42i 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 29, 1877. 



of some member of the Royal Family, or some distinguished 

 foreigner, will do more to attract the multitude than the finest 

 exhibition that could be got together. The Tuesday meetings 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society are really to the real lovers 

 of flowers as interesting as anything can be, yet how very few 

 avail themselves of them, only those who take a real loving 

 interest in flowers caring to go there ; and what I hope may 

 prove to be its revived fortune is more owing to the counte- 

 nance given to it during the past season by Her Gracious Majesty 

 than to the fact that there is now a genuine horticultural 

 ■Council, ifi) The shows held at the Crystal Palace, Alexandra, 

 and Aquarium are not in themselves paying concerns. The 

 attractions of theBe favourite places of resort are numerous, 

 and on flower-show days care is always taken to provide a good 

 play in the theatre, fireworks in the evening, German gymnasts, 

 or something else that may allure visitors. Then they must 

 ■be always held in the season, and generally on a Saturday, in 

 order to catch those fashionable people who care but little for 

 flowers except in the ease of a nosegay, but who dearly like to 

 see and be seen, (c) The influence that horticulture has on 

 the general public in alluring them to flower shows may bs 

 seen, I think, best by regarding special shows, not that these 

 ever pay or can be expected to pay. A subscription list is first 

 made, a schedule is formed in accordance with them, some- 

 thing is perhaps supplemented by the joint-stock company, 

 but I very much question whether the increased attendance 

 in any case is equal to the amount of prize money, without 

 "taking into consideration the expenses incurred. Let me jast 

 state one fact to support this. The Metropolitan Floral So- 

 ciety held its exhibition for three years at the Crystal Palace. 

 It ceased to be held there because it did not pay. I went then 

 to try and arrange, and the late Secretary showed me their 

 book of attendances. We compared the attendance of the 

 same days of the week in the week before and the week after, 

 .and found that it did not make a difference of a thousand! — 

 that is of £50. At this Bhow many flowers were represented, 

 and I should be very much surprised to find that where only 

 one flower is shown that a larger result is obtained. It may 

 be asked, " Why are the shows held?" The statement to me 

 of the manager of one of these places this year will be the 

 best answer. He had offered to have the National Rose Society 

 there, and said to me, " You know I shall lose money by it." 

 " Why, then, do you have it ?" " We must cater for the 

 public, and unless we have variety we cannot do so. Some 

 things pay and others don't, but we must have th«m." The 

 National Rose Society never expected their show to pay — that 

 is, as I have explained, they did not expect the gate money to 

 cover expenses, prizes, &a. They trusted entirely to the in- 

 terest taken in the Rose by the public at large. Their con- 

 fidence was misplaced ; only about a thousand tickets were 

 taken, and probably many of these by the friends of sub- 

 scribers. They had hoped to have taken at least three times 

 as much as was taken at the first National Rose Show eighteen 

 years ago ; in fact, not more was taken than on that occasion. 

 As to nurserymen foregoing the prize money, I think that is 

 Tather too much of a good thing to expect. They subscribe 

 liberally, they go to great expense in coming up to town, and 

 the least that they can expect is, I think, liberal prizeB to com- 

 pete for to recoup them in some way for the outlay. 



II. Prcvincial Shows. — I call to mind many of these excel- 

 lently managed and giving great impetus to floriculture, but 

 1 do not think one of them is ever expected to pay. First of 

 all a subscription list is made up, to which all the gentry in 

 ihe neighbourhood subscribe, and then generally something is 

 added to it, always a band, sometimes fireworks, a poultry 

 show, dogs or cats, or, as at York, acrobats and all kinds of 

 fair amusements ; and even then when a wet day comes the 

 lat has to go round, a certain amount is expected on the 

 show day, and if that fails it must be supplemented some 

 •way. Reference has been made to the big prize offered at 

 Wisbech, as if that entailed destruction on the society that set 

 the ball a-going. I believe that prize was suggested by a very 

 distinguished rosarian. It was, I think, a mistake ; but the 

 failure of the Show (which was not exclusively a Rose show) 

 arose not from this, but from purely local causes. I can speak 

 ■with authority here, as I have judged there several times. 



Your correspondent complains that nurserymen do not ex- 

 hibit more at these provincial Bhows ; my wonder is that they 

 exhibit so much. The Rose show season lasts but little more 

 than three weeks. During that time three great London ex- 

 hibitions, others at Exeter, Nottingham, Oxford, Hereford, 

 Maidstone, Helensburgh, N.B., Newton Stewart, N.B.,Reigate, 



Chipping Norton, &c, are held, and sometimes two or three 

 on the same day in different parts of the kingdom. What, 

 then, can nurserymen do ? A Rose show is not like a poultry 

 show, where you can send your birds and get them back again. 

 Either the nurseryman himself or his most trusted men, who 

 are at that time wanted at home, must accompany them ; 

 and unless he has any reasonable prospect of getting some 

 money back he can hardly be expected on the hope of a 

 few Btray orders to go to all places at great inconvenience and 

 expense. 



I am, therefore, forced to the conclusion that flower shows 

 do not and cannot pay ; but at the same time I am convinced 

 that the love for flowers is bo great amongst us that they will 

 Btill be held. We must, I think, abandon all notion about the 

 scientific side of horticulture being a paying concern ; we have 

 no occasion to indulge in high talk, but seriously and lovingly 

 do our best to promote the interests of the pursuit we love. — 

 D., Deal. 



CHOICE HAEDT PEKENNIALS. 



"A Constant Subscribes," who has plenty of common 

 plants, asks for a list of some two dozen choice, distinct, herb- 

 aceous plants that would be in flower from May to September. 

 By a lucky chance I am able to help him, and this is how it 

 came about. Last August I went to see the garden of " Phil- 

 anthos," and besides the wonderful collection of Cowslips and 

 Primroses about which he has told us bo much that is new 

 and instructive, I found many hardy flowers grouped in beds 

 and dispersed about the gardens, enlivening many a quiet 

 nook and corner, for they were mostly in full bloom, and as I 

 Boon saw were as choice and uncommon as they were beautiful, 

 and bo I am able to furnish a list upon which your correspon- 

 dent may place implicit reliance as containing precisely what 

 he wants. It is, moreover, worthy of general attention, few 

 gardens possessing many of the plants I will now proceed to 

 enumerate. 



Aquilegia chrysantha. — This is the most charming Colum- 

 bine I have seen. Its flowers are a delicate shade of yellow, 

 are borne in clustering heads about 2 feet high, not at all 

 dense or crowded, but iu a somewhat loose yet elegant manner. 

 It was seeding freely. 



Potentilla purpurea lutea plena. — This had numerous flowers, 

 double, and of a deep, rich, glowing crimson. It is one of many 

 varieties of a neglected genus that are worthy of a prominent 

 position in every garden. I have a list sent me from a reliable 

 source, in which upwards of fifty varieties are enumerated, 

 ranging in colour through various shades of crimson, yellow, 

 and scarlet. They form dense bushy tufts, yielding a succession 

 of brilliant flowers throughout summer. P. Menziesii was 

 also very gay with Bingle flowers of a rich crimson shade ; 

 and P. William Rollinson had brilliant clusters of double 

 orange-coloured flowers, which told well among the crimson 

 varieties. 



Armeria cephalotes, better known perhaps as Great Thrift, 

 had a gay and sprightly effect with its abundant large compact 

 headB of rosy pink flowers borne on stems about 18 inches 

 high, which spring out of dense cushions of leaves some 4 or 

 5 inches in length. This comes readily from seed, but some 

 of the seedlings have flowers of a more delicate shade of pink 

 than the original type. 



Sedum spurium.—A. fine Bpecies of this widespread genus 

 with bold corymbs of bright crimson flowers and large green 

 foliage. It was in full beauty, and appeared likely to continue 

 so for Borne time. S. kamtschaticum formed an appropriate 

 companion for spurium, being similar ingrowth but having a 

 profusion of deep rich yellow flowers. 



Dictamnus Fraxinella had handsome spikes of pale pink 

 flowers with dark green foliage, olosely resembling that of a 

 Dahlia or of some of the broad-lobed Ash trees. I find the 

 following useful note of it in the " Cottage Gardeners' Dic- 

 tionary :" — " This is one of the oldest and best border plants 

 of our cottage gardens. Instances are known where the Fraxi- 

 nella has outlived father, son, and grandson in the same spot 

 without increase, all attempts at multiplying it to give away a 

 rooted slip to a newly married member of the family having 

 failed ; yet the Fraxinella may be increased from seeds. Sow 

 as soon as they are ripe in the common soil of the border, and 

 cover 1 inch deep ; they will not sprout till the following April. 

 If they are kept over the winter and sown in the following 

 spring they will remain twelve months before they sprout, and 

 not one in a hundred sprouts at all. When the eeedlings are 



