334 THE GARDENER. [July 



The Horticultural Directory for 1870. Journal of Horticulture 

 Office, London. 

 This useful trade guide is still as valuable as ever, and must be of great assist- 

 ance to nurserymen and others. Additions and corrections are brought down to 

 the latest moment, showing that the work is carefully edited. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Tiie Gardeners' Magazine for June : also, Tiie Food Journal for June. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[Want of space compels us to postpone several valuable communications. — Eds.] 



Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society and the forthcoming Show 

 of Roses. — Every lover of the queen of flowers must hail with satisfaction the 

 result arrived at by the Committee of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society 

 to give that prominence to the Rose which its merits deserve. The recent 

 papers on the cultivation of the Rose which appeared in the ' Gardener,' from 

 the pen of so skilful a cultivator as S. Reynolds Hole, will no doubt have given, 

 and will give, an impetus to Rose-growing in Scotland, which, I trust, will be 

 exemplified by the quantity and superiority of the Roses exhibited at the forth- 

 coming show in Edinburgh. It is not with the view, however, of writing a 

 treatise on the cultivation of the "Queen," or to descant on the probable ap- 

 pearance "she" may make at "her levee" at Edinburgh on the 13th July, but 

 to refer to a custom prevalent in Scotland with Rose exhibitors, and which, I 

 think, is of sufficient importance to merit a moment's attention. 



" The competition in Roses to be open to all, whether they be members of the 

 Society or not." So states the Society's schedule, which circumstance is likely to 

 bring out a sprinkling of English exhibitors. Now the custom to which I referred 

 is, surrounding the Rose with Rose-leaves. This is, as I before stated, invariably 

 the practice in Scotland ; the same thing practised in England renders the stand 

 subject to disqualification. If one or two judges from England were to judge 

 the Roses at Edinburgh, it would certainly be galling to Scotch exhibitors, who 

 are unaware of the fact I allude to, to find "Disqualified" w r ritten on their 

 exhibition card. It is an open question whether or not leaves ought to be 

 added. Some say that a Rose always looks best when surrounded by its own 

 leaves ; this I admit, when they are iis own leaves — that is, leaves attached to its 

 stem, but not counterfeits. We do not exhibit Dahlias, Hollyhocks, Asters, 

 Marigolds, &c, with a bunch of leaves surrounding them, and why the Rose 1 ? 

 I think something definite should be arrived at by the Committee of the Royal 

 Caledonian Horticultural Society on this point, and so put all on equal footing. 

 I would suggest that the Secretary of the Society intimate to those parties who 

 have given notice of their intention to compete whether such a practice will or 

 will not be admissible. — J. A. 



Variegated Zonal Pelargonium Leaves (I. J.) — The leaves of your seedling 

 Pelargoniums are much inferior to what are now in cultivation, and we doubt if 

 they are likely to improve, as, judging from the freshness of the colouring and 

 the texture of the leaves, they appear to be in their best character. The 



