FOREIGN NOTICES. 



143 



less leisure, and zeal begins to flag. This must 

 have been severely felt elsewhere, if we are to 

 judge from the complaints that have reached us 

 of shabbily filled tables, and poor uninteresting 

 specimens. It was not however so at Chiswick, 

 for which it is evident that gardeners had re- 

 served with care what they wisely withheld from 

 other places. We say wisely, because a judicious 

 man will always prefer to submit his produce to 

 the inspection of those who can best ap|)reciate 

 its merits — and reward it. We suspect it has 

 been discovered that the favorable opinion of the 

 residents in the rich quarters of the West of Lon- 

 don is of inliiiitely more conse(iucnce to gardeners 

 than that of the respectable inhabitants of the 

 northern and eastern suburbs. 



Tho skill exhibited in cultivating was in many 

 respects higlily instructive. We would particu- 

 larly refer to some Cape Heaths (E. metul(pJlora 

 bicolor and Parmentieri rosea.) frum Mr, Ej)ph, 

 in which the effect of the uneunfined air upfui 

 colour was most conspicuous. When com)iared 

 with other specimens, the tints bore the same re- 

 lation to each other as those of a sailor, fresh 

 from a cruise, and a Manchester weaver, just re- 

 leased from the factory. Nothing could more 

 conclusively confirm wluit we have so often in- 

 tiisted upon, that the greatest health attainable in 

 plants is to be secured by the freest exposure to 

 air. Colour is only a sign of health. 111 coloured 

 flowers and fruit never come from plants in per- 

 fect condition. The want of ample air was no 

 doubt the cause of the paleness of the fine Tur- 

 merics (Curcuma corduta and Jio'Coeana ,) from 

 Syon, in which the intense violet and scarlet co- 

 lours natural to the flower leaves were scarcely 

 observable, 



A few novelties among Orchids mincled with 

 crowds of well known favorites, Mrs. Lawrence 

 produced the curved Angrec (.^ngroecum arcua- 

 turn,) from the Cape of Good Hope, and a pale 

 variety of the Insleay Odontoglot (Odontoglon- 

 sum Insleayi' ,) from which the brilliant colour of 

 the sj)ots was almost discharged. There was also 

 anew Acinete, very near Barker's, from Mr. Skin- 

 ner, and a white Moss Cattlcya from Mr. Ivison. 



Among other races, the Victoria Waier Lily, 

 from Syon, in the form of a beautiful flower, and 

 two magnificent leaves, each five feet ten inches 

 in diameter, was pre-eminent. The Java and 

 saffron-coloured Ixoras (/, juvanica and crocaia) 

 from Mrs, Lawrence were among the most bril- 

 liant bushes. A plant of the showy Medinil (M. 

 Speciosa) from Mr. Farmer's gardener, was ri- 

 pening its beautiful fruit, a result which Mr. Car- 

 son has we believe been the first to obtain. The 

 elegant Pleroma, with its broad round flowers of 

 Tyriun purple, was produced by Mr. Green, in 

 proof that some at least of the Melastomads will 

 retain their splendid petals long enough to render 

 them objects of much value. 



* This i.s 110 doubt an Odoiitooloi. aiiJ not an Oncid. 



Of the newer plants the most remarkable was 

 the Willow-leaved Ixora (7. snlicifolia) from 

 Messrs. Veitch, a charming stove plant with rich 

 oiauLre-coloured flowers. Less new and far infe- 

 rior in colour, but most remarkable for the fantas- 

 tic form of its flower, was the arched Lesche- 

 nauttia (L. arcuata) from Lord Kilmorey's gar- 

 den. A large plant of the Emperor Francis' 

 Echites (£. Franciscea) from Mr, Colyer's col- 

 lection, showed that no gardening skill can make 

 an uuly plant handsome. 



The fruit was abundant, and in many cases very 

 fine; but the unripe state of some of the grapes 

 enabled inferior specimens to beat them. The 

 most remarkable exhibition among this kind of 

 fruit was a bunch of Black Hamburgh grapes, 

 perfectly coloured, from Mr, Wilmot, of Isle- 

 worth, which formed part of a crop now ripe 

 upon vinex that were loaded with ripe fruit last 

 February! 



The beauty of the grounds of Chiswick-house, 

 thrown open to the meeting by the noble Presi- 

 dent of the Horticultural Society, and a delicious 

 day, enabled 7970 visitors to pass an afternoon in 

 great enjoyment, lb. 



The Potatof. Dise.\se. — It is a very general 

 o])inion amongst those who have paid most atten- 

 tion to the potato disease, both in this country and 

 on the continent, that two distinct diseases have 

 often co-existed in the same plant or tuber, and 

 doubtless many of the conflicting statements which 

 have been put forth on the sub|ect have derived 

 their origin from this circumstance. Some, for 

 instance, have asserted positively that the disease 

 always commenced in the leaves; others, as un- 

 doubtingly, that the underground portion of the 

 stem was the first to be attacked. Both opi- 

 nions were probably right, but a different disease 

 was the subject under investigation. We believe 

 that diirina the last week a case has occurred to 

 us illustrative of this subject. 



Without making any assertion as to the origin 

 of these aflections, it may be assumed as a pretty 

 well established fact, that the two diseases in 

 question are characterised during some period of 

 their development by the presence of a peculiar 

 parasitic fungus, the true potato murrain by Bo- 

 trytis infestans, and the other form of decay by 

 Fusarium Solani : and it was stated by Mr. Berke- 

 ley, in his memoir on the potato murrain in the 

 " Journal of the Horticultural Society." that he 

 believed that a little mould, figured under the 

 name of Daetylium tenuissimum, was the young 

 state of the Fusarium, the Daetylium being very 

 generally present in the same tuft with the Fu- 

 sarium, both in British and foreign specimens, and 

 the one, notwithstanding the great difference be- 

 tween extreme forms, running by imperceptible 

 gradation into the otlici . The moisture of the 

 last few days has favored the development of 

 moulds in a very marked degree, and every planu 



