July 21, 1881. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
premier award for the best bloom. In the class for three Hybrid 
Perpetuals Mr. Joseph Armstrong, jun., was first, staging a fine- 
coloured bloom of G6n6ral Jacqueminot, which was selects d and 
awarded the premier award for the best dark bloom. Mr. Inman 
being second in this class. In the remaining classes the principal 
prizetakers were Messrs. H. Mercer, W. Aspinall, and Roger Williams ; 
the first and last exhibitor also taking the prizes as named for the 
bouquet of Roses. 
Miscellaneous Exhibits.—A collection of Roses was sent by the 
Mayor of Birkenhead, and seven boxes of triplets from Messrs. 
Cranston & Co., Hereford. Mr. Samuel Johnson, South Grove Nur¬ 
series, Oxton, staged an interesting group of miscellaneous plants, in¬ 
cluding Orchids, Crotons, Ferns, Palms, Zonal and choice Regal 
Pelargoniums, the whole being effectively arranged. 
The Exhibition w r as well arranged, and the details aptly carried 
out under the direction of Mr. Smith and W. E. Hall, the Hon, Secs. 
MR. SMEE’S GARDEN—PARISIAN CIIAIN BLINDS. 
Visiting Wallington near Croydon recently (a name well known 
to newspaper readers) I had the pleasure of inspecting Mr. Smee’s 
picturesque garden at The Grange. There is no trimness, prim¬ 
ness, nor laboured daintiness there, but all is free, natural, and 
almost beautifully wild. There are deeply shaded dells of Ferns, 
where the Osmunda luxuriates and the Struthiopteris rises like 
elegant Palms. There are sheltered nooks where the charming 
Filmy Ferns refresh by their verdant and elegant fronds. There 
are Roses that ramble to the tops of the trees, forming floral 
festoons, and affording grateful shade for Sarracenias planted at 
the base of rocks. There are aquatics growing in tropical luxu¬ 
riance, and rockeries run wild, the plants being obedient to no 
law but the “survival of the fittest.” There are twisting densely 
canopied walks, mounds, streams, bridges, and rushing waters 
everywhere. There is there, if anywhere, the “ cool grot and 
mossy dell,” w 7 here the romantic may imagine with Lord Mor- 
nington that “rural fays and fairies dwell.” It is a charming 
retreat on a sultry day. It is the “ My Garden ” of the late Mr. 
Smee, and there is no wonder that he enjoyed it. The garden 
remains the same now as then, the trout stream still meanders 
through the ground, and the thatched shanty still exists. 
But there is a great addition—a fine and well-appointed new 
mansion in admirable keeping, architecturally, with the character 
of the grounds ; near this mansion is an enjoyable conservatory, 
rig. 13.— PARISIAN CHAIN BLINDS. 
and on the conservatory are the blinds under notice. This structure 
is, however, as much a fernery as conservatory, Tree Ferns and 
Palms predominating, with just a few flowers to impart a ray of 
brightness here and there. The plants in this house are in ex¬ 
cellent health, and the shade is both grateful to them and to their 
admirers. The Parisian blinds are much liked by Mr. Smee, and 
for such bouses as this in such sultry weather nothing can surpass 
them for the purpose for which they are employed. They are 
made in Paris and used extensively on the continent, Messrs. 
Richardson & Son of Darlington being the agents for them in this 
country. As is stated in the prospectus referring to them, “ These 
blinds are made of thin wood laths, with narrow spaces between, 
and connected by galvanised iron chains, as shown above ; they 
are painted green, and intended to be fixed on the outside of 
conservatories or hothouses. A single cord running over a pulley 
rolls up each blind from the bottom. They are usually left fixed 
through the entire year, and afford protection from frost in winter 
as well as shade from the sun in summer. They are particularly 
neat in appearance, and are more durable than blinds of any 
other kind—in fact they are almost imperishable. They are 
supplied direct from the manufactory in Paris in about three 
weeks after date of order, and are made to any size, but the 
width should not be more than about 5 feet.” There^appears to 
be no exaggeration there judging by those in use at lbe Grange, 
for they answer their purpose well, and would be welcome addi¬ 
tions to glass structures where shade is needed in gardens gene¬ 
rally during “a double-cometed July,” such as thousands are 
panting under at the present time. Such a garden as Mr. Smee’s 
and such a shade as these blinds afford are peculiarly grateful, 
refreshing, and beneficial to those who have the piivilege of 
enjoying those cool and “green retreats during the present 
exhausting and tropical weather.—J. VV. 
MR. SHIRLEY HIBBERD’S LECTURE ON THE 
CARNATION. 
On the occasion of the National Carnation and Picotee Society’s 
Exhibition in the conservatory of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
