REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON GARDENING. 113 



equalled. Six varieties, namely, the Everestianum, Purpurewn elegans, 

 Minnie, Barclayanum, and Album grandiflorum, constituted, the most of 

 the show; but Kalmias, Azaleas and Andromedas were intermixed with 

 them, adding to the efiect. Many single specimens and standards were 

 of exquisite form and bloom, equal to any in the country : among them 

 Sir Thos. Sebright, with a dash of bronze on its rich purple; 31 rs. G. H. 

 W. Heneage, with her white heart and dark rosy cheek and fringe; the 

 Everestianum, hardy, rosy, free blooming and beautiful; the Brayanum, 

 light of heart and scarlet in the face; the Bardayanum, coming late and 

 blushing crimson for its backwardness; and the Concessum, light and 

 gay, the pink of perfection. Of the newer varieties, the Charles Dickens, 

 all scarlet; and the Stella, with a tiushed face and dark shadows; the H. 

 II. Ilunnewell, with crimson vest and splendid truss; Mrs. John Glutton, 

 white as the snow; and Mrs. B. S. Holford, with her peculiar salmon- 

 colored dress and beautiful trasses, (almost a paragon), were particu- 

 larly admired. 



Some fine yellow and pink Azaleas, six years planted, were also much 

 noticed. All these flourished as if they were natives. Where only a 

 year ago the old road-way was used for access to the house, the Com- 

 mittee found all these plants growing well, and some of them in bloom. 

 Specimens of the Agave Verschaffeltli and Agave Xalapensis, the Le- 

 dum, palustre and L. buxifolium, the Abies pygmea, (like bunches of 

 burrs,) the Picea magnijica, (with its short, stiff spikes,) and the Veitchia 

 Japoyiica, (that rare connecting link between the Picea and the Cedar.) 

 were also observed. Large masses of the Yucca filamentosa, and single 

 plants of the Yucca recurva, and fine specimens of Geleis, and large 

 plants of the new Lilium auratum, (one having seventeen large buds.) 

 were exhibited. 



For foliage plants. Carinas, Bicinus, Colocasias, Pelargoniums, Ara- 

 lias, and Coleus were used, with borders of Alternanthera, Centaurea, 

 and Golden Pyrethrum, which promised to be effective. Hot-beds, cold 

 frames, and glass structures of a primitive kind, were here and there 

 placed in the ground, — some of them of substantial masonry, — and 

 answered well the purpose for which they were constructed. 



In May the Spring bidbs and flowering Spring plants presented a rare 

 sight, for they are one of the peculiarities of the place. All who have 

 . attended the " Shows " of the Society will bear witness to the perfection 

 of their ciilture. In bulbs and native plants Mr. Rand has few equals. 



His success in rearing and domesticating our native plants, and the 

 great variety he has obtained, has been brought to your attention in 

 previous reports. Perhaps no collection in the country is more com- 

 plete, embracing, as it does, nearly all kinds, from the Acadian fields to 

 the Torabigbee river. Vast clumps of the Lady's Sbpper (Cypripedi- 

 ura) were growing freely. Many other Natives were planted around 

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