222 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 23,1894. 
- The Earl’s Court Exhibition.—“ Victim ” writes to us 
on the non-payment of prize money due to him, and the withholding of 
any explanations bearing on the matter. His letter contains nothing 
new, and nothing would be gained by its publication. We refer our 
correspondent to the note of Mr. Frank Cant on page 201 of our last 
issue. Another correspondent writes :—“ It would have been more 
dignified on the part of the managers of the shows to have made a frank 
explanation of the circumstances than to have taken refuge in a con- 
spiraey of silence.” 
- School Children and Flower Shows.—T he Committee of 
the Birmingham Chrysanthemum and Spring Flower Show Society 
always admit free on the second morning of the exhibitions, a large 
number of children from Deaf and Dumb Asylum and the Board and 
other schools. On the occasion of the spring flower Show, March 13th 
and 14th, nearly 4000 children were admitted from fifty-two schools. 
Ladies and gentlemen connected with the Kyrle Society superintend 
the children, who walk in single file, and see the entire Exhibition, then 
return to their schools. 
- Whin or Furze or Both. —It is possible that the writer in 
the “Cornhill Magazine,” from whose article the abstract to which 
“ J. S. W.” (page 201) alludes was made, meant by Whin the Genista 
anglica or “ Petty Whin.” Otherwise the drift of his contention has been 
misunderstood. Clearly that writer aimed at drawing some distinction 
between the “ Furze ” and the “ Whin,” though to many this may seem 
a distinction without a difference. “J. S. W.” may fight it out with 
anyone who espouses what I perhaps mistook to be that writer’s opinion. 
The opinion is not mine.—M. 
- Iris reticulata. —This beautiful bulbous Iris is now pro¬ 
ducing its flowers in some gardens, and where planted on rockeries , or 
in clumps in borders, produce a charming effect. According to my 
experience it thrives best in sheltered nooks on rockeries, and particu¬ 
larly so if planted in rich though light soil. The flowers, of a rich 
violet-purple, with dark veins and an orange coloured blotch, are very 
effective at this early season, and where not hitherto grown much has 
been missed. For cool greenhouses or conservatories this Iris and its 
forms are exceedingly effective when grown in pots.—C. 
- Hardy Primroses. —Of hardy flowers that are garden varie¬ 
ties and not species, perhaps the coloured Primroses are the very earliest 
and most gay. I looked in at the Bedfont seed grounds a day or two 
since and found hundreds of plants profusely blooming in all colours, 
whilst a large bed of pure whites was a mass of snowy whiteness. These 
true Primroses must not be confounded with the later-blooming Polyan¬ 
thuses, for they flower most abundantly through March, the latter 
flowering in April and May. The white forms are mostly very fine ; 
indeed, the flower is almost of the dimensions of those seen on the 
Chinese Primroses. When it is understood that these seed freely, can 
be readily raised from sowings made early in the autumn or the spring, 
and come into bloom finely the folUwing season, it is a wonder that 
they are not found in all gardens. Even yet myriads of people know 
little of the existence of such beautiful spring flowers.—D. 
- Hilton, dundrum. —Whilst revolving round the axis of duty 
in my own little world of work, I now and again fly off at a tangent 
across the public road to exchange compliments with my neighbour 
Mick E , who is situated “ right forninst ” me. And seldom does this 
occur but what we are detected by “ the mistress,” who charges down 
upon us twain, not to send the pair about their business, but to add 
to the pleasures of the chat about these old-fashioned flowers in this 
old-fashioned garden. Perched up on a rocky bank, catching every 
sunbeam, and bolding it, some things flourish here which in more 
pretentious places appear to exist only on sufferance. Two perfect 
Araucarias and other specimens of Con.ferae tell their own tale of 
attention to nourishment by top-dressing, for that granite rock, however 
good it may be as a foundation for a house, is not the best medium for 
roots. In a damper quarter of the garden is a grand mass of Polypodium 
cambricum on a pebble-strewed mound, and near this I lately saw a 
clump of Chionodoxa Luciliae in perfection, quite throwing in the shade 
Scilla siberica edging a small bed. Fine clumps of Cyclamen europmum 
were beautiful in their glossy foliage, and hundreds of the dear old 
friends of long ago are cherished, thought for, and talked about. As 
kindred tastes draw man to man, so do, I think, fellow sufferings. My 
friend, Mick K., suffers chronically from the “ Mum fever,” but he has 
the sympathy of his worthy mistress, Mrs. Wall, with whom I am 
privileged in having an occasional chat on the subject dear to the heart 
of lovers of, not new-fashioned hardy flowers, but those of the long ago. 
—E, K,, Dublin. 
- Gardening Appointments. —Mr. Hutt, late gardener to 
Lord Ormathwaite at Ey wood, Titley, Herefordshire, has been appointed 
to the charge of the gardens at Lullingstone Castle, Dartford, Sir W. 
Hart-Dyke’s, During his somewhat brief stay at Eywood he won general 
esteem, and leaves with the heartiest good wishes for his future welfare. 
Mr. R. Weller, who for the past ten years has ably filled the position of 
gardener and steward to Sir R. Wyatt at Garth-Angharad, Dolgelly, has 
been appointed gardener to the Mayor and Corporation of Aberystwyth. 
Mr. Richard Calvert, for the last two years fruit foreman at Welbeck 
Gardens, has been appointed head gardener to His Grace the Duke of 
Bedford, Woburn Abbey. 
- The Blue Marguerite. —Whilst at the Swanley Nurseries 
of Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons a few weeks since I noticed a number of 
plants of Agathaea coelestis, commonly known as tbe Blue Marguerite, 
The plants were covered with pretty blue Daisy-like flowers, and were 
most effective. This Agathaea is an old-fashioned plant, but it is by no 
means generally grown, which is a matter for regret, inasmuch as under 
good management it yields a profusion of blossoms nearly all the year. 
When required for winter and spring flowering cuttings should be 
inserted in sandy soil during March. Grow them under glass until 
June, when, after repotting, stand outdoors, letting them remain there 
till October, after which place in a warm greenhouse.—C. P. 
- Hyacinth Show at Haarlem. — Messrs. E. H. Krelage 
and Son inform us that last autumn two show beds in thsir nursery 
grounds at the Zylweg (Overveen), near Haarlem, Holland, were 
planted with Hyacinths. Each bed contains over 600 bulbs of the 
choicest and newest varieties. Next month these beds will form a 
brilliant display, and will doubtless attract English visitors on a trip 
to Holland. A spacious tent is put over the beds during the flowering 
period of the bulbs. Similar shows were held in the Bloemhof 
Nurseries at Haarlem from 1880 to 1884, and again in 1889 and 1892, 
In consequence of the favourable season of 1893 Hyacinths are flower¬ 
ing well this season, and the show promises to be of a superior character. 
- Preston and Fulwood Horticultural Society. —The 
sixteenth annual spring flower Show in connection with the Preston 
and Fulwood Horticultural Society was opened on Wednesday in last 
week at the Public Hall, Preston. Never since the formation of the 
Society has fine bloom and colour been more pronounced. Almost 
without exception the exhibits were of splendid growth. Amongst the 
special exhibits that were particularly noticeable was the superb collec¬ 
tion (not for competition) sent in by Messrs. R. P. Ker & Son of Aigburth 
Nurseries. It included Azaleas, Lilacs, and Amaryllises. The display 
of Hyacinths also was larger than that of some years. The Azaleas 
were scarcely less noticeable. Roses, Narcissus, Tulips, and Cinerarias 
were not so numerous, but they were none the less remarkable for 
beauty of development or richness of colour. 
-Presentation to Mr. F. Harrison. — An interesting 
presentation was made to Mr. F. Harrison by the workmen employed 
in the Knowsley Hall Gardens on his retiring from the position of head 
gardener. The presentation consisted of a handsome marble timepiece, 
which bore the following inscription on a silver plate ;—“ Presented to 
Mr. F. Harrison by the gardeners on the Knowsley estate under his 
charge on his retirement, March, 1894.” Mr. Jno. Norris, in making 
the presentation, expressed sincere regret at the separation about to take 
place after Mr. Harrison’s term at Knowsley of twenty-one years. 
Mr. Harrison, in reply, said it was the last thought in his mind to 
expect their handsome present, and hoped the kindly feelings existing 
between them would continue in the future. Mr. Harrison retires on a 
pension, and has purchased a residence in the neighbouring village of 
Huyton, where he intends to reside.—R. P. R. 
-Very Early Spring Flowers. — There are a few hardy 
plants other than bulbs that give us flowers naturally to any appreciable 
extent during March. When I say naturally, I mean that bloom 
outdoors without protection. This is a section of hardy plants, the 
which needs great encouragement. We often see Saxifragas, Cyclamens, 
and similar things blooming freely enough under glass, but were they 
growing under ordinary conditions outdoors they would not be so early in 
flower. Without doubt of the very earliest blooming hardy plants are 
the then almost deciduous Pulmonarias, of which perhaps the finest and 
most effective is grandiflora. Then there is in a very restricted area 
in Middlesex a white Arabis that is in profuse bloom by the middle 
of March, and is fully three weeks earlier than is the ordinary variety. 
Some of the Aubrietias, when the plants are unharmed by frost, will 
bloom very early. Still, these things are very few, even when the diverse 
forms of Hellebores are included.—D. 
