THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 349 
and Scarlet Defiance, one of the best of the scarlet-flowering varieties, and most 
valuable for general cultivation. Mr. George Rawlings, Old Church, Romford, 
exhibited several stands of excellent dahlias, and a vote of thanks was accorded to 
him. Messrs. H. Lane and Son, Great Berkhamstead, exhibited a very fine collec- 
aa of grapes, and the Fruit Committee recommended the award of the Davis 
edal. 
M. Durtirre’s Cortection or Rosrs.—A recent issue of the Journal de la 
Société Central d' Horticulture de France contains a report by Messrs. Margottin 
and Pigeaux, on the collection of Roses belonging to M. Dntitre, at Montfort, 
PAmaury, some of the particulars of which may interest cultivators of these flowers. 
The collection, commenced twenty years ago, contains many very fine specimens of 
good old varieties now rarely seen, except in the gardens of amateurs, Upwards 
of seven hundred varieties are cultivated, occupying more than an acre of land ; some 
are grafted, or budded, on stems of various heights, whilst cthers are on their own 
roots; and these are intermixed and so arranged that the general effect is pictu- 
resque and pleasing. Messrs. Margottin and Pigeaux enumerate a selection of 
the best varieties of each class, and give the totals as follows: Tea-scented, 108; 
Noisette, 17 ; Bengal, 16; Bourbon, 54; Hybrid Perpetuals, 471; Perpetuals, 5 ; 
Pimpernelles, 2; Perpetual Moss, 6; other Moss, 2; Hundred-leaved, 4; Provence, 
2; Damask, 4; Briars, 2; and seedlings of some merit, 18; making a total of 711. 
CarTEer’s CucumBEer “ Mopet,’ as shown at the International Exhibtion of 
Potatoes, at the Alexandra Palace, by Messrs. J. Carter and Co., is one of the most 
elegant and delicate flavoured varieties it has been our good fortune to see in the 
autumn months. It is of moderate size, rather slender for its length, beautifully 
proportioned, lougitudinally ribbed, and of a lovely deep green colour, with the 
glossy surface of the Sion Houss breed. 
Mr. Arex. McKenzir, landscape gardener and garden architect, of 1 and 2, 
Great Winchester Street Buildings, London, E.C., has had the honour to receive a 
magnificent diamond pin from His Majesty the King of the Belgians, as a sowenir 
of his recent visit to Brussels, accompanied by a letter from his resident minister, 
M. Jules Devaux, thanking him for the advice he had given with reference to His 
Majesty’s winter garden at Laeken. 
Messrs. W. CursusH AND Son, or Hicucater, have taken the Barnet 
Nurseries, so long carried on by the late Mr. William Cutbush, and the business 
will now be in connection with that of the Highgate establishment. 
Tue Revarions BETWEEN INsEcTs AND Pxants IN IsLanps was illustrated by 
Mr. Wallace in his address to the zoology and botany section of the British Asso- 
ciation by reference to the relative prevalence of flowering plants and ferns. In 
many instances humming-birds take the place of insects in plant-fertilization. 
The abundance of ferns in certain islands appears to be coincident with extreme 
entomological poverty, preventing the large development of flowering plants from 
seeds arriving accidentally, In other islands, only such flowers flourish as are in- 
dependent of insect fertilization, and these have generally small, green, and incon- 
spicuous flowers. It is in accord with this observation that comparatively few 
insects feed on ferns, and in respect of enemies generally ferns lead a charmed life, 
and might subsist on a planet where there were no other orders of plants to keep 
- them company. 
Potsonous Musurooms.—Professor Schiff, of Florence, has demonstrated that 
the non-edible mushrooms have a common poison, muscarina, and that its effects 
are counteracted either by atropine or daturine. The Sanitary Record reports that 
Italian apothecaries now keep these alkaloids in the rural districts where the con- 
sumption of the non-edible fungi is apt to occur. The hint is worth taking in 
England, where deaths from eating unwholesome fungi are by no means un- 
frequent, 
TRADE CATALOGUES. 
Batrer Freres, A Troyes, Ausr, France.—Gencral Priced Catalogues. 
Fr. Burvenicu, A GENTBRUGGE-LEZ-GAND, Beicium.—Catalogue of Fruit 
Trees, Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, ete. 
Novenber. 
