806 
tHE gardening world. August 18,1894. 
LEICESTER FLOWER SHOW. 
For the ninth year in succession, the Abbey Park 
Flower Show and Gala at Leicester held on the yth 
inst., proved a great success. Inaugurated primarily 
for the purpose of raising funds for providing music 
in the parks during the summer months, the event 
has not only become a popular general holiday for 
the townspeople, but one the fame of which is 
spreading far and wide, with the result that many 
visitors are tempted to attend the fete from the 
country towns and villages and by excursions from 
other places. A wet bank holiday was not a very 
encouraging prospect, but the brilliant sunshine on 
Tuesday morning soon dried the turf, and, although 
the clouds were several times during the afternoon 
dark and threatening the rain kept off until the time 
of the fireworks display, when there was a heavy 
downpour which somewhat marred that portion of 
the entertainment. To show the hold which the 
flower show has gained upon the popular favour, it 
is only necessary to state that notwithstanding the 
threatening weather, there was a “record gate,’’ 
nearly ;^8oo being taken at the entrances. There is 
undoubtedly a great attraction in the flower show 
itself, for it is now one of the finest in the provinces, 
but it is not alone for this that the visitors come to 
Leicester in such large numbers. The programme 
on Tuesday afforded much delight in other directions 
notably in regard to music. 
The show comprised ten divisions, devoted to 
plants, cut flowers, roses, vegetables, and fruit, and 
these were staged in five marquees. Altogether the 
exhibits numbered some 1500, as compared with 
about 1200 a year zgo. The increase was chiefly 
noticeable in the Cottagers’ and allottees vegetable 
and fruit sections, open to competitors residing 
within four miles of the Market-place, which was 
of course, a source of special satisfaction to the pro¬ 
moters. The total number of exhibitors was 106, 
as compared with ninety last year. There was a 
magnificent display of Roses, the competitors 
including such well-known growers as Messrs. 
Cocker, of Aberdeen, Croll, of Dundee, Harkness 
and Sons, May & Co., Mack & Sons, of Yorkshire. 
In other departments some of the best known growers 
in the country competed, Mr. Forbes, of Hawick, 
sending Carnations, Messrs. Yard & Co., North¬ 
ampton, bouquets, Mr. B. R. Davis, of Yeovil, 
Begonias, Mr. Irvine, of Tignabruaich, Pansies and 
Carnations; while Messrs. Perkins, of Coventry, 
Machin & Son, Burton, Warner, of the Abbey Park 
nurseries, were also large exhibitors of flowers. In 
the fruit section, the exhibitors included Mr. Read, 
gardener to the Earl of Carnarvon, Mr. Goodacre 
the Earl of Harrington’s gardener, and Mr. C. 
Vinish, gardener, Lockington Hall. In the vegetable 
divisions there were over 100 competitors, Messrs. 
Harrison & Sons sending s ome fine collections not 
for competition. 
The quality, beauty, and number of exhibits in the 
show have grown almost beyond the limits of enu¬ 
meration and special notice. Although some of the 
specimens were not up to the standard of former 
products, others were vastly superior, and altogether, 
the judge considered that the show was the 
finest ever held in the nine years series. The growths 
in the large glass house might be looked upon as a 
magnificent group of sub-tropical and succulent 
plants, not for competition. Next there was the 
tent, with competing groups by gentlemen’s 
gardeners, Mr.J. Smith (gardener to Mrs. S. Bennett, 
Holmdale, Stoneygate) being successful in securing 
the first, and Mr. W. Bolton (gardener to W. Billson 
Esq., Barkby) the second prize. Both were excellent 
groups, but the first place was well won by a beauty of 
form and charming lightness, variety and blending 
of colour, points in which the second group lacked 
in comparison. Mrs. G. H. Ellis, Knighton Hayes, 
lent a splendid group of Maidenhair Ferns, not for 
competition, and Mr. Billson, had an attractive 
collection of stove and greenhouse plants, whilst Mr. 
J. Wright, won first honours with both single and 
double Begonias. There were many other very fine 
exhibits in stove and greenhouse plants, the opinion 
of the judges being that there was an improvment all 
round. The Roses were an exquisite collection, and 
in several instances it seemed that nothing better could 
be produced. The principal winners were Messrs. 
Cocker and Sons, Aberdeen; Messrs. D. and W. 
Croll, Dundee; Mr. R. Bennett, (gardener to Rev. 
W. H. Jackson, Stagsden Vicarage), and Mr. E, B. 
Lindsell, Hitchin. Wreaths, sprays, bouquets, and 
buttonholes were beautiful productions. In the case 
of bridal bouquets, sprays, etc., Messrs. Perkins and 
Sons, Coventry, were again to the front, whilst Mr. 
H. Rogers, Gipsy Lane, Mr. W. R. Woodcock, 
Syston, and Mr. Carnall, of Belgrave, were also 
successful exhibitors. Messrs. Dobbie and Co., of 
Rothsay, sent a large and beautifully-varied 
collection of cut flowers, not for competition; Mr. 
B. R. Davis, of Yeovil, had a splendid collection of 
Begonias, not for competition, and Messrs. Cocker 
and Sons, sent a fine selection of hardy border plants- 
In the open class for stove and greenhouse plants, 
Mr. H. Blakensey, (gardener to P. A. Muntz, Esq., 
of Dunsmore), was the first prize winner. The 
division for amateurs aroused considerable interest. 
Mr. Mahlon Whittle carried all before him in the 
classes for Roses, Mr. H. Gumley had some charming 
Carnations, and Mr. W. Ward, some equally beauti¬ 
ful Picotees, which were a decided advance on last 
year. Other cut blooms were very meritorious. In 
the Cottagers Section there was also a general 
excellence in the exhibits. The wild flower bouquets 
were greatly admired. In many directions the 
exhibits showed a marked improvement on last year. 
To Mr. J. Burn, Curator and Secretary, the 
greatest credit is due for the admirable arrangements 
carried out in every direction. 
-- 
LIQUID MANURE. 
There are comparatively few plants in cultivation 
to which at times an application of liquid manure 
will not prove beneficial, if applied of varying 
strength at which it is used, and the length of time 
intervening between its use, according to the nature 
of the plants. Those of a robust, leafy, and quick 
habit of growth will take it up with manifest advan¬ 
tage at a strength which would kill others of slower 
growth and more tenderly rooted. Its use in the 
cultivation of soft-wooded plants in pots, where 
good results are expected, is well-nigh indispensable, 
for however good the soil may be at the time they 
are potted, the available plant food it contains is 
soon exhausted, and unless the chemical require¬ 
ments of the plants are given them in a form in 
which they can be readily assimilated, the plants 
become starvelings. Now liquid manure, holding, as 
it does, the essential elements in solution or suspen¬ 
sion, according to circumstances, when applied to the 
soil, permeates the whole ball of the plant, so that 
every rootlet can take up its share of the food 
supplied to make up the deficiency created in the 
soil by the plant’s growth. 
Liquid manure, whether home made from the 
excreta of animals, or from chemical substances, as 
sulphate of ammonia, nitrates, potash, guano, or 
super-phosphates, or some one or other of the many 
artificial manures now so generally used, there is one 
golden rule to be observed in reference to its use, 
and that is to apply it weak and often. Another 
good rule is never to give it to plants when they are 
over-dry, because they will often, when in that con¬ 
dition, take it up with greater rapidity than is con¬ 
ducive to their well-being. If at any time when its 
application is thought desirable, and the plants are 
in the condition of dryness indicated, a good water¬ 
ing with clear water should be given two or three 
hours previously, as this will render the plants in 
better condition to take up the manurial constituents 
presented to them in a more leisurely manner and 
without the risk run by the more rapid absorption 
of food which they may fail to properly assimilate, 
for, like ourselves, they have to pay for the trans¬ 
gression of Nature’s laws, the only difference being 
that whilst we ought to be masters of ourselves, the 
plants have to bear the consequences attendant on 
the caprices of those to whose care they are sub¬ 
jected. 
Fruit trees would often receive great benefit from 
a more liberal use of liquid manure than they gene¬ 
rally get. A good soaking of it given when the fruit 
is half grown in the case of Apples and Pears, and 
directly after the stoning process in stone fruits and 
Grapes, will enable them to carry heavier crops of 
larger and more luscious fruit without the extra 
strain upon the energies of the trees resulting from a 
dry and impoverished condition of the soil. Soot 
water, either by itself, or in conjunction with other 
liquid manure, is of especial value, imparting a deep 
green to the foliage and rendering the trees less liable 
to the attacks of Red Spider. As a general rule the 
higher standard of health at which a plant can be 
kept up to the less likely is it to fall a prey to insect 
pests, and when by any means they do find a lodge¬ 
ment upon it, it is better able to withstand the drain 
made upon its resources by its foe. This is a 
secondary advantage accompanying the use of liquid 
manure and other readily absorbed plant foods, at 
the same time by no means a small one, and well 
illustrates the value a timely application of them is 
to the grower, in affording him the ready means of 
supplying his plants with food, which can be readily 
taken up by them, when from their general appear¬ 
ance, he sees the desirability of giving it them to 
maintain the desired standard of health. 
Home-made liquid manures, where readily obtain¬ 
able, cost but little bey'.nd the labour incurred in 
preparing them. In all country places, provision 
should be made for the collection of all the urine 
from the stables and cow houses with the drainings 
from manure heaps The best constituents of all 
manures, have an inveterate tendency to fly away 
into the air in the form of ammonia or other gases, 
or drain away, and owing to these two causes much 
valuable material is lost, and sometimes especially 
to the liquid portions of these home-made manures, 
which being allowed to run to waste, frequently 
poisons the air and contaminates the water supply. 
For use as liquid manure, we prefer urine to that 
made by soaking the solid excreta in water as it is 
much richer in plant food containing double the 
amount of phosphoric acid, four times the amount 
of nitrogenous compounds, and six times the 
quantity of alkaline salts. It is also more cleanly 
and more easy to use, but at the same time more 
care is required in its use for being so much more 
powerful than that made from excrement, plants are 
more readily poisoned from an overdose of it. 
And again, as the urine caught in cesspools varies 
considerably in strength, owing to the differences 
there are constantly taking place in the quantity of 
water that finds its way intothem from the washings of 
flowers, etc., some discretion must be used as to the 
extent to which they are diluted with water, for a 
mistake in this direction may be followed by serious 
consequences, which are easily avoided by following 
the golden rule to give it weak and often. The 
colour of the liquid is a pretty sure guide as to its 
strength. When found extra dark in colour, which 
generally happens during dry weather, use it in 
smaller quantities to the gallon of water, and when 
the opposite conditions prevail in larger proportions 
than usual. Dwellers in towns and many suburban 
districts are often entirely restricted to the use of 
artificial. liquid manures, such as sulphate of 
ammonia, which, if used at the rate of half-an-ounce 
to a gallon of water, is during the summer months 
a most e.xcellent stimulant. It is often found to vary 
considerably in strength, but the proportion of half- 
an-ounce per gallon is quite a safe one for the best 
obtainable. If using a sample which fails to give 
the expected results use it in larger proportions. 
Nitrate of soda and potash form excellent manures 
and may be used in about double the proportion, 
but for amateurs and in small gardens the use of 
some one or other of the many compound fertilisers, 
in the proportions advocated by their makers, has 
much to be said in its favour, and as they differ in 
their chemical constituents, it is good practice to 
have two or three of them at hand to use as a 
change. 
A mistake sometimes made by young beginners is 
to give liquid manure to pot plants before they are 
properly established and well rooted. This should 
never be done, because it leads to an accumulation 
of food in the soil which the plant cannot utilise, 
and from its inability to do so, the rootlets being in 
contact with these highly-fertilising materials, to 
use a common phrase, they get burnt and the plant 
dies.— IF. B. G. 
- .im - 
FORESTRY IN BRITAIN. 
In his presidential address to the Biological 
section of the British Association at Oxford, de¬ 
livered on the gth inst.. Professor Bayley Balfour, 
discussed the subject of Forestry in Britain. 
Forestry, he said, was a branch of applied science to 
which in this country but little attention had been 
given by any class of the community. By scientific 
men it had been practically ignored. Yet it was a 
division of rural economy which ought to be the 
basis of a large national industry. There are no in- 
