October c, 1863. ] JOUKNAL OP HOETICULTUEE AJSID COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



271 



was scarcely giving satisfaction, it being too dingy in its 

 appearance. I noticed a bed edged with Geranium Mrs. 

 Poilock ; and it may be satisfactory to know that this chai-m- 

 ing variety retains its robustness of habit and its beautiful 

 and delicate hues even in this northern district. I also 

 noticed another bed edged with Centaurea candidissima, 

 which looked well, and another edged with TussUago far- 

 fara fol. variegatis ; but the Hon of the flower garden was 

 Tropffiolum Eclipse. Mi'. C'hapUn intends, as soon as the 

 summer-bedding plants are over, to fill the beds with early- 

 flowering bulbs and spiing-flowering plants. In the reserve 

 garden for this purpose I noticed large quantities of English 

 and German Wallflowers, Arabis alpina, Arabis alpina va- 

 riegata. Forget-me-not, &c. On the neatly-kept la^vn ad- 

 joining the flower garden was a fine specimen of the noble 

 "Wellingtonia gigantea, its height was 15 feet 6 inches, and 

 the circumference 30 feet. 



The last, but not the least, place we entered was the con- 

 servatory, and here another sumptuoixs treat was in store, 

 all the plants were well grown and in good health. I coidd 

 neither see a plant deficient in vigour nor an obnoxious insect. 

 I may say in conclusion, that Mr. Chaplin was extremely 

 kind and obliging, and spared no pains to point out every 

 object of interest. — Quintin Eead, Biddulph. 



THE GAEDENEES' BENEFIT SOCIETY. 



The Gardeners' Society is fast becoming the topic of the 

 day amongst us. Even in this locality, remote as it is, there 

 are some who are willing to become supporters of it mth all 

 its rules, and wish for its being speedily in operation. There 

 are others who say that it will never be accomplished, because 

 in many of our good places there are men acting as head 

 gardeners who never served a regular apprenticeship, and 

 who cannot stand before some of the Society's rules t conse- 

 quently their support is lost to the Society, which accounts 

 in a measure for the supineness shown by gardeners in not 

 coming forward to promote the proposed Society, so much 

 needed. A third party will say, " Bah ! are we going to be 

 wheedled out of our hard earnings to swell the corporation 

 of our beef-eating neighbours, or to Une the pockets of our 

 canny N.B.'s by having them placed over us in this Society ? " 



This is the substance of several gardeners' discourses, 

 which, to my knowledge, have taken place in this neighbour- 

 hood. They invariably have come to the conclusion that if 

 fair play is given in this respect by placing Irishmen in 

 office in the Irish branch of the Society they wiU cordially 

 give their support to it. — B. Cabboll, Gardener to J. S. 

 Kinoan, Esq. 



SOME OF THE GAEDENS WORTH SEEING. 



BEDFOEDSHIES. 



^'ame. Proprietor. Gardener. Town. 



■Wobarn Abbej .... Duke of Bedford Unknown Wobura 



Wrest Park LordCowper Mr. Snow Sileoe 



StockwoodPark.... J. Crawley, Esq Unknown Luton 



ESSEX. 



Easton Lodge Viscount Maynard Mr. Moffat Dunmow 



ThorndonHall Lord Fetre Mr. Crawford. Brentwood 



CranbrookePark... J. Davies, Esq Mr. Reckell ... llford 



HEP.TFORDSHIKE. 



Kimpton Hoo Lord Dacre Mr. Coi Hitcbin 



Hyde Lionel Amea.Esq Mr. Terry St. Albans 



Bigh. Leigh W. Jay, Esq Mr, Beesley ... Hoddesdoa 



SUFFOLK. 



Hardwick Lady Cnllum Mr. Fish Bary St. Edmunds 



Ickworth Park .... Marquis of Bristol Unknown Bury St. Edmunds 



RendleshamHaU... Lord Rendlesham Mr. Allan Woodbridge 



The Vital Powek of the Wheat Plant. — At the Lewes 

 Flower Show in August was shown a bundle of com contain- 

 ing 1551 ears, the produce of a single grain sown in June, 

 1862, by Mr. Spary, of Chailey. The object was accomplished 

 by what is termed " propagation," or division and redivision 

 of the root. The plant raised from the single grain was 

 divided three times, and replanted. In a month or so these 

 plants were redivided and again planted, and in the follow- 

 ing spring a third division of all the plants was made. The 

 result is a good armful of com, containing 1551 ears ; and 



as each ear may contain from twenty to eighty grains, the 

 yield of a single grain so treated becomes something in- 

 credible. — (Brighton Cruardian.) 



[In connection with this we may remark that Mr. Spary 

 has sent us four specimens of Wheat fairly ranking among 

 the finest we have ever examined. Of these Spary" s Prolific 

 takes the lead as a Eed ■V\Tieat, quite equal to the lead taken 

 by HaUett's Pedigree among White Wheats.] 



NEW BOOK. 



A Handbook of Vine and Fndt-Tree Cultivation, as Adapted 

 to Sir Joseph Paxton's Patent Hothov.ses. By Samuel 

 Heeeman. London : Bradbui-y & Evans. 

 This is a pamphlet of a little over fifty pages, the main 

 featui-e of which is a treatise on the patent hothouses in- 

 troduced by Sir Joseph Paxton, and furnishing instructions 

 for then- management and the ci-dtivation of the crops they 

 may be employed in growing. The book is illustrated with 

 some excellent woodcuts, representing residences in con- 

 nection with which these hothouses have been erected ; and 

 we must own, that if the buildings produce effects as elegant 

 as they do in the engravings, and we see no reasons why 

 they should not, we should advise our readers who have not 

 seen them to make inquiry about these new houses. The 

 instructions given for the cultivation of the Vine and other 

 crops are essentially practical, and are evidently written by 

 one who has himself performed all the operations before he 

 attempted to instruct others. 



TODMOEDEN BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 



A meeting of this Society was held on September 7th, at 

 which Dr. Eigby, of Chorley, Lancashire, was elected a 

 member, and Dr. O'Brien, of Eimis, Co. Clare, Ireland, an 

 honorary member. 



Among specimens of flowering plants lying on the table 

 were the lovely Eucharis amazonica, Eondeletia speciosa 

 major, Meyenia erecta, a species of Cypripedium, LiKum 

 lancifoUum rubrum (fine), several good varieties of Petunia, 

 Caladium, Maranta, &c.. Aster tripoUum, Chrysanthemum 

 arcticimi, and PotentiUa dubia. Among Cryptogams were 

 the beautiful new crested variety of the Eoyal Fem, Os- 

 mvmda regalis cristata, Platyloma Brownii, Pteris tricolor, 

 P. argyrsa, and P. cretica albo-lineata (three of the hand- 

 somest variegated Ferns), Asplenium trichomanes incisum, 

 and a new and most beautiful variety of the same species, 

 provisionally named serratum. It is a much-improved sub- 

 a;quale. Both varieties form part of the botanical " spoil " 

 resulting from the Society's recent Irish excursion, and are, 

 we believe, the special pickings of Messrs. NoweU and 

 Stansfield. 



Mr. A. Stansfield, jun., brought fine examples of the 

 Holly Fem, called often the "Scotch Fern," from its 

 being almost peculiar to the Scottish mountains, lately 

 gathered on CraigcaUeach, one of the heights of the great 

 Breadalbane chain ; also fronds of a quite peculiar form of 

 Asplenium viride, gathered in the same locality ; together 

 with a beautiful variety of Athyrium Filix-fcemina, with the 

 pinna; uniformly and most elegantly tasselled, from the 

 neighbourhood of Aberfeldy. 



After the transaction of business, conversation turned on 

 the late excursions. Of these there have been three since 

 the last meeting of the Society— the first on the 14th ult., 

 to the highlands of Scotland, the party comprising Mr. J. 

 Fielden (York), and Mr. A. Stansfield, jun. ; the second, on 

 the 22nd ult., to Coimty Clare, Ireland, the party comprising 

 Mr.* Stansfield, the President, Mr. NoweU, the Vice-Pre- 

 sident, and Mr. Patman, the annalist of the Society, T. 

 Aitkeu, Esq., of Bacup, and Mr. Greaves, of Hebden Bridge ; 

 the third was a minor excursion. 



The highland explorers had the disadvantage of bad 

 weather. They managed, however, spite of almost incessant 

 rain and storm, to rob the " old hills " of not a few of their 

 botanical secrets. Pity that one cannot find a means of 

 propitiating the meteorological powers before starting on a 

 botanical tour!— above all, a botanical tour in the highlands, 

 where the clouds, attracted by the giant hills, distU almost 

 constant floods. Not that any true botanist need to, or 



