June 17, 18C9. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HOBTICDLTUBB AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



m 



■which, thoof^h bcariut; eoniiiderablo rt'fl'*mbliLnco to tho Orchid family, 

 belongs to tho (tiuno uataral order an Oingor. 



Mr. Wiltjon 8aun Jofh suid an artioie had appeared in tho Gardeners' 

 Chronidt of lust w*;».U, iu whic)» tlio Kditors Bu^'f^cstud takiii;; up the 

 old 8pecit?fl of IVdiirKouinin, with tho view of oliUiiuiiis frofth riici's hy 

 hybridisation and crosR-breediuf* ; uow, as ho had nearly two hnudrod 

 oeglcctcd and rejected kinds, many of which wuru oxtieediufily pi-etty, 

 if any geutk-nuLu were dosirons to make tho expprimont he woaUl bo 



Sbid to f^ivo away an many cuttii.'Rs of species as hi-* stocli wouhl pro- 

 aoo. lio conld not percuivo why fine ttowura uhuuld not bo combinud 

 with elegant and hi^;hly scented foliafjo. 



Major U. Trevor Clarke calhid att**.ntion to tho tjniqno Pelargoniums 

 vbich wero very innrh cultivated at nne time, and of which ho had 

 bron;^ht rnt tloworn to th« ni''«itiu^. Mujur Clarku added that he had 

 BQggesaed that day tho proprioty of giving; a Bmallprizu for huttou-holo 

 bouquets^ to bn couipttcd for at tho next TacKdiiy meeting. The nug- 

 geetion had been adopted, and tliou<^h tho details had not yet been 

 settled, they would bo ^ivcn in tlio ^urdenini? papers next week. He 

 also pointed ont a ftniall collei-tiou of Pelargoniums raised by himBolf, 

 of which tho proKeuitorn were P. capitatnm and thy trno wild African 

 P. qnoroifolinm, not that of the nnrnoru's. Ho likowise exhibited two 

 differently nolonred Howore from a Pelari^ouinm plant which always 

 flports in this way. 



Mr. Bateinau read a brief extra-'t from a noto from Mr. Fortune 

 respecting S(>iriea palmata, before alladed to, and which, like all plants 

 from tho north of JapAu, Mr. Por'nne stated, was perfectly hardy, 

 and, Mr. Bat<Mnau ad^iod. it would bo a pretty companion to Iloteia 

 japoniea. Mr. liateman tlicn gave a leelaret on the genua Masdo- 

 vallia, in which he traced itn botanical relations, its rise into import- 

 attce, till now Heiehenbach consiilerg there are as many as sixty 

 speoios, and gave osamph'S of tlio fautastio fnrms which the flowers 

 Asscme. Tho beauty of the^o was illustrated hy living plants of Mas- 

 derallia coccinea and Veitohiaua, flowered by Messrs. Veitob, and 

 drawings by Mr. Fitch from specimens of others in the Kew herbariom. 

 Mr. Bateman urged nurserymen and botanical oollfctors to search for 

 new species, and to make freeh iraportationa of those already intro- 

 4aced, as, if snocesRfnl, the resnlf, -would be highly remunerative to the 

 explorer, and bencticial to Orchid-growers. 



Mr. Anthony WATEiiKR's Rhodod^ndhon Show. — "Wo have al- 

 ready noticed this tine exhibition, held andi-r tho large tent in the 

 fioyal Hortioultiiral Society'^ Gardens, Sonlh K<'Usiugton, but it vras 

 at too early a period for tho newer and more intere>;ting varieties to be 

 fioen in perfection. Now, however, that many of them ai'e iu full 

 beanty, it may bo useful to notico those which from their colour, size, 

 and profusion of bloom are most desirable. Thesu are : — Mrs. R. Hol- 

 ford, rieh rosy salmou, distinct, aud having Lir^'o fine trusses; Old 

 Port, plum-coloured, very free-flowering ; Mrs. Milner, crimson, also 

 of fine free-flowering babit ; Mrs. John Glutton, tho finest of the white 

 kinds; James Pateraau, large trusses, rosy scarlet ; Caractacus, largo 

 tmsses, purplish ■^rimsoo, very fine ; and Lndy Cl> rmont, rosy scarlet, 

 blotched with black, and of excellent free-Howcring habit. We also 

 xioticed two nnaamed seedlings, one beiu>; lilao with a bloteh of dark 

 a^ots, good truss ; the other, raised from Stella, was a fine bright rose 

 with dark spot'i. 



Of older varieties, Minnie, white tinged with blush, and having a large 

 blotch of orange spots, is an excellent free fl'twering kind, one of the 

 beat of ifg colour. Alarm, too, ia very rou-picnnus, aud should be in 

 erery collection ; its pale pink flowery edged with crim&on being very 

 effective. Firabriatum. piult with a lighter centre, has the edges of 

 tho petals frilled, and is a pleading variety. Conrossum, clear pink 

 with a lighter centre, is beautiful and effective, ur also Bvlsianum and 

 Beaaty of Surrey ; the latter is very hardy and free-flowering, the 

 plants being a mass of bloom. Nit;re&cens, vei-y dark plam, first-rate, 

 bat now Learly over ; Titien ; Vandyke ; ca^rulescens, one of tho cataw- 

 biense varieties; and a large plant of Brayauum 10 feet hii^h, are also 

 worthy of remark. T e ary, besides, a n xmber of seedling?, whieh, 

 thongh unnamed and never intended to bo named, have very good 

 flowers, and are excellent for planting by the sides of drives and in 

 similar positions. 



The exhibition will remain open ab>-mt a fortnight longer if the pre- 

 sent cool weather continue ; bat no time should bo lost in visiting it, 

 for a few hot days now would much mar the beauty of one of the finest 

 Rhododendron shows ever held near London. 



Messbs. Johv Wateree & Sons' Rhododendron Show. — The 

 •xhibitiou of Rhododendrons from tho Bagshot Nursery, in the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens. Regent's Park, is this year as effective as a whole, 

 and as beautiful iu detail, as it was in previous years, forming, in fact, 

 a beautifully-arran^'ed pictm-e, in which the musses of colour are 

 goi^eous without lieing overpowering. Of the newer ki:ids, Tamer- 

 lane is noticeable by its largo trufese.-* of maroon Uokvers with very dark 

 edges, and is a tine late variety ; and Narcissus, rosy scarlet, is very 

 showy. There is also an unnamed rose-colnuved kind with couspicu- 

 ona dark spots, hutno'ytt fully out, whiih looks very promising. Mrs. 

 Williams, pale pink, edged with purplish liluc, is pleasing; so is Mr. 

 Waterer, pink. Helen Waterer, pale rose witli yellow spots, and 

 «dged with rosy crimson, pcoducos, fine, large trusses. Antirrhinum 



is anoUicr new rose-coloured variety with dark spots, but the plant 

 shown of it is small, and it will^ probably, Imi better next vear. Sir 

 William Armstrong, light crimson, is very Iirilliant; but still more so 

 is Mii'liael WatcrtT, whioh has boon noticed in previous reports, and 

 whieh is, undoubtedly, one of tho finest of the crimson scarlet kinds. 

 Admiration, bright rosy crimson, is also a fine mass of bloom, and 

 liajdiacl ia another fino crimson with dark spots. Princess Mary of 

 Cambridge, Joseph Whitworth. aud Minnie, whieh have been noticed 

 iu jjrevious years, maiuUin thuir character us buiug among the ba&t 

 of tho moie recent varioties. 



GRAFTING THE PEAR ON THE WHITETHORN. 



Much utlentioa is being eiven ia eome partH of the west to 

 Rniftint,' the Pear on tho Wliitethorn. Whitetliorn with the 

 EugliaU i^ coiifiued to one i^utci^s of GiHta.'^ii!<» C ONydcauthft; 

 but htre bliuui^t all the fiieuios of Crulajijus are oliisfed as 

 Whitethorns. We have eeuu live diffeieut stoclis imtd alias 

 WLiitothorDB, and yet all haviug dilluront ratios of growth, 

 which will materially alfeut success, as the Pear seems to take 

 freely on all the Cratajgus tribe. The strongest grower of all 

 these Thorns is the OraifBgus coociDes. This ia the western 

 States is most commonly tnown as Wlillc^thorn. It will often 

 make a tree as large as a moderate-bized Plum tree. The next 

 most vigorous is the C. cordata, its most geutral nnnie being 

 Washington White Thorn. Then Cumts 0. tomentoBa, with 

 its numerous varieties, common all over the United States, and 

 known as BUckihurn, Pear Whitethorn, aud some oihers. Tiie 

 C 'Cknpur Hawthorn, Cratregus crus-galli, comes next, and then 

 the English Wii'eihorn, C. oxyacauiha. A beautiful small- 

 growing Thorn, very vigorous in its hhoots, and yet a low, 

 dwarf-grower, is the C. parvifulia. We have not seen the Pear 

 tried on this, but have no doubt of its success, and it would be 

 just the thing for small dwarfs. We have seen it growiug wild 

 abundantly through New Jersey, aud it is, no doubt, plentifoi 

 south and south-west. 



We do not know what will be the (Seot of a general trial of 

 the Thorn for a stock. It is not so easy to raise as the Pear or 

 Quince, and it Iras tho disadvantage t/f being, like the Quince. 

 very liable to attacks from a borer. If it be found to do very 

 well, and bo really desirable as a successful slock, the English 

 Whitethorn, which cuu be impoittd iu large quintities for a 

 small IJgure, might, be the best. We are not sanguine, how- 

 ever, that any stocks yet named will supersede the common 

 Pear and Qaince Btooks. — {Americxn Gardmicr's Mo-nthlij.) 



ROSES IN THE NORTH OF IRELAND— RIDGE 

 MELONS. 



I NEVER remember to have seen Rosea in this part of the 

 country (uortlr of Ireland), look so miserably on June 5'h. We 

 had, as you had, 1 behove, iu Eugland, an unirsually mild 

 muggy winter. In February, consequently, the Hosts were, I 

 may say, in full leaf and covered with floAer buds : then came 

 the most wicked, pinching, biting, blasting spring ever experi- 

 enced, even in this regiou of atrocious Bprings, and shattered 

 skeletons wore what the Ruses turned into. Up to the Ist of 

 June they made no progress whatever. Since that time W8 

 have had nice, soft, genial weather, and 1 see a gieat change. 

 Roses againbt walls have done worse than others planted ill 

 beds. 



I wonder how Mr. Eadcljffe would get on here with our 

 climate. One feels horribly out of temper when he tells us of 

 all the Roses he has now iu flower. Tho only Roses I have in 

 bloom are Charles L^wson, Gloire de D.j .u, and John Hopper, 

 all against walls. (Jharles R.>utllai"d promises to bloom much 

 more abundantly this year than it tiid hist season, when it 

 entirely ran to wood j but I cannot make Charles Lefebvre 

 succeed at all decently, though I give it the very best and rich- 

 est treatment. It has its soil stirred generally every day, is 

 well syringed and watered, aud in fact is lu every wuy petted if 

 not pampered ; it will not grow and will not blow, and will not 

 do anything it ought to do. I deny its claim to the title of 

 premier given it by Mr. Ilidcljlie, at least aa far as this climate 

 is concerned, and place the foifoited crown on Alfred Colomb's 

 head. Well, Ihe lutter deserves it. Alfied is umply grand, 

 without a fault, except that of not bloning very late la the 

 season. Cliiubing Dovoniensis has with me shed all its buds. 

 It was covered with them, but Ihe blighting winds destroyed 

 them, and if. does not as yet prtimise an early crop of successor*. 

 Mareohal Niel is siil! with a hard unyielding kind of buds. I 

 doubt its ever doing very well here out of doors, and its exceseira 



