804 THE GARDENING WORLD. August 17, 1889. 
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The Growl from Oxford. 
I was very sorry to read the growl from Oxford in 
your last issue, and much regret that “ Disappointed 
Exhibitor ” had not the courage to sign his own name 
rather than write under a nom de plume. I have only 
grown Carnations and Picotees for four years, but 
during that time I have left no stone unturned to get 
all the information I can. I have visited many of the 
best growers all over the country. I now pride myself 
that I have one of the six best collections in the 
kingdom, and this year have been fortunate as a prize¬ 
winner in London, Oxford, Leicester, and Manchester— 
the four best shows in the coun try. When I started as an 
enthusiastic grower I learnt more from failure than 
success ; and when I have been in doubt about the 
merits of a flower or a stand at any show or competition, 
I have never hesitated to ask some more experienced 
grower. I have always found them most willing and 
delighted to assist, and when the points of merit have 
been shown me I have never failed to see the correctness 
of their opinion. Had our friend done this I am sure 
he would have had no occasion to utter his most 
unpleasant growl. 
There must be disappointments at all shows, for all 
cannot win. Do what they will, judges can never 
please every exhibitor. They may have standpoints to 
go by which are not quite in accordance with the ideas 
of some young or inexperienced exhibitors ; but I am 
sure the judging at Oxford has always been done in the 
most straightforward way, and more as a labour of love 
than anything else. I was the attendant on the judges 
of single blooms at Oxford, and I am sure they went 
through their difficult task most impartially. I was 
the winner of a first prize with Master Ered, and am 
quite satisfied I was fairly beaten with Robert 
Houlgrave. 
I do not know if “ Disappointed Exhibitor ” lives 
near Birmingham. If he does I shall be very pleased 
for him to come and see me and my collection at any 
time. I will welcome him as I do any others who take 
an interest in these flowers. I shall be pleased to show 
him anything and everything I can, and hope there 
will be something to interest him, and encourage him 
to persevere until he can come well to the front in some 
of the best competitions of the day .—Robert Sydenham, 
Roseleigh, Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham. 
Another inquiring novice, “A. M., Oxford,” writes:— 
I want to know the reason why ? I also was behind the 
scenes at the Oxford show of the Carnation and 
Picotee Union, and was much surprised that the 
premier Picotee selected in that exhibition was Lady 
Louisa, in Mr. Tom Lord’s stand of twelve Picotees. 
This flower certainly left much to be desired in the 
way of form, and when the fact was pointed out to the 
gentlemen who were making the selection, one of them 
suggested that the exhibitor should be asked to remedy 
this defect, but the flower refused to be in any way 
coerced, and was replaced in the stand with the 
centre more open than before. What claim then had 
this flower for the position in which it was placed ? 
The premier self, Germanica, although a really fine 
flower, and very useful in a stand of fancies, is to my 
mind, insipid individually ; and although I agree with 
Mr. Wardill in his remark that “ as a seed parent in 
the hands of a careful hybridiser ” one may imagine a 
very beautiful and pleasing result, yet contrasted with 
the bloom of Gladys, in the prize stand of seifs and 
fancies, a flower leaving nothing to be desired, it is left 
far behind. 
The Carnation and Picotee Union. 
Yottr kindly references to the recent meeting of this 
association at Oxford, and to its founder, Mr. E. S. 
Dodwell, will he read with great satisfaction by all 
lovers of the Carnation and Picotee. I am not desirous 
of recalling any of the incidents which led to Mr. 
Dodwell’s expulsion from the London society, but 
those who were foremost in bringing it about little 
thought at the time what a power they were making 
of Mr. Dodwell in the very world from which they 
were thrusting him out. The Union is now a very 
powerful organisation, and I have no hesitation in 
stating that it has done more during the past five years 
to popularise the Carnation than the north and south 
societies put together. But I trust I may say that we 
are all now found joining hands in the interest of the 
Carnation, apart from personal feelings, and so we can 
allow bygones to he bygones. One significant fact is 
worthy of notice—that the Journal of Horticulture, 
which, for obvious reasons, has hitherto ignored the 
meetings of the Union, gives its readers a full and 
appreciative report of the exhibition at Oxford on 
August 1st. 
Something like 1,400 flowers were staged for compe¬ 
tition, and the task of the judges, who made the awards 
in the single classes was in the highest degree onerous. 
Then, in addition to the competitive cut blooms, there 
were others in honorary collections, such as the splendid 
lot Mr. Charles Turner sent down from Slough. Then 
there were in Mr. Dodwell’s garden about 3,000 pots, 
nearly all with two or three plants in them, and disposed 
about the garden at every point where space could be 
found was a large number of plants of varied character. 
The advantage of all this is that it enables visitors who 
are not cultivators of the Carnation to see how they are 
grown. 
I think everyone present at the luncheon was forcibly 
struck with Mr. Dodwell’s remarks in replying to the 
toast of “The Carnation and Picotee Union.” He said 
it was sixty-one years ago since he first saw an exhi¬ 
bition of Carnations and Picotees—a show that fell 
one hundredfold short of that they were privileged to 
look upon that day. He saw then fourteen or fifteen 
old gentlemen sitting round a table on which was 
placed some forty to fifty flowers. The show in his 
garden that day was one of the very best he had ever 
seen, and that appeared to be the general opinion of all 
the oldest growers of the Carnation who mustered at 
Oxford on the late interesting occasion.— B. D. 
In our report of the late exhibition, published in 
the last number, we inadvertently'gave the Messrs. 
Thomson, of Birmingham, the credit of showing the 
premier self Carnation, Germania, instead of Mr. M. 
Rowan, of Clapham, in whose stand of twelve seifs and 
fancies the winning flower was found. 
National Carnation and Picotee Society. 
Northern Section. 
The annual, meeting of this society was held at the 
Botanical Gardens, Manchester, on Saturday, the 10th 
inst., under very unfavourable circumstances ; while 
the exhibitors were preparing their exhibits, a heavy 
thunderstorm burst over the gardens, the rain came 
through the roof of the show hall in many places and 
spoilt several of the flowers. The dull wet weather 
continued, more or less, all day, consequently there 
was but a small attendance ot the public, as compared 
with last year. 
The exhibits were much more numerous than last 
year, but owing to the early season, the blooms shown 
were very poor as compared to the grand flowers seen 
at Oxford and London. It was the general remark 
that there were no blooms worth special notice, the 
only exception being a grand flower of Mrs. Gorton, 
light red Picotee, shown by S. Barlow, Esq., and which 
should have been proclaimed the premier Picotee, in¬ 
stead of the Mrs. Payne, heavy red Picotee, in Mr. 
Helliwell’s stand, which the judges selected. 
The judging in the single blooms was very hurriedly 
and indifferently done, and several flowers of good 
merit were quite passed over. The arrangements for 
judging were very indifferent as compared with what 
we saw at Oxford and in London ; in fact, the northern 
section of this society wants a thorough reorganising if 
it is to maintain its position. Several members think 
the time has come when the society will do well to 
hold its meetings in different towns, such as Sheffield, 
Birmingham, or Leicester, where there are numerous 
and good growers, and thus tend to encourage the in¬ 
creasing popularity of these flowers. 
Mr. T. Lord was as usual to the front, and again 
proved that in the north he is the best trade grower. 
At Manchester he was closely followed by Mr. R. 
Sydenham, of Birmingham, who has been fortunate 
in having blooms to stage at London, Oxford, and 
Manchester, a rather remarkable circumstance con¬ 
sidering the season. 
The following are the leading prizes: — 
Twelve Carnations, dissimilar.—First, Mr. Lord, 
with George Melville, Admiral Curzon, Thalia, Win. 
Bacon, John Ball, Wm. Skirving, George, Shirley 
Hibberd, Edward Navan, Jessica, J. T. Hextall, and 
Reginald Power; second, Mr. R. Sydenham, with 
Alisemond, Sarah Payne, George Melville, Thalia, J. 
Lakin, J. Douglas, Master Fred, J. S. Hedderley, Rob 
Roy, Arthur Medhurst, Matador, and Mrs. Andrew ; 
third, S. Barlow, Esq. ; fourth, Mr. F. Law ; fifth, 
Mr. J. Beswick. 
Twelve Picotees, dissimilar.—First, Mr. T. Lord, 
Todmorden, with Mrs. Sharp, Zerlina, Mrs. Payne, 
Alliance, Norma, Minnie, Thomas William, Lady 
Louisa, Royal Mint, Nellie, Favourite, and Brunette ; 
second, Mr. Robert Sydenham, with one of Mr. Lakin’s 
seedlings, a fine light purple-edged flower of very 
promising form, but a little off colour in the white, 
Hilda, Annet Lyle, Mrs. Chancellor, Edith D’Ombrain, 
Favourite, Dr. Epps, Mrs. Payne, Mrs. Bower, Fraulein 
(Dodwell s new seedling), Baroness Burdett-Coutts, and 
Mrs. Sharp ; third, S. Barlow, Esq. ; fourth, Mr. J. 
Beswick ; fifth, Mr. F. Law. 
Twelve Carnations, nine dissimilar. — First, 
Mr. J. Helliwell, with Admiral Curzon, Premier Car¬ 
nation, Christa Galli, Robert Lord, Master Fred, Squire 
Llewellyn, J. Douglas, Ivanhoe, Wm. Skirving, 
Sybil, and George ; second, Mr. Whitham ; third, Mr. 
J. Edwards ; fourth, Mr. A. R. Brown, Birmingham. 
Twelve Picotees, dissimilar.—First, Mr. J. 
Witham, with Norma, Thomas William, Royal Bird, 
Zerlina, Nellie, Mrs. Niven, Mrs. Sharp, Brunette, 
Lady Laura, Aun Lord, and Mrs. Chancellor ; second, 
Mr. A. R. Brown; third, Mr. J. Edwards; fourth, 
Mr. J. Helliwell. 
Six Carnations.— Dissimilar : First, Mr. J. 
Maddocks, with George Melville, Mrs. Skirving, 
Christa Galli, Robert Houlgrave, John Haynes, and Lord 
Makin ; second, Mr. G. Thornley ; third, no name ; 
fourth, Mr. S. Lord. 
Six Picotees.— Dissimilar.—First, Mr. A. W. 
Jones, Birmingham, with very clean blooms of Mrs. 
Sharp, Mrs, Chancellor, Thomas William, Nellie, 
Mrs. Sharp, and Muriel ; second, Mr. J. Maddocks ; 
third, Mr. G. Thornley ; fourth, Mr. J. Bleachley. 
Twelve Selfs or Fancies. —First, Mr. A. R. 
Brown ; second, Mr. T. Lord. Mr. Brown was far 
ahead of any other of the six exhibitors in this class. 
Single Blooms. —Scarlet bizarres : First, second, 
and third, Mr. T. Lord, with Admiral Curzon and 
Robert Lord. Crimson bizarres : First, Mr. G. 
Thornley, with Master Fred ; second, Mr. T. Lord, 
with a seedling; third, Mr. T. Lord, with Richard 
Bealey. Pink and purple bizarres : First, second, and 
third, Mr. T. Lord, with Sarah Payne, Wm. Skirving, 
and J. Harrison. Scarlet flakes : Here Mr. Lord took 
all five prizes, with J. Ball, Sportsman, Henry Cannell, 
&c.; but Matador, exhibited by Mr. R. Sydenham, 
was quite overlooked, being at the back in a short 
glass, and was acknowledged by many to be the best 
bloom in the class. Rose flakes : First, Mr. R. 
Sydenham, with Thalia ; second, Mr. J. Helliwell, with 
Christa Galli; third, Mr. T. Lord, with Sybil. Purple 
flakes : First, second, and third, Mr. T. Lord, with 
Gordon Lewis (Dodwell), a flower of great promise, Earl 
of Wilton, and Gordon Lewis. 
Heavy Red Picotees : First, Mr. T. Lord, with 
Dr. Epps ; second, Mr. J. Whitham, with Norma; 
third, Mr. T. Lord, with Dr. Epps. Light red 
Picotees: First, Mr. J. Whitham, with Thomas 
William ; second, Mr. T. Lord, with Thomas William; 
third, Mr. R. Sydenham, with Thomas William. 
Heavy purple Picotees : First: Mr. J. Whitham, with 
Mrs. Chancellor ; second, Mr. J. Beswick, with 
Muriel ; third, Mr. T. Lord, with Mrs. Chancellor. 
Light purple Picotees : First, Mr. T. Lord, with Mary ; 
second, Mr. A. N. Jones, with Baroness Burdett- 
Coutts ; third, Mr. J. Helliwell, with Ann Lord. 
Heavy rose and scarlet Picotee : Here the judges quite 
ignored the heavy scarlet edge, giving all the prizes 
to the rose edge—First, Mr. T. Lord, with Mrs. Payne; 
second, Mr. A. R. Brown, with Mrs. Payne ; third, 
Mr. J. Helliwell, with Lady Louisa. Light rose or 
scarlet Picotee: First and second, Mr. A. N. Jones, 
with Favourite; third, Mr. J. Yates, with Favourite. 
Premier Carnation : Admiral Curzon, exhibited by 
Mr. J. Helliwell. This good old variety seems to have 
done wonderfully well this year everywhere. 
Premier Picotee : Mrs. Payne, exhibited by Mr. T. 
Lord. Neither flower, however, was much, if anything 
above the average. 
To Rectify Breeder Tulips. 
In an old work called The Curious and Profitable 
Gardener, by John Coward, there occurs the following 
passage “ Take the plaster of old walls, wherein is a 
great deal of lime, and powder it very fine ; mix this 
with drift sand, or such sand as is sharp and found on 
the sea shore ; to this add of the water that runs from 
a dung-hill ; mix these as well as possible and put over 
the surface of the bed a little before you plant your 
breeding or plain Tulips, and ’twill make them break 
into fine stripes to a wonder, as is related to me by a 
gentleman of great honour, who has proved it, as he 
observes, for five or six years.” What do Tulip growers 
say to this ?— R. D. 
