132 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



it seems remarkable that no competitors should have appeared, 

 although ten days of extreme dampness, followed by two of exces- 

 sive heat, just before the date of the exhibition, undoubtedly 

 destroyed the beauty of the plants. John Parker presented a 

 remarkably well-grown plant of tricolor pelargonium Peter Grieve, 

 grown in a dwelling-house ; an admirable example of successful 

 cultivation. Mr. Parker gives his method of culture as follows : 



" The plant exhibited was grown in my dining-room at a south 

 window ; I have had it three years. In the summer it was plunged 

 in the garden, and when taken up in the fall was cut back severety 

 and re-potted, the old earth being completel}' shaken out from the 

 roots. After January, it was enriched once a fortnight with weak 

 liquid manure. I use about a pint of hen droppings, which I first 

 scald with boiling water (to destroy any germs of animal life that 

 may exist in it) , and then add about two gallons of water* ; I wait 

 for it to settle, and do not use the sediment. Once a week I wash 

 mj plants thoroughly by dashing water upon them in the open air, 

 if the weather is mild enough. I also wash the pots as often as 

 once a fortnight, and stir the surface of the earth with a fork. If 

 you would have brilliant tri-colored pelargoniums, keep them near 

 the glass, in the full blaze of the sun, from January to May." 



Calceolarias, and Herbaceous Plants, were not shown for prizes, 

 and it is the unanimous opinion of 3"0ur Committee that it would be 

 better hereafter to fix the exhibition of the latter plants two or 

 three weeks later in the season. From Norton Brothers came 

 seven large and well-grown plants of hydrangea Thomas Hogg. 

 James Cartwright exhibited Cypripedium hirsutissimum and Deii- 

 drobium Devonianum, the latter a very free bloomer and valuable 

 for cut flowers. 



Mat 25. 



J. S. Richards brought a good collection of late single and double 

 Tulips, also, some very fine seedling Pansies. From Joseph Tailby 

 there was Dendrohium chrysotoxum, a fine orchid, growing about a 

 foot and a half high, throwing up its flower scape from near the top 

 of its stem ; color, a light yellow, changing to a darker shade. It 

 is somewhat surprising that Mr. Tailby received this plant from 

 abroad only three days previous to the exhibition, its remarkably 



* The Committee consider this a, very poivej-fulliquid manure, and would advise 

 great caution in its use. 



