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I supplement] 



THE GARDENERS 



MAGAZINE 



May 18, 1912. 



Cattleya Mossift, vandas, oncidiums, and 

 Dendrobium nobile were represented by mag- 

 some of Mr, Warners 



Forty-six 



nificent examples, 

 cattleyas carrying 40 flowers, 

 years ago the new plants exhibited were 

 chiefly tropical exotics ; this year we anti- 

 cipate they will be chiefly hardy exoticvs, 

 florists' flowers, and hybrid orchids. Horti- 



another item of importance. The design of 

 the exhibition is by Mr Edward White, and 

 Mr. S. T. Wright, of the R.H.S. Gardens, 

 Wisley, is acting as show superintendent 

 and doubtless his urbanity and wide know- 

 ledge of exhibitors will materially help to 

 make matters move smoothly during the 

 bustle and excitement of this week and the 



from whence it descends again in falls and 

 cascades. 



Turning back again to the year 1866, or 

 finds it of great interest to notice how. 

 alas! not a few nurserymen then promi-| 

 nent have passed away, and in some ir- 

 stances the very name i& now runrepi^ 

 eented in the trade, but it is also pleasau 

 to find that then, as now, such firms as 

 Messrs. Jas. Veitch and Sons, Chelsea ; Wni 

 Paul and Son, Waltham Cross; C. Twvnt 

 Slough; William Bull, Chelsea; Backhoib 

 and Son, York; Jackman and 



Saltmarsh and Son. 



king; 

 Fisher 



Son, Wo- 1 



was also on the governing 



BIG EXHIBITION TENT AT CHELSEA, 

 As seen from the leads of the Royal Hospital. 



cultural implements and sundries will show 

 a revohition in number, variety, and de- 



compa 

 g macf 



and manures, enormovis advances have been 

 made during recent years. 



A Botanical Congress, presided over by 

 Mons. de Candolle, was held in connection 

 WMth the exhibition of 1866, and the pages 

 of the Gardeners' Magazine of that year 

 show that it was a very successful affair. 



Education 



early days of next week. Messrs. Piggott 

 Brothers and Ck>., Bishopsgate, London, 

 have the erection of all the show buildings 

 spraying machinery, fumigating materials, in hand, and their work has been very 



heavy considering the time allowed. In 

 some of the larger rock and water gard 

 designs electric motors have been cunningly 

 installed for the purpose of pumping up 

 water from the lower pools to an elevation 



Chelmsford: 



Holmes, and Co,, Sheffield (nf^ 

 Fisher, Son, and Sibray) ; Jas. Carter an 

 Co., High Holborn ; Paul and Son. Che«-| 

 hunt ; Barr and Sugden, Covent GardHil 

 (now Barr and Sons); Wm. Cutbush and 

 Son, Highgate ; Lane and Son. Berkhamp- 

 stead ; H .Cannell, Woolwich (now H. Can- 

 nelland Sons, Swanley), were exhibitors. Mr. 

 Harry J. Veitch is the only director who 



body in 1866; 



Mr. William Marshall is probably the only 

 amateur living who was a foremost competi- 

 tor in 1866; and Mr. Henry Cannell is the 

 only one remaining who was the head of an 

 exhibiting firm in that year. 



So much for tilie plan and scope of the 

 great exhibition, with a few comparisons 

 added. But there is at least one other 

 matter requiring notice, and it is that the 

 financial success of 1866 was due to an ex- 

 tension of the period, during which it was 

 originally intended the exhibition sfhouU 

 remain open, and to the fact that the i>opu- 

 lar shilling admission was charged during 

 the extension. The resulting profit enabled 

 the authorities to hand over £1,000 to the 

 Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution^ 

 and purchase the Lindley Library that is 

 now housed at the Royal Horticultural 

 Hall. If the great show of 1912 is to be a 

 financial success there must be a very large 

 attendance. Every garden-lover in m 

 kingdom with a sense of his or her indebted- 

 ness to horticulture must come to Chelsea, 

 and every gardener, whether engaged in 

 private, public, or commercial practice 

 should attend, even at the sacrifice of some 

 time and money. Financial failure would 

 be an everlasting disgrace to British horti- 

 culture. 



This year there is a Sc 

 Section, presided over by the Right Hon. 

 A. H. Dyke-Acland, and with Mr. F. J. 

 Chittenden as secretary. The programme 

 is limited to the consideration of two very 

 important subject: ''Legislation at Home 

 and Abroad for the Prevention and Sup- 

 pression of Plant Pests" and ''Horticul- 

 tural Education." There will be social 

 functions, as is only right and proper on 

 these occasions, as they provide opportuni- 

 ties for showing hospitality to the stranger 

 within our gates, but they seem scarcely 

 numerous or extensive enough for such an 

 important event. 



How many judges there were in 1866 we 



r before were 



do not know, but surely ncv 

 nearly 400 eminent horticulturists brought 

 together from almost all the ends of the 

 earth to adjudicate upon an exhibition ! 

 We understand these will be divide<l up into 

 75 groups, and they have to be in atten- 

 dance at 7.30 a.m. prompt on Wednesday 

 next. Good fortune attend them. 



A 300 h.p. engine has been installed to 

 provide the electricity which, by nieans of 

 arc-lamps, wi 



tents and ground each night. A minor part 

 of the preparatory work ha<> been the instal- 

 lation of a oomplete drainage system for 

 the show, while the provision of water and 

 necessary hydrants tliroughout has been 



VIEW OF INTERIOR OF THE UIG TENT. 



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