442 



JODRNAli OF HOKTICULTUBB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ Jane 14, 1877. 



Donald was first, but they were not so fine as they are nsnally 

 ehowD. 



Orchids were shown more numerously than usual, some good 

 collections being exhibited. Mr. Douglas was first for six ; Mr. 

 Men-ett, gardener to R. B. Ashby, Esq., taking the same position 

 for three. In the collections were fine specimens of Masdevallia 

 Harryann, Dendrobium thyrsiflorum, the Fox-brush Al.-rides, 

 Cattleya Mendelii, and a Dendrobium Pierardi with three spikes 

 4 feet in length. 



Mr. Donald was first for six Ferns, and Mr. Donglaa first tor 

 four, very fine specimens being exhibited in each of the classes. 

 Davallia Mooreaua, Dicksonia squarrosa, and D. antarctica were 

 very fine. Mr. Donald showed some excellent fancy Pelar- 

 goniums and gained the first prize. He also gained a first prize 

 for Fuchsias. They were trained to single stems, and the shoots 

 were hanging down in a graceful manner and were well fur- 

 nished with fine flowers. Mr. Lane, gardener to Gen. Fytche, 

 Pyrgo Park, Romford, was first for six foliage plants. Anthu- 

 rium crystallinum, Sarracenia flava major, and Cocos Wed- 

 delliana were very fine. Calceolarias made a very effective 

 display. Mr. T. Foster, gardener to R. Johnson, Esq., Waltham- 

 stow, had the best six ; they were very well flowered and neatly 

 trained. Mr. Douglas had the best six Palms, and Mr. Pierce, 

 gardener to Miss Barclay, Walthamstow, the best Coleuses. 



Mr. B. S. Williams of HoUoway exhibited a fine group of stove 

 and greenhouse plants, including some new species — Hydrangea 

 Thomas Hogg, Odontoglossum njevinm majus, Harrison's new 

 Musk, Bertolonia Van Houttei, &c. 



Mr. Douglas had the best white Grapes, and Mr. Bones, 

 Havering, the best black. Mr. Eraser of the Lea Bridge Boad 

 Nurseries contributed new French Pelargoniums and a basket 

 of Gloxinias. The dinner-table designs were better than usual. 

 Mrs. Abbott of Wanatead had the best three in the ladies' class, 

 and Mr. Soder, gardener to O. Hanbury, Esq., the best in the 

 gardeners' class. Mr. Monk, gardener to W. Fowler, Esq., 

 Leytonstone, had a first prize for a hand bouquet, also for three 

 button-hole bouquets. 



CULTIVATED MEADOW-SWEET. 



I SEND for publication in the Journal of Horticulture the 

 following copy of a letter which I have received from John 

 Ferme, Esq., an East Lothian eminent veteran horticulturist. 

 — William Goreie. 



" One day, more than a twelvemonth ago, when you paid me 

 a visit, on noticing the Spirrea (Hoteia) japonica in bloom, 

 you observed that if the common Meadow-sweet, or Queen of 

 the Meadow (Spir.'ea Ulmaria), was treated in a similar man- 

 ner it would form a very desirable addition to that class of 

 Bpring-flowering plants. Proceeding on your hint, I took up 

 Bome roots of it from a ditch, which having been forced in a 

 greenhouse, are now in full bloom in my lobby, where they are 

 both ornamental and give forth a delightful fragrance. — 

 John Fehme, Haddinijlon." 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



We have received the schedule of the Geeat Summer Exhi- 

 bition which is to be held at South Kensington on the 10th 

 inst., on the occasion of the visit of H.K.H. the Prince and 

 Princess of Wales. It is well arranged, classes being pro- 

 vided for all kinds of plants in season, also for fruit and vege- 

 tables. There are twenty-four classes for amateurs and as 

 many for nurserymen and the trade. Gold, silver-gilt, silver, 

 and bronze medals are provided, or money value in lieu thereof 

 will be given if desired, and twelve silver cups besides good 

 money prizes are offered by Mr. William Bull. The Show will 

 be held in the large tent. The annual Exhibition of the 

 Pelargonium Society will also be hold at the same time. A 

 very extensive display is anticipated. The medaU awarded at 

 the Exhibition of May 2nd, on the occasion of the Queen's 

 visit, will be presented on June i9th. 



At a General Meeting of the Royal Horticultural So- 

 ciety held on the 5th inst., the following candidates were duly 

 elected Fellows or tue Society — viz., E. S. Culbertson, Mrs. 

 Danney, Miss Davenport, Countess de Salie, Charles T. Deltier, 

 Colonel Fielden, Mrs. Godman, E. G. Johnson, Major Charles 

 Milligan, Sir William Muir, K.C.S.I., Stephen Soames. A list 

 of eight guinea members elected by the Council was also an- 

 nounced ; and the Durham, Northumberland, and Newcastle- 

 on-Tyne Horticultural Society, Leeds Horticultural Society, 

 Wbitwick Horticultural Society, and Weston-super-Mare and 

 East Somerset Horticultural Society were admitted into 

 nnion. 



A Committee Meeting of the National Eose Society 



has been held at the rooms of the Horticultural Club, when the 

 arrangements were completed for the grand Show to be held 

 on the 4th of July. Judges were appointed and all details 

 settled, and strong anticipations of a very successful meeting 

 were entertained. Forms of entry will be distributed this week ; 

 and if the present fine weather continues Roses will be in good 

 bloom by the day of the Show. 



We have received from Messrs. James Garaway & Co., 



The Nurseries, Clifton, Bristol, a spike of Mignonette which 

 is very robust and highly fragrant. It resembles Mr. Miles's 

 variety in having very large and nearly white flowers. It is 

 very good. 



The last meeting of the Hoeticultokal Cltib was the 



most numerously attended of any that have yet been held, 

 and had the additional feature of the presence of some foreign 

 horticulturists. A most pleasant evening was spent, and much 

 interesting information elicited. Messrs. Alfred Weeks of 

 Chelsea and J. Ashby of Bagshot were elected members. 



Lord Ilchestek's garden at Abbotsbury, is, we are 



informed, now gay with a wonderful display of flowerikg 

 SHRUBS, of which there is a great collection. There is also a 

 swannery consisting of 1200 old swans and 700 cygnets. The 

 place is beautifully situated and well sheltered. 



An eminent florist has written as follows on Eanoncu- 



luses and Carnations :—" I do not plant my Ranunculuses 

 till well towards Auricula bloom. This year I planted them 

 towards the end of April, and they are now very fine. It is 

 the long stagnation in cold soil that is so injurious to the fine 

 sorts ; I plant therefore when the soil is warmed enough to send 

 them on at once. If the tubers are wetted overnight before 

 planting they will not be found so very small and brittle. 

 In regard to Carnations and Piootees twenty-five petals are 

 quite enough if they are petals, but I doubt if the area of forty- 

 seven petals in one case would equal twenty in another. I do 

 not think that twenty petals of some of the southern flowers 

 would half fill a pod, but that is the fault of the strappiness of 

 the petals. I think that repeating exploded and crude notions 

 of florist flowers does our favourites no good. It is not that 

 such reiterations shake the florists, but the unenlightened 

 public and young growers are thereby perplexed if they see 

 this variance, and misled if they do not." 



■ ■ We have received further letters in reference to the 



Crystal Palace Aoricdla Show, but it would serve no useful pur- 

 pose to publish them. When " D., Deal," said " seven exhibi- 

 tors competed " he of course alluded exclusively to Auriculas. 

 He subsequently mentioned Polyanthuses in his critique on page 

 332, but the " seven exhibitors" obviously referred to Auriculas 

 only, and every letter which we have received (except those 

 from Mr. Dodwell) proves that the matter was so understood. 

 When Mr. Dodwell retorted that he " paid prize money to 

 eleven," that was misleading as applied to Auriculas. That it 

 was intentionally misleading no one has suggested. Mr. Dod- 

 well included Polyanthuses, and to these the numbers, as the 

 public understood the question, did not apply. It was simply 

 a mistake. Mr. Dodwell has subsequently proved on page 401 

 that "awards were made" to eight exhibitors of Auriculas 

 (Mr. Dean not having received " prize money," but a certifi- 

 cate), and four to Polyanthuses. In that he is correct ; so that 

 the total number of exhibitors to whom awards were made 

 were twelve instead of eleven, and the number of exhibitors of 

 Auriculas were eight instead of seven. Therefore the formid- 

 able mistake has been made of erring as to one exhibitor ! Is 

 it not a trivial matter to dispute about ? 



We record the death, which we regret to hear of, of 



the Right Hon. R. A. C. Niseet-Hamilton, because he was a 

 patron and promoter of horticulture. His garden at Archer- 

 field enabled Mr. David Thomson to carry out the practice 

 which he has detailed in his handy book of the flower garden. 

 Fruit culture, both by Mr. Thomson and subsequently by Mr. 

 Kettles, was also well and extensively engaged in at Archer- 

 field. At Bloxholm Hall, Mr. Hamilton's Lincolnshire resi- 

 dence, Mr. Lumsden has long been celebrated for high-class 

 vegetable and hardy fruit culture. Both these places have 

 been figured in these columns, and we have had the best 

 means of knowing how anxious Mr. Hamilton was that his 

 gardens should be well kept, and to that end he engaged good 

 men and provided them with the means of doing credit to 

 themselves and the craft which they represented. 



" An Amateur" writes as follows from Clifton, near 



