Jane 5, 1873. ] 



JOtJBNAXi OP HOBTICULTUKE AXD COTTAGE GABDEKEB. 



iol 



E. B. Foster, Esq., liad a fiirat-class certificate for ShowPelar- 

 ^oniams Protector, rose carmine, "white throat, dark-veined 

 top edged with rose ; Blue Boy, lilac blotched with porple, dark 

 top; Constance, soft rose, white throat ; and Dachess, marbled 

 rose, dark top, white throat. Similar awards were made to Mr. 

 Drewry, Bnrton-on-Trent, for Bed Gauntlet; to Mr. Turner, of 

 Slouch, for decorative Pelargonium Sanray and Triomphe de 

 St. Maude, magenta rose, apparently a fine market kind; to 

 Mr. G. Smith for Zonal Adelina Patti, large rose-scarlet, and 

 Fair Eosamond, salmon; to Mr. E. Dean, Ealing, for shrubby 

 Calceolaria Aurora, a very fine free-flowering yellow and brown- 

 ■crimson kind : for Pansy Lothair, violet blue, fine ; to Mr. W. 

 Paul, Waltham Cross, for Pelargonium Miss Farrer; and to 

 Mr. Cole, for Silene pendula compacta, very showy. 



Messrs. E. G. Henderson had certificatesfor Begonia vivicans, 

 Coleus Verschaffelti splendens, and a high commendation for 

 their strain of Mimulus. 



From Messrs. Backhouse, of York, came Odontoglossum 

 Insleayii leopardinum already noticed, which received a first- 

 class certificate ; and a similar award was made to Messrs. Dixon, 

 of Moorgate Street, for a double blue Lobelia, very free-flower- 

 ing, and, we are informed, continuous-flowering as well. Mr. 



I accomplished wife of the Director of Kew, edited and adapted 

 to the system of botany taught in the schools, and practised by 

 the botanists, of Great Britain and America. 



The work consists of two parts, the first being ontlines of 

 organography, anatomy, and physiology; and the second, de- 

 scriptions and illustrations of the orders. It is a large book, 

 consisting of over a thousand quarto pages, but it is so copi- 

 ously and so artistically illustrated a? altogether to remove 

 the charge of ''heaviness " which is too frequently, and often 

 unreasonably, made against the study of botanical works. With 

 such a work as this before him, the student of botany must be 

 ; dull who cannot comprehend the subject, for to any inteUigeut 

 I mind the instruction is so plain, and the iUustrations bo accu- 

 rate, that we cannot suppose there would be any difficulty in 

 acquiring a thorough knowledge of botany. Many of the 

 woodcuts which iUustrate the work will be recognised by those 

 who are familiar with some of the botanical text-books already 

 published, but this merely shows whence the authors of these 

 works have derived their "aid. We have here ooOO illustrations 

 executed in the highest style of wood-engraving, and drawn 



Pestridge, Uxbridge, had also a first-class certificate for Tricolor j by the most skilfol FTench artists, representing' almost every 



form of structure to be found m the vegetable kingdom. We 

 believe there is no organ or arrangement of organs that is not 

 shown in so clear a manner and on such a scale as to make it 

 perfectly intelligible to the most ignorant beginner. We regret 

 it is not in our power to furnish some examples of these iUos- 

 trations. 



To commend such a work as this is snper3uo:is. The names 

 of those concerned in it are the best guarantee f its excellence 

 and utility. Le Maout and Deoaisne as authors, Decaisne, 

 Steinheil, and Biocreux as artists, are its original creators ; 

 and who shall say that in the hands of Dr. and Mrs. Hooker 

 the English edition of this admirable work will be unworthy 

 to rank with its French prototype ? The name of Longman ai 

 once speaks as to the manner in which the work has been pro- 

 duced. We would most gladly have given an extract by way 

 of Ulastrating the nature of the work, but without the illus- 

 trations it would have but little interest. 



Pelargonium Marie Stuart, as did Mr. Perkins, of Leamington., 

 ior Verbena Edward Perkins, with fijie trusses of white flowers 

 having a rose eye. 



BLACK PRINCE AND KING ALFRED PINE 

 APPLES. 



I FiXD, on looking over the article of " J. M. C." at page 350, 

 that he still believes Prince Albert Pine Apple to be distinct 

 from Black Prince and King Alfred. He says the great pecu- 

 liarity of Foden's Black Prince throwing up its long fruiting 

 stem never occurs with the variety which has so long retained 

 the unquestioned name of Prince Albert ; also that he has a 

 strong aversion, for obvious reasons, to the naked stem and 

 invariable minimum produce of the pedestal type. He also 

 cays the finest fruits in every respect are produced by plants 

 which at once show a vigorous formation. This I deny, for it 

 must be adoiitted by all that the exception sometimes overcomes 

 •the rule. Again, he considers the pnrple-tinted leav^ of King 

 Alfred no reliable distinction. I still maintain that Black 

 Prince and King Alfred are as distinct from each other as any 

 two Pine Apple plants that are grown. Had Mr. Joseph Foden 

 been of the same opinion as '• J. M. C," and had as strong 

 an aversion to the naked stem and small formation of the frtiit 

 of the pedestal type, I can assure him that the Black Prince 

 Pine Apple would not have been in existence to-day ; for when 



the parent plant sent up its bold, erect, and ahnost naked . - . 



stem with scarcely any formation of fruit i>erceptible for a P^ny species, and plants of such varied tints, as are comprised 

 time, it was then "thought bv manv that it would be nothing "" *-^^ ^^S^ family, can nevertheless boast of a considerable 

 but a blind show. Mr. Entwisle liimself told my late father ' ^^ increasing number, nearly all of which are plants of a 

 to take the plant out of the pit and throw it on the rubbish- j JiigWy ornamental character. The most prevalent colours of 

 heap. After a little patience the fruit began to expand in every I ^^ genus are red or scarlet, and reddish purple ; there are, 

 way, and it became evident that it would make a noble fruit, ' however, a few species with blue flowers, of which the plant 

 for" it soon gained the ascendancy over all the other plants. °°.!!!. '^SP®^ "^T ^ regarded as the oldest, it not the best. 

 Mr. Entwisle was anxious that the fruit should be shown if 

 possible ; but as it did not ripen in time, it was cut in a green 

 state and sent to the Manchester Exchange for exhibition. It 

 'weighed 10 lbs. 4 ozs., was eighteen and nineteen pips deep, 

 and 24 inches in circumference. 



I hope to have the pleasure of seeing the Prince Albert Pine 

 Apple this season, and of observing if it is anything different 

 ■from the Black Prince. — James Fodes, Gardener, The Laund, 

 Accrington, Lancashire. | 



[The correspondence on this subject may now cease. — Eds.] 



FLO^^VERS FOB OUR BORDERS.— No. 8. 



PESTSTEMOX SPZCIOSUM.— Showy PEXTSTXilox. 



Webe we so tmfortunate as to be compeUed to limit otir col- 

 lection of plants to two genera, we think we should, without 

 hesitation, select for one of these the Pentstemons, and for the 

 other the Salvias. 



The genus Pentstemon, although it scarcelv includes so 



Shododexdbons iT THE Eegext's Paks. — As we have before 

 intimated, Messrs. Lane & Son have tbu year taJien the place 

 of Messrs. Waterer at the Eoyal Botanic Society's Gardens. 

 During the next week the plants will be in full bloom, and »e 

 hope then to report on them in detaU. 



NEW BOOK. 

 Ji Generat Stjstem of Botany, Descriptive and Analytical. 



By Emm. Le itiotn^ and J. Decaisxe. Translated by Mes. 



HoOKEB, and Edited by J. D. Hooker, C.B. Loudon: 



Longmans. 



The title of this book is too long to be quoted at the head 

 of this notice, but its scope and object will be learned from 

 the observation we are about to make. Tiiis " General System 

 of Botany "" is a translation of the " Traite Generale de Bota- 

 nique " of MM. Le Maout and Decaisne, by Mrs. Hooker, the 



The P. speeiosum grows about 2 feet high, and produces its 

 beautiful deep blue flowers daring two or three months of the 

 s umm er ; being generally in blossom by midsummer or soon 

 after, and remaining in flower until the end of August or the be- 

 I ginning of September. It is far less common than it deserves 

 to be, and this is perhaps owing to the fact that it is not 

 strictly speaking a perennial, as is usually supposed, for it 

 ; generally dies at the end of the second flowering season, and 

 I consequently requires to be kept up by seeds or cuttings. The 

 I seeds should be sown as soon as ripe, in pots or pans of sandy 

 j loam, and the yoimg plants, which will soon mate their ap- 

 [ pearance, must be preserved from frost during the succeeding 

 winter in a cold frame. Where this convenience is not at 

 hand, the seedlings most be kept in a window ; when this is 

 impracticable, it will be better to defer sowinj the seeds until 

 the following March, although, in all probability, but a moiety 

 of them wDl then vegetate. When potted-off in the spring, 

 the seedUngs wiU require a rich soil, kept porous by sand or 

 very sandy loam, and it will be advisable to protect them after 

 potting by any available means from the chilling spring 

 frosts. 



At the season when bedding plants are turned out of their 

 winter quarters, the Pentstemon speeiosum may also be planted 

 in the situation where it is designed to bloom the following 

 year: though the plants will take no harm, but rather benefit 

 from being kept in a cold frame nntH autumn, provided they 

 are, as occasion requires, shifted into larger pots and duly 

 supplied with air and water. 



