August 27, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
819 
Charles Baltet is laden with medium sized flowers; 
and not far off is a bed of Begonia Lady Stanhope in 
prime condition. The Coral Plant (ErythrinaCrista- 
galli) fills a large oblong bed on the left, and the 
stems about 3 ft. high bear long racemes of bloom 
just commenced to expand. It is mixed with Lilium 
longiflorum, but the latter is almost out of bloom. 
A bed of dark flowered Fuchsias is mixed with Lilium 
longiflorum, and African Marigolds, on a groundwork 
of Viola Ardwell Gem. The latter is liable to get 
drawn when grown in mixture, and notwithstanding 
its excellence when more freely exposed is not so 
suitable for a groundwork to other plants as Wonder, 
another yellow of similar hue. 
Where a cross walk intersects the bedding ground, 
are two neat carpet beds. In the centre is a plant of 
Dracaena indivisa, on a groundwork of Antennaria 
tomentosa followed by Alternanthera versicolor, and 
then four large patches of A. magnifica, succeeded 
by four long stripes of A. amcena running towards 
the corners of the beds. The groundwork is of 
Herniaria glabra and the edgings of Alternanthera 
paronychoides aurea and Magnifica, with Echeveria 
secunda glauca on the perpendicular edge. At some 
distance along on the left is an intricate figure of 
Alternantheras with three Palms along the centre, 
and dot plants round the sides on a groundwork of 
Antennaria tomentosa, edged again with broad lines 
of Alternantheras. Another neat carpet bed consists 
of a broad patch of Pachyphytum bracteosum in 
the centre with elevated masses of Alternantheras 
on either side, and a broad patch of Echeverias at 
either end. Numerous dot plants consist of small 
Palms, Dracaenas, Echeverias, and Sempervivums. 
In bold contrast to the above is a bluntly four- 
cornered bed of Abutilons, red and white, about 6 ft. 
high, edged with Sweet Peas 3 ft. and now in full 
bloom. Four circular beds of tuberous Begonias 
again testify to their suitability as bedding plants. 
Then follows a bed in mixture of Petunias, Lilium 
speciosum, Chrysanthemum Precocite, Begonia 
Emperor, about 18 in. high, and Viola Blue King, 
edged with Coleus fulgens and Viola Sno-vflake. 
Graceful and pretty is an oblong bed of Fuchsia 
gracilis and Grevillea robusta with the usual ground¬ 
work of Violas and a triple edging. The monotony 
of low beds is again relieved by a bed of standard 
Fuchsias 5 ft. high, with Heliotropes between them 
2 ft. high. Cheerful also is the bright yellow 
Chrysanthemum Jardin des Plantes, about 18 in. 
high and floriferous. Another rather pleasing mix¬ 
ture consists of Ficus elastica, Melianthus major. 
Lobelia splendens Victoriae, and Fuchsia Sunray on 
a groundwork of Viola lilacina. A beautiful bed 
consists of mixed Fuchsias on a groundwork of Viola 
Beauty of Chipping Norton. A bright and bold 
mixture consists of Abutilons 3 ft. to 4 ft. high, 
scarlet Tropseolums, 3 ft., Lilium speciosum, L. longi¬ 
florum, Petunias, Verbenas 18 in. high, and Chrysam 
themums. Beds of Pelargoniums are tame as a rule, 
but near the Stanhope gate is an attractive one of a 
white variety named Aspasia, closely mixed with 
Viola lilacina, the flowers of which stand almost on 
the same level as those of the Pelargoniums, show¬ 
ing them off to advantage. Another large bed of 
Begonia seedlings is planted here, so that altogether 
this class of plant is well represented. 
Near this is another well-executed carpet bed con¬ 
sisting of a scroll work of Alternantheras with 
Echeverias in each of the four centres intermixed 
with Sedum glaucum. The outer groundwork con¬ 
sists of Herniaria dotted about with plants of 
Sempervivum tabulaeforme, Pachyphytum bracteo¬ 
sum, Reineckea carnea variegata, etc., edged with 
Alternanthera nana aurea, A. amcena and Eche¬ 
verias. 
Numerous Fuchsias, ranging from 2 ft. to 4 ft., are 
planted singly upon the grass or in groups, with 
some distance between every two plants. Amongst 
the varieties used are Henry Brookes, Mrs. Rundell, 
Madame Corneilsson, Annetti, Tower of London, 
Mrs. Marshall, elegans, gracilis, and Berliner Kind, 
many of which are now well laden with blossom. 
Other plants used with good effect are Eucalyptus 
globulus, 6 ft. to 8 ft. high, Clematis Jackmanni in 
full bloom, Tropaelum Ball of Fire, Heliotropes, 
Bamboos, 8 ft. or more, Plumbago capensis and its 
white variety, 6 ft. to 8 ft. high, Erythrinas, 3J ft. 
high , and a fine mass of Phormium tenax Veitchi. 
Old specimens of Pelargoniums in a group upon the 
grass are also flowering finely. 
EXETER FLOWER 
SHOW. 
The annual summer exhibition of the Devon and 
Exeter Plorticultural Society took place on 
Northernhay Grounds, Exeter, on the 19th inst., and, 
for a wonder, was favoured with fine weather. So 
very frequently is it wet on the day of the Exeter 
Flower Show that it has almost passed into a 
proverb. The result of its being a fine day was that 
the attendance was better—the drawings being £\o 
in excess of last year—and the comfort of the visitors 
was proportionately greater. The exhibits were ar¬ 
ranged in three large marquees. The largest was 
occupied with vegetables and Messrs. Robert Veitch 
& Son’s exhibits; the middle one contained the 
groups of plants for competition, and Mr. Kerswell’s 
group of foliage plants, also the fruit for exhibition 
and competition ; and the third marquee was filled 
with specimen plants and cut flowers. 
As a whole, though the entries were less numerous, 
the quality, excepting in fruit, was far superior to 
former years—more particularly was this noticeable 
in vegetables. Messrs. Veitch’s five guinea cup for 
a collection of vegetables has for years past been a 
bone of contention to some really first-rate men in 
the vegetable classes. For three years in succession 
it has been won by W. E. S. Erie Drax, Esq., of 
Therborne (gardener, Mr. Copp), Sir John Shelley 
running him close every year. This time, however, 
the blue ribbon for vegetables has gone to Sir John 
Shelley, Bart., of Shobrooke Park (Mr. Mairs, 
gardener), and Mr. Erie Drax has had to take 
second place. The prize collection contained 
Invincible White Celery, Renton’s Monarch Leeks, 
Sutton’s Satisfaction Potatos, Ponderosa Tomatos, 
Veitch’s Exhibition Sprouts, Giant Zittau Onion, 
Veitch's New Intermediate Carrot, Model Turnip* 
Duke of Albany Peas, Autumn Giant Cauliflower, 
etc. It was undoubtedly a grand collection, each 
item of it being as good as any single dishes in the 
show. In addition to this, the collection was put 
together in a masterly way, winning by this a special 
prize for good arrangement. Vegetable growers 
were of opinion that it was the very best collection 
that had been seen at Exeter, and Mr. Mairs was 
warmly congratulated by his brother gardeners on 
his success. 
In the competition in single dishes, the most 
notable entries were the perfect specimens of 
Veitch's Model Carrots, Veitch’s Exhibition Shal¬ 
lots, Prizewinner Potatos, and Orange Jelly Turnips, 
shown by the Rev. A. B. Cruwys, of Cruwys Mor¬ 
chard, one of the best growers of vegetables for show 
in the county of Devon. He also showed some fine 
Beet, but they were not looked at. The Beet was 
not cut so, that fineness of grain and superiority of 
flesh and inside colour did not count, all going for 
outside appearance. Surely this is not the best way 
to judge Beet! The same with Leeks, appearance 
was everything, for they were not cut open. There 
were, however, some wonderfully fine specimens of 
Renton’s Monarch and the Lyon shown. Judging 
from what was staged it would seem as if the west of 
England men could make their northern brethren sit 
up in the matter of Leek-growing. Carrots were 
splendidly shown, nearly all the long ones being the 
New Intermediate of Veitch and Sutton, and the 
short or stump-rooted being of the Scarlet Model 
variety. Among the Potatos, Satisfaction, Windsor 
Castle, Early Puritan, The Dean, and Sutton's Seed¬ 
ling were very well shown. Major Carew, of Elms- 
leigh, Exmouth, showed on Messrs. Veitch’s stand 
a basket of their new Potato Prodigious. The 
weight of Potatos shown was 71 lb., which had been 
raised from a single tuber! The tuber was cut inio 
twenty-three sets and planted last March. There 
was not a diseased Potato in the whole lot, and some 
of them were very large—six weighing 6 lb. 
W. C. Sim, Esq. of Knowle (gardener, Mr. 
Williams), and the Rev. Sub-Dean Acland, of 
Broadclyst (gardener, Mr. Baker), were well to the 
front in the vegetable classes, showing some un¬ 
commonly well-grown vegetables of different kinds— 
well-grown and well-shown. 
In the groups of plants arranged for effect “ Greek 
met Greek,” the two principal combatants being 
Lady Theodore Guest, of Henestridge, Blandford 
(Mr. Wilkins, gardener), and Wm. Brock, Esq., of 
Parkers well (gardener, Mr. Rowland). Quite 
recently Lady Guest had taken first at Salisbury, 
and the week before the Exeter show, Mr. Brock 
had taken first at Taunton. Here, at Exeter, Mr. 
Brock took premier honours, and Lady Guest came 
in a good second. The feature of Mr. Brock’s 
group was its lightness of arrangement and harmony 
of colour. The outside was fringed with Panix 
and Adiantums leading up to small leaved Crotons 
and small-foliage plants. Overhanging the Crotons 
were sprays of Francoa racemosa and Humea 
elegans, and studded in and out were Tuberoses, 
Agapanthus umbsllatus, and Hyacinthus candicans. 
Here and there, well placed, were nice plants of 
Cocos Weddelliana, one or two Bamboos and a few 
showy flowering, plants. The group was kept dwarf 
and undulating, and the effect was exceedingly 
pretty. Lady Guest's group was nearly as good, but 
not quite. 
In judging the fruit there was some difference of 
opinion on the question of the Grapes, the judges 
having apparently given the award in favour of a 
well flavoured rather than a good looking Grape. 
Grapes were nothing very special, nor, indeed, was 
the other fruit anything extraordinary. The botani¬ 
cal section, in which there were some capital prizes 
for wild flowers offered, was keenly contested, a 
special prize of three guineas (and second and third 
prizes of value) being offered byj. C. Stogdon, Esq., 
of Clement’s Inn, for thirty-six varieties of wild 
flowers collected anywhere in the British Isles. It 
drew out some rare specimens, the winning lot shown 
by Mrs. Macalister, of Hamslade House, Bampton, 
North Devon, being a splendid collection, and that 
shown by Miss Palmer, from Dorset, being also a 
good one. In Mrs. Macalister’s collection were 
Droscra intermedia, D. anglica, Trifolium fragiferum, 
Aster Linosyrus, Lobelia urens, Wahlenbergia 
hederacea, Poterium officinale, Epipactus latifolia, 
Sibthorpia europea, Spathula tinctona, Reseda lutea, 
Daucus carota, Lathyrus sylvestris, Campanula lati¬ 
folia, and other plants more or less rare. The smaller 
collections were also of considerable merit, and 
showed on the part of those who competed an inti¬ 
mate knowledge of the flora, of the district. This 
section of the exhibition has been steadily growing, 
and the fillip given to it by Mr. J. C. Stogdon, agood 
botanist himself, in offering valuable prizes, brought 
out the best display that has ever been seen in Exeter. 
But why are nearly the whole of the competitors 
ladies ? Surely there must be some good male 
botanists in a neighbourhood which can rejoice in so 
rich a flora as that of the valley of the Exe and the 
Axe. The nurserymen s collections were a great help 
to the show, Messrs. Veitch’s miniature Alpine gar¬ 
den being a pretty piece of work. Messrs. Kelway’s 
Gladioli were as usual very fine, but Mr. Fowler's, of 
Taunton, were still better, he showing some really 
grand spikes of bloom. 
ALLOTMENT gardens. 
The town of Chertsey possesses a number of allot¬ 
ments which are under the control of the Rural 
Sanitary Authority, and are managed by a Committee 
of that body. On the 11 th inst. the allotment holders 
held their second annual exhibition in the Chertsey 
Town Hall, and desp te the long season of dry 
weather the show of garden produce was a very good 
one. Winter Onions were especially good, and three 
collections of) Vegetables were staged which would 
have done credit to any professional, yet they failed 
to secure prizes owing to the judge’s hands being 
tied by a rule which prevents any exhibitor from 
taking more than 12s, 6d. — a peculiar arrangement 
to say the least, and one that cannot too soon be 
amended. The exhibitors in question had to be con¬ 
tent with certificates, V.H.C., H.C., and C., respec¬ 
tively ; and in many of the other vegetable classes 
the best samples were passed over, and the prizes 
awarded to inferior productions—a case of how not 
to do it with a vengeance. 
It was evident in many cases that the allotment 
holders are able to appreciate something better than 
the commoner things. I noted that one of the 
exhibitors, Mr. E. Horton, had Sutton's Windsor 
Castle, and Fidler’s Reading Giant Potatos, Carter’s 
Beef Heart Cabbage, a good one where size is an 
object. Carter's Anticipation Pea, and Elephant, a 
new Pea sent out by the same firm, and promising to 
be a good one. This exhibitor and three others also 
secured prizes for the good cultivation of their plots. 
There was a large attendance of visitors in th# 
evening, when the prizes were distributed, and the 
allotment holders presented a .table of flowers and 
vegetables to the Vicar, Canon Pattenden.— A. J. 
Brown.. 
