134 THE PHILADELPHIA FLORIST. [Sept'r. 



(^good rich soil a few inches apart, and in two years you have the era-^, 

 c) 3 bryo of a beautiful hedge. A splendid pattern may be seen under the V 

 indefatigable Mr. Graham, at Blockley, near Philadelphia. 



.Regent's Park, London, June 30, 1852.- 

 Dear Sir: To give you or your readers a detailed account of a 

 London Flower Show, would go rather beyond my intention, if how- 

 ever, I serve you the cream, you will excuse the sediment. The bed- 

 ding out system as it is called, is practised to some extent in the 

 gardens, tout more of that anon ; 1 cannot pass over, however, a bed of 

 Giant of the Battle's (Scarlet) Rose, edged with Nemophilla insignis 

 (blue) both in full splendour, the charm was irresistible, but to the 

 flower tents covering nearly two acres, including the Rhododendron 

 Show. The first entered by me was the Fruit department. One 

 dish only of Muscat Alexandria and another of Black Hamburgh, 

 were finer than our Philadelphia Shows of the same, these were per- 

 fect in the extreme, very large and plump, the latter perfectly and the 

 former barely ripe, the Hamburgs was as large as Orleans plums, and 

 the muscat nearly as large as Bolmars; the other grapes were mediocre 

 and several lots much tossed, and one entirely destitute of bloom. 

 The Pine Apples were abundant and weighed from four to eight 

 pounds each. Nectarines the same sorts that we generally show and 

 did not exceed samples that we have seen from Mr. Longstreth or 

 Mr. Cope ; Peaches inferior to bushels we yearly exhibit, and only a 

 few dozen exhibited, consisting of Noblesse, Royal Georges and some 

 others ; Strawberries, the fine sorts were La Leguiose, British 

 Queen and Myatts Elenor, others inferior, the B. Queen has one de- 

 cided fault, that it does not uniformly ripen well to the point, we do 

 not think it more than second-rate in flavour in its greatest perfection ; 

 Cherries, such cherries we cannot produce, especially that basket of 

 Elton's, brilliant as refined wax — Early Black, shining like polished 

 ebony, they had evidently been all carefully wiped and laid with 

 their stems inward in the softest silk paper ; you could not pass them 

 without a smile. 



Calceolarias, all of the herbaceous sorts and beautiful, the plants 

 were about six feet in circumference, having every flower and shoot 

 tied into its position to give a rotund form to the plants disagreeably 

 artistic, with a forest of sticks to each plant, one of which had seventy- 

 three, my taste would have disqualified such shameful objects, I did not 

 note any of their names, being forced on by the crowd, who rushed 

 forward to the adjoining stands of fancy Geraniums, they eclipsed all 

 my ideas of their beauty, plants naturally of a dense bushy habit, re- 

 quiring very little timber for support, and exhibiting a mass of flower 

 equal to all the butterflies of the American Continent, if placed in the 



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