet in 

 height and not yet showing flower buds. A very few of the 

 Lilies were disfigured by the cutting winds of spring, but the 

 majority of them escaped iDJury. These Liliums are planted 

 in the borders and are not protected, and their vigour and 

 beauty it is almost impossible to describe. 



POTATO-GROWING EXPEKIMENTS. 



A gentleman in the neighbourhood of Arbroath, who has 

 been for some years experimenting with seedling Potatoes, 

 gives the result as follows : — 



" My first seeds from the plum were sown in a cosy corner 

 of the garden. They braired in the first week in May, were 

 thinned out and transplanted early in June, and were taken 

 up early in August ; those which did not possess merit being 

 destroyed, and those which gave good promise being preserved. 

 In this first year I was comparatively successful, some of the 

 tubers being 1 ozs. in weight, though were only of the size of 

 Filberts — some early, some late ; some red, some white, some 

 streaked ; some round, some oval, some like kidneys, &c. Not 

 one speck of disease was seen either on the haulm or on the 

 young Potatoes, and the only misfortune they met with was 

 that a perambulating peacock took a fancy to parade in that 

 particular corner, imagining that the proper display of his 

 feathers was of more consequence than the raising of Potatoes 

 for the million. 



" In the following season I chose a plot of ground that was 

 not likely to be suitable for the peacock, but the high winds 

 broke the stems, and I had no tubers. The third season I 

 transplanted my seedlings to an inside border, but they were 

 destroyed in a similar manner. This season I have a few 

 excellent plants. My present stock of seedlings are all from 

 the produce of the plums sowed four years ago. My experience 

 is that the ground should be in a sheltered situation, of a free 

 nature, manured in the autumn, forked over in the spring, the 

 seed sown in April in rows 18 inches apart, the weakest plants 

 thrown away, and the others thinned out to 9 inches apart, 

 while spare plants may be transplanted without loss during 

 suitable weather. Guard against crows, cats, trespassers, and 

 high winds. I have now one more acre planted with the pro- 

 duce of my first sowing, and up thi3 date I have given all the 

 varieties an equal chance. 



" I have found those which were most promising to be least 

 profitable. One very beautiful variety has entirely failed ; 

 another was decimated by the disease, but with that single 

 exception the whole have been disease-proof. One variety is 

 very similar to the Champion, one to the Fluke, one to the 

 Victoria, one to the Regent, one to the American, one to the 

 Ashleaf. A variety of Kidney is uncommonly prolific. The 

 habits of growth vary exceedingly, some being a speedy growth, 

 low stature, and early maturity; others start slowly, grow 



