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THE COTTAG-E GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Juke 15, 1858. 
158 
land, at Sion House, wlio liad also Mines in pots. 
Ten dislies of Strawberries, thirty-three Pine Apples 
(the heaviest being over 9 lbs., from Mr. Daily, Shar- 
deloes) ; twenty-two dishes of Peaches and Necta¬ 
rines, and ever so many Melons, and Cherries, 
gathered, and on qfiants in pots, of which there was 
a goodly row of other fruit trees, were the best 
samples of healthy growth I remember to have ever 
seen exhibited. 
After seeing all the fruit and flowers, the royal party 
went over the tents and garden machinery department, 
and remained a long time admiring the handsome con¬ 
servatory, which is put up in first-rate style by Mr. 
Chanson,' the hothouse builder, of Stanley Bridge, 
King’s Road, Chelsea, for the purpose of showing the 
gardening world what can be done for love ana money. 
Whether the Queen intends to buy this handsomeyon- 
servatory for Osborne, or Balmoral, or to send it to 
Berlin, to the “daughter of England,” no one knows, 
because no one happened to be there to take the order 
from Her Majesty. But, surely, when the Queen of 
England looks over boilers, hot-water pipes, watering- 
pots, nets, screens, hoes, rakes, and all manner of tools 
and implements, and then turns to the grand display 
of glass houses of kinds, there ought to be some one 
to answer royal questions. 
Messrs. John Weeks and Co., of the King’s Road, 
Chelsea, as usual, exhibited several sizes of their very 
powerful tubular hot-water boiler, of the same con¬ 
struction as those which they fixed at Messrs. Hender¬ 
sons’ Hursery, and several other large establishments, 
now so generally known as Weeks’ Qne-boiler System. 
They also exhibited some very superior brass valves, 
for stopping the circulation of hot water. Also various 
forms of pedestals and stacks of pipes, showing that a 
hot-water apparatus can be made ornamental, of va¬ 
rious designs, suitable for conservatories, or entrance- 
halls, or even for a drawing-room. They also exhibited 
many models and drawings of conservatories, some 
very elegant in design. Also, other horticultural 
buildings, suitable for every required purpose. 
H. Beaton. 
[We will give the prize-list for fruit next week.— Ed.] 
MACHINES AND IMPLEMENTS. 
On Tuesday last, a trial of mowing machines took place, 
at the Gardens, before a large company of gentlemen, wlio 
appeared to take a lively interest in the matter. The spot 
selected for the competition, was a portion of the Arboretum, 
where the ground is of uniform surface, and the grass of 
equal length and thickness. A certain space was allotted to each 
exhibitor, on which to operate with his machine, and about two 
o’clock the proceedings commenced. Colonel Challoner, and 
Mr. Easton, of the firm of Easton and Amos, engineers, 
Southwark, were appointed Judges ; and the manner in which 
they performed their arduous and delicate office, met with 
universal admiration. The machines present on the occasion 
were those of Messrs. Shanks and Co., Arbroath; Mr. Eerra- 
bee, of Stroud; Mr. Samuelson, with Boyd’s patent sharpener 
and cleaner; and Mr. Green, of Leeds. They were all of the 
same length in the cutter, namely, twenty-two inches, except 
that of Mr. Green, which was twenty-four inches, and were 
worked by two men,—one drawing and the other pushing. 
Each of the machines worked six minutes thirty-five seconds, 
and then the surface of grass it had cut was measured, and 
the machine itself examined. After each machine had per¬ 
formed its work, it was suggested that trials be made of the 
way in which they cut round the trunks of trees; accordingly, 
four trees were selected, lots were drawn for places, and the 
work was executed. The Judges then retired to consider 
their decision, and the principle on which they decided, was 
by the quantity of square feet cut per minute, and by the 
quality of work, construction of machine, and lightness of 
draught; the three last being decided by points, the maxi¬ 
mum of excellence being represented by sixty. On the return 
of the Judges, the following decision was announced:— 
Time. 
Nlimber of Square 
Feet cut," 
• 
Quantity cut per 
Minute. 
Quality of Work, 
represented by 
Points. 
Construction of 
Machine, repre- j 
sented by Points. I 
Lightness of 
Draught, in Points. 
Total Points. 
Price. 
Green ... 
m. s. 
6 35 
1,600 
242 
50 
50 
GO 
160 
£ s. 
8 10 
Shanks . 
G 35 
1,302 
197 
45 
50 
40 
135 
7 10 
Ferrabee 
6 35 
1,503 
228 
15 
45 
50 
110 
6 
0 
Deane ... 
6 35 
1,046 
158 
25 
10 
60 
95 
6 
8 
(Signed) C. B. CHALLONER. 
EDWARD EASTON. 
The decision was just what was anticipated, all present being 
satisfied of the manifest superiority of Green’s machine, both 
in construction, lightness of draught, and superiority of work. 
One of the great advantages the machines of Green and of 
Shanks have over the other two is, the provision made for 
turning, by which the smallest curve can be made as easily as 
with a wheelbarrow ; and, in this respect, these had the 
decided advantage in going round the trunks of the trees, 
which they did close up to the base, while the others laboured 
hard and did not reach it. 
In that part of the garden allotted to the structures and im¬ 
plements, the most prominent objects are two conservatories,— 
one erected by Mr. Ormson, of the King’s Road, Chelsea, and 
the other by Mr. Gray, of Danver’s Street, Chelsea, both of 
which are chaste and elegant in their design, and durable in 
their construction; but that of Mr. Ormson is very ? much 
larger than the other. Here we observed a large collection of 
Artificial Fruit , exhibited by M. Alessandrini, of Lyons, but 
at present residing at No. 8, Queen Street, Golden Square, 
London. It consisted of many kinds of fruit—Apples, Pears, 
Plums, Peaches, Eigs, Walnuts, Chestnuts, and Cherries. 
The Apples, Pears, and Plums, were admirable, as were also 
the Chestnuts, but all the others were failures. Some were 
the finest we had ever seen done artificially, particularly the 
specimens of Gloria Mundi Apple; and Duchess d ’ Angouleme, 
Beurre Diel, Beurre Clairgeau , Faster Beurre , and Vicar of 
Winkfield Pears. The material used is a composition of a 
resinous substance, mashed paper, and plaster of Paris; and has 
the advantage over wax of being remarkably strong, and not 
liable to crack, by changes of temperature, as that substance is. 
In Mr. Gray’s house were several examples of Maw's Geome¬ 
trical Mosaic Pavements, in many various designs : and some 
ornamental pots exhibited by Messrs. Apsley Pellatt and Co. 
Close by, we observed an example of a new mode of glazing, 
invented and exhibited by Mr. John Sangster, of Cumberland 
Place, Newington Butts. The principle consists in securing the 
glass without putty; allowing the free expansion and contraction 
of the glass, when under the alternating influences of heat and 
cold ; and in the facility with which repairs can be executed. 
The plan is very simple, and appeared to us to be a decided 
improvement on the old method; as it is not merely a more 
speedy mode of glazing, but, by the mere removal of a few 
strips of wood, the whole of the glass may be removed at 
pleasure, either with the view of cleaning between the laps, 
or of conveyance to another place. 
Messrs. John Weeks and Co., of the King’s Road, Chelsea, 
had a marquee erected in the Arboretum, where they exhibited 
examples of their garden structures. A long tent, extending 
the whole length of the implement inclosure, was occupied by 
Messrs. G idney, of Dereham, with a very extensive collection 
of garden implements of all kinds, and articles of domestic 
use,—such as Cucumber slicers and Kidney Bean cutters,—and 
also a large stock of garden thermometers. The other ex¬ 
hibitors, in this part, were Messrs. Neighbour and Son’s, with 
bee-hives ; Apsley Pellatt and Co., with ornamental pottery ; 
and Mr. Hill, of the Haymarket, with garden cutlery. In 
Ewing’s glass walls, were collections of mathematical and 
philosophical instruments, from Mr. Casella,' of Hatton 
Garden, among which we observed his very excellent maximum 
and minimum garden thermometers, with zinc scales, which 
never corrode nor become obliterated ; also, a gardener’s mi¬ 
croscope, a rain gauge, and other instruments of that descrip¬ 
tion. We have had some experience of Mr. Casella’s garden 
