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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 17, 1970. 



mains on the tree till it ripens in the beginning of June, ana 

 is consequently contemporary with the leaveB and with the 

 Foxgloves, as Mrs. Watney states.— J. Woodward, Cowden. 



BEET AS A BEDDING PLANT. 



Under the above heading, I notice a report of "Q. Q.'s" 

 experience ot two varieties of Beet— viz., Dell's, and one to 

 which he his affixed the name of " Royal Osborne. This 

 surely in the latter case, must be a mistake, for after searchmg 

 in vain the catalogues of our principal seedsmen for this name, 

 I have coma to the conclusion that he must mean a variety 

 sent out by, and the stock of which has been in the possession 

 of Messrs. Osborn & Sons, of Fulham, for the last ten years, 

 and which answers in every respect the opinion " Q. Q." ex- 

 presses of it— in fact, too much cannot be said m favour of 

 this beautiful variety, an opinion which is entertained by all 

 who have used it. The name given to it by the above men- 

 tioned firm is " Osborn's Select Red Beet," and their de- 

 scription taken from their seed catalogue reads thus, " this is 

 preferred by many gardeners for kitchen use, and for decorative 

 purposes is'unsurpassed." If after reading this, should " Q. Q." 

 be still of the opinion that the two varieties are distinct, per- 

 haps for the benefit of your readers he will kindly state where 

 the seed is to be procured.— F. J. S. H. 



DEATH TO THE FLIES. 



Surely it will not be the fault of the purveyors of " matters con- 

 nected with horticulture" if we have any single living thing in our 

 houses that is destructive to our plants. They do not pretend to 

 " catch 'em alive, oh ! " or to whistle them off the plants, but extermi- 

 nation is a small word as to what is to happen to the insects. First 

 come the insecticide gentlemen-there are Fowler, Pooley, Clarke, 

 and a host of others. Each and all of these profess to put an end to 

 aphis, thrips, green fly, mealy bng, &c. Let it be known, then, that 

 their remedies are all "good for certain purposes, that if you find one 

 plant or so in your house affected with any of these pests, by syringing 

 or dipping yon may get rid of them ; but it is obvious that to do this 

 with a whole houseful of plants involves an amount of trouble that tew 

 would be inclined to take, and in a large place would be impossible. 

 Then come the purveyors of compounds for burning— tobacco tissue, 

 tobacco paper, tobacco grains, all of which are again said to be so de- 

 structive to the poor evil things, that not one of them can survive a 

 single operation. Well, but how are they to be used ? To be shut up 

 in a railway carriage with half a dozen smokers is bad enough to one 

 to whom the " fragrant weed " is poison, but to be shut up in a bouse 

 where tobacco paper is used is rather more than ordinary human 

 nature can bear. Yet that is what is constantly done. I have seen 

 poor fellows over and over again go into the house, set the paper alight, 

 Btop there to see that it does not flare, then come out to be as sick as 

 a dog, and go in again. The evil of thiB has been seen, and hence 

 inventors have set their wits to work to contrive something that 

 may be used without compelling the operator to be in the bouse, and 

 fumigators next come under notice. What was required was, not 

 merely something that would burn the tobacco or material used, but 

 which would at the same time do it sufficiently quickly to fill the house 

 as effectively as the old system did. Some years ago Messrs. Ban- 

 and Sugden bionght out a Paxton fumigator, which was a decided im- 

 provement on the older forms, and which was applicable to small 

 houses. It was a brass cylinder fitted on to the end of a bellows, the 

 end of the cybnder being admitted into the house and the operator 

 remaining outside. About the same time I had brought under my 

 notice a very simple plan invented by Mr. Appleby, of Dorking, where 

 the vessel containing the tobacco paper was placed inside the bouse, 

 and the operator left, leaving it to bum by itself. There was one 

 danger connected with it— the paper might flare up into a blaze, and 

 SO injure the foliage. 



Of late attention has been again drawn to the subject of fumigators, 

 and two forms of them have been specially commended— Drechsler's 

 and Dean's ; of them I know nothing save what I have seen in the 

 gardening papers ; but one thing struck me about them both, that they 

 were rather too complicated and expensive for the multitude. Cheap- 

 ness is a great point now-a-days, and although that may be carried 

 too far and efficiency sacrificed to it, yet where both can be combined, 

 of course a great point is gained. Now, in Mr. Appleby's improved 

 fumigator I believe both these points are gained; I say improved, 

 because he has completely remedied the defect it had— the probability 

 of its flaring up, by placing a lid on it perforated with large boles. 

 Nothing can be simpler than the whole plan : hot cinders are placed 

 in the bottom, and the tobacco paper, previously torn into shreds, 

 thrown on. I tried it the other night in a bouse 20 feet long ; it 

 was placed inside and left, in a few minutes the bouse was filled with 

 a dense nauseous smoke, and in looking round the following morning 

 I did not see a single aphis alive. I had at the time white and red 

 CamelUas, Azaleas, Cyclamens, Primulas, &c, in flower, and not one 

 petal has been injured ; and now, although it has been done some 



days, the strong smell still remains. Thus this fumigator Beems _ to 

 me to fulfil the conditions required, and I am sure none will feel dis- 

 appointed with it who try it. — D., Deal. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



March 16th. 

 We have had a winter marked more by its continuance than its 

 severity, but marked still more by its sudden changes. One day we 

 had bleak, biting, north-east winds, the next soft south-west galeB ; 

 snow threatened for weeks, but came not till, last Sunday morning, we 

 awoke and found all clad in a thick robe of white ; but it soon passed 

 away under a bright sun succeeded by a sharp frost. What wonder is 

 it, then, that the first Show of the season of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society should not have been quite bo large as last year? What 

 wonder is it that there was some falling off in the quality of several 

 of the subjects shown ? The wonder only was that, under such ad- 

 verse circumstances as growers have had to contend with, the 

 show was so good as it was— and it was good. Hyacinths, which 

 formed the great feature, were not bo fine as usual, and nowhere, so 

 far as we can learn, have they been so ; we have experienced this our- 

 selves, and from twenty different quarters we have had it confirmed 

 that we are not alone. This is not altogether owing to the season, 

 but to the bulbs ; last year there were double spikes in abundance, 

 but the single spikes were particularly large and fine ; this year there 

 are but few double spikes, also there are fewer of those extraordinary 

 dimensions and perfection which were the rule in the exhibition col- 

 lections of Buch growers as Mr. William Paul and Messrs. Cutbush 

 and Son. The bulbs imported last autumn were of large size, but 

 wanting in that solidity which characterised them the year before. 

 This, and the unfavourable weather, have no doubt been the causes of 

 the Hyacinths not being equal to those shown last spring. But it 

 must not be supposed from these remarks that the spikes were small- 

 far from it ; they were magnificent, such as many a gardener might 

 well envy, only, taken on the whole, not bo fine as last year. The 

 Tulips, too. gay as thev are with their brilliant colours, were not so 

 numerously shown as last year ; still there were several rich miscel- 

 laneous collections, and, taking it all in all, the Show was one of the 

 best, as it certainly was the best attended, the Society has held for 

 some time. Independently of the Show proper, there was Mr. W. 

 Paul's show of spring -flowering plants, in which were Hyacinths, and 

 these, too, to the number of some 240, with grand, solid spikes, such 

 as rarely seen at any show and in any season. 



Beginning with Class 1, for eighteen Hyacinths, in which the com- 

 petition was confined to nurserymen only, Messrs. Cutbush, of High- 

 gate, were the only exhibitors, and took the first prize with fine spikes 

 of Florence Nightingale, Grandeur a Merveille, Emmeline, Princess 

 Charlotte, Mrs. Beecher Stowe, Charles Dickens, a new pink kind, 

 Macaulay, and Von Schiller, shades of red and blush ; blue Lord 

 Palmerston, Baron von Tuyll, Grand Lilas, Charles Dickens, Nimrod, 

 very large, and De Candolle, a new lilac blue ; General Havelock of 

 the very dark class approaching to black ; Haydn, mauve, very fine ; 

 Snowball and Mirandoline, white. 



In the open Class 2, for eighteen blue Hyacinths, there were only 

 two exhibitors— viz., Messrs. Cutbush, and Mr. Turner, of Slough, the 

 former being first, and the latter second. Messrs. Cutbush had Lord 

 Palmerston, Bleu Mourant, Charles Dickens, splendid, Van Speyk, 

 double, Hamilton, new ; Marie ; Garrick, double ; De Candolle, Grand 

 Lilas, Pieneman, Raphael, Baron von Tuyll, Argus and Nunrod, both 

 very fine ; and of the very dark Bhades General Havelock, fine, Lord 

 Melville, new, with large bold-looking bells, with a white eye, Prince 

 Albert, and Mimosa. Mr. Turner Bent De Candolle, Czar Peter, new 

 and pleasing, a light porcelain blue, Sir John Lawrence, and several 

 of the kinds already named. . 



The prizes offered by the Dutch growers for thirty-six Hyacinths, 

 three of a kind, brought a fine collection from Messrs. Cutbush. In 

 this Haydn, Argus, Lord Palmerston, and Charles Dickens, were very 

 conspicuous, especially- the last-named, which was beautifully coloured. 

 Baron von Tuyll, Grand Lilas, Macaulay, Gigantea, ^ on Schiller, 

 Florence Nightingale, Mont Blanc, and Queen of the Netherlands 

 were also fine. The second prize went to Mr. Steel, Marlesford House, 

 Hammersmith, who had some good examples of Charles Dickens, 

 Baron von Tuyll, and other kinds. • 



Class 3 was for amateurs, and for six lands. Here Mr. Steel was 

 first with excellent spikes of Charles Dickens, Von SchiUer Gigantea, 

 Baron von Tnyll, Grand Lilas, and Alba superbissima. Miss Wild- 

 ing, 2, Chesterfield Street, Euston Road, was second, and Mr. Weir, 

 gardener to Mrs. Hodgson, Hampstead, third. 



Class 17 was also for amateurs. In this a prize was offered by 

 Messrs Cutbush for twelve kinds. The first prize was taken by Mr. 

 Weir gardener to Mrs. Hodgson, Hampstead, with good spikes of 

 Florence Nightingale, Macaulay, Charles Dickens, and some others. 

 Miss Wilding waB second. , 



Messrs. Cutbush and Mr. Turner likewise sent collections not lor 



°°Of "Narcissi only six pots were shown. These came from Messrs. 

 Cutbush, and received a first prize. The kinds were Parfaite Superb ; 

 Wit van Rhyn, white, pale yellow cup ; Crichton, lemon, yellow cup ; 

 Grand Monarque, and Codrus, white, with an orange cup. Inese 

 were very well grown and flowered. 



