Dec. 27th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
261 
with a shade of red, and remarkable for its large 
truss. Kate Farmer, rosy salmon, quite deserves the 
four crosses placed against it in our note-book; 
and Favourite, soft cerise scarlet, is thoroughly well 
named. Dante, a rich magenta, with a fine orange 
blotch on the upper petals, is very rich in colour. 
Mrs. Naisli holds a good position among the whites, 
and is noted as a very strong grower. Mrs. Barriff, 
salmon-pink now—an intense salmon in summer, is a 
wondrously free winter bloomer, and throws its large 
showy trusses well above the foliage. Clytie, crimson, 
shaded with magenta, is also noted as specially fine • 
but what shall we say in praise of Ferdinand Kauffer, 
the most intense magenta-purple of all? It is a pearl 
amongst pearls. Eurydice is a pink wfith a purple 
shade, in every way first-class ; and of Mrs. Lord, it 
may be said that the flower, not the lady, is perhaps 
the deepest crimson. Omphale is very pretty, a 
soft shade of salmon ; Crimson Gem, crimson with a 
white eye, is notable for its fine shape and neat 
habit; Ida Walker is one of the finest crimsons; 
and Imogen, in the salmon-coloured section, is also 
first-rate. 
Zelia is a specially fine winter bloomer, producing 
splendid trusses of rich crimson blossoms. Cato is a 
very good scarlet; Emperor, bright crimson-scarlet; 
Mrs. Gordon, bright crimson with a white eye, quite a 
beauty ; and Herminus, scarlet, shaded with magenta, 
must also be included amongst the most select. The 
latter, in addition to being a very fine flower, is also a 
most profuse winter bloomer. The new Lady Chester¬ 
field, sent out last spring is the deepest coloured of 
the salmon shades; and Lord Chesterfield, crimson, 
.shaded with purple, can be recommended as a fine 
exhibition variety. The demands on our space will 
not permit of a larger selection being made, but 
before we leave the single varieties we must mention 
the new white, Queen of the Belgians, which was also 
sent out last spring, and of which one side of a house 
here is full of plants carrying a rare crop of flowers, 
fine in form and remarkably pure. It is one of the 
best of growers and a very free bloomer. 
In the house devoted to double-flowering varieties 
there is a very fine batch of the new double ■white, 
La Cygne, which in summer and late into the autumn 
comes very pure, but is a little green just now; 
Comte Bampon, a fine soft scarlet, is noted for its 
grand trusses ; and Madame Leon Dalloy, a double 
white, is one of the best to grow for cutting. Aglaia, 
a crimson, heavily shaded with purple, is a good 
winter flowering variety. Magenta King and M. 
Gelein Lowagie, light orange-scarlet, and Lord Mayor, 
pink suffused with purple, are also flowering most 
freely. 
The Messrs. Cannell have some new varieties to 
send out next spring which are expected to make a 
noise in the fioricultural world, several of which are 
now in bloom. Henry Cannell is considered the most 
intense crimson in colour that has yet been seen, with 
extra large pips and immense trusses. Swanley Gem 
is a rosy-salmon with a white eye and also of large 
dimensions. W. E. Gumbleton is a deep crimson with 
a shade of violet in the centre and a small white eye, 
and the counterpart of Henry Cannell as regards habit 
and size. Kentish Fire is a most intense scarlet, and 
considered an advance on everything of this colour. 
The new doubles include Mrs. Cordon, a very pretty 
rosy-salmon, not so double as many, and all the more 
valuable on that account as a winter bloomer, the 
semi-doubles not being so liable to damp off as the 
more double ones. James Murkland is an American 
novelty, raised by Mr. Thorpe, whom many will remem¬ 
ber as a member of the late firm of Bell & Thorpe, of 
Stratford-on-Avon. It is also a very neat semi¬ 
double, a flesh-tinted white in colour, flushed with rose 
in the centre. In summer it is a mottled salmon. 
Belle Nanceienne, another mottled salmon, is a grand 
flower in summer, but does not shine as a wdnter 
bloomer. James Vick is another of Mr. Thorpe’s 
seedlings, a deep salmon self-coloured semi-double, 
of very neat habit, and good alike in winter and 
summer. 
The houses devoted to Primulas are also very gay 
with plants in bloom, and will be finer still when some 
specially well-grown specimens intended for flowering 
a little later on come into bloom. The carefully 
selected varieties grown are arranged in separate 
batches, so that the special merits of each are more 
clearly brought out than would be the case if a mixed 
arrangement was adopted. Swanley Blue is the first 
lot to come under notice, and very bright and pretty 
it is. Swanley Purple represents a very fine purple 
strain; and Swanley White is also of the best. 
Emperor is a pretty carmine flower; and Swanley 
Giant a very good purple, a very strong grower, and 
producing large blooms. Princess of Wales is a lovely 
shade of blush pink, and throws the trusses well above 
the foliage—the neatest-habited variety of all. Swanley 
Bed needs no comment now, it is so well known ; 
but Queen of the Whites, among the fern-leaved 
varieties, certainly claims a word of praise, so fine are 
the individual blooms ; as does also Mr. Tomkins’ now 
well known variety, The Queen, which is still one of 
the finest. There are also some novelties here, of 
which great things are expected by-and-bye. These 
are a Swanley Bed with fern-leaved foliage; a carmine- 
flowered variety, and a blush ground flower, prettily 
spotted and stripped with purple, both also fern¬ 
leaved. 
Cyclamens are also now largely and well grown at 
Swanley, and will soon be in rare form. Of Chrysan¬ 
themums there have been some three or four houses’ 
full, but there are only a few left in bloom. These, 
however, are of the general utility order of merit, and 
worthy of more than a passing word. Mrs. Charles 
Carey, is a white Japanese, a very strong grower, with 
bold, handsome foliage, and always one of the latest 
to bloom; Virginale, a white Anemone-flowered 
Japanese, with a yellow centre, is very pretty, and very 
popular with the market growers as a late bloomer. 
Star of Wliyke is, perhaps, the most valuable of all 
for cutting; a pompon of medium size, and what a 
florist would call a thin flower, pure white, charmingly 
pretty in a cut state, and the most free to bloom of 
any Chrysanthemum known. There are some plants 
here that have provided flowers throughout the show 
season, and are still in full bloom. 
Many other winter flowering subjects are also 
grown here; there is something of note to see in 
every house in the nursery, but we think we have said 
enough to convince anyone that a trip to Swanley in 
winter will not be made in vain. 
- Q__J - 
HORTICULTURAL SHOWS. 
[The following paper on “ Horticultural Shows and 
their Influence,” was read at the September meeting 
of the Notts Horticultural and Botanical Society by 
Mr. N. H. Pownall, of Lenton Hall Gardens, Notting¬ 
ham. Mr. Pownall states the case vigorously from 
the negative side of the question, but we do not 
think the majority of readers will agree wdth him.] 
My subject for this evening’s paper has been chosen 
at very short notice, and was suggested to me by our 
Society’s late unfortunate Show experiences. This 
matter being uppermost now in most of our minds, 
caused the subject of Shows in general to suggest itself 
at once to me as being one that was likely to provoke 
a lively discussion ; and I particularly wanted a long 
and a lively discussion for this great reason, that a 
long discussion would justify me in making my paper 
a short one, and as I had only seven days’ notice in 
which to get it ready—that was a consideration of 
great moment to me. To ensure that lively discussion, 
or at least do what I could to make it sure, I decided to 
take up the question of influence on its negative side, 
my sympathies lying that way, and I also decided to 
pitch the keynote of my arguments somewhat high and 
sharp, in order that those who cared to follow might 
be inspired to join in the discussion with spirit and 
earnestness. 
There is certain to be a majority on the affirmative 
side against me ; indeed, when I have got through I 
shall most probably stand alone in the position I have 
taken up. To begin, perhaps I had better define 
what I mean by a Horticultural Show. It is an 
aggregate collection of garden produce of whatsoever 
kind, brought together in a public place to be judged 
on its merits by competent judges, and afterwards 
inspected by those who care to do so—a charge being 
made at the entrance, sufficient wuth the subscriptions 
and entrance fees to clear expenses and give prizes, 
with perhaps a surplus over to meet future and 
contingent expenses. In broad terms, that is a Horti¬ 
cultural Show. There are, however, Shows and Shows. 
There is the ideal Show and the real Show, with 
manifold diversities of each. The ideal Show might 
be described as being one where the ordinary gardening 
produce of a neighbourhood was contributed by those 
willing to compete, thereby to signalize (1) the supe¬ 
riority of stocks and varieties; (2) excellence in 
cultivation ; and (3) skill in preparing and setting up. 
