September 7, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



209 



The plant is pretty even with its green fruit. When this is 

 ripe and has the orange colour it should be very ornamental. 

 A friend who knew the fruit well in Japan told me that it is 

 considered good there. He cautioned me against allowing an 

 overcrop, as the fruit in that case falls. I therefore thinned 

 our plant. — George F. Whson. 



[The fruit received is 2 inches in diameter, and somewhat 

 resembles an unripe Tomato, being green and slightly ribbed, 

 but is more solid than a Tomato. When ripe it must be highly 

 ornamental. We shall be glad to hear further from Mr. Wilson 

 when he has proved the quality of the fruit. — Eds.] 



THE DOVEB FLOWEB SHOW. 



" What ! you here !" was the exclamation of one of " those 

 most potent, grave, and reverend seigneurs " who rule the desti- 

 nies of our Journal when I met him in the Priory grounds, 

 where the Committee of the Dover Horticultural Society had 

 arranged their Show. The nest word was more sotto voce — 

 " I look to you, then, to tell us something about it." What could 

 I do but obey 1 and hence this short report. 



There was something pleasant and picturesque in the appear- 

 ance of the grounds and the old refectory where the Show was 

 held ; and although the day had been unpromising the rain held 

 off and bright sunshine added its charms to the scene. The 

 plants were arranged in the refectory, where also the fruit and 

 table decorations were displayed, and a much worse place could 

 not possibly be for showing off the beauty of the exhibits. The 

 light was of the faintest character, and the gloomy aspect of the 

 walls added nothing certainly to their appearance. Nor were 

 the plants of any great moment. At this season of the year it 

 is a difficulty to get together stove and greenhouse plants ; and 

 as there are no persons in the neighbourhood who go in for exhi- 

 biting, those shown were simply such as may be found in any 

 gentleman's garden of any pretensions — very unlike what one 

 sees at snch shows as Taunton, Spalding, &c. The gardeners of 

 Sir Henry Tufton, Sir Walter James, S. Ashley Dodd, Esq., 

 and others exhibited plants of fair average quality but in no 

 way remarkable. In this part of the Exhibition the greatest 

 interest was excited by the table decorations, <Src, for which 

 there was a spirited competition. The classes were for a stand 

 of wild flowers and grasses, dinner-table stand of fruit and 

 flowers, and basket or vase for the dining-room. The first prize 

 in the class for wild flowers was adjudged to Mies Tompkin, 

 Buckland Vicarage, for an exceedingly pretty and well- arranged 

 stand. The dinner-table stands were for fruit and flowerB — an 

 unsuitable arrangement which has been long since discarded in 

 most places. It gives a lumpishness to the stand which utterly 

 destroys its effect ; and, moreover, the fruit is placed inappro- 

 priately. If it is not to be eaten its place would be better sup- 

 plied with flowers ; and if it is, the appearance of the stand 

 would be destroyed by its removal. The first prize was awarded 

 to Mrs. R. H. Jones : it was far too full, and it would have been 

 utterly impossible for anyone to have seen those opposite to 

 them through its dense gronps. Miss Kingsford was second ; 

 and the same remark applies, for the Btand had a number of 

 cornucopias which were too full of flowers. The third-prize 

 had a bunch of Grapes suspended in a tripod — very inelegant. 

 In the class for drawing-room baskets or vases some really pretty 

 gronps were put up, the first prize being adjudged to an exceed- 

 ingly well-arranged group by Miss Kingsford of Woodside. Un- 

 fortunately another competitor, whose stand was of equal merit, 

 was disqualified owing to the exhibitor misunderstanding the 

 schedule and placing some trays round it. 



As usual in these autumnal Bhows the chief points of attraction 

 are the cot flowers, and of these there was a very good display. 

 The Gladioli were unhappily placed. During the early part of 

 the afternoon the sun shone through the canvas of the tent, com- 

 pletely killing the colour of some of the more delicately coloured 

 flowers. They were exhibited by Mr. Banks of Shobden, our 

 largest amateur grower ; Dr. Scott of Sandcombe, Messrs. Bun- 

 yard & Son of Ashford, and " D., Deal." In addition to the 

 very flattering notice of " G." in last week I have a word to say 

 on a matter connected with them of which I am not a little 

 proud, and have written a separate notice detailing it. But few 

 of this year were exhibited. Hecla was shown well, and there 

 were two or three fine blooms of Le Vesuve. Giganteus was 

 good in Mr. Banks's stand, and Ginevra and Murillo were excel- 

 lent, so also was Leda. Mr. Banks exhibited a number of good 

 seedlings, amongst them a remarkably fine white flower of great 

 size and substance. The long array of stands occupied a con- 

 siderable space, and greatly attracted the attention of visitors. 



The cool weather of the last ten days had materially assisted 

 the Roses, which were shown in very fair condition for this 

 season of the year, Messrs. Bunyard & Son exhibiting a very 

 good box of twenty-six. ABters were not, as might have been 

 expected, as good as usual. Dahlias were but poorly represented, 

 but there were some fine boxes of cut flowers of Geraniums. 



The dry weather had told against vegetables, as might have 



been supposed, and really the wonder was that Carrots and 

 Onions could have been exhibited in such condition as they 

 were. It was in the claBB for cottagers that the effects of the 

 season were especially felt, as they, of course, have not the 

 means and appliances for combating the effects of a bad season 

 that there are in large gardens. 



Knowing as I do how little hold horticulture has in East Kent 

 I can safely say that the Exhibition was creditable to all who 

 were engaged in organising it, and a more efficient and courteous 

 body of officials it would be difficult to find. — D., Deal. 



THE DEVON AND EXETEE AUTUMN SHOW. 



The Exhibition held at Northernhay on the 1st inst. was not 

 large, yet, in some points, noteworthy. The Committee were 

 unable to offer large prizes for nurserymen, so the grand exhi- 

 bition of stove and greenhouse plants, which have been one of 

 the great attractions of former shows, were conspicuous by their 

 absence ; but notwithstanding a small tent was filled with some 

 fine specimens from the glass houses of Mes6rs. Lucombe and 

 Pince and Mr. H. Sclater. Dr. Woodman, the fortunate owner 

 of the former establishment, very kindly sent some of his finest 

 plants. His collection of Allamandas was fine, and he showed 

 a grand plant of Rondeletia speciosa major. His Ixoras were 

 also fine specimens, but his Crotons were simply wonderful, 

 particularly Croton variegatum, which I believe is considered 

 the fineBt plant in England. One Fern electrified me; it was 

 Davallia Mooreana, and this I was assured by one who ought to 

 know is considered the finest specimen in the world. 



As it happened the tent set apart for these exhibits was far 

 too small, whilst the one erected for table decorations was exactly 

 vice versa. Very few entered for these good prizes, and indeed 

 for the amateurs' class for three vaseB of fruit and flowers only 

 one lady put in an appearance. The Judges had a very difficult 

 task to decide on the other exhibits in this section. These were 

 uncommonly good, particularly one put up by Sir T. Acland's 

 gardener. He was placed second, but he lost the first prize by 

 having his centre vase considerably lower than the two others. 

 He-explained afterwards that he was unable to procure a taller 

 one, which was a great pity, as the centre vase was the best I 

 have seen for a long time. The baBe consisted of Bougainvilleas, 

 Ferns, grasses, and fruit, with a lovely bloom of Lselia pur- 

 purata. Up the stem of the glass a climbing plant was twined, 

 and the diBh itself contained a Pine Apple, which was surrounded 

 with blooms of Eucharis amazonica and Maidenhair Ferns. In 

 one of the other vases he had the fineBt bloom of Souvenir de 

 Malmaison Rose which I have ever seen. 



The feature of the Show, however, was the stand of Gladioli 

 staged by Messrs. Kelway of Langport. The perfection to which 

 this flower has attained is simply wonderful, and every year fresh 

 beauties are produced. Three first-class certificates were awarded 

 to seedlings. One named Dr. Woodman is a splendid variety, 

 the colour being a rich salmon, flaked with pink and lake ; the 

 petals being of enormouB size. Another, named Earl of Mount 

 Edgcnmbe, is rose colour and flaked with white ; while the third, 

 which excited the admiration of everyone, is of the richest 

 creamy white, with a dash of violet in it; the petals were flaked, 

 or rather pencilled, with faint lines of pink or lake. This 

 Gladiolus was named after a friend of mine, who has had a 

 Rose named after him, and is described as being of a globular 

 form and of a bright rosy pink complexion. Some of the most 

 noteworthy of the other Gladioli were Adolphe Brogniart, 

 W. Thornton West, pink and white; Lady Bridport, flesh 

 colour, flaked with rose ; Libo, ecclesiastical red ; Henon, 

 Marian, W. Cotton, and Coutha. 



The show of Dahlias, Rosea, and Hollyhocks was small, but 

 one or two very fine blooms were to be found in Mr. Beaehey's 

 stand of Roses ; notably Souvenir d'Elise, which was one of 

 the finest I have seen this year. — Wyld Savage. 



CHAPTEES ON INSECTS FOB GAEDENEES. 



No. 11. 

 Theke haB been some joking with regard to the speculations 

 of certain philosophers, who have maintained that they could 

 greatly improve upon Nature had they the opportunity. Thus, 

 could they re-adjust matters, they think it would be much 

 better that Pumpkins and Melons should grow upon large 

 trees, and Nuts or Apples upon low plants only, which would 

 harmonise with their notions of assthetic fitness. Some horti- 

 culturists may possibly be inclined to theorise rather in the 

 same direction, and an illustration is afforded by the economy 

 of the aphis tribe. Few are now ignorant of the fact that 

 these insects have an excessive power of multiplication, since 

 the females in a mode that ought to be highly agreeable to 

 the advocates of women's rights, who are apt to seek argu- 

 ments and illustrations from all sorts of sources, produce gene- 

 ration after generation of " fat and fair " aphides with but- 



