204 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



{ March 17, 1870. 



Fern, supposed to be a hybrid between Lomaria gibba and L. brasil- 

 iense ; this came from Mr. Douglas, the clever gardener at Loxford 

 Hall. Mr. Ware, of Tottenham, sent a basket of a new forcing Pink, 

 Mrs. Pettifer ; and Mr. Dean, Old Shirley, Southampton, a variegated 

 Cabbage and various seedling Chineso Primulas ; Messrs. Rollisson, 

 Welfia regia, a handsome Palm, and Phaenocoma prolifera gracilis, a 

 Variety of very slender pendulous habit, pretty enough, but probably 

 Dot desirable as a flowering plant ; and M. Paillet, of Paris, exhibited 

 through Messrs. Veitch cut specimens of Laurus latifolia with leaves 

 of immense size. 



Appleby's and Drechsler's fumigators were exhibited ; also Has- 

 well s syringe, which, by turning a tap, sent forth the water either 

 through the rose or nozzle as desired, but it is heavy, and in the 

 opinion of most practical men not an improvement on the best 

 Byringes now in use. 



Several other certificates were granted, which will be found recorded 

 in a previous report. 



General Meeting. — W. Wilson Saunders, Esq., F.R.S., in the 

 chair. After the Committee awards had been reported, and seventeen 

 new Fellows elected, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley called attention to some 

 curious monstrosities, among which were a Primula with the calyx so 

 increased in size as to have become foliaceous ; an Odontoglossum 

 with the petals reduced to four, and the lip absent ; Deudrobium 

 chrysotoxum with the petals likewise reduced to four, the lip absent, 

 and the column almost abortive. This was not uncommon for a 

 single flower, hut it was uncommon for all the flowers on a branch, 

 as in this case, to be so. Mr. Berkeley produced a Cypripedium pro- 

 ducing two flowers on the same stalk, and several other curious in- 

 stances. From Hafodunos, in North Wales, Mr. Sandbach had sent 

 Pinus Albertiana in fruit ; he believed it had not been commonly 

 fruited in this country, and it was all the more singular that it should 

 Lave done so at Hafodunos, as that was so bleak and cold a place that 

 even Apples would not bear except in an orchard house. 



After referring to the Ophrys, from the gardener to the Comte de 

 Paris, as being probably, with perhaps one exception, all of the same 

 Epecies, Mi*. Berkeley passed on to the danger of using the refuse of 

 faggot heaps in compost. The first person who called his attention to 

 the danger of this was the late Mr. Henderson, Lord Fitzwilliam's 

 gardener, of whose attainments he spoke in the highest terms. In 

 planting Fir and Larch it was impossible to get a healthy set of trees 

 unless some years were allowed to elapse before the ground was re- 

 planted ; and at Kew, where two Deodars had been planted, the one 

 throve, the other did not. and it was found that the latter had been 

 planted where an old Cherry had been cut down. On the Deodar 

 jjeing carefully removed, and every portion of the Cherry taken away, 

 the Deodar succeeded. The idea that fungi never grow on healthy 

 tissues had been exploded. Let anyone try the experiment of rubbing 

 grains of Wheat with the spores of bunt ; let him 60W these, and sow, 

 too, grains not so treated, separately, and it would be found that the 

 former would be affected, the others not. 



The Chairman confirmed Mr. Berkeley's remarks, and considered 

 them very important to cultivators. 



Mr. Berkeley then read a letter stating the good results which had 

 followed the application of methylated spirits for the destruction of 

 insects, and recommended a mixture of tar and grease, such as that 

 nsed for horseB' hoofs, as very efficient for the same purpose. Gas 

 water, too, was an excellent remedy. 



The Chairman said he had long been in the custom of using spirit, 

 methylated and not methylated, and found it a most effectual cure. 



Mr. William Paul's Show of Spring-flowering Plants. 

 — We have only time and space for a brief notice of this ex- 

 cellent Show, held in the north-western conservatory arcade 

 at the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens at South Ken- 

 sington ; but ere it is too late, for it only opened yesterday, and 

 will close on the 23rd inst., we can heartily commend it as 

 well worthy of a vitit. The Hyacinths, which form its main 

 feature, are well worthy of Mr. W. Paul's reputation ; and 

 Roses, Camellias, Epacrises, Crocuses, Cyclamens, fine-foliaged 

 Pelargoniums, Chinese Primulas, Dielytras, and plants too nu- 

 merous to mention at present, form attractive groups on each 

 Bide of the passage, the whole, we need hardly say, arranged 

 with excellent taste and effect. The Hyacinths alone deserve 

 a special notice, but we must content ourselves by here men- 

 tioning La Grandesse, the finest of the whites, Snowball, Czar 

 Peter, Da Candolle, General Havelock, Argus, and the finest 

 of it we have seen, Charles Dickens, Baron von Tuyll, and to 

 these we might add many more equally good. 



Messrs. Cutbcsh's Show of Sprlng-flowering Plants. — 

 This year, again, Messrs. Cutbush are early in the field at the 

 Crystal Palace with a show of these plants, which opened on 

 Saturday last, and is to close on the 26th inst. A stage 135 feet 

 long is occupied on one side by Azaleas, Epaorises, Camellias, 

 Cinerarias, Chinese Primulas, Cyclamens, Deutzias, Nar- , 



cissuses, Richardia fethiopica, and a variety of other plants in 

 flower, with several kinds of Ferns. On the other side are the 

 Hyacinths and Tulips filling a similar length of stage. At the 

 time of our visit the finest specimens of Hyacinths were held 

 in reserve for Kensington, but the following were well repre- 

 sented — viz., double Duke of Wellington, Cavaignac, Howard, 

 Florence Nightingale, Macaulay, Von Schiller, Solfaterre, 

 Haydn, Mrs. James Cutbush, Grandeur a Merveille, and Charles 

 Dickens, besides many others. The Tulips, also, were very 

 bright, and we noticed a number of pots of the pretty double 

 red Hepatica, one of a class of plants now too seldom seen. 



PORTRAITS OF PLANTS, FLOAVERS, and FRUITS. 



Erythrochiton hypophyllanthus (Linden's Erythrochiton). 

 Nat. ord., Rutacea:. Linn., Pentandria Monogynia. — Native 

 of Ocana, New Granada, at about 2500 feet above the sea's 

 level. Flowers white, and mostly produced from the midrib 

 at the back of the leaf.— (Bot. Mag., t. 5824.) 



Dendrorium lasioglossum (Hairy-lipped Dendrobe). Nat. 

 ord., Orchidacea?. Linn., Gynandria Monandria. — Native of 

 Birmah forests, introduced by Messrs. Veitch. Flower Blightly 

 red-streaked, and a yellow tuft of hairs in the disc. — (Ibid., 

 t. 5852.) 



Paranephelics uniflorus (Single-flowered raranephelius). 

 See page 40, of the present volume of this Journal. — (Ibid., 

 t. 582G.) 



Linaria tristis (Sombre-flowered Toad Flax). Nat. ord., 

 Scrophulariaceie. Linn., Didynamia Angiospermia. — "A 

 charming little hardy plant," native of the Kock of Gibraltar. 

 Flowers dull yellow and purple. — (Ibid., t. 5827.) 



Oenothera maeginata (Ked-nerved Evening Primrose). Nat. 

 ord., Onagrarieoe. Linn., Octandria Monogynia. — " A magnifi- 

 cent hardy Evening Primrose." Native of the Upper Californian 

 Rocky Mountains. Flowers white, pale pink whilst in bud. — 

 (Ibid., t. 5828.) 



Fairy Apple. — " Notwithstanding the efforts which the late 

 Mr. Thomas Andrew Knight made to cross existing varieties of 

 the cultivated Apple with the Siberian Crab, they all failed to 

 produce a result which haB been of any real benefit. Mr. 

 Knight's object in thus crossing these individuals was, as he 

 states, ' to obtain such fruits as vegetate very early in spring 

 by introducing the farina of the Siberian Crab into the blossom 

 of a rich and early Apple ; and by transferring in the same 

 manner the farina of the Apple to the blossom of the Siberian 

 Crab.' At the time Mr. Knight wrote this, the trees so pro- 

 duced had not yet borne fruit, but he observes, ' the leaf and 

 habit of many of the plants that I have thus obtained possess 

 much of the character of the Apple, whilst they vegetate as 

 early in the spring as the Apple of Siberia, and appear to 

 possess an equal power of bearing cold.' But what was the 

 result of these carefully performed experiments? From this 

 crossing we got the Siberian Bitter-Sweet, which, Mr. Knight 

 himself 6ays, ' is wholly worthless, except for the press,' that 

 is, for cider-making. Then the Siberian Harvey has a juice so 

 ' intensely sweet,' that it, too, can only be used, mixed with 

 other Apples, for cider. Both of these were raised from the 

 fruit of the Siberian Crab, fertilised with the Golden Harvey, 

 one of our best dessert Apples. Another called Foxley waa 

 also raised from the Siberian Crab, but the male parent was 

 the famed Golden Pippin. Yet the Foxley is a worthless little 

 Apple, not so large as some Gooseberries, and fit only for cider. 



" It is interesting to watch these struggles between philosophy 

 and nature. Philosophy says, 'I will,' and Nature replies, 

 'You won't.' But when left to herself, Nature fashions an 

 object without the philosopher's aid, excelling in merit all that 

 he had dreamed of. Here we have such an instance in the 

 little Fairy Apple, of which our illustration is a faithful repre- 

 sentation. This, too, was raised from the fruit of the Siberian 

 Crab, but without any human aid. What is its parentage and 

 how it was produced no one knows ; but there it is, a haphazard 

 foundling, destined and worthy to take its place among the 

 worthiest of its kind. 



" Whether for its beauty or its excellence as a dessert fruit, 

 the Fairy Apple cannot fail to become popular and valuable. 

 In colour, size, and form it rivals the Pomme d'Api or Lady 

 Apple, so much vaunted, and which makes the fruiterers' 

 windows and our desserts gay during the dreary months of 

 winter. For this purpose, the Fairy will command the atten- 

 tion of all growers of dessert fruit in large establishments, and 

 for commercial purposes ; for not only does it commend itself 

 by its great beauty, but its flavour is similar and not inferior to 



