34 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
September 14, 1895 . 
THE EDINBURGH SHOW. 
(By our Special Correspondent.) 
The Royal Caledonian Society's Great September 
Show opened on Wednesday morning in the 
Waverley Market, Princes Street. Those of our 
readers who have not visited Edinburgh, and those 
who have, and yet may not have seen the Waverley 
Market, may be interested to know that alongside 
the south pavement of Princes Street, beneath the 
level of the pavement, is one of the largest market 
halls which the United Kingdom possesses. Looking 
towards the Scott Memorial, from the corner of the 
South Bridge, one sees to the left some prettily laid- 
out gardens, with asphalted pathways. Seats are 
provided for the jaded and wearied pedestrian, who, 
in the recent tropical weather, has been lucky if he 
has provided himself with something of the “ Gamp ” 
persuasion prior to taking a siesta upon this verit¬ 
able garden roof; for beneath your feet is the 
Waverley Market, and the flower beds form the sky¬ 
lights in the roof. Certainly the writer knows of no 
building better suited, better fitted, and more amply 
able to accommodate a flower show than the 
resources of the Waverley Market are able to 
afford to the fortunate promoters of the shows 
that are held there two or three times in 
the course of a year. For heavy traffic 
the hall or market is approached by a suit¬ 
ably inclined slope, and the area of the market is 
such that a dozen of Pickford’s vans with a pantech¬ 
nicon thrown in could conveniently hold a tourna¬ 
ment on the floor space, and yet leave plenty of room 
for the casual visitor who might not object to risk 
his life amongst such a multitude of machines. 
Speaking of machines, by-the-bye, the writer once 
had the curiosity to enquire of some Scotch friend 
why a vehicle of this description should be dubbed 
in the Scotch vernacular " machine,” and our good 
friend kindly explained to us that a cart on wheels 
without springs was a cart, but a cart on springs 
plus wheels, was a machine, and not a cart. The 
writer could not help congratulating his good friend 
upon the lucidity of his explanation. The Waverley 
Market, then, is at once a very good and a very pro¬ 
per spot upon which to locate such a handsome 
exhibition as we find here before us. 
The Royal Caledonian Society, whilst somewhat 
Conservative in its ideas, dates back almost to 
ancient history, and not so long ago The Gardening 
World published a special supplement containing 
the portraits of its principal officers, with which our 
readers will be familiar. There is the same genial 
welcome and good fellowship extended to visitors 
here as in other parts of Scotland, and the Horti¬ 
cultural trade of Edinburgh very rightly pride 
themselves upon the heartiness of the welcome 
which they extend to their friends, business or 
otherwise. The dates over which the show extends 
form one continuous festival of meeting, welcome, 
and parting, and many of the visitors' intimate 
friends in various parts of the British Isles, con¬ 
nected with the horticultural profession, include in 
their holiday a visit to Edinburgh upon this 
auspicious annual occasion. Edinburgh looks at its 
best. Heavily-laden trains arrive from all parts, 
and long before the doors of the Exhibition open,the 
success of the 1895 September Show is assured. 
Within, the genial presence of our good old friend, 
Mr. William Young, a very painstaking and very 
energetic chef d’orchestre in the secretarial depart¬ 
ment. Located on the balcony is his office. 
Courtsey and attention are two of the cardinal 
virtues writ large upon the walls therein. Much of 
the success that has attended the Royal Caledonian 
Society in the last few years is undoubtedly due to 
the wholeheartedness with which Mr. Young throws 
himself, so to speak, into the work before him, and 
his portrait in the group above referred to very 
rightly forms a fitting centre-piece, surrounded by 
his energetic committee, who work with a single- 
hearted determination that no effort of theirs shall be 
wanting in making the Exhibition the success it 
deserves to be. The meeting of many old friends, 
who, from various reasons, business or otherwise, 
have only this one opportunity of annually ex¬ 
changing the greetings of friendship, make, as we 
have already said, Edinburgh their rendezvous, and 
the presence, here, of so many horticulturists from 
all over the country, lends no little interest to the 
great annual event which we are here to report on. 
The entries, it need hardly be said, are as numerous 
as they can well be, and a much better system has 
prevailed for the last two years in the matter of 
staging them. If we remember rightly, it was in 
1893 when the entries for that year were so numerous 
that there was not sufficient table space to accom¬ 
modate all of them, with the result that some few of 
the exhibits were accommodated with a seat upon 
the floor. The staging is in the capable hands of 
Messrs. McKenzie & Moncur, of Edinburgh and Glas¬ 
gow, and Mr. Moncur himself—always very energetic 
and very courteous—is to be congratulated upon the 
success that has attended the efforts of his firm in the 
very important matter of properly fitting up such a 
show as that of the Royal Caledonian Society. At 
other towns, and sometimes at other cities, we 
occasionally have to complain of the untidy way in 
which the tables are fitted, but here there is no room 
for any comment on that score. Everything is orderly, 
everything is perfect, and the show itself is one 
grand example of what can be done by a perfect 
unity of effort, not only on the part of the Society's 
officers, but upon the part of the firms that they 
have necessarily [to employ in the proper fitting out 
of the show. The building is suitably draped and 
decorated, and now that we have electric light near 
at hand the evening audiences will, to a very large 
extent, be able to enjoyjequally with the afternoon 
visitors the beautiful and varied aspect which the 
multitude of exhibits afford them. Upon a roomy 
bandstand some fine music is dispensed by the best 
military bands of the day, and visitors have not only 
their programme, but there is also a handy catalogue 
of entries and awards, which, to casual observers 
makes the individual exhibits doubly interesting. In 
the case of similar shows, it is, of course, very 
frequently manifestly impossible for the Society to 
provide a catalogue ; but it may safely be depended 
upon that the existence of an intelligibly-arranged list 
of entries and awards assists and promotes very much 
the interest which the flowers, fruit and vegetables 
ought rightly and do, undoubtedly, provide. The 
Exhibition this year is, upon the whole, a good one. 
Although, perhaps, in some departments the critics 
may notice a weakness in development, still the 
business of a critic is not always to seek that at 
which he may carp, but rather to select the most 
notable examples which a cursory inspection like 
the present enables him to make. For as we write 
there comes a telegram from the publishers that not 
even the Edinburgh Show must be allowed to delay 
the regulation publishing time of The Gardening 
World, so that we hasten on to put as briefly as 
possible the chief awards at the hands of the judges, 
even as the adjudicator's pencil writes down the 
winning numbers. 
Press Telegram. 
The entries are very numerous this year, numbering 
2,100, Grapes alone comprising 300 entries, for they 
are here in larger numbers than they were at the Inter¬ 
national. The first award for a collection of twelve 
dishes of fruit has fallen to the lot of Mr. Smith, 
Oxenford Castle Gardens, Dalkeith, whose exhibit 
is really a magnificent one. For six bunches of 
Grapes, Mr. John Leslie, The Gardens, Pitcullen 
House, Perth, has been placed first, some splendid 
samples of Gros Colman and Muscats being con¬ 
spicuous in his exhibit. Mr. Wright, The Gardens, 
Glenston Court, Herefordshire, has won the premier 
award for a collection of twelve dishes of hardy 
fruit, amongst which some grand Apples and 
Quinces are very noticeable. In the classes for 
vegetables Mr. James Gibson, gardener to E. H. 
Watts, Esq., Devonhurst, Chiswick, wins the 
Veitch Memorial Medal, given for the first time, 
his Leeks and Tomatos being excellent. There has 
been an extremely close fight in the classes 
for Roses, despite the late unfavourable weather. 
Messrs. Cocker & Sons, of Aberdeen, have, however, 
come out first on the list, the second honours falling 
to the lot of Messrs. Smith, of Stanraer. Pot plants 
are in grand condition throughout, and the tables 
are arranged in a very effective and praiseworthy 
manner. Mr. George Wood, gardener to James 
Buchanan, Esq., Oswald House, Edinburgh, has 
carried off the first award for Orchids, a fine piece 
of Oncidium incurvum being a special feature of 
his exhibit. For Liliums and single Dahlias Messrs. 
Laird & Sons, of Edinburgh, have carried off first 
honours, whilst Mr. M. Campbell, of High Blantyre, 
takes a similar position for double Dahlias. The 
competition in the classes for Chrysanthemums has 
been very keen, Messrs. Dickson & Co., of Edin¬ 
burgh, taking foremost place, closely followed, how¬ 
ever, by Messrs. Laird & Sons. There is a multitude 
of trade exhibits. 
Questions add snsroeRS 
*,* Will our friends who send us newspapers he so good 
as to mark the paragraphs or articles they wish us to see. 
We shall be greatly obliged by their so doing. 
Cinerarias doing badly.— B. G. : We examined 
the specimen you sent, and have no fault to find 
with cultivation, for both the roots and foliage were 
in excellent condition and robust. The leaves, 
however, cannot long remain in a healthy condition, 
unless you attend to them. They are swarming on 
the under-surface wiih green fly belonging to two or 
more species. Fumigate the plants lightly on 
successive nights till the pest is perfectly subdued. 
Keep the foliage dry at night, but syringe it each 
morning after fumigating, and ventilate well during 
the day. 
Grubs on Pear Tree — A. S., Ecclesmachan : The 
tree is infested with Slugworms, the larvae of Erio- 
campa limacina. Spread a good coating of quick 
lime beneath and around the tree, then damp it with 
the syringe, and dust it all over with hellebore pow¬ 
der. There should be no fruit on the tree if this is 
done, as the hellebore powder is poisonous. The 
operation must be done immediately as the grubs are 
about ready to descend into the soil. After the 
leaves of the trees have fallen rake them up and 
burn them ; then take off about 4 in. of the top soil 
from beneath the tree, and burn it or bury it deeply 
to destroy the pupae in tke same. Replace the 
soil with fresh material. 
Oleander Covered with Scale and Smut.— 
Doubtful : Oleanders, like Oranges and Camellias, 
are very liable to get dirty in this way. Get a 
strong solution of soft soap or Gishurst's Compound 
(2 oz. to 4 oz. to the gallon) in warm water, and 
sponge the leaves with it till clean. The plants 
would be much easier to keep clean if you sponge 
the leaves on future occasions as soon as the scale 
puts in its appearance. 
Planting Out Hollyhocks. — Doubtful: You are 
six months behind time. They should have been 
planted out in March. It is now time to take cuttings 
for next year’s plants. If your soil is good (not too 
heavy or wet), and the garden sheltered, you could 
plant them out now; otherwise you had better defer 
the work till March, when you could plant them at 
any time provided the soil and the weather are suit¬ 
able. 
Pelargonium Sport. — C. Walker : The specimen 
you sent was rather dried up before reaching us, but 
it has every appearance of being a good thing. Its 
real value would depend upon the amount of differ¬ 
ence in colour between it and its parent. We 
should have liked to see the latter so as to compare 
the two. 
Gladiolus The Bride. — Omega : For this country, 
you had better plant it some time in March, early 
or late, according to the state of the ground as to 
workableness and the nature of the weather. Plant 
as early in the month as conditions will permit, if 
you want the flowers early. You might even put the 
corms in boxes of soil, forward them in a greenhouse, 
then harden them off and plant at the earliest favour¬ 
able opportunity. 
Daffodils and Polyanthus Narcissus.— Omega : 
The most handsome and useful Daffodils for your 
purpose are Emperor, Empress, Horsfieldi.Princeps, 
Ard Righ, Golden Spur, Incomparabilis, Sir Watkin, 
Obvallaris, Orange Phoenix (double), Queen of 
Spain, and Poeticus ornatus. The following Poly¬ 
anthus Narcissi are the best of their kind, namely, 
Grand Monarque, Her Majesty, Gloriosa, Jaune 
Supreme, Staten General, Bazelman major, White 
Perfection, and Nobillissimus (double). 
Names of Fruits.— H. W. : 1, New Hawthorn- 
den ; 2, Bedfordshire Foundling; 3, Worcester 
Pearmain ; 4, Plum Greengage ; 5, Plum (smashed 
in carriage). The Pear was Marie Louise.— An Ama¬ 
teur : 1, Red Quarrenden ; 2, Lord Suffield ; 3, New 
Hawthornden ; 4, Blenheim Orange; 5, Emperor 
Alexander; 6, was completely decayed; 7, Red 
Astrachan ; 8 , Nonesuch ; 9, Yellow Ingestre; 10, 
Hanwell Souring; 11, Nonesuch; 12, Cellini; 13, 
Duchess of Oldenburgh. 
Names of Plants.— IF. G. Baker: 1, Stanhopea 
jenischiana, rather rare; 2 and 3, StanhopeaWardii 
venusta, differing in size chiefly; 4, Stanhopea 
oculata— Omega: Knot GrassJPolygonum \viculare); 
the term for single flower is simplex. — M.M. : Cam¬ 
panula rapunculoides, often grown as a border plant. 
Communications Received.— M. M., next week. 
E. J H.—W. P. R—C. Moss.—Omega.—W. Hay¬ 
ward.—David Rymer.—J. Bryson.—G. C., Cold¬ 
stream. 
-- 
LONDON SEED TRADE. 
September 10 th, 1895. 
Messrs. Hurst & Son, 152, Houndsditch, and 39, 
Seed Market, Mark Lane, report a moderate demand 
for Trifolium incarnatum. Winter Tares and Rye, at 
easier rates. Red Clover offers freely from France 
and Germany without finding buyers. Ryegrasses 
neglected. 
