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JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



[ Matth 23, 1867. 



Where sheep-droppiugs are not to be obtainecl, cow-manure is 

 the next best, but it is not so strong, and a larger proportion 

 may bo allowed to the same (juantity of water. I have also 

 used guano water ; it is more easily managed th&n the other 

 kinds of liquid manure, as all that is reijuired is to add a 

 pinch to the water before applying it. tluano must be employed 

 with caution, as it varies very much in quality ; it is not safe 

 to use more than 1 oz. to a gallon of water, but experience will 

 be the best guide. I remember a case in which some Cinera- 

 rias were being grown for exhibition, and all at once they 

 ceased to do well ; on sunny days they would droop, and look 

 as if they required water, and the flowers did not open well. 

 Various were the coujectures respecting the caui?e, aud much 

 anxiety was felt, until one of the jilants was turned out of the 

 pot, when the greater part of the roots were found to be dead. 

 'These plants had been treated in this way : A barrow-load of 

 sheep-droppings was thrown into a tank, a quantity of water 

 added by guess, and the plants watered with the liquid. 



The Cinerarias which flower late in the season will have to 

 he shaded as soon as they come into bloom, in order that their 

 beauty may last as long as possible. Any light material will 

 answer for this purpose, the lighter the better ; if it break the 

 force of the direct rays of the sun that will be enough, and it 

 ought not to be kept on longer than is necessary ; it should not 

 be used to exclude light from the plants. I mention this par- 

 ticularly because I have seen shading put on when the sun's 

 rays were injurious, and kept on night and day to the evident 

 injury of the plants. Dulling the glass with whitening I also 

 think objectionable for the same reason — that it must remain 

 on in shade as well as in sunshine. If the plants are judi- 

 ciously shaded and watered they will continue in flower a long 

 lime, and they certainly have a fine eiiect arranged in the 

 greenhouse amongst hardwooded plants, as the lively green of 

 the foliage is always pleasing. — J. Douglas, Luxford Hall. 



FLORIST NOTES AT THE ROYAL 

 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S SHOW. 



No greater contrast could possibly be afforded between the 

 scene outside in the garden, and that in the conservatory and 

 arcades, on the day of the first spring show of the season — a 

 cold miserable day, with the snow falling in large flakes, but 

 melting as it fell, and making everything cold, damp, and 

 miserable ; within, a display of beauty and fragi-ance than 

 which I have never seen better at this period of the year, and 

 one could only regret that so few visitors were there to enjoy 

 the rich treat that was provided for them. As the details of 

 the Exhibition have already been given, it will only be needful 

 for me to say a little about some of the more prominent of the 

 florists' flowers, that formed, indeed, the great bulk of the 

 Exhibi'ioa. 



The Hyacinths were unusually fine, and here, as of late 

 years, Mr. William Paul was pre-eminent. Time was when 

 Mr. Gutbush ran him so closely that it was oftentimes most 

 difficult to decide T\ here the superiority lay, so neck-and-neck 

 was the running. Now we must say the race is won easily in 

 a canter, and it was almost impossible to conceive anything 

 finer than the Hyacinths which gained the chief prizes of the 

 day — prizes, by-the-by, not at all commensurate with the value 

 and beauty of the iiowers. Novelties in Hyacinths there were 

 not many, Mr. W. Paul being the only exhibitor ; and of his 

 six, two. Sir Henry Haveloek and Bird of Paradise, have been 

 exhibited before. Blondin is a flower of pecidiar colour and of 

 great substance, a sort of French white, with the back of the 

 petals light blue, throwing a very peculiar shade over the whole 

 flower ; large pips, with a well-foimed and stout truss — alto- 

 gether a fine flower. Lord Shaftesbury is a large white flower, 

 very coarse, pips of immense size but few of them, and alto- 

 gether just one of those sorts of flowers which I should not care 

 to grow. Prince Albert Victor is a fine deep-coloured flower, 

 very showy, deep crimson, the centre of each petal with a 

 deeper band of the same colour ; the truss fine and compact — 

 certainly the best flower of the six. Linnmusis a dark crimson 

 erise, a somewhat cnfused truss. Sir Henry Haveloek, exhi- 

 bited last year, is a flower of peculiar colour, more fitted for 

 giving variety to a stage than for any brilliancy in itself ; whOe 

 Bird of Paradise, also exhibited last year, is a flower of that 

 scarce class single yellow Hyacinths, and is one of a peculiarly 

 delicate shade of primrose. Amongst new flowers in other col- 

 lections were Vunxbank and King of the Blues, both of which sus- 

 tained the high character gained by them when exhibited before. 



Is the Cyclamen to become a florists' flower ? is a question 

 which might well be asked when looking at the variety and 

 beauty of the collections exhibited by Messrs. E. G. Henderson 

 and Son and Mr. Wiggins, gardener to Mr. Beck, of Isleworth. 

 I was busily engaged examining many tine varieties in the 

 latter collection, when I was joined by a very eminent plants- 

 man, who put a question which will decide this in the negative ; 

 for he asked, How can you propagate these bulbs ? And 

 there in truth seems the difficulty, or else I do not see why 

 they should not be as fixed in their character as many of those 

 flowers which we already have formed into collections. Mr. 

 Wiggins stated that he had cut out the eyes, and hoped in that 

 way to have increased them, but added that he had failed in 

 doing so. For those, however, who regard this beautiful spring 

 flower for its value as a decorative plant, the collection which 

 he exhibited was one well calculated to give encouragement. 

 I do not speak now of the large and beautifully grown plants 

 which obtained deservedly the first prize, but of the collec- 

 tion of smaller plants. These were all in 48-pots, with from 

 twelve to twenty blooms on each plant, and yet the seed from 

 which these were grown was only sown in March, 181)6. They 

 were potted off as soon as large enough, kept growing in a 

 warm house all the year until the leaves were well formed, 

 then placed in a cool frame, and the result was the very beau- 

 tiful lot of plants which were exhibited. Of these the finest 

 were Oriflamme, a large, fine, high-coloured flower ; rubrum 

 graudiflorum, a larger and finer flower than the old rubrum ; 

 and giganteum, a fine large white. One of the six which ob- 

 tained the first prize was purpureum, very dwarf, with remark- 

 ably curious foliage, round and somewhat cupped. It was 

 quite the model of what a Cyclamen ought to be. The increased 

 favour with which this beautiful spring flower has come to be 

 regarded, so useful as it is for decoration and also for bouquets, 

 is shown by the far greater number of cultivators, and a 

 knowledge of how very soon a large number of plants may be 

 obtained from seed will probably tend to increase them ; for 

 this reason Mr. Wiggins's information may be useful to some 

 of the readers of The Journal of Eorticultobe. 



It is early in the season to talk about Verbenas ; yet as far 

 as we can judge, a very valuable addition to their number waa 

 shown by Mr. Cruickshanks, gardener to W. Jones Loyd, Esq., 

 Langleybury, near Watford. It is in the style of Striata per- 

 fecta and Napoleone Eossi, but apparently better than either 

 of those flowers. The former is, indeed, so very subject to 

 mildew that it has been almost displaced by the latter. If the 

 habit of Lady of Langleybury, as the new flower is called, be 

 equal to its beauty, it will decidedly put the foreign flower 

 a.sule. This, if it be, as is said, a seedling from Purple King, 

 is likely to be the case ; aud the profusion of bloom exhibited 

 would rather tend to show that it was very free. A seedling 

 Azalea called Hector was shown by Messrs. F. & A. Smith, of 

 Dulwich, the colour of which was very peculiar — an intense deep 

 crimson ; but of this we shall probably see more by-and-by. 



Nothing charmed me more than the freshness and beauty 

 of the pot Hoses, but as yet nothing new has been exhibited, 

 and only established favourites were brought forward ; the sole 

 exception being Princess Mary of Cambridge, of Messrs. Paul 

 and Son, which has greatly improved since it was first exhi- 

 bited. Nothing could be more brilliantly delicate than some 

 of the blooms on the plants exhibited. It has been the case 

 with it as with the Lord Clyde of the same raisers: coldly 

 looked upon at first, it has gradually risen in estimation, and 

 I believe will take its place amongst the favourite flowers of 

 the rosarian. The delicate rosy pink of its well-shaped flowers 

 cuntiasted w ell with the more brilliant colours, and to me it has 

 evidently proved itself an admirable variety for forcing. 



Of Camellias I have again to remark that it seems to be an 

 unaccountable fact that a plant [so easily managed, so capable 

 of bearing the "fatigues" consequent on an exhibition, and 

 so easy of carriage, should be so sparingly exhibited ; and even 

 the cut blooms shown gave but a poor idea of the magnifi- 

 cence and beauty of this queen of floweiing shrubs, so universal 

 a favourite as it is ; surely this reproach ought to be taken 

 awiiy, and something really worthy of it exhibited. — D., Deal. 



GARDEN WALK EDGING. 



S.^,EiNG you have given place to a note on this subject from 

 Aryshire, I send another by an old Aryshire florist, which may 

 be deemed "nae wee sheep shank" in that way. 



" Jock Migomery ," for that was his name, was known to a good 



