September 22. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
577 
ripened, and, indeed, never could be, whilst decay had 
already commenced at the huge pips near the stalk. 
Wax Flowers form a prominent object at the Liver¬ 
pool show. Miss Newton, a professional of the Min- 
torne school, and Miss Leatlierbarrow, daughter of the 
very indefatigable secretary, being the chief exhibitors. 
It will be no disparagement to say, that Miss L.’s flowers 
are perfectly worthy to occupy the same bunch with 
those of the professional, who is, I believe, understood 
to lie “ well up ” in the art. 
In taking a hasty glance, therefore, over the Liver 
pool exhibition, which I have attended as judge for 
many years, I can but pronounce it one of steady 
progress, as to the past, and one from which great 
things may be expected in future. The administrative 
department is conducted with vigour, and in a manner 
tending to avoid all confusion, and qualified to give the 
utmost confidence to the exhibitors; indeed, it is rare 
to bear of dissatisfied exhibitors. I may now, with due 
deference, offer a few suggestions as to future progress, 
which I do the more readily, inasmuch, as if my re¬ 
marks carry any weight, they will apply to other 
Societies equally. It is well known, that not all the 
visitors to theso exhibitions are botanists, florists, or 
fruitists ; the majority care not a fig about the progress 
of horticulture, which, after all, is, or ought to be, the 
grand basis and aim of all such Societies. It is all 
very well for otherparties to use exhibitions occasionally 
for other purposes, but our great central societies must 
not allow their grand purpose to be warped by tem¬ 
porary expedients. Rut then, the question is, how best 
to promote so high a purpose? how to draw down 
abundance of visitors, in order that flourishing funds 
may enable the executive to act with vigour, without 
which, vitality cannot long be preserved ? I am pre¬ 
pared to affirm, then, that the majority of visitors take 
their impressions, and feel their chief interest, in the 
general richness, gaiety, and freshness of the general 
impress. There should be something, in fact, in the 
accompaniments which may serve both to attract and 
to relieve the eye. Plants in pots, however well grown, 
however rare, are not capable of carrying out the prin¬ 
ciple in its full sense. I speak, of course, with regard 
to the ordinary observer. As matters calculated to in¬ 
crease such interest, there are Ferns, Mosses, basket- 
plants, floral devices, bouquets, and wax flowers; and 
for an August or September show, choice fruits in pots. 
As to Ferns, they must continue to advance, in a bo¬ 
tanical sense, but they are of much use in the show¬ 
rooms as a relief; by their beautiful green unaccom¬ 
panied by any glare of colour, they throw power on the 
coloured tribes, and create a zest in the perambulator 
as he paces the tents. Mosses—here we have untrodden 
ground, and if Mosses should advance in public favour 
one day, which I do not doubt, the Fungi will not long 
remain in the back ground. Simple as these things may 
be considered, individually, they constitute a feature, 
and it need scarcely be urged, with regard to public 
exhibitions, that variety is essential, and that the 
greater it is—other matters of interest being in due 
proportion—the more attractive will they prove, and 
the greater the inducement to visit succeeding ones. 
Ry Basket-plants, I do not mean simply pots dressed up 
in baskets, with moss, &c., although these are all very 
well in their way, but 1 mean pendulous forms, grown 
in baskets, and suspended, here and there, from the 
roof of the exhibition tents. Very little has been done 
this way, but our worthy friend and clever coadjutor, 
Mr. Fish, recently devoted a chapter to those things, in 
which the matter is set in bold relief. Those who are 
interested in the mode of culture will do well to study 
Mr. Fish’s paper in The Cottage Gardener. 
Floral Devices, too, are a source of much attraction, 
as well they may be; but I must say that we seldom 
meet with a high order of taste in these things. Where 
prizes are given for them, I think it would be well 
to make it understood that taste in design would, in 
the eyes of the judges, go before nicety in execution. 
These floral devices are, of course, generally very 
rich in colour, and in that respect alone much pro¬ 
mote the end in view. Rouquets are, perhaps, the 
worst done things at our exhibitions; somehow there 
seems a natural inaptitude in John Rull for bouquet 
making; there is too much packing; they look as 
though the maker had only one object, viz., to get as 
many flowers as possible crammed into a small space. 
Cut flowers, in glasses, may be made a matter of separate 
interest; but they require a different arrangement to 
what we have been accustomed. 
It is a difficult matter for the judges to make their 
award, where annuals, shrubs, stove-plants, and orchids, 
mingle together pell-mell; these should be shown in sepa¬ 
rate classes. The most important classes for this section 
would be, I think, hardy annuals, herbaceous plants, and 
hardy shrubs, as the other classes are tolerably well repre¬ 
sented in pots, &c. Now, to bring out these objects in 
a stylo worthy of such important towns as Liverpool 
and Manchester, the prizes should be pretty good ; and 
I do think that the councils of such societies would do 
well to attach more importance to first prizes, and less 
to second and third. Thus, to give, as I saw in the 
Liverpool schedule (now before me), ten shillings for 
the best floral device, seven shillings for the second, 
and three-and-six-pence for the third, is only to encou¬ 
rage mediocrity. If the aggregate of twenty one-and- 
sixpence only must be given, I would give sixteen shil¬ 
lings to the first, and the remainder to a second. Rut 
a good floral device requires much skill in design, and 
much of trouble in execution ; and, I should say, that a 
sovereign would not be too much for a first, and, per¬ 
haps, seven shillings for a second; a third being out 
of the question. 
Having disposed of the Liverpool, I may now be per¬ 
mitted, perhaps, to offer a few remarks on the Man¬ 
chester Show. These, however, must be few, as I have 
but a very limited experience of affairs in that quarter. 
The day of exhibition was very auspicious, and a great 
deal of good materials were gathered together, consider¬ 
ing the lateness of the season, and the fearful amount 
of rain which Manchester, with its environs, is so 
notorious for, even in ordinary seasons. It must be 
confessed that neither in quantity nor quality of 
exhibition matters were they quite equal to Liverpool; 
at least, to speak more guardedly, they were not so 
at the last show, wdiich is the only one I have been 
present at for some time. Rut, if this be correct, it is 
not to be wondered at; as, probably, there are more 
good gardens about Liverpool. The Manchester folks 
are more of the utilitarian class. Rut provision is being 
made which will go far to establish it in a first-rate 
position. Hitherto, the meetings, like Liverpool, have 
been held in tents; but, henceforth, it is intended to 
hold them in a permanent building, to be built for the 
purpose; a kind of crystal palace. The drawings are 
provided, and, I believe, all but concluded on. There 
is to be a very extensive and lofty nave, with, I believe, 
a dome centre, as a rallying point, and in order to give 
effect to the sky outline; and a handsome transept, with 
crescent terminations. Those who are familiar with the 
interesting gardens of this Society at Old Trafford, will 
remember the bold promenade which runs east and 
west before the range of lofty plant-houses. The nave 
then, I understand, is to run in a continuous line with 
this promenade, at some distance from its termination ; 
and thus a charming perspective will be afforded through 
the nave as part of the promenado. If I have any ways 
misunderstood the affair, I have no doubt some one will 
set me right, as I merely received a hasty verbal 
