336 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ May 12, 1870. 



secret, not "dressing," "millinery," "handling," and so forth. 

 When Mr. W. Paul next contributes to your columns perhaps 

 he will give facts, and when ho accuses honest men as a body 

 of misdeeds, let him hold up to public odium by name those 

 he knows to be guilty. By such means he will do a lasting 

 service to the cause he wishes to enhance. — Chas. Jas. Perry, 

 The Cedars, Castle liromwich. 



SHRUBS FOR THE SEACOAST. 



I live near the North Foreland Lighthouse and at about the 

 same elevation, on one of the most exposed spots in the Isle 

 of Thanet. Having planted this place in 1862 and had charge 

 of it ever since, I will name some shrubs that do well with me. 

 These are — Evergreen Oak, Laurnstinus, Euonymus, Bays, 

 Phillyrea obliqua, Berbei is dulcis, B. Darwinii, and B. purpurea, 

 Buddlea globusa, and Portugal Laurels. Of the Coniferaa— 

 Cupressus macrocarpa, Pinus aastriaca, Biota aurea (this plant 

 assumes a golden huo for about three months in summer), the 

 common Yew, and Wellingtonia gigantea. There are others 

 that would do well with shelter from the sea. Of deciduous 

 trees and shrubs almost anything will do. Sycamore and 

 Poplar, and the Naples Alder, are good forest trees. 



I do not mean to imply that all these do as well as a little 

 farther inland, but considering the fine sea view we have my 

 employers are well satisfied with their growth. Last winter 

 being almost unprecedented, we are very much scorched. — R. S. 



DECORATIONS OF GRAVES. 



In your number for April 7th you mention an instance of 

 the grave of an officer of the 48th regiment having a Laurel 

 planted over it, because the Duke of Wellington ordered him 

 to place a sprig of Laurel in his cap for distinguished conduct 

 at the passage of the Douro. Now, all the root-pruning in the 

 world cannot keep the common Laurel in bounds ; and even if 

 it could, the grave would periodically have to be disturbed for 

 this process ; hard winters would kill it to the ground, as were 

 my Laurels in Essex in 1860, some of them at least 20 feet high ; 

 and at other times tbey are almost destroyed by mice (and 

 there are " church mice ") eating the bark. May I venture to 

 suggest an improvement, and enclose a sprig of what I have 

 always known under the name (and no other) of " Victory 

 Laurel, "as perfectly appropriate for the occasion ? I cannot 

 find out its proper Latin name, but have understood that it is 

 the same plant with which the ancient Romans were crowned. 

 It is perfectly hardy, always rather dwarf — in fact I never saw 

 it over 3 feet in height, and its elegant foliage is generally as 

 bright and shining as would be the " memories " of the happy 

 yiotors whose graves it might adorn. The enclosed piece has 

 just been cut out of a bouquet, and has been in water for more 

 than a month. — Centurion. 



[The plant of which you enclosed a branch is Ruscus race- 

 mosus, commonly called the Alexandrian Laurel. It would be 

 very suitable for the purpose of grave decoration. — Eds.] 



MESSRS. VEITCH'S, ROYAL EXOTIC NURSERY, 

 CHELSEA. 



If ever there was a time when this great establishment was 

 better worthy of a vitit than at another it is now, for there a 

 most superb collection of Roses is in the height of its beauty, 

 and there magnificent specimens of Azaleas — such Azaleas as 

 in bygone years only the foremost growers ventured to try their 

 strength against, Buch Azaleas as we have looked for in vain 

 this season, and are not likely to see elsewhere — produce one 

 of the most Bplendid floral displays we have ever witnessed. 

 These are the most striking features at present ; but the un- 

 rivalled collection of Orchids, the Palms, the Ferns, and other 

 fine-foliaged and floweriDg plants, though for the time being 

 outshone by their more brilliant rivals, are as well represented 

 as at other times. To do full justice to them all, however, 

 would require several reports, and they must therefore receive 

 less particular notice than the two flowers which for the pre- 

 sent constitute the most important of many attractions. 



And first the Roses, for the Queen of Flowers should have 

 the first place here, as she does at Chelsea, occupying there 

 the house usually filled with Ofchids in flower, and forming 

 in it an exhibition of herself. That this is one of the most 

 Bplendid character may be inferred from the remarks in page 



320 on the collection shown by Messrs. Veitch last week at 

 Kensington, and such as it was then such is that shown now. 

 Duke of Edinburgh, Sfinateur Vaisse, Madame Furtado, Madame 

 la Baronne de Rothschild, Paul Verdier, Victor Yerdier, General 

 Jacqueminot, Dr. Andry, and Madame Willermoz are but a few 

 of the many to be seen in great perfection, besides which, in 

 addition to Madame la Baronne de Rothschild, a really fine 

 acquisition, there are several other new varieties in excellent 

 bloom. 



In a continuation of the house in which are the Roses, and 

 forming a cross piece to it, is another house filled with Palms, 

 Azaleas, Heaths, Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, and various other 

 plants in flower. 



Proceeding now to the Fulham Road Bide of the nursery we 

 come to the show Azalea house, which is filled with specimens 

 about 6 feet high, from 4 to 5 feet in diameter, and forming 

 gorgeous masses of colour — white, rose, deeping into crimson 

 and purple — on each side of the walk. Stella, a variety sent 

 out by Messrs. Veitch, scarlet, with a rich violet blotch, occu- 

 pies a position facing the entrance, and is well worthy of its 

 place, being a splendid specimen 4 feet in diameter. Then 

 along each side are Petunia'flora ; Cotnte d'Hainault, semi- 

 double rose ; Queen Victoria, white, flaked with rosy purple ; 

 Concinna; Belle Gantoise ; Carnea superba, very fine speci- 

 men ; Iveryana ; Duo de Nassau ; Criterion ; Magnificent, 

 white, about 5 feet in diameter; Roi Leopold, salmon, very 

 soft in colour, and a mass of blossom ; Juliana, Cedo Nulli, 

 and Madame Ambroise Verschaffelt. Ab an edging to these on 

 each side were smaller plants of Azaleas alternating with Spireea 

 japonica. 



The Camellia house, which forms the Fulham Road entrance, 

 a fine house 100 feet by 30, of an architectural character, only 

 built last year by the late Mr. James Veitch, and opposite the 

 entrance to the Cemetery where he now rests, also contains a 

 number of fine specimens of the varieties just named, Sir C. 

 Napier, Reine des Roses, Prinz Franz Joseph, salmon rose 

 with crimson spotB, very fine, and others. The Camellias, of 

 course now out of flower, are, however, the main object here, 

 and large and most flourishing specimens they are, some being 

 planted out in the borders, others trained against the walls. 

 The soil in which they are growing is 2i feet deep of peat, 

 loam, and sand, in the proportion of two parts of the first to 

 one of each of the latter two. Of the Double White there are 

 several fine plants, and among the other kinds Mathotiana, 

 Leopold 1st, Fimbriata, Florida, Triomphe de Lodi, Imbricata, 

 Bonominana alba, one of the finest of the whites, Madame 

 Lebois, Lavinia Maggi, and Marchioness of Exeter. On one 

 of the rafters of this house was the beautiful double Cle- 

 matis John Gould Veitch, and the other rafters will in course 

 of time be likewise covered with climbers. Just outside of 

 the Camellia house are placed two of the largest and finest- 

 formed standard Bays anywhere to be seen, one on each side 

 of the entrance from the nursery side. These are 15 feet high, 

 8 feet in diameter, and perfectly furnished throughout. 



Returning now to the King's Road entrance, and passing to 

 the left of the show conservatory, the first house entered is 

 principally devoted to Aloes, Agaves, and Yuccas. Among 

 them are a splendid pair of Agave filifera, a pair of the Varie- 

 gated New Zealand Flax, upwards of 5 feet high, Yucca quadri- 

 color, Agave Verschaflelti, A. Oasselghemiana, and other dis- 

 tinct and rare kinds. 



The next house is the greenhouse fernery, which contains 

 some of the finest specimens in the whole nursery, and par- 

 ticularly beautiful are those of the Filmy Ferns, of which 

 Leptopteris Wilkinsonii is one of the most remarkable. Lep- 

 topteris superba growing in beds of peat, sphagnum, and crocks 

 i6 most flourishing, even though too large to be covered by 

 hand or bell glasses ; and among others may be noted Hymeno- 

 phyllumdemissum, and Trichomanes reniforme, of which there 

 is a fine pair. A number of other Ferns are growing on the 

 stumps of old tree Ferns scooped out to receive them, in which 

 way they have a very good effect. 



The stove fernery is the next house entered, and contains 

 some specimens even more remarkable than those just noticed. 

 Among them, conspicuous by their great size and beauty, are two 

 magnificent plants of the lovely light green Adiantum farleyense, 

 between 4 and 5 feet in diameter, and fine specimens of Adian- 

 tum concinnnm latnm and Adiantum tenerum, two beautiful 

 Maiden-hair Ferns ; also Leptopteris superba, even larger 

 than in the greenhouse fernery. Other remarkable Ferns are 

 the rare Trichomanes anceps, an nnnamed golden Gymno- 

 gramma with the under sides of the fronds densely covered 



