112 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTXAGE GARDENER. 



[ Angnefc 5, 187S. 



Catly was second; hia box contained amongst other flowers 

 Rev. C. Matthews, Miss Fisher, Ensign, Gem of Roses, and 

 Regular. My own box was third, and was by no means satis- 

 factory. Some of my blooms were not fully out, and 1 have not 

 the slightest idea of how to dress a flower, and if I had the idea 

 I doubt if I could do it. Mr. Douglas was again first in Carna- 

 tions. His flowers were Campauini, Mars, and Guardsman, and 

 I am sorry that I did not take the names ; but in the list given 

 in the Journal in the article on Mr. Turner's nurseries will be 

 found a list of some really good flowers. 



It was amusing to hear the remarks as friend after friend 

 "poked fun" at me. "Ah, 'D.'! you are in your element now." 

 "Ah ! there is a text for you," as an exhibitor stated that in old 

 times they used to give as high a prize for a stand of Carnations 

 and Piootees as for a collection of stove and greenhouse plants. 

 Well, so it is a text. These flowers require great care, time, and 

 expense. They are attractive to many whose means will not 

 allow them to cultivate larger plants, and they have a beauty of 

 their own, evanescent indeed, but still peculiar and attractive, 

 and they ought to have more encouragement than they at present 

 rectire. Should our Metropolitan Floral Society be able to hold 

 on its way I hope that it may be able to give still farther encou- 

 ragement to this lovely tribe. " Ah ! but," someone said, " the 

 flowers are not so good as those of former days." This I utterly 

 deny — they are not only as good but a great deal better; and 

 when the person who said this was brought up in front of Mr. 

 Turner's stand he was fain to "eat his leek" as far as size, 

 smoothness of edge, and delicacy of marking. In Picotees espe- 

 cially — (I am not sure that the improvement is so great in Car- 

 nations) — there is, I believe, vast improvement; but the rules 

 for exhibiting have been greatly relaxed since those days, and I 

 do not see quite how they could be enforced with these larger 

 and fuller flowers. In those days, although they were exhibited 

 on cards, yet the judges used to lift up the flowers, and if when 

 they came out of the cards the pods were slit or the petals hung 

 about the bloom were disqualified ; but now a pod may be burst 

 to the bottom, petals may be "anyhow or nohow," but the 

 magic art of the dresser transforms it. Let John Ball take such 

 a flower and have it for about two minutes, and you would never 

 know the flower to be the same. Petals are pulled out altogether, 

 others twisted into more convenient places, and the flower as- 

 sumes a more symmetrical appearance. It may be a matter of 

 question how far (his is desirable, and indeed the code of honour 

 amongst florists' flowers is, to say the least of it, peculiar. If a 

 man gouges out the eye of a Dahlia he is disqualified, but he 

 may pluck and pull as he likes at a Carnation or a Pink and it 

 is all right. As I do not know how to manipulate one it may be 

 retorted on me that it is the old story of the fox who lost his 

 tail; if I say that I do not at all see that the flower gains in 

 beauty and I am quite sure it deceives the multitude. My 

 stand looked of course untidy besides those wonderfully dressed 

 flowers, but I honestly prefer a well-flUed-up centre, even 

 although it may appear a little confused, to those whose every 

 petal is laid out in order and the centre is nowhere. Indeed, 

 I would re-echo Moore's lines — 



" Lpsbia wears a robe of pold, 



But all F40 tight tbe nymph hath laced her. 



Not a charm of beauty's mould 



Presumes to stay where nature placed it. 



But oh! for me my Nora's Rown 



That floa's as wild as mountain breezes, 



Leaving every beauty free 



To sink or swell as Heaven pleases.'' 



And as X look over the few pots of plants I have I do not think 

 as I examine their blooms, that I should gain much by altering 

 their whole contour. It is the old story of nature versus art. 

 The exhibited bloom is a work of art, the other is nature's pro- 

 duction. 



Let me also bear witness to the attention that these flowers 

 always receive, and let us hope in the brighter days dawning 

 upon us they may resume their former place of consideration. 

 — D., Deal. 



MUSHROOMS IN 1875. 



In your foot-note to " A. R., Bromley," yon say that " the 

 year has been prolific of all species of Fungi. Even in the 

 north of England the markets were supplied largely with the 

 common Mushroom as early as the first week in July." Now, 

 as a native of tho north, and an old Mushroom-gatherer, I 

 fancy you are labouring under some mistake. Last year the 

 districts of the north, comprising Cumberland, Westmoreland, 

 and portions of Lancashire, supplied many tons of Mush- 

 rooms to the principal markets; but this year, so far, I ques- 

 tion whether an aggregate of a dozen measures have been 

 gathered in the three counties. The temperature so far has 

 never been suitable. We have had plenty of showers, but 

 they have not been followed by sufiicient heat to develope good 

 crops of Mushrooms. 



Daring the last week we have had hot weather, and it is 



possible that Mushrooms may spring, but I do not entertain 

 any hope of 1875 being a plentiful year. In my experience I 

 never recollect two good successive years of Mushroom growth, 

 even when the season is favourable. The land appears to need 

 a few years' rest before producing another plentiful crop. A 

 few hints to Mushroom-gatherers may prove useful in prevent- 

 ing accident. Never gather Fungi from a damp marshy place, 

 especially under trees or hedges. They are poisonous. The 

 edible common Mushroom is of a bright salmon colour on the 

 under side in its first growth ; afterwards of a black colour. 

 In this latter stage it is best for making ketchup. The edible 

 Mushroom when broken gives forth a fragrant smell, and has 

 a thick healthy appearance. The poisonous Fungi are flaccid, 

 of a pale sickly colour underneath, and the smell is nauseous. 

 Anyone who has ever experienced the smell of the edible Mush- 

 room can never mistake it for the poisonous one. — Beta, 



[Our note was not founded on mistake, for we saw at Scar- 

 borough and other places near the east coast of Yorkshire 

 Mushrooms in profusion. Every little fruiterer had baskets full 

 on sale, and they were hawked about by women and children 

 every morning. — Eds.] 



KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



August 4th. 



Fruit Committee. — G. F. Wilson, Esq., F.R.S., in the chair. 

 Mr. Miles, The Gardens, Wycombe Abbey, sent two Pines, dis- 

 tinct varieties, for the purpose of showing what is being sold in 

 trade for Charlotte Rothschild. One was true, hafing the 

 cylindrical broad-shouldered fruit, the other similar to a Queen, 

 and especially to the Ripley Queen. It was stated by several 

 members of the Committee that this mistake is very prevalent. 

 Mr. Wbittaker, Crewe Hall, Crewe, sent a seedling Melon — oval, 

 and with a rich yellow-netted skin. The flesh is red, but the 

 flavour was not superior. Mr. Stevens, gardener to G. Simpson, 

 Esq., Wray Park, Reigate, sent a seedling Melon Wray Park 

 Gem, which was quite unripe. Mr. White, gardener to Lord 

 Listowel, Convanmore, sent a Little Heath Melon. Mr. Perkins, 

 The Gardens, Thornham Hall, Eye, sent a Victory of Bath 

 Melon, of good flavour. Mr. Owen, Broughton Gardens, West 

 Derby, sent a brace of seedling Cucumbers, which were much 

 admired, but not an improvement on existing varieties. 



Mr. William Paul sent a dish of Citron des Carmes Pear, and 

 a dish of St. Etienne Plums came from the Society's garden at 

 Chiswick. It is a very early yellow variety, and ripens in the 

 end of July. 



Flokal Committee.— C. Noble, Esq., in the chair. The ap- 

 pearance of the Council-room on this occasion proved that the 

 great Show on the 21st of July was no mere spasmodic effort on 

 the part of the horticulturists, but the first expression of im- 

 provement designed to be permanent. The Exhibition today 

 is but a reflex of the confidence which is now established, and 

 which, we doubt not, will be sustained. Of this the collections 

 of plants from Messrs. James Veitch & Sous, Mr.B. S. Williams, 

 and Mr. Bull are an emphatic augury. Added to these were 

 Roses from Mr. W. Paul, Waltham Cross, and Messrs. Paul and 

 Son, Cheshunt, and Hollyhocks from Mr. Chater, so that the 

 room presented quite a gay appearance. 



The group of plants from Messrs. Veitch comprised a beautiful 

 plant of Adiantum princeps, to which a first-class certificate 

 was awarded. This is a very elegant Fern, somewhat similar 

 but in ail respects superior to A. formosum. A eimilar award 

 was also made to Asplenium ferulaceum, which is one of the 

 most graceful plants of this graceful family. Its fronds are 

 about a foot in length, are beautifully arched, and as fine in the 

 pinnss as are the most delicate Davallias. This is undoubtedly 

 an acquisition and must become a great favourite : it is a native 

 of Columbia. Thoroughly distinct from these, and indeed dis- 

 tinct from others of its genus, is Dracicna Tajlori, a hybrid from 

 D. magnifica and D. Mooreana. It is of robust habit, with 

 broad foliage of a metallic hue, and is altogether a striking 

 variety. It received a first-class certificate. A like award was 

 also made to Dracfona elegantissima, a darkcoloured plant with 

 narrow leaves of sub-erect habit. It is of dwarf growth and 

 elegaut outline, and one of the best of the family for table deco- 

 ration. First-class certificates were also awarded for hybrid 

 Rhododendrons Duchess of Teck and Prince Leopold, tho 

 former being of a soft buff colour, the latter a buff suffused 

 with crimson. Each truss contains about a dozen flowers, in 

 form very similar to Weigelas ; they are a very valuable race, 

 from Lobbii and Princess Royal— the latter ha'ring been raised 

 from D. javanicum and D. jasminiflorum. A species of Also- 

 phila from the Philippine Islands, provisionally named Philippin- 

 ense, had also a first-class certificate awarded. It is a very fine 

 species, the pinnae being twisted, giving it a distinct appearance. 

 Exhibited by the same firm was a distinct form of Pitcher 

 Plant— Nepenthes marginata — the rim of each pitcher being 

 white, the body of a dark brown. Also, taken from the open 



