254 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July C. 
did not know Anne Boleign from a new Carnation ! I was 
on the Western Circuit at the time, spent all my money, 
and had to walk home sixteen miles, having lost the 
chance of the Ledbuiw coach, which ran only three 
times a week, so that I have a good reason for saying 
as little as possible about Pinks and Carnations. 
Large Pelargoniums or Greenhouse Geraniums.— 
Mr. Turner, of Slough, beat all that was before him with 
magnificent plants ; but all this class were particularly 
good this time; just at their best, and only the best were 
brought forward, so that there was a good deal more 
interest about them than on former occasions. They have 
brought some of them up to perfection, as some say, the 
whole back or upper petals as black as poor Topsy, with 
just a seen crimson ring over the black edges; the fronts 
are of various colours. One, called a real Topsy, in Mr. 
Turner’s group, is, perhaps, the best of these; Con- 
spicilum and Optimum run in this style, Magnet was the 
highest coloured. Purple Perfection is another of them 
with jet black upper petals, a very showy one, as is 
Cloth of Gold, orange-scarlet, and black tops. Ring¬ 
leader, scarlet and dark; Alonzo, ditto; and Ajax, purple 
and black, were the most conspicuous. Pearl , Delieatum, 
Mont Blanc, Exaction , and Virgin Queen, is the order 
in which these live white ones told their own merits 
this time. 
Fancy Geraniums. —These were not nearly so good 
as last month. Mr. Turner had only one of his May 
plants, Perfection, and it was so out of proportion to 
the rest that he put it up as a single specimen ; yet be 
took the first prize with them; Mr. Gains being his 
chief opponent in both classes. Gaiety is the only one 
of these fancies which I have not mentioned already, 
and it is gay all over, white and lilac, about the propor¬ 
tions for a little girl’s dress. 
Cut Roses. —There were twenty-six large boxes of 
cut Roses, but as pot Roses cut the best figure of all the 
exhibition plants, we make no particular mention of cut 
flowers of them; besides, here is nothing in the world 
more dangerous than to select new Roses from cut 
flowers; you might as well select new Dahlias from 
seeing cut flowers only, and we all know hovr that sealed 
the fate of that fancy. 
Pyramidal Geraniums. —The best place in England 
for growing Geraniums for a conservatory and for draw¬ 
ing-rooms is certainly the Regent Park Garden, and 
Shrublafid Park is the next best for them. They have 
them at these gardens just like pillar Roses, and from 
five to eight feet high, and generally four feet across at 
the bottom; the lower branches flower below the rim of 
the pot. Mr. Marnoek, the Curator, began this system 
eight or nine years back. I followed from his recom¬ 
mendation, and my successor crowned what I had only 
began. The present system of showing Geraniums is 
the best certainly for advertising them, and for com¬ 
paring new with old kinds, and all that sort of thing, 
therefore it is a most useful plan, and ought to keep its 
ground in the exhibition tents; but for private use, the 
plan has not the smallest pretension to merit where 
more than two plants of them are seen at one time. 
Two match plants, on the “ squat ” or present system, 
will make a good change in a conservatory, or in any 
of the living rooms or passages leading to them, but if 
you double the pair, the effect is lowered immediately. 
Roses. —Mr. Lane was first, with ten plants, and Mr. 
Francis second, with another ten. There was nothing 
among them which I did not mention last month. 
Stove and Greenhouse Plants. —There never w r as 
a bettor show of these, nor more plants of them put 
together, and there was not a single bad plant among 
the number ; the truth is, that Mrs. Lawronce’s useless 
bushes kept the industrious smaller growers at home, 
and the Societies could not see their mistake in giving 
her medals till her day was over. There were very few 
plants in this large assemblage which I did not see in 
May; the exceptions were Crassidas, S'chnhertia grave- 
olens, Pipladenia splendens and atropurpurea, Xan- 
thosca rotundifolia, Lemonia spectabilis, and three 
[.corns ; all the rest are in my reports of the Chiswick 
Show. 
Orchids. —They stood as at Chiswick in May and 
June. Mr. Williams first, and Mr. Wooly second. Mr. 
Veitcli did not exhibit. Mr. Hume, gardener to Mr. 
Hanbury, of the Poles, Herts, had some' of the best 
specimen Orchids there, particularly an Aerules odo- 
ratum, which had 42 long spikes of bloom, the greatest 
number that ever was exhibited on any Aerules before. 
Mr. Hume had only twelve plants, but judging from 
them, he will soon be a rival to Mr. Williams and Mr. 
Wooly ; his Pludenopsis grandiflora was the best there 
also. I guessed it had 200 flowers open. His Vanda 
teris bad five spikes. Mr. Green and Mr. Wooly had 
nice Barkeria spectabilis, and Mr. Williams had Epiilen- 
drum Verrucosum, which comes the nearest to Barkerias j 
of all the tribe. Mr. Wooly had Peristeria data, with | 
ten flower-spikes, and from ten to twelve flowers on each, i 
the largest number ever exhibited on one plaut. There 
were some very good specimens of Oncidium Lancea- 
num, Sacoolubiums, Aerides, Vandas, Oncidiums, Deu- 
drobiums, and Epidemlrums being the chief plants in all 
the collections. 
Heaths. —They also were much more varied than 
they generally are, and they look better in this kind of 
tent than any other way 1 have seen them. Here are 
the most distinct and prominent— Cavendisldi, yellow; 
depressa, yellow; halicacaha, a very marked kind, with 
large, light greenish flowers, and a close, strong habit; 
Massonii, various ; Mutahilis, nearly scarlet; West- 
phalingia, crimson. 
Fruit. —The fruit was splendid, and most numerous, 
on two long tables, back to back, in the large conserva¬ 
tory, and there were 41 Pine Apples in a row on the 
ridge between the two tables. There were 36 dishes 
and baskets of Black Grapes; 13 ditto White Grapes— 
some of the Muscats tlnee-parts ripe; one dish of the 
grizzly Frontignac; 29 dishes of Peaches and Nec¬ 
tarines, all on one table; on the opposite table were 
five dishes of Black Grapes, and three of White; 12 of 
Strawberries; 11 of Cherries; four of Figs; 45 Melons ; 
five large fruit of the Papaw-tree ( Carrica papaya), from 
Syon Plouse. Mr. McEwen, gardener to the Duke of 
Norfolk, took the best prize for a collection. Mr. 
Henderson, gardener to Sir G. H. Beaumont; and 
Mr. Frost, gardener at Preston Hall, were the next on 
the list. D. Beaton. 
THE CUCUMBER—ITS ENEMIES AND 
DISEASES. 
Having alluded to the Spot on the Geranium last 
week, I almost step out of my path t» advert to the 
above subject, for two reasons—first, to save myself the 
trouble of writing several private letters; and secondly, 
to direct the attention of others more conversant with 
the subject, more prominently to those evils which have 
provod causes of failure for several years past. Not 
only amateurs with but little experience, but some of 
our best gardeners, were very much annoyed with their 
Cucumber crops last season; and some havo no better 
tales to repeat respecting the present. One of these 
worthies, not so very long ago, half joking, half in 
earnest, asked me to tell how these difficulties were to 
be surmounted, or frankly to own that I was just as 
ignorant of the matter as he was; and this is exactly 
the thing I mean to do. 
It is not my purpose to treat of the culture of the 
Cucumber in general; but I would just state, in passing, 
