84 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 27, 1882. 
All these things have been favourable, and the result is the best 
display of Roses ever seen here. So long as such results are attained 
it would be foliy to go back to the old plan of heavy manurings, 
unripened wood, and killed or crippled bushes in consequence.— 
Single-handed. 
HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITION AT THE 
AGRICULTURAL HALL.— July 24th to August 5th. 
On Monday last an Exhibition of a novel character was com¬ 
menced at the Agricultural Hall, Islington. It is devoted to all 
kinds of appliances, implements, erections, heating apparatus, &c., 
not in competition, for no prizes, medals, or other awards were 
offered, as it was the object of the promoters to avoid giving distinc¬ 
tions confessedly difficult to determine that would render a few exhibits 
unduly prominent. Several trade exhibitors entered into the spirit 
of the venture, but some large firms are not represented. Heating 
apparatus, including boilers of innumerable forms, pipes, and valves 
are largely represented; ornamental, terra cotta, composition, and 
cast iron vases, fountains, and statues constitute another feature of 
interest, while garden chairs, tables, and summer houses, either of 
plain or rustic designs, have also considerable space devoted to them. 
Wire arches, temples, and flower stands, houses illustrating various 
modes of glazing, implements, a few groups of plants, and miscel¬ 
laneous sundries make a diversified exhibition. 
It is impossible to give a detailed report of all the exhibits, and we 
can only refer briefly to a few of the most prominent, at the same 
time recommending all who are interested in it to pay the Hall a 
visit before the Show terminates. As already stated, the vases and 
similar articles formed an important feature ; but the collection from 
Mr. J. Matthews, Weston-super-Mare, is especially fine, including 
a very large and choice assortment of terra cotta vases, flower pots, 
window boxes, baskets, &c., of rustic and most ornamental designs. 
The admirable taste and finish distinguishing all these attracted much 
attention to the exhibit. Messrs. F. Rosher & Co., King’s Road, 
Chelsea, also have a large collection of vases, statues, and edging tiles, 
the former being composed of a material similar in appearance to 
Portland stone, but really a composition said to be very durable. 
Some of the vases are of very graceful designs. Messrs. Pullham 
and Son, Broxbourne, have a rockery very tastefully arranged and 
planted. Real stone and tufa are employed, the construction being 
characterised by the picturesqueness for which the firm is noted. 
Mr. B. W. Warhurst, 33, Highgate Road, has a varied display and 
one of the most extensive. Several samples of patent boilers are 
staged, some of which, such as “ Ben’s Boiler ” and the Paxton 
Independent, have been previously noted at Kensington and else¬ 
where. Another patent boiler termed the Monarch is a combination 
of an upright tubular with a conical, the tubes being surrounded 
by an outer iron casing. Samples of the Syphon Hygienic gas 
or oil stoves are shown, and are much recommended for heating 
small greenhouses or halls. Valves of various approved designs 
are also staged with two small houses, one illustrating the Eclipse 
system of glazing with lead bars without putty, and the other 
showing a mode of glazing without top putty. 
Messrs. J. J. Thomas & Co., 87, Queen Victoria Street, have a large 
collection of wire stands, baskets, arches, &c., of most graceful and 
diversified designs. A number of neat and well-constructed garden 
seats are also staged by the same firm. Messrs. W. Richardson & Co., 
Darlington, have some small models of their wall-protectors, speci¬ 
mens of hooded tubular boilers, portable frames,and wooden Parisian 
greenhouse blinds, which consist of thin laths arranged on metal 
bands, and serving to effectually break the force of the sun’s rays 
without rendering the interior of the house dark. The Thames Bank 
Iron Company, Upper Ground Street, S.E., have the largest exhibit 
of boilers and hot-water-heating apparatus, including valves, pipes, 
and other fittings. Messrs. Deane & Co., 46, King William Street, E.C., 
have considerable space devoted to vases, metal tables, garden chairs, 
metal barrows, water barrows, and various other appliances, all re¬ 
markable for their lightness and strength. 
Messrs. Messenger & Co., Loughborough, have a large exhibit of 
boilers of various approved patterns, new valves, small frames or 
“ plant protectors ” as they are termed, a sample of the “ amateurs’ 
portable greenhouse,” a neat span-roofed structure well-built and 
admirably adapted for a small establishment, with many other useful 
articles. The Pall Mall Lawn-edger Co._, 15, Pall Mall, had speci¬ 
mens of Adie’s Patent Lawn-edging Machines, which attracted much 
attention from the visitors. Messrs. F. Brangwin & Co., Hackney, 
contributed a large collection of well-constructed park and garden 
seats, ornamental tables, and numerous other exhibits. 
Many firms besides those mentioned above also exhibited largely, 
but we cannot refer to their contributions at length, though the 
following list will give an idea of the principal features :—Mr. J. 
Trotman, Holloway, rustic houses, tables, and chairs. Mr. J. Keith, 
Edinburgh and Arbroath, hydraulic rams and patent boilers. Messrs. 
Bailey, Pegg, & Co., Bankside, and Brierley, Staffordshire. Messrs. 
Appleby & Co., Chesterfield, pumps, boilers, and pipes. Messrs. 
Grover & Co., London, house showing the simplex glazing system, 
with strips of lead in the place of putty. Mr. J. T. Anderson, Shore¬ 
ditch, seed bags, cordage, netting, etc. Mr. Conway Warne, Weston- 
super-Mare, terra cotta vases, pots, and baskets. Messrs. Smith and 
Williams, 23, Farringdon Road, E.C., teak Orchid baskets of various 
forms and sizes. Messrs. Andrew Handyside & Co., London and 
Derby, a large collection of ornamental cast iron vases and fountains. 
Messrs. Jeffrey & Co., samples of ornamental ironwork, Rose temples, 
and flower stands. Coalbrookdale Iron Company, ornamental cast 
iron vases and flower stands of pretty designs. Mr. J. Lewis, Stam¬ 
ford Hill, examples of patent methods of glazing without putty. 
Messrs. T. H. P. Dennis & Co., Chelmsford, picturesque summer¬ 
houses and glass houses. Mr. W. H. Lascelles, 121, Bunhill Row, 
London, a large span-roofed house glazed without putty, and a new 
material for rockeries. Messrs. Ewart & Son, 346, Euston Road, 
ornamental tiles for flower boxes. Messrs. Silig, Sonnenthal, & Co., 
Queen Victoria Street, London, “The Easy” lawn mower, chiefly 
notable for having open rollers of metal bars. Mr. W. Wells, Red- 
hill, samples of his patent spray-diffuser. Mr. W. P. G. Phillips. 
Oxford Street, a handsome collection of glass and china vases and 
stands for the table. Messrs. Tracey & Sons, Ilford, a house showing 
their patent system of metal glazing. Messrs. R. Jenkins & Co., 
Rotherham, the “ Duplex Cylinder,” “ the Victor,” and other boilers. 
Messrs. John Crowley & Co., Sheffield, samples of “ the Invincible 
Lawn Mower.” Messrs. W. T. Allen & Co., Upper Thames Street, 
ornamental iron ware. Messrs. W. Edgcumbe, Rendle, & Co., Victoria 
Street, London, houses, showing their patent method of glazing with¬ 
out putty; and Mr. Deverill, Slough, exhibits his patent irrigator. 
Messrs. G. Neighbour & Son, 127, High Holborn and Regent Street, 
have a most extensive and interesting collection of hives, sections, 
honey-extractors, foundations, bee-feeders, honey, and various appli¬ 
ances useful to bee-keepers. 
The two principal exhibitors of plants were Messrs. Cutbush and 
Son of Highgate, and Laing & Co. of Forest Hill. The former have a 
very large group of Laurels, Palms, variegated Maples, and small 
Conifers margined with grass, and small specimens of Retinosporas, 
variegated Euonymus, and Thuias ; a collection of Rose blooms is 
also staged by the same firm. Messrs. Laing & Co. have a smaller 
collection, in which the Tuberous Begonias, Rose blooms, and black 
Grapes are the most notable. 
Under the superintendence of Messrs. John H. Raffety, Shirley 
Hibberd, and W. H. Holmes the Show has been most satisfactorily 
arranged, and the very complete catalogue issued will be found 
useful to visitors. 
EXHIBITING—THE GOOD OLD TIMES. 
“ Oh for the palmy days of Chiswick ! We shall never see the 
like again. There is no spirit now. The best growers will not 
exhibit if they cannot do so for prizes, and unless these are large 
showing does not pay.” Who says this ? Well, it is said and 
repeated almost wherever there is a gathering together of old and 
3 r oung exhibitors, and it is rather singular to observe how much 
the latter know of the “ palmy days ” in question. 
Would those who are yearning after the impossible—the return 
of past days, be surprised to learn that the prizes offered at the 
fine old shows in question were less in value than are now pro¬ 
vided either in London or at some provincial exhibitions ? IE 
my memory is not at fault such was and is the case. It is a long 
time, however, since I stood by the side of my exhibits when Prince 
Albert led his little boy, the Prince of Wales, by the hand, and 
the Queen was pointing out the beauties of the Show to the 
Princess Royal of Prussia, who was not then in her teens ; and I 
cannot, therefore, remember the exact amounts that were pro¬ 
vided in the classes, but I feel sure those amounts are exceeded 
now to a very considerable extent. 
I have a recollection, too, that the prizes in those good old times 
were much less in the nurserymen’s than in the amateurs’ or gar¬ 
deners’ classes. It is impressed on my mind, for instance, that 
Messrs. Veitch on one occasion, and possibly on more, won the 
first prize for fifteen Orchids, which was £7, the second prize in 
the class being £4. In the amateurs’ class the prizes were larger, 
but the aggregate amount was not equal to that apportioned in 
similar classes now, yet eleven collections and nearly 150 plants 
were staged at the Show in question. In one of the amateur 
classes Mr. Williams, then gardener to C. B. Warner, Esq, of 
Hoddesden, and now the esteemed head of the Holloway Nurse¬ 
ries, won a prize of £7 with twenty plants ; and Mr. Kinghorn, 
then gardener to the Earl of Kilmorey, now the genial proprietor 
of the Richmond Nursery, secured a first prize of £4, the lowest 
prize in the same class being £1 15s. I am sorry to say I have 
not an old schedule of the Chiswick shows, but I feel certain my 
memory is accurate as regards what I have written, as, being in¬ 
terested in the classes in question, several things were rather deeply 
graven on my memory. 
My showing days are over, but I often think of past times and 
compare them with the present. My views are old-fashioned 
perhaps, but I sometimes fancy there was not such a race for 
wealth then as now. I mean much was done for love then, that 
will only be done for money now. Exhibitors certainly cannot 
justly be blamed for this, for what may be termed the “ paying ” 
