June 28, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
537 
C. Lavers Smith, Esq., Oakfield, Walton ; Mr. Povey,' gardener to 
A. Gillespie, Esq., Weybridge ; Mr. Millican, gardener to Mrs. Corbett, 
Walton; Mr. Frankis, gardener to J. M. Wilson, Esq.; Mr. Reid, 
gardener to C. A. Ledward, Esq., Oatlands Park ; Mr. Sutton, Ashley 
Park ; with Messrs. Mann, Waite, and Beckett, were amongst the 
successful competitors in the large tent. Fuchsias were very good, 
Caladiums excellent, Ferns and Selaginellas generally superior, Achi- 
menes variable—some good, others fading ; Show Pelargoniums, 
except from Mr. Beckett, inferior; Zonals also faulty, except a fine 
specimen from Mr. Plowman ; and Begonias fresh, bright, and good. 
These plants staged in large numbers in the several classes made a 
fine display, the beauty of the tent being materially enhanced by a 
most meritorious contribution of Heaths, Orchids, <fcc., from Messrs. 
Jackson & Sons, Kingston, effectively arranged by their skilled and 
experienced cultivator, Mr. Puddock. 
The tent in which the groups were arranged for effect was a great 
centre of attraction. The groups, semicircular in form, were arranged 
round the sides of the marquee, the centre being quite free for pro¬ 
menade purposes. This is a very good plan of arranging this depart¬ 
ment of a flower show, and this method of exhibiting enables many 
persons to compete who are not required, or have not the requisite 
means, to grow specimen plants. Since the grouping system of ex¬ 
hibiting has become general there has been a great development of 
taste in associating plants agreeably ; and it is not too much to say 
that the worst collection in the tent at Walton would have insured a 
first prize half a dozen years ago. 
The competition was very keen, and the Judges had no easy task 
in making their awards. In the large class of semicircular groups 
14 by 7 feet Mr. Cornhill won the premier position. The groundwork 
was composed of Adiantums, among which were grouped at the back 
Spiraeas, and towards the front Kalosanthes and, sparingly, Saxifraga 
pyramidalis, with near the margin Orchids and Gloxinias peeping 
from the Fern. The back comprised Palms and Humeas, brightened 
with Delphiniums. The entire arrangement was free and pleasing, 
and not a pot was visible. Mr. Beckett secured the second place with 
a group rather too thin and a little “ lumpy.” The good quality of 
the plants was possibly not overlooked here, for it must be remembered 
that good culture will always tell. Mr. Povey had the third prize 
with, perhaps, the most light and elegant arrangement of all, and 
would no doubt have had a higher position had not all the pots in the 
front row been as visible as the shields of footlights in a theatre. 
Mr. Sutton was fourth with the brightest arrangement of all, Corn 
Marigolds being freely used, but it had evidently been arranged hur¬ 
riedly, and some of the pots were obtrusive. A fifth prize was 
awarded, but we did not obtain the name of the exhibitor. 
In the smaller groups, 10 by 5 feet, Mr. Plowman fairly distanced 
all competitors with a full, but not crowded, arrangement, in which 
Liliums umbellatum and longiflorum were effectively associated with 
Palms, the margin being composed of Adiantums and good Gloxinias. 
Mr. Millican followed : he had a charming margin of Panicum, Ferns, 
and Gloxinias, but the back of the group was weak. The third prize 
was awarded to Mr. Reed for a pretty arrangement. The general 
result was highly creditable to the exhibitors ; and if they will take 
as a type for margins the work of Mr. Cornhill and Mr. Millican, and 
for the body of groups the examples of Mr. Plowman and Mr. Povey, 
still better effects will be produced next year. 
The tent containing the cut flowers, fruit, and vegetables was 
crowded throughout the afternoon. Epergnes and similar floral 
arrangements were attractive, and two prominent stands of flowers 
from Mr. Wilson, containing fine central spikes of Liliums 
Szovitzianum and Hansoni; but the centre of attraction was a fine 
collection of Mr. Bennett’s Pedigree Roses. There were boxes of 
each of the following varieties :—Henry Schultheis, a fine, rich, 
deep rosy salmon variety of the John Hopper type; Lady Mary 
Fitzwilliam, blush, of the Niphetos form, solid and conical; Earl of 
Pembroke, bright crimson, conical when expanding, the petals after¬ 
wards recurving, very rich ; Mrs. George Dixon, a fine flower of the 
La France pattern, but darker, yet not so fragrant; and Princess of 
Wales, delicate rose, salmon centre, and very charming. These 
effective boxes of blooms were much admired and highly commended. 
The Roses in competition were generally small, and those in the 
boxes of twenty-four blooms were too much flattened down in the 
moss, an error which veteran exhibitors never commit. The prize- 
takers were Mr. Sparrow, gardener to Rev. A. Bramwell, Barrow 
Hill, Chertsey, and Mr. Waite, Glenhurst, Esher. In the class for 
twelve the blooms were shown in clusters of two or three flowers, 
with semi-expanded and unopened buds, and the boxes were decidedly 
pleasing, the prizes going to Messrs. Cornhill; Felgate, gardener to 
T. F. Bircham, Esq., Burhill, Walton ; and Millican. 
Splendid stands of stove and greenhouse flowers were staged by 
Messrs. Cornhill, Plowman, and Povey, who secured the prizes in the 
order named; and trusses of Zonal Pelargoniums from Messrs. Sparrow 
and Plowman were very fine indeed. 
Fruit was sparingly exhibited, yet good produce was staged. In 
the class for white Grapes Mr. Cornhill was first with good but not 
quite finished Muscats, Mr. Sutton following with well-ripened 
Foster’s Seedling. In black Grapes Mr. Hill, gardener to A. Savory, 
Esq., Potters Park, Chertsey, was far in advance, and easily secured 
the chief prize, followed by Mr. Watford, gardener to J. G. Holloway, 
Esq., Sunbury, and Mr. Sutton had the chief prize for a collection of 
six dishes of fruit. Good Melons were staged by Messrs. Frankis, 
Sparrow, Manderson, and Millican, who were awarded the prizes, by 
far the best fruit being a seedling green-flesh by the first-named 
exhibitor. It has some resemblance to Hero of Lockinge, but dis¬ 
tinctly richer in flavour than fruits of that variety, with which it 
was tested, and the Judges marked their approval of it by granting 
it a certificate of merit. A similar award was made to a new Cucum¬ 
ber—Beckett’s Victory, the result of a cross between Victory of 
Manchester and Model. The fruits were 19 inches long, slender, 
dark green with a thick bloom, slightly ribbed, and carried their 
flowers. This appears to be a very superior variety, and was exhi¬ 
bited by Mr. Beckett, Sandown House, who also staged one of the 
finest collection of six dishes of vegetables we have ever seen—Tele¬ 
graph Peas, Woodstock Kidney Potatoes, Nantes Carrots, White 
Naples Onions, Canadian Wonder Beans, and Excelsior Tomatoes, all 
of the first order of merit. Mr. Hill also staged admirable produce, 
as did Messrs. Millican and Sutton, those cultivators having the 
remaining prizes ; and Mr. Millican was highly commended for a 
group of skeletonised leaves, the best and most artistically arranged 
we have yet seen as the production of a gardener. The exhibitor 
was, we believe, a pupil of the late Mr. Robert Fish, and presumably 
learned the virtues of patience and perseverance from that fine 
gardener and great teacher of practical horticnlture. A number of 
Excelsior lawn-mowers were on the ground, recommending themselves 
by the excellence of their work. Such is an outline of a suburban 
district show, and the Committee of the Chertsey Society are to be 
congratulated on the results of their labours. 
In consequence of the lateness of the season the Cardiff 
Rose Show has been postponed for a week—namely, from June 
27th to July 4th. 
- At a General Meeting of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, held last Tuesday, James McIntosh, Esq., in the chair, 
the following candidates were unanimously elected Fellows—viz., 
Colonel Lovibond, Alexander Macmillan, Alfred Hutchison Smee, 
W. Tayler. 
- We remind our readers that the National Rose Society’s 
Exhibition will be held in the Royal Horticultural Gardens, 
South Kensington, on Tuesday next, July 3rd, and the entries are 
very numerous. Messrs. J. Carter & Co.’s prizes for new Peas 
will be offered on the same occasion. 
- FROM reports received from some of the’ villages around 
Sittingbourne it appears that last Monday’s thunderstorms did 
great damage, chiefly caused by the hail, the stones being as large 
as Walnuts, cutting Potatoes and Hop plants severely, and injur¬ 
ing the young Wurtzel plants, beating down the command stripping 
the fruit trees, and a Rose-grower had the whole of his stock 
swept away. 
-Almost every week we receive packages of cut flowers 
without any letter accompanying them, and without receiv¬ 
ing any note in reference to them through the post. Last 
week a box of very fine Pansies reached us, also a white Stock, 
some Roses, and a parcel of Ferns. We mention this in order 
that the senders may know that the fault is not entirely our 
own if the flowers are not acknowledged or mentioned in any 
way in our columns. 
- The Society of Arts’ Albert medal for “ distinguished 
merit for promoting arts, manufactures, or commerce ” has been 
awarded to Sir Joseph Hooker for the present year for the 
eminent services which, as a botanist and scientific traveller 
and as Director of the National Botanic Department, he has 
rendered to the arts, manufactures, and commerce by promoting 
an accurate knowledge of the flora and economic vegetable pro¬ 
ducts of the several colonies and dependencies of the Empire. 
- Mr. J. Clarke writes from Brynkinault, North Wales :— 
