November 5, 187-1. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTIGDLTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



399 



handsome ; so is 0. trinraphans, which succeeds with the 

 coolest treatment and plenty of moisture at the roots. Of 

 course 0. crispum was plentiful, and eomo nice epocimens of 

 Masdevallia Hirryana served to light up with its brilliant 

 inflorescense the more sombre colours of the Odontoglossums. 

 M. tovarensis is also a most charming winter- flowering species ; 

 the flowers are of the most delicate transparent white, freely 

 produced ; one and two-flowered. At one time the culture of 

 the coolest section of Odontoglossums and Masdevallias was 

 very imperfectly understood, the temperature in which they 

 were grown being kept too high, and the plants too freely ex- 

 posed to the sun. To grow them well they must be shaded 

 from the sun, and the temperature kept as low as possible 

 during the summer months. No artificial heat is required 

 from early in May until October, unless a frosty night should 

 occur in the interim. In winter the maximum temperature 

 should rise as nearly as possible to 55°, and the minimum be 

 45°. It is not desirable keep to the roots continually in a kind 

 of marsh, but overdryness either at the roots or in the atmo- 

 sphere is more injurious to them. 



Some noble specimens of Palms and Tree Ferns are accom- 

 modated in a large span-roofed stove and a lofty conserva- 

 tory. In the former structure are fine examples of Livistona 

 Jenkinsii, one of the broad-leaved Pan Palms ; there is also 

 a fine example of Seaforthia robusta, synonymous with Areca 

 Baueri; this and Areca Verschaffeltii, of which there is an 

 equally fine specimen, are easily grown, seldom out of con- 

 dition, and withal are the most useful species for general 

 decorative purposes in cultivation, and what is not unimportant 

 for many readers, they can be purchased at a cheap rate. 

 Calamus ovaliformis, C. dealbeatus, and Chamiedorea grami- 

 nifolia are also fine useful Palms. In the large conservatory 

 there is a handsome example of Musa Ensete, two uf the most 

 handsome specimens of Dicksonia squarrosa in the country, 

 their trunks nearly 20 feet high ; Cyathea dealbata, with 

 fronds spreading 20 feet ; and Cyathea Smithii, with an 8-feet 

 stem. A fine specimen of Zamia McKenii sent up a flower 

 spike last year, aud after the singular inflorescence disappeared 

 perfect seeds were produced, which appear to be thoroughly 

 ripened. 



Another long article might be written to describe the flower 

 garden and the choice collection of coniferous trees. On the 

 lawn many of the newest and rarest species are to be found of 

 large size, healthy, aud handsome in shape ; but the whole 

 garden is in excellent keeping, though I had the discomfort of 

 seeing it in the proverbial Scotch mist. With the staff of 

 men Mr. Sorley has at command he certainly produces great 

 results. — J. DouoLAs. 



HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 



I HAVE been more or less conversant with these for forty- 

 eight years. Some of them are prized for their flowers and 

 some for then- foliage. I will name a few that are beautiful, 

 and which I never saw till this season — Yucca filamentosa 

 variegata ; Iris reticulata, the prettiest spring flower I ever 

 saw; and Sempervivum arachnoideum, or Cobweb Houseleek, 

 a great beauty ; this and the Iris took me more by surprise 

 than any hardy plants I ever saw. But the Yucca is very 

 dear — G3s. for the plant I saw. The Y. filamentosa is a pretty 

 plant, and I have known it for forty-eight years. I have two 

 plants of it now, and I admire it for its foliage, and when it 

 blooms it is very showy. I bought a plant this year of Cory- 

 dalis lutea, and it occurs to me that it is far better for bedding 

 out for a variety in a flower garden than the yellow Calceolaria ; 

 it is quite hardy, both flowers and foliage of it are pretty, 

 and it stands sun and rain with impunity. The plant I have 

 has bloomed all summer, and now it has hundreds of trusses 

 of pretty yellow flowers on it, about eight flowers on each 

 stem, and clear of the foliage. It is 1 foot high, and 5 feet 

 in circumference. I saw the plant lately in the gardens at 

 Dalkeith Park, and Mr. Dunn, the gardener, prized it very 

 much. It is a native of England, about old walls. There is 

 one in every respect the same, only the flowers are whitish, I 

 think it will be C. capnoides. I saw it the other day in full 

 flower at the Marquis of Lothian's, Newbattle Abbey. 



If more attention were paid to many of our hardy spring and 

 early-summer-flowering plants and to many of our beautiful 

 shrubs, and we were to abolish to a large extent the masses of 

 blue Lobelia and yellow Calceolaria that are planted in modern 

 flower gardens, I think it would be a step in the right direction. 

 It is quite a disgust to me to see so many yellow Calceolarias, 



&a., in our flower gardens, while many far prettier flowers are 

 not to be seen, such asRollisson's Unique Geranium, Saponaria 

 calabrica, Nemophila insignis, East Lothiau Stocks, Lotus 

 jacobosus. Gladioli, &e. — J. Addison, Ormiston, Tranrnt, N.B. 



KEW BOOK. 



Proverbial Folk-lore. By tlie Author of " Songs of Solace." 

 Dorking : R. J. Clark. London : Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. 

 We never expected to see a book of proverbs printed and 

 published at Dorking. A volume on the good old English fowls 

 which thence derive their name would have been more antici- 

 pated ; yet the volume before us records that the county gives 

 birth to one proverb : " In Surrey is a saying suggestive of the 

 extreme beauty of its hill aud woodland scenery — 

 ' In and ont like a Surrey lauo,' 



while the town of Dorking, of good poultry association, supplies 

 its spirited rifle corps with the denomination of " The Five 

 Claws." 

 The author has discreetly omitted another Surrey proverb, 



" The vale of Holmeadale 

 Was never won, never shall." 



For it never was true if intended to assert it was never con- 

 quered ; but if it means that it shall never be enclosed it is 

 quite true. 



We turned over the leaves of the volume, aud read many of 

 them in search of a reason why it could be sent for notice in 

 our columns, and we came to some proverbs which justify it — 



" A Cherry year 

 A merry year ; 

 A Plum year 

 A ilumb year." 



The author does not appreciate its meaning ; but it is plain to 

 those who know that Cherries are never plentiful except when 

 their blossoms have a genial spring and summer ; and that 

 abundance of Plums causes an increase in the death rate. 

 Another proverb — 



" March winds and April showers 

 Usher in May flowers," 



calls forth this note from the author : " I may be permitted 

 to give a warning against the false hopes which I cannot but 

 think are excited by Dr. Watts when he speaks of the Rose as 

 ' The glory of April and May.' This queen of the flowers 

 can be hardly said to hold her drawing-rooms before June, 

 and our earliest Eose shows are seldom before the last week 

 of that month." Now, we will wager a broad acre of Holmes- 

 dale pasture to a foot's breadth of Brandon sand that that 

 comment reveals the unnamed author of the volume. When 

 we wandered about Deepdene aud along Holmesdale we must 

 have been near his rosery. 



We pass on to a few more quotations — 



" This rule in gardening never forget — 

 Sow dry and plant wet.'' 



That requires in gome years the exercise of one of the virtues 

 enforced by another proverb : " With patience and packing 

 even Medlars are made eatable." 



We have others marked for quotation, but must conclude 

 with this : " Young people used to be admonished that ' the 

 early bird picks up the worm.' They now pertly answer, 

 ' What a fool the early worm was to come out so soon and 

 get picked up.' This, however, is an instance of too hasty 

 generalisation. On inquiry it will be found to have been the 

 late worm, and not the eai'ly — the worm that would ' not go 

 home till morning ' — that got picked up ; which makes our 

 moral still more admhable." 



In his dedication the author justly observes, "Wisdom aud 

 wit are no unworthy yokefellows," and proverbs are illustra- 

 tions of the apothegm. There are said to be twenty thousand 

 recorded European proverbs. We have an old volume before 

 us of more than three hundred pages, with an average of nearly 

 thirty proverbs on each page, and one of them is " Better half 

 an egg than an empty shell," and it applies to the Dorking 

 volume before us. It is small, but its contents are well selected 

 and well arranged. The author's connecting remarks are 

 apposite, terse, and wholesome, and worthy of proverbs which 

 Bacon said are " the genius, wit, and wisdom of a nation." 



KE-W GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS. 

 Of the public gardens belonging to the capital towns of 

 Europe I know none which for beauty and variety comes up to 

 our own Kew. To aU clasEes of society — to rich and poor, to 



