May 15. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
107 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
There were three kinds of crimson Rhododendrons, of 
the Arborea crosses with Cataubiense, in cut blooms, 
from a gentleman in Kent, who said, or wrote to say, 
that they withstood the late frosts uninjured, and they 
were as brilliant as Arboreum itself. There was also a 
faggot of the young wood of Maclura aurantiaca, or the 
Osage Orange of the United States; the shoots were 
from eight to ten feet long, from the size of a switch to 
that of a small walking-stick, and all as thickly set with 
thorns as a Rose-bush, and the thorns as formidable as 
those of Cobbet’s Locust, or Robinia pseudo acacia. 
This is a formidable hedge plant in the United States, 
but too tender for hedges in England, otherwise, it 
would be better than our thorn hedges. 
FRUIT. 
The best Blade Hambro’s were from Mr. Clements, of 
Oak Hill, East Barnet; the second best, from Mr. Eling; 
and the third best, from Mr. Mitcbel, of Brighton. The 
best Pine, a Providence , 7lbs., was from Mr. Robinson, 
gardener to Lord Boston; the second, from Mr. Fleming; 
and the third, from Mr. McEwen, of Arundel. He 
had also the best vegetables, best Strawberries, and best 
Raspberries; and Mr. Fleming had two citron-sized, 
handsome Melons, called Trentham Hybrid , white flesh. 
I tasted one of them, which was deliciously sweet and 
high-flavoured. One would think such a Melon was a 
cross between the Queen’s Pocket Melon and some of 
Ispahan kinds. D. Beaton. 
and everything was so well arranged by the indefatigable 
secretary, Mr. Macquire, as to show them off to the best 
i advantage, and made the task of judging the relative 
i merits a comparative sinecure. 
It is not my intention to mention the particulars of 
the show, leaving these and the names of the successful 
competitors to the local journals. A few of the most 
salient points only will be noticed. 
VEGETABLES. 
These, as usual, were shown in splendid condition. ! 
The collections of Mr. Gardener and Mr. Watts were 
first among gentlemen’s gardeners and market gardeners 
respectively. The Onions in the first, and the Brocoli 
and Asparagus in the second, were very fine. A new 
feature was introduced here which deservedly attracted 
much notice— The best tray of Salads —and was eagerly 
competed for; Mr. Barber being first. He had a beauti¬ 
ful Cucumber, excellent Lettuce, Radishes, &c., and a 
great variety of all the smaller salading. Among the 
cottagers, the Onions, Potatoes, and Cabbages, were 
particularly good, and some of the Carrots and Parsnips 
were also very fine. 
FRUIT. 
Fruit was scarce, consisting chiefly of WyJcin Pippin 
Apples, good Keen Strawberries, from Mr. Gardener, 
and excellent Blade Hamburgh Grapes, from Mr. Mackie, 
gardener at Delapre. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
HINTS SUGGESTED BY THE NORTHAMPTON¬ 
SHIRE SHOW AND PROVINCIAL EXHIBI¬ 
TIONS GENERALLY. 
Few that had the fortune to ride any distance upon 
the top of a coach on the evening of the 3rd of May, 
where the wind was equally strong and piercing, wouid 
readily forget the clouds of dust, which rendered 
respiration difficult, the driving hail and sleet that 
ensued, followed by*the sharp frost of the morning. 
For fully ten weeks the fields may be said to have been 
without rain, with a north-east wind continually blow¬ 
ing. The fields of Wheat, and other crops sufficiently 
advanced, had been duly rolled, alike to pulverise the 
surface and place the fine soil close to the necks of the 
young plants ; and this operation, so necessary in 
general, had, in many cases, proved a misfortune, as the 
finely-divided soil had been swept off by the winds, and, 
in some cases, the young plants had been swept away 
likewise. The hedges, instead of exhibiting the young 
tender foliage of May, looked like fences of earth, so 
thoroughly was every twig and spray loaded and covered 
with dust. 
Such weather, marked likewise by great chaugeable- 
ness as to sunshine and cloud, led me to anticipate that 
some things would be found out of the usual reckonings 
at the Northampton Show on the 4th ; while the severe 
cold would keep several large exhibitors away altogether; 
and in both surmises the result showed but too much 
correctness, the large room being rather more thinly 
supplied with objects of exhibition than usual, and 
though the visitors were numerous, and seemingly much 
delighted, they came not at all in proportion to the size, 
the wealth, and the intelligence of the locality. 
Though, therefore, on account of the absence of some 
exhibitors, there were fewer objects than usual; and the 
peculiarities of the season, and more forcing than cus¬ 
tomary, had prevented some things, such as Cinerarias, 
reaching the previous Northampton standard of excel¬ 
lence, the most of the plants were in superior condition, 
Those little beauties, the Polyanthuses, were entirely 
awanting. Good specimens were exhibited of the 
various edged Auriculas. A beautiful, well-formed, 
purple self was shown, with a clear white eye, named 
Jupiter, said to be a seedling. These were all exhibited 
by one grower, but I forgot the gentleman’s name. Mr. 
Archer was first for Heartsease, but he and other 
growers had found the season too much against reaching 
their previous excellence with this lovely flower. The 
Cinerarias, as above remarked, were not as they used to 
be, partly owing to the season, and partly to growing 
the plants admirably in large pots, the tendency of 
which is to give fine foliage at the expense of small 
umbels of bloom. I mention this latter fact here, be¬ 
cause I noticed, at several country exhibitions last year, 
that the evil was a growing one, especially with what 
may be deemed next to annual plants. Now, in 
almost every case, unless extra time is allowed for the 
roots to get somewhat matted before the flower-stems 
are much grown, the result will be, fine plants, but the 
bloom the opposite of massive. Perhaps I may be 
wrong, but it strikes me that the newer kinds of Cine¬ 
rarias, though superior in form, are apt to be rather 
spindly in their growth, and require the reverse of ovei*- 
potting, to cause them to throw up dense, compact 
umbels of bloom. As somewhat corroborative of these 
remarks, the best Calceolarias, exhibited by Mr. Walker, 
were in the smallest pots, and another noticeable thing 
about them was, they were not disfigured by a single 
stick. Some people seem to imagine that a faggot of 
nicely whited stakes, placed with something like mathe¬ 
matical precision, whether really wanted or not, are 
essential to the beauty of a plant. Playful satire has 
done what common sense, and even regard for health and 
happiness, seemed powerless to accomplish—banished, 
or. at least, modified the “ chevaux-de-frise" of whale¬ 
bone and steel, in which our ladies, and foolish dandies 
of the other sex, encase themselves, imagining all the 
while that such crutcheting and bending are necessary 
to perfect the beauty and comeliness of the “ human 
form divine ” Would that we gardeners saw that every 
screw, stake, or crutch, is so far a drawback from the 
