Kovember 18, 1869. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



399 



coWection was extensive and fine, and very neatly arranged in cir- 

 calar groups rising from each end to the centre, with larger speci- 

 mens placed between the j^ronps, the marj^ins to the latter cbiellj' con- 

 sisting of plants with variegated foliage. The centre was a group of 

 Hollies, a variegated plant covered with berries occupying the middle, 

 and this was surrounded by dark-leaved lands, and then by dwarf 

 golden-variegated Hollies. Among the plants shown were Osmanthus 

 ilicifolins and the dwarf variegated kind ; green-leaved Aucnbaa, sur- 

 rounded bv the white-variegated Euonymus japonicus latifolius, an 

 extremely hardy plant, having withstood a temperature of 40° below 

 freezing without injury ; Abies Lowii ; Podocarpus coriacea ; Aralia 

 Sieboldii, surrounded by Yucca filamentosa, and the variegated Bam- 

 boo ; Juniperus japouiea albo-variegata, with finely variegated glaucous 

 foliage ; Cupressus Lawsoniana compacta ; Ilex balearica hybrida, a 

 handsome dark-leaved Holly ; Retinospora obtusa, one of the hardiest 

 plants ever introduced from Japan, and a variety of it called nana 

 gracilis, a pretty plant for small gardens ; Taxus coriacea, which stands 

 the winter at Flushing, while the common Yew is injured ; Cryp- 

 tomeria elegans. and Thnjopsis dolabrata. both extremely hardy ; 

 Thnjopsis hetevireus ; and a group of seedling Aucubas, with grafted 

 standards interspersed, the berries for the most part not yet coloured ; 

 fcut a great recommendation of the berry-bearing Aucubas is, that 

 iheir fruit remains beautiful for several months. Ligustrum coria- 

 cenm, which was also shown, deserves especial notice on account of its 

 thick shining leaves, which render it very suitable for cultivation in 

 London, as the soot can be easily washed off. An Abies, provision- 

 ally named Abies japonica, is remarkable for its rapid growth, plants 

 in 3-inch pots this spring having by this time made a growth of up- 

 wards of 2 feet. Messrs. Standish had, besides, in their collection 

 numerous other fine sorts of Conifers belonging to the Abies, Cu- 

 pressus, .Juuiperus, and Retinospora families. 



Prizes were also offered by the Society. Those in Class 2 were for 

 four large-flowered Chrysanthemums in pots. The first prize went to 

 Mr. James, gardener to W. F. Watson, Esq., Isleworth, for plants 

 grown in the shape of inverted coues, and consisting of Lady Taifourd 

 •with fifteen blooms, Mrs. G. Rundle with seventeen, Jardin des Plautes 

 with thirteen, and Empress of lutUa with ten. The blooms were large 

 and fine, especially considering the number allowed to each plant. 

 Mr. Rowe, gardener to Mi-s. Lewis, Roehampton, was second with a 

 splendid specimen of Prince of Wales, Lady Harding, Alma, very fine, 

 and Golden Christine, all plants of large size and admii-ably bloomed. 

 Mr. Forsyth was third. 



Class 3 was for Pompons, and the first prize was taken by Mr. 

 Forsyth with excellent specimens of Bob, Andromeda, Sainte Thais, 

 and Golden Aurore ; Mr. Rowe being second with very large specimens 

 of the Anemone-flowered kinds Mis3 Nightingale, Mr. Astie, Margue- 

 rite de WUdemar, and Antonius. 



Class -4 was for twelve cut blooms, nurserymen. In this Mr. For- 

 syth was first with Princess of Teck, Isabella Bott, General Slade, 

 Princess Beatrice, Mrs. Htale, John Salter. Princess of Wales, Oliver 

 Cromwell, Lady Harding, Rev. J. Dix, &c. 



Class 5 was for the best sis blooms. Here Mr. Rowe was first with 

 very fine examples of Queen of England, .John Salter, Lady Harding, 

 Empress of India, and Jardin des Plantes. Mr. Douglas, Loxford 

 HaU, was second with tine blooms of Mrs. G. Rundle, Prince Alfred, 

 Her Majesty, Rifleman, Princess of Teck, and Prince Alfred. Mr. 

 Berry, Roehampton, was third. Several other good stands were exhi- 

 bited, and Mr. Rowe sent a fine stand of twenty-four, for which he 

 received a special certificate. 



Class 6 was for twelve plants bearing decorative frnit, and of these 

 there was only one exhibitor, Mr. Bull, who had a first prize for well- 

 fruited plants of Rivina lasvis, Ardisia creuulata, Skimmia japonica, 

 and varieties of Solanum capsicastrum. 



Gekeii.1l Meeting.— W. WUson Saunders, Esq., F.R.S., in the 

 chair. After the election of five new Fellows, and the usual announce- 

 ment of awards, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley said that on examining Bon- 

 vardia jasmiuiflora, shown at a previous meeting, with specimens at 

 Kew, it proved to be only a variety of B. longiflora ; also that a Gon- 

 gora from the Bishop of Winchester was Gougora bnfonia of the 

 "Botanical Register." Mr. Berkeley then made some remarks on 

 Picea cephalonica and P. Pinsapo, by "which it appeared that the latter 

 might not be a true species after all, but further evidence on this 

 point, as furnished by specimens from Spain and Africa, was considered 

 desirable. Macadamia temifolia, noticed in our Fruit Committee 

 report, was next mentioned, as well as the branches of the magnificent 

 Dahlia imperialis from Chiswick, where the plant grew as much as 

 12 or 14 feet high, but would not flower unless placed in a warmer 

 temperature than that of the orchard house. The tubers were 

 brought from Cannes by Mr. Bateman. The flowers had been ex- 

 hibited last December, but not in such perfection as on the present 

 occasion. As regards the pretty blue-flowered Coleus barbatus, from 

 Chiswick, it was there named Colons lanuginosns, but the latter is far 

 mora woolly than C. barbatus, which extends from India to Abyssinia. 

 Messrs. Standish 's collection of winter plants was then mentioned as 

 being most praiseworthy, and the hardiness of some of the species 

 it contained referred to. 



The Chairman said that the collection just mentioned was, indeed, 

 a noble one. When he cleared his beds out of doors of their summer 

 occnpants, he filled them with evergreens, which produce a charming 



effect. These plants should be potted when young, and never allowed 

 to become pot-bound ; then when autumn came the pots should be 

 pluuged, or, instead of plunging, after arranging the plants Brake 

 Feru might bo pushed in among the pots, and wt'i'd form a brown 

 fringe round the outside. The tallest plants should be placed in the 

 centre, the shorter at the outsides, and the colours of the foliage could 

 be varied, and Hollies, Skimmias, and other berried plants would give 

 a further variety. Thus a pretty winter garden might easily be made. 

 With regard to a Siphocampylus shown by himself as S. fulgens, he 

 saw its name had been changed to S. Hnmboldtii, but the former was 

 that under which he had received it. Referring then to Dahlia im- 

 perialis, he had had it a year, and it grew with him to a great height, 

 and had to be extended along the house ; but he believed it could be 

 made to flower at a much lower height by grafting. The Myrsiphyl- 

 lum, from his own garden, was pointed out as a most elegant plant at 

 night, though exhibiting no great beauty by day ; also Oncidinm 

 Rogersii, one of the most graceful of the Oncidiums, and as well 

 worthy of cultivation as any. 



The proceedings then closed with the announcement that the next 

 meeting will be held December 21st. 



GROWING CELERY IN BEDS. 



Having, as " J. T." described it (see page 379), a large family 

 to supply out of a small garden, I last year adopted the bed 

 system, aad as an experiment I planted one bed with five rows, 

 and one with four. The result was very satisfactory, but the 

 bed with four rows was decidedly the better, so this year I 

 have planted both beds with four rows in each. I used the 

 Celery from the bed with five rows first, as I certainly found 

 it did not keep so well as the other. The sorts I grew last 

 year were Ivory's Nonsuch, pink, which I consider the best 

 variety for general use as, though it does not grow so large as 

 some kinda, it ha's an excellent flavour. Cole's Defiance Bed, 

 also proved an excellent Celery with me, and it keeps better 

 than Ivery's. I grew the same this year with the addition of 

 Matchless, which seems very solid, but I have not used it at 

 present, so cannot say much about it. 



In April, I make beds 4 feet 6 inches wide, throwing out the 

 soil to the depth of 18 inches, and as I have no convenience 

 for hardening-off bedding plants, of which I this year planted 

 out 2700, I rake and level the beds, placing a little soot or lime 

 at the bottom to keep worms from entering the pots. I then 

 put the bedding plants in, covering up at night with deal 

 shutters which I taka off the Vine borders, and this protection 

 has answered very well. As soon as the bedding plants are 

 taken out, I dig-in about 12 inches of manure, planting the 

 Celery 12 inches apart in the rows, and 10 inches from row to 

 row, care being taken to keep the plants in line, otherwise they 

 are difficult to earth-up. 



The Celery is well watered all the summer, the surface soU 

 well stirred, the weeds kept down, and particular attention 

 paid to removing the suckers. X find it is better to tie the 

 plants up loosely a fortnight before earthing, which I do at the 

 end of August. I then earth-up the half of one bed quite to 

 the leaves, ready to be used in the first week of October. The 

 other half I only partly earth-up, and finish earthing in Sep- 

 tember. The other bed which I require for late use is only 

 earthed-up 9 inches, as I prefer stable litter well packed round 

 and among the tops, as while it blanches it, the litter prevents 

 damping. 



I may add my kitchen garden lies very low, being on the 

 bog, and though I have drained it thoroughly, it is naturally 

 damp. I must also state that for very early use I grow a single 

 row of white and one of red to save the beds. I cannot account 

 for the three inside rows doing so badly with " J. T.," mine 

 being as nearly alike as they can be, and as yet I have not had 

 a bad stalk this season, but I should think much depends on 

 the aspect of the beds ; my beds run from east to west, but ia 

 a wet heavy Ecil I should alter their direction. I write these 

 notes merely to show that good Celery may be grown in beds, 

 though I believe I am the only one who grows it so in this 

 neighbourhood, and during the summer I am frequently asked 

 how to earth it up. — Stephen Castle, Gardener to James 

 McConnel, Esq., Bent Hill, Prestwich. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS AT Messrs. SALTER & SON'S, 

 VERSAILLES NURSERY, HAMMERSMITH. 

 When a flower has attained such perfection of form as the 

 incurved varieties of the Chrysanthemum now exhibit, when 

 almost every possible colour is represented, when it would 

 seem that size can go no farther, it is evident that progresB 



