July 26, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



69 



1851 he'was a clerk in a large print warehouse in London. 

 In 1855 he was a bookbinder in Paternoster Row. In 1864 

 he is florist, seedsman, &c, with a business supporting from 

 twenty to thirty individuals. His career as a lover of 

 flowers from the year 1840 to 1864 would fill many a long 

 page. For the Yorkshire tailor's encouragement suffice it 

 to say, he is one of three orphans inheriting weak constitu- 

 tions. One was apprenticed to a tailor, and died a victim to 

 overmuch confinement in-doors. The other was a clerk in a 

 solicitor's office, and died from similar causes. The writer 

 of this may long since have shared the same fate but for 

 the love of flowers, and his determination to become — A 

 Florist. 



THE BLOOMSBUEY FLOWEE SHOW. 



This most beneficial and successful Exhibition was held 

 on the 13th instant, in the garden of Russell Square. There 

 were 795 plants exhibited in the five classes, all of which 

 were fuller than last year, particularly the children's class, 

 which was then very empty. This year every prize was 

 given away, whereas last year several were withheld. 



Class 5, which was for plants not entered, was, as might 

 be expected, a very large and showy class. Some people 

 have condemned the introduction of such a class, saying 

 that it was only offering prizes to plants many of which 

 might be purchased on the day of the Show ; but the great 

 object of the Exhibition is to induce the poor to decorate 

 their rooms with plants, and by exciting their interest in 

 them to induce them to keep their rooms clean, and to 

 bestow that attention on their plants which is necessary 

 to keep them healthy. Many people purchased plants to 

 exhibit in Class 5 who would not otherwise have had them, 

 and having once become possessed of them, they will in 

 nine cases out of ten take good care of them. Fifty-six 

 prizes were given in sums varying from 10s. to Is., amount- 

 ing in all to ,£14 3s., and to each prizetaker a card was 

 presented with a small picture on it, and a facsimile of 

 Lord Shaftesbury's autograph. 



There were, we should think, between three and four 

 thousand people present, and the Police Band and the Band 

 of the 37th Middlesex Rifles attended gratuitously. The 

 tent was supplied by Messrs. P. Edgington & Co., and was 

 nearly 90 feet long and between 40 and 50 feet broad. 

 The plants were arranged on tables down each side, and in 

 a double line down the middle, and looked very well. Some 

 of the best plants exhibited had been in the parish for three 

 or four years. One gentleman gave to the Hon. Secretary, 

 W. H. Bosanquet, Esq., £1 to be offered for the best tree 

 Carnation next year. We fear that there will not be even 

 a small class of that plant. A class for Auriculas or Polyan- 

 thuses would be more likely to fill. It is of no benefit to offer 

 prizes for plants which the poor are not in the habit of grow- 

 ing. W. Sowerby, Esq., of the Royal Botanic Society, was 

 Judge. The tent was very prettily decorated with mottoes 

 and banners lent by a lady in the parish. One man exhibited 

 some Dahlias in good bloom, and had an extra prize for 

 them. Another sent a small tub with some Potatoes and 

 Radishes growing in it. 



The exhibitors were divided into the following five classes : 



Class 1. — Persons living in the Little Coram Street 

 district. 



Class 2.— Persons living in other parts of the parish. 



Class 3. — Domestic servants. 



Class 4. — Children in National, Infant, Sunday, and 

 Sagged Schools. 



Class 5. — Any plants not entered. 



The first prize in Class 1 was taken by W. Thompson, 

 27, Little Coram Street, for a very fins Geranium. For 

 Annuals, the first prize in this class was awarded to 

 G. Bearden; and an extra prize to J. Verity, 29, Coram 

 Street, for a group of Calceolarias, Stocks, &c. In Class 2, 

 the first was taken by Henry Roberts, 24, Southampton 

 Mews, for a fine Geranium. An extra and well-deserved 

 prize was given in this class to Annie Roberts, of the same 

 residence, for the model of a garden, fronting a toy villa, 

 denominated "Bloom Grove." A brick wall with a neatly 

 constructed gate enclosed the front of the garden, and a 

 gravelled path leading to the mansion was bordered with 

 flowers of every description, including Verbenas, Stocks, 



and Fuchsias, mostly in bloom. The whole exhibited great 

 taste. In Class 3 there were some really splendid flowers, 

 which at once showed the more favourable conditions under 

 which they had been reared. In this class the name of 

 Susan Hyde figured conspicuously, and she certainly ex- 

 hibited some very fine plants, among which may be specially 

 mentioned a beautiful Fuchsia. Elizabeth Griffin showed 

 also a very fine Fuchsia, the best, perhaps, in the Exhibition, 

 and worthy to take a place in a first-rate flower show. In 

 Class 4, the first prize was taken by Julia Turner, also for a 

 Fuchsia. The plants in this class were reared by children, 

 and the care bestowed upon their growth was evident from 

 their fresh appearance. Class 5 consisted of any plants not 

 entered, and contained some very fine specimens of flowers ; 

 a magnificent flowering Geranium, exhibited by a person 

 named Wheeler, taking the first prize. Susan Hyde's name 

 (a cook, we were told, to a gentleman's family in Woburn 

 Square), figured here again very conspicuously, and, among 

 other things, was fine fresh Creeping Jenny, reared by a 

 nurse in St. Giles's Workhouse. 



At about six o'clock the Rev. E. Bayley addressed those 

 assembled. He said he was speaking on behalf of himself 

 and of the parishioners when he tendered thanks on their 

 behalf to the owners and inhabitants of the houses of 

 Russell Square for granting them permission to hold their 

 Exhibition there that day. With reference to the Flower 

 Show, it might speak for itself. At the first Show held in 

 Little Coram Street, they had only eighty-four plants ex- 

 hibited : at the third, which was held in Russell Square, 

 they had between five and six -hundred; and this year they 

 had nearly eight hundred. With reference to the important 

 subject of clean and tidy rooms, eighty-four persons last 

 year sent in their names as competitors for prizes ; but this 

 year, having extended their invitation over the whole of the 

 parish, upwards of three hundred had sent in their names 

 as competitors. It had, indeed, been a very laborious task 

 for them to visit the rooms, as they could imagine when 

 he told them that in six weeks Mr. Hill and himself had 

 paid six hundred visits each to the rooms whose owners had 

 entered into competition. He was happy to say, that in 

 this and for plants, in consequence of donations, they were 

 enabled to give extra prizes, so that sixty -six people would 

 receive rewards for clean and tidy rooms. With regard to 

 awarding the prizes, there had been so great an improve- 

 ment in that part of the parish where they first started the 

 movement, that they had considerable difficulty to deter min e 

 which rooms were the .most worthy of receiving rewards. 

 The only objection he had heard with regard to the move- 

 ment was, that they intruded upon the privacy of these 

 poor people, but he could assure his auditory that instead of 

 that being the fact, the general complaint was, that they did 

 not visit them often enough. 



The prizes were distributed by the Eap.l of Shaftes- 

 bury. For plants exhibited by adults they consisted of 

 sums varying from 10s. 6<L to 2s. 6d. ; and for those exhi- 

 bited by the children, of sums of 7s. 6cZ., 5s. 6ci., 2s. 6d., and 

 Is. The prizes for clean and tidy rooms consisted of sums 

 of £2, £1 10s., £1, and 10s., and we may mention that to 

 Mrs. O'Brien, a poor lame woman, was awarded the first 

 prize for clean and tidy rooms. 



After the prizes had been distributed, 



The Eael of Shaftesbury expressed the gratification 

 which the business and the display of the day had afforded 

 him. It was a most important movement, and it would 

 effect great objects. It would be the means of teaching 

 the working people how to look after their own affairs, how 

 to improve their tastes and their condition, aud raise them- 

 selves in the moral and social scale. It was, too, most 

 gratifying to see little children who did not reach to his 

 knee, coming up and receiving their prizes of 7s. 6d. and 5s., 

 instead of seeing them running about the streets and ac- 

 quiring evil habits and principles. He was particularly 

 pleased with that portion of the movement which related to 

 clean and tidy dwellings. He knew nothing that would 

 more-improve the condition of the working classes, and he 

 wished them all success in the good work they had so well 

 begun. 



The Rev. E. Bayley moved a vote of thanks to the noble 

 Earl for his kindness in coming there that afternoon to dis- 

 tribute the prizes, coupling with the same the name of Mr. 



