430 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION.—September40,1850. 
one of the best of good old plants; a Coral-plant in 
good bloom. Erica ampullacea Scotica; and E. vestita 
coccinea, and others. 
In one collection of sixes from Miss Trail were Plum¬ 
bago Capensis, a good Qesnera splendent, and a good 
Achimenes fulgens; but there was nothing in all these 
different collections to interest country gardeners. I 
was asked to note more particularly what would “come 
in ’’ for the conservatory. Then followed Lilium land- 
folium in sixes, and they stood thus:—Mr. Woolley, six 
iu two rows; Mr. Young, ditto; Messrs. Jackson, my 
next-door neighbours, three Rubrums and three Albums, 
and one of the Rubrums was a seedling, and the best 
there; Mr. Cutbush, of Highgate, six; Mr. Gains, cross 
seedlings of his own, which he calls Arboreas, one of 
which comes flat-stemmed every season; Mr. Hally, of 
Black Heath, also all seedlings, more or less like the 
parents; and Mr. Barnes, of Camden Nursery, had the 
tallest Lilies. Mr. Young, gardener to F. C. Hills. Esq., 
Denmark Hill, had the first prize for these gaudy Lilies ; 
Mr. Barnes, second; Mr. Woolley, third; and the 
Messrs. Jackson, fourth. 
Then followed Verbenas in collections of twelve plants, 
and five competitors. The best grown were from Mr. 
Shrimpton, gardener to A. J. Doxat., Esq., Putney Heath, 
aud the second by Mr. Weatberell, gardener to D. 
McNeil, Esq., one of the best growers about London, and 
the only one who exhibited a collection of cut flowers of 
Verbenas ; but he caricatured them so sadly that no 
man on earth could make out if any one of the kinds 
was worth a stiver or a five-pound note—a pyramidal 
uosegay of each kind ! An excellent way for a drawing¬ 
room, and the worst for public exhibition. 
Thirty Cockscombs in three collections, won by Mr. 
Boriugdon, Mr. Thuard, and Mr. Graham; but they 
were only very ordinary, though of very good strain 
Balsams next, but not worth a “doit” as to growth,, 
compared to what I had seen the week before down a 
hundred miles in the country. They must all go down 
to the provinces to learu to grow Balsams, and Mr. 
Smith, of Dulwich, at their head; for he is the best of 
the poor growers about Loudon, and took the first prize 
here. It is just with London Balsams now what it was 
a few years siuce with the Chinese Primroses about 
London. They do not seem even to have yet dreamed 
of the capabilities of the Balsams. 
Scarlet Geraniums, “distinct kinds,” as if I had made 
out the schedule. They have no scarlet pedantry and 
Pelargoniums at Sydenham; they plant with Scarlet 
Geraniums and give prizes. for Scarlet Geraniums. Mr. 
Weathered took the first prize with well-grown plants, 
Le Titian being his best, and for the centre Rubens, di¬ 
rectly in front of Titian, and Lady Middleton close 
on the right—a very bad arrangement. Three distinct 
shades of pink, but disagreeing in shading, close to¬ 
gether, show how little the effect of colour is under¬ 
stood among the very best gardeners in England. Oh, 
for a Duchess of Sutherland, or an Hon. Lady Mid¬ 
dleton, to inoculate the eyeballs of our Titians 1 Sixtoen 
years ago I was as blind as any of them, perhaps the 
blindest, but, thanks to the ladies, 1 can now see, 
though yet but dimly; and I would have placed Punch, 
which is the next in this collection, where Rubens stood, 
and put Rubens where Punch was, then the lot would be 
worth ten guineas more than it was Trentham Rose 
was the top off-hand corner, or at cross-corners with 
Lady Middleton, but the two flowers are exactly the 
same. The “ distinct” in the schedule ought to meet such 
a case next year, and say “ distinct kind of flowers; ” the 
distinctness here is only in the constitution of the two 
kinds. 
The second prize went to Mr. Lavey, who exhibited 
different kinds ot the Erogmore breed, and one other 
kind ; and Mrs. Conway had the third prize with Royal¬ 
ist, Defiance, Brilliant, Cerise Unique, Tom Thumb, and 
Wallice —a new name to me, but the kind is not worth 
much. Mrs. Conway had a prize also for a collection of 
Variegated Geraniums, the only collection of them there ; 
and Mr. Mitchell, of Brighton, had a collection with 
Baron Hug el, Masterpiece, Trentham Rose, Brighton 
Hero, and Emperor, but which Emperor was not stated. 
My own plant of Emperor Napoleon is among the 
dwarfest, aud is an intense crimson scarlet, darker than 
the new Trentham Scarlet. 
Fuchsias followed, and Mr. Mitchell took the first prize 
triumphantly; just the style of growth for a first-rule 
conservatory, three white and three red. The whites 
were Queen of Hanover, Princess of Prussia, and Venus 
de Medici, a beauty. The three reds were Prince Albert, 
Favourite (? Banks), and Nil Dcsperavdum. Mr 
Weatherill was second; Mr. Bragg, third; and Mr. 
Gains, fourth ; with an extra to Mr. Harper. The best 
whites out of them all were the Duchess of Lancashire, 
England's Glory, Pearl of England, and Clio; the best 
white and blue was Venus de Medici; Favourite and 
Prince Albert being the best two red ones to a non¬ 
florist’s eye. 
Achimenes. —Mr. Mitchell took the first prize here also. 
Edmund Rossier, a light streaked flower, and Sir Tre- 
hern Thomas, of the Venusta breed, beiug the best two 
of them. Mr. Gains took the second prize, and Mr. 
Gedney the third. 
Lycopods came next in order of placing in great 
strength, but there wero no new kinds. Here shined 
Mr. Hally, Mr. Cutbush, of Highgate, Mr. Bowsie, 
Messrs. Jackson, Mr. Childs., Mr. Parker, and Mr. 
Woolley, and on side tables Mr. Gedney and Mr. Gains. 
Ferns were in still greater force, Messrs. Woolley, 
Parker, Carson, with large kinds; Fletcher, Gains, 
Morris, Childs, Jackson, Lavev, Hally, Cutbush, of 
Highgate, aud several others competed in Ferns; and 
Mr. Sim, at the clock tower, had them all his own wav. 
A collection of fine Pitcher Plants from Mr. Vcitch. 
Heaths from Messrs. Brush, Peed, aud Williams, gar¬ 
dener to Miss Trail. 
In Orchids Mr. Carson had a large Peristeria alata, 
the old Holy Ghost Plant, now getting scarce; Vanda, 
cairuha. Butterfly Oncid ; Epidendrum vitelUnum ; ttnd a 
fine Oncidium lancearnnn. Mr. Woolley, a large MUtonia 
Candida, Odontoglossum grande, Angracum cucullatum ,- 
Eria leucostachya, with seven drooping spikes of while 
flowers, the first of the kind at a Show ; and Epidendrum 
radiatum. Mr. Gedney had Vanda tricolor and suavis, 
or insignia, a Butterfly Oncid ; a Sobralia macrantha 
with one flower, Ac rides snavissima, Angracum caudatuni 
1 did not see the prize tickets to these Orchids, but Mr. 
Carson bad the first prize. 
Variegated and finefoliaged plants were in vast num¬ 
bers, but nothing particularly new among them. Mr. 
Veitcb aud the Messrs. Jackson staged their collections 
with the eye of a Titian, but the rest of these plants 
wero “set” more for convenience than for effect. Mr 
Veitoh put them up thus:— Livistonia Borbonica aud Phi¬ 
lodendron per tusum for centre and key-note; two Dracwnas 
to match, one on either side; a Sabal and a Pandmms 
ditto ; and Plectocoma to match A raliapidchra. Messrs. 
Jackson put the Palm Acroconlia sclerocarpiu in the 
centre at the hack, and wrought down to either side 
with well-matched kinds, thus:— Cordyline australis in 
front of the first Palm ; then Draccena cuneifolia and 
Cyelanthes, to match on either side at top; Areca rubra 
and Dion utile the next match, the latter plant, the 
Mexican Dion, being the finest of the kind, perhaps, in 
England; then Aralia macrophyl'la in the front centre, 
and with Pandanus odoratissimus on one side, and a 
species of Phyllarlkron to match. Croton discolor in 
two or three collections was the greatest stranger to the 
Show; the under side of the leaf is reddish crimsoni and 
