June 19, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
660 
well-grown plants. With six plants Mr. Hardy again 
came in first; Mr. Johnson, gardener to T. Statter, 
Esq., Stand Hall, second ; and Mr. Elphinstone, third. 
The next class was one for ten plants, bond fide speci¬ 
mens, and here Mr. Hardy again came to the front, 
his best examples being of Brassia Lawrenciana and 
Dendrobium erassinode Barberianum. Mr. A. Cole was 
second. For six Cattleyas in flower, Mr, Hardy again 
beat Mr. Heine’s gardener, showing three very fine 
masses of C. Mossise, a fine variety of C. Mendelii, and 
a C. Skinnerii with eighteen spikes, a lovely mass of 
colour. With three Vandas in flower, Mr. Cole was 
first, showing one of the grandest plants of Vanda 
teres Andersoni we have ever seen, a specimen 4 ft. 
high, 3 ft. in diameter, and superbly bloomed; another 
splendid specimen, but smaller, of V. teres, and a 
V. suavis with seven spikes. 
In the nurserymen’s classes, the leading exhibitors 
were Mr. Cypher, Cheltenham ; Mr. H. James, Lower 
Norwood ; and Messrs. Heath & Son, Cheltenham ; 
Mr. Cypher being first for sixteen, Messrs. Heath & 
Son second, and Mr. James third ; while for ten the 
awards went to Mr. James, Mr. Cypher, and Messrs. 
Heath in the order named. All showed well, but were 
far surpassed by the amateurs’ contributions. 
Dendrobium thyrsiflorum. — A splendid 
specimen of Dendrobium thyrsiflorum is now in full 
beauty at Camp Hill, Woolton, near Liverpool. It is 
an old established plant in an 8 in. pot, and bears 
eighteen massive spikes, one of which is carrying no 
less than fifty-two flowers of good size and colour ; 
Mr. Jellicoe is to be congratulated on the culture of 
of this fine specimen.— IV. 
-- 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
Having got rid of bedding stuff, the different plants 
which have been forced such as Lilacs, Roses, and 
Azaleas (of the Mollis type), which have been stowed 
away must be attended to, or they will be of little 
service for next season. Let all be taken to the potting 
bench and examined as to whether they require potting 
and, also, to see whether the drainage is perfect; those 
that require potting should be given the smallest shift 
practicable, for in all forced plants over-potting is a 
great injury and a frequent source of failure. After all 
are examined, if a coal-ash plunging border is not 
available, choose an open western position in the garden 
for the purpose, but in plunging in soil it is advisable 
to place a piece of slate underneath each pot or they 
will be full of worms in a very short time and cause a 
lot of trouble, added to which they will not thrive as 
well ; all these plants will be greatly benefitted (Rho¬ 
dodendrons and Azaleas excepted) by a dose of liquid 
manure once or twice a week, and in the spring give a 
good return for this little attention. 
Salvias will now require potting on, but be careful 
not to overdo it, they flower much more freely if pot- 
bound ; 8 in. pots are abundantly large. After being 
potted, if they have been hardened off they may at once 
be placed outside. A good plan is to grow them side by 
side with Chrysanthemums, treated in the same manner 
through the summer months they make really good 
stuff, which will flower all the winter through and be 
found most useful. If by any means the Chrysan¬ 
themums are not all potted, lose no time in completing 
the work, it is now quite time this was finished, or else 
from the unripened, undeveloped wood, when flowering 
time comes a poor show of flowers will be the result ; 
the plants may be to all appearance right, but depend 
upon it if the final shift is given too late failure will 
follow. Look well to the plants in the stoves, and see 
that insect pests are not allowed to establish themselves 
or they will play sad havoc, more particularly with the 
points of Crotons, and the leaves of Dracrenas, the last 
named may be readily cleaned by sponging ; the former 
are better if syringed with paraffin oil mixture as 
advised some time since. 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
If the early batch of Melons are fairly healthy after 
the fruit are all cut, the plants should be encouraged 
to grow as freely as possible, so that plenty of good 
foliage may be secured and the old be pruned away, or 
it 'will soon become dirty; regulate the young growths, 
and just at the time when they are coming into 
flower, renew the bottom heat, they will then “set” 
quite freely, otherwise it may be somewhat difficult to 
secure a good crop, in fact, very much depends upon 
the constitution of the plants, and the age of the seed 
from which the plants were raised ; Melon seed, as a 
rule, should not be used the season after being saved, 
unless it is a very tender variety, then it is advisable. 
Cucumbers will now require constant attention or they 
will speedily over-run ; if in frames, water and syringe 
freely; but at the same time stop freely or foliage 
instead of fruit will be the reward, being such hungry 
subjects they must be liberally treated. If grown in 
houses there is danger of their becoming dirty if not 
thoroughly well attended to in every way, that is, by 
frequent light top dressings, and feeding with liquid 
manure, carefully training and pruning, and also shad¬ 
ing from the strong sun, and replanting so soon as the 
plants shew signs of distress, in this way plenty of 
good fruit will be secured. 
The weather still compels us to keep the fires going 
for the Vineries, more particularly in the evening, or 
the houses become very chilly, which must be avoided, 
of course, on wet or stormy days firing must be resorted 
to always. IVe j'esterday gave the inside border of the 
Muscat house a good mulching of manure from the fold 
yard, and a watering to carry a part of the benefit 
hoped for to the roots ; the early vinery must also not 
be neglected at the roots as is very frequently the case, 
for should the border become dry the grapes will not 
keep colour for any length of time, particularly early 
in the season, in fact, it is advisable to mulch all inside 
borders, especially early and mid-season houses. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN 
The stormy weather, although in a measure retarding 
work, allows of the thinning of the different seed-beds 
to be carried on quickly, the surplus drawing very 
readily, any weeds in the rows being of course removed 
at the same time ; the frequent showers greatly benefit 
newly-planted green-stuff', such as Savoys, Cauliflower, 
late Brussel Sprouts, and so on, which must be put 
into their quarters as soon as possible, they will quickly 
take root, and so save much labour in watering. The 
storms have prevented us completing the moulding of 
Potato squares, and we are becoming somewhat anxious 
as they make such a rapid growth, and unless the 
weather holds up, it cannot be done, as it rains with 
us almost every day, and the temperature reminds one 
of autumn rather than the flowery month of June. 
If hoeing cannot be done hand weeding must be 
resorted to, as if the weeds seed, endless trouble will 
be given; remember the adage “one year’s seeding 
gives seven year’s weeding,” so be careful. If the late 
batch of Celery is forward enough let it be planted out 
while the weather is favourable ; look well to the 
sowing of all kinds of salads, so that the supply of 
them may not be short. The trees on the walls will 
now need attention, Peaches will have been disbudded. 
Apricots we have finished tacking, also the Cherries 
which have been netted, to protect from the birds. 
The greater part of the Pears are finished, and next 
come the Morello’s. The seedling-asparagus beds must 
now be singled out, in short, use every endeavour to 
keep work within bounds. — Walter Child, Croome 
Court. 
-- 
FLORICULTURE. 
Pansies and Violas. —What a remarkable feature 
the Pansies and Violas in pots always are at the Great 
Whitsuntide Exhibition at Manchester. It is true 
they are made up plants, but, then, what is allowed in 
Orchids must be permitted in Pansies. Several plants 
are put into an 8-in. pot; but in most cases they are 
so well done that at first sight it might be supposed 
they were all bond fide plants carefully tied out. At 
one time exhibitors contented themselves with putting 
in flowering stems only ; now the specimens must be 
made up of rooted plants. In the nurseryman’s class 
for twenty-six plants Mrs. Eliza Mellor, florist, Chorl- 
ton, was placed first, with all show varieties proper. 
They did not look so showy as the collections contain¬ 
ing mainly fancy varieties, but as the schedule contains 
classes for fancy varieties, the judges rightly gave the 
preference to what was obviously required by the 
schedule. The plants were a little drawn, but the 
flowers were generally of good quality, and the show 
varieties are much more difficult to have in good con¬ 
dition than the fancy sorts. Of yellow grounds there 
were Aldo, Mrs. Harvey, Roebuck, Corsair, Perfection, 
Navar, Lord Itowton, Prince, and Lord Walden. 
White grounds : Mary and Maggie. Selfs : Duke of 
Perth, Cloth of Gold, Mrs. Felton, more properly a 
fancy variety, and May Queen. Mr. J. Hayward, 
nurseryman, Chcadle, came second with fancy varieties, 
as follows : Lord Beaconsfield, Christina, Miss Darling, 
Fred. Perkins, Queen of Yellows, and the following 
seifs, mainly bedding varieties : Blue King, King of 
Purples, Mrs. Laing (white), Mauve Queen, Black Sam, 
Dr. Hardy, and Blue Stone. Mr. S. Robinson, florist, 
Sale, had the best twenty fancy Pansies, showing the 
following in fine form:—Countess of Horne, Mrs. 
Jamieson, Mrs. E. H. Wood, Charles Rylance, Cham¬ 
pion, Mrs. J. Walls, Mabel, Perfection, John Currie, 
Mrs. Birkman, and Thomas Grainger. Second, Mrs. 
Eliza Mellor, with some excellent varieties, chief among 
them being George Vair, Countess of Strathmore, 
Sovereign, John Stratheir, Mrs. E. H. Wood, Thomas 
Grainger, Countess of Horne, Mrs. Jamieson, and Mrs. 
G. Boswell. 
Violas. —Violas were equally charming and quite as 
numerous. Mr. J. Hayward had the best collection of 
twenty in 8-in. pots, full of bloom, and good blooms 
too, comprising Archibald Grant, May Kolb, Holyrood, 
Alpha, Forerunner, Tory, these being blue and purple ; 
White Acme, Alba, Pilrig Park, and Beauty of Sale ; 
Novelty, striped blue and white ; ArdwellGem, yellow ; 
Countess of Kintore, blue edged with white ; Duchess 
of Sutherland, lilac ; and Peach Blossom. Second, 
Mr. -T. Mellor, florist, Didsbury, whose best examples 
were Holyrood, Waverley Blue, Archibald Grant, Ad¬ 
miration, Pilrig Park, Mauve Queen, and Sovereign. 
In the amateurs’ classes, the best six pots of Pansies 
came from Mr. G. Wilkes, gardener to S. Low, Esq., 
Heath Bank House, Cheadle, who staged Mrs. Birkmyre, 
Golden Queen of England, Dr. Hardy, Lightning, Blue 
Stone, and Mrs. Felton. Second, Mr. John Blower, 
Pendlebury, with Mrs. Laing, Cloth of Gold, Dr. Hardy, 
Capt. Spiers, Chas. Brooks, and John Openshaw. Mr. 
Wilkes also had the best six pots of fancy Pansies, 
staging excellent examples of Mrs. Birkmyre, Sultan, 
Fred. Perkins, Mrs. E. H. Wood, Countess of Strath¬ 
more, and P. W. Fairgrieve. Second, Mr. John Blower, 
with Gold Digger, Champion, Mrs. Jamieson, Mrs. 
Neilson, John Currie, and La France. Mr. W. Rose, 
gardener to D. McClure, Esq., Heaton Mersey, had 
the best six pots of Violets, staging well-done pots of 
Picturata, Dixon’s Yellow, Holyrood, Pilrig Park, 
Sovereign, and Alpha. Second, Mr. Wilkes, with 
Archibald Grant, Amethyst, Duchess of Sutherland, 
Pilrig Tark, Spring Bedder (yellow), and Countess of 
Kintore. 
-*->:£<--- 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
Manchester Botanical and Horticultural. 
—June 11th to 18 th. —It is always pleasant to record a 
success, and the more so when that success has been 
well earned, and is of a progressive character. It is 
nineteen years ago since the council of the Manchester 
Botanical and Horticultural Society, led by their able 
Curator and Secretary, Mr. Bruce Findlay, ventured on 
the first of the series of grand Whitsuntide exhibitions, 
which have been held annually since then, culminating 
in the thoroughly representative, and in some respects 
truly remarkable display which was opened to the 
public on Friday week, and which we trust has been as 
great a success financially as it certainly was liorti- 
culturally. The two special features of the exhibition 
were the’Orchids, and the hardy herbaceous and Alpine 
plants ; and if we had to decide upon a third we should 
say it was the show of Pansies and Violas. The Orchid 
show was a magnificent one in itself, thanks to the 
splendid lot of specimens, using the term in the most 
liberal sense, staged by Mr. George Hardy, of Timperley; 
while the herbaceous and Alpine plants of Messrs. James 
Dickson & Sons, Chester, and Messrs. Backhouse & Son, 
York, were in themselves worthy of a journey to 
Cotonopolis; and the Pansies so well grown round 
Manchester would have delighted the eyes of any Scotch 
florist. All these subjects are more fully commented 
upon in other columns, so that we can here devote a 
little more of our limited space to other subjects. 
Of stove and greenhouse flowering and fine foliaged 
plants we have seen larger numbers here, but, perhaps, 
none of finer quality, especially in the amateurs’ 
section, where a young grower competing here for the 
first time had the gratification of being first in two of 
the leading classes. This was Mr. Nicholson, gardener 
to the Earl of Zetland, at Upleatham, who scored first 
honours for ten fine foliaged plants, and for eight stove 
