78 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICDLTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ January 22, 1874. 



of the macLuDe will suit the height of the person using it at 

 any anyle. 



KOYAL HORTICULTUBAL SOCIETY. 



Jasuaky 21st. 

 Among the alterations in the new Bchedule of the Society's 

 Shows is the abaudoiimeut of a number of the minor exhibi- 

 tions held in conjunction with the Committee meetings, the 

 subjects broujrht forward at the latter often forming a show of 

 themselves. Unfortunately on this occasion, from whatever 

 cause, there was scarcely anything exhibited; let ns hope that 

 the future meetings will present a greater degree of interest after 

 the Annual General Meeting, when it may be anticipated that 

 the state of ferment in which the Society at present is shall have 

 subsided. 



Fruit Comihttee. — A Smee, Esq., F.R.S., in the chair. There 

 "were very few subjects brought before the Committee. Mr. E. 

 Bennett, gardener to the Marquis of Salisbury, Hatfield, Herts, 

 sent specimens of fruit of Psidium Cattleyanum (Cattley's 

 Guava) ; the plants had been grown in the open air during sum- 

 mer and autumn, and the fruit ripened in a cool vinery. The 

 flavour was very indifferent. He also sent a dish of Early Pro- 

 lific Tomato, which had been grown in a cool vinery ; the fruit 

 was well kept. With these came a dish of pods of Tacsonia Van- 

 Volxemi, which are edible, but the flavour is not agreeable. 

 G. F. Wilson, Esq., of Heatherbank, Weybridge, sent specimens 

 of Newtown Pippin Apple from a pot tree ; the fruit was well 

 coloured, handsome in shape, and of excellent flavour. Messrs. 

 Masters & Kinmout, nurserymen, Canterbury, sent seedling 

 Apple Duchess of Edinburgh. Two dishes of Potatoes were 

 sent by Mr. R. Dean, seedsman, Ealing — viz.. Extra Early Ver- 

 mont and Brownell's Vermont Beauty, two excellent American 

 Borts certificated at Chiswick last year. 



Floeal Committee. — E. B. Postans, Esq., in the chair. 

 Messrs. Standish & Co., Ascot, sent two dozen potfals of Lily 

 of the Valley, excellently bloomed, and for this early season 

 quite notable. From G. F. Wilson, Esq., Heatherbank, Wey- 

 hridge Heath, came a very large-flowered Cineraria, which had 

 no other recommendation beyond its colour. Mr. Denning, 

 gardener to Lord Londesborough, Norbiton, sent Odontoglossum 

 augustatum, by no means remarkable ; the flowers small, pale 

 creamy yellow, spotted with brown, the lip purpUsh at the 

 base. Mr. W. Paul, of Waltham Cross, exhibited two stands 

 of Camellias, in which Lavinia Maggi, Ulaute, Elegans, Don- 

 kelaari, Conspicua, Fimbriata, and Albaplena were conspicuous. 

 From Messrs. Dobson & Sons, Isleworth, came an excellent 

 group of Primula sinensis fimbriata of the red and white- 

 flowered varieties. Mr. E. Dean, EaUng and Bedfont, sent 

 ■white bedding Viola White Swan, grown in a cold frame. This 

 is a seedling from Viola lutea grandiflora, and is stated to be 

 the earliest flowering of all the bedding Violas. A pretty little 

 pan of Primroses was also shown by the same exhibitor, and in 

 this Violet Gem and Rosy Morn were especially pleasing. The 

 only first-class certificate awarded was to Messrs. Veitch for 

 Cypripedium Eoezlii with a yellow slipper, with the sepals and 

 petals veined with purple, giving the flower a lively appearance, 

 ■which will render it a favourite. 



CONTINUANCE OF EUCHAKIS AMAZONICA IN 

 BLOOM. 

 IsyoiirNo. 630of April 24th, 1873, you published an account 

 of the treatment followed here for many years in the cultivation 

 of Eueharis amazonica, and the result as indicated by the 

 period of blooming, showing a total of 314 days out of 3(56 in 

 the previous year. The following is the result of the year just 

 passed : — 



Days in flower, January 31 Days in flower, July 17 



„ February 28 ,, August 27 



„ March 21 „ September 30 



„ April 30 „ October 31 



„ May 31 „ November 30 



,, June 21 „ December 31 



Total— 328 days in flower out of 365. 



— John Savers, Gardener to Tliomas Bcideij, Esq., Mockvillc, 



Blackrocli, Co. Dublin. 



Me. Micholls' Collection of Plants. — We regret to learn 

 that the collection of magnificent specimen stove and green- 

 house plants belonging to H. Micholls, Esq., of Southgate — 

 wh^ch have caused such a sensation wherever exhibited by his 

 highly-skilled gardener, Mr. Thomas Baines, which have been 

 in fact the heroes of a hundred fights — is to be dispersed this 



spring, in consequence of the proprietor being about to remove 

 to a west-end mansion. 



CINEKABIA CULTURE. 



I USUALLY make the first sowing at the beginning of March, 

 and as soon as the seedlings appear they are placed very close 

 to the glass in a cool house. The principal object to be borne 

 in mind is good robust plants. The compost should be fibry 

 loam, silver sand, and old decayed cow dung. Place the cow 

 dung in a shovel over a fire long enough to kill worms, and 

 then powder it up. Never place the seedlings on the north 

 side of a hedge, but plunge the pots in ashes up to the rim in 

 a pit facing the north. They can be successfully grown in a 

 pit facing south, in the full heat of the summer sun, by every 

 morning drawing-ou the hghts, and whitewashing them for 

 shade, and in the evening drawing them off. Cinerarias 

 love the dew during their growth. I use blood diluted with 

 water. No liquid manure that I have ever used has afforded 

 such good results. The plants are liable to be mildewed. To 

 stop it place good-sized lumps of lime, newly burnt, here and 

 there about the pit. 



The Cineraria is one of the best winter-blooming plants when 

 well-grown robust plants are produced. — F. P. Luckhdbst. 



POBTKAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWEBS, 

 FRUITS. 



AND 



Steudneka colocaslifolia. Nat. ord., Aroidese. Linn., 

 MoncEcia Polyandria. — Native of South America. Spathe 

 yellow, throat purplish. " Mr. Bull believes that he received 

 his specimen from Calcutta, but it is certainly not an Indian 

 form. It belongs to Schott's section or tribe of Asterostigmeae, 

 and its allies are for the most part American ; it, however, 

 closely resembles in the form and colouring of the foliage a 

 very ornamental Aroid (Colocasia Jenningsii), which I found 

 in the Khasia mountains. The specimen here figured flowered 

 in Mr. BuU's nursery in May, 1873." — [Ibid., t. 6076.) 



Mesembeyanthemum TEUNc.iTELLUM. Nat. ord., Ficoidese. 

 Linn., Icosandria Di-pentagynia. — Native of South Africa. 

 Flowers yellow. " M. truncatellum was introduced into Kew in 

 1795 by F. Massou, one of the travellers attached to the 

 establishment, and is described as flowering in November j 

 our plant was sent by Principal MacOwan, of Gill College, 

 Somerset East, and flowered in October, 1873 ; it is a very rare 

 species, was unknown to the Prince Sabn Dyck, and is hence 

 not included in his magnificent work ; it has never before been 

 figured."— (Iii(f., r. C077.) 



Bambusa striata. Nat. ord., Graminacea;. Linn., Hexan- 

 dria Monogyuia. — Native of China. The anthers are purple 

 and showy. " The specimen at Kew, sent from the Calcutta 

 Botanic Gardens, is about 6 feet high, but Lindley describes it 

 as attaining 20 feet, which from its habit it may very well be 

 supposed to do. It belongs to Monro's third section of the 

 genus Bambusa, which has a long hairy style, and to which 

 the B. vulgaris and two other species belong. This plant 

 flowered in November last, with Mr. Bull, who kindly sent me 

 the specimen figured ; its anthers stain paper of a lOao colour ;. 

 it has been called B. Fortunei, which 1 take to be a very 

 different plant."— (7fc(rf., t. 6079.) 



Gooseberries LoED Derby and Victory. — " The Gooseberries 

 of the Lancashire growers have long been famed for their 

 great size, but an impression is abroad that they are inferior 

 in quality as dessert fruit. This, however, is a false conclusion, 

 so far as many of the varieties are concerned. We have 

 selected, from a number of sorts obligingly forwarded to us- 

 last season by Mr. C. Leicester, of Compton Eoad, Maccles- 

 field, two varieties, which were certainly quite up to the aver- 

 age as regards the important quality of fiavour, while from 

 their size and beauty they rank amongst the choicer sorts 

 grown for exhibition. Lord Derby is a seedling of Mr. 

 Leicester's, and is as yet new and little known. It is a fine 

 showy fruit of the hairy-red class, bright and telling in colour^ 

 and brisk as well as rich in flavour ; in every way a first-class 

 fruit. ]'ictunj is less novel, but is a first-rate variety amongst 

 the whites. The former has been grown as heavy as 22 dwt. 

 11 grs. ; the latter has reached to 17 dwt. 10 grs." — {Florist and. 

 Fornoloijist, 3 B., vii., 1.) 



The Eoyal Hoeticultubai. Society as it is and as it 

 might be. — This is the title of a pamphlet by G. F. WUBon, 



