856 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
British Grown Vegetables. 
EXHIBITION BY THE R.H.S. AT WESTMINSTER. 
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The first purely vegetable show in the new 
hall was held under the auspices of the Royal 
Horticultural Society on October 24th. Vege¬ 
table shows held by this society have only been 
intermittent during the last twenty years or 
more, and this was the first held since the 
society was about to leave Chiswick in 1903. 
The show was not so large as we might have 
expected, but as it was late in being instituted 
it failed to appear in the list of dates for 
shows, and we fear that many gardeners were 
not prepared for it. 
It was also an ordinary meeting at which 
flowers in season were exhibited, and this 
served to fill up the hall better than the 
vegetables by themselves would have done. 
Medals and money prizes were offered in fifty- 
six classes, which should have drawn a good 
number of exhibitors if all had been prepared 
to enter these classes. The vegetables may be 
said to have made up in quality what they 
lacked in quantity. 
The most striking feature was certainly the 
collections of vegetables arranged round the 
sides and end of the hall. The expert hands 
at this class of exhibit not only used the 
width of their table space, but built up their 
vegetables in a bold and striking way against 
the wall of the building. This plan of exhibit¬ 
ing vegetables is comparatively recent, but it 
seems likely to have its way for a number of 
years to come. So many square feet were 
allowed the exhibitors, and these they not 
only filled in the usual way, but even doubled 
or trebled the area by building up the vege¬ 
tables in the way mentioned. 
Exhibitors were allowed to show any number 
of dishes, provided only that no duplicates of 
the same variety were put up. This, then, 
gives them a free hand, and those skilled at 
this class of work did not fail to avail them¬ 
selves of it. On the other hand, the exhibi¬ 
tion certainly derived advantage from the 
method. Formerly it was the custom to offer 
prizes for a given number of dishes, and me 
space allowed was usually sufficient to display 
the vegetables on a flat table or a slight 
mound. Another feature of this method of 
exhibiting is that which allows the exhibitors 
free scope for taste in arrangement and bold 
display. 
The four classes for small collections of 
Potatos did not bring forward so many entries 
as we should have expected, but, whatever the 
reason, the quality of those exhibited was well 
maintained. Cauliflower was conspicuous, 
especially on account of the size of the heads 
of the autumn varieties now in cultivation. 
Brussels Sprouts were rather thin on the stems 
shown, but picked Sprouts were good. Beet¬ 
root was fairly well represented, though some 
of the roots were a trifle too large. Excellent 
Carrots were shown, both of the Long Horn 
types, also James’ Intermediate and several 
improvements upon it, as well as Long Red 
Surrey. Altrincham seems to be losing in 
favour, at all events as an exhibition root. 
Many good dishes of Parsnips were shown, 
all staged in exhibition form, but some of the 
samples must surely now be verging on the 
limits of size, even for this high quality root. 
The chief difficulty against which cultivators 
have to contend is the rusting of the skin in 
places, which affects the appearance of the 
roots, but is practically immaterial after being 
dressed for cooking purposes. 
Onions made a good display for size and 
general good finish, though there was evidence 
that some of the exhibitors have yet a little to 
learn in dressing the bulbs for exhibition pur¬ 
poses. The same may be said with regard to 
pickling Onions, which would be greatly im¬ 
proved in appearance by growing the silver¬ 
skinned varieties' instead of employing under 
sized specimens of the ordinary types. 
Turnips were fairly plentiful, but chiefly the 
white varieties. As far as we observed, only 
one dish of yellow Turnips was shown. There 
should be an encouragement to grow Golden 
Ball and others of that type, which are 
hardier, of better quality than the white ones, 
and keep better during winter where the 
climate is in any way severe. Similar remarks 
might be made with regard to yellow-fleshed 
Potatos, which were wen known and appre¬ 
ciated twenty or thirty years ago, but since 
then have been gradually ousted by the white- 
fleshed varieties, which lack considerably in 
the real old Potato flavour. A collection of 
Potatos was shown by Messrs. Vilmorin- 
Andrieux and Co., of Paris, and they might 
have been yellow-fleshed varieties, but were 
certainly French and very little known to us. 
The tubers were either thin by nature or the 
cultivation of Potatos in the warmer climate 
of France must be attended with somewhat 
greater difficulty than in this country. 
Dwarf Beans, Scarlet Runners, and Peas 
were each represented, but probably those who 
did not take the precaution to gather their 
Beans before the recent frosty nights may have 
lost them or had them too much damaged for 
exhibition. It is rather early, we presume, 
for Coleworts, though we believe their cultiva¬ 
tion is chiefly confined to a few private 
gardens. Other Cabbages of different varie¬ 
ties were in fairly good form, though not 
nearly so plentiful as at the last vegetable 
exhibition held at Chiswick. 
Celery was in good form, if that may be 
reckoned by size, but the sticks were not all 
perfectly blanched for table use, and will 
doubtless be better later on. On the score of 
size and number of leaves on each stick 
nothing better could have been desired. 
Celeriac, or Turnip-rooted Celery, was shown 
in small quantity, but chiefly in the larger 
exhibits of vegetables. Gardeners also seemed 
to be vying with one another in the produc¬ 
tion of the longest necked Leeks, and these 
were certainly clean and white in every case. 
Tomatos were fairly well represented, con¬ 
sidering the late period of the year, and some 
of them were grown in the open air until 
quite recently. Other vegetables entered for 
exhibition were Cucumbers, Endive, Escha¬ 
lots, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Parsley, etc. 
Saladings and pot herbs were in sufficient 
quantity to give the uninitiated an idea of 
what everything is like, but neither of them 
were staged in large quantity. 
As above stated, the collections of vege¬ 
tables were the leading feature of the exhibi¬ 
tion. In the class for a collection to occupy 
not more than 60 square feet and open to the 
trade only, the first prize was awarded to 
Messrs. H. C'annell and Sons, Swanley, Kent, 
who had fine dishes of Potatos, Cauliflowers, 
Carrots, and Beet. 
In a smaller class of 30 square feet open to 
the trade the premier award went to Messrs. 
J. Cheal and Sons, Lowfield Nurseries, Craw¬ 
ley, Sussex. They had admirable samples of 
Ailsa Craig and Oocoanut Onions, Autumn 
Mammoth Cauliflower, Carrots, Potatos, Beet, 
and Cabbages. 
November 4, 1905. 
The finest exhibit in the hall was un¬ 
doubtedly that of Lord Aldenham (gai’dener, 
Mr. E. Beckett), Aldenham House, Elstree, 
Herts. This exhibit could practically be seen 
from every part of the hall, owing to the 
imposing way in which the exhibitor had built 
it up against the end wall of the hall. Every 
dish was grown to perfection and selected with 
great care. For instance, he had splendid 
Leeks, Autumn Giant and Michaelmas White 
Cauliflower, Holborn Exhibition, Ailsa Craig, 
and Carters’ Record Onions. Beet was also in 
excellent form. The Capsicums shown had a 
tempting appearance to the uninitiated, and 
included such varieties as Long Red, Long 
Yellow, Golden Drop, and Red Chilli. Potatos 
and Celery were also in splendid form, includ¬ 
ing such varieties of Celery as Giant White, 
Standard Bearer, and Aldenham Park Perfec¬ 
tion. Less common vegetables were Maize, 
green Globe Artichoke, Chinese Artichoke, 
Staghorn Lettuce, Endive, Scorzonera, 
Salsafy, and Mustard and Cress, the latter 
being grown on devices of conical outline. 
For the smaller collection, open to amateurs 
and their gardeners, and arranged in a space 
of 24 square feet, the leading place was taken 
by John Kerr, Esq. (gardener, Mr. H. Folkes), 
Gaddesdon Place, Hemel Hempstead. He 
had splendid samples of Holborn Model and 
the Lyon Leeks. Holborn Marrow Parsnip, 
Red Elephant, James’ Intermediate, and Long 
Red Surrey Carrots were also in excellent 
form. The same might be said of Coeoanut 
and Ailsa Craig Onions. In this class the 
Earl of Wilton (gardener, Mr. J. Bowerman), 
Hackwood Park, Basingstoke, took the second 
place. As far as quality was concerned mere 
was little difference between the exhibits, as 
the Leeks, Celery, Onions, Parsnips, and 
Carrots in this exhibit were splendid. 
As far as Potatos were concerned the class 
for twelve varieties was best represented. The 
premier award was secured by the Right Hon. 
Earl Spencer (gardener, Mr. E. Coles), Althorp 
Park, Northampton. His finest dishes of the 
noble tuber were King Edward VII., Sir John 
Llewellyn, Duchess of Buccleuch, Lord 
Roberts, Duchess of Cornwall, Up-to-Date, 
Factor, and Sensation, all of which were ex¬ 
cellent. The second place was taken by Earl 
Carnarvon (gardener, Mr. W. Pope), High- 
clere Castle, Newbury, who is an old hand, 
but evidently not allowing himself to rust, as 
he had a good lot of vegetables. 
In the way of novelty we might refer to a 
new winter green which has been produced by 
crossing Cabbage Winningstudt with the pollen 
of Brussels Sprout Cambridge Champion. The 
result was a combination of Brussels Sprout 
and Cabbage. Along the sides of the short 
stem were very large and firm Sprouts, some 
of which would be equal to some of the second 
crop Cabbages from one and the same stem. 
Others of the Sprouts were smaller, and the 
stem finished up with a respectable Cabbage 
on the top. In some cases this Cabbage was 
round, and in others like a Sugar Loaf’" Cab 
bage. On being cut open it was evident that 
this habit of producing Sprouts was continued 
right through the Cabbage on the top in the 
form of Sprouts in the axil of every leaf. 
This exhibit was put up by Mr. J. H. Ridg- 
well, of Cambridge. 
Maiden' Bradley, where the Duke and 
Duchess of Somerset intend to spend the 
winter, possesses some beautiful and interest¬ 
ing grounds, which comprise a Sunflower walk, 
a green walk, a Dutch garden, a medical garden 
full of health-giving herbs, and the old garden, 
where old-fashioned homely flowers grow in 
profusion. 
