December 15.1881] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 539 
placing in small vases in rooms they are most convenient. Many 
Primulas, especially during such damp weather as we aie having, 
are very liable to decay at the base of the stem, but in small pots 
they rarely show any indication of this, as the pots are crowded 
with roots, and the plants do not suffer from being over-watered, 
as plants in large pots with few roots often do. The small plants 
were the first to come into flower, and they will, I think, be the 
last to go out, and altogether we are so much pleased with them 
that I cannot help asking that the plan be generally tried next 
year.—M. 
EXTENSION VERSUS RESTRICTION OF TREES 
AND VINES. 
I AH pleased to see this question discussed by your various 
correspondents who write ou “ Theories on Vine Culture,” also 
by “John Bull,” who caricatures restriction and its incon¬ 
sistencies, and places the matter in a nutshell when he shows 
that Pear trees which have the strong shoots cut back to 9 inches 
or a foot have to be root-pruned also to keep them from doing the 
very thing that the cutting back is sure to cause— i.e., making a 
mass of useless wood, and that neither practice is often necessary 
under proper culture. With regard to Vines, it is for recognised 
advocates of the cutting down of good young rods to the bottom 
to come to the rescue of their disciples. I will put it thus, and 
be glad of an answer. Supposing we have a good young Vine 
cane one year old stopped at the top of the rafters, and the 
laterals restrained within reasonable bounds so as to produce 
fairly good buds and a well-ripened cane, what reason exists for 
cutting the same down to within a foot of the ground ? Is such 
a practice necessary on the score of either lengthening or strength¬ 
ening the Vine the seasons immediately following, and if so, why? 
—Extension Trainer. 
AN AMATEUR’S HOLIDAY. 
To one imbued with a real love for flowers, the advice so often 
offered in the columns of the Journal to go and see gardens where 
the favourites are tended by skilful and loving hands would seem 
to be wholly unnecessary. Flower shows afford p'easure and evoke 
wonder, or they may, as they ought, incite to praiseworthy effort 
and laudable emulation. But, although valuable hints in many 
departments can there be gleaned by an intelligent observer, such 
displays can in very limited measure teach us how to effect similar 
results. For that purpo-e we mu t visit the gardens whence come 
these products of cultural skill. I will now offer to your readeis a 
few jottings of a ramble such as I have annually indulged in for 
some years, when release from professional duties affords oppor¬ 
tunity of seeing old friends and forming new acquaintance. 
Circumstances prevented me visiting the great Show at Man¬ 
chester, and thus I missed what would have been to me not the 
least of its attractions, Mr. Kelway’s display of Gladioli. Our 
Edinburgh and Glasgow Shows followed. May I offer a few re¬ 
marks on these? In the former was much that was notable; but 
there were three exhibits not to be soon forgotten. First, the Rose* 
from Messrs. Cocker, Aberdeen; second, the two lovely baskets of 
Primula capitata exhibited by Messrs. Dickson & Co., Edinburgh; 
and third, specimens of a pretty plant from the Edinburgh Botanic 
Gardens, a recent importation from India, where it was found at an 
elevation of 4000 feet. This was a little Golden Primula, P. flori- 
bunda. Among all its more imposing surroundings that little 
beauty fixed my attention. The Glasgow Show eclipsed that at 
Edinburgh in the extent and quality of florists’ flow-rs. While in 
the latter there was not, as far as I recollect, a bingle Pansy, magni¬ 
ficent specimens both of the Show and of the Fancy varieties were 
present at the former in hundreds, and alone were worth going far 
to see. Dahlias, Asters, and Marigolds were better at Glasgow; 
the French varieties of the last were numerous and really splendid. 
There, too, Gladioli were superior. But in neither exhibition were 
these at all equal to what we have seen in favourable seasons. I 
believe the fact that many more amateur florists are to be found 
in the west accounts in great measure for the very marked supe¬ 
riority of the Glasgow Show as regards the excellence and abun¬ 
dance of florists’ flowers. 
Next morning I started for Belfast, the attractions of which have 
more than once drawn me to the Emerald Isle. Accounts of visits to 
several notable manufacturing and other interesting establishments, 
or of a run to the Giant’s Causowa)', would not be appropriate to 
ycur pages. No one could fail to admire the wooded beauty of the 
country at many points on the route to the la-t. Belmont Nursery 
claimed early attention, where I spent an hour with Mr. Hugh 
Dickson, whose Roses have so often delighted visitors to Scottish 
shows. Heavy demands immediately previous to my call had 
rendered first-rate blooms scarcer than I had seen them on former 
vis ts, but excellent plants woie there in many thousands, great 
numbers of which will, as usual, find their way to the gardens of 
Scotland. A collection of Gladioli, extensive and varied rather 
than select, well-filled houses of table and other plants, and a 
capital display of Dahlias, were among the numerous features of 
these extensive and attractive grounds. 
Next day a short run to Newtonards took me to the establishment 
and to the genial welcome of another hero of a hundred Hose fights, 
Mr. George Dickson, now head of the firm of Alexander Dickson 
and Son. High expectations founded on previous experience were 
here fully realised, and a walk through the beautiful nurseries dis¬ 
closed material in ample abundance for meeting the extensive 
demands. A large house filled with Tea Roses in pots in splendid 
health is worthy of mention, and intended efforts in raising new 
varieties of this class will doubtless, in such hands, be heard of 
by-and-by. 
Calling at the Belfast Botanic Gardens, I formed the acquaintance 
of the Curator, Mr. McKiram. The Bougainvillea glabra, already 
noticed by a correspondent, was very fine. The wiro trellis, 30 feet 
by 20 feet, which this fills, is, when the plant is not in flower, 
drawn up near the glass, and the stage below used for other 
purposes. Mr. McKimm stated that, however splendid the dis¬ 
play was when I saw it, the want of sunshine during the season 
had rendered the bloom much less profuse this year than usual. 
'J he Gardens are well worth seeing, and would under other circum¬ 
stances be much more so. But I confess that to find them more of 
a people’s recreation grounds than strictly Botanic Gardens rather 
surprised me. Ground for lawn tennis, and a large dancing hall 
in course of erection, seemed to me incongruous with the purposes 
of such institutions, and an unfavourable comparison with our well- 
appointed Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh was inevitable. No skill, 
backed by whatever enthusiasm, can compensate for the absence of 
essential facilities ; and to have beds trodden down, plants uprooted, 
and tallies converted into boats in the adjoining ponds by troops of 
thoughtless or mischievous children, are conditions unfavourable 
to the proper maintenance, and adverse to the object of botanic 
gardens, as that term is usually understood. 
Duty called me but too soon away from the kindly folks of Ulster. 
Returning by steamer to Stranraer, I there visited one whom I 
already knew. The Roses of Mr. Thomas Smith are no strangers to 
Scottish florists. Here I saw a good many of the new varieties, 
English and foreign, in flower, and an abundant supply of ex¬ 
cellent material awaiting the season for dispersion. These nurseries, 
as well as those of Belfast and Newtonards, are well stocked with 
all the requisites for a large and flourishing business in all depart¬ 
ments.— A Northern Amateur. 
(To be continued.) 
ALEXANDRA PALACE CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW. 
December 9th to 13th. 
Early-flowerinh varieties of Chrysanthemums are now by no 
means scarce, and the chief efforts to prolong the season of these 
easily grown and attractive plants must be directed towards ob¬ 
taining varieties flowering after the majority have passed their best. 
It v\as with the object of showing what can be done towards this 
end that an exhibition was arranged to take place at the Alexandra 
Palace at such a late period ; and though the display produced was 
not extensive, and neither plants nor blooms were of remarkable 
excellence, yet most of the exhibits were better than many expected. 
With scarcity of materials it is not easy to make an elaborate display, 
but with the addition of some Tree Ferns and other specimens a 
pretty arrangement was produced under the superintendence of 
Mr. J. Forsyth Johnson. 
Of the seven classes provided for specimen plants only three were 
represented, and in these the competition was very limited. For eight 
Pompons Mr. Butcher, gardener to R. A. Glover, Esq., The Priory, 
Barnet, was placed in the leading position with dwarf fairly well- 
flowered compact specimens, Fanny, Marie Stuart, and La Vogue 
being the most noteworthy varieties. The same exhibitor had the 
only collection of six Pompons, not in quite such good condition as 
the others, but with numerous blooms. Antonius, Andromeda, St. 
Michael, and La Vogue were fair. Mr. J. P. Kendall, Roehampton, 
Surrey, had the only three standards, gaining the first prize with 
Diek Turpin and Julia Lagravere. 
Cut blooms were more largely shown, and in all the leading stands 
they were neat in form, though small. The best twenty-four large- 
flowering varieties were staged by Mr. J. Hill, gardener to A. Savory, 
Esq., Potter’s Park. These included fair examples of Dr. Masters, 
Princess Teck, Lady Slade, Hero of Stoke Newington, Christine, and 
Baronne de Prailly. Mr. Kendall followed with less regular flowers, 
but Striatum was well shown. Mr. Butcher took the leading position 
with eighteen blooms, John Salter, Mr. Gladstone, Lady Slade, Venus, 
and Jardin des Plantes being especially noteworthy for their substance. 
Mr. W.E. Clark, gardener to A. Nagle, Esq., Bijou Cottage, Kingston, 
