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JOURNAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



lock, dark purple ; Von Schiller, red ; Koh-i-Noor, double deep 

 pink; Noble par MuritC, double pale pink; Haydn, violet; Mont 

 Blanc, pure white ; Prince of Waterloo, double pure white ; and 

 Ida, yellow, done, as they were in thia instance, as well as they 

 could be ; in fact, they are the best of all the Hyacinths in the 

 Exhibition. 



Near these are some Hyacinths grown in what is called here 

 " on double glasses " — that is, one bulb is planted in a glass 

 vessel containing' soil, another is placed at the base in the same 

 soil, but the singular part of it is the lower one is placed on 

 another glass vase which is filled with water, into which the 

 foliage and bloom gradually develope themselves; in fact, it is 

 one flower growing in the air, the other in water, but it certainly 

 does not seem a particularly comfortable mode of existence for 

 the one in the water. 



Tulips are very numerous and fairly good ; still they lack that 

 neatness of arrangement which we are accustomed to see at 

 home. Our old favourites stood out very prominently, such as 

 Vermilion Brilliant and Pottebakker, both white and yellow ; 

 Keyzers-kroon, yellow and red ; Proserpine, rose ; Chrysolora, 

 yellow ; Belle Alliance, crimson ; Queen of Violets and Van der 

 Neer, deep purple. There are, however, very many varieties 

 new or little known to English cultivators, some partaking of 

 the points of excellence so much admired by florists in the late 

 Tulips. Notably amongst these is Maria de Medicis, fine creamy 

 white with brownish red ; Grand Due de Russia, purple and 

 white ; Roi Pepin, crimson and white ; Marquis de Wessenrode, 

 yellow and red ; Jagt van Rotterdam, fine purple and white ; 

 Spaendoneb, fine broad petals cream and brown; La Favourite, 

 yellow and brown ; Louis d'Or, red and yellow ; Due de Bran- 

 •;on, brown, red, and yellow; Comte de Vergennes, rose and 

 white, very pretty; Fabiola, fine purple and white; Epami- 

 nondas, crimson and white ; Rouge Louisante, rose ; Pierrot, 

 rose and white ; La Cirur de France, light brown and yellow ; 

 Globe de Rigaud, purple and white, fine shape; Rose Gris de 

 lin, rose edged cream, good. The above are all single. Many 

 double Tulips are also shown, but they are not up to our taste, 

 except a very few, such as Tournesol, Imperator, and Res Rubro- 

 rum. La Cnndeur and Blanche Hative, a good pure white ; La 

 Parfaite is also good, similar in every way to Keyzers-kroon in 

 form and colour. 



We now come to Narcissus, but which are not very effective 

 exhibition plants, and there are only a few in advance of our 

 well-known sorts. Witte Parel is distinct pure white; Queen 

 Victoria, white, yellow cup ; Belle Princesse, yellow, orange 

 cup; Newton, yellow, orange cup; Muscat orientalis, white, 

 reddish orange cup, distinct ; and Lord Canning, yellow, orange 

 cup. 



Dielytras are very good, and Lily of the Valley, although not 

 numerous, are capitally done. There is also a collection of late 

 or florists' Tulips, forced rather out of character, but still much 

 to be admired. 



We have already said that the collections of ornamental trees 

 and shrubs are very good. Some of the Conifers came to the 

 front, and seemed to grow more freely and to be of better colour 

 than in England. This may be said especially of the variegated 

 kinds, such as Thuja Vervaneana, of which there are several 

 plants varying in height from (i to 14 feet ; Cupressus Lawsoniana 

 aureo-variegata, of which there are also a good many beautiful 

 examples splendidly coloured. The collections of Messrs. M. 

 Koster & Son and A. E. Barnaart & Co. contain plants of many 

 of our popular sorts from 12 to Ifi feet high. One exhibitor 

 (CorneliuK Ottolander) shows liS species and varieties, and 

 another (W. J. ottolauder) 001), some of the latter approaching 

 each other too closely to be worth preserving under different 

 names. G. J. Alberts also shows a large collection, in which 

 all the genera are well represented, although the specimens are 

 small. M. Van Hoff has among others fine examples cf Thuja 

 elegantissima and Cephalotaxus Fortunei. M. de Jager's most 

 interesting plants are Retinospora leptoclada and R. plumosa 

 aurea. In addition to the above-named plants the following 

 struck us as the best — Retinospora filifera, R. plumosa, R. ob- 

 tusa, R. obtnaa aurea, Abies Tsuga, A. pyramidalis, A. pendula, 

 Taxus canadensis aurea, T. baccata epacroidea, T. verticillata, 

 T. cuspidata, T. cuspidata brevifolia, T. erecta aureo-variegata, 

 T. elegantissima aureo-variegata, Juniperus drupacea, Cupressus 

 Lawsoniana aurea, C. L. Baueriana aurea, C. L. lutea, Pmus 

 Koraensis, Picea polita, and Thujopsis Standishii. 



Hollies, both green and variegated, are nnmeroua and hand- 

 some; the principal exhibitors being J. W. Ottolander, C Otto- 

 lander, Kieaeen jr. & Son, W. C. Boer, C. H. Vulsteke, and 

 A. Koster. The nomenclature is bad, and the same kind ia often 

 found under two or three different names. Among the best are 

 I. pendnla aureo-maoulata, I. compaota aureo-marginata, I. lau- 

 rifolia aureo-maculata lucida, I. rubricaulis aureo-marginata, 

 I. undulata aureo-maculata, I. longifolia argenteo-maculata, 

 I. latifolia argenteo-marginata, I. rotundifolia, I. nobilis aurea, 

 I. nianifolia, I. camellia}folia, I. crenata rotundifolia aurea, 

 I. Donningtonienais aureo-maculata, I. Madame Prist, I. aureo- 

 margiuftta robusta, I. sorratifolium aureo-marginata, and I. myr- 



tifolinm aurco-marginata. The commoner sorts of Hollies 

 abounded, some of them from 10 to 20 feet in height. 



There is a neat collection cf Buxus and some good weeping 

 trees from C. Ottolander &: Son, but the sorts are all well known 

 in England, and Aucubas in berry are plentiful and good. Of 

 Magnolias there is one collection only, all of the early-flowering 

 deciduous kinds, but they are not yet in bloom. Rhododendrons 

 and Roses are not plentiful, but the varieties are good and well 

 flowered, the Rases being standards in pots. Fruit trees are 

 well represented by the following growers — Galesloot, Boer, 

 Gaucher, De Wilde, and others. There are standards, pyra- 

 mids, cordons, and almost every form of these, useful, orna- 

 mental, and fantastic. The latter word may also be applied to 

 sundry Box trees which had been clipped and tortured into the 

 form of armchairs, &c. 



Another exhibition worthy of notice is the fine lot of well- 

 preserved Apples from Signer Francesco Cirio of Turin. These 

 are as fresh as when newly stored. They are kept in wheat 

 flour, but before being stored they are dipped in a solution, the 

 nature of which Signer Cirio does not divulge, for the purpose 

 of destroying all insect and fangoid life, and then dried. On 

 the eame table is a large collection of artificial fruit, remarkably 

 well modelled and coloured, the weight of each specimen being 

 the aame as that of the natural fruit. This was sent by Signsr 

 Gamier- Vallette of Turin. In a gallery of the large building 

 is a collection of works on floriculture, the dates commencing 

 early in the seventeenth century, and reaching down to the 

 present day. Some of them are copiously illustrated, and there 

 are volumes with coloured portraits of the Tulips which during 

 the mania iu Holland were the subjects of so much wild specu- 

 lation. 



EARLY WRITERS ON ENGLISH GARDENING. 



No. 80. 

 JOHN CLAUDIUS LOUDON. 

 Fifty years have passed since the writer of these notes re- 

 ceived an encouraging letter from Mr. Loudon, with a copy of 

 his " EnoyclopiBdia of Gardening" as a return for communi- 

 cations to the " Gardeners' Magazine." Not long after that 

 the writer met Mr. Loudon in society, and was deeply impressed 

 by the evidences in his looks and manner that he was breaking 

 down under an excess of mental work. That was no cause for 

 wonder, inasmuch as at that time he was editing two monthly 

 magazines, contributing to a weekly journal, and writing one 

 of his Enoyolopffidias. It is quite true that the volumes are 

 compilations, but the reading needed to find what was required 

 and the arrangement of the materials was brain-harassing, and 

 Mr. Loudon's correspondence with contributors was voluminous. 

 He felt that the work was mastering him ; and one of his utter- 

 ances was, " You write for amusement, I write to live." 



He was born on the 8th of April, 1783, at Cambaslang in 

 Lanarkshire, the residence of his mother's only sister, herself 

 the mother of Dr. Claudius Buchanan (the author of a work 

 entitled "Christian Researches in Asia"), whose labours in 

 India in attempting to convert and instruct the Hindoos have 

 made his name celebrated. Mr. Loudon was the eldest of a 

 large family ; and his father, who was a farmer residing at 

 Kerse Hall, near Gogar, about five miles from Edinburgh, being 

 a man of enlightened mind and superior information, was very 

 anxious that he should have every possible advantage in bis 

 education. Strange to say, however, Mr. Loudon when a boy, 

 though fond of books, had an insuperable aversion from learn- 

 ing languages, and no persuasions could induce him to study 

 Latin and French. At this early period, however, a taste for 

 landscape gardening began to show itself, as his principal 

 pleasure was in making walks and beds in a little garden his 

 father had given him ; and so eager was he to obtain seeds to 

 sow in it, that when a jar of tamarinds arrived from an uncle 

 in the West Indies he gave the other children his share of the 

 fruit on condition of his having all the seeds. While yet quite 

 a child he was sent to live with an uncle in Edinburgh that he 

 might attend the classes at the public schools. Here he over- 

 came his dislike to Latin, and made extraordinary progress in 

 drawing and arithmetic. He also attended classes of botany 

 and chemistry, making copious notes, illustrated with very 

 clever pen-and-ink sketches. StUl he could not make up his 

 mind to learn French, till one day, when he was about fourteen, 

 his uncle, showing a fine French engraving to a friend, asked 

 his nephew to translate the title. This he could not do, and 

 the deep shame and mortification which he felt, and which he 

 never afterwards forgot, made him determine to acquire the 

 language. Pride, however, and a love of independence, which 

 was ever one of his strongest feelings, prevented him from 

 1 applying to hia father to defray the expense, and he actually 



