632 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
•June 7, 1890. 
FLOfftdtJ'BTlJI}!}. 
_ 
The Royal National Tulip Exhibition. 
The annual Tulip festival at Manchester, on the 28 th 
ult., must be acknowledged as a distinct and gratifying 
success. Mr. James Thurstan, of Cardiff, said it was the 
best display of Tulips he had ever seen at Manchester. 
I thiuk the growers were taken by surprise by the 
extent and high quality of the flowers generally. Mr. 
Thurstan’s, at Cardiff, and Mr. Thomas Haynes’, at 
Warwick, were practically over, although both were 
able to exhibit a few blooms. The Rev, F. D. Horner’s, 
at the extreme north of Lancashire, was over also, but 
his glass-covered Tulip house would account in some 
measure for the earliness of his flowers. I may state 
that he brought to Manchester for us to inspect some 
seedling Tulips of great promise, that will be heard of 
in a year or two, when he can show them in good form. 
On the other hand Mr. Samuel Barlow’s beds at Stake- 
hill House were late, and though he was able to show 
some very good flowers indeed, they were medium-sized 
and wanted another week to have perfected them, and 
in a Tulip competition size counts for something. The 
Cheshire and Lancashire growers generally found the 
date a very suitable one^and they were enabled to stage 
blooms of large size, and on the whole pure and well 
marked. 
The older of the northern Tulip growers do not 
evidently attach the importance to purity in the 
ground as the southern Tulip growers did in the palmy 
days when Sanders, Hunt, Turner, Betheridge, the 
Laurences, the Williams, Groom, -and other southern 
growers made .so great a stir as cultivators and exhi¬ 
bitors. They said, “Let us.have purity, and correct 
marking will follow in time. ” . The northern growers of 
the older school appear to attach much importance to 
correct markings, and less to purity, the result being 
that flowers with clouded bases were placed in the 
front rank at Old Trafford on Wednesday that were 
defective in the important quality of purity. The 
judging has to be performed largely by men of the 
older school, and in making their awards they cleave 
to the old lines. Some of. the awards were open to 
doubt, and indeed .were questioned by those who 
favour the more enlightened southern. standard. The 
competition was very keen and good in all classes ; in 
some of those for six and three-blooms there were from ten 
and eleven to sixteen and seventeen entries. As the 
Tulip show took place on the last day of the great 
Whitsun exhibition at Old Trafford, the flowers were 
arranged in the Concert . Hall, and the number staged 
required as much table space again as was originally 
allotted for them. 
The cup class, as that for twelve blooms is generally 
termed, brought six competitors, and. the first prize 
went to Mr. James Knowles, Stalybridge, who had of 
bizarres, Sir J. Paxton and Sovereign (feathered), and 
Dr. Hardy and Sir J. Paxton (flamed); of byblcemens, 
Mrs. Hepworth and Conersby Castle (feathered), and 
Amazon and Talisman (flamed) ; of roses, Heroine 
and Modesty (feathered), and Triomphe Royale and 
May Tints (flamed). Mr. W. Kitchen, Stockport, was 
second, with bizarres, Typo and Masterpiece (feathered), 
and San Josef and Typo (flamed) ; roses," Minerva and 
Comte de Yergennes (feathered), and Queen Henrietta 
and Mabel (flamed) ; of byblcemens, Violet Amabile 
and Trip to Stockport (feathered), and Adonis and 
Seedling (flamed). Samuel Barlow, Esq., J.P., Stake- 
hill House, was third, with bizarres, dtoyal Sovereign 
and Garibaldi (feathered). Sir J. Paxton and I) r. 
Hardy (flamed) ; roses, Industry and Modesty 
(feathered), Annie McGregor and Mabel (flamed) ; 
byblcemens, Seedling and Favourite (feathered), Friar 
Tuck and Carbuncle_ (flamed).. Mr. John H. Wood, 
Royton, was fourth. In the class for six blooms, one 
feathered and one flamed of each class, Mr. Daniel 
Woolley, junr., Stockport, was first, with bizarres, 
Typo (feathered) and Sir J. Paxton (flamed) ; roses, 
Mabel (feathered) and Olivia (flamed) ; byblcemens, 
King of the Universe (feathered) and Walker’s Duchess 
of Sutherland (flamed). Mr. W. Kitchen was second, 
with bizarres, Paul Pry (feathered) and San Josef 
(flamed) ; roses, Comte de Yergennes (feathered) and 
Clio (flamed) ; byblcemens, Violet Amabile (feathered) 
and Seedling (flamed). Mr. A. Moorhouse was third. 
In the class for six Tulips, half-guinea subscribers only 
being allowed to compete, Mr. H. Housley, Stockport, 
was first; and Mr. R. Woolfenden, Royton, was second. 
The best three feathered Tulips out of ten com¬ 
petitors came from Mr. S. Barlow, who had bizarre 
Sir J. Paxton ; rose, Annie McGregor, ; byblcemen, 
Violet Amabile. Second, Mr. James Knowles with 
bizarre, Stover’s Seedling ; rose, Industry ; and 
byblcemen, Conersby Castle. Third, Mr. R. Woolf¬ 
enden. Out of seventeen competitors, Mr. H. Housley 
had the best three flamed Tulips, staging bizarre, Sir 
J. Paxton ; rose, Annie McGregor ; byblcemen, Lord 
Denman. Second, Mr. Thomas Holden, Royton, with 
bizarre, Sir J. Paxton ; rose, unknown.; and bybloemen. 
Lord Denman. Mr. Moorhouse was third. There 
were three stands of two Tulips, one feathered and one 
flamed, and Mr. John Hayes was first with two 
unnamed flowers ; feathered bizarre and flamed rose. 
Second, Mr. Samuel Johnson, Stamford, with flamed 
bizarre, Sir J. Paxton, and feathered byblcemen, Lord 
Frederick Cavendish. Third, Messrs. Stuart & Mein, 
Kelso. This class is for maiden growers : a maiden 
grower being one who has not hitherto won the amount 
of his subscription at any one show. A similar class 
brought sixteen competitors, and as the winning and 
losing stands in the preceding class could compete in 
this also, there were nineteen in all. Here Mr. J. H. 
Wood was first, bizarre, feathered, Masterpiece, and 
bizarre, Sir J. Paxton ; second, Mr. W. Prescott 
with bizarres, feathered, Lord Lilford, and flamed Sir 
J. Paxton. Third, Mr. Housley with the same 
varieties. In the classes for single blooms the best 
feathered bizarres were Masterpiece, Lord Lilford and 
Sir J. Paxton ; the best flamed, Sir J. Paxton and Dr. 
Hardy. The best feathered roses, Industry, Comte de 
Yergennes, and Alice ; the best flamed, Mabel, Madame 
de St. Arnaud, and Agliea ; the best feathered 
byblcemens, King of the Universe, Violet Amabile, 
and Adonis ; the best flamed, Talisman, King of the 
Universe, and Adonis. 
More than usual interest attached to the show in 
consequence of the trustees of the Turner Memorial 
Fund having offered special prizes for twelve dissimilar 
named Tulips, six rectified, and six breeder ; and for 
six dissimilar seedling Tulips, three rectified, and three 
breeders. Mr. Samuel Barlow was placed first in both 
classes ; the former he had of broken flowers, bizarres, 
William Wilson, feathered ; and Sir J. Paxton, 
flamed ; roses, Modesty feathered, and Mabel flamed ; 
byblcemens, William Parkinson, feathered, and Mabel, 
flamed. Of breeders, bizarres, Sir J. Paxton and 
Hepworth’s 27/a, bright red ; roses, Mrs. Barlow and 
Annie McGregor, the last named beautiful in colour ; 
byblcemens, William Parkinson and Glory of Stakehill. 
Second: Mr. John H. Wood, with bizarres, Mabel, 
(feathered), and Sir J. Paxton (flamed) ; roses, Heroine 
(feathered), and Mr. Lomas (flamed); byblcemens, 
Adonis (feathered), and Talisman (flamed). Of breeders, 
bizarres, Sir J. Paxton and Lord Delamere ; roses, 
Miss B. Coutts and Annie McGregor ; byblcemens, 
Alice Grey and Storer’s A/12. Third, Mr. W. Kitchen. 
Mr. Barlow’s six seedlings consisted of bizarre feathered, 
Gill’s Seedling, and flamed byblcemen, Johnson’s Bob 
Morley, and rose feathered Hardy’s Miss Hardy ; his 
three breeders, one of each class, were all seedlings of 
the late John Hepworth’s. Mr. James Thurstan, 
Richmond Road, Carditf, showed a bizarrefeathered, rose 
flamed, and byblcemen flamed, all seedlings and seed¬ 
ling breeders, one of each class. One stand was 
disqualified through not being dissimilar. 
Breeder Tulips, as is usual, were very attractive. 
The best six, two of each class, came from Mr. 
Woodhouse, who had bizarres, Dr. Hardy and Sir J. 
Paxton; roses, Messrs. Hindley and Mr. Barlow, 
byblcemens, Leach’s Seedling and Queen of May. Second, 
Mr. S. Barlow, with bizarre Hepworth’s 27/a and Sir 
J. Paxton ; roses, Annie McGregor and Miss B. 
Coutts ; byblcemens, William Parkinson and Glory of 
Stake Hill. Third, Mr. W. Kitchen. Mr. J. Cliffe, 
Leeds, had the best three breeders, having bizarre, 
Hardwick’s 28 ; rose, Queenof England; and byblcemen, 
Parker’s King. Second, Mr. W. Kitchen, with 
bizarre, Sir J. Paxton ; rose, Rose Hill Seedling; and 
bybloemen, Seedling. Third, Mr. H. Housley. The 
best bizarre breeders were Dr. Hardy, Sir J. Paxton and 
Richard Yates ; roses, Rose Hill, Annie McGregor and 
Mrs. Barlow ; the best byblcemen breeders, Beauty of 
Litchfield, Glory of Stakehill and John Henry. 
The premier flamed Tulip was bizarre Sir Joseph 
Paxton, shown by Mr. D. Woolley, Jnr. ; the premier 
feathered Tulip, bizarre Masterpiece, shown by Mr. 
B. Simonite ; the premier breeder bizarre, Sir Joseph 
Paxton, shown by Mr. A. Moorhouse. 
A Pink Exhibition in the North. 
An attempt is to be made to hold an exhibition of 
Pinks in the north, with a view of reviving the interest 
in this fragrant flower. It is proposed that it shall 
take place in the Botanical Gardens, Old Trafford, in 
connection with the Rose Exhibition of the Manchester 
Botanical and Horticultural Society on July 19th. The 
matter is in the hands of Mr. Samuel Barlow, and it 
is his intention to issue a circular at once soliciting 
support for the movement. That it may prove 
successful and result in the establishment of a Pink 
Show in the north as well as in the south, is the wish 
shared by all who are interested in this once popular 
flower. 
Of all the family of the perennial Dianthus, the Pink 
is the most fragrant, and the most easily cultivated, as 
it can be grown in the open air ; succeeding much 
better in a well-prepared bed than when cultivated in 
pots. That the Pink is receiving more attention than 
has been given to it in late years there can be no 
doubt, and if its admirers will lend a helping hand to 
the movement, there can be no doubt an exhibition can 
be arranged annually, both at Manchester and London. 
It is thought the northern flowers will be at their best 
about July 19th. Our friend, Mr. Samuel Barlow, has 
a bed of Pinks that will be worth going some distance 
to see when the plants are in full bloom. They have 
made a vigorous growth, and there is the promise of a 
good head of bloom. He has Mr. Thurstan’s new 
varieties — James Thurstan, Mrs. Thurstan, John 
Dorington, George Hodgkinson, and other fine sorts, 
together with some of the - leading named varieties ; 
and if a show is arranged, Mr. Barlow will, no doubt, 
be able to contribute some fine blooms. — R. I). 
-- 
STAKEHILL HOUSE. 
The Residence of Samuel Bablow, Esq., J.P. 
If anyone would desire to see a florist’s garden—that 
is, a garden in which florists’ flowers are largely grown, 
and well grown too—they could not do better than pay 
a visit to Stakehill House, Castleton, Manchester, the 
residence of Mr. Samuel Barlow, J. P., whom all florists 
recognise as the leader of the devotees of the northern 
and midland floriculture ; and whose co-eperation is 
necessary if any movement in aid of the extension of 
the culture of any particular florists’ flower is to 
succeed. I do not for a moment desire that any 
florist interested in florists’ flowers should at once pack 
his Gladstonebag and hie away to Middleton, en route for 
Stakehill House, because if many were in that state 
of mind it might prove embarrassing to Mr. Barlow ; 
but if anyone taking an interest in what is grown at 
Stakehill were to find himself in the neighbourhood, 
and call there, I am sure he would have a kindly 
welcome, and see many things there that would greatly 
interest him. 
Not that florists’ flowers only are grown at Stakehill, 
for Mr. Barlow is an all-round lover of plants, and 
cultivates many things other than florists’ flowers. 
The extensive steam bleaching and dyeing works at 
Stakehill are on the south side, and immediately 
contiguous to the mansion. On the ease is the main 
approach to the works, On the north and west sides 
is a spacious lawn and pleasure grounds, planted with 
many kinds of trees and flowering shrubs. There are 
fine Hollies, also, Hodgkin’s Large-leaved being 
one of the best to stand the exposure and impurities of 
the district. There are belts and beds of Rhodo¬ 
dendrons that flower freely and finely in a climate and 
atmosphere so different to that at Knap Hill or 
Bagshot, that one wonders they bloom at all. 
Keen and cutting winds in winter, soot, injurious 
acids from chemical works and other manufactories do 
their worst; but if the evergreens go rusty and become 
soot begrimed, in spring, when the genial influences at 
work move vegetation to active growth, they put on 
a robe of delicate green so bright and inviting that the 
whole face of vegetable existence becomes changed, and 
straightway there is leaf and bud, and blossom far 
beyond what might have been expected. Mr. Barlow 
is a great lover of Rhododendrons, and when some of 
the plants die—as they are certain to do, for one can 
stand on the outskirts of Stakehill and count as many 
as fifty or sixty tall shafts constantly belching forth a 
black smoke, containing particles that must prove 
injurious to vegetation, as shown in the most melancholy 
manner from the fact that all the tall trees in the 
neighbourhood are already dead or rapidly dying—a 
new and fine variety is at once planted. When in the 
grounds with Mr. Barlow recently, he pointed to a 
bush of the common Barberry, promising well for 
blossom, and wondered if fruit would follow; so 
seldom does fruit follow blossom in this locality. 
There are beds of Roses also, for Mr. Barlow is a keen 
lover of the Rose. Any Teas and Noisettes of weakly 
constitution are cut clean down during winter, but 
care is taken of the roots, and they spring up again in 
March and April, and bloom far beyond what could be 
