April 28,1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 329 
growing Achimenes from cuttings now ; and as the first found 
acceptance so I assume will the last; and no doubt if the same 
matter had been sent by a young man of twenty who could scarcely 
curl his moustache, it would have been as readily printed as it 
will be from one who can remember when Buonaparte’s name 
(“old Boney ”) was a terror to schoolboys, and one who has grown 
grey in the work of his life—gardening.— An Old Hand. 
MR. WHITTAKER’S CUCUMBER HOUSE. 
One of your correspondents desires information as to the motive 
Mr. Whittaker had in building his new house such a great length 
(197 yards) in preference to several smaller ones. Mr. Whittaker, 
while declining to enter into any controversy on the subject, 
informs me that he finds it much easier and cheaper to work in 
proportion than his smaller houses, although they probably are 
from 100 to 150 feet in length. I believe in the first instance it 
was built in its present form to utilise an existing wall arid build¬ 
ing materials in an economical manner. A tramway extends the 
whole length, on which ruus an iron tank containing about a ton 
of water, which can be easily moved along, so that the watering 
or damping can be done very expeditiously, and the tank can be 
quickly filled at any of the eight wells in the house. It also pro¬ 
vides an easy conveyance for soil, and the Cucumbers are when 
cut also easily removed. It is most peculiar to look down that 
great length, the trellises being covered to within 18 inches of the 
ridge with luxuriant growth, towards the bottom abundance of 
fine fruit ready for cutting, higher up the countless blossoms 
almost appear when looking down a sheet of yellow. 
I daresay there are several points to which many cultivators 
would take exception ; for instance, the entire absence of ven¬ 
tilators, also no vapour troughs are employed in any of the 
houses, and no laps in glazing ; but the squares fit very true, and 
with the condensed moisture which will lodge between the edges 
of the glass the houses must be nearly airtight. I believe Mr. 
Whittaker ignores shading even in the "brightest weather. These 
are points that may cause some speculation, but “nothing suc¬ 
ceeds like success,” and that Mr. Whittaker is a most successful 
Cucumber grower nobody can deny. Besides Cucumbers immense 
quantities of Mint and Rhubarb are well grown, with many 
thousands of plants in pots. I may add that the great house and 
most of the others are span-roofed, and most efficiently heated 
with Mee’s saddle boilers with hollow bars, waterway back, and 
front plate. Two 6-feet boilers are employed for the large house. 
—J. J., Lancashire. 
ROSE SHOW FIXTURES. 
As far as I have been able to ascertain, the following are the 
fixtures for Rose shows for the present season. There are others, 
such as Hereford and Oxford, of which I have not heard as yet. 
June 28tli.Royal Horticultural Society. 
June 29th.Farningham. 
June 30th.Canterbury. 
June 80th.Farnham. 
July 2nd.National Rose Society, Crystal Palace. 
July 4th.Maidstone. 
July 8th.Reigate. 
July 6th.Cardiff. 
July 7th.Horsham. 
July 7th.Norwich. 
July 8th and 9th.Alexandra Palace. 
July 9th.Brockham. 
July 14th.National Rose Society, Sheffield. 
July 15th.Galloway. 
July 16th.Wirral. 
July 17 th.Leek. 
July 22nd.Sutton Coldfield, 
July 29th.Helensburgh. 
There is one of these fixtures to which I would wish to draw 
especial attention—that at the Alexandra Palace, which it will be 
seen is a two-days Show, and concerning which I received a letter 
from one of our oldest Rose-exhibitors pointing out the expense 
and inconvenience that it was, and asking me to endeavour to 
effect an alteration. I wrote to my friend Mr. Forsyth Johnson, 
the able Director of the flower shows, but I am sorry to say without 
effect. It therefore stands as the only case of a Rose Show pur 
ct simple where the abomination of a second day’s exhibition of 
draggled and forlorn Roses is to be seen ; and I would draw the 
attention of such Rose-exhibitors as are members of the National 
Rose Society to the fact that when the Society was started one of 
its objects was expressly stated that it was to discountenance by 
every means in its power two-days Rose shows, as these were 
beginning to be the rule. We as a Society have all through 
steadily maintained our rule. We have had to fight a very hard 
fight in our provincial shows to maintain this principle, and surely 
the members of the Society will feel bound in honour to resist the 
temptation to depart from what they have elsewhere maintained. 
If they give way to the temptation here it will be offering a 
bribe to other places to do the same, and we shall then be getting 
back to that from which we have delivered ourselves. I have 
suggested to the friend who wrote to me that a round robin should 
be signed by those who intend to be exhibitors that they will 
not exhibit if the two-days show i3 persisted in. If there are no 
exhibitors there can be no show, and the proprietors and managers 
are too shrewd to hold out if the expressed determination of the 
principal Rose-growers is made known to them. It will be neces¬ 
sary if this is done that there should be a very general concur¬ 
rence, for if the thing be not well done it will be fruitless ; but 
“a strong pull, a long pull, and a pull all together,” and the 
attempt will be effectually quashed.—D., Deal. 
HYACINTHS AND TULIPS IN HYDE PARK. 
The masses of Hyacinths, Tulips, &c., which extend from the 
Grosvenor Gate and the Marble Arch in Hyde Park, and which 
annually afford a beautiful display, are now at their best. A 
charming effect is produced by the large beds of red, white, and 
blue Hyacinths which are here so prettily grouped ; and though 
the cold winds of the last few days have in some cases impaired their 
appearance, in no other public enclosure in the neighbourhood of 
London are these flowers cultivated with greater success than in 
this Park, and they cannot but give the utmost satisfaction to the 
public. Each of the beds contains only one variety, and the 
bulbs are planted about 9 inches apart. Among the varieties 
represented are, Red —Norma, Amy, and Robert Steiger. Of 
these the latter, of which there are several splendid beds, is far 
the most effective. Nothing could be more glowing and beautiful 
than are the beds of this well-known variety ; it is a very bright 
crimson, and its dwarf sturdy growth and close compact spikes 
of bloom compare favourably with the thin and loose appear¬ 
ance presented by Norma. Dive —Charles Dickens, a fine variety, 
of which there are several good beds; Regulus, a dwarf pale blue, 
very largely grown there, and an excellent bedder ; Blondin, a 
well-known variety, but not so attractive as Regulus, from which 
it differs in being less compact; Oronaates, a compact Hyacinth of 
good colour and a very useful bedder. Uncle Tom and William I. 
are also represented, but compared with their lighter-coloured 
rivals they present a very poor appearance. White —Grand Vain- 
queur, large, pure white ; one of the best varieties grown. It is 
represented in two or three beds, and presents some of the most 
effective massing in the entire group. Sturdy and compact, it 
contrasts finely with the glowing crimson of Robert Steiger and 
the bright blue of Charles Dickens. Mirandolina is also a pure 
white of excellent effect, and little inferior to Grand Yainqueur. 
Grandeur a Merveille, blush white, is very large ; a well-known and 
useful variety, but scarcely so imposing as the two former. La 
Candeur is also grown, but is much inferior to the other whites, 
being rather small and thin. There are also one or twm large beds 
of Sir E. Landseer, a very dwarf and effective Hyacinth of some¬ 
what singular colour, being a deep coppery lilac. A good dark 
blue is wanting, and Baron Van Tuyll is suggested as an ex¬ 
cellent bedder. 
Among the Tulips are included beds of such well-known beau¬ 
tiful varieties as Rose Grisdelin, rose and white, a very pretty 
flower ; Yellow Prince, a fine dwarf, rich yellow, of good effect; 
White Pottebakker and Comte de Mirabeau, whites—both good 
and attractive varieties, the former being exceptionally fine ; 
Joost Van Vondel, crimson, a dwarf and pretty flower ; Brutus, 
dwarf crimson ; Keysers Kroon, a well-known large and showy 
Tulip ; Duchess of Austria; and doubles Tournesol and Gloria 
Solis. All the above are good bedding varieties, and planted 
6 inches apart in large beds they have an exceedingly fine appear¬ 
ance. The bulbs employed there, also those in the Regent’s, 
Victoria, and Battersea Parks, were. I am informed, supplied by 
Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, whose collections of Hyacinths 
exhibited at the spring shows of the Royal Horticultural and 
Royal Botanic Societies recently attracted such great attention.—P. 
Marechal Niel Rose. —For some weeks I have been much 
interested with the letters that appeared in the Journal on the 
Marshal Niel Rose on its own roots versus on Manetti or Briar 
stocks. Perhaps I may add my experience. In the autumn of 
1878 I purchased a Marshal Niel on its own roots from a 
cutting struck the same summer. It was planted in the centre of 
the greenhouse ; it grew vigorously ; and in the following spring 
had a good supply of flowers. During the summer the plant ex¬ 
tended so much that I found it would prevent my attending 
properly to my Vines, so I replanted it against the back wall of 
the greenhouse, using for a compost good loam with a fair sprink- 
