July 5, 1894, 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
7 
new to me. The following were the varieties already worked on this 
form :—Anna Maria de Montravel, Gloire de Polyantha, Little Dot, 
Mignonette, and Ma Pacquerette. There also were dwarf plants of the 
Eed and Double White Pets, the White and the Golden Fairy, Lucida, 
and Perle d’Or. These are admirable in window gardens, cool con¬ 
servatories, or for neat edgings to beds of China, Tea, or Hybrid 
Perpetual Kosei.—D. T. F, 
R.H.S. Rose Show. 
The Show of Roses at the Drill Hall on the 26tli of June may be con¬ 
cisely said to have been a comparative failure, as with the exception of 
a few exhibits such as those of the two great Colchester rosarians 
Messrs. Benj. and Frank Cant, Mr. George Paul, Mr. Prince of Oxford, 
Mr. Berners, and Mr. Knight, there were few boxes staged which were 
worthy either of notice cr of being exhibited ; nor could the flowers be 
compared with those staged at the Tea Rose Show held a year ago in the 
game place by the N.R.S., when we had splendid exhibits from so many 
rosarians. The place of honour must be awarded to Mr. Benjamin 
Cant for his fine box of mixed trebles, and to Mr. Prince for his very 
good box of Tea trebles—they were decidedly superior to anything else 
at the meeting, and well merited their positions of first in their respec¬ 
tive classes, which were the most important in the Show. 
The Canterbury Roses, which we were so recently told by one of our 
N.R.S. secretaries would shortly carry everything before them, were 
shown to be quite outclassed when in competition on fair terms with the 
two Cants and Mr. George Paul, and, as I have mentioned, that forecast 
of supremacy far Canterbury is not in the least likely to be correct, 
either in the present or even in the immediate future. 
Mr. Foster-Melliar and Mr. Pemberton showed two moderate lota of 
twelve Teas—but what a contrast to the three “twelves” shown by Mr. 
Melliar, Mr. Lindsell, and Mr. Orpen in 1893 ! Only one box of six 
mixed Teas was shown, which might be really said to have been a box 
of five, as the sixth Rose was in small pieces by two o’clock. Mr. 
Berners showed six very good Nadaillacs in the amateur class for Teas 
of one variety, and Mr. Prince twelve of the same Rose in the open 
class. I congratulate Mr. Prince most heartily on his escaping the 
frosts and on his return to his usual good form, in which we all delight 
to see this great grower of Tea Roses, more especially as the seasons have 
not in the last two years been favourable to him. By Mr. Benjamin 
Cant’s victory in the twenty-four trebles he definitely wins the Mantell 
cup, which has been competed for on five occasions. It had previously 
been won twice by him, and once each by Mr. Frank Cant and Messrs. 
Harkness. 
The Hybrid Sweet Briars of Messrs. Keynes, Williams & Co. were 
much admired, their refined colour and scent being most desirable 
acquisitions. The exhibits on the 26th showed manifest and many 
signs of the bad season, and although others may take an opposite view, 
I maintain that the frosts of the 20th and 21st of May, and the weather 
for about a month before and after that date, has practically done 
damage of a permanent character to the Rose season of 1891, 
N.R.S. WiNDSOK Show, 
The Southern Show of tbe National Rose Society, which has been 
inaugurated or revived this year, took place on June 27th at Windsor. 
The Show was arrangsd to be held in conjunction with that of the local 
Rose Society, and as in 1893 was held in the field close to the Long 
Walk entrance of Windsor Castle, an admirably convenient and pleasant 
place. 
From the exhibits staged at the E.H S. meeting on the previous day 
any critical judge could fairly tell which of the professional exhibitors 
present at the Drill Hall were likely to show to advantage at Windsor, 
and the results on the 26th were practically repeated on the 27tb, the 
exceptions to these positions being in the success of some rosarians who 
reserved themselves for Windsor, and were placed there, notably Mr. 
Prior, Mr. Burch, and Mr, Mattock. As on the 26th, so on the 27tb, 
Mr. Prince of Oxford was very much in evidence, and exhibiting his 
Teas even better than at the Drill Hall, to use a racing phrase, simply 
“romped in.” A good judge said to me, “Prince has never been in 
better form than he now is.” The same may be said of Mr. Benjamin 
Cant’s Hybrid Perpetual flowers. In the forty-eight, distinct, and the 
triplets he won “hands down.” Although it is pleasant to see new 
comers advance to the front, it must be satisfactory to all who esteem 
these great growers and value the remembrance of their past great 
performances to see them continuing to hold their own in good company. 
Mr. Frank Cant and Messrs. Prior & Sons, as also Messrs. Burch of 
Peterborough ahd Mr. Mattock of Oxford, showed very good flowers in 
several classes ; but their success was only secondary to those of the 
two above named growers, who this year seem likely to carry all before 
them, certainly in the earlier contests. Mr. Mount and Messrs. Paul 
and Son were less successful than on the previous day, as even in 
garden Roses (Messrs. Paul & Son’s speciality) Messrs. Cooling & Son 
of Bath took the first prize with a fine stand. 
The amateurs, as at all other shows this year, were decidedly weak, 
their exhibits being much inferior to those of even the much maligned 
hot year of 1893, and not to be compared with flowers shown in 1892. At 
present it suits the purpose of some to “ pooh-pooh ” the effects of the 
May frost, of evil memory to me, and to assign the cause of the inferior 
Roses at the moment being shown by amateurs to anything but its true 
origin, saying that the season is a late one, the fact being that the 
season up to the 15th May was most abnormally early, and even now 
is not a late one, but good plants have in many localities, notably 
Hitchin, Windsor, and Croydon, been quite crippled. I am satisfied to 
accept the jocular title given me by Mr. D’Ombrain as “ the Cassandra 
of the N.R.S.,” it is better than being ridiculously optimistic, and I 
assert that many of the amateurs in 1894 will continue to show inferior 
flowers till later in the season, when their plants may possibly have 
recovered recent disaster. 
The Queen’s prize competition, which we were told would produce a 
huge competition (at least fifty exhibits), shrunk to the moderate number 
of a dozen competitors, three being local growers, who need not be taken 
into account, as the only strong amateur rosarians near Windsor, Mr. 
Romaine and Mr. Girdlestone, were conspicuously absent. The contest for 
the cup was practically confined to Mr. Berners, Mr. Orpen, Mr. Burnside, 
Mr. Slaughter, Mr. Knight, and Mr. Tate, and the result was that the 
first four named were so placed. The contest between Mr. Berners and 
Mr. Orpen was clcse, and opinions were divided on the actual judgment, 
the flowers having, I believe, been pointed exactly equal, to which 
conclusion I also came, as I pointed the Roses with others immediately 
after the decision. The first box had Roses more even in size, and also, 
in some cases, larger, and those in the second were decidedly fresher, 
and the colour arrangement was more pleasing. Mr. Burnside was a 
good third, and his flowers (all Teas) would on the previous day have 
easily carried off the first prize. There was a glorious bloom of 
Cleopatra in his box, which by general consent carried off the amateurs’ 
Tea medal. 
From Mr. Prince’s box of twelve Comtesse de Nadaillac was 
selected the best professionals’ Tea. Mr. B. Cant won the medal for 
the best H P., an A. K. Williams, in his box of trebles, and Mr. 
Pemberton won a similar honour with La France in a box of one variety. 
There were many other good flowers of La France shown, one especially, 
remarkably good, being in the box staged by Mr, Burnaby Atkins of 
Sevenoaks for the Queen’s prize. I was delighted to see a box of twelve 
beautiful Margaret Dickson, shown by Mr. Benjamin Cant, which 
gained the first prize for twelve of one variety ; it was worthy even 
to have been staged by the raiser, Mr. Dickson of Newtownards. After 
the judging the Windsor executive, I believe, entertained the Committee 
of the N.R.S. and others to luncheon. Several of the judges were 
quietly ignored, and even the N.R.S. president was for some time 
“ left out in the cold ! ” It is the invariable rule at all provincial shows 
I have attended to proffer hospitality to all the Judges, certainly to 
members of the N.R.S., who travel long distances, and it was a stupid 
and parsimonious policy of the Windsor executive to have withheld 
it from anyone. 
Mr. Thomas, the Queen’s head gardener, deserves a word of thanks 
for his marked courtesy to everyone at Windsor who came in contact 
with him. He may be truly said to have added greatly to the pleasure 
of many who had never seen the gardens of Frogmore. It was through 
his experienced advice that the necessary permission was obtained to 
see everything connected with his department. The visitors who 
availed themselves of that permission were much pleased with what 
they saw. 
I think the description of the meeting would be incomplete without 
mentioning the various special prizes. The Queen’s prize was an 
unique cup of quaint design in hammered silver, and had been made 
specially for the occasion by the Countess Gleichen, this fact materially 
enhancing its value as a memento of the occasion. Mr. Romaine gave 
for competition an old piece of silver filagree work, which a connoisseur 
would have valued. The Turner Memorial prize won by Mr. R. E. West 
was a handsome cup of a modern pattern. Amongst other prizes, the 
Harkness cup, to be competed for at the Crystal Palace on the 7th July, 
was shown and greatly admired. It has been described in your columns. 
The weather was absolutely perfect, but the attendance hardly 
commensurate with what should have been an important occasion 
in the Royal borough, more especially as the meeting was attended by 
the Princesses Beatrice and Alix, the Princess Leinengen, and the 
Czarevitch. Everyone seemed gratified with the great courtesy shown 
and trouble taken by Mr. Hoddinott, the Treasurer of the Windsor Rose 
Society, who seemed indefatigable in his efforts to smooth difficulties 
and please those present, and who took great trouble in obtaining the 
various requisites which exhibitors look for on these occasions. 
The management of the Show principally devolved on Mr. Romaine, 
who carried it out in a way which I believe was satisfactory to 
exhibitors.— Charles J. Grahame. 
[For later Rose shows see page 16 .—Ed.] 
LAXTON'S STRAWBERRIES. 
The late Mr. Thomas Laxton worked very hard in the direction of 
raising new varieties and improving the older forms of fruit, flowers, 
and vegetables, meeting with varying success. All the novelties he 
raised and distributed were not of a character to long retain their hold 
in the estimation of practical gardeners, but some there are of sterling 
worth, and which are likely to remain popular for many years to come. 
Mr. Laxton was an enthusiast, tco much so probably for his own profit, 
and as such is, and will be, much missed for some time to come. He 
not only welcomed a visit from anyone possessing the same love for 
flowers and fruit, but his correspondence must have occupied a con¬ 
siderable amount of his time. To all appearances Mr. Laxton’s principal 
successes in hybridising were among Strawberries. In Noble we have 
