208 
THE FLORIST. 
Muscat Grapes, a Cayenne Pine, good Nectarines, and superb British 
Queen Strawberries; Mr. Henderson had fine black Hamburgh Grapes, 
Trentham ditto, excellent Peaches, Nectarines, Melons, and Cherries. 
The Pine class was not well represented; a large Providence from C. 
Bailey, Esq., a batch of Cayennes from the Royal Gardens, and an 
excellent Queen from Shardiloes, embrace all worth mentioning. Of 
Black Grapes, the Black Princes of Mr. Hill were perfection itself; but 
the Hamburghs were scarcely so good as those exhibited at the Crystal 
Palace. There were a few dishes of Muscats ripe, but generally they 
were not in condition. The Buckland Sweetwater Grapes exhibited 
by Mr. Hill showed that Grape to be a valuable acquisition; it very 
justly obtained the first prize in the white class. Besides the above 
new Grape, Mr. Henderson exhibited the Trentham Black in good 
style; and Mr. Standish had a most interesting collection of new Grapes, 
containing Ingram’s Hardy Prolific, a new black Grape of great merit, 
both for productiveness and quality—Muscat Trouveron, which may 
be described as a large form of the White Frontignan, has the delicate 
aroma of that esteemed variety, with much larger berries—Citronelle 
is also a white Grape of merit. Grapes in pots were very good; the 
four pots of the Black Hamburgh, exhibited by Mr. Sanders, probably 
the best ever seen, were first-rate specimens of cultivation^ Mr. ' 
Masters had also some fine pots, as had Mr. Standish of his new varie¬ 
ties. Peaches were generally good, Nectarines the same. Those 
exhibited by Mr. Rochford, the Elruge, were large and in good 
condition; Mr. Henderson exhibited Murray, and Mr. Peacock had 
the best-coloured dish of Violette Hative we have seen this year. 
Cherries call for no particular remark; but Mr. Smith’s collection of 
three kinds of Strawberries, consisting of Queen, Oscar, and Empress 
Eugenie, were wonderfully fine—in single dishes, Sir Charles was 
equally good. 
Melons were numerous, but very few first-rate; that to which the 
first prize was awarded, named Hybrid Cashmere, was a deep-fleshed 
variety, with a thin rind, and we were told was deliciously flavoured— 
it was contributed by Mr. Meredith; Mr. Frost was second. In the 
scarlet-fleshed section. Turner’s Gem carried off all the prizes. 
We noticed, in the miscellaneous class, a dish of the Banana in good 
condition. 
Hardy ornamental plants : Of these the groups sent by Mr. Standish 
and the Messrs. Veitch contained many new plants, principally from 
Japan. The former had very recently received a case of Japan plants 
from Mr. Robert Fortune, which had been so carefully packed and 
tended during the voyage that, although many of them were fine 
bushy specimens, they exhibited the best of health, and formed perhaps 
the most interesting group of novelties ever exhibited on one occasion. 
The Messrs. Veitch’s large connexion also enabled them to bring 
forward a host of new things, both in this class and that of new species 
of flowering plants. In Mr. Standish’s collection, we observed 
Sciadopitys verticillata, Thujopsis dolabrata variegata, Retinosperma 
obtusa, male and female plants of Aucuba, a Eurya, Bambusa variegata 
(a pretty plant), two Podocarpuses (with striped foliage), a blotched- 
