THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 89 



3rd. National ExJdbition, Manchester, June 7th to June 15th. West of jE)1 gland 

 Rose Show, Hereford, July 9th. Dundee Floral Fete, Baxter ParJc, Sept. 4th, 5th, 

 6th, and 7th. Clifton, Spring Show, May 23rd ; Rose Show, June 25th ; Autumn 

 Show, August 29th. Leeds Horticultural Societi/, Great Show. June 13th and 

 14th. Brussels, April 14th, 15th, and 16th. Malines, March l7th, 18th, 19th. 

 Faris Universal Fxposition, April 1st to October 31st. 



Mr. Hul^ett's Wonders. — We have not met with any one who has seen Mr. 

 Hullett's Passion Flowers and Mangosteens, or the wonderful "annual fruit" from 

 Siam, which has seeds as big as a child's head ; nor have we seen any of these 

 things ourselves, nor have we been able to find any authentic account of them in 

 any work of authority. We suppose the Sorghum Tartaritim, seeds of which were 

 offered through the medium of the Times, to be identical with the sugar-c^ne grass, 

 Holcus saccharatus, described and figured in the Floral World of 1858, p. 128. 

 If it should not prove to be identical with this plant, Ave nevertheless feel tally per- 

 suaded that no one will ever eat a loaf of bread made from the seeds of this grass 

 ripened in England. It may prove to be an ornamental grass, and perhaps of some 

 value as fodder, but as a cereal adapted for this climate, it is worthy of cultivation 

 only by a madman. 



EoYAL HoRTicuLTrR.\L SociETY. — The report read at the anniversary meeting 

 stated that the subscriptions for the past year amounted to £8176, and the total 

 income for the year was £13.184. The expenses amounted to £12.203 ; the lia- 

 bilities of the society were £980, and the balance in hand amounted to i'203. _ The 

 council called attention to the extension of the time for the principal exhibition to 

 five days— namely, June 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th, The educational scheme, 

 instituted for the benefit of gardeners, was described as working well ; the exami- 

 nations held had resulted in thirteen young men receiving certificates either for 

 horticulture or fruit and veoetable culture. Five of these were employed at Chis- 

 wick, five at the Royal Gardens, Kew, and three were from private establishments. 



Great versus Little Vines, etc.— On December 8th, 1866, there appeared an 

 the Gardener's Magazine an article on the advantages to be derived from allowing 

 vines abundance of room in suitable houses, as compared with the customary 

 restriction of vines to spaces incommensurate with the natural vigour and free 

 growth of the vine. The writer hinted, that growing little vines in pots, and many 

 varieties of grapes on vines kept to single rods, was only to be regarded as " toy 

 practice," pretty enough in its way, but to some extent an injury to the vine, and 

 likely, in the course of time, to lead to degeneracy. The principal point aimed at, 

 however, was, that if vines are a-lowed to extend themselves over vast spaces, they 

 keep in better health than if cramped, and bear crops which, for quality and quan- 

 tity, measuring space against space, give them an immense superiority over restricted 

 vines, Tlie subject has since been discussed in the Gardeners Chronicle, and 

 there is rising up a spirit of inquiry as to the actual value of dwarHng and cramp- 

 ing systems of cultivation. Our contemporary, the Gardeners Magazine, returned 

 to the subject on the 2nd and 16th of February, with a view to show that the 

 diseases of vines are to a great extent caused by a too severe system ot pruning, 

 which disturbs the balance between the head of the plant and its roots ; and then 

 proceeded to say some unkind things of the little dwarf trees that Mr. Rivers has 

 rendered so popular by his advocacy of their claims to general cultivation, in place 

 of the big trees of our forefathers. T •. ;?. most important subjects, full of 

 interest, and bearing directly on the state ot L ticultural practice in England at 

 the present time. What, \i', after all our supposed advances of late years, there 

 should come a reaction against all " toy" systems, and we should go back to the old 

 orehard method of fruit culture for hardy fruits, and require for every grape vine a 

 glass-house at least 100 feet in length ! Still there are points raised in the discussion 

 which no practical horticulturist can ignore. 



A SELECTION OF VE&ETABLES EOE 1867. 



Beet.— Pine-apple, St. Osyth, and Dewar's Short-top are the three best. The 

 Seakale beet is rubbish. 



Brussels Sprouts. — Roseberry and Scrymger's Giant. 

 Beans. — Mazagan, Longpod, Taylor's Green Windsor. 



