420 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COITAGE GAEDENEB. 



( November 11, 1875. 



' awarded. Mr. Gilbert sent specimens of his selected Brassela 

 Sprouts which the Committee considered too large. 



Flobai Cojimittee. — Dr. Kellock in the chair. The Council- 

 room presented a very lively appearance from the fine collection 

 of seedling hybrid Draceuas sent by Mr. Wills of the Anerley 

 Road Nursery, Norwood. The plants are exceedingly creditable 

 to the grower, and some of them are very distinct in character. 



Messrs. Veitch sent a very fine collection of Orchids, and 

 also a collection of plants, of which every one was a hybrid of 

 their own raising. The collection of hybrids comprised sis 

 varieties of Nepenthes. The plants were splendidly grown and 

 very distinct in character; they were N. intermedia, N. Chel- 

 sonii, N. Dominii, N. hybrida, N. hybrida maculata, and 

 N. Sedeni. Calanthe Veithii, one of the most useful of winter- 

 flowering Orchids, was shown in two varieties. There were also 

 five varieties of hybrid Rhododendrons ; Princess Alexandra 

 has white flowers, Princess Royal delicate pink, and they con- 

 trast well with the brilliantly-coloured flowers of Queen of Den- 

 mark and Princess of Wales. Draca?aa hybrida, a cross between 

 D. magoifica and D. albicans, has been shown previously, and 

 well maintains its high character. D. Taylori was also exhi- 

 bited ; it has bold bronzy metallic foliage, and is very striking. 

 Of hybrid Orchids there were CattleyaexonieusiSjC. Dominiana, 

 CypripediumHarri8iannm,C. Sedeni, C. Dominii, C.vexillarium, 

 C. Marshallianum, and C. Arthurianum. A fine plant of Alo- 

 casia Sedeni completed the collection. This fine collection of 

 plants were awarded the gold medal. Mr. Wills's Draceuas are 

 noticed in another column, and to them the gold medal was 

 also awarded. 



The collection of Orchids from Messrs. Veitch comprised some 

 fine winter-flowering species ; amongst them was a splendid 

 Cattleya labiata, the winter-flowering Calanthes, Odontnglos- 

 Bums, Pleiones, Masdevallias, itc, crowned with a fine Vanda 

 suavis. A vote of thanks was awarded to this collection. 

 Messrs. Veitch also sent Cupressus Lawsoniana variegata. 



Mr. Charles Turner of Slough sent new ■perpetual-flowering 

 Carnations. Sir Garnet Wolseley received a first-class certifi- 

 cate ; a second-class award being voted to Mrs. Fowler, a fine 

 rose-coloured flower. A beautiful golden sport of Mrs. G. Hundle 

 Chrysanthemum was sent by Messrs. S. Dixon of the Amhurst 

 Nurseries, Hackney. 



Mr. Denning, Londesborongh Gardens, received a first-class 

 certificate for Cattleya Minas. A cultural certificate was awarded 

 to Mr. Smith, gardener to — Chane, Esq., Henley-on-Thames, 

 for a splendidly-flowered specimen of Vanda casrulea. It had 

 sixty-seven flowers on five spikes. 



Mr. R. Dean, Ealing, received a vote of thanks for a collection 

 of Echeverias, and to B. rotnndifolia a first-class certificate 

 was awarded. Mr. Croucher, gardener to J. F. Peacock, Esq., 

 Hammersmith, also received a first class certificate for Eohe- 

 veria pachytoides. 



From the nurseries of Messrs. Wm. Paul & Son of Waltham 

 Cross were sent a splendid collection of sprays cut from hardy 

 trees and shrubs to illustrate the autumnal tints ; many were 

 ornamented with berries. With them was sent a basket of 

 Euonymua flavesoens, a new golden winter-bedding plant. It 

 is one well adapted for that purpose. 



TOBACCO. 



Thouoh Nicotiana rnstica is indigenous in Western Asia, 

 yet it is considered indisputable that no tobacco was smoked 

 in the Old World before the discovery of the New. It was , 

 therefore, with great astonishment that I read, in a work of 

 Bunsen's, a quotation from the sayings of Buddha, as printed 

 in the Memoirs of the Academy of St. Petersburgh, wherein 

 that sage, who lived five centuries before the Christian era, 

 speaks of a man smoking tobacco. As the matter deserved 

 probing, and as the respectability of the source from which 

 the assertion proceeded made the error, if such it were, only 

 the more likely to obtain currency, I wrote to Max MiiUer, as 

 the best living authority, requesting him to consult the original. 

 He replied, " There is no trace of tobacco in the original, nor 

 even of smoking, but simply of incense." — G. S. 



Grubs in Caerot and Onion Beds. — We had an early visit 

 from the grubs this year, and lost thousands of yonng Onions 

 before they were noticed. As soon as they were seen the beds 

 were covered over nearly half an inch thick with soot, then 

 thoronghly watered, and I have seen no grubs since. — F. S. C. S. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 One of the finest specimens of that excellent Pear Dotenn*: 

 DD CoMicE which we have ever seen has been sent to us 

 by Mr. G. F. Wilson of Heatherbank, Weybridge Heath. It 



was Hi inches in its latitudinal circumference, and exactly a 

 foot in its longitudinal. This was grown on one of Mr. Wil- 

 son's orchard-house trees, which during the blooming and 

 setting period are kept in the orchard house, but the fruit waa 

 ripened out of doors in the open air. It was most delicious. 



We have received from Mr. George Haskell of Ipswich, 



Massachusetts, a collection of ten varieties of seedling 

 Grapes, raised by crossing the native Vitis riparia with 

 European varieties, and vice versa. These are very curious, 

 and some of them are very excellent varieties. The influence 

 of the cross is very apparent in all of them, and it is quite 

 possible that in this way varieties may be raised that will 

 ripen out of doors in this country. Even in this unfavourable 

 season Admiral Hornby has ripened one of the American 

 Grapes at the Cottage, Knowsley, and Mr. E. J. Beale has 

 been equally successful at Twickenham. One or two varieties 

 which have the Black Hamburgh and White Chasselas for 

 their male parents are very good indeed, and have a flavour 

 which is quite peculiar. 



M. Edouaed Morren has published the third edition 



of his " Correspondence Botaniqce," which is a list of the 

 Botanical Gardens, Professorial Chairs, and Museums through- 

 out the world. It is a valuable and useful aid to botanical 

 correspondence, and is wonderfully correctly and carefully 

 prepared. 



We have received from Messrs. William Manle & Son 



of Bristol a portion of ja5i made from the fruit of Pyrus 

 Maulei. We remarked the excellency of this new preserve 

 when we tasted it the first year that the plant was exhibited 

 at the Bath Show. Good as it was then, it is certainly better 

 now, experience in the making of it having perfected the pro- 

 cess. It is quite a new flavour, is rich without being cloying, 

 and has a fine, brisk, acidulous smack, which will make it very 

 acceptable for many purposes in domestic confectionery. 



We have the pleasure to announce that Mr. John 



Ingram, of the old-established firm of Wood & Ingram, nursery- 

 men, Huntingdon, has been unanimously elected to the office 

 of Mayor of Huntingdon for the coming year. 



An American paper says — " I do not molest the birds ; 



instead of shooting them or setting up scarecrows to frighten 

 them away, I throw out every possible inducement for them 

 to build their ueet in my fruit trees. The birds capture a large 

 share of the insects in the larval state. For the residue of tho 

 infects which infest my vegetable garden I find that the la- 

 boratory of the chemist furnishes materials fatal to them all, 

 among which materials white hellebore and cayenne pepper 

 are of the most utility ; the bug or grub which cannot find 

 vegetation unflavoured with these articles will seek its break- 

 fast elsewhere, and leave my garden unmolested. A few drops 

 of carbolic acid in a pint of water will clean house plants from 

 lice in a very short time. If mosquitoes or other bloodsuckers 

 infest our sleeping rooms at night, we uncork a bottle of the 

 oil of Pennyroyal, and these insects leave in great haste, nor 

 will they return so long as the air in the room is loaded with 

 the fumes of that aromatic herb. If rats enter the cellar, a 

 little powdered potash thrown into their holes, or mixed with 

 meal and scattered in their runs, never fails to drive them 

 away. Cayenne pepper will keep the buttery and etoreroom 

 free from ants and cockroaches. If a mouse makes an entrance 

 into any part of your dwelling, saturate a rag with cayenne in 

 solution and stuff it into the hole, which can then be repaired 

 with either wood or mortar. No rat or mouse will eat the rag 

 for the purpose of opening communications with a depot of 

 supplies." 



CULTURE OF PHAL.ENOPSIS. 

 The culture of Orchids has been very much extended during 

 the last ten years, and their management is more generally 

 understood by gardeners and amateurs, so that these quaint, 

 interesting, and beautiful flowers are to be seen and admired 

 in most gardens, including many of very modest pretensions. 

 Nearly the whole order is amenable to ordinary cultivation. 

 There are, however, a few species, or even an entire genus, that 

 will occasionally balUe the skill of the most ardent cultivators, 

 but unless it is desirable to grow these difficult subjects to 

 complete a selection, or for some other purpose, they are best 

 let alone. There is no need to trouble about them, as there are 

 hundreds of species and varieties of the greatest beauty that 

 can be grown without any difficulty. 



