Ju3y 23, 1874. 1 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENEK. 



71 



unnamed seedling, -which promises to be a very fine garden 

 Rose, brilliant iu colour, and good in habit. I shall have 

 more to say of these by-and-by, as I have visited them in their 

 own home since the Show. Mr. Turner was a good second, 

 and amongst his exhibits were Miss Poole ; Le Havre, a truly 

 beautiful Rose, brilliant in colour and good in form ; Antoine 

 Dacher, Devienne Lamy, Duchesse de Caylus, Edouard Morren, 

 Ferdinand de Lesseps, Fran(;-oi8 Michelon, Gonural Jacquemi- 

 not, Elie Morel, Marguerite Dombrain, Marquise de Castellane, 

 &a. Mr. Cranston and Mr. Prince were placed equal third. 

 In 48'3 Mr. Turner was first, and Mr. Keynes, who has had to 

 fight under great disadvantages, came second. Ilis blooms 

 wanted size, bat that was not to be wondered at. The classes 

 for new Roses were again disappointing, and no way altered 

 my already expressed opinion that no great harm would be 

 done to cut them out altogether. 



In the classes for amateurs our enthusiastic friend the Rev. 

 .T. B. M. Camm came out with flying colours. He was near at 

 home, and one's only regret was that the great loss sustained 

 by Mr. Baker had not brought these two redoubtable champions 

 into a closer contest. Mr. Camm was first in forty-eights 

 and twenty-fours, and, as xisual, was strong in Teas. Hie 

 blooms of Souvenir d'Elise, Niphetos, Souvenir de Paul Noron, 

 Marcohal Niel, and others are always a sight, and certainly 

 tend greatly to enhance the beauty of his boxes ; but we saw 

 at Birmingham how one exhibitor had lost his chance by too 

 great a predilection for Teas, patting in some blooms, because 

 they were Teas, which had much better been left out. Besides 

 these Mr. Camm had some fine blooms of Alfred Colomb, 

 Baroness Rothschild, John Hopper, Marie Baumann, and 

 other good Hybrid Perpetuals. Mr. Baker came in a very 

 good second in the class for twenty-fours. 



I must not omit a reference to the tent containing the entries 

 for table decorations and vases of cut flowers for two reasons. 

 First, because it gives me an opportunity of endorsing what 

 my friend " C. P. P." said in the last Journal as to the ex- 

 treme into which many have been led, owing to their desire to 

 avoid overcrowding, to make their vases poor, forgetting, too, 

 that as they have to be seen at night, the few flowers on which 

 they do rely then fade into nothing ; and secondly, because I 

 have not seen, taking them all in all, a better collection of 

 stands — far better, let me say, than those I saw at Birming- 

 ham in the following week. Those exhibited by Miss Harris, 

 of SaUsbury, which won the bracelet given by the Sheriff, were 

 excellent ; while the vases of wild flowers were admirably set 

 up. The time was a fortunate one for those who exhibited in 

 the class, as the scarlet Poppy (the only scarlet flower we have 

 except the little Pimpernel) being in flower tended to reUeve 

 that dulness which is too often the characteristic of bouquets 

 of wild flowers. 



I hope the many kind friends with whom I was brought In 

 contact, and to whose numerous invitations I was obliged to 

 give an unwilling No, will let me say how cordially I thank 

 them for the very great kindness, &a., with which I was re- 

 ceived, and to say how greatly I prize that friendship which 

 has been originated, and which will be, I hope, strengthened 

 by our common loyalty and devotion to the queen of flowers. 

 — D., Deal. 



TURNIP CULTURE. 



All gardeners know the importance of having an early crop 

 of this desirable vegetable, but I think few save those who 

 have to grow Turnips know the amount of anxiety attending 

 their cultivation in the early season— that is, from March up 

 to the beginning of July. From that period up to the end of 

 the month, which may be considered a good time to sow the 

 main crops, there is seldom any diflJculty after the plants are 

 fairly started, and if on weU-managed ground a good crop may 

 reasonably be expected. During the early season, however, 

 when the Turnip is most scarce, and often most wanted or 

 called for, there are many things which operate seriously 

 against its growth, and render the condition of the crop very 

 precarious. 



In all my experience I have no recollection of such a peculiar 

 season as the present for the growth of this particular vege- 

 table. My first crop sown at the beginning of March all run 

 to seed, not one fit for use. In other seasons more favourable 

 I had a few dishes, though it is not a crop from which much 

 can be expected, but I have never before been without having 

 sufficient to be considered worth the trouble. My second crop, 

 sown a fortnight later, came up well, and grew fairly till the 



flea attacked the plants, and so ravenously that, notwithstand- 

 ing all so-called remedies, it devoured it, and I only had about 

 four dishes fit for table ; the remainder, though of a fair size 

 for the sort (Early White Datch), were only fit for flavour- 

 ing soups, &a. The next crop, sown the second week in 

 April, consisted of three sorts — Early White Dutch, Early 

 Stone, and White Globe. My object in sowing three sorts 

 was to ascertain if the most vigorous would fare better than 

 the dwarfer sorts under the difficulties that beset them ; the 

 Early Stone being a coarser grower than the White Dutch, 

 and the White Globe much the coarsest of the three, though 

 neither of the two so early as the White Dutch. I am glad to 

 say that this is a better crop. Very few of the White Dutch 

 were fit for use ; they were hard and stringy. The Early 

 Stone produced a number of even-sized Turnips, most of them 

 fleshy and good, though not so large as usual, and the White 

 Globe is the best of all ; although I have had to wait some 

 time longer for them than for either the other sorts, this is 

 the one that pays the best. White Globe and the Early Stono 

 appeared vigorous enough to grow out of the way of the attacks 

 of the flea, but the leaves of the White Dutch were entirely 

 eaten up by this little pest. At one time I almost decided to 

 pull them up, but I thought of what a Scotch gardener once 

 told me when I was serving under him in the kitchen garden — 

 it was about a simUar occurrence. He said, " By no means 

 pull them up. Let this lot stand and save the others ; for if 

 you destroy these the flea will attack the other sort, and we 

 shall be likely to lose all." There was, in my opinion, much 

 truth in that. The Turnip flea has a preference for certain 

 varieties of the plants which it attacks, and so it seems to 

 have for the Early White Dutch Turnip beyond other sorts, so 

 far as I have seen. Can others confirm that ? 



In some gardens with some sorts of soils, light and poor, or 

 heavy and not well cultivated, early Turnips seldom turn out 

 well ; but in gardens situated somewhat low and moist, with a 

 moderately rich weU-oultivated soil, there is less difficulty in 

 getting good early summer Turnips. Such gardens may not 

 be so suitable for the generality of spring crops, but the Turnip 

 likes a cool bottom retaining moisture to a good extent. At 

 Chilstone Park, in Kent, there is a large pond running along 

 the whole of one side of the garden, and this seldom suffers 

 to the extent that others do in a dry spring or summer, 

 because from its situation the bottom, after one gets down 

 to the depth of 3 feet, is always cool and moderately moist. 

 This garden turns out some of the finest spring and summer 

 vegetables I have ever seen, and among them generally some 

 excellent Turnips early iu the season. — Thomas Record. 



NOVELTIES IN THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW. 



The Victoria regia has commenced to flower, and will con- 

 tinue till the end of October. The bud opens between five and 

 six o'clock in the afternoon ; the petals are then pure white, and 

 a delicious perfume is emitted. The flower closes in the 

 morning; and when in the evening it again opens, the petals 

 are tinged with red, and they then become reflexed. The 

 plant is raised from seed every year, and sown about the 1st of 

 January. It flowers iu about twenty-six weeks ; the leaves 

 have then attained a diameter of G feet, and the plant fills a 

 tank 36 feet in diameter. " D'Orbigny says, ' When I reached 



Corrientes the inhabitants informed me that the seed 



is a valuable article of food, and being eaten roasted like 

 Maize it has caused the plant to be called Water-Maize (Mai^ 

 del Agua).' M. Bonpland says the farina is not only superior 

 to that of the Maize, but that it is preferred to the finest Wheat 

 and to the flour of the white Cassava." — {New Garden Guide.) 



Several Yuccas are in flower. Y. recurvifolia, between the 

 New Range and the Palm house, is, perhaps, the most hand- 

 some, partly from the graceful habit of its recurved foliage. 

 The others are near the Temperate house — Y. filamentosa, 

 Y. flaccida, and Y. gloriosa. The different species are of tho 

 greatest value for town planting. 



On the Rockwork, of interest and recently open, are Sedum 

 arboreum, a distinct species apparently unpublished. It is a 

 perennial of erect branching habit ; the leaves aro small and 

 terete, or on the stouter stems shorter and of conicul form ; 

 the flowers are white. Mimulus cardinalis roseus is a pretty 

 variety with rose-coloured flowers. Lilium philadelphicum is 

 a striking species about 1 foot high. The flowers are orange- 

 coloured with dark spots. It has a distinct appearance, from 

 the long claw of the perianth segments. According to Drurn- 

 mond the bulbs are eaten by the Indians. Campanula Zoysii 



