252 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 6. 
stances. Without this, in extreme cases, Pears will 
sometimes crack, Peaches and Nectarines bo deficient in 
pulp, Plums become leathery, and Cherries, as Mordlos, 
&c., only attain half their size. Besides this, the re¬ 
sources of the tree will be so heavily taxed, that, in 
gardening terms, the elaborated materials, of which 
there should be always a small “ stock in hand,” 
will be thoroughly exhausted, and the action of the new 
j foliago of an ensuing summer is necessary to put the 
tree in working order again. Lot wator, in such cases, 
be applied liberally, and on a mulching; dribbling is of 
no use here. I now may express a hope that some of 
our readers may derive benefit from this advice. 
It. Eriiington. 
ROYAL BOTANICAL SOCIETY’S EHXIBITION, 
21st June. 
! 
Editors arc always in tune, but reporters take colds, 
coughs, and other ailiugs, like the rest of us, and tho 
law is, that the next one on the list must take his place, 
whether ho likes it or not. Under this law I bad to 
report this exhibition for Mr Appleby. I expected to 
see the King of Portugal there, but he went to Woolwich 
that day; Her Majesty was there, however, with Prince 
Albert, tho Prince of Wales, and Prince Arthur, attended 
by one of the maids of honour, Miss Beatrice Byng, 
and three gentlemen of the household; they bad a 
private view, together with some of tho high nobility, 
who have privileged tickets, on such occasions, to see 
the exhibition before the public arc admitted; they 
remained about three-quarters-of-an-hour, and left amid 
the hearty cheers of the people outside. 1 never saw 
Her Majesty look better, or more smartly dressed on 
such, occasions, and she was in the full humour of 
putting all at their ease; she had a smile, or a nod, or 
a how-do-you-do for all she knew, and some ladies 
stepped out of the crowd to shake hands with the Queen 
as heartily as other folks do at a country fair ; and when 
she met her aunt, tho Duchess of Cambridge, and the 
Princess Mary, she embraced them both most affection¬ 
ately beforo all the people; but I was struck with the 
difference a few years makes in young people. It seems 
but the other day when the young princes would run 
about and romp as boys ought to do; but now, tho Lord 
Chancellor and the Archbishop could not go about with 
more gravity than they; not long sinco, I have seen the 
Princess Mary blush like a country girl, and got quite 
flurried in coming up to shake hands with the Queen 
before people; but to-day she went through greater 
exercise with as much ease as her mother. Her Majesty 
had a state ball the evening before, and Prince Albert 
looked pale and tired ; but Her Majesty looked as fresh 
as one up from a dairy farm that very morning. The 
two young princes promise to be tall and handsome, with 
line sharp features; but, to a Scotsman, they do not 
seem to get the right kind of food and exorcise to get up 
their blood, cherry-check fashion; fast growing boys like 
thorn ought to have their porridge and milk every 
morning, be eating away at something all day long, and 
have at least one good smack of whiskey every day in 
tho year, and as much romping about as would wear 
away their shoes in no time. Let doctors say what they 
like, that is just the right way to bring up youngsters to 
face the Russians. Her Majesty wore a pretty little 
white, self-ventilating bonnet, with three small white 
feathers, one over each ear, and one behind; a large 
light green shawl, a plaid sash ribbon tied round her 
waist with a large bow in front, and a white and lilac 
dress with three short flounces festooned with white 
lace. The green shawl was a good weather-glass in 
Juno, and a good hint to ladies who might have been in 
hot ball-rooms the evening before. 
Large Tent. —They have a novel and a capital way 
of exhibiting all the plants in one large tent here this 
sousou, something after the manner of the ridge-and- 
furrow system. There are five ridges to this tent, sup¬ 
ported by cast-iron columns; these run south and north, 
or noarly so, and both ends are deeply rounded, thus — 
The space inside is scooped out like a punch-bowl, = 
tho sides being terraced all round. These terraces, on 
the south and north sides, follow tho line of the can¬ 
vass, making alternate deep bays and sharp promon¬ 
tories. A broad gravel-walk leads along the middle of 
these terraces; three green terraces, or largo steps, rising, 
one after the other, above the walk, to the edge of the 
canvass, and three other green steps between the walk 
and the bottom of the bowl. There are four entrances 
to the tent, and each of them communicates with the 
bottom of the space, but not in a straight line; all the 
walks being irregular as to level and direction. The 
bottom of tho space is nearly level, covered with gravel, 
and may be from forty to fifty yards one way, and not 
quite so much the other way. All tho pots are set on 
theso green steps, all the way round. The large, and 
some of the small, collections of stove and greenhouse 
plants, tho Roses, the Orchids, the Fuchsias, the Ferns, 
and some other plants, occupy the three highest steps 
above the walk ; and the spaces between the walk 
and the open centre arc filled with Pelargoniums, 
Geraniums, Fancy Geraniums, cut Roses, new and 
rare plants, and all the et ceteras which come in from 
all sides on such occasions, and with cut flowers 
from the florists. The effect of tho whole, when the 
tent was thin of people, was extremely good—almost 
grand—yet there are obvious drawbacks. It requires a 
bright sunny day to give tho right light for the flowers, 
and this day was overcast throughout. The walls of 
the tent are of green baize; and what with that dark 
green, tho light green of so much grass, and the varied 
green of the leaves, many of the flowers were drowned, 
so to speak. The Orchids would tell better near the 
centre space, and opposite the great Pelargoniums, as 
their leaves, being so varied, do not toll like tho leaves 
of Roses, Heaths, and such like; so that they were too 
much of “ air plants ” on this occasion, and necessarily 
too far apart to make a grand whole. The Pelargoniums, 
on the other hand, wero bounded in front by the centre 
space of gravel, and immediately behind them was 
the terrace walk, and they stood close togethor; and I 
am certain that nothing more telling was ever seen in 
flowers for exhibition. The Fancy Geraniums occupied 
another bank; the odds and ends a third bank; cut 
Roses, Pinks, Ranunculuses, and Pansies, a fourth. 
Of Cinerarias, there were none. Of Calceolarias, a few; 
but, with the exception of a large, flat, yellow bedder, 
they were not worth their keep. Fuchsias, better than 
I ever saw them. Roses, dono brown, and not worth 
carriage. Stove and greenhouse plants, most numerous, 
and certainly most splendidly grown, trained, and 
staged. Orchids, inferior to the May fehows, but still 
there wero a few good things and growth among them; 
but the arrangement in this now tent does not. suit 
Orchids at all; I would give them the space then occu- 
j pied by the Pelargoniums. I have told already how I 
often find tho highest judgment in tho kingdom on 
faucios about flowers; and now I can say, that the 
highest authority in that tent—next to the Duchess of 
Cambridge, and before her Majesty arrived—had dis¬ 
cussed with me the bad effects of the Orchids. The 
same Duchess was busy taking notes during the whole 
time of tho private exhibition. 
And now into particulars. 
Fuchsias. —I began my notes with the Fuchsias, 
which stood on tho right of the Queen’s entrance, or 
north gate. There were two or three collections of them; 
but tho best were trained exactly like pillar Roses, fropi 
