THE GARDENING WORLD . 
471 
THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S 
Great © Temple © Flower © Show. 
A Magnificent and Costly Display 
June lO, i90S. 
!n be tied to the wires instead of being 
i led. to the walls, provided the wires are not 
ib far from the wall. This allows a free cir- 
Jlation! of air all round the branches, and is 
Jjo beneficial when the fruit is ripening, espe- 
iilly where walls are old turd there are ear- 
;:s and wood 1 lice. 
1 think a little artificial manure applied to 
L border now, and well watered in, is an 
.cellent stimulant. The roots might then 
. covered up with a mulching of moss litter 
• short stable manure, so that the roots may 
> induced to the surface, where they are 
lore easily managed, and get the full benefit 
the heat of the sun. 
Where Figs are grown on the open wall, as 
■re, they require a little careful thinning and 
gulating of brandies, and thinning of fruit 
Tore they start into full vigour. This is 
try beneficial, and can be much more easily 
line now than later on, when the foliage 
jiickens. J. Fraser Smith. 
The Gardens, Cullen House, Banffshire. 
Arbutus or Strawberry Tree. 
This treei is not so commonly known in our 
irubberies as one would imagine, and ntr¬ 
aps not so much as it deserves to be. The 
•namental appearance which it gives at about 
id-winter should win the fame of all in- 
rested in the welfare of their shrubbery or 
easure ground. It is a native of some parts 
Ireland. Around Lake Ivillamey it is said 
> grow in considerable numbers, and attain 
great height. Some of the trees are said to 
ave reached the age of centuries, and are now 
sen, to grow to great advantage. The trees 
.e idle all the summer, and at about autumn 
me begin to flower ; following this comes the 
uit, which gives it a most remarkable- ap- 
earance. In some instances I bave seen them 
looming and fruiting at the same time, which 
s a most unusual thing for anything in the 
hrubbery line. Some people have great diffi- 
ulty in procuring fruit, and though the bushes 
lower freely this seldom hannens. I once 
:new of one growing in an ideal part of the 
1 easure grounds, having a very aged appear- 
nce by its half-decayed trunk, and having ap- 
arentlv suffered by wind, but still its head 
f as in a very flourishing condition, 
lliere are se/veral species of Arbutus in cul- 
ivation at the present, of which A. Unedo has 
he general rim Being a dwarf-growing 
'ariety, it is most suitable for the shrubbery, 
)oth in its habits of growth and its flowering 
lualities. 
A. Andracline is a much taller growing 
species, which is suitable where there is 
)lenty of room, but cannot be well recom¬ 
mended where space is limited. These trees 
re seen to advantage about November, when 
he principal fruits are ripe, often lasting 
or several weeks, giving the shrubbery a most 
deresting appearance when everything else 
5 lying idle. 1 can strongly recommend this 
ree, not so much for the old shrubbery, but 
or the more recently-planted ones. 
As I have not seen anything of this appear 
n the “ G. W.,” I trust these few remarks may 
uterest readers, and encourage this tree to be 
-rough! to the. front as much as possible, as I 
m sure it will prove to- give the greatest satis- 
iction to all interested in the welfare of their 
hrubbery. J. 
Danger of Eating Unripe Fruit. —The 
ublic are being constantly warned by coroners 
nd medical men of the danger of eating un- 
'pe fruit. Gastro-enteritis brought on by 
ating unripe foreign Cherries caused the 
eatli of a young man at Fulham last week. 
>oth unripe and _ over-ripe fruit are unfit for 
uman consumption. 
The Temple Flower Show is one of the finest 
horticultural exhibitions of the year, as it is 
one of London’s important and most delightful 
social functions. At 12.30 o’clock on Tues¬ 
day, May 30th, the gates on the Thames Em¬ 
bankment of the Inner Temple Gardens—the 
venue of the shew—were besieged by an im¬ 
mense throng of fashionably-dressed ladies 
and gentlemen, who had arrived in handsome 
motor cars, in splendid horse-drawn carriages, 
and in the smart, but more cosmopolitan, 
vehicles named after the inventor of the 
f " “--- ^ 
OUR PRIZE COMPETITIONS. 
ESSAY COMPETITION (I). 
Prizes. —(1) Two Guineas ; (2) One Guinea. 
Open to all Readers. 
The above Prizes will be given for the best 
essays on 
“What I would do with a Villa 
Garden, in the production of flowers, 
fruits, and vegetables.” 
The garden may be of any shape, providing the 
area is approximately 3,000 square feet. Give a 
rough plan of the garden, indicating which is the 
north liy an arrow ; show the position of the 
various crops ; if it is decided to have a lawn and 
flower-beds, their position with regard to the 
dwelling-house should be shown. Walks, flower- 
borders, fruit-trees or bushes, and vegetable 
quarters should be so disposed as to give the 
finest effect from the house and be in harmony 
with the surroundings. State if the garden is 
enclosed with a brick wall, open or closed fencing. 
The skill and taste displayed by the competitor 
in his arrangements will have great weight in the 
adjudication of the prizes. The expenditure in 
first stocking the garden with seeds, plants, trees, 
bushes, and fertilisers should he stated, and the 
annual cost afterwards. The essay should be 
about 1,000 words, and must be sent in on or 
before July 31st next. Mark envelopes in the 
left-hand corner “Garden Competition.” 
popular two-wheeled, cab. Momentarily the 
crowd increased, and the pressure at the main 
entrance became accentuated to the point of 
physical discomfort. Within a very short 
time the long, wide tents, and what remained 
unoccupied of the gardens, were packed with 
a brilliant assemblage of the wealth, fashion, 
and beauty of the metropolis. Tire millinery 
of the female visitors was so- exquisite in 
colour and design as to- constitute a positive 
rival to the gorgeous display of blooms 1 ; and 
though it may be considered ungallant to say 
so, yet the mere male writer of these veracious- 
lines confesses that in this extraordinary con¬ 
test of colour to the flowers victory bad to be 
conceded. And the victory was emphasised 
when a thunderstorm broke over the grounds 
and the rain descended with tropical vehe¬ 
mence, playing sad havoc with the charming 
frocks of those who- made a dash through the 
downpour for home, as well as of those who 
elected to remain in the unpleasantly-crowded 
tents. As someone remarked, it was a floral 
Trafalgar. 
This, the eighteenth Temple Flower Show, 
is generally admitted to have been one of the 
largest and best which the Royal Horticultural 
Society has produced: The quality and 
beauty of the exhibits certainly equalled, and 
in the opinion of many excelled, those of any 
previous show. The tents fairly blazed with 
colour, and a characteristic of some of the 
blooms, such as Roses, Tulips, Carnations) 
Paeonies, Pansies, and Poppies, was their 
phenomenal size. Many rare and almost 
priceless plants were also on exhibit, and re¬ 
ceived admiring attention, and for connois¬ 
seurs of Orchids there were several very 
special attractions ; so costly were some of 
these plants—-6uch as the specimens of Odon- 
togloss-urn and Cattleya families, worth over a 
thousand pounds each—that they were 
guarded day and night by detectives. 
Owing to the exigencies of space, a compara¬ 
tively brief survey only of this grand show 
can be attempted here, omitting mention of 
new plants, which are noticed elsewhere. 
There were just on one hundred exhibitors, 
and they vied with each other to such good 
purpose that the task of selection for purposes 
of this review was made extremely difficult. 
As to the judges, they had anything but an 
easy or enviable- task. 
Entering the first tent one’s optics and 
olfactories were immediately arrested, the one 
by the marvellous wealth of bright hues, 
which began as four wide bands of wonder¬ 
fully-variegated colour and stretched away in 
ever-narrowing and converging lines down the 
flowery vista, and the other by an atmosphere 
languid and surcharged with the blended 
odours- of ten thousand choice blooms. And 
as one walked onwards through tent after tent 
the eye became almost bewildered, almost sur¬ 
feited, by the apparently endless array of 
these grand and stately, or sweet, demure, and 
winsome children of fair Flora, until for very 
relief one concentrated-one’s attention on a 
particular group- of these beautiful creations of 
Nature. Yet as one looked, examined, and ad¬ 
mired, one was fain to acknowledge the part- 
which man has taken in the production of these 
lovely blooms, and how, by skill, ingenuity, 
and patience, he has achieved results which 
are little short of marvellous. 
Among the Orchids. 
Tent 5, which could be made either the 
starting or finishing point in this delightful 
tour of Flowerland, might well have been 
called the Orchid tent. It was the rallying 
point for the lovers of those strange, wonder¬ 
ful, and beautiful plants, brought from the 
ends- of the earth regardless of expense and at 
the cost of incalculable labour, and even at the 
risk of life itself ; and here was a great crush 
of those in search of floral sensations. No less 
than ten grand displays of this aristocratic 
flower were to be found in this tent alone, 
and although we missed some of the previous 
champions, including Barcn Schroder, Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart., and Leopold de Roth¬ 
schild, Esq., their places were filled by others. 
An extensive- and well-fil led group was put 
up by Sir Frederick Wigan-, Bart, (grower, 
Mr. W r . H. Young), Clare Lawn, East Sheen, 
but we missed the big Cymbidiums of former 
years. Catt-leyas, Miltonias, Laelias, Sobra- 
lias, and Cypripediums were the outstanding 
