AuKttSt SO, 1867. 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURB AND COTTAGE GAIIDENER. 



155 



First, feathering out from every boulder of rock was Poly- 

 podium phesoptoris — " only phegopteris," as we disdainfally 

 remarked. A little higlior up, and in more scant quantities, 

 came I', dryopteris, so fresh and vividly green, that I pounced 

 upon it at once from a great distance ; not that I wished to 

 bring away the roots, only to a Fern-collector the finding fresh 

 habitats for any Fern is an intense pleasure. Higher still 

 Polypixlium Kobertianum grows, then Asplcuiura viride, and 

 then I'olystiohum lonchitis, but at such an elevation that I 

 sat down in despair, and sent a mountain child, the pretty 

 daughter of my botanical friend, to gather it for me. Some- 

 times I came on a patch of Hymenophyllum Wilaoni ; but both 

 Wilsoni and tunbridgen.ae grow in masses on the rocks over- 

 hanging the river nearer Llanberis. 



Wandering through upland meadows I discovered Lastrea 

 Filix-mas, vur. propinqna (the Lastrea propinqua of Mr. Wol- 

 laston) ; it is a beautifully marked form, whether regarded as a 

 species or as a variety, and it occurs in great abundance apart 

 from the normal form of L. Filix-mas, which seems to indicate 

 a distinct specific character. 



In these same mountain tracts Gymnadenia conopsoa was 

 Hcenting the whole air with its wonderful fragrance ; and in 

 company with it were Ilnbonaria chlorantha and bifolia, with 

 Listera ovat.!. I also gathered, but only in one small locality, 

 Couvallaria multiflora. Wherever I came on spongy ground I 

 was sure to see the bright blue blossoms of Pinguicula vul-. 

 garis rising up amidst sheets of golden Narthecium ossifragum 

 (the golden Maiden-hair of olden days), with the very roundest 

 and fattest of round-leaved Droseras. 



Turning from wild flowers to Ferns, there were strongly- 

 marked varieties of Pteris aquilina, and amongst them very 

 characteristic specimens of Mr. Moore's vera and integerrima. 

 In many places the hills are literally covered with Lastrea 

 montaua, but though some of the plants were decidedly creuate 

 in character, they did not appear sufficiently marked to be 

 worthy of a distinct name. Lomaria spicant is not distributed 

 commonly. I found two plants of the variety bifida, and 

 one of ramosa. Asplenium adiantum nigrum is also rare at 

 Llanberis, and I met with no Polystichums but the one plant 

 of lonchitis, which was found for me; my botanical friend 

 assured me that he had met with several plants of the variety 

 lobatum : I should like to have traced out the history of these 

 specimens, so as to have discovered their origin, but I was 

 unable to do so. 



Most of the Ferns which I have enumerated are local in 

 their choice of habitats, and no one must expect to find them 

 all at once. If a collector is simply wishing for species, and 

 his time is limited, the best plan is to hire the services of a 

 local botanist, for a stranger might hunt for weeks together 

 without being able to " drop " upon the home of Woodsia 

 ilvensis, Asplenium germanicum, or even Polystichum lonchitis ; 

 but for the search after varieties the collector can .scarcely go 

 amiss, and as he wanders about he will be sure to pick up many 

 a goodly species by the way. 



From the wild plants I have spoken of as being in flower, it 

 will bo seen thit my visit was made late in the spring, or rather 

 early in the summer, and I have consequently only mentioned 

 a few of the botanical treasures which surround Llanberis on 

 every side. Other botanists have been more successful, adding 

 Silene acaulis, Saxifraga hypnoides and oppositifolia, Rhodiola 

 rosea, and many another pretty form to the list I have named, 

 indeed I think few places in England can boast of superior 

 advantages for the botanist. 



The great drawback to Llanberis is the slate quarries, with 

 the constant explosions that the blasting produces. Hour by 

 hour, as the clock strikes, at the sound of a bugle, the thunder- 

 ing blasts bellow forth, and vast masses of slate are seen to fly 

 up into the air amidst smoke and dust, till the huge rock ap- 

 pears like so many small volcanoes ; and when to the noise the 

 thought is added that each blast maybe carrying death to some 

 poor workman of the thousands congregated there, the notes 

 of the bugle have a peculiarly touching effect, and become like 

 a call to prayer. 



Close at hand to the Dinorwic quarry there is the hospital, 

 where the wounded are cared for, and to which the dead are 

 carried, for not once only during a summer's visit do we hear 

 words such as these: "At eleven o'clock a poor fellow was 

 killed opposite ;" or, more haply, it may only be " A poor 

 man has had his leg blown off." The people of the place tell 

 you that they do not notice the blasting ; but during a three- 

 weeks visit I found but little difference, and when Saturday 

 afternoon arrived I used to find myself wondering at the great 



stillness, for then there is a half-holiday, when the workmen 

 may clean themselves and prepare for the approaching Sabbath. 

 And very beautifully is that Sabbath kept at Llanberis. The 

 religion of the poor is for the most part Calvinistic-Methodist, 

 and the observance of Sunday is that of a peaceful community 

 gathered almost unanimou.sly together for prayer and worship. 

 I saw no drunken men, I heard no unseemly oaths, but three 

 times each Sabbath I saw streams of tidily dressed men and 

 women issue from the doors of a large chapel ; and as I stood 

 on the hillside I listened many a time to the deep sonorous 

 voices sending up to heaven their simple hymn of praise. — 



FlLIX-yCEMINA. 



IIOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Flohal CoarMTTTKK. — A meeting was held at Chiswick, Augost 

 19th, to determine the merits of the bedding plants, chiefly Pelar- 

 goniums, sufliciently advanced for the purpoae. Althongh many of 

 them, from having been received as small plants, and owing to the 

 unfavourable character of the season, were found not in a condition 

 for a satisfactory conclusion being arrived at, there were others in 

 better condition. Of these the following were awarded first-class cer- 

 tificates as Bedding Pelargoniums — viz., Madame Werle, free-bloom- 

 ing, fine shape, white, with delicately-tinted rosy pink eye ; leaf zoned. 

 Fair}' (^ueen, a free and useful sort, with bright rosy crimson flowers 

 and lobed leaves. Dr. Hogg, very showy, a semi-Nosogay, with large 

 broad petals of a rosy crimson hue, the lower petals, especially in somo 

 stages, being more strongly suffused with rose. Sambo, dwarf com- 

 pact habit, and faintly zoned leaves, the flowers rather small, but of a 

 very rich crimson scarlet. Madame Martha Vincent, free-blooming 

 good white, the white a Uttle tinted, and the flowers in good trusses. 

 Purity, free, and bearing good trasses, the flowers pare white. This 

 and the foregoing are the two best of the many white-flowered sorts in 

 the collection, the first having slightly the advantage in freeness and 

 size of truss, and the latter in pureness of colour. Crystal Palace 

 Gem, a large, red, and very showy flower with small white eye, some- 

 thing in the way of Roi d'ltalie, and with dark zoned leaves. Lady 

 Constance Grosvenor, a very effective flower, and probably the best, as 

 far as yet developed, of the present season ; the leaves are of a peco- 

 liarly lively green, and elegantly marked with a dark zone, and the 

 flowers (of the Nosegay class), are of a very bright scarlet, and pro- 

 duced in large trasses ; it is a decided beat upon Cybister. Violet Hill 

 Nosegay, which had formerly been voted a second-class certificate, was 

 now given a first; it is remarkably dwarf and compact, with a full 

 liead of salmon-red flowers, and has lobed leaves ; and if a continnons 

 bloomer, will make a pretty edging variety. Gloire de Nancy, with 

 large plain green leaves, and rosy-tinted flowers, was selected for re- 

 ward as the best of the donble-flowered varieties yet obtainable. Re- 

 becca, a semi-Nosegay, with zoned leaves and fine trusses of large rosy- 

 red flowers, having glowing upper petals. Wamor, a strong-growing 

 sort, with plain green leaves, and large trusses of finely-shaped bright 

 j scarlet flowers. Princess Alexandra, a silver variegated sort, of com- 

 pact gi'owth, with large flat leaves, broadly edged with white. Castle- 

 milk, a white-edged variety, of rather erect free growth, with the 

 leaves inclined to cap. Snowdrop, the counterpart of Princess Alex- 

 andra as to compactness and flatness of leaf, but with the broad margin 

 of a creamy tint. Second-class certificates were given io the follow- 

 ing ; — Albion's Cliffs, a silver-edged, much in the way of Castlemilk. 

 but more vigorous in growth, and somewhat less white in appearance ; 

 a good nseful sort, nevertheless. Oberon Nosegay, with yellowish - 

 green leaves, marked by a dull zone, and large scarlet semi-Nosegay 

 flowers ; it is bright in colour, but thin. Emily Morland, a zonate 

 scarlet ; Vulcan, a free-growing sort, with green lobed leaves, and semi- 

 Xosegay flowers of a clear scarlet. 



In addition to the foregoing, first-class certificates were given to 

 Messrs K. G. Henderson & Son's Pyrethmm Golden Feather, and to 

 Mr. Chater's dwarf, compact-growing, orange scarlet Tropteolam, 

 called Advancer. 



FatiiT AND Veoetabi.k CoMMrrTEE. — This Committee met at Chis- 

 wick, Ukewise, on the 19th iust.. for the purpose of examining the col- 

 lection of Chasselas Grapes, Tomatoes, and Lettuce, in the garden. 

 Their attention was more particularly directed to find out the various 

 synonymes of the varieties, a work very suitable for the Committee, 

 and one which is calculated to do an immense amount of good, every 

 one feehng the great inconvenience and annoyance of the present 

 multiplicity of names which every description of garden prodacu 

 lM>8sesses. 



Of the Chasselas Grapes, a collection had been grown, and fmited 

 together in pots— the only way in which such a large number couldbe 

 brought under comparison. The earliest variety is Chasselas Hatit 

 de Tonnein, a small, round, somewhat pointed, greenish white Grape ; 

 seeds transparent, sweet, and agreeable. Gelbe MuscatcUicr, resem- 

 bles this in appearance, but is somewhat later. Pitmaston White 

 Cluster is very much like Gelbe MuscaleUier. Early White Malvasia 

 — which is s\-nonvmou3 with Grove End Sweetwater, Keinsheimer Wane 

 pr.'coce, Burchirdts Amber Cluster, &c. — is a most excellent early, 

 small, yellowish whiti Grape, juicy, sweet, and very agreeable. Royal 

 Muscadine is a very excellent variety for pot-cultare, and free-bearing. 



