140 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 29. 
tenure of Gore House came to an end that week. How i 
the Society came to have their show there at all was a I 
mystery to the “ Times ” itself, but I can solve it in a 
few words. 
The Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 
got possession of the garden, and a large piece of ground 
adjoiniug, for the good of the nation, for a National 
Gallery, some day, and for other great things as they 
may happen ; but Mr. Soyer rented the ground at the 
time of the Exhibition and turned it into a “ soup- 
garden to get rid of the idea of the smell of a kitchen 
was, therefore, a practical difficulty in the way of the 
Royal Commissioners, just as the distance to Chiswick 
is a May fix for our Society; then, to kill two birds with 
one stone, the Commissioners resolved to give the use of 
this garden to the Horticultural for a May show, and 
what with the superabundance of Roses and other sweet 
flowers, and a large concourse of the fashionable world, 
Gore House is now elevated to the highest mark of royalty, 
and sweeter than it ever was befoi'e, or, probably, will ever 
be again as a “ national” of any kind. 
Prince Albert being the first of the Royal Commis¬ 
sioners, Her Majesty made it a point of being the first 
visitor to the show. 1 arrived there soon after ten o’clock, 
but the royal party and suite were then half through with 
their inspection, without being seen, except by those who 
were officially engaged in the garden. In the absence of 
the Duke of Devonshire, the President of the Society, the 
Earl of Burlington, assisted by Dr. Lindley, conducted 
Her Majesty over the Exhibition. The Queen seemed 
much struck by the Roses and the fruit. A single fruit 
of the Mangosteen , the finest fruit of India, was pointed 
out more particularly to Her Majesty, with which she 
seemed much gratified, and gave a “ broad hint” to 
Prince Albert about having a Mangosteen of their own 
some day. Her Majesty was well “wrapped up,” but 
kept the party on the move all round, as if to keep 
them from “ catching” the damp, chilly air. Soon after 
they left the garden, the Duchess of Sutherland arrived, 
with a large suite, including my little countryman, the 
Duke of Argyle, and a nice boy, dressed half-highland 
fashion—a fashion I can never “ abide ; ” but to under¬ 
stand that, you ought to have seen Rob Roy when the 
Bailie suggested the weaving trade for his two boys. 
The prevailing fashion among the crowd was to guard 
against the east wind as much as possible. 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 
The “ Derby ” part of the show—the best collections 
of Stove and Greenhouse—was contested by Mr. Dod, 
gardener to Sir John Calcraft, Bart.; Mr. Green, gar¬ 
dener to Sir E. Antrobus, Bart.; Messrs. Eraser, of the 
Lea Bridge Nursery; and Mr. Barter, gardener to 
A. Basset, Esq., Stamford Hill; that is the order in 
which they came up to the winning post. The first time 
I saw Mr. Dod, the winner of the best gold medal, was 
under the tea-table, in a pinafore, when liis father and I 
were about to start to Epsom, to buy the first of the fancy 
Calceolarias. The first collection was magnificently grown, 
and consisted of Boronia jpinnctta, four feet by four feet; 
Pimelea spectabilis, four feet by four feet; Adenandra 
speciosa, three feet high and four feet through; Erica 
Cavendishii, six feet high and five feet through; double 
red Azalea indica, Aphelexis macrantha purpurea, Gom- 
pholobium harbigerum, four feet high and five feet 
through ; Eriostemon myoporoides, four feet high and 
three feet through; Chorozema illicifolia, six feet high 
and five feet through ; and Azalea■ exquisita, five feet 
high and six feet through. 
Mr. Green had Azalea purpurea macrantha, six feet 
high and four feet through; Aplielexis macrantha 
purpurea; Eriostemon intermedium, five feet high and 
tour feet through ; Daviesia umbellata, Pimelea spectabilis, 
\ four feet high and five feet through ; double red Azalea 
indica, eight feet high and four feet through ; Pimelea 
Hendersonii, well bloomed, three feet high and four feet 
through ; Azalea Iveryana, most beautiful, five feet by 
five feet; Franciscea calycina, well bloomed; Aphelexis 
macrantha, Polygala Dalmatiana, four feet by four feet; 
and Epacris miniata grandiflora, a fine thing. 
The Messrs. Fraser had Pimelea spectabilis, four feet 
high and five feet through; Azalea Fielderi, a fine 
white, four feet high and five feet through; Erica. 
Cavendishii, four feet by four feet; Pimelea Nieppergiana, 
in flower, a small edition of spectabilis, three feet by 
three feet. Polygala Dalmatiana, Erica Webbiana, 
Gompholobium harbigerum, Eriostemon scabrum, Aphelexis 
spectabilis, Azalea speciosissima, a large red one; Leschc- 
naullia formosa, four feet through ; Boronia serrulata. 
Erica pinifolia rosea, Adenandra speciosa, and a splendid 
Boronia tetandra, five feet by four feet through. 
Mr. Barter had Gardenia intermedia, a variety of 
florida, five feet high and three feet through ; Adenandra 
fragrans, not forward enough; Polygala acuminata, 
three feet by three feet; blue Leschenaultia, getting bare 
at the bottom, otherwise a fine head ; Pimelea Hender¬ 
sonii, Erica Cavendishii, a fine Stephanotis fioribunda, 
Ixora crocata, and a, noble Clerodendron squamatum. 
You see, by the three last named plants, that Mr. Barter 
kept to the letter of the law, and lost the day, while his 
three formidable rivals dashed on right through the 
parchment, and left their “ stove plants” at home. 
ORCHIDS. 
The next gold medals were offered for the best col¬ 
lections of Orchids, and here again was a tremendous 
struggle, but the field was wider. The Messrs. Rollison 
and Veitch fought it out, hand to hand, for the trade, 
while private growers were grouped together for an inde¬ 
pendent start of their own, but the prize was “ value 
for value” in the two classes. On the part of the trade, 
Mr. Veitch won the first gold medal with the following: 
—Phalcenopsis grandiflora, with six spikes of bloom ; 
Dendrobium anosmum, the first time 1 ever saw it in 
public—a beautiful thing—long, leafless, half-drooping 
stems, clothed with purplish blossoms; Dendrobium 
Farmeri, with nine drooping spikes of white flowers, 
Aerides virens, with four spikes of bloom; a large Den¬ 
drobium nobile, Cypripedium villosum, in full bloom; 
Cattleya ianthina, with nine flowers; Cypripedium bar- 
batum, with twenty-tw r o open blooms; Trichopilia coc- 
cinea, with brown for scarlet flowers; Dendrobium densi- 
flonm, with twelve drooping spikes of gold, in yellow 
flowers, as dense together as the name implies; Calanthe 
veratri/olia, with fifteen flower-spikes, one of the oldest of 
the ground Orchids; Cattleya Shinneri, the finest of the 
group, with large, deep rosy flowers, and twelve spikes 
lull of them ; Oncidium ampliatum major, the best and 
surest of all the yellow Oncids, with three long spikes, 
each of which branching off again to carry more bloom ; 
Vanda insignis, and Vanda suavis, about eight feet 
high. 
Against these, the Messrs Rollison pitched the follow¬ 
ing— Phalcenopsis grandiflora, with three long, branched 
spikes of bloom; Cypripedium barbatum, with twelve 
blooms , Sobralia macrantha, with twelve blooms; Balia 
purpurata, a new one three years back, with two flower- 
spikes, and nine handsome blooms; Dendrobium nobile, 
Dendrobium chrysantlium, with four spikes of the softest 
yellow flowers, with fringed lips; an immense bush of 
Oncidium sphacclatum, Vanda teres, Vanda insignis, 
Maxillaria temiifolia, Cyrtochilum stellatum, not often 
seen, with thirty-six spikes of straw-coloured blooms; 
Cattleya Aclandce, with the usual two blooms, and no 
more ; Trichopilia cocoinea, Dendrobium Dalhousianum 
—they scandalize his Lordship’s name in England by a 
