November  24,  1898. 
399 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM  SHOWS. 
BELFAST. — November  15th  and  16th. 
The  tenth  annual  show  of  the  Ulster  Horticultural  Society  was  held 
on  the  above  dates,  and  a  very  handsome  display  was  made.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  this  Association  holds  the  record  for  giving  the  greatest 
amount  of  prize  money  in  one  class,  and  naturally  the  exhibition  is  well 
supported  by  eminent  English,  Scottish,  and  Irish  growers.  Not  only 
were  many  splendid  blooms  staged  in  the  several  classes,  but  plants  and 
miscellaneous  non-competitive  exhibits  were  excellent  throughout,  as 
well  as  widely  diversified  in  character.  Fruits  were  shown  largely,  both 
in  the  form  of  honorary  exhibits  and  competition,  and  the  Society  is  to 
be  highly  congratulated  on  the  results  ot  its  efforts  to  bring  together  a 
thoroughly  representative  display.  We  can,  unfortunately,  only  afford 
room  to  name  the  successful  competitors  in  a  few  of  the  principal  classes. 
The  coveted  premier  position  in  the  class  for  forty-eight  Japanese  was, 
we  were  glad  to  observe,  annexed  by  a  resident  of  the  Emerald  Isle  in 
Mr.  J.  McKellar,  gardener  to  Lord  Ashbrook,  Duroon,  who  staged 
magnificently.  Examined  closely  and  critically  very  few  weak  flowers 
were  to  be  found,  the  vast  majority  of  the  blooms  being  deep,  solid,  heavy, 
fresh,  and  splendidly  coloured.  Where  all  were  good  it  is  almost 
invidious  to  make  a  selection,  but  International,  Mrs,  White  Popliam, 
Mrs.  Mease,  Phoebus,  Lady  Hanham,  Edith  Tabor.  Australie,  and  N.C.S. 
Jubilee  were  superb.  The  second  position  went  to  Mr.  T.  Lunt,  gardener 
to  A.  Stirling,  Esq..  Iveir,  Dunblane,  who  was  in  great  form,  as,  indeed, 
was  Mr.  H.  Perkins,  gardener  to  the  Hon.  W.  F.  D.  Smith,  The 
Greenlands,  Henley-on-Thames,  who  was  placed  third.  Thus  the  three 
leading  awards  went  respectively  to  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  England. 
Mr.  J.  McKellar  also  secured  the  chief  award  for  twenty-four  incurved 
with  a  beautiful  stand,  comprised  of  several  of  the  leading  varieties  in  a 
clean,  compact,  and  well-coloured  condition.  Mr.  J.  II.  RobinsoD, 
gardener  to  T.  H.  Torrens,  Esq..  White  Abbey,  was  a  most  creditable 
second.  Mr.  S.  Hutchinson,  gardener  to  F.  Watson,  Esq.,  Lurgan,  was 
third.  For  a  similar  number  of  Japanese  Mr.  R.  McKenna,  gardener  to 
Lady  Howard  Bury,  Tullamore,  was  a  splendid  first,  and  was  followed 
in  the  second  and  third  positions  by  Messrs.  J.  Lyttle,  gardener  to 
J.  McStay,  Esq.,  Hannahstown  ;  and  Mr.  W.  J.  Mitchison,  gardener  to 
Col.  C.  F.  Crichton,  Ballymore,  in  the  order  in  which  their  names  are 
here  given.  Mr.  T.  Bradshaw,  gardener  to  the  Marquis  of  Downshire, 
Hillsborough,  was  the  most  successful  exhibitor  of  twelve  incurved, 
distinct,  with  a  neat,  even  stand.  The  second  position  was  adjudged  to 
Mr.  W.  Hodgins,  gardener  to  J.  Torrens,  Esq.,  White  Abbey  ;  and  the 
third  fell  to  Mr.  R.  McKenna.  In  the  class  for  twelve  Japanese,  distinct, 
Mr.  J.  Reid,  gardener  to  G.  II.  Brown,  Esq ,  Helen’s  Bay,  was  a  fine  first 
with  a  weighty  stand.  Amongst  the  most  noteworthy  prizewinners  in 
the  remaining  classes  were  Messrs.  T.  Cuthbert,  gardener  to  W.  Greir, 
Esq.,  Belfast  ;  W.  Bryan,  gardener  to  W.  McOausland.  Esq.,  Belfast  ; 
J.  McLenuon,  gardener  to  Lord  Care}’,  Enniscorthy  ;  and  Dr.  R.  Henry, 
Comber. 
Groups  of  Chrysanthemums  and  specimen  plants  occupied  a  consider¬ 
able  amount  of  space,  and  comprised  some  exceedingly  creditable  examples. 
Amongst  the  chief  prizetakers  were  Messrs.  P.  McHaffie,  gardener  to 
W.  Robertson.  Esq.,  Belfast  ;  ,T.  MTlveen,  gardener  to  R.  Tennant,  Esq., 
Rushpark,  Whitehou>e  ;  R.  Draper,  gardener  to  J.  D.  Barbour,  Esq., 
Dunmurry  ;  and  H.  Kirkpatrick,  gardener  to  A.  D.  Lemon,  Esq.,  Strand- 
town. 
As  we  have  previously  noted,  the  non-competitive  exhibits  were  very 
numerous,  exceedingly  diversified,  and  ot  a  very  high  average  quality. 
One  of  the  most  important  was  that  of  Mr.  Owen  Thoma0,  V.M.H.,  Royal 
Gardens,  Windsor,  who  arranged  one  of  his  characteristic  displays  of 
fruits  and  flowers.  Excellence  in  quality  and  staging  were  the  leading 
features  of  the  Royal  exhibit.  Mr.  W.  Wells,  Earls  wood,  was  in  evidence 
with  Chrysanthemums  in  good  variety  and  splendid  form,  as  were  Messrs. 
Clibran  &  Sons,  Oldfield  Nurseries,  Altrincham.  Mr.  H.  Dickson,  Belfast, 
sent  a  very  fine  miscellaneous  exhibit,  and  Messrs.  I.  House  &  Sons, 
Westbury-on-Trym,  staged  a  collection  of  their  magnificent  Violets, 
Fruit  was  beautifully  shown  by  Messrs.  A.  Dickson  &  Son,  Newtownards. 
Apples  and  Pears  being  particularly  noteworthy.  Then  there  were, 
besides  those  particularised,  a  landscape  scene  from  Mr.  C.  McKenna, 
Botanic  Gardens,  Belfast ;  Apples  from  Messrs.  McGreedy  &  Son,  Porta- 
down  ;  pottery  from  Messrs.  W.  McCormick,  Monkstown  ;  with  several 
others  that  it  impossible  for  us  to  enumerate. 
BRIGHTON. — November  15th  and  16th. 
The  seventh  annual  Show  of  the  Brighton  and  Sussex  Horticul¬ 
tural  Society  was  declared  on  Tuesday,  not  only  by  local  growers,  who 
might  well  have  been  accused  of  over-enthusiasm,  but  by  others,  to  be 
excellent.  The  year,  unfavourable  to  so  many  branches  of  horticulture, 
has  been  kind  to  the  flower  that  cheers  us  through  the  winter,  and  the 
crowds  who  visited  the  Dome  and  Corn  Exchange  saw,  says  the  “  Brighton 
Herald,”  the  finest  collection  of  trained  plants,  both  as  regards  quality 
and  quantity,  that  the  local  Society  has  yet  made.  Gorgeous  semicircles 
of  blooms  flanked  the  Corn  Exchange.  In  the  Dome  the  great  rotunda 
was  bordered  by  a  double  ring  of  pyramids  and  standards  of  the  flowers, 
while  in  the  midst,  somewhat  perilously  exposed  to  jostling  by  the  crowd, 
were  four  small  tables  beautifully  covered  with  cut  flowers  amid  foliage 
plants.  The  edge  of  the  platform  was  surrounded  with  masses,  each  of 
one  colour,  the  combined  effect  of  which  was  bold  and  striking.  Behind 
this  ring  of  colour  sat,  during  the  afternoon  and  evening,  the  members  of 
the  string  band  of  the  2nd  Life  Guards,  and  behind  their  scarlet  uniforms 
the  dark  green  of  tall  Palms  completed  an  admirable  scheme  of  tints. 
The  Judges  who  had  to  determine  the  comparative  merits  of  the  great 
semicircular  groups  of  Chrysanthemums  in  the  Corn  Exchange  must 
have  had  a  hard  task.  The  perfection  of  the  flowers  themselves  and  the 
tastefulness  of  their  arrangement  were  such  that,  to  the  casual  eye,  the 
different  exhibits  appeared  of  very  even  merit.  But  the  group  in  the  first 
class  upon  which  they  finally  conferred  first  prize— a  cup  value  5  guineas, 
given  by  Mr.  G.  Sadler,  certainly  justified  its  selection  for  the  honour! 
It  was  sent  in  by  Mr.  George  Miles  of  the  Victoria  Nurseries,  Dyke 
Road,  and  comprised  magnificent  flowers,  amongst  which  stood  up  tall 
Palm,  Ferns  and  a  few  Dracasnas,  set  with  careful  regard  to  effect.  The 
second  prize  in  the  same  class  was  taken  by  Mr.  G.  Sims,  gardener  to 
J.  R,  Cattle,  Esq.,  Hill  Crest,  Dyke  Road.  Favoured  by  the  light  from 
the  window,  it  made  a  perfect  blaze  of  colour,  in  which  brilliant  yellow 
flowers  were  chiefly  conspicuous.  Mr.  J.  Hill,  gardener  to  J.  Clarkson 
Wallis,  Esq.,  Springfield,  Withdeane,  took  the  third  prize. 
The  second  class  of  groups,  being  set  at  the  side  of  the  Corn  Exchange 
opposite  the  window,  had  a  light  not  so  strong,  but  more  evenly  distri¬ 
buted,  in  which  to  display  its  excellencies.  It  differed  from  the  first  class, 
as  far  as  conditions  were  concerned,  only  in  size,  being  limited  to  an  area 
of  some  70  square  feet  instead  of  112.  The  Chrysanthemums  were  to  bo- 
arranged  with  any  kind  of  foliage  plants  “for  quality  and  effect.”  With 
the  first  money  prize  went  the  Ryecroft  silver-gilt  medal.  This  was  won 
by  Mr.  W.  E.  Anderson,  gardener  to  B.  Parish,  Esq.,  Melodia,  Preston 
Park  Avenue.  Mr.  Edward  Meachen,  gardener  to  Mrs.  Armstrong, 
Woodslee,  Withdeane,  had  made  up  a  splendid  group  which  gained  the 
second  award. 
Huge  white  Japanese  blooms  were  a  conspicuous  feature  of  the  exhi¬ 
bits  in  class  3  of  the  open  groups.  The  space  prescribed  was  the 
same  as  in  the  second  class,  but  no  foliage  plants  were  allowed.  The  first 
prize  went  to  Mr.  H.  Head,  The  Drive  Nursery,  Hove,  and  the  second  to 
Mr.  Geo.  Miles,  whose  flowers,  on  long  stalks,  stood  out  with  an  individual 
distinctness  that  showed  them  up  to  the  best  advantage. 
In  the  Dome  the  four  beautifully  arranged  tables  of  cut  flowers  (in  the 
open  division) — the  only  cut  flowers  not  in  the  Corn  Exchange — imme¬ 
diately  attracted  attention.  The  tables  were  4  feet  square,  and  were,  as 
the  programme  said,  “  to  be  viewed  on  all  sides.”  To  this  end  they  were 
so  placed  in  the  rotunda  that  everybody  could  walk  round  them.  There 
was  not  one  of  the  four  tables  that  was  not  “a  thing  of  beauty  and  of 
joy,”  but  the  arrangement  of  Mr.  George  Miles’  flowers  was  conspicuously 
superior  t<~  that  of  the  rest-  The  piece  of  plate  presented  by  Mr.  Alfred 
Bunting  for  the  first  prize  was  won  by  Mr.  Miles.  Mr.  H.  Head’s 
exhihh,  which  took  the  second  prize,  was  charming. 
Of  the  large-flowered  varieties  bordering  the  platform  the  white  blooms 
of  Mr.  Edward  Meachen  were  placed  first  in  the  class  foi  four  dwarfs 
(distinc  t).  Mr.  J.  Hill  was  second.  These  two  exhibitors  stood  in  the 
same  relations  in  the  class  for  four  large-flowered  standards,  which  were 
ranged  with  the  pyramids  round  the  rotunda.  In  the  class  for  four  large- 
flowered  pyramids  their  positions  were  reversed. 
A  special  certificate  given  by  the  National  Chrysanthemum  Society 
for  the  best  thirty-six  cut  blooms  in  the  Show  was  gained  by  Mr.  Monk- 
hams,  an  e.x  hibitor  from  Woodford  Green,  Essex.  Messrs.  H.  Head  and 
R.  Kenyon  were  awarded  special  certificates  for  groups,  and  Messrs.  J. 
Cheal  &  Son  took  the  local  Society’s  silver  medal  for  their  collection  of 
fruit  and  cut  flowers.  The  display  of  vegetables  and  fruit  in  the  Corn 
Exchange  showed  a  marked  falling  off  in  quantity  from  previous  years’ 
results,  but  the  quality  of  the  exhibits,  in  spite  of  a  most  unfavourably 
dry  year,  was  excellent. 
There  were  no  small  exhibits  in  the  Dome  itself.  For  the  vases  of 
flowers,  and  for  the  fruit  and  vegetables  that  formed  the  minor  portion 
of  the  Show,  fables  were  ranged  in  the  Corn  Exchange,  at  the  two  ends 
of  which  were  stalls  decked  out  by  exhibitors  who  were  not  competing. 
Messrs.' W.  Balchin  &  Son  arranged  a  handsome  exhibit,  for  which  the 
Society’s  gold  medal  was  awarded.  Another  non-competing  exhibit  was 
that  of  Messrs.  Baldock  &  Croysdill,  of  Prince  Albert  Street.  Other 
exhibitors  were  Mr.  W.  Goodliffe,  of  Worthing,  who  also  gained  a  silver 
medal  with  a  mass  of  choice  exotics  and  Ferns  ;  by  Mr.  J.  Harper, 
gardener  to  E.  A.  Tucker,  Esq.,  Preston,  who  had  Cattleyas  ;  and  by  Mr. 
H.  Garnett,  gardener  to  Mr.  I.  I.  Fletcher,  Preston,  who  showed  a 
beautiful  arrangement  of  Orchids  and  Dracaenas. 
LEEDS.— November  15th  and  16th. 
Although  this  fixture  clashed  with  tho3eof  York  and  Hull  the  open 
classes  were  well  filled.  In  the  local  classes  a  decided  step  forward  in  the 
cut  bloom  section  was  evident,  and  the  groups  of  Chrysanthemums  and 
miscellaneous  plants  were  of  the  highest  order  of  merit. 
Chrysanthemum  groups  were  very  imposing,  but  necessarily  stiff  in 
arrangement  owing  to  the  restricted  conditions  of  the  schedule.  Mr.  J. 
Pettinger,  Harrogate,  was  first,  Mr.  J.  Eastwood  was  second,  and  Mr.  W. 
Moore,  gardener  to  Mrs.  Bowering,  Ailertou  Hall,  Gledhow,  third. 
Ornamental  foliage  plants  were  admirably’  shown. 
In  the  open  class,  twenty-four  incurved,  for  blooms,  the  first  prize 
went  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Goodaere,  gardener  to  the  Earl  of  Harrington,  whose 
stand  was  composed  of  the  following  varieties — Chas.  Curtis,  Golden 
Empress,  V.  Tomlin,  Leonard  Payne,  Austin  Cannell,  Geo.  Haigh, 
J.  Agate,  Rose  Owen,  Mrs.  M.  Molyneux,  Yvonne  Desfilanc,  Empress  <«t' 
India,  Madame  Darier,  R.  Petfield,  Mrs.  Heale,  Lady  Isobel,  and  Mr.-. 
Coleman.  Mr.  J.  Thornton,  Lumb  Hall,  Drighlington,  was  a  good  second, 
and  Mr.  Grix  third. 
For  twenty-four  Japanese  Mr.  Joy,  gardener  to  F.  Bowering,  Esq., 
Cardiff,  was  first  with  Simplicity,  J.  Brookes,  Ed.  Molyneux,  Australie, 
Pride  of  Exmouth,  Eva  Knowles,  Mrs.  G.  W.  Palmer,  Etoile  de  Lyon, 
