S90 



JODBNAL OF HORTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



[ May 28, 1868. 



Enfield, was first with a remarkably fine collection, in which were Cy- 

 pripedium caudatum with fifteen flowers, and C. villosum with thir- 

 teen, Ladia grandis couspicuous by its nankeen flowers, Dendrobinm 

 nobile, D. densiflorum album with fine spikes of its white and orange 

 flowers, Eriopsis rntibulbon, Odontoglossum luteo-purpnreum, and 

 O. citrosrauni. Mr. Younp;, who was second, had in his collection the 

 brilliant orangc-scarlet-flowered Epidendrum vitellinnm, some excel- 

 lent Oncidiums, Ai rides, and Odontoglossums. Mr. Peed was third, 

 and Mr. Burnett, ;.^'ardener to W. Terr>', Esi]., Fulhara. fourth. 



New plants were shown in considerable number by Messrs. Veitch, 

 Mr. Bull, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Wimsett, bnt nearly all of them 

 have been noticed in previous reports. First-class certificates were 

 afwarded to Messrs. Veitch for Coleus Saundersii, Scottii, Batemanii, 

 and Bausei ; Alocasia Jenningsii, Dracaena Macleayii with very dark 

 reddish olive leaves, Draemna regina with large leaves margined with 

 pale yellow, Draciena Moorei and Chelsoni, Retinospora filicoides, and 

 Franciscea calycina major. Mr. Bull had similar awards for Cibotium 

 regale, with the stem covered with brownish yellow down like a chiguon, 

 Encephalartos gracilis, and Colens Beauty ; Mr. Williams for Cibotinm 

 spectabile, Zamia Ghellinchii, and Cocos Weddeliana ; and Mr. Wim- 

 sett for Coleus Marshallii. 



Among miscellaneous subjects, Messrs. Carter Ar Co. exhibited at 

 the end of the Palace next the late tropical department a mixed col- 

 lection of plants, consisting of Orchids, stove and greenhouse plants, 

 and various subjects with ornamental foliage, including Echeveria 

 Bangninea with reddish chocolate-coloured leaves, and E. metallica 

 with pinkish mcally-looking foliage. The whole being very neatly 

 arranged, formed a very attractive termination to that end of the 

 Show. Messrs. Paul & Son contributed fine boxfuls of cut Roses ; 

 Mr. Tamer a collection of Roses in pots. Azaleas, and Liliura auratum ; 

 Mr. Bartlett, of Hammersmith, Hoteia japonica, and standard 

 Euchsias ; Messrs. Ponsford, Brixton, a collection of hardy Ferns ; 

 Mrs. Glendinning S: Sons, excellent pans of Anre;ctochils ; Messrs. 

 Walkling, Perkins, Wimsett, F. & A. Smith, Downie & Co., and W. 

 Paul Variegated Zonal Pelargoniums ; Messrs. Downie & Co., and Mr. 

 Bragg, Pansy blooms ; Mr. Gardener, Eatington Park. Stratford-on- 

 Avon, Elruge Nectarines and Royal George Peaches, and Mr. Sclater, 

 gardener to the Earl of Pembroke, three dishes of Cherries. 



ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY'S SHOW. 



May 27th and 28Tn. 



The first Show which this Society has held during the present year 

 opened yesterday, and will be continued to-day. It is our pleasing 

 duty to record, that though a two-days exhibition, and. therefore, 

 some exhibitors who would otherwise have come forward may not 

 have done so, it fully maintains the high reputation which the Society's 

 shows have established in former years. The great exhibition tent 

 presents as usual a lovely scene, in which magnificent flowering 

 plants, bold aud lofty fijie-foliaged plants, and graceful Ferns al- 

 ternately catch the eye. Mr. Turner, of Slougli, sends Azaleas, 

 ■which for their size and perfection have probably never been equalled. 

 These consist of Illustris nova, magnificent, scarlet ; Variegata. Optima, 

 Holforili. rosy puqile ; Gledstanesi, Sir Charles Napier, and Iveryana. 

 From amidst the densely-set flowers which these specimens present, 

 peep forth the light green leaves just often enough to relieve the mass 

 of colour which the flowers present, and to enhance instead of diminish- 

 ing their effect. The same exhibitor sends in a collection of smaller 

 plants, Dnc de Nassau and Juliana, the one bright rosy pur]3le, the 

 other a well-known scarlet, and each very fine. Mrs. Glendinn in g 

 and Sons and others also send fine specimens. 



The Roses furnished by Mr. Turner, Mr. W. Paul, and Messrs. 

 Paul & Sou include plants of Anna Alexieff, Juno, Souvenir d'un 

 Ami, Madame Willermoz, Coupe d'Hube, and Louise Oilier, such as 

 have rarely been seen before. 



Of fine-foliaged plants, Mr. Fairbaim, gardener to the Duke of 

 Northumberland, Siou, has a superb collection, in which we par- 

 licnlarly noticed a very large specimen of the Cocoa Palm (Cocos 

 nucifera) ; and Alocasia metalHca and Anthurium acaule are remark- 

 able for the size and fine condition of their leaves. Mr. Williams has 

 fine collections of ornamental-foliaged plants. Ferns, flowering 

 plants, and all these mixed, and in one of them a Dicksonia antarc- 

 tica, which cannot lie less than 8 feet in height from the ground to the 

 lop of the black trunk, at least 10 inches in diameter, from which 

 spring its graceful fronds. The collections of stove and greenhouse 

 plants in flower are numerous and good. Of Orchids there are several 

 fine collections, especially one from Mr. Wilson, gardener to W. 

 Marshall, Esq., and another from Mr. Gedney, gardener to the Rev. 

 W. Ellis. Pelargoniums, both Show and Fancy, are excellent, and 

 new plants are well represented in collections from Messrs. Veitch and 

 Mr. Bull, besides which there are numerous new florists' flowers. 



REPOTTING THE AURICULA EARLY. 

 To those who have their fresh soil ready for use my recom- 

 mendation is, after the middle of July arrives lose no time in 

 commencing repotting ; get that part of the business finished 

 before July is out. The old notion is that August is quite soon 

 enough to repot, and in my time I have neglected and have 



known others neglect potting till the end of August or begin- 

 ning of September. Now that is the old system, silly as it is old, 

 like many other bygone notions ; practice and common sense 

 teach differently. The Auricula, like many other kinds of 

 plants, 1-equires proper treatment at the proper time ; the 

 benefit of potting early I found out years ago, aud I know other 

 parties who have taken my advice in that matter can testify to 

 its truthfulness. Neglect the plants till the middle and latter 

 end of August, the old mould gets dry and finished up ; the 

 plants suffer ; the fresh fibrous roots, which they ought now to 

 be pushing, are dj'yingoff in consequence ; while if planted early, 

 while vegetation is going on, the new, fresh, and wholesome 

 soil encourages and stimulates, as it were, new life in the 

 plants, and while the growing season is on, they are establish- 

 ing themselves, and being made fit lor declining autumn and 

 coming winter. — John Hepwouth, Uiulden'fidd (in The 

 Gardener). 



VISITS TO GARDENS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE. 



MR. SAMPSON'S NURSERY, NEAR YEOVIL. 



I DO not know, even in the pleasantest parts of the west of 

 England, a more pleasant-looking or prettier-situated town 

 than the town of Yeovil. I had visited it some years ago ; but 

 being in the neighbourhood during my recent visit to Sher- 

 borne, and having heard much of the establishment of Mr. 

 Sampson, especially in its inanufncturiiiri of bedding plants, I 

 determined to drive over and see it; and a charming drive it 

 was, the hilliness of the road, which made it unpleasant to the 

 driver and the horse, making it all the more interesting for 

 those who were driven. The town itself looks clean and 

 thriving, and is situated on rising ground, standing up in the 

 middle of a rich and fertile valley. Mr. Sampson's nursery is 

 situated outside of the town at about a mile distance, while his 

 own residence, where he has some more ground, is further off. 



One is struck in visiting such establishments as these, in 

 what one may, without giving offence, I hope, call out-of-the- 

 way places, with the great increase in the interest in things 

 horticultural that has taken place within the last few years ; 

 and with all the faults of the bedding-out system, great as they 

 are, it must be credited, I think, with a good deal of this. 

 Everybody must do a little like his neighbours — must have his 

 or her bedding Pelargoniums, Verbenas, Calceolarias, itc. ; but 

 everybody has not the means of growing them, and hence 

 must apply to some neighbouring establishment, and very 

 often, indeed, to one afar off for the means of gratifying his 

 taste. So when Mr. Sampson took this nursery there was but 

 one house — that, indeed, a large one — while he has now several, 

 has added a long show house for the purpose of displaying the 

 plants when in bloom, and has myriads of bedding plants in 

 all stages of growth and size ; while in order to enable him to 

 carry out the system he has adopted in full favour, he has 

 secured the valuable services of j\ir. Peter Drummond, one of 

 those enterprising and clever Scotchmen to whom we owe bo 

 much in horticulture. 



This long show house is arranged in a novel and effective 

 manner. The stage on which the plants are placed is not ele- 

 vated, at least not more than a foot from the ground. This 

 platform is made of bricks, and the interior filled in with 

 gravel, ttc. The plants stand on this, are thus kept cool, and 

 are below the level of the eye, and the whole mass of verdure and 

 flowers can thus be seen without any interruption. Azaleas, 

 Camellias, and Cinerarias at the time of my visit had just gone 

 out of bloom, and Calceolarias, Pelargoniums, etc., were just 

 coming in in full force, and would soon make the house lively ; 

 but the bedding-out plants formed the chief feature of the 

 establishment, and to them mainly the old house was allotted, 

 while in a new propagating house their manufacture was still 

 going on. All the newest and best varieties of the various 

 plants used were here to be seen. Immense numbers of Mrs. 

 Pollock made one end of the house gay, and Verbenas of the 

 best and most approved kinds were to be seen in thousands. 

 Mr. Sampson also possesses a very excellent bedding Lobelia, 

 which for size and sturdiness of growth is far superior to any 

 that I have seen, although I have not seen the new Lobelias of 

 this year, about which so much is said — viz., Trentham Blue, &c. 

 Like most of our growers, Mr. Sampson has something to say 

 to variegated Pelargoniums, grows all the best of the tricolored 

 kinds, and is essaying something in the seedling way himself, 

 especially in the gold and bronze section. 



Among the noticeable plants in the houses were three Mr 



