IS78 .] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
127 
more favourable conditions and with happier re¬ 
sults. The Preston Committee worked well, but 
somehow seem to have failed at the opening to excite 
the enthusiasm of the townspeople, upon whom, no 
doubt, the commercial inactivity, the recent strikes, 
and the riots had acted depressingly, and over whom 
the dripping clouds also had cast a damper. 
— ©he Thirty-fifth Anniversary Festival 
of the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Insti¬ 
tution took place on July 3, at the “ Albion,” 
Aldersgate Street, under the presidency of Robert 
Mamock, Esq. This gentleman has been so long 
known and so highly esteemed amongst horticul¬ 
turists, that a large attendance was looked for, and 
this expectation was realised, the hall being well 
filled, and the subscription list reaching to over 600 
guineas, the largest amount, with one exception, 
obtained at any of the festivals held in support of 
this well-deserving charity. 
— ©he show of the Richmond Horti¬ 
cultural Society on June 27 was favoured 
by brilliant weather and active royal patronage, 
so that success was almost assured. There was one 
immense tent for the chief floral classes, one for 
special prizes, one for table decorations and cut- 
flowers, one for fruit and vegetables, and a fifth for 
cuttings. Messrs. Veitch’s and Williams’ groups 
were very effective. Mr. Kinghorn won first place 
in the competition for effective arrangement. Mr. 
James took the lead in the Pelargonium classes, 
with bright, fresh-looking plants. A large com¬ 
petition in table decorations lay chiefly between 
ladies of the locality ; cut roses were shown largely 
and well j and of fruit there was a good display. 
The entire show was a marked success, thanks to 
the energetic labours of the active Hon. Secretary, 
Mr. A. Chancellor. 
— ©he National Carnation and Picotee 
Society (Northern) is to hold its Exhibition 
on August 3, 5, and C, in conjunction with the 
great Cottagers’ Flower Show in the Botanical 
Gardens, Manchester. Schedules may be had on 
application to the Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, 
Rev. F. D. Horner, Kirkby Malzeard. Certain of 
the classes are open to all, others to growers of 400 
pans or less, and others, again, to growers of 180 
pans or less. Any flower, or stand containing a 
mutilated flower— i.e., one with a false pod, petals 
clipped smooth, or calyx clipped, will be disqualified ; 
as also will flowers having self petals, or bizarre 
petals in flakes, or inserted petals. The flowers are 
to be shown on cards, and their names to be plainly 
written, and easy for reference to the blooms. 
— 0f Seedling Carnations and Pinks, 
Mr. Dodwell reports as follows:— Carnations : 
H. M. Hewitt , Chesterfield. Crimson bizarre, 
first-rate in every respect—marking, colour, quality, 
form of petal, texture, and smoothness. A most 
desirable variety, something between J. D. Hextall 
and Captain Stott, but quite dissimilar. What is 
it to be called ? Charles Buckland, Chesterfield. 
Neither of the flowers sent has any pretension to 
first-class excellence; the Rose-flake is far behind 
the best of the present day. No name or advice, 
postmark Wakefield. 6 blooms—4 scarlet flakes, 
Nos. 16, 29, 39, 40,1 crimson bizarre, No. 2,1 purple 
flake, No. 45. Had been packed with dry cotton 
wool, and consequently were too much collapsed to 
admit of a critical opinion on their merits. Judging 
from the remains, all are worth further trial, though 
neither indicated any advance upon the best 
existing varieties. Pink : Sami. Brown, Hands- 
worth, Birmingham. 1, light purple, bright, well 
laced, large and full; 6, dark purple, would take 
high rank, save that the petal is inclined to curl; 
15, heavily laced purple, the marginal colour paler 
than the eye, but good; red-laced, unnamed, and 
unnumbered, very broad in the lacing, but wants 
substance and smoothness. The three numbered 
varieties are the best. Each deserves cultivation, 
though no advance upon the best already distributed. 
— resident on the west coast of Ayr 
recommends as Shrubs for sea-shore plant¬ 
ing Blackthorn and Austrian pine, to go close 
to the sea; next in order, common Hollies, then 
evergreen Oak, Arbutus, Sweet Bay, and the finer 
evergreens, pines, &c., all of which will live and 
thrive, notwithstanding the salt in the air, if they 
have only protection from the wind. The Evergreen 
Oak grows into a splendid tree. The Araucaria, 
Sequoia, Taxus, and Cypress tribe will not form 
specimens without shelter from the wind, although 
twenty degrees of cold do them no harm whatever. 
— ©he New Zealand Flax has recently 
been recommended as constituting one of 
the best materials for tying plants. It is 
superior to bast or Raffia grass, and being green, is 
not unsightly. The leaves should be cut as they are 
wanted for use; they split freely, as fine as thread, 
and almost as strong. It is a matter of great con¬ 
venience to have a plant growing in the herbaceous 
border from which a few leaves have only to be cut, 
to supply oneself with a good tying material which 
costs nothing. 
— ©HE Hablitzia tamnoides is scarce in 
cultivation, but its merits as a hardy climbing 
perennial should secure it a place in every 
garden whose proprietor loves plants. In Mr. 
Wilson’s garden, at Weybridge, where we have 
often admired it, its profuse foamy masses of green¬ 
ish flowers, like those of the Black Bryony, espe¬ 
cially attract attention, as do the leaves, on ac¬ 
count of their very long taper points and crimped 
edges. The individual flowers, though small and 
inconspicuous, are very elegant in the mass. The 
plant has tuberous roots, and as it is a native of the 
Caucasus, it should be quite hardy. 
— Decaisne has come to the con¬ 
clusion that the shrub usually called Syringa 
persica is rather S. chinensis, and that the 
epithet Persian Lilac should be abandoned in 
favour of Chinese Lilac. The true Syringa 
persica has, it seems, become very rare in cul¬ 
tivation. In spite of the appellations, the native 
country of the two species is still unknown, wild 
specimens not being found in herbaria. The species 
in question are, up to this time, only known in a 
cultivated state. How odd, remarks the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle, this ignorance concerning the habitat of 
many cultivated plants ! It is only the other day 
that the Horse Chestnut was found wild; and even 
now no one has seen the Mignonette in a wild state. 
— ©he Madresfield Court Grape has 
been charged with the fault that its berries are 
apt to crack or burst when nearly mature ; and 
no doubt that has been often the case, possibly from 
various causes, but chiefly from too copious a flow 
