692 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 4th, 1885. 
(Sartrming llltsrelknir. 
Flower Shows for Next Week. — Tuesday: 
National Bose Show at South Kensington.—Ealing, 
Acton, and Hanwell Horticultural Society's Show at 
Gunnersbury.—Louth Bose Show (two days). TT ed- 
■nesday : Boyal Caledonian Horticultural Society s 
Show at Edinburgh (two days).—Sutton Bose Show. 
—Flower Show in Montpelier Gardens, Cheltenham. 
—Wimbledon Horticultural Society's Show.—Lee, 
Blaekheath, and Lewisham Horticultural Society s 
Show. Thursday : Hereford Bose Show.—Norwich 
Horticultural Society’s Show. Saturday : National 
Bose Society’s Exhibition at Manchester—Sidcup 
Flower Show. 
We understand that Mr. Henry B. Newport, late of 
the Board of Trade, has been appointed Assistant 
Secretary of the Boyal Horticultural Society. 
Messrs. James Carter & Co., of High Holborn, 
have been awarded four Silver and six Bronze Medals 
for the produce of their seeds at the Agri-Horticultu- 
ral Exhibition held at Kandy, Ceylon. 
At the annual Cherry sales held in Kent, last week, 
there was more than the usual competition, and high 
prices were realized. The Cherries on one estate 
alone are reported to have fetched £1,700. 
Mr. J. Muir', who was formerly gardener to Sir 
Philip M. de Grey Egerton, at Oulton Park. Cheshire, 
and for the last three or four years gardener to the 
Earl of Hopetoun, died at Hopetoun House, Queens- 
ferry, near Edinburgh, on June 16th. 
The Nottinghamshire Horticulture and Botanical 
Society’s annual exhibition will be held in Mapperley 
Park, on July 23rd, 24th, and 25th. 
Ox Thursday next, Messrs. Protheroe & Morris will 
sell the collection of stove and greenhouse plants 
which belonged to the late J. Jackson, Esq., at Eltham 
Park, Eltham, Kent. 
Owing to failing health, the extensive market 
gardening establishment of Mr. Davies, at New Lodge, 
Whetstone, will be brought to the hammer at an early 
date. 
The plant of Odontoglossum vexillarium which Mr. 
Douglas exhibited at the last show of the Boyal 
Botanic Society bore 200 blossoms. Seven years ago 
it was only large enough to fill a small 60-pot. 
Mr. H. G. Jones has been engaged to succeed Mr. 
Taylor as gardener to Madame Patti, at Craig-y-nos 
Castle, Glamorganshire. 
Mr. James Welsh, of the firm of James Dickson 
& Son, nurserymen, Edinburgh, died somewhat sud¬ 
denly, at Erickstone, near Moffat, on the 18th of last 
month. Mr. Welsh was well known in the trade, and 
his early death is deeply regretted. 
The Wirksworth, Derbyshire, Bose Show will take 
place on the 23rd inst. 
The last number of The Journal of Horticulture 
contains the result of an Auricula election in which 
some thirty growers took part. The greatest favourites 
in each section appear to be—Green-edged: Prince of 
Greens (30), and Col. Taylor (29) ; Grey-edged: Geo. 
Lightbody (30), and Lancashire Hero (30); White- 
edged: Acme (28), and Smiling Beauty (26) ; Selfs: 
C. J. Penny (20), Pizarro (20), and Blackbird (20). 
The figures represent the number of votes recorded 
for each. 
The leading Floral attraction at the Boyal Botanic 
Society’s Evening Fete was a grand group of Orchids 
lent by Mr. J. T. Peacock. 
Under the cumbrous title of The Farmers’ and 
Gardeners’ Mutual Aid Association, a society is in 
course of formation to supply dwellers in London and 
other large towns with fruits and vegetables. The 
Association, of which Mr. A. D. Cripp, 50, Parliament 
Street, S.W., is the secretary pro tern., is intended 
primarily for the benefit of farmers and gardeners in 
the south-western districts of England served by the 
London and South-Western, and London, Brighton, 
and South Coast Bailway Companies. But if it prove 
successful, it is capable of application to other dis¬ 
tricts. The object aimed at is to bring the producer 
in the country into more direct communication with 
the consumer in the metropolis, by means of an 
agency controlled and managed by a combination of 
producers and consumers, with a view to the advantage 
and the profit of both. 
GARDENS ROUND ECCLES. 
Leaving Ellesmere Park (see p. 661), and passing 
through Swintonfields and its well-wooded park, 
stretching to Irlams-o’-th’-Height, we gained the 
picturesque village of Eccles, and requiring refresh¬ 
ment for the inner man, entered a shop opposite the 
venerable old church, on which there is a sign¬ 
board, which tells us that “ This is the old original 
Bradburn’s shop never removed,” for the sale of that 
toothsome confection called Eccles Cake. Famous 
have these cakes been, and famous are they still 
apparently, for we hear of fabulous quantities being 
sent out to various places, even to the Antipodes. 
We were told, as we ate our cake, that formerly, at 
the wakes and Whitsun ale juntings, and for Mid- 
Lent Sunday fetes, they had to begin making for two 
months before the time, to get stock enough in hand 
for the retail trade alone. 
We then proceeded via the Eccles Old Boad towards 
Manchester, through a district which may be said to 
have been a floral paradise in June. First came the 
Apple blossom, followed by golden festoons of Labur¬ 
num, dark green Hollies, laden with myriads of 
white blossoms, Lilacs, with thousands of flowers, 
Horse Chestnuts, double and single Thorns of aU 
kinds, from white to bright scarlet. Then came the 
Bhododendrons and Azaleas, which, with a grand 
backing of noble trees, such as common, copper, 
purple, and Fern-leaved Beeches, Turkey and other 
Oaks, Mountain Ash, common Ash, Sycamore, and 
many others, have made this road—Eccles Old Boad 
—a lovely sight, one of the most beautiful, perhaps, 
in this or any other county. The gardens are also 
diversified in design and arrangement, and one of 
them is pre-eminent for its valuable collection of 
Bhododendrons of all the best kinds. But the place 
we are in search of is 
Fair Hope, the residence of Mrs. Thos. Agnew, 
whose garden is in charge of Mr. William Elkin, 
well-known as one of the best of gardeners. It is a 
pleasure to visit Fair Hope at any time of the year, 
but perhaps the very best times are when the Coelo- 
gynes or the Deutzias are in bloom. Of the latter, 
may be seen plants nearly 3 yds. in diameter, and 
sheets of white blossoms. After flowering, all the 
blossom sprays are cut off with a pair of scissors, 
the plants are then pushed on in heat to make 
growth, and gradually ripened off in the Peach- 
houses, and afterwards placed in the open air. Early 
in the autumn the plants are got under shelter and 
subsequently brought on as wanted. 
The. Ccelogynes are worth a day’s journey to see. 
One pan, about 15 ins. in diameter, last season bore 
over 2,000 blooms, and a gentleman who saw it 
declared he would gladly give £50 for a similar 
specimen. There seems to be nothing particularly 
novel in the treatment they receive ; they are 
simply kept near the glass, shaded with thin canvas 
from the hot sun, and they grow and bloom magni¬ 
ficently. 
On the lawn we note a fine young purple Beech, 
with some coloured Thorns as companions, and as the 
grass would not grow under the trees, Mr. Elkin has 
planted the space with the common Saxifraga umbrosa, 
or London Pride, and it is found to answer well. 
Another troublesome corner under the shade of a 
Horse Chesnut tree, and which was long an eye-sore, 
he has made beautiful with the aid of a few rough 
stones laid rockery fashion, and some common Aucubas 
and hardy Ferns, and very fresh and pretty the 
corner looked. In the shrubberies the Bhododendrons 
were in fine bloom, among them being such fine 
varieties as Mrs. Thos. Agnew, Duchess of Bedford, 
Duchess of Connaught, and John Henry Agnew. 
Here, planted on the grass, is a specimen of Yucca 
recurva, 5 ft. high, throwing up a spike of flowers 
which is already over 3 ft. long, and still growing. 
The shrubs round the house comprise large masses of 
golden variegated Euonymus, 3 ft. or 4 ft. high, and 
as much in diameter, golden Betinosporas, and other 
variegated plants, intermixed with Bhododendrons. 
One part of the lawn is very prettily undulated, and 
a grand old Ash bole some 14 ft. in circumference 
having lost all its branches is being covered with 
Ivy. 
As we enter the houses we note overhead a profusion 
of the white and rosea superba varieties of Lapageria. 
The Azaleas are just over, but the stoves are full of 
good things, both flowering and ornamental. Stepha- 
notis covering a roof is full of bloom and in great 
demand: indeed flowers are required in large quantities, 
and it is surprising how so many can be cut three 
times a week and the houses yet be kept so gay. Yanda 
tricolor and tricolor superba were in grand flower ; and 
sweet-scented Bhododendrons, variegated Yuccas, and 
Crotons are much used. In another part of the 
gardens are some grand examples of Camellias, some 
of them planted out. Waterer’s strain of Polyanthuses 
is much favoured here for cutting from in spring to 
mingle with Narcissus blooms. .Boses are in constant 
demand; some three or four houses are devoted to 
them, and it is “ a joy for ever ” to see them when in 
full bloom ; they literally grow like willows. 
We cannot stay to write of the Tomatos, Cucumbers, 
Grapes, Peaches, Ac.; but note one other change 
which Mr. Elkin is making, viz., doing away with some 
of the mixed herbaceous beds, and filling them in with 
masses of Lilies, such as L. Chalcedonicum, L. 
candidum, and others. Mr. Elkin has found out 
during the past winter that the showy Coreopsis 
grandiflora, so useful where cut-flowers are in demand, 
will not live without the protection of a frame in this 
climate, and like the writer, he has unfortunately lost 
his stock.—N. J. I). 
—- -j — 
OCHNA MULTIFLORA. 
In the spring of 1884, Mr. B. S. Williams put in 
commerce a plant which, when first exhibited, created 
something like a sensation among the lovers of curious 
and beautiful plants, and of which it may be said, that 
the more it is known the more it is appreciated. This 
is the singularly beautiful Ochna multiflora, a stove 
shrub which produces its yellow blossoms in pro¬ 
fusion in early spring. The flowers are produced 
singly from the branches, and in a few days after 
their perfect development the stamens fall, and the 
calyx assumes the form of a large fleshy receptacle, 
of a bright strawberry-red colour, on which the seeds 
form from three to five together. These are green 
when young, but assume a rich dark plum colour as 
they acquire age, when the combination with the red 
receptacle has a very pleasing effect. 
The plant has a neat habit of growth, and as the 
fruits keep bright for several months, and quite 
young plants produce them freely, no wonder that it 
is eagerly sought after for stove decoration. It likes 
a good compost made up of good turfy loam, leaf-soil, 
and sand. Its habit is well shown in the accompany¬ 
ing illustration, for which we are indebted to Mr. 
Williams. 
- ?-■. r r - 
THE VICAR’S GARDEN. 
There is a plan pursued here in the formation of 
clumps of Bhododendrons which might be followed 
with advantage in many other places. The most 
usual method is to make up a bed of soil and plant 
the Bhododendrons at short distances apart, which 
leads to some at least of the plants in a short time 
being cramped and spoilt for want of room, and 
besides renders the formation of a collection of these 
shrubs more expensive than it need be. Here they 
are planted in groups of six or seven on the grass, 
at distances apart which allows ample room for them 
to develop into good plants before they touch each 
other, and having the carpet of grass around them, 
they have not the isolated appearance which they 
would have at the same distance apart on the bare 
soil. During the flowering and growing period they 
are immensely benefited by copious waterings in dry 
weather. 
As the season progresses, it is interesting to notice 
the marvellous amount of variation in the growth 
of the occupants of the hardy flower garden. In 
early spring the major portion of the flowering plants 
are bulbous-rooted, and the prevailing colours yellow 
and white ; now we have fibrous and tuberous-rooted 
plants with the greatest diversity of colour, the most 
conspicuous tints being scarlet, crimson, and purple. 
Foremost and brightest in colour are the Giant 
Poppies, which vary considerably, no two plants being 
exactly alike ; one without the usual dark blotch 
is far brighter and richer in colour than the rest. 
Not so gaudy, but more beautiful, are the herbaceous 
Pffionies. Here they have ample room to grow, and 
