General Notices. 227 



latter came from Madame A. Marie. Dr. Siebold exhibited some pieonies, 

 not in flower, of the tree kinds introduced by him from Japan. Cacti and 

 succulents were present in multitudes, sufficient to interest the curious in 

 these matters, but taste for such things has lost its keen edge even on the 

 continent. Upon the whole, this exhibition displayed much skill, and cer- 

 tainly great enthusiasm, and the whole mode of conducting it reflected the 

 highest credit on all concerned. 



Precisely at 2 o'clock the approach of the two princes, the Prince de 

 Flandres and the Due de Brabant, was announced by a royal salute of 

 artillery. The officers and members of the juries were alone suflfered to 

 receive them ; these were in full dress, and many of them profusely covered 

 with military and other honorary decorations. The two young Princes 

 were attired in military uniform, and were accompanied by a brilliant suite. 

 They were received with the greatest enthusiasm, and remained nearly two 

 hours inspecting minutely the various exhibitions, and conversing occasion- 

 ally with distinguished botanists and professors. In the evening a grand 

 banquet was given to the princes and others attending the exhibition from all 

 parts of Europe. The entertainment was on a scale of sumptuous magnifi- 

 cence, excelling anything I have ever seen, and it would have infused 

 fresh vitality into a London alderman. On the two following days the 

 entire mass of the population seemed bent on nothing else but inspecting 

 this flower show. Colleges and schools, headed by their professors and 

 teachers, might be seen moving in columns in the most orderly manner, to 

 visit the great object of universal attraction. The country peasants, too, 

 were adding their thousands to the throng. It might be asked how such a 

 gathering could possibly get admittance, much more inspect the objects 

 contained in a room. The military, however, prevented all disorder, and 

 the whole working of the aff'air seemed like mechanism, so perfectly organ- 

 ized was everything connected with this great exhibition. — ( Gard. Chron., 

 185Q, p. 196.) 



Cantua bicolor. — Having heard this plant complained of as being a shy 

 bloomer, even so much so as to render it unworthy of cultivation, I beg to 

 inform your readers that I have now a specimen of it in great beauty, which 

 has been treated in the following manner. In the spring of 1850 I struck 

 a small cutting of it, and continued growing it in the most rapid manner I 

 could in a moist stove until the autumn of the same year, when it was grad- 

 ually hardened and kept in a cold greenhouse through the winter. In 

 spring I shifted it into an 8-inch pot, placed it in a vinery where there was 

 bottom-heat (the house being warmed by Polmaise improved) in which it 

 grew rapidly until midsummer. I then gradually inured it to the open 

 air ; water was withheld early in autumn, and it was placed on a north 

 border until October, after which it was put in a cold house. In the second 

 week in January it was placed again in the vinery, and it is now covered 

 with flowers in every stage of development, forming a beautiful object in 

 the conservatory. The soil which I use for it is equal parts peat, leaf- 

 mould, and loam, with liberal drainage. — ( Gard. Chron., 1852, p. 181.) 



Protection of Gooseberry and Currant Tree Buds from Birds. — 

 Covering the trees with littering dung has been recommended for this pur- 



