JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ July 4, 1872. 



iii baskets suspended from the roof, and are syringed daily in 

 summer. All the potting, or rather basketing, they require, is 

 the removal of some of the old decayed sphagnum about once 

 a-year and replacing with fresh : a perfect wig of fresh roots 

 is formed outside of each basket. These baskets are made of 

 strips of teak, and are small for the size of the plants. 



Mr. Ward lias been very successful with all he has under- 

 taken, and as a practical gardener myself, and moderately suc- 

 cessful in other branches, I know full well that success can 

 only be secured and maintained by incessant care and untiring 

 labour on the part of the gardener ; but this must also be 

 seconded by liberality and considerateness on the part of the 

 employer. That this is so in the ease of Mr. Wilkins no one 

 can doubt, and if both master and gardener be long spared 

 together we shall see greater things in the future. — J. Douglas. 



EOYAL HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY'S 



EXHIBITION AT BIRMINGHAM. 



In resuming our notes on this Show, which from want of 

 space we were obliged to break off abruptly last week, we must 

 in the first place remark on the extraordinary success attained. 

 That such an Exhibition, held in a great commercial centre 

 like Birmingham, would be a success we never doubted, but 

 that it would be such a success as it has proved, even the 

 most sanguine never expected. Since the memorable Inter- 

 national Horticultural Exhibition of 1866 there has never been 

 in this country, take it all in all, a horticultural show so exten- 

 sive and so excellent as that which closed last Saturday. 

 Hortieulturally it was a great success ; financially it was a still 

 greater success, and this under the most adverse conditions as 

 regards weather that could well be possible in the month of 

 June. On the Monday, soon after the arrival of his Eoyal 

 Highness Prince Arthur, who opened the Show on the fol- 

 lowing day, a heavy thunderstorm broke over Birmingham, 

 soaking thousands who thronged the road to Aston ; and the 

 approaches to the tents, cut up by the constant arrivals of 

 plant-bearing vehicles, and puddled by men's feet and horses' 

 feet, soon became a quagmire. If such was the case on the 

 Monday what could one expect on the Tuesday, when the 

 thunder still rumbled, wheu the rain fell heavily as ever, 

 and when, nothing daunted, visitors flocked to the Show by 

 the thousand? Bbmingham folks are very energetic, and 

 Birniingham policemen — whether from natural selection, or 

 some other cause — very energetic too, but even they failed to 

 keep the tents from being taken by storm. They were stern, 

 they were inexorable to a degree ; and though the rain poured 

 down so heavily on lightly clad ladies that even the heart of 

 Al would have relented, "Keep back! keep back!" was the 

 cry, till human nature could stand it no longer, the masses 

 would no longer be debarred from shelter, and a lodgment 

 was effected. Then, after the Prince had passed round, the 

 great tent was thronged, there was an end to note-taking; 

 the fingers might move, but the feet could not ; one was 

 wedged-in on every side ; and this state of things continued, 

 with varying intensity, till evening set in. 



" If they will, they will, you may depend on't ; 

 And ii tliey won't, they won't, and there's an end on't." . 



That is true of Birmingham ladies, as it is of ladies all the 

 world over. They had determined on seeing the Prince, 

 determined on seeing the Show, and most religiously their 

 programme was carried out. They were bent on sight-seeing, 

 and they saw one, the like of which, as we have before said, 

 has not been witnessed in England since 1866, and, we say it 

 with pride, the like of which is to be seen in no other country 

 in the world. Not in the world — not in then- native lands, be 

 they in the eastern or the western hemisphere — are Orchids 

 such as those at our exhibitions to be seen, and yet the plants 

 are the same, but changed under cultivation. The Ixoras of the 

 East, the Allamandas of the West, the Everlastings from the 

 Cape — where in the wide world are such specimens to be seen ? 

 Not in the countries of the Tine, and the Peach, and the 

 Pine are such splendid fruit to be found. The poor little 

 Alpine Strawberry gives place to veritable giants ; and nowhere 

 in the sunny South are such vegetables to be seen as there 

 are at our shows, be they those of a little local society or of that 

 Society which has now well-nigh taken them all under its wing. 

 But to return to Birmingham. Notwithstanding the rain both 

 on the first and second days, the Eoyal Horticultural Society 

 has never had so successful a show, both in the number of 

 visitors (some 130,000) and the amount (£5000) which these 



brought to the exchequer. We congratulate the Society on 

 these results ; we congratulate Birmingham on the noble man- 

 ner in which it has maintained its reputation for doing great 

 things, and on the good which it has directly and indirectly 

 been the means of doing to horticulture. 



As the returns of tickets sold are not yet completed, it is 

 impossible to do more at present than give such au estimate of 

 the probable results as may be stated with confidence to be 

 under rather than over what the balance-sheet will disclose : — ■ 



Tickets sold prior to opening the Show, about .£2,509 



Admissions at the Gates 2,476 



Probable surplus from Prize Fund, about 150 



„ „ ,, Implement Department, about 100 



£5226 



LiLiuir aukatum. — Only three exhibitors came forward in the 

 class for four pots. Mr. Turner took the first place with three 

 of the ordinary variety, and one of the orange-and-pnrple banded 

 kind. Messrs. Bollisson.'of Tooting, were second. The best 

 specimen pot was shown by Mr. French. 



Clematis. — The best six came from Mr. W. Cutbush, Barnet, 

 and consisted of neatly-trained, well-bloomed plants of Bubro- 

 violacea, Magnifica, and Jackmanni. 



Coleus. — Varieties of Coleus were not numerously shown, but 

 were well grown. The first prize went to Mr. T. Smith, Lydney 

 Park, for golden varieties Queen Victoria, Baron Bothschild, 

 Princess Eoyal, Princess Teck, Her Majesty : and Beauty of 

 Wichnor, purple, edged with yellowish white. Mr. Allen, 

 gardener to J. B. Finnemore, Esq., was second with very good 

 plants of Beauty of St. John's Wood, Albert Victor, &c. ; and 

 Mr. Coysh third. 



Calceolaklas. — Of these there was only one exhibitor, Mr. 

 Coysh, Newbold Eevel, who had, however, well-flowered plants. 



Succulents. — Of these four collections were shown ; that 

 from Mr. Croueher, gardener to J. Peacock, Esq., Hammer- 

 smith, was the largest and most interesting, as may readily be 

 concluded from the rich collection which he has at command. 

 Manimillaria, Gasteria, Cereus, Eclrinocactus, Opuntia, Echi- 

 nopsis, and other genera were represented in many curious and 

 grotesque forms, as, for instance, Opuntia clavarioides cristata, 

 and Euphorbia caput-Medus:e. Mr. Croueher took the first 

 prize ; Mr. Ware, of Tottenham, being second with a good col- 

 lection ; and Messrs. BeU & Thorpe third. 



Cut Flowers. — Of these there were some very good boxes, 

 the flowers neatly set up in green moss. For twenty-four 

 bunches Mrs. E. Cole & Sons were first. They had the beautiful 

 white Ixora Colei, I. amboynensis, and I. coccinea, Dipladenias, 

 Allamanda Wardleiana, Lapageria rosea, nice Heaths, and an 

 Orchid or two. The second prize went to Miss M. A. Baines, 

 Southgate House, Southgate. The collection contained choice 

 Orchids, Ixoras, and Atacia cristata, a flower of singular form- 

 ation. Mr. W. Brown, gardener to Mrs. Alston, Elmdon Park, 

 Birmingham, was third ; Mr. J. Parker, Victoria Nursery, Eugby, 

 being fourth. For twelve Mr. W. Chapman was first with a fine 

 box margined with Fern fronds. He had Gloriosa superba, a 

 splendid spike of Phalfenopsis amabilis, and Pleroma elegans. 

 The second contained nice trusses of Orchids. The third prize 

 went to Mr. G, Plumbley, gardener to T. Charlesworth, Esq., of 

 Leicester ; and the fourth to Mr. J. Webb, gardener to J. Gulson, 

 Esq., Stoke, Coventry- For cut flowers of twenty-four hardy 

 Herbaceous Perennials, Mr. T. S. "Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, 

 Tottenham, was first. He had highly-coloured Iris, the double 

 form of Spiraea Filipendula,Brodiiea congesta, and large bunches 

 of other fine things. Mr. J. Jennings was second with a fine box. 

 George Maw, Esq., Benthall Hall, Broseley, Salop, was third. 

 The first-prize twelve came from Mr. J. Lakin, Chipping 

 Norton, Oxon, and contained Iris Bronze Beauty, very distinct, 

 Dianthus Marie Pare, pure white, and other fine bunches. 

 G. More, Esq., was second, and Mr. W. H. Turner, Grove Park, 

 Liverpool, was third. 



Haedy and Half-hardy Perennials and Alpine Plants,— 

 For twenty hardy variegated alpine and herbaceous plants, Mr. 

 T. S. Ware was first with a well-grown collection. The most 

 noticeable were the variegated forms of Funkia undulata, F. lan- 

 cifolia medio-picta, Iris foetidissima, Polernonium eteruleum, 

 and Bambusa Fortunei. The second prize went to Mr. J. Clift, 

 Selly Park, Birmingham ; he showed some very pretty plants — 

 the variegated form of Saxifraga umbrosa, Sanseviera carnea, 

 Dactylis glomerata, Acorus gramineus, and Gleehoma hederacea 

 — the Ground Ivy. In the class for fifty hardy and half-hardy 

 variegated plants suitable for bedding, Messrs. Bell & Thorpe 

 had a very nice lot of plants ; amongst them were some of the 

 Alternantheras, Hedera japonica and other Ivies, Phormium 

 tenax variegatum, Yucca quadricolor, Eurya latifolia, &c. Mr. 

 Ware had Opbiopogon Jaburan aureo-marginatum, Diplotaxus 

 tenuifolius foliis variegatis, and others. Messrs. Standish had 

 a collection composed mostly of variegated Japanese shrubs and 

 Hollies; some of them would be very effective as pictorial plants. 

 As none of the exhibitors showed according to the wording of 

 the schedule, extra prizes only were awarded. 



