May 21, 1674. ) 



JOUBNAL OF HOETIODLTUKB AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



■105 



the liirge groups of line-ioHaged plauta, and to Mr. Alexis 

 Dallii're, of Ghent, the Eshihitiou is indebted for much assist- 

 ance in this respect. Mr. Dallirre had no less than forty speci- 

 men plants, some of them of large size, which must have been 

 conveyed at great cost from such a distance. Another good col- 

 lection came from M. Eiviire, Director of the Experimental 

 Garden of Hamma, in .Ugeria. 



Cactaceu.' were well represented by a splendid collection of 

 large plants exhibited by Signer Emmanuale Fenzi, one of the 

 Secretaries of the Exhibition. It consisted of about a hundred 

 plants, all very well grown ; and there was also a good lot from 

 Signer Schepp, of Naples. 



It was to be expected that Oranges and Lemons would be 

 shown, and these were arranged in the small garden outside the 

 building, where they served as a screen from the street. They 

 were mainly from the Boboli Garden, and there were some ex- 

 cellent specimens shown by Sig. Conti Fratelli, of whom we 

 have already spoken. Koses in pots appeared in large quantities, 

 bat there was nothing special in their cultivation to call for 

 remark, except that they would not have been considered of 

 great merit at any exhibition in England. There was a great 

 lack of what we call " finish " about them, though very well 

 bloomed. 



In a large collection of variegated plants sent by the Munici- 

 pality of the City of Florence we saw nothing but what is already 

 in England. In a house adjoining this group was a fine speci- 

 men of Lepitozamia Peroiiskiauum, exhibited by Conti Angelo 

 e Niccola Papadopoli, of Venice. 



In what may be called Florists' Flowers there was nothing 

 calling for particular attention, unless, from our English point 

 of view, to condemn them. Horticulturists in the south appear 

 to make no pretension to the cultivation of those plants, and the 

 best of them which were exhibited at this (jreat International 

 Show would have stood a poor chance of a prize at any local 

 country show in England. Pelargoniums and Scarlet Geraniums 

 were very poorly grown, and equally poorly shown. There 

 seems to be a great want of taste displayed in the training and 

 setting-up of plants for exhibition, and those objectors to the 

 excessive training and tying-in which is practised on the plants 

 exhibited at our shows in England, if they were to come here 

 would, wo think, be so scared by the opposite extreme that they 

 would gladly fall back upon the much-abused system of our 

 English florists. Pansies were shown in great force, and they 

 were shown well. These seem to be favourites among florists 

 here, for there was an amount of pains bestowed upon their 

 cultivation which we have never seen excelled, if even equalled, 

 by English gardeners. They were not the English prize sorts, 

 with round flowers and measured markings, but what we have 

 seen called the Belgian or Fancy varieties. They were in pots, 

 of coarse, and were strongly grown and carefully trained out, 

 forming fine bushy plants quite a foot or more in height, and 

 covered with bloom. 



There were some good collections of herbaceous and alpine 

 plants, but we expected to have seen them in much better con- 

 dition and much more carefully set up than they were. From 

 the close proximity to the Appenines and the Alps we expected 

 to have seen something far better than we did see ; we expected 

 to see them more numerous, better specimens, and better cul- 

 tivated. There was nothing tidy in the way they were set up, 

 and many of them seemed as if they had recently been taken 

 from their native habitats and put into pots anyhow. We do 

 not wish to be hypercritical on an occasion like this, which is, 

 we believe, the first on which Italy since it became a united 

 kingdom has put forth so great an effort ; but we do think that 

 in a case of this kind, where the material for producing a great 

 attraction was so abundant and so close at hand, some trouble 

 might have been taken to show the rest of Europe Italian native 

 botany in a more attractive and satisfactory form. 



The collections of Terrestrial Orchids was especially interest- 

 ing, and, to those who have few opportunities of seeing them, 

 very instructive, especially those from the Botanic Garden at 

 Pisa, shown by Professor Cai-vel. 



FKDIT. 



Considering the season at which this Exhibition has been 

 held it was not to have been expected that the collection would 

 be either extensive or attractive, and yet, notwithstanding this 

 disadvantage, there was a vei-y respectable show. We little 

 expected to have seen Grapes of 1873 in a state of such ex- 

 cellent preservation, and so good in flavour ; but there were, 

 not a bunch or two only as a curiosity of some particular 

 variety, but baskets full of various sorts, in such quantity as 

 to indicate that there was no difficulty in keeping this fruit till 

 the middle or even the end of May without the aid of water- 

 bottles or any such contrivance. 



The only Italian collection of the fruits of temperate climates 

 was shown by Signer Carlo Gianelli, of Turin, and consisted of 

 twenty dishes of Apples, ten dishes of Pears, and thirteen 

 dishes of Grapes. The Apples were for the most part those 



highly-coloured varieties which are cultivated in warmer 

 climates than ours, and some of which were certainly very 

 beautiful. They were remarkably well kept, and there was not 

 a shrivelled specimen among them. Some were glossy, as if 

 they had been varnished, but we did not find many tho flavour 

 of which had been preserved in such a degree as to render them 

 fit for use according to our judgment. The flesh was fine and 

 delicate, like that of the imported specimens of Newtown 

 Pippin. Among the finest that we tasted were Regina delle 

 Eeinette, or, as we would call it, Queen of the Reinettes. It is a 

 handsome fruit, rich yellow, and speckled with russet. The 

 flesh even at this late season is firm, crisp, very juicy, and very 

 finely flavoured. Reinette rossa pontata is also a very hand- 

 some fruit, somewhat Pearmain-shaped, of a tine deep red, and 

 beautifully dotted with large fawn-coloured dots ; the flavour of 

 this was also excellent. Reinette Rossa di Giaveno is also a very 

 pretty fruit, highly coloured, and speckled with russet dots ; the 

 flesh is firm, juicy, and richly flavoured. This and the Regina 

 delle Reinette were the best of the collection. There was another 

 which ought also to be specially mentioned on account of its 

 excellent keeping qualities. It was called Dette Losna owero del 

 Fulmine, and is flattish, even, and regular in its outline, with a 

 dull red all over it like that of Norfolk Beefing, striped with 

 darker red, and stained on some parts with yellow. The eye ia 

 large and closed, and it is altogether a characteristic fruit. The 

 flesh is very crisp and juicy, and the flavour has a perceptible 

 sweetness which predominates the acidity. The other varieties 

 were Calvilla rosa. Court pendu Chiodo; Verdoni di Fossano, 

 a small ovate and angular fruit, with very firm and rather sweet 

 flesh, and a long keeper; Calvilla rosso Sanguigno di Pinerolo, 

 Court pendu rave di Fossano, Calvilla rosso di Pinerolo, Reinette 

 di Spagna, Calvilla variegate. Court pendu dolce di SanBastiano, 

 Calvilla rosso tardive, Matano, Court pendu Aspro di Susa, 

 Apiola di Burianengo di Gasino, Rugino dolce, a handsome 

 Russet, but rather too sweet ; Reinette di Giachetta di Chio- 

 monte, Apiola piccola (The Lady Apple), Apiola nera, Gract; de 

 Pinerolo, Reinette Grenoble, Reinette de Spagna di SanBastiano, 

 Reinette Liscie di Giaveno, Reinette prata agrinsita, Mela Carlo 

 di finale lungo, which is a variety of Mela Carlo with a long 

 slender stalk. 



There were ten dishes of Pears, but they did mot look so well 

 as the Apples, neither were they. The beat of all was one called 

 Santa Rosa, a variety somewhat resembling the Old Colmar ; it 

 was very deliciously flavoured. If one could be assured that it 

 would ripen as well in England as it does in Italy it would be a 

 valuable introduction, but that ia doubtful, and the probability 

 is that it would take rank with Dr. Bretonneau, Morel, and many 

 others, and instead of being eaten in the dessert would be con- 

 signed to the stewpan. The other varieties shown were the old 

 French variety Lansac, in excellent condition ; Martin Sec, not 

 at aU bad, though coarse ; Bergamotte Buffo, Visbourg di Gia- 

 veno, and St. Germain. 



The most striking feature of this collection waa the Grapea, 

 fresh and excellent in flavour, though not very plump in the 

 berriea. The black varieties were Gambe di Pernice, which is 

 the best of all, and the richest in flavour; Nerano, also good, 

 though not so much so as the former; Salva villano, Uva 

 Grigia di Cumiana. The white varieties were Bianca Verdese, 

 firm, rich, and excellent ; this was so fresh that it might be con- 

 sidered a new fruit ; Verdese di Oliglio, and Verdese di Viarigi, 

 but none of these were equal to tho Bianca Verdese. 



The mode employed by Sig. Gianella in preserving the Grapes 

 in this condition is to wrap the bunches when they are ripe in 

 sheets of paper, laying them in small cases, and packing them 

 in quicklime. It is a very simple process, and one well worth 

 ti-ying in England. There seemed to be no decay in any of the 

 bunchea, and we did not observe a single berry that was even 

 mouldy. 



From Belgium there was a collection of Apples and Pears, 

 but they had siiffered severely by the journey, all of them being 

 more or less damaged. They were exhibited by M. .J. Capenck, 

 of Ghent, and consisted of varieties which are tolerably well 

 known in England 



Australia furnished her contribution most creditably. A fine 

 collection of Apples was sent from the Horticultural Society of 

 Victoria, the beauty of the specimens rivalling the excellent 

 condition in which they arrived. Some, of course, were damaged 

 after so long a voyage, but the greater part of them were as 

 fresh as when gathered. Among them we oliserved some in- 

 correct nomenclature, but this was no doubt attributable to the 

 ticketa, which were not fixed to the fruit, being changed either 

 in unpacking or in setting-up. This is to be regretted, as it 

 would have added to the interest of the collection to have been 

 able to observe the effect which climate has upon our home 

 varieties. We detected some, hov.'ever, although they were in- 

 correctly labelled. One of the finest, if not the very finest, 

 Court-Pendu-Plat we have ever seen was named Newtown 

 Pippin, and the Newtown Pippin itself, sent by J. Smith it Sons, 

 where it was correctly named, was equally beautiful aa a speci- 

 men, excelling even those grown in America. The condition 



