July 21, 1863. 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAJEDENER. 



49 



POKTEAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND 

 FETJITS. 



Khododendkon Batemani (Mr. Bateman's Rhododen- 

 dron). — Nat. ord., Ericaces. Linn., Deoandria Monogynia. 

 Discovered by Mi-. Booti. in the Bhotan Himalaya. Very 

 robust. Flowers crimson and large. Noble species. — {Bot. 

 Magazine, t. 5387.) 



Oknithogalum CAPiTATim (Capitate Ornithogalum). — 

 Nat. ord., Asphodelese. Linn., Hexandria Monogynia. Bulb- 

 ous-rooted greenhouse plant from Cape of Good Hope. The 

 whit^i and purple flowers open in February. — (Ihid., t. 5388.) 



Metenia Voqeliana (Vogel's Meyenia). — Nat. ord., Acan- 

 thaceoe. Linn., Didynamia Angiospermia. A most lovely 

 stove plant from Fernando Po. Flowers purple with orange 

 throat, opening in May. — {Ibid., t. 5389.) 



Nephelaphyllum scapigebum (Scapigerous Nephela- 

 phyllum). — Nat. ord., Orchidaceae. Linn., Gynandria Monan- 

 dria. Imported from Borneo by Messrs. Low & Sons, Clap- 

 ton. "A singular and beautiful little Orchid." Flowers 

 yeUow and white with purple blotches. — (Ibid., t. 5390.) 



Ebia obesa (Thick -stemmed Eria). — Nat. ord., Orchid- 

 aceae. Linn., Gynandria Monandria. Native of Martaban 

 and Moulmeiu. Flowers white. Flowered in a warm stove 

 in February." — (Ibid., t. 5391.) 



Japanese Clematises. — Clematis Fortimei, white ; and 

 Clematis florida Standishii, violet blue. Both plants were 

 found by Mr. Fortune ia Japan. Probably hardy, and have 

 had fii-st-class certificates from the Floral Committee of the 

 Royal Horticultm-al Society. — (Floral Magazine, j>l. 153.) 



Peaece's Ohrisia (Ourisia Pearcii). — A dwarf hardy pe- 

 rennial of great beauty. Introduced from Chili by Messrs. 

 Veitch, Chelsea and Exeter Nurseries, through their collector, 

 Mr. Pearee. Flowers crimson streaked with dai'ker crimson. 

 It had a fii-st-class certificate from the Floral Committee. — 

 (Ibid., pi loi.) 



Ehododendeon Pbince of Wales (RoUisson's). — A cross- 

 bred between Rhododendrons javanicum and retusum. 

 Flowers bright orange. — (Ibid., pi. 155.) 



Heebaoeous CALCEOLAELis. — Four varieties raised by 

 Messi-s. Dobsou & Son, Isle worth. — (Ibid., pi. 156.) 



Camellia Caelotta Papudoff. — Introduced by Messrs. 

 Veitch from Florence. "A first-class variety." White 

 blotches on a gi-ound of carmine rose. — (Florist o,nd Pomolo- 

 gist, ii., 89.) 



Winter Hawthoenden Apple. — ^Roundish-oblate, large, 

 pale yellow, mottled red on the most sun-erpoaed side. 

 "The' flesh ffrmer.than that of the old Hawthornden, with 

 all its qualities." Fii-st-rate culinary Apple, in use from 

 October to March.— (Ibid., 96.) 



CHIEF GAEDENS IN GEEAT BEITAIN. 



I feel confident that the readers of The Journal of 

 Horticulture wOl feel obliged to you for giving a list of 

 the chief gardens in Great Britain ; but permit me to suggest 

 that your correspondents on the subject should be cai-eful 

 in stating to you whether their lists comprise the principal 

 or a few of the best gardens of a county, for it is very evident 

 that the gentleman who furnished you with a list of the 

 "principal gardens in Northiimberland " has never crossed 

 the Aln, otherwise he would not have omitted Cbillingham 

 Castle, where the finest flower garden in the county is to be 

 seen, and where the greatest number of bedding-out plants 

 are ; and it is quite patent that there is a very superior 

 selection of French Pears cultivated succesafriUy in the fruit 

 gardens ; and in the American gaa-den, quite distinct fr-om 

 either of the above, there is as line a collection of Rhodo- 

 dendrons as is to be found in the north. Mr. Bowey is 

 gardener. And why should he omit LUburn Tower close by, 

 the seat of — CoUingwood, Esq., where the gardens are 

 almost overshadowed by the cloud-capped Cheviots ? Yet 

 here in the earliest spring Nature bursts into such beauty, 

 that I have frequently gone miles out of my way to see in 

 bloom the splendid collection of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, 

 Kalmias, and other spring-flowering shrubs which thrive so 

 wbU under the treatment of Mr. Dees. Both fruit and 

 flower garden are good. Here, also, about four or five years 

 ago they could boast of an Araucaria imbricata only second 

 to some of those fine specimens at Belsay. Mr. Dees is very 



successful with the WeUingtonia gigantea, but none of them 

 are so tall as that very fine specimen near to the old castle 

 at Belsay. 



It would be an easy matter for me to name at least seven 

 or eight gardens in Northumberland equal to, and some 

 superior to, those named in yom' Journal this week. Why 

 are Howiok Gardens not named, the seat of the Right Hon. 

 Earl Grey, Mr. Moore, gardener ? It is true there are 

 better Orchids at Wallington and CressweU ; but Howick 

 Gardens are of more general interest to the tourist and 

 visitor than some you have named ; so, also, are those of the 

 Home Secretai-y, and EsUngton Gardens, besides many 

 others. — Ptekis. 



[We wish that oiu' correspondent had increased our 

 obligation by giving a tabular list of all the gardens he 

 knows worthy of a visit. No one can be acquainted with all 

 such gardens in a county, and we wish every coiTespondent 

 to particularise only those really known to him. We can- 

 not have too many of such contributions, and we shall be 

 obliged by any one sending us the names of any two or 

 three gardens he knows are worth visiting. — Eds.] 



THE GEEAT BIED QUESTION. 



In No. 117 of The Journal of Horticulture, Mr. Rob- 

 son asks for evidence that small bu-ds eat caterpillars. I can 

 supply some on this point. A pair of the large titmouse 

 this year made a nest in the potting-shed in the garden 

 here, and reared a numerous famEy — six or seven, I believe. 

 One day, being in the shed, I saw both the parent birds on 

 an Apple tree within ai very few feet of me, and each with a 

 caterpiUar, about tlrree-quarters of an inch long, in its beak ; 

 whether these were the caterpillars which infest Gooseberry 

 bushes or not I cannot pretend to say, but, Uke them, they 

 were of a light colour. The destruction of caterpillars by 

 this pafr alone was, in all probability, very great, as there 

 was so numerous a family to feed. 



Since the young bii-ds have taken to the wing they are, 

 however, often to be seen escaping fr'om the I'ows of Peas 

 with a Pea in then- beaks ; and I apprehend that the same 

 is the case with many small bu-ds, that thefr parents feed 

 them with insects while in the nest, but that when they 

 have to provide for themselves they indulge in a mixed, or, 

 perhaps, sometimes an entu-ely vegetable diet. If this be 

 so, the proper course seems to be to leave them undisturbed 

 while nesting, and to diminish then- numbers, where neces- 

 sary, at a later time. 



I have no hesitation in saying that in some places very 

 little fiTiit would be left if the bu-ds were allowed to increase 

 without check. It must be remembered that their natural 

 enemies, hawks and owls, are actively pei-secuted by game- 

 keepers, and very greatly diminished in numbers. — SussBX- 

 ensis, E Pari;, Sussex. 



MAY FLO WEES. 



Flower gardens in most places are, during the month 

 of May, very deficient in a fine display of bloom. The 

 bulbs such as Crocuses di-op ; Hyacinths, &c., are all over; 

 and the bedding-out plants are only just planted out, and 

 not in bloom, even in the most favoui-ed places as to 

 climate and shelter. Though many of oiu- aristocratic fami- 

 lies are during that month in London, yet there are large 

 numbers who have nice gardens that prefer the country — 

 their home in fact, to the dust, heat and discomfort of town 

 Ufe. Such families, no doubt, would be glad to have their 

 flower-borders well-stocked with Flora's gifts, but they are 

 not just up to the mark how to accomplish this point in May. 



The above reflections passed tlirough my mind on visiting 

 a garden near Manchester that I have refeired to more than 

 once, I mean the gai-den belonging to J. Shorrocks, Esq., 

 the Lodge, Ashton-on-Mersey. I saw these gardens about 

 the middle of May, and a more gorgeous display of flowers 

 I never beheld at any time of the year at any place whether 

 in England, Ireland, or Scotland. The garden was Uterally 

 a blaze of flowers, old-fashioned indeed, but yet very gay 

 and effective. For the most part they grew on borders in 

 front of shrubs, and were in such masses that very little soil 

 was visible. 



