August 25, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
821 
in competition, one may be sure a good display is 
furnished. Mr. Cypher had the best twelve stove and 
greenhouse plants in flower; Mr. Lock coming in 
second. Mr. Cypher also had the best six specimens. 
In the amateurs’ class for twelve Mr. Lock was first ; 
and Mr. Wills second. Mr. Lock was also first with 
six ; Mr.- C. Lucas being second. In the class for 
eight fine-foliaged plants Mr. Lock was first with a 
very fine lot, Kentias and Cycads being a leading 
feature ; Mr. Cypher was a good second. Mr. Lock 
also had the best six specimens ; and he was first with 
eight exotic Ferns ; and also with six. So much then 
for the leading classes. Groups of plants arranged for 
effect were introduced for the first time in two classes, 
and though they fell short of what we are accustomed 
to see round London, they were yet of a very promising 
character, and prophetic of better things to come. 
Mr. C. Lucas was first in the class for a larger group ; 
and Mr. Wills in that for a smaller. 
Tuberous-rooted Begonias were a very fine feature, 
some admirably-grown and bloomed plants, of large 
size and fine quality of flower, being staged. In the 
open class for eight specimens, the best came from Mr. 
H. Godding, nurseryman, Taunton. In the amateur’s 
class for the same number, Mr. W. B. Helland, the 
chairman of the committee, had a very fine lot also. 
There were some admirable Achimenes from Mr. C. 
Lucas. The best newly-introduced plant with orna¬ 
mental foliage was Alocasia Van Houttei, from Mr. 
W. C. Drummond, of Bath ; Mr. Cypher coming 
Celosia pyramidalis. 
second with Nephrolepis rufescens tripinnatifida. The 
best newly-introduced plant in bloom was Odonto- 
glossum Harryanum, from Mr. Cypher—a very good 
piece indeed. 
Cut flowers were scarcely seen to the best advantage. 
Dr. Budd, of Bath, sent some good cut Roses, as 
usual, though such things as Dahlias, Asters, Gladioli, 
Verbenas, &c., were poor compared with previous years. 
But when Nature is in an awkward mood, who is equal 
to the task of forcing her hand ? 
Table decorations were an object of considerable 
interest, and two tables were laid out according to 
what is said to be the latest London fashion. In one 
case some light “Liberty” material was laid uponthetable 
in folds, and rising above it were three stands filled 
with scarlet Poppies and Grasses. The contrast was a 
very violent one, as might be supposed. 
Fruit was neither so extensive nor so good in point 
of quality as it is generally seen at Taunton. Mr. 
Ward, of Longford Castle, was to the fore with eight 
dishes ; Mr. Iggulden, of Marston, being a very close 
second. Mr. W. Baffin had the best four dishes. 
Messrs. Ward, Pratt, Daffin, and Webber were to the 
fore with Grapes. Peaches and Nectarines were fairly 
good, but hardy fruits showed the late character of the 
season. The best dessert Apples were Astrachan and 
Beauty of Bath, while Lord Suffield gained all the 
honours as a culinary variety. 
Vegetables, and especially Potatos, were numerous 
and very fine. The special prizes offered by Messrs. 
Sutton & Sons and Webb & Sons brought a very keen 
competition. In the Potato classes some excellent 
tubers were shown. Messrs. Lucombe, Pince & Co. and 
Messrs. R. J. Veitch & Son, of Exeter, put up groups of 
plants and flowers, not for competition ; the latter had 
blooms of Mr. C. Turner’s new yellow ground Carnations, 
and First Class Certificates were awarded to Almira, 
Anne Douglas, Agnes Chambers, and Dorothy. Mr. B. 
R. Davis, nurseryman, Yeovil, had some good plants 
and cut blooms of Begonias, and a Special Certificate 
was awarded to the strain of double varieties. Messrs. 
Kelway & Son, nurserymen, Langport, had a collection 
of cut spikes of Gladioli, Delphiniums, Gaillardias, &c., 
and First Class Certificates of Merit were awarded to 
Gladiolus Regalia, Orbit and Faust, three very fine 
varieties; a single pale blue Delphinium, Thomas 
Baines ; and to Gaillardia Socrates, a large single, and 
G. splendidissima plenissima, a very fine and distinct 
double variety. 
The exhibition of the co-operative societies at the 
Crystal Palace on Saturday, the 18th, came next in 
order, but as your own reporter was present I can 
safely leave it to him to supply details of the display. 
It was an interesting exhibition, and brought together 
a great throng of people, apparently from all parts of 
the country.— R. D. 
-- 
CELOSIAS AND COCKSCOMBS. 
Botanically the numerous forms of these old-fashioned 
garden subjects are all Celosias, and the Cockscombs 
receive that name from the crested or fasciated inflor¬ 
escence of a garden form of a plant growing wild in 
Asia. It was first introduced to this country in 1570, 
and consequently long before botanical nomenclature 
was so well defined as it is at present. The wild form 
of the plant has a pyramidal and branching inflor¬ 
escence, and should, therefore, have received some 
specific name, while the cultivated plant should have 
been described as a variety of it, not with specific rank 
as at present. Our illustration below shows a very much 
reduced figure of the crested form, the stem of which 
terminates with a single head. That named C. japonica 
Crested Cockscomb. 
is a form of pyramidal^ branching habit, with the 
branches terminating in single heads, smaller of course 
than in the Cockscomb proper, but very pretty when 
well grown. There are several forms of C. cristata in 
cultivation, as well as differently-coloured varieties of 
C. pyramidalis, including red, crimson, yellow, white, 
maroon and other shades, which afford great variety in 
the conservatory during many months of the year 
by sowing batches at different times. The general 
habit of these plants is shown in our illustration of C. 
pyramidalis, but variations from that type are exceed¬ 
ingly numerous. Sometimes flowers are produced in 
great quantity, and bracts in other cases producing 
different effects. C. argentea has linear leaves, and 
branches freely, with each shoot terminating in a 
narrowly pyramidal spike. C. Huttoni is grown for 
the beauty of its foliage, as are some of the species of 
Amaranthus, belonging to the same family. All 
of these should be sown in light, rich, sandy soil, in 
pans stood upon a hot-bed, and potted into small 60- 
sized pots when fit to handle, and plunged in a bed of 
coco-nut fibre close to the glass, in a temperature of 65° 
by night and 70° or more by sun heat. When the 
heads appear, the best may be selected and the plants 
shifted into 48-sized pots, watering well both before 
and after the operation. When the roots have taken to 
the fresh soil, water more sparingly, keep them near 
the glass and ventilate more freely, so as to encourage 
the development of fine heads. The taller-growing 
kinds, such as C. pyramidalis, if they have been grown 
strongly, will require a larger final shift than is given 
to the Cockscomb. 
GALLS ON THE YEW. 
Some trees of the common English Yew (Taxus baccata) 
are particularly liable to a malformation of the leaves 
on the tips of the young growing shoots and great 
numbers of trees in certain localities are particularly 
liable to be infested with the malady, if such it may be 
called, seeing that it is the work of a grub or larva of 
an insect. That numbers of trees in a locality should 
be infested in this way might be accounted for by the 
surroundings being suitable to the welfare of the perfect 
insect, or it might merely result as a consequence of 
one tree attacked by the spread of the insects from 
another already attacked. 
During the summer season little cones of leaves may 
be noticed on the tips of the smaller branches, and 
these increase in size as the summer advances. The 
normal two-ranked arrangement of the leaves has been 
destroyed by the arrest of the growth of the internodes. 
As a consequence they present a spiral arrangement 
exactly similar to those constituting the true fruiting 
cones of such Conifers as Pinus, Picea, and Abies. 
What is more remarkable, the outer ones are small, 
dry, pale brown and bract-like, while those im¬ 
mediately inside them are short, and much broader 
than usual. From thence towards the apex of the 
shoot or centre of the cone, and constituting by far the 
greatest bulk of the gall, the leaves are long and 
narrow, gradually becoming extremely short in the 
very centre. From sixty to ninety are'packed away in 
the small compass of a single cone, according to its 
Celosia japokica. 
size, illustrating the remarkable effect of a very small 
animal. 
If these cones are carefully examined at the present 
time under a dissecting microscope, the grub may be 
found securely protected from injury almost in the very 
centre of the mass of leaves, where the latter become so 
short that it requires careful work to remove them 
singly. The grub in question is a very soft-bodied 
one, and easily destroyed. It may readily be dis¬ 
tinguished from the small pale-coloured leaves by its 
brownish orange hue, and can easily be removed by 
wetting some finely-pointed instrument—a small knife 
or a needle ; while by lifting it into a drop of water 
on a glass slide it may be examined at leisure 
under a compound microscope, and measured by the 
microtome. 
It is oval in outline, blunt at both ends, and consists 
of ten segments or rings, the head being scarcely 
distinguishable from the abdominal end. The segments 
are with great difficulty distinguishable, except by the 
small crenatures representing them on the sides of the 
creature. The dorsal part of the body is convex, while 
the ventral surface is flat ; but feet are scarcely, if at 
all discernible, nor are they required, as the animal 
is surrounded by its food while protected from enemies 
by the dense covering of leaves. The whole length of 
the grub is slightly over 1-100 of an inch, and it 
measures 1-166 of an inch in breadth. 
Although it cannot be said to materially injure the 
Yew trees unless very badly infested, yet it may dis¬ 
figure them in time. The only remedy is to collect 
the little cones and burn them.— J. F. 
