Jane 5, 18G6. ] 



JODBNAL OP HORTICULTUEE AKD COTTAGE GABDENER. 



419 



slips, and when bound together is used for brooms, and by the 

 natives for many other purposes ; whilst the inside, which 

 greatly resembles the inside of the common Rattan, though of 

 much looser and softer fibre, is ripped into slips, and sewn to- 

 gether by the natives to form mats, which they use for build- 

 ing their huts. They are also used by Europeans, as I have 

 mentioned above, for rooting or housing-in their ships, like- 

 wise for dunnage and various other purposes. — A Suuoeon. 



NEW ZEiVLAND "\"EGETATION. 



A GABDENEit residing amongst us here has been on a 

 botanical excursion to our West Coast gold fields. He has 

 just returned, and brought with him a collection of native 

 Ferns and other specimens of plants. I send you what he 

 wrote in one of our local newspapers : — " A portion of them 

 are intended to be cultivated here, and the remainder to be 

 transmitted to England in Wardiau cases. Some of them are 

 of great beauty, and comprise many specimens not hitherto 

 classed in any botanical work on the Flora of the colony." 



He describes the Mosses found on the West Coast soil as 

 being of a very curious and interesting character — " many of 

 the trees in the bush being so enveloped by pendent Moss, that 

 it is difficult even for a practised eye to distinguish their 

 species." I had the pleasure of seeing some of his specimens 

 in a dried state at our late horticultural show, but I am not 

 able to pronounce much about them; still, if they are really 

 new, they will be a great acquisition for those who love Fern- 

 growing. When they arrive in England, either diy or alive, 

 no doubt we shall soon find out their real worth, and whether 

 they have hitherto been " classed " in any botanical work before. 

 I am sure that it is a fine (new) field now open for a collector 

 from England. — William Swale, Canterbury, New Zealand. 



THE INTERNATIONAL HORTICULTUR.VL 

 EXHIBITION. 



On the evening of May 31st this most splendid Exhibition 

 closed, and we visited it during its last day ; but we regret 

 that we did so, for it was like hstening to a harp from which 

 some of the strings were away and others out of tune — the 

 harmony was gone. Though the " banquet-hall " was not 

 quite deserted, yet many were the " garlands dead." None of 

 onr " friends linked together " were there ; and the few visitors 

 adjourned at intervals into the Boyal Horticultural Society's 

 garden, and ate bread and cheese out of pocket-handkerchiefs, 

 and drank cold toddy out of green-glass medicine-bottles. 

 There was no intense absorbing interest in the plants as during 

 the first days. Roses were faded ; Oranges were fallen ; the 

 graceful Dacrydiiun was eihausted ; the Pelargonium flowers 

 were scattered, and so were those of the smaller Azaleas. The 

 Caladiums were curled up, and some, as C. argyrites, dead ; 

 the AmaryUises were bron-ned ; the Orchids were nearly all 

 carried home ; and other plants were set wide and poverty-like 

 apart to fill up vacancies. 



Yet by far the larger portion of the plants were in full 

 vigour. Tlie larger Azaleas looked as bright as they did on 

 the first morning ; the Rhododendrons were more striking, for 

 their noble heads of flowers were fully expanded ; and the 

 water at the foot of the rockwork was quite clear, evidencing 

 that its turbidity at first was occasioned by the cement lining 

 the basins being then unhardened. 



It savours of cynicism to dwell as we have upon the unavoid- 

 able falling away of the beauty dependant upon short-lived 

 flowers ; but not a shade of ill will actuates our remarks — they 

 arose simply from regret that there should be any weakening 

 of the memories of that bright and graceful Exhibition, now a 

 thing of the past. It was indeed a most brilliant and most 

 successful concentration of gardeners' achievements ; and in 

 .years to come, when a similar Exhibition is secured, it will be 

 sufficient praise if truth is in the decision, " This equals the 

 Exhibition of 18GG." 



One of the woodcuts which accompany our pages to-day re- 

 presents a portion of tlie Exhibition which was decidedly the 

 most attractive. Its foreground was occupied by the marvellous 

 Azaleas from Mr. Turner's nursery — marvellous not only on 

 account of their size, but of their skilful cultivation ; and 

 this foreground, flanked by the elevations crowned with tro- 

 pical vegetation, by the rockwork and its Ferns, freshened and 

 enMvened by the cascades, combined in one view fragments of 

 each picturesque feature of the Exhibition. 



The other woodcut affords a specimen of each of Mr. March's 

 table decorations— the larger bemg one of the three for the 

 dmiug-room, and the other of the three for the drawing-room. 

 Such ornaments for the diuing-table are confessedly the most 

 difficult arrangements that taste has to achieve. If very dwarf 

 they are insignificant, except to the guests beside them ; if of 

 medium height, and closely ornamented with flowers and foliage, 

 they mtercept all ris-a-vis communication, and destroy the 

 effect which ought to be produced by the tout cuaemhlc of the 

 table. If tall, so that a portion of the floral decoration is above 

 the heads of the guests, and the remainder on the level of 

 the table, the effect of those 6e|)arated portions of decoration 

 IS extraordinarily weakened. Mr. T. C. March's designs, we 

 think, avoid all these defects. Though of medium height, the 

 upper part is of a form not to obstruct the eye of the guest in 

 any direction, yet the floral decoration is sufficiently raised to 

 entirely rescue it from being considered insignificant even by 

 the guests most distant from it. 



The DiNNEii-TAiiLE Decoiution had on the centre device 

 blue and white Iris and double Narcissus, foUage of the same, 

 and a few Ferns and variegated leaves in character. The 

 border had small plants of Lily of the Valley and of Ferns, 

 intermixed with Ivy. The tu-u side devices, rather smaller 

 than the centre, bore crimson and rose Rhododendrons, with 

 buds and foliage of the same ; a few variegated leaves ; Vir- 

 ginian Creeper leaves round the top border, and some Maiden- 

 hair Fern. 



The frame of each of the devices, or epergnes, was of solid 

 glass, and rested on a plateau of silvered glass ornamented 

 with glass chain work, and there were three corresponding 

 chains of glass from the top to the base. 



The specimens shown were intended for a large banquet or 

 buffet. The proportions would require to be reduced for an 

 ordinary dinner table. 



The dinner-table decoration exhibited by Mrs. Lermitte, of 

 Finchley, to which the first prize was awarded, consisted of 

 three cu-cles of looking-glass, having an edging of Ferns, Ly- 

 copods, and a few flowers interspersed, with a few taller fronds, 

 and pieces of the white-variegated Cyperus alteruifolius, stand- 

 ing above the rest, or hanging over the glass. The central 

 glass, which was the largest, was arched over with white coral, 

 partially concealed by fronds of Adiantums and Golden Fern. 

 Altogether this was a tasteful and elegant arrangement, which 

 did the exhibitor much credit. 



The DiiAwiNG-RooM Decou-ition from Mr. March had for its 

 flowers Lily of the Valley only, with the exception of a purple 

 Lielia, with three blooms, in the centre, a few variegated stove 

 plant leaves, and Japanese Honeysuckle twining up the stem. 

 There was a glass rod in the centre, to which were attached 

 three light glass chains, and the glass dish supporting the rod 

 was placed upon a silvered glass plateau encircled with crystal 

 beads. 



The Bouquets had one marked superiority over those ex- 

 hibited in preWous years — they were of moderate size, the 

 largest were not much more than 6 inches in diameter. Last 

 year they were full 9 inches in diameter, and appeared a cum- 

 brance rather than a decoration to the bearer. In form, too, 

 we marked an improvement. They were all more tending to 

 the pyramidal, whereas formerly the object seemed to be to 

 form a huge disc, more fitted to fill a tazza than to be held in 

 the hands. 



One departure from good taste, however, still prevailed, and 

 admits of no defence — namely, bordering bouquets with blonde 

 lace and vanJyked paper. It is an offensive mingUng of the 

 uatmal and artificial. If a fi'inge to a bouquet is needed it 

 should be slight, and of the Maiden-hair or other dehcately- 

 fronded Fern. 



The Bride's Bouquet, exhibited the first day by Mr. Lucking, 

 which won the first prize, was composed of Orange blossom, 

 Stephanotis, Gardenie-s, white Roses, Lilies of the Valley, 

 white Azaleas, white Primulas, Maiden-hair Fern, and Myrtle. 

 This had faded by the second morning, and was replaced by a 

 bouquet, the first row of which was of white Primulas, the 

 second of white Geranium, the third of Orange blossoms, the 

 fourth of Stephanotis, the pyramid completed by sprays of 

 Lily of the Valley. 



A \T.BV competent judge has furnished us with the following 

 notes : — 



" I confess being somewhat disappointed in the collection of 

 decorative objects, as a whole, that were entered for competition 

 at the late International Horticultural Show. Certainly there 



