Beptomber SO, 1875. J 



JOURNAL OF IlOllTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAllDENEB. 



29.i 



bear full snnshine. Palmonaria officinalis is in many gardens, 

 but ought to be iu all. Many years ago I saw this plant on 

 a gravel hill among Nut trees in the month of April, the 

 flowers peeping above the grass in profusion ; I have not seen 

 the like since. Thoy are quite at home in what is termed 

 " wilderness scenery," and are equally adapted for the rockery 

 or any spot in the garden. 



I have had Pulmonaria siberioa and Pulmonaria virginica, 

 but could discover no difference except in the name. The 

 flowers are a dark blue, the leaves a dusky brown ; it is one of 

 the finest border plants we possess. When well established it 

 is a gem of the first water, and makes a capital pot plant ; 

 it is useful for all purposes, and is increased by division, but 

 it requires time to work up a stock. 



P. angustifolia, P. denticnlata, and P. paniculata are desir- 

 able plants when in bloom with their two-coloured flowers, 

 beautiful leaves, dwarf habits, and long continuance in bloom. 

 No plants at the season can be more effective. P. mollis and 

 its white variety deserve far more extensive cultivation than 

 they are at present receiving. P. grandiflora is a fine kind, 

 and is of somewhat taller habit than many of the species. 



A selection from this family are very effective when nicely 

 put together. Some years ago I had a plant called Pulmonaria 

 nepaulense ; I had the same plant under the name of Sym- 

 phytum caucasicum. Such variations of name cause con- 

 fusion. The plant is one of our very best border plants. It 

 grows 2 feet high. The flowers are a pretty blue aud very 

 enduring. It is increased by seed and division after flowering. 

 It should have a place in all collections. — Veritas. 



that there was nothing wrong on that score, especially as when 

 lifting the Grapes off the boards and weighing them they had 

 ample opportunity to inspect them. I regret that any un- 

 pleasantness should have arisen from the great gathering we 

 had at Edinburgh. — John Cnnnon, Eskbaitk. 



LADY S MANTLE. 



In the month of June our fields and lanes are dressed in 

 their gayest attire ; I mean with flowers of various hues, for 

 turn our attention whatever way we may we are compelled to 

 see flowers here, there, and everywhere. What can delight us 

 more than a stroll through the meadows and along our bye- 

 ways in the cool of our summer evenings, especially after a 

 shower, to revive our parched earth, and cheer our senses by 

 the effusion of a thousand sweets ? While we gaze on the 

 many beautiful flowers which deck our pathway, our attention 

 is arrested by a lovely plant at our feet bearing the title at the 

 head of this note. Alchemilla vulgaris is not brilliant in the 

 colour of its flowers, but there is something attracting in its 

 large beautiful leaves, and it might be made available as a 

 border plant. The Alchemillas are but a small family of 

 plants, and having three or four we call ours they become, at 

 least to me, the more interesting. I believe if they were better 

 known we should see them more frequently in our borders 

 and rockeries. These remarks are prompted chiefly from a 

 love of our native flowers, for many of them are equally at 

 home under cultivation as in their native habitat. They may 

 be successfully cultivated in moderately dry situations in good 

 strong loam mixed with limestone grit, and some of the kinds 

 do not object to sandy peat ; they should have thorough 

 drainage. They may be increased by division and seed, with 

 full exposure. 



Alchemilla alpina is said to be a native of Britain, and few 

 plants present to our view a more beautiful silvery white 

 appearance than this Alpine Lady's Mantle. It ought to be 

 seen on every rockery and in all herbaceous borders. We 

 sometimes see Alchemilla alpina and A. conjunota confused 

 together, but when seen side by side they are quite distinct. 

 I find them useful as edging plants in contrast with others ; 

 their lovely foliage bathed in dew under the rays of the early 

 morning sun has a very pleasing effect. There are shades of 

 difference in the appearance of their foliage, but A. alpina, 

 A. pubescens, A. conjuncta, and A. pentaphylla are the most 

 desirable. For some of the family we are indebted to the Cau- 

 casus and Switzerland, while some are indigenous to " our own 

 loved land." — Veritas. 



GRAPES AT THE EDINBUEGH SHOW. 



With regard to Mr. Dickson's statement in your issue of 

 last week (page 270), I do not think that Judges have anything 

 to do with the weight of a bunch of Grapes when cut from the 

 Vine ; it is the weight when staged in the show-room that 

 they must go by. It would certainly have been a strange pro- 

 ceeding to have re- weighed the Grapes after they had remained 

 two days and two nights in the ahow-room. As for being 

 more than one bunch, I think the character and position of 

 the gentlemen who acted as Judges is a euflicient guarantee 



It appears from a letter in your Journal of the 23rd inst. 

 that Mr. Dickson, Arkleton, feels disappointed at the defeat 

 he met with when competing for the prize for the heaviest 

 bunch of Grapes at the Great Show in Edinburgh on the 1.5th 

 inst. lie appears to have, for months past, been living in the 

 beUef that all he had to do was just to go to Edinburgh, lay 

 down his bunch, and take the prize. Most people will be of 

 opinion that it would have been more prudent of Mr. Dickson 

 to have pocketed the defeat and to have said nothing about it. 

 His letter is apt to produce the impression (whether intended 

 I cannot say) that the Judges cannot correctly weigh a bunch 

 of Grapes, and that they do not even know what a bunch of 

 Grapes is. The public, to whom Mr. Dickson appeals, will be 

 very slow to suppose and believe that the evidence of the two 

 parties who saw the bunch weighed before it left Arkleton 

 should have guided the Judges in coming to a decision as to 

 who was entitled to receive the prize, and not the evidence of 

 their own eyes and senses. This is an opinion that cannot be 

 entertained. 



The two bunches were weighed in the same room, en the 

 same weights, by the same gentlemen, and bafore dozens of 

 witnesses all looking on and checking the weights. Evidence 

 like this should satisfy any reasonable man. Did Mr. Dickson 

 weigh his bunch of Grapes on the morning after the Show, and 

 did he find it more or less weight than the Judges made it ? 



As to what a bunch of Grapes is, the bunch from Eskbank 

 was a much more compact, more beautiful, and better-shaped 

 bunch than the one from Arkleton ; the latter appeared rather 

 to have a number of long arms or string of bunches, somewhat 

 more like a shot Cauhflower than a good neat bunch of Grapes. 

 The heaviest bunch was the finest variety also ; and it was 

 certainly not the opinion of persons well qualified to judge 

 Grapes, and who saw both bunches at the Show, that the 

 berries on the lesser were better than those on the larger bunch, 

 but quite the reverse.— D. E. 



Mr. Dickson would like to " hear the opinion of two or three 

 able men who are not interested in either of the bunches " as 

 to the fairness of the award for the heaviest bunch. 



I am certainly not "interested," and am "able" to say 

 that the weighing was conducted in the most transparently 

 fair manner, for I watched the operation closely. The Esk- 

 bank bunch was not only the heaviest, but it was the mo5t 

 compact and staged in the best condition. The Arkleton bunch 

 was much rubbed and appeared to have received injury in 

 transit, which spoiled the appearance of the berries. The 

 berries of both bunches were very good. That, however, is 

 not the question, weight alone being the point at issue ; and 

 on this point I cannot see how the award can be reasonably 

 called in question. 



Both the bunches appeared to he fairly grown ; and while 

 I am not surprised at Mr. Dickson's disappointment, I am 

 surprised to hear that " half a dozen principal Grape-growers 

 and prizetakers at the Show " should consider the compact 

 Eskbank bunch to be "two bunches." What does this mean? 

 — An English Grape-Groweb. 



VIOLAS FOR SUMMER BEDDING. 



Violas have long found a place in masses iu our spring 

 gardening, but it is only of late years that their capabilities 

 and merits in summer and autumn flower gardening have been 

 recognised and tested. There is not a doubt but Violas, like 

 most other plants, succeed best in certain localities, and under 

 certain peculiarities of soil and climate. Still, from what we 

 have observed for several years past, we are of opinion that in 

 nine cases out of ten they are not properly cultivated, and 

 that in many instances where their blooming period is cut 

 short by drought and hot sun it is because they are not treated 

 in a manner that enables them to compete with adverse 

 climatal conditions. 



To make Violas bloom continuously throughout the summer, 

 in the drier localities of the country, the ground should be as 

 deeply worked and as effectively manured as a quarter that 

 is intended to grow fine summer Cauliflower. Even in the 

 wettest localities, rich deep soil is a condition under which 



