366 



}OUBNAL OP HORTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE QABDENER. 



[ Hay 17, 1877. 



tenrs and twenty-five for nurserymen. The prizes in all the i 

 classes are good, some of them being very liberal. For twenty 

 plants, ten fine-foliage and ten in flower (amateurs), £60 is 

 offered in three prizes of £30, £20, and £10, and a uimilar I 

 amount is offered for Orchids. In the nurserymen's classes 

 about equally large amounts are offered. In this section £50 

 is provided for a collection of plants arranged for effect and 

 occupying space 22 feet long and 15 feet wide, the prizes being 

 £25, £15, and £10. On the 25th there is to be a special ex- 

 hibition of table decorations. Hoses, &a., and the National 

 Tulip Society's Show will be held at the same time. 



The whole of the details connected with the Show of 



the National Kobe Society are to be entrusted to Mr. W. 

 Newman, who has been so long favourably known to all ex- 

 hibitors of the Hose as the practical manager of the Crystal 

 Palace flower shows, and afterwards as connected with the 

 Alexandra Palace. Want of space for the Show is the main 

 difficulty, but the Committee had no other alternative in 

 carrying out of their plans of bringing a Rose show to the 

 very centre of the fashionable part of business London. 

 Those who join the Society will obtain two admission tickets, 

 giving them an entree to the Show for an hour before the 

 general public are admitted. 



In order to meet the views of some exhibitors who are 



members of the National Hose Association the Committee of 

 the ToBBAY HoBTicDLTUEAL SooiETT havo decided to limit the 

 Eose Show to one day — namely, June 28th. Captain Fane 

 Tucker is the secretary. 



We have received from Mr. Christison, gardener to 



B. 0. White, Esq., The Priory, Lewisham, some blooms of 

 Mabechal Niel Eose of splendid quality. We have seen 

 many hundreds of blooms this year, but none superior to these 

 before ns, and the foliage is as fine as the flowers. We should 

 be glad to hear how and under what conditions Mr. Christison 

 has grown these grand Roses. 



It is worthy of record that the fine dish of Geosse 



MwNONNE Peaches exhibited before the Fruit Committee on 

 the loth inst., and for which Mr. Jenks of Brambletye was 

 awarded a cultural commendation, were gathered from a 

 medium-sized tree bearing 213 Peaches. The tree has pro- 

 duced a similar crop of fine fruit four years in succession. 



Wb some time ago alluded to a collection of Odonto- 



OLOSSCM VEXiLLAKinii in Mr. Bull's nursery at Chelsea. The 

 plants are now flowering, and the effect is quite remarkable. 

 There are 150 plants in from 2 to 5-inch pots, and every plant 

 appears to be producing flowers. The beauty of the collection 

 is highly striking, and it is interesting to note the many va- 

 rieties there are of this magnificent Orchid. In the same 

 house is an excellent display of another splendid Odontoglot 

 — 0. Eoezlii. This collection of Odontoglossums demands 

 mention as the most extensive of its kind that has ever been 

 seen in England, and it is highly worthy of inspection by all 

 who are interested in these splendid flowers. 



A cobeespondent in advocating the culthee of Nae- 



cissusES, says they are " Everybody's flowers — that is, they 

 will thrive almost anywhere, in sun or in shade, and in nearly 

 every kind of soil. The different varieties flower over a long 

 period, and no flowers resist the effects of rainy weather so 

 well as do these. The flower buds expand freely when out 

 and placed in water, and they there last in beauty nearly or 

 quite as long as when growing on the plants." 



A GEMTLEMAH who has kept a meteorological diary since 



1847 says that the present ia the most backward spbinq that 

 has occurred since that year. In his garden at Croydon the 

 first dish of Aaparagus is usually out about the 17th of April, 

 but this year it was not cut until the 11th of May. The latest 

 previously was in 1853, when the first cutting was on the 5th 

 of May. 



A COMMITTEE 19 in the course of formation with the 



object of presenting a testimonial to Me. JosEpn Dale, F.H.S., 

 of the Middle Temple Gardens, London. Mr. Dale, so long 

 ago as 1841, began to ornament the gardens of the Middle 

 Temple with Chrysanthemums, and in 1856 he first published 

 his pamphlet on the cultivation of the flower, which is a guide 

 and text-book still deservedly popular ; and his annual exhibi- 

 tion of plants, showing what may be done by judicious manage- 

 ment in the heart of a smoky city, has been of incalculable 

 benefit to many. The present, it is believed, offers a fitting 

 opportunity for the Chrysanthemum growers of England to 

 Bhow their appreciation of Mr. Dale's labours, and publicly to 



acknowledge the advice and assistance which he has unhesita- 

 tingly offered to any floral aspirant who sought information of 

 him. Communications on the subject or donations may be 

 forwarded to Mr. Shirley Hibberd, Hermitage Eoad, Stoke 

 Newington, Treasurer ; or to Mr. J. S. Hodson, Gray's Inn 

 Chambers, 20, High Holborn, Secretary. 



Although vegetables are scarce in many private gar- 

 dens, CovENT Gabden Masket appears to be well supplied. 

 There are many tons of young compactly-hearted Cabbages 

 from the London market grounds, and Peas, Broad and Kidney 

 Beans, and Globe Artichokes are supplied from the south of 

 France. Salading of both English and French growth is 

 plentiful, as well as Asparagus, also Seakale of home growth. 

 Ehubarb is small for the time of year, the best examples we 

 noticed having been sent from Yorkshire ; it had been grown 

 under pots. New Potatoes from Jersey are very good, and old 

 tubers from Lincolnshire and Yorkshire look well in the sacks, 

 although we are informed that many of them are slightly 

 diseased. 



A cobeespondent writes to us as follows on forcing 



Feench Beans in boxes : — " Some time ago I did not see my 

 way clearly to find room for a lot of French Beans in 8-inch 

 pots, which I knew would require a place in some warm house 

 at this time ; so in order to economise space I obtained some 

 cutting-boxes, which are 3 feet long by 14 inches wide, and 

 4 inches deep. These I half-filled with a rich compost of loam 

 and dang. The Beans were then laid in the boxes about 

 2 inches apart, and covered over until the box were nearly full. 

 They were then watered and placed in a Pine stove. They 

 are now bearing an excellent crop of pods, quite equal in every 

 way to any we have had in pots, and the space saved is con- 

 siderable." 



For several seasons the supply of Vegetables has not 



been so limited as during the present spring. Complaints of 

 scarcity reach us from various districts. In by far the greater 

 majority of gardens the deficiency alluded to was quite un- 

 preventable. The hot and dry summer prevented the Brassica 

 crops from making anything like their usual growth. Winter 

 Spinach was unable to resist the continued downpour of the 

 autumn and early winter months, and the protracted cold of 

 spring has prevented such crops as Cabbages and Asparagus 

 from advancing for early use. When we reflect that vegetables 

 are frequently scarce during April and May, it is a little sur- 

 prising that Seakale is not more largely grown on the simple 

 plan adopted in the London market gardens, and detailed last 

 week by our Fulham correspondent. This crop is so easily 

 grown and so serviceable, that we direct attention to the letter 

 on page 343, while there is yet time for the practice mentioned 

 being carried out to any extent desired. 



A 6TEIKIN0 example of the advantages of a low tem- 



peeatube fob Masdevallias was pointed out to ns the other 

 day by Mr. Ollerhead. Three plants of M. Harryana are now 

 suspended in a cool Orchid house, and are just expanding their 

 flowers. By far the best plant of the three — the best in foliage 

 and having the finest and the brightest flowers — is the one 

 which has been grown with a night temperature of 45' to 40°, 

 the others which have had a minimum temperature of 55° 

 being wiry in comparison. Masdevallias are distinct and 

 beautiful Orchids, and may be grown better without highly 

 heated structures than with them. Their cultivation on that 

 account should be largely increased. In the nurseries of 

 Mesers. Veitch and Mr. Williams thousands of Masdevallias 

 are growing under " greenhouse treatment." 



Thb cuckoo was heard at Daventry on the 12th inst. 



FRUIT-TREE CULTURE.— No. 2. 



EXTENSION vSESns EE3TBI0TION. 



Plum and other stone fruits differ from Apples and Fears in 

 forming fruit buds upon the current year's growths as well as 

 upon older spurs. Except for the Cherry no dwarfing stock is 

 necessary, the Plum, Apricot, Peach, and Nectarine upon the 

 Plum stock being provided for, the Plum in all its varieties 

 being surface-rooting, by which the cultivator is enabled to 

 have fruitful trees under the utmost limit of restriction. I{ 

 there ie any fault to be found with the Plum as a stock it is 

 that of supplying nutrition in excess of what is required, the 

 food supplied being more than the foliage can appropriate, 

 giving rise to extravasated sap, particularly when the atmo- 

 sphere is cold : hence I do not wonder at Mr. Taylor encourag- 

 ing a sucker or two, which, however, is unnecessary when sappy 

 unripe growth is checked by lifting. With kinds free in growth 



