November lb, 1SG1. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



391 



at a greater depth, as they work up nearer to the surface 

 every year by forming the young bulbs on the top of the 

 old ones. 



I should have planted a ring of Tulips or Hyacinths round 

 inside the Crocuses ; but these being- beyond my reach, I 

 have to niake the best of the materials at hand, and the 

 Crocuses on a sunny day in February present a picture 

 •which is not surpassed by Geraniums, &e., in the month of 

 August. 



The shrubs are not potted, but are removed in spring and 

 autumn without the slightest injury, except the Portugal 

 Laurels, which will not bear the constant removal, soon pre- 

 senting a sickly appearance. All the others do well. — T. 

 Jones, Manchester. 



[We think that it is as well to print this without much 

 comment. Edging beds with evergreens would also be a 

 good idea, using Box, Ivy, Holly, &c, a foot high.] 



THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW, 



Nov. 9th, 10th, and 11th. 



The opening-day was unfortunately chosen, being that on 

 which those of high degree meet to celebrate the anniver- 

 sary of the birth of England's hope and heir, and that, too, 

 on which portly aldermen, good citizens, and many guests 

 are wont to enjoy the splendid hospitalities of the Mansion 

 House and City halls. There could, then, be no reasonable 

 prospect of a large attendance of visitors, and a large atten- 

 dance there certainly was not, the number present in the 

 conservatory where the " show " was held never amounting 

 at an outside computation to three score at any one time. 



But what of the Show itself? There was but one exhibitor 

 of specimen plants — Mr. Adam Forsyth, of Stoke Newington ; 

 there were but two collections of cut blooms, one furnished 

 by the same exhibitor, the other by Messrs. Downie, Laird, 

 and Laing, and there was but one collection of new varieties 

 — that of Mr. Ingram, of the Royal Gardens. Frogmore. 

 The unfortunate choice of an opening-day could have little, 

 if anything, to do with the lack of competition, and thk can 

 only be accounted for by the inducement offered being cer- 

 tificates, bearing a money value, it is true, according to the 

 receipts, but which in the present case must have been 

 less valuable than American greenbacks. It is evident that 

 without a more solid inducement than these certificates ex- 

 hibitors will not come forward, and there will be no show ; 

 and, on the other hand, if there is nothing worthy of the 

 name of a show, the public will not come if they become 

 aware of that fact, or, what is more mischievous still, com- 

 ing they go away angry and disgusted at having put 

 themselves to much inconvenience, and wasted their time 

 and money to meet with a disappointment. Among Mr. 

 Forsyth's specimen plants which, however, had not gene- 

 rally arrived at their full perfection, there were good ex- 

 amples of Lord Ranelagh, orange red; RiSeman, ruby; 

 Prince Albert, crimson ; Bernard Palissy, a showy orange ; 

 Florence Mary, and some others. In Pompons we remarked 

 nice standards of Cedo Nulli and the Golden and Lilac 

 varieties of the same kind. 



Of cut blooms, as already stated, there were only two 

 exhibitions ; that of twenty-four, from Mr. Forsyth, con- 

 tained good blooms of Queen of England, Mrs. W. Holborn, 

 Alfred Salter, Novelty, and other leading kinds ; that of 

 twelve from Messrs. Downie & Co. contained some blooms 

 of remarkable size. Of the beautiful orange Jardin des 

 Plantes there were blooms upwards of 4 inches across, while 

 Lady St. Clair (white), was of even larger size. Of Alfred 

 Salter there was an immense bloom, as well as large ones of 

 Her Majesty, and Nil Desperandum.- 



Of Mr. Ingram's seedling Pompons Alice, a pretty free- 

 flowering yellow, received a second-class certificate ; and a 

 similar award was made to Princess Beatrice, brownish red, 

 the florets tipped and edged with yellow. 



The only other feature in the Show worthy of remark was 

 contributed by Mr. Veitch, of the Royal Exotic Nursery, 

 being Cattleya labiata with five splendid Bpikes of its beau- 

 tiful crimson lilac blooms, Lyeaste Skinneri with eight fine 

 spikes, and the interesting hybrid Cattleya Doniiniana alba, 



white, with the front of the lip purplish rose, and a delicate 

 yellow tinge in the base. 



It is due to Mr. Eyles to state that scanty as the mate- 

 rials were they were made to present the best possible ap- 

 pearance by the skill with which they were arranged. Chry- 

 santhemums, plants of the Society's own, were placed by 

 the sides of the main conservatory walk, whilst the baskets 

 along the front were filled with Chrysanthemums and Gera- 

 niums, edged with Selaginella denticulata. Centaurea can- 

 didissima was introduced with good effect in some of the 

 baskets. The eastern glazed entrance had likewise an in- 

 teresting appearance, especially the further end, where a 

 mixed bank of shrubs, Chrysanthemums, &c., served to shut 

 out the view of the door. 



This intended Exhibition, for Exhibition, except in a 

 sense disgraceful to the Society, it was not, is only one of 

 many — very many — evidences that the management is in 

 totally incompetent hands. We will only quote at present 

 one additional evidence. 



Sir Joseph Paxton, as chairman of the Show Committee — a 

 Committee appointed to inquire what alterations in the So- 

 ciety's Exhibitions are desirable — wrote an excellent letter, 

 lithographed for circulation among the Fellows, asking for 

 their opinions and information how they would co-operate 

 in sustaining weekly shows. Replies were requested to be 

 sent by the 15th of Qctober, yet some of the Fellows only 

 received a copy of the circular on the Sth of November, and 

 some have never received any at all ! 



Flokal Committee, November 8th. — But few specimens 

 for examination made their appearance this day. Had not 

 Messrs. Ivery, Dorking, most kindly sent a large and most 

 interesting collection of their multiformed British Ferns, 

 which received a special certificate, there would have been 

 a very small exhibition. Messrs. Ivery sent several new 

 forms or varieties of British Ferns, among them Polystichum 

 angulave grandiceps, P. angulare rotundatum, Athyrium 

 Filix-femina -Vernonia?, A. Filix-fcemina Victoria?, all of 

 which received first-class certificates. Athyrium Filix- 

 fosmina Barnesii, and A. Filix-foemina tortile, with Scolo- 

 pendrium vulgare marginato-papillosum — well may we ask 

 "what's in a name ? " — will be seen again before their merits 

 are decided upon. Messrs. Waterer & Godfrey sent Cu- 

 pressus Lawsoniana argentea, a very distinct glaucous-look- 

 ing plant — first-class certificate. 



Mr. Ingram, Frogmore Gardens, sent seedling Pompon 

 Chrysanthemums, neither new in colour nor distinct from 

 others in cultivation : — Princess Beatrice, a yellowish buff, 

 not unlike Aurora borealis, but smaller, a nice compact 

 flower — second-class certificate ; Alice, an early, very small- 

 flowering variety, deep yellow — second-class certificate; 

 Gipsy Girl, yellow and buff; Pretty Polly, orange yellow 

 petals, tipped with brown ; Princess Alexandra, a small 

 white ; Little Bob ; and Canary Bird, with bright lemon- 

 coloured flowers like Berrol. From Messrs. Lee, Ham- 

 mersmith, came a new species of Epidendrum (the nanie 

 was missing) with dull purplish flowers, deep purple lip 

 — first-class certificate ; Epiphyllum truncatum tricolor, 

 a very showy plant with bright scarlet flowers shaded 

 with purple, and the backs of the petals having a bronzy 

 tint— -this is a great acquisition among the autumnal de- 

 corative plants — first-class certificate. From the same firm 

 came also Epiphyllum truncatum Salmonium marginatum 

 with crimson and white flowers. 



Messrs. Downie, Laird, & Laing, sent twelve cut blooms 

 of Chrysanthemum Queen of England, Jardin des Plantes, 

 Lady St. Clair, and Striped Queen of England, three fine 

 specimens of each — a special certificate was awarded them. 



STORE NEWINGTON CHRYSANTHEMUM 



SHOW. 

 The annual Exhibition of this Society took place on 

 Thursday and Friday last, and was as great a success as 

 the South Kensington one was a failure. Comparisons are 

 said to be invidious, but no one who was at the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society's Show (we use the term for convenience) 

 could help comparing what that Society, with all its high 

 patronage, numerous supporters, and ancient prestige, than 



