July 24. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
■291 
or Old Variegated Scarlet, and a new one, which was 
lately sent out, I think, by Mr. Osborne, of Fulham. 
It is called Brilliant, is a good Scarlet lor abed, and the 
leaf is more after the Mangle’s Variegated than any of' 
them; and if it holds true in the open air this would 
make a very distinct bed. 
There was a large collection of very pretty Sweet 
Williams in pots, and in cut bowers, from Mr. Bragg, 
of Slough, and two collections of pot Verbenas, grown 
on two different plans; one being upright plants, and 
the other trained-down plants, on a flat, circular trellis, 
a little above the pot. This is the best plan for many 
of the Verbenas; but it is quite evident that Verbenas 
may he grown in pots, to vie, in size and bloom, with 
the Pelargoniums. 
ROSES. 
Cut Roses were in abundance and in good condition. 
The finest of them, and the best cut Roses which I have 
seen this season, were from Mr. Mitchell, of Piltdown 
Nursery, Maresfield, Sussex. Among them General 
Jaqueminot, a hybrid perpetual, was the best high- 
coloured Rose ever exhibited. Paul Ricaut, Duchess of 
Norfolk, and the Geant des Batailles must yield to it, as 
exhibited by Mr. Mitchell. Messrs. Lane, Paul, Francis, 
and Wilkinson, also showed extensively ; but to run out 
all the names would fill two pages, and then be of little 
use, without remarks to guide those who do not know 
them individually. Mr. Busby, gardener to J. Crawley, 
Esq., Mr. Levy, gardener to Lady Pullen, and Mr. 
Munro, gardener to the Earl of Clarendon, were among 
the private exhibitors of cut Roses. 
FERNS AND LYCOPODS. 
There were two or three collections of Ferns; but 
not knowing much about them, and not seeing any very 
particular sorts, I did not take their names ; but Lycopods 
I do know, and admire in preference for amateurs. They 
were very good indeed at this show, and stood in the 
names of Messrs. Veitcli, Wooly, and Gidney. The 
upright ones are now called Selaginella; they were in 
sixes, and placed in pairs, one above the other, and 
Mr. Veitcli, who seems determined to practice staging 
for effect, places them thus— Cordata and Wildenovi in 
the centre; forvnosa aud Galeotti on one side, aud 
umbrosa, with incequalifolium, on the other side. Here 
the two Hank pairs were as well-matched as this kingdom 
can produce, while the centre was sufficiently distinct 
from the more delicate and longer leaves, or fronds. 
Mr. Wooly had his thus— Wildenovi and Mertensi-, 
flexuosum and ccesium arboreum ; umbrosum and 
Caesium; and Mr. Gidney thus— Mertensi and stoloni- 
fermn; Wildenovi and caesium arboreum; apodum and 
viticulatum . Apodum is the dwarfest, and the most com¬ 
pact of all Lycopods known to us, and the right sort for 
amateurs for planting in such bulb pots as flower 
without leaves, as the Guernsey Lily, or any such 
VARIEGATED PLANTS, AND FINE-LEAVED 
PLANTS. 
Now, I have 150 names, or plants, rather, to mention 
under these heads, and I could make a lecture on them, 
if 1 had room, but too much of a good thing is not a 
good thing; besides, 1 am asked by a correspondent to 
give a detailed history of certain variegated plants 
which are named in former reports, and it occurred to 
me that I might do worse than give a full view of a 
good number of the plants belonging to these two 
classes, and, perhaps, my own private opinion on their 
fairness for this style of exhibition. At all events, I 
shall lump a good many of them in the way I have 
been asked for the variegated. D. Beaton. 
Average Illness among the Labouring Classes — 
Mr. Finlaison, in his second report upon Friendly So¬ 
cieties, affords some interesting information. At the 
age of 45 he states that 99 out of 100 benefit clubs close 
their doors to the admission of candidates, and we find 
that above that ag-e the number of illnesses begin to 
increase. Between 15 aud 10 the average number of 
days per annum with porsous engaged in general labour 
is 0J; between 10 and 20, 0£; between 20 and 80, 7; 
between 41 and 40, 8f; between 40 and 5 L, 104; be¬ 
tween 51 and 50, 12f; between 50 and 01, lOf; between 
01 and 00, 23§-; and between 00 and 71, 36 days. 
Mr. Finlaison adds, on an examination of the amount 
of sickness per annum recorded for the whole mass of 
the male members of friendly societies, from the age of 
15 to that of 85, it may be premised that almost exactly 
five years’ sickness is undergone by the man in the 70 
years of time. But during the period of labour—that is, 
from the commencement of the 10th year of age to the 
close of the 06th—there are in this 51 years but 78 
weeks, or exactly one year-and-a-half of sickness. Fur¬ 
ther, that in respect of this period of labour, the sickness, 
during what may almost be termed its second moiety— 
viz., from the age of 41 to that of 00—is almost exactly 
the double of that undergone in the previous moiety— 
from the age of 15 to that of 41 years. For the sickness 
during the first 26 years of manhood is exactly half-a- 
year, or 182^ days, while it is 362£ days, or almost 
exactly oue whole year, during the next ensuing 25 years 
of maturity. 
NORTHAMPTON HORTICULTURAL SHOW. 
July 12. 
There are several things that seem essential to the 
success of floral exhibitions, such as first-rate specimens 
of horticultural skill; favourable weather; good music; 
and an opportunity for visitors to promenade upon the 
green sward, or along the shaded walk, according to 
the bent of their inclinations. 1 use the word success 
in a pecuniary, and not merely in a horticultural, point 
of view. ’The most splendid specimens of horticultural 
skill may stand upon exhibition tables unnoticed, save 
by the enthusiastic few, because a drenching day may 
prevent the sweet flowers of humanity going to inspect 
those “ stars of the earth,” those gems of vegetable 
loveliness, between whom and our sisters—aye, and our 
world-wide brothers, too—we trust that there will be a 
growing influence, a more, than mesmeric attraction, 
and pow T er to elevate aud refine. All accounts concur 
in speaking in the highest terms of the Exhibition at 
Chiswick on the 11th; but how few could there be to 
admire ! on a day in which the rain had no resting 
point. Such a matter is of less importance to a wealthy 
Society, and especially to one where the great proportion 
of the tickets have been issued beforehand; but to a 
provincial institution, and especially to one that has 
gone to considerable expense in previous preparations, 
and whose pecuniary resources depend, to a great extent, 
upon the entrance-money of visitors, such a pouring day 
as that of Wednesday would too often be the precursor 
of paralysis and extinction. 
In the present state of the Great Horticultural Society, 
I, and every gardener with whom I have conversed, 
deeply grieved that such a day should be experienced on 
the concluding fete for the season; for though a dead 
loss could easily be got over by an institution supported 
by the wealthiest in the land, were the most affluent 
members, for once, just to double or treble their sub¬ 
scriptions, I would rather have rejoiced that the sorae- 
what waning good fortunes of this noble Society—that 
w'as the first in the field, and has done an untellable 
