1885.] 



AXD HORTICULTURIST. 



159 



cissus, one named " Sir Watkins " was awarded 



first-class certificate of merit; beside this Mr. 

 Beard had also go'bd Hyacinths and the new 

 Primula obconica. Mr. C. M. Hovey had a large 

 display of Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissus, cut Ca- 

 mellias and Roses. J. Dawson showed excellent 

 pot Roses and fine hardy Primulas and Kalmia 

 latifolia forced. Mr. M. P. Wilder put up a stand 

 of Azaleas. Mr. A. VV. Blake also showed 24 

 Standard Azaleas, well flowered. Messrs. J. B. 

 Moore & Son exhibited good cut blooms of H. P. 

 Roses. Mrs. Hayes had a fine Rhododendron 

 Veitchii var. Mr. E. W. Gilmore exhibited Cin- 

 erarias, so did Mr. Sephard, besides violets and 

 cut flowers in vars. Mr. D. Zirngiebel showed a 

 fine strain of Pansies of good form and large size. 

 Some cut Roses came from Mr.Meade, while Mrs. 

 E. M. Gill showed as usual a good collection of 

 cut flowers. Beside this may be mentioned Lilium 

 tenuifolium, L. pulchellum, Trillium grandiflorum, 

 DoronicumCaucasicum, Cypripedium parviflorum, 

 C. candidum, Primula Sieboldii, Ornithogalum 

 Arabicum, Aquilegia glandulosa and several fine 

 dishes of fruit. Bot. Gardens, Cambridge, Mass. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



CACTACEiE AND AGAVE AT THE WORLD'S 



EXPOSITION. 



BY J. E. W. 



Possibly the display is the most extensive ever 

 gotten together at one exhibition. One exhibitor, 

 Mr. J. H. Erkener, of San Antonia, Texas, claims 

 to have on exhibition twenty thousand specimens, 

 obtained from Mexico at great personal labor and 

 expense. The entire collection taken together is 

 extremely interesting and instructing. The greater 

 portion of the exhibit is made by Mexico. There 

 are specimens from the size of an acorn to plants 

 of Cereus giganticus 21 feet in height and 3 "^ feet 

 in circumference. 



Cereus, about 24 varieties, some of which are as 

 follows : 



C. procumbens, 

 C. polyacanthus, 



C. longisetis. C. dubius, 



C. chloraDtbus, C. ctenoides. 



C. Schottii, &c. 



Echinocactus, about 18 varieties : 



E. Etnoryi, E. brevibamatus. E. Le Contei, 



E. longjehamatus, E. Texensis, E. Wislizenii, 



E. heliophorus, 4 ft. bigh and 9 ft. in circumference, Ac. 



Mamillaria, about 30 varieties : 



M. ecbinus, M. dasyacantba, M. fissurata, 



M. Grabamii, M. gummifera, M. applanata. 



Opuntia, about 20 varieties : 



O. Bigelovii, O. Engelmauni, 



O. frutescens, O. runda, 



O. Wrightii, &c. 



Agave Mexicana, specimens 1 2 feet across ; the 



variety that produces the Mexican beverage : 



A. geminifiora, A. revoluta, A. densiflora. 



O. arborescens, 

 O. Sehottii, 



Pennsylv.\nia Horticultural Society. — 

 The spring exhibition at the end of March was one 

 of the best made by the Society for many years. 

 At the autumn exhibitions the interest centres 

 chiefly in the fruits; the plants being mostly con- 

 fined to ferns, palms, and foliage plants destitute 

 of flowers. In the spring we look for flowers as a 

 leading feature, and they did not disappoint any 

 one on this occasion. The large hall was filled 

 by magnificent collections, and the good culture 

 exhibited was such as to call for high praise. Our 

 notes were made principally with the view to 

 giving information to readers everywhere, and we 

 have therefore necessarily to omit many features 

 of purely local interest deserving quite as much 

 praise as the articles commented on. 



A very pretty set of plants intended chiefly to 

 show how to arrange for decoration was shown by 

 Joseph Kift & Sons, and for this purpose the rather 

 new Asparagus tenuissimus showed to great 

 advantage. It is allied to the well-known " Smilax " 

 of the florists, climbing as that does, but rather 

 stiffer, and has leaves like the common garden 

 Asparagus. Two plants were trained so as to 

 form an arch at the end of a table, and indicated 

 how many decorative uses it might be put to. We 

 understand it can be readily increased from 

 cuttings. 



A good idea was expressed by porous plant 

 vases. These are hollow, wreath-like vessels, 

 water being admitted by an aperture at the top. 

 Moss tied around is kept moist by percolation, and 

 Ferns, Orchids, or other plants tied to them, grow 

 much better than when tied to mere blocks of 

 wood or even in baskets. The plants exhibited 

 with these vases, showed remarkable vigor and 

 health. A number of boxes of plants adapted to 

 window culture were shown, and one in which 

 common Snowdrops in bloom were arranged with 

 Rex Begonias and Ferns, showed an extremely 

 interesting combination. Another florist, Herman, 

 had some boxes in which excellent combination 

 was made of Tuhps, with Lily of the Valley and 

 Astilbe. 



Some florist, whose name we did not find at- 

 tached, has a plant of a white flowering winter 

 Carnation called Edward Banyard, which seemed 

 an extraordinary bloomer. The plant had over 

 100 good buds, besides small ones not worth 

 counting. The calyx showed no disposition to 

 burst at the side, and the crumpled petals had here 

 and there an almost invisible crimson line. It 



