journal' op hoeticulture and cottage gardener. 



[ Apri 



, 1S72. 



woiiia imagine a plant with such immense foliage would. At 

 the present tune I have a nice specimen of it 5 feet higli pot 

 included. There is one drawback in the cultiyation of his 

 plant, which is, that after having grown a specimen to the size 

 I have mentioned above, you cannot kept it ffftf°i ^"^ 

 len.'th of time. The best method I have found is to take the tops 

 out°of the old plants ; they will then throw out side shoots 

 which should be cut off with a sharp kmfe below a joint and 

 inserted in a thumb pot in a mixture of peat and sand anu 

 then placed under a beU-glass where they have a strong bottom 

 heat Water them occasionally, and they will take root reaciuy. 

 By striking a couple or so of cuttings each yeax you may 

 always have a good plant to look at. 



It is free-gro-s-mg, and requires a temperature of from fao to 

 75° to gi'ow it successfully. The house must be provided with 

 a roller and blhid, as it does not like too much sun on its 

 foUage. I always grow it m a mixture of peat and loam in 

 equal quantities, with a free admixture of silver sand, and i 

 frequently add a few lumps of charcoal. When estabhshed it 

 requires a liberal supply of water of the same temperatm-e as 

 the house it is gi-own in ; and if large specimens are reqnu-ed 

 they should be frequently shifted into larger pots. An 18-mch 

 pot is ample to produce a large specimen. In shiftuig from 

 small to larger-sized pots, never allow the plant to become 

 pot-bound. If BO, it often happens that all the bottom leaves 

 drop, and the plant is ruined as a specimen. Syringe the 

 plant morning and eveuuig in the spring and summer months, 

 and in the autumn and winter once a-day m the morning. 

 Dkect the syrmge under as well as over the fohage, and keep 

 the plant clear of all others. It is not a troublesome plant to 

 keep clean, and if it is frequently syringed as recommended 

 above, it will rarely be mfested by any insects, and there wUl 

 be httle trouble beyond being very careful of the fohage.— T. B. 



all the family like plenty of vegetable mould, and rather a. 

 shady situation during the summer. If your con-espondents 

 can teU me of any double variety besides those I have noticed 

 they may depend on my gratitude. — D. F. J. K. 



THE PEIMEOSE. 



Me. Robson has not said a word too much in praise of Prim- 

 roses; and as there is rather a rage for this flower at present, 

 perhaps I shall be excused for a httle enlargmg on his remarks. 



I attach great importance to his advice with respect to di- 

 viding the roots. I am convinced it is the only way to keep 

 the plants permanentlv in health. Those kinds which I use 

 for spruig bedding I divide as soon as they are out of bloom 

 and plant on a north border, which is the best position for 

 them during the summer. I keep, besides, a very long border 

 fuU of every different kmd, which I watch carefully to see that 

 I do not lose any variety I think worth procuring. 



As Mr. Eobsoii says, there are endless varieties of the single 

 red. Many of them arc quite worthless for spring bedding, as 

 they produce more leaves than flowers. Others are very good. 

 I have at present a very floriferous one in bloom, a bright red 

 with a yellow eye, which makes a pretty bed ; and I have one 

 seedlhig which will be very telling if it flower freely, as it is 

 of the brightest of crimson. By far the most valuable Prim- 

 rose, however, as a bedder that 1 ever saw, is one of vfhich I 

 found a plant two years ago in a cottager's garden, where it 

 had evidently sowed itself. It caught my eye at once, being 

 one sohd mass of bright magenta with a yellow eye. I know of 

 no Primrose nearly so free-floweriug. It is extremely early, 

 and comes in with Crocuses, making a beautiful contrast with 

 the yellow Crocus ; in short, it is so good that I have deter- 

 mined to send it out. 



Prunroses and Oxlips seem to run one into the other ui the 

 most ciuious way. I suppose that whenever we find a^ bunch 

 of flowers on a single stalk we must call that an Oxlip ; but 

 the crimson Primrose which I have spoken of sends up its 

 flowers on distiuct stems, but just as it is going off it sends up 

 hunches, so I am not sure whether it should be called a Prim- 

 rose or an Oxlip. There are two Oxlips which are quite the 

 specialite of this neighbourhood — at least I never saw them 

 anywhere else — one is a large white, a most abundant bloomer, 

 the other a double yellow, equally valuable. Both make capital 

 beds or edgings. 



Now about the double Primroses. Mr. Robson has con- 

 demned them too much. We have the lilac, the mauve, the 

 early double white, the late double white (this last very rare 

 and very hard to increase), the early double yellow, the late 

 double yellow, and the Pompadour, or deep maroon. What a 

 lovely one is this last ! It is getting very scarce ; but if it be 

 constantly divided, and supplied with liberal top-dressings of 

 well-rotted manure and leaf mould mixed all through the 

 summer, and well w-atered, it will increase rapidly. I find that 



EOYAL HOETICULTURAL SOCIETY'S 

 BIRMINGHAM EXHIBITION. 

 The Exhibition wiU take place at the Lower Grounds, Aston^ 

 in June next, and wiU continue from June 25th to 29th mclusive- 

 It will be opened by His Eoyal Highness Prmce Arthur. 



The area devoted to the purposes of the Show is about twelve- 

 acres in extent. The Exhibition will be held in tents, but on a, 

 totally different scale to those in which flower shows are nsuaUy 

 held. The chief display of Palms, Tree Ferns, and the more 

 important stove and gi-eenhouse plants, &c., will take place m a 

 lofty tent 300 feet by 80 feet wide, erected over a beautiful garden , 

 designed by Mr. Gibson, of London. At one end there will be a 

 fountain and rockei-y, over which a cascade wiU fall. 1 ictur- 

 esquely grouped beds, covered with tm-f, wiU be ai-ranged oyer 

 the entiri length, and these will be divided by wide gravelled 

 walks. The beds will vary in elevation, so as to prevent flatness,, 

 and to aid in giving the ensemble an air of naturalness. On tUese 

 beds the plants wiU be staged. Outside this tent there wiU be 

 several others. The show ground is triangular the sides being 

 nearly 400 yards long, with a base of about half the length. Ihe^ 

 sides wiU be occupied by uniform ranges of shedding, covered 

 with canvas, but open in front, facing the centre of the gi-ound; 

 the whole being intended for the accommodation of exhibitors in> 

 the industrial department, which includes horticultm-al tools 

 garden machinery, garden cutlery, &c., ; while greenhouses an£ 

 heating apparatus, garden wirework, garden pottery, vases, and 

 decorative apphances, including seats, arbours, tents, &c., will 

 be gi-ouped in the open space. . , . t j i j., 



ComintJ now to the prize hst. For various kinds of plants, 

 <:-9Sl lis. is offered ; for cut flowers, £263 5s. ; for finiit, i'lSo Is. ;: 

 for vegetables, £1.53 19s. ; for implements and horticultirral 

 buildings, medals to the value of £105 .5s. . . 



Of com-se it would be impossible, in the limits at our disposal, 

 to attempt anything Uke an account of aU the classes; and we 

 shall therefore, content ourselves with an enumeration of some 

 of the principal ones. A large portion of the prize hst is 

 properly devoted to stove and gi-eenhouse plants m coUections, 

 for varieties of specified kinds, and for specimen plants ; the 

 major part of the prize money being very judiciously offered for 

 these classes. Ferns, too, are adequately encouraged. I or 

 Pelargoniums a large sum of money is appropriated and tlie 

 classes are so an-anged as to ensure good displays of all tbe best 

 old and new varieties. These exhibits wiU all be brought to- 

 gether on the first day. Then there are good prizes for ever- 

 green trees and hai-dy shrubs ; for variegated plants suitable tor- 

 bedding ; for sub-tropical plants ; for Alpines ; Succulents, &c. 

 For dinner-table decorations a large sum is reserved, with the- 

 additional novelty of the designs being exhibited by gas-light 

 during the bright sunshine of a midsummer day ; the object 

 beiug'to ensure the combination of such flowers and plants as 

 are most telling in artificial Ught. For fruit there is ample pro- 

 vision; ■n-hilev'egetables— important and useful to everyone— are 

 recognised and c'ared for in a fashion far a-head of anything we- 

 can remember. The queen of flowers w-ill, on the third day of the 

 Exhibition, hold a special levee ; and as the prizes are large and 

 well-arranged, we quite expect such adisplay as w-iU surpass those 

 with w-hich visitors to our annual Rose Show are familiar. 

 Special exhibitions of cut flowers and bouquets, on the fourth an* 

 fifth days, are provided for, so as to secure elements of freshness, 

 and to maintain the interest of the meeting to the -yery close. 



If the arrangements determined upon prove satisfactory, the 

 meeting at Birmingham will be hereafter distinguished as 

 having secured the most complete exhibition of horticulturaf 

 i'uplements ever seen in England. When the country meetings 

 of the Eoyal Horticultural Society were held at the same times 

 and places as those of the Eoyal Agiicultural Society, manu- 

 facturers and others made their entries as usual for the agricul- 

 tural implement showyard. At Birmingham every effort wiU 

 be made to increase the attractions and useful character of the 

 Show in the very important division to which we are referring. 

 Already ample evidence has been given by the numerous 

 apphcatibns for space that all our leading implement manufac- 

 turers will take care to be well represented in Mr. QuUter's 

 spacious grounds. . 



Mr. Joseph Moore, of Pitsford Street, Birmingham, is now- 

 engaged on the medal for the Local Committee. The obverse 

 will contain a likeness, in profile, of Prince Arthur, reproduced 

 fi'om a photogi-aph for which His Eoy.al Highness gave sittings 

 to Mr. H. J. Whitlock, at Buckingham Palace, on the 2nd mst. 

 The reverse w-ill be occupied by a view of Aston Hall, together 

 with an inscription setting forth the date when that picturesque 

 park was opened by Her Majesty as a place of public recreation 

 for the people of Birmingham. The diameter of the gold mediils 



