Mij 16 187J. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



399 



and my iittle plants are growing. Owing to my ignorance I 

 mistook the first sign of life for a spot of mould on the tree, 

 but the spots soon put out two small green horn-like pieces, 

 giving the little parasite the appearance of a grey moth's head 

 ■with green antenna;. I was interested to find my simple pro- 

 cess had been successful, and therefore communicate to our 

 ever-kind Editors my trifle of experience. — F. E. T. 



THUNBEKGIA HARRISI— MEDINILLA 

 MAGNIFICA. 



I WAS pleased to see an observation respecting the Thunbergia 

 Harrisi, and your correspondent has not said a word too much 

 in its favour. My treatment of it differs very little from his, 

 except in regard to the soil, which consists of equal parts loam, 

 leaf soil, and bog, ivith a sprinkling of silver sand. I also give 

 occasional waterings of Uijuid manure. This time last year I 

 iiad a plant in a CO-sized pot, and feeling anxious to prove its 

 good qualities I gave it plenty of pot room, keeping it in the 

 stove throughout the summer, when its growth became so 

 rapid as to compel me to allow it fuU stretch by letting it 

 occupy one end of the house. It quickly attained a height of 

 10 feet, and 1.5 feet span ; it fiUs a 12-iuch pot, and during the 

 winter it continually produced a profusion of bloom. I should 

 think a more desirable object for winter could not be found. 

 It also succeeds as a small pot plant for table decoration, when 

 trained to a wire trellis, globular or otherwise. The only draw- 

 back is that it is very liable to be attacked by insects. 



We have also a fine specimen of Medinilla magnifica in 

 bloom. Little mention is made of these old-fashioned in- 

 mates of our stove; and though "little gems" and "great 

 beauties" are announced in our lists, we should not lose sight 

 of these old favourites, and the Medinilla is one of them. 

 Our plant commenced blooming a month ago, and bids fair to 

 last another month or six weeks. It is truly magnificent, 

 with eight racemes about 18 inches in length gracefully hang- 

 ing downwards, backed up with large, dark green, ovate leaves. 

 The plant is about G or 7 feet high, and so majestic that it 

 appears unwilling to acknowledge the humbler denizens of the 

 stove. — A. BuKNS, Lawthwiiite Hoiiae, Cumberland. 



BASKET PL.ANTS FOR THE STOVE. -No. 3. 



EPirHYLLUM. 



This is a smaU but highly ornamental genus of Cactacea;. 

 The first species introduced to our plant coUeetions have been 

 made use of by cultivators for the production of a vast number 

 of beautiful varieties, all of which are well deserving of general 

 cultivation. 



EpiphyUums are natives of Brazil, growing plentifully on 

 the celebrated Organ Mountains, where the arms and forks of 

 the forest trees are clothed with these plants, in company with 

 Aroids, Orchids, Bromeliads, etc. The EpiphyUums form 

 beautiful objects, grown in hanging baskets — indeed, for 

 autumn decoration they have few equals, and no superiors. 

 They are also extremely ornamental in whatever way we see 

 them, more especially when a beautiful pyramid or festoon is 

 formed by grafting ; but as it is their beauties and adaptabUity 

 as basket plants that I wish to impress upon the minds of my 

 readers, I shall pass by other methods of cultivating them. 



I am quite aware that it is the opinion of many that Epi- 

 phyUums do not flower freely, except when they are grafted. 

 This opinion, however, I cannot endorse, for plants upon then- 

 own roots have both grown and flowered most profusely with 

 me; indeed, every point of then- flat leaf-like joints has pro- 

 duced its brilliantly-coloured blossom. Although, it must be 

 admitted that the flowers are not displayed to so much ad- 

 vantage when the plants are grown upon their own roots in 

 pots, because, owing to the drooping habit of the flowers, the 

 greater portion of their beauties are hidden, yet when gi-own 

 in baskets and suspended above the level of the eye, aU thek 

 vivid tints of colour are fully displayed. 



The culture of these plants is extremely simple. For soil 

 use a mixture of good loam, peat, and leaf mould, in about 

 equal parts, adiUng sufficient sharp sand to make the whole 

 feel gritty when takeu in the hand. During the growing 

 season I have always kept them in a stove temperatm-e, re- 

 moring them into a somewhat dry intermediate house to 

 thoroughly ripen then- growth, and then to a stDl cooler place ; 

 hut care must be taken that the house is not sufficiently cold 

 to discolour them. From this place they should be again re- 



moved into the intermediate house as autumn closes in, and 

 from thence some may be taken into the stove, m order to 

 bring them into bloom before the rest, and thus keep up a 

 succession of flowers as long as possible. 



Amongst so many varieties it is hardly possible to make a 

 selection, or recommend one in preference to another ; suffice 

 it to say all are good, and that I do not think it possible to find 

 a had one in cultivation. — Experto Ceede, 



GOLDEN-CLOUDED IVY. 



This is a beautiful Ivy for ornamenting rockwork as it is 

 seen with us. It does not grow so quickly as the common 

 green, and most variegated Ivies do not grow so quickly as it 

 does ; stiU, when it is well estabhshed it makes growths several 

 feet long in a season, and as it gets older it seems to develope 

 a finer variegation. In summer, when it has just made its 

 young growth, it has a more beautifid appearance than it has 

 at any other time. Of several variegated varieties that we 

 have it is the best ; the others are not decided enough in theu' 

 variegation to be highly thought of. SmaU nicely-variegated 

 twigs of the Golden-clouded would be very useful for mixing 

 amongst cut flowers. I have used them for that purpose late 

 in the season when flowers generally are scarce ; but no 

 doubt the plants wUl require to be good-sized before they wUl 

 aUow much cutting at. — K. M. — {TJie Gardener.) 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



May 1.5th and IGth. 

 V.UiLiBLE as the EngUsh climate is, happily there is seldom 

 a May so ungenial as that of the present year has hitherto been ; 

 but despite of this, despite of many of the leading metropolitan 

 exhibitors being busily engaged in preparing their plants for 

 the great show at Manchester, there were at Kensington yester- 

 day (the first day of the Show) a large niunber of exhibitors of 

 plants. The tent assigned to these is part of that used for the 

 gi-eat June Rhododendron Show, covering an area which re- 

 quires a vast number of plants to fiU it, and yet there is no 

 appreciable thinness. In addition, there are two long tents 

 devoted exclusively to dinner-table decorations, for which liberal 

 prizes were offered, and on which our coadjutor, "D., Deal," 

 reports beneath. 



An offer of £84 for table decorations was sure to bring forward 

 a large number of competitors ; and as the second class was one 

 in which economy of cost was to be considered, it was natural 

 to expect that the competitors in the first class would consider 

 that any amount of ornamentation would be admissible, and 

 hence that professional decorators, dealers in glass and china, 

 would come with a fuU swoop to carry off the Uberal prizes 

 offered. I was, therefore, the more pleased to find that they 

 were signaUy routed, and that the first and second prizes (the 

 latter given by the President) in the first class fell to amateurs, 

 for assuredly the overdoing of these decorations is the one point 

 especiaUy to be borne in mind. 



It would be impossible to enter into descrijitions of the vaiious 

 tables — in fact I believe that it is impossible to give any idea of 

 such matters by mere verbal descriptions. Let me essay, 

 however, to describe that which obtained the first prize. It 

 consisted of two large Ferns let into the table, and suirounded 

 by Fern leaves, so as to hide all appearance of their being so 

 done. The centrepiece was singularly elegant — a taU glass, 

 with Cacti blooms at the base of it ; the vase itself containing 

 Lily of the VaUey, salmon-coloured Geraniums, and Ught Grasses. 

 On either side were two recumbent figures smrounded by moss, 

 and specimen glasses were placed in different positions round 

 the table. It was Ught, elegant, not costly, and did not hide 

 the guests from one another. Miss Blair, who took the second 

 prize, had Palms inserted in the table, and two March stands, 

 with glasses placed round. 



The table decorated by Messrs. Herbert & Jones was an 

 admirable example of how it ought not to be done — one huge 

 mass of coloiu* ; three enormous stands, surmounted at the top 

 with numbers of smaU flags, in fact very much Uke what we 

 should see at a bazaar or fancy fair. In the same way I must 

 deprecate that exhibited by T. A. Steel, Esq., containing a large 

 plateau and two huge blocks of Wenham Lake ice. One exhi- 

 bited by Messrs. Webber & Co., Covent Garden, which had some 

 good points, was spoiled by having a Melon and Pine elevated 

 on stands covered with a quantity of Lycopodium and Isolepis. 

 I admired one by Mr. Perker, of Leamington, but thought the 

 stands at each end too high. Messrs. PhiUps & Pearce had a 

 large plateau with tall glass stands, and Fuchsias drooping. 

 The fruit and flower dishes were very pretty, but on the whole 

 they were too elaborate. One exhibited by Mr. Green had a 



