406 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[June 22, 



• 



with cinder-ashes, or something of the kind, to defend 

 Joem from frost ? If the froth is found in March and 

 April upon plants thus raised from roots, and upon seed- 

 liner slants (which myself and some of my neighbours 

 have' frequently experienced), how can "the eggs be 

 deposited on the young twigs or buds ? I am quite at 

 a loss to conjecture how they are generated ; but possibly 

 this notice may meet the eye of some one who can solve 

 the mvstery — A Constant Reader. ■ 



Potter's Liquid Guano.— I write these few lines to 

 describe the wonderful efficacy of the liquid guano. 

 Peas, Onions, and Asparagus have been singularly im- 

 proved by it, especially during the dry season People 

 come to admire the appearance of the garden.-.*. W. 



Miscellaneous.— An Arbroath Gardener states that 

 he sowed the Early Kent Pea on the 29th November, and 

 gathered a dish on the 24th May ; he informs us that he 

 lowed the Early May on the same border on the 7th 

 November, which was not ready for gathering until the 

 8th of June. He sowed Early Kent, Prince Albert and 

 Sutton's Champion on the 17th February. The Early 

 Kent, he remarks, will be ready at least 10 days before 

 the others. He writes that there is no difference between 

 Prince Albert and Sutton's Champion, with regard to 

 earliness. . 



Srocfcttes. 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The Second Exhibition of the season, in the gardens 

 of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick, took place on 

 Saturday last The day was very auspicious— a gentle 

 South-west breeze prevailing; throughout it ; and a num- 

 ber of very rare and beautiful plants were bf ought to- 

 gether. The Gardens, as a matter of course, in this 

 droughty season, were much parched up ; but though 

 the borders lacked the usual gaiety of a June garden- 

 scene, there was no dearth of gaiety of a more animated 

 nature. Long as we have been in the habit of attending 

 these fetes, and celebrated as they are for the vast number 

 of visitors which attend them, we were not prepared for 

 the scene of Saturday last. No sooner were the gates 

 thrown open than the garden was crowded, and from 2 

 o'clock until 6 there could never have been less ihan ten 

 thousand persons present at one time ; the grounds 

 were literally crammed, more than 13,500 visitors having 

 passed the gates. This, we think, is a sufficient proof of 

 the increasing popularity and taste among the wealthy of 

 the land for gardening pursuits ; and to the professional 

 gardener it must be a source of high gratification to see 

 his peculiar occupation so much honoured. The Exhi- 

 bition, taken as a whole, was less brilliant than usual; 

 but, nevertheless, many plants were shown in finer con- 

 dition than they had ever before been seen, and the dis- 

 play of fruit was superlatively excellent. The collections 

 of Orchidaceous plants were very rich, as were also the 

 Pelargoniums and Roses in pots ; the large collections of 

 Stove and greenhouse plants from Ealing Park contained 

 many admirable specimens; and of single specimens and 

 new and rare plants exhibited for the first time there 

 were some very remarkable things. The new Melons 

 from Bokhara and Cabul were shown in fine condition, 

 find it is not too much to say they fully realised all that 

 has been said of them, and there is a peculiar crispness 

 and freshness, accompanied by delicious sweetness, which 

 surpasses every other kind of Melon we have ever tasted. 

 The Bokhara Melon which we tasted, though not quite 

 ripe, we could only compare to iced sugar ; and when 

 fully matured, it will, from its size and flavour, be 

 esteemed as the very best kind in cultivation. The great 

 facilities offered by the tank and other new systems of 

 heating horticultural structures, promises to bring this 

 fruit into universal cultivation, and in a few years the 

 small amateur and even cottager will calculate as cer- 

 tainly upon his Melons as he does at the present time 

 upon his Cucumbers. But we must proceed to a more 

 detailed account of the Exhibition. 



Among the curious tribes of Orchidaceous Plants, 

 Mr. Mylam, gr. to S. Rucker, Esq., of Wandsworth, 

 produced a large collection in remarkable health and 

 beautv. Among them we noticed the lovely Saccola- 

 biura praeniorsum, with two fine spikes of its delicately 

 beautiful flowers ; a grand plant of S. guttatum producing 

 eight spikes of bloom ; a fine specimen of Aerides odora- 

 tum ; another plant with nine spikes of bloom, A. odo- 

 ratum var., and a remarkably handsome kind called A. 

 affine. A singular and very beautiful species of Anguloa, 

 with large pale cream-coloured flowers, slightly tinged 

 with greenish orange, was sent from the same place, as 

 were also a fine plant of Cattleya Mossise, with seven of 

 its charming flowers, and C. Mossise variety, with eight 

 fine blooms. The rare and curious Angraecum cauda- 

 tnm was also produced by Mr. Mylam, as were like- 

 wise the neat and elegant Dendrobium densiflorum, with 

 ten spikes of its peculiarly-tinted pale orange flowers. 

 There was, moreover, the finest bloomed specimen of the 

 admirable Phalsenopsis amabilis we have yet seen. It had 

 a fine spike of eleven flowers; and, gently moving in the 

 breeze, it looked the most lovely of all the lovely things 

 around it I A good plant of Cycnoches chlorochilon, 

 with curious pale-green flowers, was also produced by 

 Mr. Mylam, as were likewise the well-known C. Lod- 

 digesii. Of the plants of this remarkable tribe, which 

 rank more particularly as curiosities, there was a very 

 healthy specimen of Mazillaria stapelioides, the pot of 

 which was densely covered with strange brown flowers, 

 spotted with green, which resembled so many blooms of 

 the singular Stapelia. Two other very curious plants 

 were Cirrmxa viridipurpurea, with greenish-purple 

 flowers, and C. fusco-lutea with pale-yellow and brown 



large plant growing in a rustic 

 tigrina, with six of its large and 





flowers These flowers depended over the sides of the 

 pots, and so closely did they resemble insects, that a 

 lady remarked, " An entomologist viewing them for the 

 first time, would be afraid to venture near the plant 

 lest he should frighten the insects away before he had 

 taken a proper view of them." Mr. Mylam also pro- 

 duced fine plants of Phajusalbu3,with fine white flowers ; 

 Oncidium papilio ; the curious butterfly plant, O. pulvi- 

 natum, in good bloom ; Epidendrum cinnabarinum and 

 alatum with finely coloured flowers ; E. macrochilum 

 roseum, curious and pretty ; E. aloefolium, growing on 

 a block of wood ; and a fine specimen of Brassia brachiata. 

 The appearance of this collection of plants was very rich, 

 the specimens being in the finest health, and the flowers 

 as perfect as they possibly could be.— From the gardens 

 at Ealing Park, Mr. Robertson, Mrs. Lawrence's gardener, 

 contributed a large collection, among which was particu- 

 larly conspicuous a 

 basket, of Stanhopea w 



singular dark-brown flowers, which were produced 

 beneath the bottom of the basket.— Of Cattleyas, Mr. 

 Robertson produced C. Mossise with two fine flowers ; C. 

 Mossise variety, with pale pinkish flesh-coloured flowers ; 

 another variety of C. Mossise of the same colour, but with 

 a large blotch of purplish crimson on the lip, and a very 

 lovely specimen of C. violacea with two flowers.— Small 

 plants of Barkeria spectabilis, and a pale variety of the 

 same, were sent by Mr. Robertson, and a large specimen 

 of Bletia Shepherdii, which was past the meridian of its 

 bloom. There was, moreover, a very fine specimen of 

 Oncidium Lanceanum, with remarkably large blooms ; a 

 good plant of O. Papilio with six flowers ; O. Russellia- 

 num and Bowesianum in good bloom, and an immense 

 plant of O. flexuosum, the flower-branches of which 

 being trained to the front, formed a dense mass of bloom 

 four feet high and three feet in diameter. Mr. Robert- 

 son also sent a very healthy specimen of Brassia bra- 

 chiata, with pretty cream-coloured flowers spotted with 

 brown ; the before-mentioned Maxillaria stapelioides in 

 fine bloom, with Epidendrum variegatum ; the pretty E. 

 cinnabarinum ; the curious Galeandra Baueri, with a fine 

 specimen of Cycnoches ventricosum, and an unnamed 

 species of Cyrtochilum.— A third collection was pro- 

 duced by Mr. Redding, gr. to Mrs. Marry at, at Wimble- 

 don, among which was a good specimen of Stanhopea 

 grandiflora, with four fine cream-coloured flowers, Catt- 

 leya Mossise with nine flowers, Epidendrum variegatum, 

 Odontoglossum maculatum, and Vanda Roxburghii, in 

 fine health. Mr. Redding also communicated neat spe- 

 cimens of Oncidium ampliatum majus, O. pulvinatum, 

 Bauerianum, and luridum. — From the Nursery of 

 Messrs. Rollisson, of Tooting, were good specimens of 

 Stanhopea ocuiata and saccata in fine bloom, a small 

 plant of Barkeria spectabilis, Epidendrum cinnabarinum, 

 with Oncidium volubile, luridum guttatum, pulvi- 

 natum, flexuosum, and luridum. — Mr. P. N. Don, gr. 

 to G. F. Cox, Esq., of Stockwell, sent Stanhopea 

 tigrina, with two flowers ; Cattleya Mossise, in good 

 condition and remarkably well coloured ; a neat plant of 

 Acropera Loddigesii, with Oncidium pulvinatum and 

 flexuosum. — Of single specimens, Messrs. Veitch and 

 Son, of Exeter, sent a noble plant of Oncidium Lancea- 

 num, with twelve flower-spikes. — Mr. Falconer, gr. to 

 A. Palmer, Esq., of Cheam, sent Brassia caudata in 

 very fine condition ; and Mr. Carson, gr. to W. F. G. 

 Farmer, Esq., of Enfield, a good plant of Cattleya 

 Mossise. 



The large collection of Stove and Greenhouse 

 Plants contributed by Mr. Robertson, gr. to Mrs. 

 Lawrence, was unusually fine, and certainly could not 

 be surpassed by any collection in the country. When 

 so many plants are required to constitute a collection, it 

 is not unusual to see some bad plants, but here they 

 were all good, all evincing first-rate management. To 

 give some idea of the beauty of this group at the back, 

 on the centre of the stage stood an immense plant of 

 Acacia alata ten feet high, and at least twelve feet in di- 

 ameter, the head forming a complete ball, so thick that 

 a bird could scarcely fly through it, and densely covered 

 with its pale lemon-coloured flowers. Flanking this 

 were two immense plants of Polygala oppositifolia, 

 covered with bloom, and in the front of it a most noble 

 plant of Pimelea decussata six feet high and six feet 

 through, regularly branched from the pot upwards, and 

 a complete sheet of inflorescence. This plant, with the 

 exception of the flowers being a little pale, which was 

 doubtless attributable to the shade necessary to retard 

 its blooming in this sunny season, was in every respect 

 perfect. Another very remarkable plant was Phoenoco- 

 ma prolifera, a plant two feet high and about the same 

 in diameter, the branches drooping over the sides and 

 partly hiding the pot, and every branch tipped with its 

 curious everlasting flowers ; scarcely less excellent was 

 a plant of Leschenaultia formosa one foot high and nearly 

 three feet in diameter ; and a plant of the same size, 

 and a mass of flowers, was Stylidium fasciculatum. 

 Mr. Robertson, moreover, contributed a noble specimen 

 of Aphelexis sesamoides, in fine bloom, and an admirable 

 specimen of Acacia pulchella ; this plant was about 6 

 feet high, and the same in diameter, forming a regular 

 globe, and in fine bloom. Of Manettia cordifolia there 

 was a splendid specimen, trained over an hemispherical 

 trellis ; it was profusely covered with flowers, and in every 

 respect a first-rate plant. Leschenaultia biloba, the pale 

 variety ; Boronia denticulata, Begonia nitida and parvi- 

 folia, Chorozema varium nanum, Siphocampylus betulifo- 

 lius, Hindsia longiflora, Lobelia longiflora, Gloxinia vio- 

 lacea and maxima alba, and Achimenes longiflora, rosea, 

 and grandiflora, were shown in fine condition ; and 

 finally, there was a prodigious plant of Erythrina crista 



galli, covered with bloom, and two exceedingly fine 

 specimens of Clerodendrum affine; the largest plant 

 was 5 feet high, and the head of bloom consisted 

 of eleven spikes of flowers; the second plant was not 

 quite so large, but both evinced excellent manage- 

 ment. — The collection from Mr. Green, gr. to Sir E. 

 Antrobus, Bart., at Cheam, contained neat speci- 

 mens of Eutaxia pungens, in fine bloom ; Leschenaultia 

 formosa, dwarf and good; Hibbertia Cunninghamii 

 densely covered with pale-yellow flowers; Ronde- 

 letia speciosa, and Sollya linearis, profusely covered 

 with bloom. Mr. Green had, moreover, a large 

 plant of Epacris heteronema, with Ixora cocci- 

 nea, much injured by its previous journey to 

 Chiswick ; Lachnsea purpurea, in good bloom ; 

 Tropseolum, edule, with orange flowers; Stephanotus 

 floribundus, and a large specimen of Cosmelia rubra. 



Of climbers, Mr. Robertson sent a collection, consist- 

 ing of a most admirable specimen of Stephanotus flori- 

 bundus, completely covered with its deliciously fragrant 

 flowers ; very large specimens of Manettia cordifolia and 

 bicolor, the former covered with bloom ; a remarkably 

 healthy specimen of Poivrea coccinea, and a good plant of 

 Hardenbergia monophylla. From the same garden was 

 a fine plant of the beautiful Clitoria Ternatea, but 

 unfortunately the blooms, which are of the finest blue 

 imaginable, are too scantily produced for the plant ever 

 to become generally cultivated. 



Among new plants some very admirable things were 



produced From Her Majesty's garden at Windsor, Mr. 



Ingram sent one of the finest of New Zealand plants, 

 called Veronica speciosa. It was a very fine healthy speci- 

 men, and had 11 spikes of rich purple flowers.— From the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, Mr. Smith, the curator, 

 communicated Pterodiscus speciosus, a plant with rosy 

 purple flowers bearing a close resemblance to a Mimulus; 

 and from their nurseries at Exeter, Messrs, Lucombe, 

 Pince, and Co. sent Ixora acuminata, a plant producing 

 a large head of white flowers, and promising to become 

 a useful though not a very conspicuous plant for public 

 exhibitions.— -Messrs. Loddiges, of Hackney, sent a 

 very lovely species of Epacris called E. miniata. It 

 has rich vermilion-coloured flowers tipped with white, 

 and they are produced in very great abundance.— 

 Clerodendrum infortunatum, a plant very superior to any 

 of the old kinds, was sent by Mr. Glendinning, nursery- 

 man, of Chiswick. It is a plant of free growth and robust 

 habit, with flowers both larger and brighter than C. 

 affine ; and from the same gentleman was a plant of 

 Achimenes picta and three hybrid varieties of Gloxinia. 

 The Achimenes has flowers resembling A. pedunculata, 

 but they are finer formed and more intense in colour ; 

 and the plant is of dwarf compact habit, with the leaves 

 bearing a sort of silvery variegation.— Of the Gloxinias, 

 one which is in cultivation under the name of G. Car- 

 tonii, has pale crimson flowers margined with white, and 

 as it branches freely, promises to become a first-rate 

 plant ; a second plant bore a close resemblance to this, 

 but was not so good ; and the third was of a pale violet 

 colour, with a deep purple blotch in the throat, which 

 gave it a very neat appearance.— Mr. Slowe, gr. to . \v . k. 

 Baker, Esq?, of Bayfordbury, Herts, sent a small plant 

 of Pavetta caffra.-Mr. Green, Gompholobium splendens, 

 a plant with rich yellow flowers.— Mr. Bruce, gr.to boya 

 Miller, Esq., sent a new species of Kennedya fromJNew 

 Holland, with greenish-white flowers ; and Mr. JacKson, 

 of Kingston, a finely bloomed plant of the new annual, 

 called Viscaria ocuiata ; and, finally, from Mr. Ayres, gr. 

 to James Cook, Esq., Brooklands, Blackheath Park, 

 was a plant of Pentas carnea, with ten heads or its den 

 cately tinted pale peach-blossom coloured flowers. 

 Messrs.Veitch and Son, of Exeter, sent cut specimens 

 Hindsia longiflora and violacea. 



Of single specimens of old plants, Mr. lyreen l pro 

 duced an Azalea, upon which the three following kinds, 

 viz., A. Indica variegata, lateritia, and Gladstones!!, , had 

 been grafted, and with the flowers intermixed, na ^ 

 very novel and pleasing appearance. Mr. Oree 

 also fine specimens of Gompholobium P ol y mor P h "*' t L 

 fine bloom ; Aphelexis humilis, a fine specimen, but * 

 flowers badly coloured ; Coleonemarubrum,avery e. 

 lent plant ; and a small, but promising plant or <^n 



zemaovatum From Mr. Dawson, nurseryman, oi d 



ton- hill, was a very large plant of Erica Massoni, in 

 excellent health and fine bloom.— Mr. R° b ?£ 80 £iJL . 

 municated E. ventricosa, densely covered witn u _» 

 and E. depressa, evincing equally good man ag ^ 

 Mr. Robertson, moreover, contributed a lovely p 

 Gesnera lateritia; a superlatively excellen t P ia ° 

 Gloxinia maxima alba, covered with hundreds ot tto^ , 

 and a very large plant of Erythrina crista-gam. 

 Mr. Falconer was a very lovely specimen ot l- , 



naultia formosa, and a very large but badly u 

 , . «... __ i -.a _ tvt.. rirthson. er. to w 



plant of Achimenes longiflora.— Mr. Dobson, gr. ^ 

 Beck, of the Slate Works, Isleworth, had a very 

 specimen, in a slate pot, of Achimenes gf a ° dlfl ^ io sa. 

 a small but finely-bloomed plant of Rondeletia ipeuo 

 -Mr. Jackson, of Kingston, sent Dracophjilani it > 

 dum, with verv curious flowers ; and Messrs- aju 

 Pince, and Co. the rare pale-yellow and «fii^ 

 pias-flowered plant, called Cyrtoceras reflexum. 

 Mr. Jones, gr. to Sir Moore Disney, at East Acton ,^ 

 a neat plant of Leschenaultia formosa, . cover diflora 



bloom, and a large specimen of Fuch /i* f tham8 tow, 

 maxima.-Mr. Pamplin, nurseryman, of Waltham 



produced a finely bloomed, but unnaturally train i ^ 

 of Boronia serrulata ; and Messrs. Mountjoy anas ^ ff 

 Baling, sent Lilium testaceum, with pale, cream/, 



flowers. very fine 



Of the beautiful tribe of Erica there was a vc j 



