150 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. June 3. 
these plants are so beautiful; but Mr. A., and Mrs. B., 
and others, are coming to-morrow, I cannot bear the 
idea of having the plants disturbed. I should also like 
those fine peaches, and those line bunches of grapes 
you showed me yesterday. Go to the show though, 
take anything you like besides: I would not wish you 
to stop at home on that account. You may always take 
( anything, provided it is not prominently displayed.” 
And thus to exhibit, the gardener must have managed 
to keep his best things as if covered up with a bushel. 
He made up his mind to exhibit at home. 
5th, and lastly. Even all these things attended to, do 
not be over-sanguine at first. There are great men 
already in the field. You must work hard to bring up 
your lee way. Few of our readers have the means or 
the will to get a collection of specimens at once. Most 
of them, instead of devoting their house to one purpose, 
use it, or it may be them, for many purposes. “ How 
much can we get from it?” is a prevailing cry. If only 
one house, it is not merely a greenhouse, but a vinery, 
and the great auxiliary to the kitchen and flower-garden. 
If in these, and somewhat similar circumstances, your 
gardener does appear at an exhibition table, judge of 
his means, his circumstances, the labour at his com¬ 
mand, as well as the results of the judges’ decision. 
The first are well known to you. If they were known 
to those who decide, it could not alter their decision. 
It matters not, though every man’s name was placed 
upon each article he exhibited, the judges must give 
the highest premium to the best articles. But, consi¬ 
dering circumstances, I have often felt that the honour 
of taking a second and third prize was equal to that of 
him who took the first. The public know nothing of 
this; the employers do; and a smile of approbation 
from them is the best incentive to increased effort. It 
is quite a pleasure to hear some gentlemen talk of what 
their gardeners do, with the means at their disposal. 
I lately saw a place from whence, at a country show, a 
gardener took a number of prizes, and it would have 
puzzled many to know where he took the plants from, 
or where he was to put them when he brought them 
home. Difficulties of position only whet the ingenuity 
of such men; a damper from an employer is the best 
blunting instrument. The matter lias so grown, that I 
must conclude by saying a few words to young exhi¬ 
bitors another time. R. Fish. 
ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY, REGENT’S PARK. 
florists’ flowers. 
The exhibition of florists’ flowers was got up in ex¬ 
cellent condition, and reflected great credit upon the 
exhibitors. The day was fine throughout; the com¬ 
pany numerous ; the music pleasant; altogether it was 
a treat of no ordinary character, and I and friend Mr. 
Beaton enjoyed it much, as, indeed, every one present 
seemed to do. The exhibition was honoured by a private 
visit of Her Majesty the Queen, attended by H. R. H. 
Prince Albert and several of the royal family, the Duchess 
of Cambridge, and the Princess Mary. They all seemed 
much gratified with the lovely objects spread out for enjoy¬ 
ment in the various tents. With these few preliminary 
remarks, I proceed to give a brief account of the most 
interesting florists' flowers exhibited on that occasion, 
leaving the rest for Mr. Beaton to do justice to in his 
pleasant style. 
P elargoniums .—These were well grown, finely bloomed, 
and highly coloured. I shall not attempt to enumerate 
all the kinds, nor the medals that were awarded. Such 
information is no doubt gratifying to the exhibitor, but 
is not generally interesting to the public. The grand 
point is to know the names of the best varieties, and 
such a selection was made by myself on the spot as will, 
I think, be useful as a guide to purchasers of these 
plants. They are as follows: 
Show Varieties, not noticed at Chiswick.— Incom¬ 
parable (Beck’s), a high-coloured, fine variety. Arethusa 
(Beck's), a light variety, fine form. Glowworm, rich and 
showy. Purpurea, dark, very good. Salamander, a 
lively red. Nonsuch, light, with rich dark spots. Prince 
of Orange, bright scarlet. Alonzo, rich purple, fine 
form. Ocellatum, curiously spotted. Mont Blanc, a 
good white. 
Fancy Varieties. — Queen Superb, light. Alboni, rose. 
Madame Meillez, dark. Modesta, rose. Hero of Surrey, 
black and white. Casolanii, light. Mignon, dark. 
Duchess d'Aumale, light. Empress, dark. Carlotta 
Grisi, light. 
These were all in fine bloom, and are worthy of being 
in every collection. If purchasers are desirous of having 
good varieties, they will not be wrong in procuring the I 
above, in conjunction with those noticed at Chiswick, 
not forgetting, above all, Hoyle's Magnet, which ap¬ 
peared here again in excellent order. 
In seedlings, there were none that took prizes; but 
for useful purposes and general ornament, Basilisk, a 
show variety, was exhibited by Mr. Hoyle. This is a 
bright scarlet, intense in colour, with large trusses and 
flowers ; but its fault is, that the petals incline to turn 
backwards, a fatal objection with the judges. Foster's 
National is a promising variety, with rich dark upper 
petals, edged with crimson, lower petals deep rose, shad¬ 
ing off to purple tint; medium truss. This variety 
was scarcely in bloom. The rule that three blooms 
should be perfectly open was against it, but it will be 
seen again, and will, when in good order, take a high 
rank even amongst the best. 
Amongst seedling fancy varieties, Ayres’s Remark¬ 
able will be found attractive, though not up to the mark 
in a florist’s eye, the lower petals being rather flimsy; 
it has large trusses, and colour much brighter than 
Alboni. A variety named Victrix, from the same, had 
some finely-shaped flowers upon it, and narrowly es¬ 
caped a prize, the trusses being rather small. When 
better grown it will take a high rank. 
Roses. —These were, if possible, in finer condition than 
at Chiswick. The gem of the whole being Coup d' Hebe, 
hybrid Bourbon, from Lane & Sons, Berkhampstead. 
The following are additions to those noticed at Chiswick: 
— Aubernon, deep rose; La Reine, purplish crimson; 
Viscomtesse de Cazes, this, though a loose-petalled rose, 
is very handsome on account of its colour, a rich yellow 
fawn, and size; Claude Lorraine, deep rose; Bougere, 
the pale primrose, very good, Great Western, fine crim¬ 
son; Velours episcopal, dark crimson; Augustine Mous- 
chelet, crimson; Odorata, Tea, light blush; Princess 
Marie, rosy flesh ; Taglioni, pure white, very large; 
Paul Joseph, nearly black; armosa, pale rose, very 
double; Juno, an uncommonly large rose, but spoiled by 
carriage. There was a basket of small rose-plants exhi¬ 
bited to shew the good qualities of the Celine stock; they 
had been budded late in the summer of last year, placed 
in a gentle heat early this spring, and were on this oc¬ 
casion plants eighteen inches high, with the finest 
flowers imaginable upon them. The Celine rose, it appears, 
is excellent for stocks to bud upon, rivalling in that 
respect the Manetti. For roses in pots indeed anything 
is better than the coarse-growing, sucker-producing, wild 
rose of the hedges, and I am glad to record another good 
variety for the purpose. 
Cinerarias. —The collection of these charming spring 
flowers were in excellent condition, and more numerous 
than usual. The judges very properly gave the prizes 
to small, bushy, well-formed plants, in preference to such 
as were deficient in foliage with heads of flowers down to 
pot edge. The same kinds here were the best as I 
noticed at Chiswick. 
