193 



JO0R^A.Ii OF HORXIGDLTORS AND COTIAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 15, 1877. 



province, it is necessary that all possible information, with a 

 view of mitigating the evil, should be obtained and made 

 widely known." At a subsequent meeting of the Society the 

 line of action proposed, subject to the assistance of those 

 interested in the matter, was to engage the services of an 

 entomologist from England for the period of two years, so 

 that he might have time and opportunity to observe and care- 

 fully study the character of the several kinds of blight in their 

 various localities, such observations to ba published under 

 the auspices of the Society. 



There was a full attendance at the monthly meeting 



of the Horticultural Club on Wednesday the 7 th inst., and the 

 following gentlemen were elected members : — Charles Lee, 

 Crosby House, Honuslow; H.J. Elwes, Preston, Cirencester; 

 John Smith, Royal Gardens, Kew ; H. G. Qailter, Birming- 

 ham; Benjamin R. Cant, Colchester; James F. West, Lyn- 

 mouth Lodge, Reigate; and William Leo, Brandenburg Road, 

 Gunnerebury. 



We briefly announced in our report last week that the 



Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society awarded 

 a first-class certificate to Messrs. James Veitch & Sons for 

 EuRTCLES AusiRALASicA. Thls plant deserves more than a 

 casual notice from its distinctness and value for decorative 

 purposes. It has been compared to an Eucharis and a Crinum, 

 but it is more intelligibly represented as a Pancratium — indeed, 

 it was once known as Pancratium australasicum. It is easy 

 to be described. It has a bulb similar to a Narcissus, which 

 throws up one or more heads of flowers to 8 inches high 

 and as large as those of an Agapanthus, but of a pearly white 

 with yellow anthers. The leaves are produced occasionally 

 with the flowers, but generally afterwards; they are 5 or 

 G inches across and are of the same texture but lighter in colour 

 than those of the Eucharis. Eurycles australasica was in- 

 troduced from New Holland more than half a century ago, but 

 its full merits have only just been established. It is a plant 

 of easy culture, and appears to flower with great freedom; it 

 lasts also a considerable time in beauty — fully a month under 

 good management. It will be grown by the dozen and hundred 

 when it becomes sufficiently known, and is likely to be as 

 popular as the Eucharis. 



■ — — Many striking Orchids are now flowering in Messrs. 

 Veitch's extensive collection at Chelsea. Foremost must be 

 named the grand Lajlia Yeitchii, a cross between Cattleya 

 labiata and L.tha crispa. L. Pilcherii, from L. Perrinii and 

 L. crispa, is also very attractive. Lycaste alba maxima com- 

 mands attention from its wax-like substance and purity. A 

 fine contrast ia afforded by Bletia amethysliua, purplish pink 

 and very free. Cattleya amethystogloEsa, with its richly 

 spotted sepals, ia very fine, and even finer from its size and its 

 purity is C. Trianaj alba. C. citrina is also just expanding. 

 Masdevallia chimera is protruding its grotesque flowers, Stan- 

 hopea-like, from the bottom of the basket in which it is grow- 

 ing, and il. tovarensis attracts by its purity. Phalienopses 

 and Odontoglossums are numerous, as also are Dendrobiums, 

 including D. Dominii. Amongst Oncidiums the soft yellow 

 of aggregatum commands attention, and even more so does 

 0. varicosum, which ia exceedingly fine, and the plants are in 

 hundreds. Of the new and strikingly spotted Odoutogloasum 

 cirrhosum only one plant is now in flower out of a stock of 

 probably ten thousand. The collection of Orchids in this 

 nursery is not more noticeable for ita magnitude than for the 

 remarkable cleanliness of every plant. 



" A LoTER OF Birds " writes to us as follows : — " Last 



season waa marked by a scarcity of Holly berries, and ' haws ' 

 were not particularly plentiful. These form the staple of the 

 food of the soft-billed birds in severe weather. Providentially 

 the winter has been mild and wet, and worms and slugs have 

 been unusually active ; upon those the blackbirds and thrushes 

 have feasted, and did not eat the ' haws ' until the frost 

 and snow of March, when the worms and slugs had sought 

 shelter in the earth. An entomologist has recently observed 

 that the protracted wet has possibly proved fatal to insect life. 

 May we not also presume that more than the usual quantities 

 of grubs have been devoured by the birds during the extremely 

 mild winter? Birds only eat haws, &ti., in winter, and fruit 

 during summer when deprived of the natural food by severe 

 frost or extreme drought ; therefore do not wantonly destroy 

 the gardeners' friends — the birds." 



The unusually mild weather and long-continued wet 



of the winter season appears. Bays an experienced gardener, to 

 have had a marked effect upon the prodaotion of foeced Mcsn- 



BOOMS. In no season have they been more abundant, the beds 

 more enduring, or the quality better. This points to the ne- 

 cessity of providing regular humidity and an equable tempera- 

 ture in Mushroom culture, conditions which are better afforded 

 in underground houses than in structures above ground. Arti- 

 ficial heat and frequent waterings, according to the evidence 

 of the closing winter, should be as much aa possible avoided 

 in the cultivation of Muahrooma. 



We recently noticed superior examples of double 



Primulas, also Moutan Pieoniea, as growing at Messrs. E. G. 

 Henderson & Son's Pine Apple Norsery. We may now say 

 that this nursery is undergoing various improvements, and 

 is being stocked in a manner worthy of its ownership. Large 

 collections of ornamental-foliaged plants, stove and greenhouse 

 flowering plants. Orchids, Lilies, Amaryllises, &c., besides 

 several "old and rare" plants not commonly met with, are 

 now to be seen at the " Pine Apple." Palms and Ferns are 

 very numerous, the stock of Adiantum farleyense numbering 

 2500, while of the useful Palm Corypha australis there are 

 four thousand plants. Orchids are also grown in large num- 

 bers, there being one thousand plants of OJontoglossum Alex- 

 andra, and eight hundred of Dendrobium thyrsiflorum. Many 

 Orchids are flowering, and we never saw finer varieties and 

 finer growths of Dendrobium Wardianum, some of the flowers 

 of this superlatively beautiful Dendrobe measuring ■! inches 

 and more in diameter. Hippeaetrum Hendersonii, a beautifnl 

 variety, is becoming increasingly popular. It is grown by 

 thousands in unhealed pits during the summer, and flowers 

 most freely during the winter mouths. A large number of 

 seedling Dracfenas are showing colour ; and it is remarkable 

 that while the whole of the seed was taken from one spray of 

 D. albicans crossed with D. pulcherrima, both narrow-leaved 

 kinds, the produce is extremely variable, many of the varieties 

 being broad and massive in their foliage, and have little in 

 common with their parentage. All the plants in the nursery 

 are healthy and clean, and reflect credit on the manager, Mr. 

 O'Brien. 



The beautiful Tree Carnations, GnEUJEB Rose and 



KosE Perfection, for which first-class certificates were awarded 

 at the last meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, were 

 exhibited by Mr. Charles Turner, Slough. 



We have reeeived the schedule of the International 



Exhibition to be held at Carlisle on September the 6th, 7th, 

 and 8th. The schedule is divided into fourteen sections, com- 

 prising 228 classes. The prizes offered are very liberal, amount- 

 ing in the aggregate to upwards of £1200. For collections of 

 sixteen sorts of fruit the first prize is £20, for twelve sorts 

 £15, and for ten sorts £10 ; £111 being provided for the twelve 

 prizes offered in these collections. Grapes are well provided 

 for, not less than £200 being offered in prizes. For eight 

 varieties, one bunch of each, the amounts are £15, £12, £10, 

 and £8. There are also seventy other prizes offered for Grapes. 

 Liberal prizes are offered for Continental and American ooUeo- 

 tions of fruit. The prizes offered for plants in pots are equally 

 substantial, the chief being £20, £15, and £10 for twenty stove 

 and greeohouae plants, and the Sima amounts for twelve new 

 plants not yet in commerce. There are prizes also for cut 

 flowers, table decorations, vegetables, and horticultural re- 

 quisites. Several silver cups are offered by private donors, in- 

 cluding three by Mr. W. Bull of Chelsea. The exhibits must 

 be staged before 10 o'clock p.m. on September 5th, and must 

 remain until one o'clock on the Monday following. Professional 

 gardeners will be admitted on the first day of the Show from 

 9 to 11 A.M. on payment of one shilling each. The Exhibition 

 is under distinguished patronage and a practical comniittee, 

 and is to be managed by Mr. W. Thomson of Clovenfords. 

 Only fine weather during the Show days is requited to render 

 the great undertaking completely successful. 



Upwards of £1300 was realised by the recent sale oi 



the late Mr. Wilkins's Orchids at Stevens's rooms. The 

 principal prizes obtained were, for LreUa elegans Turnerli, 

 36 guineas ; Odoutogloasum vexillarium, 23 to 42 guineaa ; and 

 0. Phalasnopsis, 29 guineas. Prices ranging from 10 to 15 

 guineas were secured for La^lia anceps Dawsonii, Epidendrum 

 vitellinum majus, Odontoglossnm Bluntii, Oncidium amplia- 

 tam majus, and Dendrobium Wardianum. 



At a recent meeting of the Meteorological SociBiy, 



the President, after referring to the various theories advanced 

 to account for changes of climate, observed that the climate of 

 London has been modified by the consumption of fuel and the 

 vast population. He estimated that the heat developed from 



