December 7, 1876. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



4S5 



third. A grows Heaths well and Ehows them well, he conse- 

 quently had first and second unopposed, everyone else being 

 driven out of the field. Another instance : I observed E had 

 first, second, third, and fourth fortwelve Carnations, the same 

 exhibitor having the same number of prizes for sis Carnations. 

 F came off with first, second, third, and fourth for twelve 

 Picotees, and also for six of the same. No opposition was 

 offered to either of these, their claims to the prizes being 

 quite established, and apparently quietly arranged between 

 themselves. 



I do not think it is right for a Society supported by public 

 money to thus give large growers the opportunity of monopo- 

 lising the whole of the prizes offered for certain articles. The 

 original object of flower shows was to encourage small growers, 

 then general good cultivators. This Society, I contend, does 

 not do so ; it is an unequal contest. Large growers should be 

 content with first place, and small growers will be content to 

 come behind them. The Newcastle Society ought to wipe this 

 blot out of their book now that they are in prosperity. " Oh ! " 

 say they, " we could not get a show otherwise." How do 

 other societies do ? say I. Most societies have a rule as 

 follows:— "No competitor allowed to stage more than one 

 lot for any one prize." I contend that this rule should not be 

 omitted by any society in the country. 



I was much pleased with many things which I saw at the 

 Newcastle autumn show. I was pleased to see the plants 

 arranged in a manner that the public could see them on all 

 sides. I was pleased to see such grand stands of Dahlias, 

 Gladioli, Asters, &c The dinner-table decorations were attrac- 

 tive, as were also the plants staged for table decoration, but 

 the effect was spoiled by their beiDg packed too closely together, 

 and I am glad to see that we are likely to have similar treats at 

 the forthcoming shows at Newcastle. 



I am not a disappointed exhibitor, and I hope Mr. Taylor 

 will not take any adverse criticism which I may have made as 

 being prompted by any other wish than to see this and all 

 similar societies healthy and prosperous. — R. Inglis. 



MADRESFIELD COUET GRAPE. 

 This Grape — like many others — is getting uncommonly ill 

 spoken of by some, and just as well spoken of by others. It 

 would appear, however, that all are agreed as to its having 

 some grand points, such as its free-bearing qualities, its im- 

 mense berries, and good flavour. These are certainly fine 

 characteristics, and if it could be produced as perfectly swelled 

 and coloured, and kept afterwards as Mr. Johnston showed it at 

 Dundee last September, where is the cultivator that would not 

 like to grow it ? But the great defect which it developes in not 

 a few instances is, that almost every berry splits after becom- 

 ing fully ripe, or just as it attains perfection. Mr. Hunter 

 at Lambton Castle had this year the most extraordinary 

 bunch of it that was ever produced perhaps, and he intended 

 to show it at Dundee, but it cracked, so that it was not fit to 

 show in September. The question becomes one of importance, 

 Is this grand Grape, or this Grape with so many grand points, 

 to be condemned and abandoned because, under certain cir- 

 cumstances, it developes this certainly fatal flaw or fault? 

 That it does remarkably well under some conditions is unques- 

 tionable. At Bolton Hall in Yorkshire it invariably does well, 

 and never cracks. It is said by Mr. Roberts, the gardener at 

 Bolton Hall, that it succeeds even better in the same house 

 than Lady Downe's, Alicante, and Barbarossa. It of course 

 becomes a question as to the exact conditions under which this, 

 or any other Grape which often fails, succeeds so perfectly. It 

 is said to be growing in a border which is all inside the vinery, 

 and composed of loam of the carboniferous limestone, bones, 

 brick-rubbish, and a good deal of charred garden rubbish. 

 These are just the conditions under which a Grape subject to 

 split would be expected to be most free from this fault, and it 

 is found so. It is not a very uncommon thing to see even 

 Black Hamburghs split to some extent when a very wet time 

 succeeds a dry season, when the roots are in outside borders 

 in wet localities. The amount of water in an inside border is 

 entirely under control ; and, moreover, when the border is 

 made up of such open material as the inside border at Bolton 

 Hall, the amount of water held in suspension is reduced to a 

 minimum, and consequently the chances of this or any Grape 

 splitting. The particulars regarding the prominent develop- 

 ment of this flaw in the case of the grand bunch at Lambton 

 would be interesting. According to Mr. Hunter's own acoount 

 of his practice, enormous supplies of water are one of the chief 



features of it. There are few Grapes, even our oldest standards, 

 but what require some special points of culture. The Muscat, 

 to do it well, requires strong heat, bright light, and very gene- 

 rous treatment. The Black Hamburgh succeeds fairly if it gets 

 very ordinary treatment, but it never colours so well in the 

 heat required to finish Muscats as it does in a cooler house. 

 Lady Downe's — our best keeping Grape — will be and is often 

 ruined by too much heat at the stoning period ; and so I might 

 refer to all other Grapes, scarcely one of which but requires 

 some special guarding at certain Btages of their growth. But 

 who would think of rushing into print to condemn these 

 Grapes ? Whoever did so would be thought to be most suc- 

 cessful in revealing his own ignorance. 



Would it not be worth while, in gardens where space could 

 be afforded to carry out such an arrangement, to set apart a 

 house with its border all inside, for such a noble Grape as 

 Madresfield Court assuredly is — all but its tendency to split — 

 and subject it to Bpecial treatment for this evil ? and it might 

 also be worth while to associate with it that other well-abused 

 Grape, Golden Champion. The same treatment would prevent 

 it from splitting and spotting that would prevent the first of 

 those evils in Madresfield Court. And I never heard of these 

 two Grapes being placed on the table in good condition yet, 

 that they did not alike meet with the most unreserved praise 

 as being two grand Grapes. It is well known to experienced 

 Grape-growers that an over-damp atmosphere will cause most 

 Grapes to spot ; and this year I saw a striking example of this 

 in the case of Gros Colman, the Duke of Buccleuch, and slightly 

 in Black Hamburghs, all in the same house, through over- 

 sprinkling of the floor of the vinery in dull weather when little 

 air could be given. Would it be reasonable to condemn these 

 three Grapes on this account ? It is quite right that all new 

 things should be well criticised, but it is to be feared that 

 much of the criticism in this age of scribbling is advanced for 

 the mere sake of finding fault, instead of bringing out the 

 special conditions under which fine sorts do well. — Practi- 

 tioner (in The Gardener.) 



LAURUSTINUSES FOR INDOOR DECORATION 



IN WINTER. 

 This is a useful winter-flowering shrub which seems to have 

 been overlooked by many who have to keep greenhouses and 

 conservatories gay at this season of the year. I saw some 

 well-grown Laurustinuses a week or so ago at Thoresby Park, 

 and amongst the many attractive plants there these shrubs 

 were very conspicuous. They were grown in large tubs, and 

 Mr. Henderson said they had stood in the open air all summer 

 up to October. They are removed outside again in spring, and 

 their cultivation is extremely simple. They have been grown 

 indoors in the winter time for a number of years at Thoresby, 

 and the flowers open much freer under glass than in the open 

 air. At the time of my visit the plants were a complete mass 

 of purple with the opening buds, and by this time they will be 

 a perfect sheet of pure white, and the Ixora-like trusses of 

 flowers are not only ornamental on the plants, but they are 

 extremely useful in a cut state. Smaller plants than those at 

 Thoresby might, no doubt, be had with a proportionate quan- 

 tity of flowers, and they would be exceedingly useful in mixing 

 with other flowering subjects on conservatory stages. — S. W. 



THE NURSERIES OF MESSRS. W. CUTBUSH 

 AND SON, 



BABNET AND HIGHGATE. 



Since the lamented death of Mr. William Cutbush in May 

 last the Barnet Nurseries have become allied with those of 

 Highgate, and both are now conducted by the firm above 

 named as the only horticultural representatives of an old hor- 

 ticultural family. Mr. William Cutbush commenced business 

 at Barnet thirty-six years ago, and throughout that time was 

 esteemed for his honourable dealings, high character, and 

 business assiduity. Mr. James Cutbush, inheriting the family 

 " roof tree," has continued residing at Highgate, and has con- 

 ducted that nursery, alBO another branch at Finchley, in a 

 practical and exemplary manner. 



These nurseries are not large, yet the trio may amount in 

 area to about thirty acres. Geographically they occupy a 

 high position, perhaps the highest of any metropolitan nur- 

 series of note. From Highgate the " modern Babylon " ia 

 overlooked, but is seen only through a veil of misty smoke by 



