Maroli 29, 1877. ] 



JODENAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



233 



much better show would have been held at Kensington on the 

 following week. 



One other remark I would Uke to make, and am sorry that 

 it ia in the way ot a complaint. In your reference to the ehow 

 of Polyanthufl-Nai-cisBus you mention the " made-up " pottuls 

 of plants shown by Messrs. Larr & Sugden, which they cer- 

 tainly were, and I consider that their grower was guilty of a 

 breach of honour ; for no one can believe that Mr. Barr would 

 be guilty of taking an undue advantage of an opportunity. 

 Still, a certain amount of blame rests with the Society for not 

 clearly defining what they mean by a pot of Tulips. Nursery- 

 men and gardeners know very well what it means at the 

 metropolitan shows. It has always been uuderstood and acted 

 upon as three bulbs potted and shown in the pots in which they 

 were grown. Competitors have hitherto acted on this principle 

 and exhibited on equal terms ; and it is taking a mean advantage 

 for a man to say, •• My opponents will show only three roots in 

 a pot, I will put six plants in a pot of the same size, and even 

 if my flowers are not quite so good as theirs perhaps my 

 quantity will overpower their quality." In Tulips Messrs. 

 Barr & Sugden showed twelve more roots in their collection 

 than either of their opponents, and the plants were hanging 

 their leaves before the show was over. Their Tulips were 

 made up the same as the Polyanthus-Narcissuses. Of the last 

 they exhibited seventy-two plants, while my collection con- 

 tained but forty. Now I hold a very decided opinion on this 

 innovation ; it ought to be stamped out at once. There will 

 always be those ready to take advantage of any flaw in a 

 schedule, and one line will sava endless bother to exhibitors. 

 It ought to stand thus :—" Hyacinths one bulb in a pot. 

 Talips and Polyanthus-Narcissus three bulbs." Unless this 

 clause ia put in the schedule one exhibitor may show three 

 next year and his opponent thirty. — J. Douglas. 



Few complaints are perhaps advanced on which there is a 

 general concurrence of opinion, but a grievance which I think 

 ia quite beyond controversy is the one existing and now men- 

 tioned of the principal London flower shows being held on the 

 same days — I mean the exhibitions of the Eoyal Horticultural 

 and the Royal Botanic Societies. 



In your reports of last Wedaesday'a meetings the circum- 

 stance was regretted that two shows, one in the north and the 

 other in the south of London, should be held simultaneously. 

 Nothing could be more inconvenient to exhibitors and visitors, 

 or more weakening to the shows, than that strange arrange- 

 ment. I am one of several who were desirous of exhibiting 

 at both places, but could only visit one; in fact, only the very 

 largest nurserymen are able to divide their resources and ex- 

 hibit creditably in two places at once, and even to them dupli- 

 cate showing is inconvenient. 



The racing backwards and forwards of several visitors between 

 north and south on the Slat inst. was a source of much annoyance 

 to them. No good, however, can be done by dwelling on the 

 past and its unfortunate oversights. It is to the future to 

 which I would rather direct attention. Oa the 18th of April 

 there ia the same clashing of fixtures, and again on the Ifith of 

 May ; I believe also that a similar collision occurs on the day 

 of the National lioae Show in July. What a prospect for ex- 

 hibitors ! lint cannot the evil be averted'.' If it is an evil, 

 and few can dispute it, the more promptly the remedy is ap- 

 plied the better. Eat to whom are we to look for aid'.' Tbo 

 answer appears to me: Appeal to headquarters, and the acknow- 

 ledged head of horticulture is the Council of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society. But for what are we to appeal ;' simply a 

 change of days for tlieir meetings, and the matter would bo 

 settled. 



The present Council have shown such a disposition to con- 

 sult the convenience of horticulturists, and thereby have se- 

 cured their sympathy and substantial co-operation, that it is 

 not conceivable that the Council would refuse to listen to any 

 representation having for its object the means of better sup- 

 porting the shows. From the fact that the Koyal Horticultural 

 Society have simply adhered to the regular dates they can the 

 better afford to accept the change, which could not in any 

 sense bo interpreted as admitting an error when no error had 

 been made by them. 



What is there in a " Wednesday " that it should be regarded 

 as specially fitted for a floral festival ? In my opinion — an 

 opinion which is shared by otlur exhibitors— the Society that 

 first adopts the day preceding will possess an advantage in 

 more ways than one; that, however, is for others to judge. 

 The present position, or rather fatnre prospects, are extremely 



unsatisfactory, and now that the matter ia broached it is hoped 

 that some of the leading patrons ot shows will bring their in- 

 fluence to bear in removing a roal grievance which acts dis- 

 advantageously for themselves and prejudicially to the societies, 

 which all are desirous of seeing prosperous. — An Exhibitor, 



[Until recent times Tuesdays were the meeting days of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society. Some of us can still remember 

 the Regent Street Tuesdays, and for some years after the 

 Society seated itself at South Kensington this was the day of 

 meeting. We see no reason why the Society should not revert 

 to the old arrangement. By holding the meetings on Tuesday 

 exhibitors do not have their week so much broken into, and the 

 routine of their establiahmenta so much interfered with. — Ens ] 



CULTURE OF THE HIPPEASTRUM. 



The essential point in the cultivation of this genua (which 

 is very distinct from Amaryllis) lies in the comparatively new 

 method of ripening the bulbs gradually in the open air. 



We will suppose a batch of plants in flower now and in auo- 

 cession for several weeks in their warm quarters in the stove. 

 After flowering let them remain a little shaded and removed 

 from that part of the house which they no longer ornament. 

 Keep them here till the leaves, or the greater part of them, 

 have become fully grown and firm. This period will come on 

 about the end of May and onwards for a week or two. Next, 

 remove them into the greenhouse for three weeks or a month, 

 where the leaves will become stiff, strong, and healthy. This 

 will bring us into July, when the plants must be removed into 

 the open air, preferably at the foot of a south wall, and watered 

 every day or two during hot weather. 



If September brings hot weather leave them alone while it 

 lasts. It not, take them into the greenhouse for the winter at 

 once. The plan here described is not my own, though I have 

 long practised a hardening system of the kind. It was taken 

 from an article in one of Van Houtte's catalogues, and has 

 been now tested here for several years with the best results. 

 A horticultural friend in my neighbourhood sent me twelve of 

 these plants last spring to try the system upon. He had had 

 them ten years without flowering one. Six are now flowering 

 strongly, and the rest are in the highest of health. 



I omit much detail, confining myself to essentials. Any 

 person conversant with gardening under glass will know what 

 to do as to general good treatment. 



I should feel grateful to any friend who could send me 

 n. solandriflorum, regime, or equestre, true. — R. TaEVoa 

 CwEKE, ^I'l'lton Place, near Daventnj. 



FORCED SALADING. 



Thebe are many employers who require salads of different 

 kinds all the year round. For many gardeners this is not a 

 very easy task, especially for those who have not the glass 

 accommodation to grow what is required for their employers' 

 table during the winter months. A very simple plan where 

 glass Btructures were rather limited and salada were required 

 on most days all through the winter mouths was adopted iu a 

 garden in which I was formerly employed. 



In the first place we made some small shelves and afllxed 

 them close under the glass about the middle of the houeea, iu 

 our vineries, itc. Here we had our small salading iu pots 

 (Is's and .'J'2'8), sueh as Australian Cress, Lamb's Lettuce, 

 Mustard and common Creea, Radishes, and Onions, making 

 sowings every week or fortnight, placing the pots in a vinery 

 or Peach house just started till the seed germinated, then re- 

 moving to cooler houses, and watering carefully. Watercress 

 not being procurable within two miles of the gardens, and 

 being often wanted, my superior, Mr. Batters, thought he would 

 try this also in pots, and met with great suocees. The pots 

 used were 'S2'e, tilled three parts with moderately rich soil ; 

 on this was placed some sharp Band or road washings. The 

 cuttings were inserted thinly iu the pots and placed on low 

 shelves in the early vinery and Poach house. In a few weeks 

 wo had plenty of clean and fresh Watercress without having 

 to walk two or three miles in search of some by the riverside. 

 Since the time we tried the experiment they have never been 

 without thia desirable Cress winter or summer. We made 

 freeh pots of cuttings every season from the old plants, and 

 when the young plants had made good growth the older were 

 thrown away. If kept well watered they will be found to grow 

 very fast, especially with the advantage of a warm house for 

 starting them, when they should be removed to cooler struo- 



