December 4, 18S4. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
511 
good plant of Barbara. For a single specimen ilr. W. G-rahani was first 
with a splendid plant of Chinaman, and Mr. FothergiU second with a fresh 
Jardin des Plantes. 
Cut blooms were well represented, some wonderful large specimens being 
staged. The first-prize twelve came from Mr. Baylis, Winterburn, Bristol; 
Mr. Davies was second, and Mr. Stallybass, Cardiff, third. In the smaller 
class of six blooms the Bristol blooms were behind, Mr. Davies taking the 
first prize and Mr. T. Colborne second. 
In the class open to amateurs who do not employ a regular gardener, 
Mr. Bickford, Newport, who is an active member of the Committee, was first 
with a very creditable group, as were also the second-prize collection from 
Mr. J. R. Stone. A splendidly grown collection was sent in, not for com¬ 
petition, by Mr. Wattie, gardener to T. Cardes, Esq., Bryn Glas. Some of 
these were pyramids, others standards, low-trained and spreading, and all 
of them were remarkably good in foliage, bloom, and general condition. 
The Mayo*" of Newport also sent a good collection, and Mr. Dick of the 
Clarence Nurseries had a fine exhibit. Stove and greenhouse plants were 
very attractive, the best coming from Mrs. Cartwright and Mr. E. Watson. 
Poinsettias were bright and attractive from the same exhibitors, and the 
Primulas were large bushy plants with good blooms. 
The prizes offered for the best arranged vase of flowers brought out some 
charming arrangements, the first prize going to Mr. Ellis, Cardiff, and the 
second to Mr. W. Jones, Maindee.. In the class for gentlemen’s buttonhole 
flowers the competition was keen, Mr. Ellis being first and Mr. H. Jones 
second, the latter having a very fine bud of Niphetos Rose in each of them, 
rather large, but good. In the hand bouquet class Mr. Ellis was first and 
Mr. H. J ones second, and there were several good ones which were not 
included in the prize list. 
Fruit was good, Mr. Hawkins, gardener to Col. Turberville, Ewenny 
Abbey, Bridgend, being the most successful competitor, as he secured first 
for collection of fruit, first for white and black G-rapes, and first for Apples 
and Pears with excellent produce. In most of these classes Mr. T. B. 
Watson followed closely. Amongst the vegetables from both gardeners 
and cottagers we were pleased to observe many fine exhibits, Mr. FothergiU 
being first in the large collection with fine Parsnips, Tomatoes, Cauliflowers, 
Potatoes, Onions, and Turnips. The cottagers’ prizes offered by E. H. 
Carbutt, Esq., M.P. for Newport, for fruit and vegetables were awarded to 
Mr. Wanson, Risca, and Mr. W. B. Nicholl. 
THE PABKS AND GARDENS OF LONDON AND PARTS 
The Parc Monqsau and the gardens of the Buttes Chaumont are 
situated at the two extremes of the city of Paris, the former in the aristo¬ 
cratic quarter of the Champs Elysees close to the beautiful Russian church, 
and the other far away in the quarter where the working classes dwell, 
and where formerly there were immense quarries where deeds of violence 
have been committed, and where for generations thieves and desperadoes 
found in its caverns and deserted quarry holes safe retreats from the arm of 
the law. Wide as they are apart, they differ no less in the characteristics 
of the style of gardens into which they have been converted, and are 
both of them quite unlike anything we have in London, 
The Parc Monqeau formed part of the property of the Orleans family, 
and when Napoleon III. laid his hands on it he tried to satisfy his con¬ 
science and stop the mouths of his critics by making this garden a present 
to the city of Paris and laying it out as a public garden, much on the 
same principle as the man who stole a sheep and gave the head to the 
poor to make broth ! The consequence is that it is the only park in Paris 
that has really good forest trees in it. It did not afford, either, a 
strategical point in the many revolutions Paris has witnessed, and con¬ 
sequently—unlike the trees on the boulevards, which have more than 
once been cut down and utilised for barricades—they have remained 
untouched. It is not large, but there is more refinement in its arrange¬ 
ment than in any other of the Paris parks ; but let it not be imagined all 
is in good taste. The French must have little kiosks and bridges and bits 
of water (oftentimes not the sweetest in the world); hut, withal, the land- 
scape gardening here is very good, and the shade was delightfnl even in 
the hot weather we experienced in September, and how much more in the 
broiling days of July and August. 
The Parc des Buttes Chaumont is of an entirely different character. 
Here we have high cliffs overgrown with Ivy, over which a cascade falls. 
A good-sized piece of water, out of which bold cliffs stand show up ; 
streams which seem to run naturally down ; long stretches of upland 
lawns from which fine views of the fair city may hi obtained. If we 
could imagine Primrose Hill to be a rocky eminence instead of what it is, 
and that skill and taste were displayed in its laying out, we might form 
some idea of what this Parc is. The great rocks, with their beautiful 
drooping curtains of Ivy form a very characteristic feature of this unique 
public garden, in which, however, there are many violations of taste— 
buildings which are of very little use and certainly no ornament, re-tau- 
rants where you pay for things about twice as much as in Paris, and that 
amazing number of walks which the French ever seem to delight in form 
sad blemishes in what might be the most beautiful public park in 
Europe, and which with all these drawbacks is certainly unique. 
Before leaving this part of my subject I cannot forbear mentioning a 
garden which, although attached to a public institution, is a private one. 
I mean the garden of the Hertford Hospital, a wonderful institution built 
and endowed by the munificence of Sir Rbhard Wallace. It w'as desired 
to make a garden for the convalescent of the hosp'tnl, but that in ordinary 
circumstances would be a matter of years ; but money and skill can do a 
good deal now-a-days, and when I saw the garden which five years before 
had been simply a piece of ground covered with rough grass, now a 
delightful, cool, and shady spot with umbrageous trees—the very picture 
of what a convalescent garden should be. It was planted in spring, 1879 ; 
and it is well known—too well known, indeed in Franc:—what an awful 
winter followed that terribly wet season. The trees, which consisted of 
Chestnuts, Poplars, Ash, Firs, Planes, and Acacias, were when planted 
20 to 25 feet in height, while small shrubs—Box, Laurel, Syringa, 
Junipers, &c.—filled up the spaces. Very few trees peri-hed in that 
winter, and now nothing, as I have said, can be more delightful. I have 
known of individual trees being transplante 1, but I do not recollect any 
other case of a whole garden being thus planted. It was done by Mens. 
Simiur of Auteuil. 
It will hardly be necessary for me to describe the parks of our great 
metropolis ; but 1 would ask anybody to lay out before them the two maps 
of London and Paris, take the large space occupied by Hyde Park, Ken¬ 
sington Gardens, St. Jame.s’s Park, and the Green Park, &c., the very 
heart of London, and say where in Paris can you meet with anything 
like it ? You may without exaggeration wa'k for a couple of miles from 
the entrance to Kensington Gardens to Whitehall on the grass, only 
crossing the road once ; you may sit un ler the shade of stately trees, which 
you in vain look for in Paris ; you have a beautiful sward, in which we 
certainly can excel them. Then, again, we ha/e the fine area of the 
Regent’s Park; we have Battersea Park, with its beautiful subtropical 
gardening equal to anything in the French capital ; Victoria Park, where 
the east-enders can enjoy the delights of flowers and greenery ; Finsbury 
Park, &c. Nor must we omit the Thames Embankment, than which no 
more beautiful riverside e'fists in Europe. Alas, that it should be dis¬ 
figured by those hideous telescopic railway bridges! 
If there is one place more than another that calls for reform in our 
London spaces it is the squares, of which many of them might be made 
very pleasant places of r'creation for the public, instead of being exclu¬ 
sively shut up for those who live around them. Many of them contain 
grand trees, and a clever landscape gardener might do a good deal with 
them. I do not admire the fiu'cking manner in which such places as the 
Square Montholon are laid out, but a litt'e effect of artistic arrangement 
might be adopted. 
Great fault has been found by some with the formal manner in which 
our parks are laid out, and hints have been thrown out as to the substitu¬ 
tion of a more natural style and the introdcction of hardy instead of half- 
hardy plants. I differ from th's. I do not like bedding-out in private 
gardens of small size, and am glad that the t iste for herbaceous plants is 
fast driving the system out; but it is quite another thing in our public 
parks. There the rich blaze of colour well harmonised, as it generally is 
now-a-days, seen day after day, not by the same people but by the ever- 
changing multitudes who throng our great metropolis, seem to me to 
adapt it very well for the purposs. The almost level surface of the parks 
does not afford much facility for the landscape gardener, and we must 
rather depend for effect on the fine folisge they contain—a point in which 
they stand far and away ahead of their French rivals. 
My object in drawing attention to this matter is rather to discoun¬ 
tenance the idea that they “ do these thmgs better in France.” The 
French style of gardening, with its formality, its innumerable walks, its 
little bits of waterfalls and streams, is not, I think, to he compared to the 
bolder style of some of our best English gardeners. I would put Mr. 
Marnock’s work against any French landscape gardener whose work I 
have seen, and if improvement goes on as it has done we shall still keep 
far ahead of them. In neatness and doll’s-housc-like arrangements they 
surpass us. but in breadth of design and boldness of execution I think we 
carry off the palm.—D,, Deal. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW FOR THE GARDENERS’ 
ROYAL BENEVOLENT INSTITOTION. 
Many expedients have been resorted to during the last three years to 
raise money for the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution for the purpose 
of permanently increasing the pensions granted by that Society. Since 
Mr. Cutler’s latest appeal to gardeners, the quiet little town of Cuckfield 
has been the scene of a not unsuccessful effort to help on the good work. At 
a meeting of the gardeners in the neighbourhood it was decided to hold a 
Chrysanthemum and Fruit Show, and, considering that the date fixed (19th 
and 20th of November) left them a day short of a fortnight to advertise and 
arrange all details, they are to be congratulated on the display of flowers 
and fruit brought so hastily together, the undoubted appreciation of those 
who visited the Show, and on the financial result of their gratuitous labours. 
At the preliminary meeting the Rev. F. J. Mount, vicar, presiding, amongs-t 
some eighteen gardeners present, seven volunteered to stage groups of 
Chrysanthemums and other plants, while others promised to send fruit, &c. 
The following gentlemen kindly sent groups of plants :—H. Woodcock, Esq. 
(J. IJmpleby, gardener), Rev. F. J. Mount (C. Thomsett, gardener), E. Waugh, 
Esq. (G. Rapley, gardener), R. A. Bevan, Esq. (G. Stringer, gardener), 
T. T. C. Lister, Esq. (R. Inglis, gardener), Mrs. Maherty (J. Mitchell, gar¬ 
dener), W. Payne, Esq. (T. Burtenshaw, gardener). 'The groups were 
arranged in semicircular form on each side of the Drill Hall. They were 
made up of well-grown useful plants, displaying a good variety of colour.^, 
and they looked bright and cheerful, especially wh-'n lighted up in the 
evening. Mr. Stringer’s group was the most imposing. It included about 
forty varieties of Chrysanthemums, and amongst a variety of other plants 
used to margin the groups there were some excellent b’ossoms that would 
have done credit to any exhibition table. Mr. Umpleby’s groups consisted 
of Chrysanthemums only, some fifty varieties. His superior sized blooms 
showed the effect of his judicious disbudding, and the clear healthy foliage 
down to the pots made it evident that in good bands a group or Chrysar- 
themums can be presented to public gaze, without putting them in 
“ petticoats.” Messrs. Balchin, nurserymen, Hassocks, sent a choice lot of 
plants for sale, half the proceeds of which was given to the funds of the 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. 
Mr. Hills, gardener, and Mrs. H. Huth, Wykehurst, Bolney, had a fine col- 
