28 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



HORTICULTURAL AFFAIRS. 



^OYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.— Decemreu ExniB.xioN of 

 EvERGKEENS AND Cyclamexs. — The December meeting of the Society 

 was of a most attractive character, and was well attended by fellows 

 and horticulturists. Prizes were offered for Hollies, Conifers, Cycla- 

 mens, and other subjects ; and, as they were in the miijority of classes 

 exceedingly well contested, the meeting possessed a larger amount of interest than 

 is usual at this season of the year. The Coniferous trees and Hollies presented in 

 the classes provided for them formed a feature of s]5tcial interest, and demonstrated 

 in the most forcible manner their adHptability for the embellishment of exhibitions 

 held during the winter season. The Cycl.Tmens were contributed in immense 

 numbers, and, for the season, in splendid condition ; but it M-as too early to have 

 them. Roman Hyacinths were also considerably above the aveiage, the compe- 

 tition being very severe and the productions of a high order of merit. The Japanese 

 Clirysanthemums, invited by the schedule, were unusually good, and the first-prize 

 stand of twenty-four blooms was, perhaps, tlic finest stand of tbe.-e singular and 

 showy flowers ever exhibited, the flowers being alike remarkable for size and high 

 finish. The entries in the class for a collection of Endive and other salading were 

 sufficiently numerous to constitute a distinct feature, and the Pine-apples exhibited 

 by Her Majesty's gardener and others in the miscellaneous class were so thoroughly 

 good as to well deserve the Cultural Commendation conferred upon them. 



Dressing Fruit Trees in Wintek with Lime. — It is a common and very 

 wholesome practice to coat, with a brush or a dash from the syringe, the stems of 

 fruit-trees and gooseberry-ijushes, etc., with iirae-wash, Avitli a view to remove moss 

 and lichen, if coated with them, and also to keep down insects and give tone to the 

 bark. The objection to this wholesome practice was the spectral whiteness with 

 which it replaced nature's colouring on the trees. This objection, it appears, 

 according to the Irish Farmer s Gazette, need no longer hold, for we have seen it 

 stated in a contemporary that it has been found expeiimentaliy that equally bene- 

 ficial results may be obtained by using, instead of the whitewash, colourless lime- 

 water, obtained by steeping hot lime and allowing the water to settle and become 

 clear, in which state it may be poured off and used with excellent effect, without 

 affecting the natural appearance of the trees. 



Mr. Eichakd Dean's Catalogue of Potatoes, of which a new issue has just 

 appeared, is considerably improved, and is in every respect a meritorious and 

 useful production. The introductory essay on potato culture is practical and ex- 

 plicit. The list of varieties classed comprises forty-eight, and the notices of novelties 

 cover half-a-dozen more ; so that this catalogue will serve as a guide to more than 

 fifty of the best sorts of potatoes known to cultivators. 



A Grand Horticultural Exhibition is fixed to beheld at the Lower Grounds, 

 Aston Park, Birmingham, on the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th of July next, under the 

 title of "'The Midland Counties' Grand Horticultural Exhibition." In addition to 

 money prizes amounting to £1000, five silver challenge cups, value twenty-five 

 guineas each, will be awarded to the winners of the principal prizes in the following 

 classes — viz., one for plants, one for fruit, one for vegetables, one for cut roses 

 (nurserymen), and another for cut roses (amateur^;). 



Dr. Hookeb." — The degree of LL.D. M^as conferred on Dr. Hooker, the Director 

 of Kew Gardens, by the University of Glasgow, on the occasion of the installation 

 of Mr. Disraeli as Lord Rector ; and at the annual meeting of the Royal Society 

 he was elected President of that body. 



A New Salad Vegetable is recommended bv M. Charton in a recent issue of 

 the Revue Horticole. He describes it as resembling in flavour the " corn-salad " 

 or " lamb's lettuce," but " less insipid." The plant is the well-known red valerian 

 of the flower garden, Centranth'is macroslphon. As a matter of course, it must be 

 cut over when young if required as a salad, for if allowed to flower it is tough and 

 tasteless. 



The Crystal Palace. — The management has fixed the following dates for the 

 shows this year : Spring Flower Show. May 16 ; Great Kose Show, June 20; and 

 Autumn Fruit and Flower Show, September 8, 9, and 10. 



An Invasion of "Puccine exotique" in the Department of the Gironde 

 is the subject of an interesting memoir by M. Durieru de Maisonneuve, communi- 



