766 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 1st, 1885. 
came in second, his group being likewise very meri¬ 
torious, but lacking the artistic arrangement seen in 
the former; still, it was a very creditable display. 
Mr. Lyon, gardener to Lady Ossington, who had a good 
group of well-grown plants, fine examples of cultiva¬ 
tion, but arranged too flat, and wanting a better centre¬ 
piece, was third. The first prize in the 100 square 
feet class fell to Mr. German, gardener to J. B. Cutts, 
Esq., Nottingham, whose group was nicely arranged, 
and contained many novelties of sterling merit, in¬ 
cluding a well-grown plant of Nepenthes Mastersiana, 
with its lovely deep red pitchers. Mr. Massey, 
gardener to Alderman Lambert, was second with a well- 
arranged group; and Mr. Swanick, gardener to Col. 
Seeley, who likewise had a good collection, was third. 
The others were too heavy, and the exhibitors would 
do well to take a lesson from Mr. Thacker. 
Stove and greenhouse plants were fairly well shown. 
For three foliage and three flowering plants, Mr. Lyon 
was an easy first, and for six ornamental foliage plants, 
Mr. German took first honours. Table plants were 
well represented, both as regards numbers and quality, 
and first honours went to Lady Ossington, who was 
closely run by Mr. German, gardener to J. B. Cutts, 
Esq., and Col. Seeley. Most of the plants staged were 
very light and graceful, just the right size for table 
work. Ferns were but poorly represented, and the first 
prize was easily obtained by Mr. German. Coleus, 
Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Caladiums, Gloxinias, Be¬ 
gonias, were all very poor, and call for no comment. 
Prizes were offered for table decoration, viz., table 
for ten persons, and table plants, flowers, and fruit 
arranged for effect. The decisions of the judges in 
these classes were very unpopular. In the former they 
were evidently led away by an over-crowded table of 
plate-glass and china, with no pretence whatever of 
a floral decoration. The fruit was unfit for any table, 
with the exception of one dish, and yet this was 
awarded the first prize, but why I failed to see. 
The first prize should have been awarded to 
Mr. Chard, of London, whose table was light and 
graceful, with the fruit and flowers quite in keeping 
with his well-known style ; the table awarded the 
second prize was far too heavy. The same error of 
judgment also occurred, but not in so pronounced 
a form, in the classes for tables of plants, flowers, and 
fruit arranged for effect. 
Cut-flowers comprised collections of twelve stove 
and greenhouse subjects, and here Lady Ossington 
was first, Col. Seeley second, and C. J. Cox, Esq., 
third, with fairly good things well put up. Hardy and 
herbaceous flowers were shown in quantities, and the 
premier award was easily taken by Messrs. Pearson & 
Son, of Chilwell, with a grand lot. Bouquets, button¬ 
holes, sprays, and dinner-table epergnes were well to 
the fore, Messrs. Perkins, of Coventry, and Mr. Chard 
having it all their own way. The examples shown by 
these firms were of an especially artistic character. 
Boses were below the average, owing, no doubt, to 
the dry season. The best flowers came from Messrs. 
Perkins & Son, of Coventry, whose blooms were fresh 
and good, but they inadvertently showed more than 
the number specified, and the judges were reluctantly 
compelled to disqualify them. The premier bloom of 
the show was a grand flower of Horace Yernet, in the 
stand of Mr. Badford. 
The Stocks and Marigolds were very poor, but some 
good Pelargoniums were shown by Pearson & Sons. 
In the fruit classes, the collection of six varieties 
shown by Mr. Edmunds, gardener to the Duke of St. 
Albans, took the first prize, and his Peaches, Nec¬ 
tarines, Figs, and Grapes were very fine; second, Lady 
Ossington, who likewise showed well. The leading 
prizes for white and black Grapes went also to Mr. 
Edmunds, as did those for single dishes of Peaches, 
Nectarines, Strawberries, and a Pine-Apple, Mr. 
Edmunds thus proving himself champion here this 
season. Vegetables were shown in quantities, some 
good collections beign staged, but we have seen them 
of better quality, and better arranged; still, some 
good vegetables in the various classes were forth¬ 
coming. 
In the miscellaneous class, Messrs. Pearson & Son, 
Chilwell, showed a collection of stove and greenhouse 
plants, hardy Ferns, wreaths, and crosses, &e. Mr. 
Harvey, Blyth Street Nursery, had some stove and 
greenhouse plants for decorative purposes; Messrs. 
John Laing & Co., Forest Hill, sent flowers of the 
Begonias for which they have such a high repute; 
Mr. Fred. Perkins sent six plants of Pelargonium 
Volunte National alba, well grown and profusely 
flowered ; Mr. B. S. Williams, Victoria and Paradise 
Nurseries, Holloway, sent, not for competition, an 
extensive collection of miscellaneous stove and green¬ 
house plants, Orchids, &c., which were well put up in 
a prominent position at one end of the large tent, and 
the various novelties displayed were greatly admired, 
the Nepenthes especially taking the fancy of the 
general public. 
Bustic-work and rockwork, also some ornamental 
shrubs, came from Mr. W. Bardell, Stapleford, and 
rustic-work by Messrs. Inman and Carrington and Mr, 
Don, of Nottingham. This society is to be congratu¬ 
lated this year on being favoured with such fine 
weather, and for the admirable management of the 
exhibition great credit is due to Mr. Steward, the 
energetic Secretary, and the Committee. The officials 
work well together here, and we trust their united 
labours will be crowned with success.— Cor. 
Newcastle Rose and Horticultural Society, 
July 21st .—That Newcastle, possessing the reputa¬ 
tion it does in North Staffordshire for success in 
horticultural pursuits, and especially in the cultivation 
of “ the queen of flowers,” should not have in a horti¬ 
cultural society an opportunity of publicly displaying 
its wealth of garden produce, has been looked upon as 
unfortunate and singular. Some years ago a society 
on a somewhat extensive scale was in existence, and 
very successful exhibitions were held under its auspices. 
It fell through, however, and was succeeded by a Bose 
society, which a few years ago also collapsed. Last 
year the present organization was formed, the Mayor 
(Mr. T. Bullock) being elected president, Mr. H. B. 
Bamm appointed treasurer, and Mr. W. H. Bamm, 
secretary, with an influential list of vice-presidents, 
and a good representative committee. Under their 
arrangements, the first annual show of the society was 
held in the Town Hall (kindly lent by the Mayor for 
the occasion), when the display of flowers, fruit, and 
vegetables was highly satisfactory and encouraging. 
The flowers lost much of their charm of appearance 
through being exhibited in a close room, and another 
year the committee will do well to hold the show 
al fresco , which is always the most popular mode. An 
attractive feature of the exhibition was the splendid 
display of Boses kindly sent, not for competition, by 
Messrs. James Dickson & Sons, Newton Nurseries, 
Chester; Messrs. Cranston, Hereford; Messrs. B. 
Smith & Co., Worcester; and Messrs. Sandy & Son, 
Stafford. The exhibits of these noted growers were 
greatly admired, and well sustained their fame. Mr. 
D. Ffoulkes, of the Friarswood Nursery, Newcastle, 
lent a number of choice plants for decorative purposes, 
and Messrs. Balfour, of Longton, exhibited some neat 
specimens of terra-cotta and horticultural ware. All 
these special exhibits received the compliment of 
“highly commended” from the judges. — Stafford¬ 
shire Advertiser. 
- Q» ''TO 
© t> 1 1 u a r y. 
Mr. William Chater.— We regret to hear of the 
death, last week, at the ripe old age of eighty-four 
years, of Mr. William Chater, of Saffron Walden, 
whose name for many years was so prominently 
identified with the improvement of the Hollyhock. 
Mr. Chater was born in 1802, at Hellions Bumpstead, 
Essex, his father being gardener at Bower Hall, near 
that place, and as there was then no school in the 
neighbourhood, the boy had to be taught by his 
parents the rudiments of reading and writing. For 
several years he worked with his father at Bower 
Hall, and at the age of eighteen or nineteen years he 
went to live with his brother, John Chater, a nursery¬ 
man at Haverhill, who also had a good reputation as 
a florist. When twenty-two years old he went to 
Saffron Walden, and commenced the nursery busi¬ 
ness. 
At that time, there were several good growers in 
the neighbourhood, and the young nurseryman’s love 
for florists’ flowers increased apace. At that time, he 
cultivated the Banunculus, Carnations and Picotees, 
Dahlias, Tulips, Pansies, and Hollyhocks. About 
the year 1845, a gentleman resided in Walden—Mr. 
Charles Baron—who was an enthusiastic florist, and 
whose name is not yet quite forgotten by some of the 
older Tulip-growers. He had a magnificent collection, 
and about 1847 Mr. Chater entered into an engage¬ 
ment with him to grow and sell his Hollyhocks, the first 
batch of which consisted of some nineteen unnamed 
seedlings. In the month of October of the same year, 
we believe, he sent out several sets of plants at £5 
each. At this time, Mr. Chater, finding that he did 
not obtain anything fresh from his own or Mr. 
Baron’s collection separately, began crossing them, 
and was soon successful in obtaining that splendid 
scarlet, the Comet, the seed-parent of which was 
Baron’s Anemoneflora, a flower that Mr. Baron did 
not think much of, but which Mr. Chater proved to 
be invaluable for crossing purposes, as from it was 
obtained the Comet, above named, Walden Gem, and- 
Walden King, all scarlets of the first water, and the 
latter, in particular, which is perhaps the most perfect 
flower grown. 
Subsequently he raised Charles Baron, a pinkish- 
salmon, raised from Baron’s Queen and his own 
Napoleon, and which was the seed parent of all the 
beautiful salmons afterwards raised in his. nursery. 
From Baron’s Model of Perfection came all the whites 
with purple bases; and from Chafer’s Purpurea 
elegans all the purples. Baron’s Magnum Bonum 
gave Mr. Chater the mulberry and maroon-coloured 
flowers, and the marbled flowers came from the latter's 
Venosa ; and from his Formosa he obtained the claret 
colours, while the flesh-coloured sorts sprung horn 
Baron’s Queen. In 1848 he raised Pallida, a novel 
variety of a pale lilac colour, one of the most beautiful 
flowers he ever obtained, but which he could not 
increase, and eventually lost. In the same year he 
also raised a beautiful bright rose of exquisite form, 
which he named Jessie, or Pulchella, and which also 
died after three or four years of hard struggling. 
For some years afterwards, until, in fact, the fun¬ 
gus, Puccinea malvaeearum, devastated the collections 
of Hollyhocks throughout the country, Mr.Chater con¬ 
tinued to raise seedlings and put into commerce his 
new varieties, which it is interesting to know were 
obtained from seeds yielded by his new varieties a 
year or two before they were sent out. Mr. Chafer's 
standard of excellence was a high one, and it was not 
until after a seedling had been well proved that it was 
named and put into his catalogue. His system of 
cultivation was also first-rate—none better—and it 
may interest many to know that he always obtained 
his best show blooms from grafted plants, his usual 
plan being to sow seeds of the common sorts in the 
spring, and the following season to graft on the single 
roots. 
Mr. Chater was a lover of fruit-culture all his life, 
and an enthusiast in the matter of Orchard-houses. 
He also practised successfully as a landscape gardener, 
on which work he brought to bear great taste and 
much natural ability. His last achievement in this 
direction was the laying out of Sir J. W. Pease’s 
estate at Hutton Hall, Gainsboro’, Yorkshire, during 
the years 1864-7, and which he considered would be 
in time one of the most charming estates in England. 
At Shortgrove Park, he carried out many improve¬ 
ments for the late W. C. Smith, Esq. He re-modelled 
the flower gardens, altered the drives and approaches 
to the mansion, planted a great many forest and 
ornamental trees, with the result that it is now one of 
the most beautiful parks in the county. The pretty 
gardens and grounds at Bridgend were entirely 
designed by him, as also were a number of other 
gardens which we have not space here to ennumerate. 
To the multitude of flower lovers, his Hollyhocks will 
keep his memory green for many a year to come, and 
by his many personal friends he will be remembered 
for the sterling good qualities of head and heart 
which endeared him to all who knew him. 
- ^VL -«0» C i■ -S' - 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Books. — IP. E — Johnson’s Gardener’s Dictionary , pub¬ 
lished by Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden, will per¬ 
haps suit you best. The price with supplement is 7s. 6 d. 
Names of Ptaxts.— F. D„ Tunbridge Wells— The Odon- 
toglossum is a variety of O. nebulosum, and the Miltonia is not 
flavescens, but M. spectabile.—_t. Croates. —l.Gaillardia grandi- 
flora; 2. Lychnis vespertina tlore-pleno; 3. Harpaliuin rigidum. 
— Scot. —1. Inula glandulosa; 2. Cupressus Lawsoniana, one 
of the innumerable seedling varieties. 
Commuxicatioxs Received.— A. 0.—H. M. P.—E. S. D.— 
T. tV.—AV. T. P.—T. B. (many thanks).—J. B.—L. (many 
thanks for the hint: the matter shall be attended to).— 
N. J. D.—W. E.—A. H—tV. J. 31.—A. R. 
— g—■ ■ ■ ■ o — 
Trade Catalogue Received. 
tViLLiAM Baylor Hartlaxd, 24, Patrick Street, Cork.— 
Ye Original Little Booke of Dailodils. 
