113 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 28, 1858. 
to bo seen without a hunting telescope. Between these 
flanks, and behind the cross-laid Pompones, on one side, 
and the organ for the other side, stood the grand centre¬ 
piece of the day and of the occasion, for which more 
money was offered, and wisely offered, than for any class 
or item of the show. 
This centre group was of a collection of fine-leaved 
plants, for which five pounds were offered. They were 
supplied by the Messrs. Jackson, of Kingston, every 
plant of which was a fine grown specimen,—such as 
Livmgstonia, Aspidistra, Aralia, Monsteria, Dasylirion, 
Herberts trifareata, Maranta vittata, and several kinds 
of Palms. 
The second prize in the same class was awarded to Mr. 
Jlhodes, gardener to P. Phillpotts, Esq., of Stamford Hill. 
Among his plants were —Acrostichum alcicorne, Bignonia 
rex, silver-leaved Pine plants, Cissus discolor, Aspidistra, 
Pandanus javanica variegata, Farfugium grande , Aralia 
paparifera, and others. 
An extra first prize in the same class was given to the 
collection from the Wellington Hoad Nursery. There 
were different Rhopalas, including— It. Jonghii, Ja.ca- 
randra Clowesiana, Begonia splendida argentea, Ficus 
imperialis, Grevillea longifolia, Fourcroya gigantea, Mon- 
steria pertusa, and others. 
The best six Pompones were those set in pairs in front 
of the chair, from Mr. Wiggins, gardener to Mr. Beck, 
of Isleworth, and for size of plant and bloom were never 
exceeded. If anything could reconcile one to the flat 
way of training, it must be the perfection of the art as 
here set forth. The first pair were General Canrobert 
and Brilliant, the middle pair Mustapha and Durufiet, 
the third Bob and Helene, all over four feet across, and 
in geometric circles, in the first style of art, growth, and 
bloom. 
Mr. Wortley, of Stoke Newington, took first and 
second prizes for collections of mixed large kinds and 
Pompones. The first with— Defiance, Prague, and Pilot, 
in large kinds ; and in Pompones— St. Thais, Drin Drill, 
Requiqui, La Vogue, Sultana, which is like Helene, and 
Trophic, I think. The second with— Vesta, Mount Ftna, 
Annie Salter, Ccdo Nulli, Helene, Brilliant, LJ Escar- 
bouclc, and Durufiet. 
In the Nurserymen’s class, Mr. Bragg was first, with 
—Drin Drin, IHlene, Aurore Boreale, Madame Fould, 
Mustapha, Comte Achille Vigier (spelled Archille ), Re¬ 
quiqui, Cedo Nulli, Asmodie (spelled Asmoides) General 
Canrobert, and Adele Prisette. 
Mr. Forsyth, of Shacklewell, was second, with— St, 
Thais, Adonis, Jonas, Alexandre Pelee, La Vogue, Re¬ 
quiqui, Aurore Boreale, Nelly, and Bob. He was also 
third best, with —llSlene (four feet across, and upright 
trained), Bob, Marabout, Madame Rousselon, Cedo Nulli, 
Comte Achille Vigier, Adonis, Madame Celeste, Philopel 
(a fine yellow), Requiqui, and a creamy-white kind, 
named Nitida, or Vidita, which I saw for the first time. 
AIL Mr. Mae’s plants were trained after nature, not 
screwed down, like the feet of the Chinese women. 
In the large Chrysanthemums (of ten plants in a col¬ 
lection), Mr. Argent, nurseryman, of Stoke Newington, 
was first. His plant of Christine was full eight feet in 
diameter, probably the largest ever seen ; Eclipse, De¬ 
fiance, Albin, Alfred Salter, Vesta, Pluto, General 
Havelock, a trick of trade,—it is an old kind, which was 
superseded by Pilot. I knew it well twenty years back, 
but, like the boy and his letters, “ I cannot mind the 
name ’on him.” This collection formed the righthand 
flank, looking up to the organ ; and its match flank on the 
left was from Mr. Macintosh ; but I could only read the 
front names ; the rest were too far up the glen, towards 
the corrie, for me. They were — Chevalier Dumage, 
Christine, Poudre d’ Or, Hermine, and Auguste Mi6. 
For ten Pompones, hy amateurs, Mr. Shrimpton, gar¬ 
dener to A. Doxat, Esq., Putney Heath, came in first, 
with Durufiet, Madame Roussillon, GSnSral Canrobert, 
Hellne, Requiqui, Comte Achille Vigier, Mustapha, 
Auiumnum. Brilliant, and Madame Fould, which was 
over three feet in diameter, although he could only buy it 
very small last April or May. 
The Cut Flowers were all from one person, Mr. J. H. 
Bird, a celebrated nurseryman from the centre of the 
Chrysanthemum world, at Stoke Newington. The Princess 
Mary of Cambridge admired them more than all the rest. 
After going all round with the Duchess of Cambridge, 
she said she was not wanted away-so soon as her mother, 
and would stop to have another look ; and Mr. Bird, with 
1 a large Chrysanthemum stuck in his button-hole, told her 
Highness all about them. But whether he let out the 
secret of dressing them is more than I could learn, 
j They were certainly most splendidly done, and all in lots 
of one dozen of a kind, thus—twelve of each of Queen of 
England, Beauty, Plutus, Dupont de VEure, and 
Themis. Also, twelve mixed kinds, thus — Nonpareil, 
j Bequte du Nord, Alfred Salter, Arigena, Trilby, Virgil, 
! Etoile Polaire, Hermine, Miss Kale, Elizabeth, Antigone, 
and Madame Andre. For these he had an extra first 
prize, and deserved it. 
Mr. Oubridge, of Stamford Hill, was second, with 
twenty-four blooms mixed, some of them two of a sort, 
thus— Two-coloured Incurved, Queen of England, Beauty, 
Madame AndrS (not drey), Defiance, Alfred Salter, 
Queen of England, Themis, Nonpareil, Plutus, New¬ 
ington Beauty, Madame Lcbois, Madame Andre' again. 
Two-coloured Incurved ditto, lyutea Formosa, Dupont de 
VEure, Racine, Hermine, Raymond, Stellaris Gldbosa, 
and Etoile Polaire. 
The spelling of the names were nearly perfect here, 
and at the Crystal Palace. Drine Drine and Ceda 
Nulli were the only two wrong spellings at the Crystal 
Palace ; and Archille for Achille, Audrey for Andri, and 
Hermione for Hermine, were the only breaches here. 
But the florists’ are wrong in adopting Hermine. Her¬ 
mione is a classical name, for which there is no law for 
taking liberties with. 'Whipcord is, therefore, better 
than money prizes for good spelling at exhibitions. Just 
show the people of a whole village, that the beau of the 
parish is so thick in the skull, that he cannot spell the 
names of common plants, and my word for it, he would 
soon learn to spell them in Greek characters, if it was 
necessary to keep the girls from quizzing him. 
The newest, and the only really new Chrysanthemum, 
was a sport Pompone, after the habit of Cedo Nulli, and 
with the exact flower of La Vogue. A good hand, like 
Mr. Wiggins, might bring out La Vogue itself to be as this 
one was exhibited. But Mr. Bird, who had a prize for it, 
adopts it as his own seedling. Six small plants of it, from 
late propagation, were beauties, after nature herself. 
The other newest pot plant was a most useful-looking, 
dwarf, bushy, rosy Melastomad, called Heterocentrum 
roseum. There were three plants of it, from Messrs. 
Spary and Campbell, of Brighton. It would bloom in 
the drawing-room all the winter. 
Also, Calicarpa rosea, from Mr. Standish. A hardy, 
useful shrub, well furnished with clusters of small, rosy 
berries, which remain on all the winter. 
There were cut flowers of a high-coloured seedling 
Tydcea, from Mr. Elliot, gardener to Lord Ilchester. 
And a bunch, or cluster, of unripe fruit of Musa Caven- 
disliii, the dwarf Banana, from Mr. Hamp. 
Grapes. —The same exhibitor was first again this year 
with Muscats of Alexandria, even superior to those with 
which he first surprised us at Willis’s Booms. Mr. 
Drewett, gardener to Mrs. Cubitt, has now beaten all 
competitors in Muscats. He was also first with a dish of 
Any White Grape, for which he selected the Trebiana, 
the three bunches of which weighed 12 lbs. The second 
best in Muscats was B. Crawshay. Esq.; and Mr. Hill, 
from Keele Hall, was next to Mr. Drewett, with White 
Syrian Grapes. Mr. Hill was first, with a dish of Black 
Hamburgh ; second, Mr. Tillyard; and third, Mr. Frost. 
