358 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENED, 



I May 27, 1869. 



Rose Dnchesse de MecklenbnrR, having a yellow proand soffnsed with 

 ealmon and pni-ple, peculiar in colour. Messrs. Salter contribnted a 

 collection of ornamental sacculents, in which there were eeveral pretty 

 Sedums and Sempervivnins, also cut flowers of Pyrethrums; and Mr. 

 Ware, of Tottenham, a collection of hardy variegated plants. 



FL0R.4.L Sub-Committee. — Rev. J. Dix in the chair. The certifi- 

 cates awarded at this meeting were as follow : — Messrs. J. Carter and 

 Co. first-clasB certiticate for doable Zonal Pelargonium Marie Lemoine, 

 a bright rosy pink ; and a first-class certificate for double Zonal Pe- 

 largonium Wilhelm Pfitzer, a brilliant scarlet. A basket of nicely 

 arranged cut trusses of doable-flowering Zonal Pelargoniums was exhi- 

 bited by the same firm, and was much admired ; also two seedling Ferns 

 ■ — Gymnogramma Laucbeana giganteaand Gymnogramma Carteriana. 



Mr. Boil received first-class certificates for Acer polymorjihom pal- 

 matifidum ; a delicate Silver Fern, Notbocbliena Candida: Encepha- 

 lartos grandis, Ptychosperma nobilis, Latania rubra, Hyophorbe Ver- 

 fichaffelti, and double Zonal Pelargonium Marie Lemoine. 



Mr. J. Wimsett exhibited some very ]iietty seedling Ivy-leaved Pe- 

 largoniums ; one, AVillsii rosea, very beautiful in form, colour bright 

 rose, a great advance in this section of Pelargoniums. To this a first- 

 class certificate was awarded. 



Messrs. Standish &r Co. had first-class certificates for doable Zonal 

 Pelargoniums Marie Lemoine and ^Vilbelm Pfitzer. Mr. J. Mann, 

 Brentwood, exhibited a large collection of seedling Zonal Pelargoniums 

 of very superior character ; but Lord Derby, one of his seedlings of 

 last year, basso raised the standard of these varieties, that it is almost 

 impossible to surpass that variety, and difficult to equal it in beauty. 

 Two were selected for first-class certificates — viz.. Duchess of Aber- 

 coin, fine form, salmon flower, and Illuminator, bright orange scarlet, 

 a beautifully-formed flower, with petals of great substance. 



Mr. Bye, gardener to J. H. Arkwrigbt, Ksq., was awarded a first- 

 class certificate for seedling Rose Ducbesse de Mecklonborg. Messrs. 

 J. (t C. Lee had a first-class certificate for Pelargonium "Wilhelm 

 Pfitzer. 



Mr. C. Tamer received a first-class certificate for a Show Pelargo- 

 nium Herald, very dark mulberry with white centre ; also for 

 Heroine, a soft rosy-tinted flower with pure white centre ; Fancy 

 Pelargouium Agrippa, alight-coloured flower, and Excelsior; first-class ; 

 also for a new Rose, Monsieur Woolfield, bright flesh colour, very per- 

 fect in form. Messrs. E. G. Henderson received a first-class certi- 

 ficate for double Pelargonium Marie Lemoine. 



Mr. Pearson, Chilwell, sent a very fine collection of seedling Zonal Pe- 

 largoniums, which, unfortunately, were much damaged in their journey 

 to South Kensington ; there were some very promising varieties, and 

 the Committee requested that they should be submitted to them again. 



Mr. W. Paul received a first-class certificate for Silver variegated 

 Zonal Pelargonium Waltham Bride, a neat dwarf-growing plant pro- 

 dncing white flowers. This will be found very useful for bedding and 

 decorative purposes. Also a first-class certificate for a seedling Hybrid 

 Perpetual Rose Princess Christian, pale flesh colour, a great ac- 

 quisition among Perpetuals, and quit* distinct. 



Mr. H. Harman, JDenham, Uxbridge, was awarded a first-class cer- 

 tificate for a large-leaved variegated I\'y-leaf Pelargonium, a very 

 strong grower, very useful for rockwork. Jlessrs. Veitch received first- 

 class certificates for Rhododendron I-ady Rolle, a very fine flower of 

 good form and substance, and delicate tn colour ; Croton Hookeriannm, 

 Dracaena magnifica, Dracieua Chelsoni, Leptopteris Wilksiana, Den- 

 drobium Jamesianum ; and a second-class certificate for Darwinia 

 fimbriata. 



The Variegated Zoxal Pelargokttm Essays. — As stated by 

 Mr. Cannell, of Woolwich, in page 30fi, the sum of £5 was subscribed 

 SB a prize for the best essay on the Variegated Zonal Pelargoniums, 

 vhich it was intended should serve as a basis for discussion at a meet- 

 ing to be held in the Council Room, at South Kensington, at 11 a.m., 

 on the day of the Show. The meeting was not so numerously at- 

 tended as expected, owing, probably, to the exhibitor? having been 

 engaged to a later hour than usual in setting-up their plants, and 

 afterwards in procuring necessary refreshment, and it was not till an 

 hour after the time fixed that the proceedings began. The Rev. J. 

 Dix having been called to the cbair, Mr. Cannell's letters proposing 

 the subscription for the prize, a list of the subscribers, and the names 

 of the adjudicators were read. The adjudicators were Mr. Morris, of 

 Deptford ; Mr. Andrew Henderson, of the "Wellington Nnrseries. St. 

 John's Wood ; and Mr. F. T. Smith, of Dulwich, assisted by the Rev. 

 J. Dix. Seven essays were sent in to them, and that of Mr. Peter 

 Grieve, gardener to the Rev. E. R. Benyon, Culford Hall, whose name 

 is so well known in connection with the subject, was selected for the 

 prize ; but after the selection Mr. Jonathan Smith, of the Jersey 

 National School, sent an essay, which was considered to merit a 

 second prize of £2. Mr. Dix said he had much pleasure in handing 

 over the prize to Mr. Grieve, who, at the request of the meeting, then 

 read his essay; and Mr. Dix having to attend to his duties in con- 

 nection with the Floral Committee, deputed the chairmanship to Dr. 

 Masters, who remarked, in inviting discussion, that anything that 

 would show a definite means of increasing the hardiness of the plants 

 and improve their colours, and the mixtures of these — that would 

 take these matters from the region, of chance to that of certainty, 

 woald be a boon. ' 



Mr. Smith, of Dnlwich, said he had very few remarks to make on 

 Mr. Grieve's essay in a dissenting point of view, but he considered 

 2 feet from the ground to be quite high enough for the stage for the 

 plants ; and to have the plants in the best state for the winter, the 

 last shift should not be later than the first week in August, nor should 

 the pots be large. The sap and colour were then concentrated, and 

 the latter remained unchanged till January. He recommended the 

 plants to be kept moving slowly in a temperature of from 50*^ to 55^ 

 till March, and when growth began to shift not earlier than the end 

 of February, or better the first or second week in March. The shifts 

 might be large; he would not object to put a cutting in an 8 or 

 10-iuch pot at once, prorided care were used in watering. He would 

 avoid rich soil and rank manure ; all such he had discarded. The 

 best soil was the top spit of turfy soil, laid up for from six to nine 

 months, chopped roughly, and used in a coarse state. With regard to 

 syringing, he considered the safest time to be not the morning, bnt 

 between 3 and -i p.m., when the weather was mild and dull, the sun 

 having a disastrous effect on the wet foliage, and he would use a little 

 fire heat to di-y the leaves. As to the comparative strength of the issue 

 of green-leaved and variegated female parents, the plants from the 

 former were generally, but not always, the stronger ; and those from 

 the latter generally, bat not always, the weaker. As regards future 

 progress, he thought we should be able to obtain yellows yellower, 

 higher-coloured zones, and blacks blacker, but he did not believe that 

 we shonld be able to secure a striped-leaved variety. As an instance, 

 he might state that he had raised one such, but the character was not 

 permanent when he endeavoured to continue it by propagation. He 

 had, moreover, found varieties raised from the same stock extremely 

 variable, and he had at the present time three hundred seedlings equal 

 to Mrs. Pollock which never would come out. He was no advocate of 

 formality of the leaf, although a strong advocate of the circular out- 

 line in florists' flowers ; he would also advocate convexity in the leaf, 

 as the foliage then clothed the plant much better, and dust was more 

 readily washed oflf than when the leaves were concave. 



Mr. Denny remarked that the plants appeared to grow faster and 

 be of better oolour when afforded manure. 



Mr. Smith had an antipathy to the use of manure, and though the 

 growth might be stronger for a time, the plants were shorter-lived. 



The Rev. H. Dombraiu thought the dark-zoned varieties, though 

 exceedingly beantiful in-doors, especially early in spring and antumn, 

 did not do so well out of doors. As regards form, he did not despair 

 of circular leaves ; and as to temperature, he thought that of an inter- 

 mediate house the best. He would not use the knife much, but would 

 prefer to pinch the tops rather than cut. 



Mr. Dennj-, referring to his previous remark as to manure, said he did 

 not mean a very large amount of it. Mr. Dombraiu thought the Bicolors 

 would be more effective oat of doors than the Tricolors, especially the 

 brighter kinds, of which the broad zones became dull. After some 

 conversational remarks by Mr. Laing, Mr. Smith, Mr. Dombrain, Mr. 

 Grieve, and the Chaii-man, in which both Mr. Grieve and Mr. Smith 

 stated that the white-flowered Pelargoniums proved failures as parents 

 of Tricolor varieties, votes of thanks were passed to Mr. Grieve for 

 his essay, and to Mr. Dix and Dr. Masters. 



TYIXG-DOWN YOUNG VINE LATERALS. 



Periups your correspondent, Mr. W. Guildersfield (see 

 page 7'J), and other readers of your Journal, will be interested 

 to learn that I have practically demonstrated his mode of 

 operation to be worthy of general adoption, inasmuch as I have 

 failed to perceive the slightest ill-effect accruing to fruit-bear- 

 ing laterals so operated upon ; and the setting and swelling of 

 the berries are as good as on those not needing such a summary 

 mode of treatment to bring them into subjection. As an in- 

 stance of the limits to which this seemingly barbarous mode 

 may with impunity be indulged in, I may state that at the 

 present time I can show examples in which the lateral was 

 twisted and bent in the superlative degree, resembling an in- 

 verted V, and which apparently has not proved inimical to the 

 proper swelling of the fruit ; hence, I now never scruple to 

 twist a lateral into subjection. 



It may not be irrelevant to remark, that this treatment is 

 diametrically opposed to the doctrine recently promulgated in 

 the pages of your Journal by Mr. J. Simpson, of Wortley. I, 

 however, coincide with his opinion relative to there being no 

 necessity to bend Vine rods to induce an even break, and I 

 recognise it only as a matter of convenience, and never adopt 

 it in our late vinery ; yet the Vines have even broken equally 

 freely from the base to the top of the rods, and of this they 

 afford undoubted evidence this season, although last year's 

 crop of fruit was kept upon them later than usual, the last 

 bunches being cut on the 26th of April, for a large dinner 

 party, and they were nearly as plump and good-flavotued as 

 they were two months previously. 



Allow we also to advert to the bleeding of Vines. If I may 

 judge from my own experience, coupled with that of others, 

 notably that of an experienced local uiuseryman of Barbaiosea 



