JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ June 9. 1870. 



ment of the Committees' awards having been made, the Rev. M. J. 

 Berkeley Baid that the large Cucumber referred to injour Fruit Com- 

 mittee report was no doubt some species of Luffa, the fibres of 

 Borne of which were utilised in the East for sponges and making 

 hats. Some were poisonous, but he believed L. acutangnla was 

 Dot so when young. He then alluded to the prevalence of mildew 

 among Peaches and Nectarines, and the fact of the glandless- 

 leaved Peaches escaping, and those with glands rarely suffering 

 from it. It was a singular fact that, though the Noblesse, which 

 has glandless leaves, is notably subject to mildew, yet seedlings from 

 it which have glands enjoy comparative immunity. It was a curious 

 physiological fact, which, as yet, had not been accounted for. Mr. 

 Berkeley then pointed out the most remarkable of the Orchids, of 

 which Mr. Bateman had sent to him some notes, the latter gentleman 

 remarking that such Orchids as even Masdevallia Veitchii would not 

 stand being exhibited along with the brilliant Anthurium Scherzeri- 

 anum, and he deprecated mixing Orchids with other plants. A plant 

 of the Peruvian Amancaes, and a curious example of Mrs. Pollock 

 Pelargonium reverting to the plain-leaved form, brought by Mr. Reeves, 

 were then pointed out ; and with reference to the latter, Mr. Berkeley 

 Baid, in instances he had met with, not only the leaves, but the 

 flowers were changed. A basket of variegated Abutilon megapotami- 

 cum from Messrs. Downie & Co., showing that in three series of pro- 

 pagation the variegated character of the leaves had not altered, and 

 an ingenious French fly trap, highly approved of by Mr. Barron, were 

 next noticed. 



\% The proceedings closed with the Chairman announcing that the 

 next meeting would be held on the 29th inst., when the Rose Bhow 

 will also take place. 



MR, ANTHONY CATERER'S RHODODENDRON SHOW. 

 In addition to the great attractions of the great Show, just reported 

 on, the large tent, which is every year filled with a splendid collection 

 of Rhododendrons by Mr. A. "Waterer, of Knap Hill, afforded a 

 beautiful display of these gorgeous-flowering plants ; and this despite 

 the excessive drought which has of late prevailed. A great drawback it 

 has certainly been, but the Show, which will continue for some days, is 

 one well worth a visit, and we shall have more to say of it next week. 



PELARGONIUM BAYARD. 

 As a raiser and grower of Zonal and Nosegay Pelargoniums, 

 I may, perhaps, be allowed to say that my experience agrees 

 generally with that of Mr. Peach as to the merit of the varieties 

 he describes. I do not understand Mr. Peach to condemn 

 Bayard, he only states his experience with it. With me it has 

 always been first-class, both in and out of doors, and I have 

 never hesitated to declare this when opportunity offered. — Wh. 

 Pafl, Paul's Nurseries, Waltham Cross, N. 



THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 

 WASHINGTON. 



[Many authorities condemn governmental interference for the 

 promotion of the arts ; other authorities are as decidedly in 

 favour of such promotion, and in America we think it is 

 needed. There all the population is comparatively of recent 

 settlement, and every year adds hundreds of thousands of new 

 settlers. Such a population has to devote itself to bread- 

 winning. Those cultivating the soil have neither time to spare, 

 nor capital to risk, for testing which are the best varieties of 

 fruits and grains nnd other vegetables to cultivate, nor for ex- 

 perimenting to decide on the best modes of cultivation. For 

 such a population its government may beneficially aid in 

 ascertaining those facts so desirable to be determined. The 

 American Government have established a department for the 

 purpose, and we place before our readers a drawing of its 

 offices, and an extract from the Commissioner's Report.] 



The new building of the department is 170 feet long by 

 61 feet deep, and consists of a finished basement, three full 

 storeys, and Mansard roof. Designed in the renaissance style 

 of architecture, the front presents a centre building with main 

 entrance, flanked by projecting wings. The material is pressed 

 brick, with brownstone base, belts, trimmings, and cornices. 

 Walking over a flight of swelled granite steps, the visitor passes 

 through the main door, of oak and ashwood, into an octagonal 

 vestibule 20 feet in diameter and 16 feet high, the floor of which 

 is laid with rosettes and borders of encaustic tiles, and the sides 

 panelled in encaustic paint. The ceiling is decorated with 

 fresco work, around a centre representing an arbour of Vine 

 foliage, and held by American eagles with spread wings ; 

 arabesque ornaments are sprung with four medallions illustrat- 

 ing, in turn, by landscape, light effect, and human figures, 

 spring, morning, and childhood; summer, noon, and youth; 

 autumn, evening and mature age ; winter, night, and old age. 



Around a wide corridor, similarly finished, but in plain style, 

 are grouped office rooms of 20 by 20 feet in size. The recep- 

 tion room is chastely decorated, while the chief clerk's room is 

 finished with an apparently Bolid moulded and panelled wainscot 

 in curly walnut, mahogany, and maple, covering the height of 

 the side walls, surmounted by a frescoed stucco cornice and a 

 ceiling in complementary colours. The wainscot is a specimen of 

 " American wood-hanging," which is an application of wood to 

 the plastered walls. The wood is prepared in strips of different 

 lengths, of about the thickness of paper, and is placed upon the 

 walls by paper-hangers. The adjoining office of the Com- 

 missioner is done in the same material, but in a higher style of 

 the art, the panels of rich bird's-eye maple being bordered by 

 friezes of mahogany and blistered walnut, alternating with 

 fancy panelled pilaBtersin mahogany and satin wood, all parted 

 by curly maples and set off by gilt edges. This series of rooms 

 is completed by the private office of the Commissioner, finished 

 in plain library style, with friezes of birch, borders of black 

 walnut, and panels of mountain ash. The rooms for clerical 

 purposes are finished in plain encaustic oil paint, with frescoed 

 ceilings, all in different colours. The western end of this storey 

 is occupied by the library, which is furnished with mahogany 

 cases ; and a suite of rooms on the eastern terminus is devoted 

 to laboratory purposes, where all cumbersome apparatus is 

 dispensed with ; and an ample supply of gas furnishes the 

 modern heating power. 



A double flight of fire-proof stairs, of wrought and cast irOD, 

 in the centre of the building, and opposite the vestibule, lit by 

 a grand window glazed with stained glass, leads to the second 

 storey, the main or central part of which is appropriated to the 

 Museum of Agriculture, a hall 102 feet in length, 52 in width, 

 and 27 feet high. There are three large entrance doors, of 6 by 

 12 feet, of artistic design. The size and style of the ten windows, 

 each 7 by 10 feet, partake of the character of the modern ex- 

 hibition palaces. The hall is crowned by a bold coved stucco 

 cornice, the lines of which are broken rythmically by heavy 

 brackets, in the sculpture of which colossal Indian busts form 

 prominent features. The ground cove itself is adorned by a 

 chain formed of festoons and groupB of flowers and fruits, with 

 medallion shields, into which the escutcheons of the United 

 States, surrounded by those of the thirty-seven States of the 

 Union, in chronological succession, are worked. The ceiling is 

 divided into fifteen heavily moulded panels, the centres of which 

 are occupied with rosettes conforming with each other in general 

 outline, but having distinct details. The colours of the hall are 

 in neutral tints, which are diversified mainly by the heraldic 

 colours of the escutcheons. The furniture of the hall consists 

 of elegant glass cases, with solid dust-proof walnut frames, sur- 

 mounted by architraves, friezes, and cornices, bearing carved 

 volutes, with intermediate vases and busts. Perhaps the moBt 

 noticeable piece of furniture is the redwood table, the top of 

 which, 7J by 12 feet, is formed from the largest plank in the 

 world, Bent to the department from California. 



At the western terminus of the museum are located the work- 

 ing rooms of the entomologist, and a room cf extra size, contain- 

 ing in walnut cases a valuable herbarium. At the eastern ter- 

 minus of the museum are the rooms of the statistician. 



The third storey of the building contains rooms for miscel- 

 laneous purposes, assorting and putting up seeds, &c, and is in 

 direct and easy communication with the basement. 



For the purpose of preventing dampness in the walls, a water- 

 tight concrete walk closely surrounds the building ; opposite 

 the principal front this concrete surface is 50 feet in width, the 

 entire length of the building, thus giving ample room for the 

 approach and departure of carriages. The space in front is laid 

 out as a strictly geometrical flower garden with architectural 

 appendages, such as vases and Btatuary. It is divided by a 

 terrace wall, to be ornamented with stone balusters and pedi- 

 ments for the reception of plant vases; communication with 

 the lower garden being provided by stone steps, the whole form- 

 ing a proper arrangement for the harmonious connection of the 

 building and its surroundings. This connection is maintained 

 at the ends by trees, but the immediate front will be kept open, 

 thus avoiding the common error of preventing the building 

 from being viewed as an architectural design, a fault painfully 

 apparent in many fine structures, in which beauty of their archi- 

 tectural features is wholly lost by dense trees and shrubbery. 



The plant houses are located west of the department. The 

 design includes a range of glass structures with a front 320 feet 

 in length by 30 in width. These include apartments for the 

 culture of exotic fruits, of which a collection is being formed 

 for a complete series of the Citrus family (a class of fruits now 



