842 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



May 20, 1869- 



to refer to the loss which the Society and horticultarista had sustained 

 in the death of Sir Wentworth Dilkc. 



Mr. Wilson Saunders havin.c! been invited by Mr. Bateman to malte 

 some remarks on the Orchids which were exhibited by his gardener, 

 aaid that one of them with yellow tlowers, thouph so insij^niticant in its 

 appearance, had yet a charm of its own in being one of the sweetest- 

 smelling plants he was acquainted with. I'he Acineta from New 

 Grenada, which also came from his garden, though yellow-tlowered at 

 present, he believed to be merely a variety of A. Hnmboldtii without 

 the spots, and though the flowers were yellow, these, he thought, 

 ■wonld ultimately become of a dingy mahogany colour. He was pleased 

 to see several plants of Agave ; the Agaves were most noble plants, 

 mnch grown on the Continent for pedestals, and there commanded very 

 high prices. There were two under the name of A. applanata, but 

 neither, ho thought, was true. And here he must observe that an 

 error is committed in considering plants to bo of distinct species, 

 because differing in their leaves. There are 1'20 or 130 Agaves con- 

 sidered to be distinct species, but a large number of them are probably 

 mere varieties. Mere variation in the leaves ought not to constitate a 

 species. 



ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY'S SHOW. 



Mat 19th. 



The firat fp-eat Show of this Society commenced to-day, and will be 

 continned to-morrow (Thnrsday). It is indeed a most charming dis- 

 play, and qnite as effective as any exhibition that has been held at 

 the Regent's Park. Very many of the collections are the same as 

 those seen at the Crystal Palace last Saturday, bat their height as well 

 as appearance seems greatly enhanced by the difference in the place 

 of exhibition. The collections of stove and greenhouse plants from 

 Messrs. Glendinning, Williams, and Jackson among nurserymen, and 

 Messrs. Donald, Willde, Ward, Chapman, and Wheeler are excellent. 

 Mr. l*'airbaim, gardener to the Duke of Northumberland, Sion, con- 

 tributes some fine-foliaged plants, as Alocasias and Anthurium acaule, 

 especially worthy of notice. Heaths are well represented in collections 

 from Messrs. Morse, Jackson, Williams. Rhodes, Ward, and Peed. 

 Of Azaleas likewise there is a fine display, though on the whole the 

 specimens are neither so large nor so densely covered with bloom as 

 in previous years. Messrs. Glendinning, Williams, and Turner take 

 the lead for these in the nurserymen's classes, and Mr. Wilkie and 

 Mr. Chapman, gardener to J. Spode, Esq., Hawkesyard Park, among 

 amateurs. 



Of Roses there is a beantiful bank furnished by Mr. Turner, Mr. 

 William Paul, and Messrs. Panl & Sou. Mr. W. Paul also sends an 

 au admirably-bloomed collection. 



Pelargoniums, both Show and Fancy, are excellent. Mr. Ward, 

 who shows the best nine of the former, has a splendid plant of Rose 

 Celestial, 4 feet in diameter ; Caractacus, from the same exhibitor, is 

 also very fine. Mr. Windsor, gardener to J. Ravenhill, Esq., shows 

 the next best collection. Of Fancy lands, Mr. Windsor and Mr. 

 Donald have both admirably-grown plants. 



Orchids are not numerous, and most of them are the same as 

 those shown at the Crystal Palace. Mr. Peed, Mr. Young, Mr. Eck- 

 ford, Mr. Hill, gardener to R. Hanbnry, Esq., The Poles, Ware, and 

 Mr. Ward, are the leading prizetakers ; Mr. Williams and Mr. Bull 

 being first and second in the nurserymen's class for six. 



Messrs. Veitch and Mr. Bull each contribute large groups of new 

 and rare plants ; and Mr. Turner, Messrs. Downie & Co., Messrs. 

 Carter & Co., send new Pelargoniums of various sections, and other 

 plants. Mr. Ware, of Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham, has a beau- 

 tiful semicircle of Alpine plants, most tastefully arranged on one of 

 the sloping banks in the tent. Some Lycopods from Mr. Parsons, 

 gardener to R. Attenborough, Esq., of Acton Green, are also well 

 worthy of notice. 



Unfortunately, a heavy storm of thunder and hail came on just 

 before the Show was opened, but it is to be hoped that the weather 

 on the second day will be such as to encourage that large attendance 

 of visitors which the Exhibition so well deserves. 



PORTRAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND 

 FRUITS. 



AzAXEA LiNE.4EiF0Li.t (Slender-leaved Azalea). Nat. Ord., 

 Ericaceae. Linn., Pentandria Monogynia. — Native of Japan ; 

 introduced by Mr. Staudisb, Eoyal Ascot Nursery. Flowers 

 purplish rose. — (Bot. Mag., t. 57C9.) 



Ckotaljria Cunninghamii (Allan Cunningbaiu's Crotalaria). 

 Nat. Ord., Leguminosfe. inm., DiadelpbiaDeoandria. — Native 

 of the dry regions and almost barren sandy ridges of Central 

 Australia. Flowers yellowish green. — {Ibid., t. 5770.) 



Ekanthemcm Andeksoni (Dr. Anderson's Erantbemum). 

 Nat. On!., Acanthaceo?. iiJin., Diandria Monogynia. — A beauti- 

 ful half-shrubby stove plant, native of India. Flowers white, 

 lower lobe spotted with purple. — (Hid., t. 5771.) 



CALCEOLARi.i Henf.tci (Mr. Anderson-Henry's Calceolaria). 

 Nat. Ord., Scrophulariacea;. Linn., Diandria Monogynia. — 



Native of the Andes o£ Cuenoa. Flowers yellow. — (Ibid., t. 

 5772.) 



Iris sttlosa (Long-styled Iris). Nat. Ord.. Iridaeea\ Linn., 

 Triandria Monogynia. — Native of Algiers, Corfu, and Morea. 

 Flowers fragrant, pale purple, banded with pale yellow, and 

 streaked with dark purple. — (Ibid., t. 5773.) 



C9KDIA r.LAERA (Smooth-leaved Cordia). Nat. Ord., Bora- 

 ginaccip. Linn., Pentandria Monogynia. — A handsome Bra- 

 zilian stove shrub. Flowers snowy white. — {Ibid., I. 5774.) 



New Hardy Azaleas. — " Hardy Azaleas are amongst the 

 sweetest and most brilliant of the flowering American shrubs 

 which render our garden scenes so enchanting in the merry 

 month of May. Forty years ago the original species and their 

 immediate progeny, might be seen yielding their masses of 

 golden and fiery and roseate hue, to lighten the dark masses of 

 evergreen Rhododendrons, with which, then as now, they were 

 commonly associated. After that the Continental cultivators 

 took up the improvement of the Azalea, and the Ghent varie- 

 ties of some twenty years since revived for a while its popu- 

 larity ; but with the onward march of fashion it seems to have 

 been again left in the rear, and for the most part unheeded by 

 the masses, though not uncared for by those who knew its 

 worth. Hence we were not surprised, some two or three years 

 since, on visiting the Knaphill Nurseries, one of the earlier 

 and still one of the most pleasant homes of ' American plants,' 

 to find that the breeding of improved Azaleas had been for 

 some time going on quietly, and that, as a result, a number oi 

 novelties of sterling merit had been obtained. 



" These grand acquisitions, which occur in considerable 

 variety of colouring, are, as we understand, partly the result 

 of a judicious intermixture of sinensis blood, and partly the re- 

 sult of selection and of seeding on from the best varieties. 

 Not only the quality of the flowers but the habit of the plant 

 has been cared for, and in this way have been secured varieties 

 which combine with larger, more brilliant, and better-shaped 

 flowers, a vigour of growth which enables them to develope their 

 blossoms freely. The new sorts have this further recommenda- 

 tion, that instead of blooming early, and having in great 

 measure faded before their associates the Rhododendrons come 

 into flower, they 'oloom contemporaneously with the latter, and 

 it need scarcely be pointed out that their brilliant tints, of 

 orange and red especially, are particularly valuable from the 

 fine contrast they present with the colours familiar amongst 

 Rhododendrons. Their early-blooming habit was in fact one of 

 the chief drawbacks of the primitive Azaleas of our boyhood, 

 and this is now in great measure removed by the introduction 

 of Mr. 'Waterer's new varieties. 



" We may also mention that in the same collection are some 

 wonderfully fine double-flowered varieties. One which we 

 particularly noticed, an exquisite shaded orange, was much 

 brighter and more attractive than the well-known Van Houttci. 



" Nancy Watercr is a charming variety of vigorous growth, 

 producing contemporaneously with its leaves, fine trusses of 

 deep orange-yellow flowers, which are larger and richer-coloured 

 than in any yellow previously obtained, the colouring being 

 most intense in the three upper segments. In this, the flowers 

 are fully 2 inches across, and sweet-scented. Ilcs.Hr Iloldaicaij 

 is a lovely flower, sweet as violets, but scarcely so large as the 

 foregoing, the flowers being about li inch broad, and of a clear, 

 lively rose colour, the upper segment being freely spotted with 

 bright orange." — [Florist and Pomologist, 3 s. ii. 97.) 



THE PORTABLE ORCHARD. 



[Continued fram page 311.) 

 In the third season we shall have a new feature to deal with, 

 for all the eyes on both leader and branches will be inclined to 

 push, and only the terminal buds must be suffered to grow to 

 any length. This calls for more attention during the summer 

 growth than has heretofore been required. The eyes that are to 

 produce the new elongations must point outwards, in order that 

 the branches may tend further from the central leader. Now, if 

 you have but few trees, and wish to bo very careful, you must 

 cut back to the bud above that which is to produce the extension ; 

 and when this extra bud has made half a dozen leaves you must 

 pinch ofi' the end of its shoot. This will cause the next eye to 

 push very vigorously, and when a swelling shows itself at the 

 junction of this shoot with its branch, then you must cut off the 

 extra shoot and the piece of the branch on which it is growing, 

 leaving no snag. The terminal shoots arc sure to grow vigor- 

 ously, and they are the only shoots that are to bo permlttod to 



