90 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Woodford, Tropceolum Jarratii, which was very pretty ; and there 

 was a good display of baskets of flowers and cut flowei's by the 

 usual contributors. 



May 9. 



One of the most beautiful displays of Orchids was made by E. 

 S. Rand, Jr., who exhibited four fine varieties of Cattleya Mossioe, 

 which added very much to the interest of the exhibition. The 

 " Gardener's Chronicle," for 1864, p. 553, thus speaks of this 

 species : " Four hundred blossoms of Cattleya Mossim at one view ! 

 This is a sight truly worth a journey to the Land's End to witness, 

 and it is a sight that might have been witnessed a few days since, 

 if it may not even now, in Mr. Warner's orchid house at Broom- 

 field, near Chelmsford. And such blossoms too ! Not puny 

 things, with washed out colors, or pallid from sweltering in exces- 

 sive heat, but located in a ventilated house quite enjoyable, and 

 presenting richly marked colors in marvellous variety, and in all 

 the vigor of robust health ; the individual flowers measuring some 

 seven or eight inches across, and the petals, in some cases, being 

 as much as three inches in breadth. Mr. Warner has certainly 

 learnt the secret of growing Cattleya Mossim to perfection, and 

 consequently, such a picture as his show house presented at the 

 time of our visit is not, we venture to say, to be paralleled in 

 England, or Europe, or the world." May Mr. Hand's even excel 

 this ! Besides the Cattleyas, Mr. Rand also sent a plant of Sta^i- 

 hojxa eburnea spectabilis, a very showy variety. From James 

 Comley came three very beautiful Gloxinias — Elvierie, Fitz Gib- 

 herd, and Marchioness of Bute ; also Franciscea calycina major; 

 Hybrid Perpetual Rose, Countess of Oxford, bright carmine, red 

 shaded, very large, full, and of fine form ; Clematis mutahilis gran- 

 dijiora, a very large and handsome flower, one of the finest ever 

 shown, and "one of the newest ; and a magnificent show of buds of 

 La France rose, which were delightfully fragrant. From James 

 O'Brien we had nine named varieties of Azaleas in small pots ; 

 and from E. H. Hitchings native flowers, viz., Cercis canadensis, 

 Viola pedata var. bicolor, Phlox sp., and Houstonia coerulea; Obola- 

 ria Virginica from Washington ; and Cypripedium arietinum from 

 Vermont. 



