July 13. 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENEB, 
273 
deodara, Taxodium scmpervirens, Cryptomeria japonica, 
and other coniferous plants, varying in height from one 
foot to sixteen feet. It is gratifying to know that this 
beautiful tribe of plants is now being planted to a large 
extent in the new Cemetery which is being formed on 
Woking Common, and which will, in a few years, pre¬ 
sent one of the most extensive examples of ornamental 
planting which has ever been executed in this country. 
To Mr. Donald’s good taste and judgment in the execu¬ 
tion of this part of the work, which has been entrusted 
to him, very much of the future beauty of this immense 
undertaking will mainly be attributable. H. 
THE LIVEEPOOL ELOEAL AND HOETICUL- 
TUEAL SHOW— June 2!)th. 
I have attended this exhibition as judge for many 
years, and can fully attest its constantly advancing cha¬ 
racter. There is a vast amount of emulation in the gar¬ 
dening way about this mighty commercial emporium, 
this city of merchants, whose fame as first-rate men of 
business, and whose riches are the talk wherever civil¬ 
isation exists, and, indeed, far beyond such bounds. The 
world will, therefore, very naturally expect something 
superior in whatever Liverpool men undertake, and in 
horticultural matters a stranger would scarcely feel dis¬ 
appointed. There is no clap-trap here; all carries the 
impress of substantiality, and shows plainly the utili¬ 
tarian tendency of all that Englishmen take in hand. 
Much credit is due to Mr. Leatherbarrow, who, as 
honorary secretary, carries out his duties in the most 
indefatigable, emulous, and clear-headed style imagin 
able; not a stone is left unturned that can secure a good 
show, contribute to the comfort and convenience of 
visitors, or stamp system and method on every proceed¬ 
ing. This much I am proud to be able to say, and long 
may it continue to flourish. 
The weather had been given to rain previous, and 
the morning looked lowering, but the day progressively 
improved until about four o’clock, when another drizzle 
occurred, not quite the thing for silks, satins, muslins, 
&c., about which my friend Donald discourses so elo¬ 
quently when he turns his eyes on the world of fashion. 
However, it merely caused a little wholesome scamper¬ 
ing. I need scarcely say that a good band added to the 
pleasures of the day. It was truly delightful to witness 
the zest which the elite of Liverpool appeared to possess 
in the affair, and the number and elegance of the pro- 
menaders, together with the number of vehicles at the 
I gates for hours, bore ample testimony to the gratifica- 
; tion the Liverpool people receive through the medium 
of gardening. 
And now to particularise in detail the comparative 
| merit of the various exotics, hardy things, or fruits and 
! vegetables, would be in me unbecoming ; the Liverpool 
! papers will manage that affair. I feel it a duty rather 
to point to the chief features, for 1 am perfectly ignorant 
I as to who won the first prizes and who the others. I 
i would, then, point to the Geraniums, Ericas, Calceolarias, 
Fuchsias, and Verbenas, as, in the main, fit to take their 
stand at Sydenham, Chiswick, or the llegent’s Park; 
they were, on the whole, well done. 
The size in the Verbenas was remarkable; there were 
whites that might, at a distance, be takeu for the old 
Gueldres ltose—regular bouncers. Without vouching 
fpr complete accuracy in the names, I must point to 
{Janary Bird , Mary, Auricula, Annie Laurie, Conqueror 
of Europe, Princess Alice, and Napoleon Buonaparte, as 
first-rate. I examined the soil they were in, for they 
were really astounding in point of size, and, as far as l 
could discern, it appeared to be a free loam or alluvium, | 
with much old cow-dung, sharp sand, and, perhaps, a 
little old peaty material. 
The Stove and Greenhouse specimens were many of 
them done in first-rate style. Allamandas, Aphelexis, 
Boronia, Leschenaultia, Cyrtocera, Steplianotis, &c., 
were well-represented. Fancy tints, too, were interest¬ 
ing; some very fine Cissus discolor, Ancectocliilus, &c. , 
There was a most beautiful specimen of Hoya Leila, and 1 
a six-feet Logestrcemia indica in fine bloom ; this good 
old plant is not mot with every day. Orchids were not 
very extraordinary, although there was a good Sacco- 
labium guttatum, an Ac rides affine, Cattleya Auchlandia, ' 
and the fine Oycidium ampliation majins. Boses were I 
the worst done of anything. I really cannot imagine j 
how it is they do not try to go a-liead in this queen of i 
flowers. Some excellent floral devices graced the tables; 
there is great advance here, and I congratulate them on j 
their advanced position, for they not only lead to advance j 
in taste, but when good are of eminent service in add¬ 
ing to the general effect of the tents; and as to the 
public interest in them, that is well attested by the 
crowding around them. 
In Buuquets for hand I could perceive no advance; a 
most unmeaning manuerism prevailed through all of 
them. It is astonishing that English people are so slow 
to advance in these matters; they would do well to take 
a lesson occasionally from their Parisian friends. There 
are, I suppose, two distinct kinds of bouquets, the one 
artistic, the other natural. Now, it is all very well for a 
Hodge to offer his Nell a bunch of flowers pulled at 
random, and tied with a wisp of tough grass ; we may 
admire it, too, in the hands of a coarse country wench, 
chiefly because it assorts with her dress and condition 
hotter than a highly-artistic bouquet, and because it is 
met with where choice exotics are almost unknown; but 
such a bouquet would ill assort with the superb dresses 
of the affluent, and worse still with the gorgeous asso¬ 
ciations of the modern drawing-room or boudoir. 
Those who make bouquets should well consider these 
things, for the any-how-plan will not do in these times 
with a public constantly accustomed to high art in 
everything connected with their persons or establisli- 
1 ments. 
i And now 1 may observe, that Wax Flowers constitute 
a very popular feature at these shows; not that such a 
vast quantity is produced, but that those which are seem 
, to elicit much commendation from the ladies, who are by 
far the best judges of such productions. Miss Newton, 
of Eenshara-street, Liverpool, who produces excellent 
stands, was, it seems, a pupil of Minton's, and gives 
lessons in this interesting art; in her stands there were 
some beautifully done things; and amongst the rest one 
of those monstrous Aristolochias, which astonish even 
those accustomed to Nature’s eccentricities. Miss 
Leatherbarrow, daughter to the honorary secretary, had 
! a set scarcely second to Miss Newton; some nicely done 
things here. Miss L., however, exhibits simply as an 
amateur. 
Again, we had a nice lot of Ferns and Lycopods vory 
well grown, and lots of specimen flowers in glasses. 
I may now just advert to the Fruit and T ’’eyetable ; 
portion of the Exhibition; and here I found capital j 
Grapes (mostly Ilarubro’s), Peaches, and Nectarines, of | 
respectable character, and lots of Melons; amongst 
these, the Trentham blood, in various grades, was readily 
perceptible. Some very fine Strawberries; the best, our 
old favourite the British Queen; and sundry other 
appurtenances of the dessert, on the whole good, hut 
scarcely any Pines. Vegetables were, indeed, abundant; 
the benches were in much peril of breaking down beneath 
the ponderous load they had to sustain. Cauliflowers 
by the hundred, from two to three feet circumference; 
Carrots of all grades, from the small, neat Horn variety, 
