158 THE FLOEAL WORLD AND aARDEN QUIDE. 



large rose ; President Clayes, rosy-salmon edged white, top spotted rosy-crimson; 

 Duke of Cambridge, strong rose-red ; Madame Miellez, fine large white ; Souvenir 

 de I'Exposition, delicate blush deepening to rosy-purple ; Madame A. VerschafFelt, 

 large, warm flesh, top rich carmine spots ; Perryana, intense red ; Magnificent, fine 

 white ; Eulalie Van Geert, flesh, top rich rose ; Advance, intense purplish-rose 

 with carmine top ; Rosea alba, rosy-blush, with soft carmine spots, in the way of 

 Souvenir de I'Exposition, but with more colour ; Secretaire Claus, blush with salmon 

 shade and rosy-salmon spots; Lord Clyde, small, neat, vivid carmine-red, nearly 

 the same shade as Duke of Cambridge ; Peine des Blanches, large, fine form, pure 

 white with no shades or stripes of red, the centre delicatelj' stained palest amber, a 

 most beautiful variety ; Perfection, large. Smooth, rich rose-pink ; Elegantissima, 

 fine white with occasional salmon-red flowers and stripes, slight stain of straw in 

 centre ; Rosea alba cincta, soft rosy flesh shading to rosy-pink, with fine pink spots 

 on top petals ; Mars, deep strong red ; Holfordi, the grandest of the pink class, the 

 colour intense, and tending to carmine ; Sinensis, one of the best known specific 

 forms, the flowers small, bright-gold yellow with shade of orange. Those in want 

 of a collection cannot do better than select any of the foregoing. Cinerarias were 

 exhibited by Mr. James of Isleworth, Mr. Cox of Southwell, Mr. Marcham, Hanwell, 

 and others ; and Me=srs. F. and A. Smith brought forward a batch of new ones, the 

 most remarkable of which was one called Perfection, the form perfect, the colour 

 deep cobalt blue, with inner ring of crimson, and beaded ring of white, surrounding 

 a grey disc. The best of the older kinds in the collections were Miss Watson, 

 Modesta, Duke of Cambridge, Queen Victoria, Viola, Favourite, Flourish, Lord 

 Elgin, Snowflake, Charles Dickens, Sir Joseph Paxton. Messrs. E. G. Henderson 

 and Son, of St. John's Wood, sent a collection of tricolour geraniums, all of them 

 <'or"'eously coloured. One of these, Soplda CusacJc, is remarkable for the brilliant 

 bars of dull fiery red which break through the chesnut zone, and extend occasion- 

 ally through the rich golden margin. Italia JJnita is richly but delicately coloured 

 with dark zone, carmine bars and patches, and a creamy margin. Lucy Greive i&x 

 surpasses Mrs. Pollock in the splendour of the zone and margin. Mr. B. S. 

 Williams, of Victoria Nursery, HoUoway, sent some noble groups of miscellaneous 

 stove and greenhouse plants ; and very conspicuous indeed to the olfactories as well 

 as to the optics were tlie splendid groups of Cyclamen persicum, from Messrs. E. G. 

 Henderson, a department of cultivation in which they have always excelled, and 

 have never been beaten. — April 21. At this exhibition pot roses were shown in 

 great abundance and exquisite beauty by Messrs. Lane and Son, Messrs. Paul and 

 Son, and by Mr. C. Turner. Some of tiie newer kinds were brouglit forward, but 

 we defer our remarks upon them till we have seen more of them, as their true 

 characters do not always come out in forced plants. Mr. Wiggins put up some 

 noble specimens of pelargoniums, azaleas were shown in great plenty, cinerarias 

 were getting past their best, auriculas and polyanthuses were few and good. 

 Among the novelties there was nothing of special interest or importance. 



TO COEEESPONDENTS. 



Camellias, Buns Falling. — J. 0. — Complaints of the falling of camellia buds 

 have been more frequent tiiis season than any previous time within our experience, 

 and we believe the failure must be charged to the account of 1865, when the long 

 continuance of drought and strong sun-heat distressed the plants after they had 

 formed their flower-buds. We have often had to explain in these pages, that the 

 falling of camellia buds in spring is the result of the neglect of the plants when 

 they are out of doors in autumn. At that time they have finished their growth, 

 and the flower-buds are formed. If allowed to go quite dry, no immediate results 

 are apparent, but the flower-buds never recover the shock. They swell when the 

 plants are started in spring, but ultimately fall. That this is really the causs of 

 the falling of the buds in the majority of cases we are quite sure, having put the 

 matter to careful experiment some years ago, when, having a large collection of 

 camellias, they were divided into two lots — one lot allowed to get dry frequently in 

 autumn, the otlier lot kept moderately moist constantly. When housed at the end 

 of the season, there was no difference perceptible in them ; but when the blooms 



