104 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 18, 1890. 
FLOfjlCLLTlJf^. 
The Florists Laced Pink. 
All who really feel interested in the future welfare of 
the florists’ laced Pink, cannot be too grateful to Mr. 
Richard Dean and Mr. "William Wardill for their recent 
articles upon the June and July exhibitions, held in 
London and Manchester, and for their valuable sug¬ 
gestions as to the future prospects of this charming 
variety of florists’ flower. The London show certainly 
cannot be looked upon as a success; it was exceedingly 
disappointing and surprising to me, as it would 
doubtless be to others, at finding so few amateurs to 
the fore with their exhibits. 
We must all feel thankful to Mr. Wynne and to 
Mr. Ranger Johnson for the good assistance they 
rendered in the time of need, more especially to the 
latter for undertaking the duties of honorary secretary 
when no other volunteer presented himself. 
It would be unfair now to complain of anything one 
may imagine was wanting in regard to bringing all Pink 
growers or amateur florists to the Royal Aquarium ; and 
although it would probably have proved more advan¬ 
tageous to the object generally had someone with more 
leisure time on their hands have officiated as secretary, 
it would be ungenerous as well as unwise to find 
fault with the past. 
As to the bulk of the prize money going to Mr. 
Turner, that will more likely be beneficial to the 
National Pink Society than otherwise, as the support 
of Mr. Turner can always be fully relied upon. As a 
trade grower and exhibitor of florists’ flowers, Mr. 
Turner will, without fear, hold his own in both respects 
as he has done for so many years past, but this should 
not debar amateurs in their efforts to come to the 
front at all subsequent exhibitions, as there can be 
special classes arranged in the future for trade growers 
as Mr. Wardill suggests. 
I do not agree with that gentleman that all the trade’s 
contributions should be given back to them as prize 
money, because the higher the position they obtain as 
cultivators and exhibitors of the Pink, the greater will 
be their prospect for increased business with the 
amateurs. 
The Manchester exhibition, held at the Botanical 
Gardens, July 19th, was on the whole a success ; thanks 
to the unlimited efforts and liberality of those ever- 
ready supporters — Messrs. Barlow and Findlay—of 
horticultural and floral work. The actual exhibits, 
like those of London, were not numerous, but Pink 
growers, including Mr. William Campbell, of Blantyre, 
N.B., F. Morton, Esq., of The Grove, Meridale, 
Wolverhampton, and Mr. Charles F. Thurstan, of Penn 
Fields, Wolverhampton, travelfed from 70 to over 200 
miles to stage their blooms ! With such existing 
enthusiasm at the back of the Pink, there need be 
little fear of the high standing in which it will here¬ 
after appear as a florists’ flower. 
The London and Manchester sections of the National 
Pink Society are not, however, sufficient to meet the 
requirements of the midland counties’ growers. As Mr. 
Richard Dean says in his report, p. 744, July 26th, any 
date which would suit the London growers would be too 
early for the midland growers, and the date suitable for 
the northern growers would be too late for the growers 
of the midlands. It is therefore wisely suggested that 
efforts be made to hold a show in conjunction with the 
great Wolverhampton Floral Fete, to be held next year 
on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of July, which dates it is 
considered would suit all Pink growers in the 
neighbourhood of Birmingham, and the surrounding 
districts. 
With the hope of furthering this object I have been 
to Wolverhampton, and had an interview with Mr. 
W. A. Green, sen., president of the Wolverhampton 
Horticultural Committee, and I am pleased to say 
with very satisfactory results, as Mr. Green has not 
only consented to find the necessary tent-space for 
exhibiting the Pinks, but he has most kindly and 
liberally agreed to recommend his committee to con¬ 
tribute the sum of five guineas as prize money to the 
Midland Section of the National Pink Society. I am 
glad to state that this was not the only piece of liberality 
I met with in that good old town, for my esteemed 
friend, Mr. F. Morton, an enthusiastic florist, volun¬ 
teered to guarantee a subscription from his friends of 
another five guineas. With a fund of ten guineas 
guaranteed, I venture to announce that the show of 
the National Pink Society (Midland Counties Section), 
will be held next July on the dates mentioned above, 
and I do sincerely trust that this amount may induce 
all Pink growers and other florists, and lovers of 
florists’ flowers to at once give this exhibition their 
cordial support, it being understood that any subscription 
will be placed exclusively to the Midland Counties 
Pink Society, and the names of any trade firm, 
amateur Pink grower, or otherwise, will be gladly 
received by Mr. Charles F. Thurstan, hon. sec., pro 
tem-., Penn Fields, Wolverhampton, or by F. Morton, 
Esq., president, pro tern., The Grove, Meridale, 
Wolverhampton. 
No time will be lost in organising a committee of 
management, preparing a prize schedule, and submitting 
particulars to all subscribers and intending exhibitors. 
The latter I advise to lose no time in getting their 
Pinks permanently planted out into their blooming 
beds. Pinks lace more regularly by being planted in 
the autumn than if deferred to spring. 
Anyone who may be desirous of purchasing Pinks, 
should order them at once ; they are very cheap, and 
supplies can be obtained from any of the leading trade 
growers.— James Thurstan, Finsbury House, Richmond 
Road, Cardiff, October 13 th, 1890. 
Advantage of New Seed. 
In your last issue, p. 88, “W.W.” advises sowing 
seed of the Primula tribe as soon as it is ripe ; and I 
should like to re-echo his advice. I bought a con¬ 
siderable quantity of Primrose and Polyanthus seed 
from various firms in the early part of the year, 
and sowed it with the greatest care ; but have been 
terribly disappointed with the result. As soon as my 
own plants had ripened their seed, I gathered and 
sowed it. The result has been a splendid crop of 
fine seedlings. It is quite evident, therefore, that 
new seed saves much time and disappointment. — C. T. 
Pansies. 
I fear I have raised the “dander” of “Yiola,” not 
so much by what I have written as by his interpretation 
of my remarks. If he will kindly read my note again, 
he will see that in the first place I only recorded my own 
experience, and did not hazard the opinion that “the 
West of England strain is superior to the Scotch ” in a 
broad sense. I did say, and I repeat it, that Pansies 
can be well grown in Devonshire. And 1 say further, 
that if a tenth part of the attention were given to their 
culture in the West of England that is given to them 
in the West of Scotland—say from Rothesay to Edin¬ 
burgh, and that part of Scotland down to the Tweed, 
the Scotch growers would find their English brethren 
foemen worthy of their steel. The Pansy in the West 
of England is merely toyed with as compared with the 
loving care and attention it gets in the North. There 
are no Pansy societies in my district, nor is there now 
a single grower of any note since Captain Halford- 
Thomson, of Exeter, gave up exhibiting a few years ago. 
Some of the Edinburgh or Glasgow men may remember 
that he made a very creditable stand at Edinburgh 
when he showed his blue Pansy there. I am 
sorry I cannot oblige “Yiola’’ by accepting his 
challenge. The odds would be, and ought to be, greatly 
in favour of the North Country growers for the reasons 
I have stated. I will watch my seedlings and report 
again in the spring how they look, but the notes I 
took, and in substance recorded in your issue of 
September 27th, were a true record of my trial as far as 
it went. 
Your other correspondent, “Pansy,” who is up in 
arms at my innocent remarks, must, I should think, be 
the veritable McNab himself—the lion rampant. He 
seems to know all about it. I must have sown the 
English seed for the Scotch—another injustice to 
“ puir auld Scotland”—or one of the most famous 
growers of Pansies in Scotland must have sent me a 
bad strain, different from “ what he saves for himself, 
and, a rule, sends out to his customers.” There are 
private reasons why I cannot go in for growing Pansies 
for exhibition, and I am sorry for it, for I should 
dearly like to have a turn with the redoubtable Scot 
who came so far down as Shropshire to exhibit his 
skill in Pansy cultivation, or with “Pansy” himself 
for that matter. Besides, I am too much on the road 
to grow anything for exhibition.— Dcvoniensis. 
Fancy Pansies. 
Your editorial remarks in The Gardening World 
of the 11th inst. are giving much pleasure to 
Midland Pansy growers, and I am sure you will be 
glad to know that a Midland Pansy Society will be 
formed shortly, to be confined for competition purposes 
to four counties, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, 
Staffordshire, and Shropshire. I think it best to 
confine the operations of the society at present to these 
districts, and a committee is being formed, and a 
schedule of classes will be issued shortly. Meantime 
any one wishing to join the society, please communicate 
with W. Dean, Sparkhill, Birmingham. 
-->**■- 
A PRESENT TO THE QUEEN. 
On Thursday of last week about sixty dishes of the 
finest Apples and Pears exhibited at the recent 
Guildhall show, and selected from all the zones, were 
packed in two strong cases and forwarded to Her 
Majesty at Balmoral, as a present from the exhibitors 
at the Guildhall show, and also as representing what 
fine specimens can be grown within Her Majesty’s 
dominions. We append a list of the contributors, with 
the names of the varieties selected : — 
South-western Zone.— Allen Williams, bootmaker, 
The Moor, Bodenham, Leominster, Warner’s King 
Apples ; S. French, labourer, Marstow, Hereford, 
King of Pippin Apples ; John Hyde, farmer, Calder- 
well, Bodenham, Leominster, Ecklinville Seedling 
Apples ; James Davis, farmer, Bunhill, Bodenham, 
Leominster, Peasgood’s Nonsuch Apples ; W. Helyar, 
farmer, East Coker, Yeovil, Coker Seedling Apples ; 
S. T. Wright, gardener to C. Lee Campbell, Esq., 
Glewston Court, Hereford, Hormead Pearmain Apples ; 
Thomas Parker, gardener to Mrs. Evans, Moreton 
Court, Hereford, Tyler’s Kernel Apples ; W. Iggulden, 
gardener to the Earl of Cork, Marston, Frome, 
Somerset, Doyenne du Comice Pears. 
Northern Zone. —John Wilson, labourer, Hall 
Lane, Lathom, near Ormskirk, Tower of Glamis 
Apples ; John Wilson, labourer, Hall Lane, Lathom, 
near Ormskirk, Dumelow’s Seedling Apples ; Thomas 
J. Pullett, cottager, 82, Russell Street, Loughborough, 
Cox’s Orange Pippin Apples ; John Doncaster, farmer, 
Halloughton, Southwell, Notts, Bramley’s Seedling 
Apples; Samuel Barlow, J.P., Stakehill House, 
Castleton, Manchester, Ribston Pippin Apples ; James 
Hunter, gardener to the Earl of Durham, Lambton 
Castle, Fencehouses, Durham, Pitmaston Duchess 
Pears. 
South-eastern Zone. —Fred. Marsh, cottager, The 
Bow, Nettelstead, Maidstone, Lord Derby Apples ; W. 
Pulling, labourer, Hill Top, Tillington, neat Petworth, 
Sussex, Scarlet Nonpareil Apples ; Herbert Manser, 
tenant farmer, Omer’s Farm, North Down, Margate, 
Lane’s Prince Albert Apples ; Richard Webb, farmer, 
Beenham, near Reading, Berks, Cox's Orange Pippin 
Apples ; F. Miller, gardener to Jas. J. Friend, Esq., 
North Down, Margate, Kent, Cornish Aromatic Apples ; 
W. S. Skinner, farmer, Beresford, Boughton, Mon- 
chelsea, Kent, Worcester Pearmain Apples ; J. Turner, 
gardener to R. H. Comer, Esq., Pierrepoint, Farnham, 
Clavgate Pearmain Apples ; A. Waterman, gardener to 
A. H. Brassey, Esq., Preston Hall, Aylesford, Ribston 
Pippin Apples ; Fred. Bridger, gardener, Penshurst 
Place, Kent, Emperor Alexander Apples ; G. Woodward, 
gardener to R. Leigh, Esq., J.P., Barham Court, 
Maidstone, Stone’s Apples ; E. H. Caterer, gardener 
to T. Arnall, Esq., Brookside, Headington Hill, 
Oxford, Lane’s Prince Albert Apples ; Thomas Turton, 
gardener to John Hargreaves, Esq., Maiden Erleigh, 
Reading, Mere de Menage Apples ; Charles Blick, 
gardener to Martin R. Smith, Esq., Hayes Common, 
Kent, Magnate Pears ; T. Dunn, gardener to Sir 
Francis W. Truscott, Oakleigh, East Grinstead, Sussex, 
Beurre Bachelier Pears ; Charles Ross, gardener to 
Lieut.-Colonel Eyre, Welford Park, Newbury, Berks, 
Seckle Pears ; James Sheppard, gardener, Wolverstone 
Park, Ipswich, Suffolk, Louise Bonne of Jersey Pears ; 
George Woodward, gardener to R. Leigh, Esq., J.P., 
Barham Court, Maidstone, Nouveau Poiteau Pears ; 
William Allan, gardener to Lord Suffield, Gunton 
Park, Norwich, Marie Louise d’Uccle and Doyenne 
du Comice Pears ; R. Smith, gardener to A. Cox, Esq., 
Presdales, Ware, Herts, Emile d’Heyst Pears ; William 
Jacob, High Street, Petworth, Sussex, Lord Sudeley 
Apples ; Henry Norman, bricklayer, 2, Ocklynge Road, 
Eastbourne, Sussex, Dumelow’s Seedling Apples ; W. 
Waghorn, cottager, Allington, near Maidstone, Stirling 
Castle Apples. 
Nurserymen and Trade Growers. —A. J.Thomas, 
fruit grower, Sittingbourne, Louise Bonne of Jersey 
Pears ; English Fruit and Rose Company, Limited, 
Hereford, Duchess of Gloucester Apples ; Jarman & Co. 
Chard, Somerset, Nelson Codlin Apples ; Paul & Son, 
Cheshunt, Transparent de Croncelles Apples; Henry, 
Berwick, Sidmouth, Devon, Frogmore Prolific Apples ; 
