336 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



experience, and such, I may say, universal belief to the 

 contrary. When at Bayfordbury some months back, I 

 was gratified to find this tree on a very frosty day, and 

 the ground partially covered with snow, quite unpro- 

 tected, and in as good health as those excellent plants 

 which adorn the great conservatory in the gardens of 

 the Horticultural Society. We may learn from this, that 

 the exposed situation tended to the production of shoots 

 which were shorter and better matured, than on plants 

 placed in sheltered situations, with great depth of soil, 

 which encourages autumnal growth of wood that is quite 

 soft and green, and which, as a matter of course, falls a 

 sacrifice to the first frost. If this tree was planted on 

 exposed situations, or otherwise on raised mounds of 

 stones, with a thin layer of light soil, to control the lux- 

 uriant tendency which this has, in common with many 

 other trees at a similar age, there can be but little doubt 

 of its being at least as hardy as the " Silver Fir."— Ii. 



Glendi nning. 



Adulteration of Wheat-Flour. — Mention is made in 



the Chronicle, of the adulteration of Wheat-flour with 

 Lolium. and the means of detecting it. There is one 

 mode of examination which I conceive would be infalli- 

 ble. Moisten a very small portion of the flour, and 

 place it between two plates of glass, in the focus of the 

 microscope. The gluten will dissolve from it, and the 

 starch-grains will be seen floating ; they are completely 

 round and plain in the surface, rather flat, like a bun, and 

 they are generally of two sizes ; they wear the aspect of 



°o°c o 



o°°o 



°°o 



purchased flour 



the figure here given. If any other 

 grain has been ground with the Wheat, 

 the form of the farinaceous fecula will 

 betray it. I have no difficulty in dis- 

 criminating Beans, Peas, Oats, or 

 Barley, if they are intermixed. Lolium 

 I have not at the moment the oppor- 

 tunity of examining. But I have been 

 for some time in the habit of testing 

 in this way. The grinding does not 

 bruise the substance to an impalpable or amorphous 

 powder, but only separates the farina into its natural 

 constituent particles ; and, I doubt not, the Lolium has 

 a peculiar form, different from that of Wheat, which 

 would be at once discernible. If there is any amorphous 

 matter visible in the field of the microscope, it is an 

 adulteration of some kind or other. — E. C, Chipper- 

 field House. 



Miscellaneous. — T. B. states, that by way of experi- 

 ment he left some of his Dahlias out all winter in open 

 beds without any protection whatever. He finds that 

 they are much more strong and healthy than those under 

 cover in pits. He adds, that most of them in the open 

 border are from a foot to 14 inches high. The same 

 correspondent is of opinion that Dahlias might be ren- 

 dered hardy without much trouble, and that, by being out 

 all winter, he imagines they would be less liable to be 



affected by frost early in autumn. A Correspondent 



informs us that Eccremocarpus scaber has stood the 

 winter with him in a very much exposed situation. He 

 states that it has not had the slightest protection, and 



that it is now in a very vigorous state. We have 



learned from the writer that the Gentiana verna, men- 

 tioned by Ii. T., last week, as a plant well suited for 

 edgings, but neglected, is, as we suspected, G. acaulis. 

 How so common a plant should be called neglected, 

 passes our comprehension. 



Societies. 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The first of the annual series of Grand Exhibitions, 

 tinder the auspices of the Horticultural Society of London, 

 took place in the gardens at Chiswick on Saturday last. 

 The day, for the 18th May, was singularly unpropitious, 

 the morning being ushered in by a frost registering as 



able to the rule which prohibits those kinds of plants being 

 exhibited in collections for which prizes are offered in 

 separate classes. In the collection exhibited by Mr. 

 Robertson, gr. to Mrs. Lawrence, Ealing Park, was a 

 fine specimen of Tabernrcmontana coronaria, evincing 

 excellent management, and densely covered with its 

 pure white deliciously-scented flowers. Another very 

 remarkable plant was Leschenaultia biloba, the pale 

 variety ; it was about 3 feet high, and 4 feet in diameter, 

 regularly furnished with branches in every part, and pro- 

 ducing a great number of delicate azure-blue flowers ; 

 this is not so fine a variety as some that will be adverted 

 to hereafter, but nevertheless is a fine kind. This col- 

 lection, moreover, contained an immense bush of Pimelea 

 decussate, 5 feet high, and as much in diameter; 

 another specimen of the dark variety of the same plant, 

 18 inches high, and 9 feet in circumference, in the most 

 robust health ; a fine plant of Eriostemon myoporoides, 

 8 feet high, and covered with bloom ; a well-grown spe- 

 cimen of the beautiful Polygala bracteolata. the flowers 

 of which did not expand, owing to the dullness of the 

 day; with fine specimens of Eriostemon buxifolium ; 

 Epacris cerseflora, producing spikes of delicate white 

 flowers ; Coteonema tenuifolium, very neat ; Chorozema 

 macrophylla, in fine bloom ; Hovea Celsi, an old plant, 

 which had been cut down and produced a number of 

 branches from the bottom, which formed a dwarf bush ; 

 Dillwynia floribunda, dwarf and good ; Aphelexis sesa- 

 moides, very rich ; with a species of Daviesia, with a pro- 

 fusion of orange and dark-red flowers on a very well- 

 grown plant. In the same collection was an immense 

 plant of Erythrina Crista-galli, 8 feet high, and 20 

 feet in circumference, in the most exuberant 

 health ; a well-bloomed plant, 4 feet high, and 

 5 feet through, of Chorozema Henchmanni ; neat 



plants of Loddigesia oxalidifolia, Cytisus filipes, and 

 Boronia pinifolia, with a large specimen of Pimelea 

 spectabilis, thinly covered with bloom, and bearing 

 evidence of bad management in its infancy. In a collec- 

 tion of fifteen plants from Mr. Green, gr. to Sir E. Antro- 

 bus, Bart., was a large bushy plant of Leschenaultia 

 biloba grandiflora, the dark-blue variety, splendidly 

 covered with bloom, and 3 ft. high, and about the same in 

 diameter. A plant of L. formosa was likewise in fine 

 condition, profusely covered with bloom, as were also 

 Daviesia latifolia, trained in a pendent form, with Gnidia 

 pinifolia, and Pimelea rosea and hispida. A specimen of 

 Chorozema varium in the same collection was particularly 

 well bloomed, though the plant was evidently in a declin- 

 ing state. Another plant, bearing some resemblance to 

 a Spirtea, was Acrophyllum venosum, in a very healthy 

 condition, and blooming freely. Aphelexis humilis was pro- 

 duced in a fine state ; but the large plant of Rondeletia 

 speciosa was not quite sufficiently advanced. Another 

 collection of fifteen plants was sent by Mr. Clark, gr. to 

 the Earl of Eldon, Shirley-park. It contained a fine 

 specimen of Chorozema cordarum, 8 ft. high by 6 ft. in 

 diameter, profusely covered with bloom, but in a rather 

 loose condition ; good plants of Stephanotusfloribundus, 

 Zichya inophylla, floribunda, and coccinea, andHarden- 

 bergia monophylla, trained on flat trellises and densely 

 clothed with flowers. There was, moreover, a large and 

 well-bloomed plant of Boronia denticulata, but rather 

 naked in the bottom ; a tolerable plant of the double 

 white Primula, with Eutaxia pungens, Chorozema 

 Dicksoni, and Leschenaultia biloba, spoiled by 

 unskilful training. Collections of six plants were 

 shown by Mr. Bruce, gr. to Boyd Miller, Esq., Col- 

 liers's Wood, Mitcham ; Mr. Frazer, of the Lea-bridge 

 Road, Leyton, Essex, and Mr. Stanley, gr. to H. Berens, 

 Esq., Sidcup, Kent. In the group by Mr. Bruce, was a 

 lovely plant of Aphelexis humilis in the most perfect 

 state ; a neat plant of Eutaxia pungens, dwarf, bushy, 

 compact, and profusely bloomed ; a large specimen of 

 Ixora coccinea in fine condition, but drooping from the 



Hat 

 one of 



rdea. 



much as six degrees in some localities, and a strong coldness of the day, with well-grown plants of Lesche- 

 north-east wind, increasing at times to a hurricane, naultia formosa and biloba, and a charming specimen of 

 accompanied by occasional storms of rain prevailing " 



throughout the day. But notwithstanding this, a great 

 number of very splendid and valuable plants were brought 

 together, and too much praise cannot be awarded to the 

 zeal of those gentlemen and gardeners, who subjected 

 their plants to such inauspicious elements. Such enthu- 

 siasm is a proof that the exhibitors are not the mercenary 

 individuals that some would insinuate they are, but that 

 they are desirous of promoting the science of Horticul- 

 ture, and of ministering to the gratification of the public, 

 even though it^be by the sacrifice or material injury of 

 some of their greatest favourites.^nThe gardens were in 

 bner trim than could have been expected after so much 

 «ry weather, and the Azaleas and Rhododendrons were 

 blooming more profusely than we have observed them in 

 any other garden this season. This, we are informed, is 

 partly attributable to the plants having been manured or 



™« * W ► r0tt J Q cow - dun ^ **<* by keeping the 

 ground moist and cool, enabled the plants twelve 



months back to complete their growth and set their 

 bloom before the wet weather of July drove them 

 into a second growth, by which growth multitudes 

 of plants are destitute of bloom this season. The bloom 

 on the large Wistaria, so generally an object of attrac- 

 tion at the first fete, was fast fading away ; but in the con- 

 lervatory the plants were in rude health, and many of the 

 climbers blooming profusely. The large plant of Altin- 

 gia excelsa will reach the top of the house by the au- 

 tumn ; and the huge bush of Luculia gratissima, the 

 most lovely of our winter-flowering plants, is still pro- 

 gressing in size. 



of 

 the old Adenandra fragrans, covered with its peculiarly- 

 tinted rosy-pink flowers. Mr. Bruce, moreover, exhi- 

 bited as single specimens very splendid plants of Pimelea 

 spectabilis and Adenandra speciosa, a plant probably 

 better known by its old name of Diosma speciosa. The 

 Pimelea spectabilis was certainly one of the gems of the 

 exhibition, and though not so large as the specimen ex- 

 hibited last year by Mr. Goode, was in every respect as 

 perfect as a plant possibly could be. It was about 

 eighteen inches high and three feet in diameter, regularly 

 covered with bloom, and so complete in all points 

 that it would have been difficult for the most fastidious 

 to have said "A leaf there or a flower here would improve 

 it." Mr. Frazer's collection contained a very healthy 

 specimen of Boronia serrulata, an immense and profusely 

 bloomed plant of Pimelea linifolia, a neat and very 

 healthy specimen of Epacris pulchella, producing spikes 

 of white flowers, and specimens in rude health of Poly- 

 gala acuminata, Epacris grandiflora, and Chorozema 

 varium. The best plants in Mr. Stanley's collection 

 were a large and particularly healthy specimen of Cho- 

 rozema cordifolium, a young but remarkably well-grown 

 plant of Leschenaultia formosa, pretty specimens of 

 Zichya inophylla floribunda, and Achimenes longiflora 

 in fine bloom, and a promising young plant of Gompho- 

 lobium poiymorphum. Mr. Beck exhibited a well-grown 

 plant of Achimenes longiflora in a slate pot. 



Collections of Climbing Plants were shown by Mr. 



nished, and as well flowered as this plant well 

 this season, as it is strictly a winter plant, aod'o 

 the most useful we have; an immense plant of Ha 

 bergia Comptoniana, trained over a barrel-shaped trel?" 

 was in profuse bloom,--a proof that this plant renuir 

 age before it will bloom properly in a pot, as small phmu 

 have hitherto been shy bloomers, which has caused it t 

 be discarded by some growers. Hardenbergia mono^ 

 phylla, in the same collection, was scarcely less notice 

 able, and there were also fine plants of Zichya inophylU 

 floribunda and Gompholobium poiymorphum. M r 

 Robertson also exhibited, as single specimens, a noble 

 plant of Stephanotus floribundus, trained spirally the 

 trellis covered as thickly as possible with branches' and 

 singularly thickly covered with bloom-buds, though but 

 few of them were open. Another plant, sent by M r . 

 Robertson, was Echites hirsuta; but it was droopini 

 from cold before it was taken into the tent. From the 

 same place were several plants of Gompholobium poly, 

 morphum in good condition, but thinly bloomed ; and 

 the whole of the plants of Tropseolum tricolor and Jar- 

 rattii, though many of them were well grown, were 

 destitute of that brilliancy of colour for which they are 



generally so much admired In the collection of Mr. 



Frazer were two exceedingly well-bloomed plants of Har- 

 denbergia monophylla and longiracemosa, trained over 

 cylindrical trellises ; good plants of Zichya coccinea and 

 Gompholobium poiymorphum in good condition ; and a 

 well-grown but thinly-bloomed specimen of Sollya 

 angustifolia ; a plant of the singular Philibertia grandi- 

 flora, trained on a flat trellis, sloping at an angle of about 

 60° from the spectator ; a most admirable arrangement to 

 prevent the flowers from being seen. The form of the 

 flower in this plant ought to be suggestive of the form of 

 the most appropriate trellis. 



Of the singular and universally interesting tribei of 

 Orchidaceous Plants there was a grand display, large 

 collections being exhibited by Mr. Mylam, gr. to S. 

 Rucker, Esq., Mrs. Lawrence, and Messrs. Rollisson, of 

 Tooting. In the collection of Mr. Rucker we noticed 

 a very splendid plant of Dendrobium fimbriatum, 

 studded with hundreds of its beautifully fringed orange 

 flowers ; an enormous plant of Acanthophippium bicolor, 

 the surface of the pot among the pseudo bulbs being 

 literally alive with flowers. Dendrobium sanguino- 

 lentum, exceedingly neat ; Cattleya Mossise and several 

 varieties; Cattleya intermedia, strikingly beautiful ; a spe- 

 cies of Eria very like E. bractescens, and the elegant Pha- 

 lsenopsis amabilis, with a fine spike of bloom. Rivalling 

 the latter plant in beauty, was the lovely Odontogloasum 

 citrosmum, with delicate white and pink flowers ; the 

 singular Coryanthes macrantha, with two fully expanded 

 blooms, and others coming on ; a fine plant of Brassia 

 maculata, with seven spikes of bloom ; and Zygopetalum 

 rostratum, with two fine flowers. There were, moreover, 

 fine plants of Vanda Roxburghi andtessellata; Huntleya 

 violacea, with four blooms ; Cymbidiumlancifolium,very 

 pretty; Stenia pallida, with pale lemon flowers ;afine plant 

 of Saccolabium guttatura, with four fine spikes not quite 

 in bloom ; a new and curious Anguloa, of a pale brown 

 colour, the flowers spotted with dark brown; Maxillaria 

 aromatica, and fine specimens of Oncidium sphacelatum, 

 pictum, and divaricatum. The collection of Mrs. 

 Lawrence, though not quite so rich in new plants, con- 

 tained many admirable specimens ; among them, Sac- 

 colabium guttatum, with four spikes of bloom in great 

 perfection ; Peristeria cerina, with delicate creamy 

 yellow flowers ; Maxillaria aromatica, studded with 

 orange-yellow blooms of great beauty ; Cattleya SVin- 

 neri ; Epidendrum cinnabarinum ; Huntleya violacea ; 

 Zygopetalum rostratum ; with the charming Aeridel 

 affine, in fine bloom ; and a splendid specimen of Aeridei 

 odoratum, with eight spikes of noble flowers. In addition 

 to these, there were large plants of Oncidium flexaoiao* 

 luridum, ampliatum, the major variety, altissimum, w>t& 

 eight spikes of bloom, each seven feet high, pulcheUam, 

 very delicate, with good plants of leucochilum ^ 

 Baueri. The appearance of this collection, with tw 

 Oncidiums waving in the breeze, was very rich; »n 

 the plants were in admirable health. The plants in tne 

 collection sent by Messrs. Rollisson were generaur 

 small ; and the most remarkable, not before notice , 

 were Acineta Barkeri, Vanda teres, very fine; thel07 ~; 

 Aerides crispum, with a fine spike of bloom ; Sta Jl h0 Pr 

 saccata, with very delicate flowers ; Cattleya Mos«* 

 superba, a grand plant; and Saccolabium guttaw^ 

 majus, with two splendid spikes of flowers. There ^» 

 moreover, a small specimen of the most love ly 

 beautiful plants, Dendrobium Devonianum, the flow 

 of which are so fragile, and delicately fringed ana 



to — tax » 



Mr. Edmonds, gr. 



Robertson and Mr. Frazer, and some single specimens by 

 other growers. Mr. Robertson's plants were— Manettia 

 cordifolia, trained on a large globular trellis, completely 



J^nTfYT^T 5 7« eU " nUm t rons . * aQ <=°«red with branches, and liberally flowered : Manettia 

 w»al, and also less bnlliant-a difference ma.nly attnbut- 1 bicolor, trained spirally to the height of i feet, well fur! 



fragile 

 tinted. From Mr. Kennington, gr. t 



Esq., was a singular plant, with the flowers hanging o 

 the side of the pot, of a dull greenish purple colour, an 

 resembling so many insects, called Cirrhsea * ,n <"P 

 purea ; also a specimen of Vanda Roxburghi var. cceru » 

 with Cattleya Mossite, Aerides odoratum majus, in 

 bloom. Mr. Williams, gr. to C. B. Warner, Esq., « 

 Odontoglossum Bictonense, Epidendrum bicornuw t 



and several other plants »*- »-■ A " "- t0 » 



Grace 



pendula, .._._, . «-ni» 



dull purple flowers, enlivened with pinkish vio Iet *£ kU 

 and the other, a most charming variety of Scnomours 

 tibicinis, were sent by Mr. Moore, gr. toR. Han ° u . r ^ j t 



After the bright weather which we have had later;, 

 was not expected that many Azaleas would be i exni 

 and consequently the beautiful plants brought 07 

 Falconer, gr. to A. Palmer, Esq., Mr. G ' een ' .^I*^ 

 son, and Mr. Gaines, of Battersea, were doub y aw 

 A plant evincing the maximum of skiU in cultivate 



the Duke of Devonshire, produced Perish 

 l ; and two new plants, one an Epidendrum, 

 role, flowers, enlivened with pinkish violet sep » 



