74 
[ July 26, 1883. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Duke of Teck ; and Messrs. Cranston third with Duke of Edinburgh. In the 
class for any twelve light Roses Messrs. Cranston were first with Baronne de 
Rothschild, Mr. Cant second with the same, and Mr. Prince third with 
Capitaine Christy. In the class for twelve blooms of any Tea or Noisette 
Mr. Prince was first with Perle des Jardins, Mr. C. Davies second with Marie 
Yan Houtte, and Mr. Cant third with Souvenir d’un Ami. The National 
Society’s silver medal for the best box in the amateurs’ class went to Mr. 
Whitwell, and in the nurserymen’s class to Messrs. Paul & Son. Had there 
been a medal for the best Rose in the Show it would unquestionably have 
been given to Mr. Whitwell for his grand bloom of Marie Baumann. 
In the nurserymen’s class the first prize in seventy-two was taken by 
Messrs. Cranston, the second by Messrs. Paul & Son, and the third by Mr. 
Cant, Colchester. In the class for twenty-four trebles Messrs. Paul & Son 
were first, Messrs. Cranston second, Mr. Cant third. In the class for thirty- 
six singles Mr. B. R. Cant was first with Mdlle. Eugdnie Yerdier, Beauty of 
Waltham, Duchesse de Morny, Xavier Olibo, General Jacqueminot, Marie 
Baumann, Mdlle. Marie Yerdier, Abel Carriere, Marguerite de St. Amand, 
Maurice Bernardin, Elie Morel,'Madame Charles Wood, Comtesse de Serenye, 
Prince Arthur, Baronne de Rothschild, Francois Michelon, Etienne Levet, 
Fisher Holmes, Horace Yernet, Mons. Alfred Dumesnil, Duke of Wellington, 
Capitaine Christy, Duke of Teck, John Hopper, Princess Beatrice, Niphetos, 
A. K. Williams, Alfred Colomb, Countess of Rosebery, Reynolds Hole, Marie 
Finger, Star of Waltham, Victor Yerdier, Charles Lefebvre, Madame Hip- 
polyte Jamain, and Duke of Edinburgh. In the class for eighteen trebles 
Mr. J. House of Peterborough was first with Baronne de Rothschild, Alfred 
Colomb, Marquise de Castellane, A. K. Williams, Helene Paul, Mons. E. Y. 
Teas, Marie Baumann, Victor Yerdier, Senateur Yaisse, Madame Eugenie 
Yerdier, Dr. Andry, Mdlle. Marie Yerdier, Elie Morel, Sir Garnet Wolseley, 
Etienne Levet, Dupuy Jamain, La France, J. S. Mill. In the class for 
twenty-six Teas and Noisettes, not less than eighteen varieties, Mr. G. Prince 
was first with a beautiful stand of Catherine Mermet, Alba Rosea, Marechal 
Niel, Innocente Pirola, Jean Ducher, Souvenir de Paul Neyron, Souvenir de 
Madame Pernet, Souvenir d’Elise Yardon, Perle des Jardins, Comtesse Riza 
du Parc, Madame Yan Houtte, Madame Hippolyte Jamain (Tea), Comtesse 
Nadaillac, Souvenir d’un Ami, Niphetos, Adam, Mdlle. M. Amand, Anna 
Ollivier, Madame Lambard, Amazon, Marie Guillot, and Mons. Furtado. In 
the class for thirty-six varieties Messrs. Hawkins & Son were first; Mr. May, 
Bedale, second ; and Mr. J. House, third. It will thus be seen that the main 
prizes amongst amateurs were won by northern growers, while the southern 
nurserymen carried off the chief prizes in their class ; indeed the northern 
and midland men were generally conspicuous by their absence. Messrs. 
Mack & Son did not put in an appearance, and neither did Mr. Frettingham 
or Mr. Merryweather, and I think one can only say, More’s the pity. It was 
believed that the time fixed would especially suit them, but I suppose it did 
not. Notwithstanding, a brilliant and highly successful Show was the 
result of all the care and thought bestowed on it by it3 promoters—I hope 
the first of a long series of successful exhibitions.—D., Deal. 
MELONS UNDER CUCUMBER TREATMENT. 
For several reasons I have been much interested in Mr. Stephen 
Castle’s narration of his failure to grow Cucumbers under the 
“ express ” system, and beg to thank him for manfully publishing his 
failure. With me a great failure is always a great lesson, and have 
no doubt Mr. Castle considers himself amply repaid for the loss 
sustained in the valuable experience gained. He commenced the 
experiment during a very trying season, the change from dull cold 
weather to sudden excessively hot and bright weather being too much 
for those plants and growers unprepared for it. How did the 
“ express ’’ system work, or how is it working at Prescott this season ? 
Perhaps Mr. Bardney will kindly oblige us with information on the 
subject, and we shall then be better prepared to form an opinion 
upon the soundness of the non-ventilation theory generally. 
I must also confess to a partial failure with Cucumbers and 
Melons, the crops at one time in each instance being at one time 
lighter than anticipated. Both are similarly treated with regard to 
soil, training, moisture, and ventilation ; in fact, since we have fully 
mastered the system which I have previously described as being long 
adopted at Longleat, I find that Melons are as easily grown as 
Cucumbers. By way of excuse for the partial failure I may state 
that, owing to alterations having to be made early in the year, the 
ordinary work has been thrown much later than usual, and among 
other things we were unable to give the Melons and Cucumbers the 
first shift they really required when the first crop had commenced to 
rapidly swell off. It may be remembered that the Melons are grown 
in raised pits formed with loose bricks, and in order to maintain the 
vigour of the plant one or more shifts as well as top-dressings are 
given to each. Some of ours did not get this shift when needed, and 
as a consequence of this and not having any manure to root into as 
used to be the case, and in spite of receiving two good waterings per 
day, the plants flagged twice, and the foliage was slightly burnt 
during the few hot days experienced late in May. This check de¬ 
formed many of the embryo Cucumbers and caused the Melons to 
be much smaller than would otherwise have been the case. If we 
had slightly shaded during the hottest part of the day the check 
would have been less apparent, but considering the root run, the 
plants were large, and the foliage quickly evaporated all the avail¬ 
able moisture, and burning naturally resulted. 
In another earlier house the plants had received the proper atten¬ 
tion in the shape of a shift and top-dressings, and here we had and 
still have famous crops. One plant of an excellent variety raised by 
Mr. Austin of Ashton Court ripened seven large fruits, has four more 
ripening, and six more now of the size of Lemons. Another plant of 
Carters’ Emerald has five large nearly ripe fruits averaging 5 lbs. 
each, two still larger later fruits, two others three parts grown, and a 
late crop reduced to six in number. By this it will be seen, if the 
plants are strongly grown, allowed to extend, and receive liberal 
treatment at the roots, Melons will set of themselves and swell off 
in a manner similar to Cucumbers ; and what is more to the point, 
seeing that the foliage and growth is always vigorous, the fruit when 
ripe must be of the best quality. Farmjard liquid manure in pre¬ 
ference to dressings with fertilisers is given twice a week, and in 
common with the Cucumbers the Melons are only lightly though 
frequently top-dressed with rough turfy loam. Into this they quickly 
root—in fact the surface of the heaps are frequently matted with 
fibres. With plants in this state and kept well supplied with mois¬ 
ture, burning, provided a small amount of air is given during tho 
brightest weather, is out of the question. But if either badly rooted, 
rooted deeply into cold rich manure, or allowed to get dust dry at 
the roots, then flagging and perhaps burning are certain to result. 
We have studied Mr. Taylor’s air-giving theory, and readily admit 
that not only in the case of Vines, but also with Melons, Cucumbers, 
and plants general^ 7 , that a little air given early is much safer and 
better than a larger quantity given when the atmosphere has nearly 
reached a scalding point. , 
Although we have on the whole every reason to be satisfied with 
the progress we have made with Melons this season, we are yet sur¬ 
passed by an amateur and his gardener living in Frome. This 
gentleman devotes the central pit of his plant stove to Melons, and 
with these on the trellis overhead Stephanotis trained across the glass 
end of the house, Bougainvillea glabra in two corners, Tomatoes on 
the roof on one side, and Cucumbers on the other, all growing in pots 
or boxes, the two former flowering splendidly, and the two latter 
fruiting abundantly, besides a number of Caladiums, Ferns, Coleuses,, 
and other plants, he has one of the prettiest and most profitable 
houses imaginable. The Melons, four in number, or one in each 
corner of the pit, are grown Cucumber fashion, and very fine they 
are. The variety is the Eastnor Castle, as grown by Mr. Taylor, and 
some of the fruits are now near the size of footballs. Our heaviest 
fruit of Eastnor Castle weighed 5 lbs. These, by comparison, will 
weigh at least 8 lbs., and, what is more, are certain to be of fine- 
quality, as nothing but loam is given to the roots. Here again the 
fruit are of different ages, and a good succession will be secured 
from these four plants. I wonder how many professional gardeners- 
will supply their employers with such a valuable lot of Melons as 
will be grown in this ordinary plant stove.—W. Iggulden. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GUM TREES. 
Rival vegetable giants, though in widely separated portions of the- 
globe, are the Wellingtonias of North America and the Eucalypti of 
Australia, for both tower far above their neighbours, reaching and even 
exceeding 400 feet in height, constituting a phase of vegetable growth 
of which those who are familiar only with the comparatively modest 
altitude attained by European trees can form little idea. Wellingtonias 
it is true are in some localities in England fast advancing, and may 
probably in future years reach a height or 100 feet or more, but we 
cannot expect to see Eucalypti in anything like their true proportions in 
this latitude, as unfortunately the hardiest yet tried out of doors occa¬ 
sionally succumb in severe winters. 
In favourable counties such as Devonshire and Cornwall Eucalypti 
have a chance of making more vigorous growth not so likely to be 
checked or injured by very low temperatures. This seems to be par¬ 
ticularly the case in the gardens at Powderham Castle, Kenton, Devon¬ 
shire, where there is an exceedingly fine specimen, probably the largest 
and most handsome in cultivation. It is 60 feet high, and has a trunk 
9 feet in circumference ; this fine specimen has lately flowered, and 
from sprays kindly forwarded by Mr. D. C. Powell, the gardener, the 
accompanying woodcut has been prepared. The chief beauty of 
the flowers resides in the stamens, which are very numerous, white 
and crowded densely, forming pretty little tufts ; the flowers, too, are 
associated in dense clusters, and have a pleasing effect. Like other 
species, the corolla is combined with the woody calyx, the upper 
portion of w'hich falls off, carrying the corolla with it, so that, as 
with the Mimosas and Acacias, the stamens are by far the most con¬ 
spicuous portion of the flower. In reference to this plant, Mr. R. A. 
Rolfe, Kew Herbarium, writes :—“ It is the true Eucalyptus coccifera, 
Hooh. /., from the mountains of Tasmania, where it grows at the 
summit at an elevation of 3-4000 feet. This specimen is probably 
from the identical tree from which the figure in the “ Botanical 
