420 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 





Peas have been gathered as early as the 7th of May; 



—-,,_ - , sniall 



all it could furnish. 



While we bear willing testimony to the merits 

 of the fruit growers, we must not omit to add that 

 the judges complained of what is certainly a very 

 objectionable practice. The Society offers prizes for 

 collections of Peaches, each to consist of not fewer 

 than two or three sort's. The judges reported that 

 in some instances, instead of sorts, they found names ; 

 and they intimated that in future such collections 

 would be held to be disqualified whatever their 

 merit might be. We hope they will abide by 

 their determination, for it must be owned that the 

 neglect of ascertaining the correct names of fruits is 

 a growing evil, which requires to be checked. 

 A gardener who does not know the difference 

 between a Noblesse, a Red Magdalen, or an Early 

 Anne Peach maybe, and often is a first-rate cul- 

 tivator ; but he only half understands his business 



for all that. 



The same remark applies to the names given to 

 plants. This has already been the subject of some 

 correspondence in our columns, and we avail our- 

 selves of the opportunity afforded by the Chiswick 

 exhibition to offer a remark or two upon it. No 

 one conversant with modern gardening can be 

 ignorant that the names of plants in nurseries are 

 too often false, or fanciful, or altogether delusive. 

 We continually see countries ascribed to plants, 

 with the utmost confidence, although the latter 

 iever had the smallest intercourse with the former. 

 Species from Mexico are fastened upon the Gold coast, 

 Chinese plants are said to be Brazilian, well-known 

 Nilgherry forms are asserted to have come from 

 Western Africa, and so on. In these cases it would 

 seem that the owners of such plants know less of 

 geography than a parish schoolboy. In other 

 instances, where a plant has half a dozen aliases, 

 every one of these is used to sell it by, although the 

 owners must, or certainly ought to, know that they 

 all stand for the same thing. Then again a plant 

 already provided with a name in works accessible 

 to anybody, is thrust forth into the world with a 

 new one invented by some ingenious gentleman in 

 the trade. Another mode of perplexing ^ buyers 

 is for every recipient of a new introduction, for 

 which no scientific name has been found, to 

 give it one of his own, too often with some 

 magnificent meaning to entrap the unwary ; 

 hence the splendidums, and gloriosums, and spe- 

 ciosissimums, and superbums, and maximums in 

 which so many modern productions are made 

 to rejoice. A whimsical example of this has 

 just occurred to us in the case of a very 

 handsome scarlet Cactus, which has been pro- 

 duced under the surprisingly appropriate name of 

 Epiphyllum coeruleum grandiflorum ! Such prac- 

 tices are by no means confined to England ; on the 

 contrary, they are more numerous elsewhere than 

 within our own shores. But come from where they 

 will, they are discreditable to all concerned in their 

 manufacture. We mention no persons for the pre- 

 sent; we only point to the exhibition tables at 

 Chiswick last Wednesday. 



To turn to the real novelties there, it is impossible 

 not to direct attention, in the first instance, to the 

 very curious and singularly beautiful Princess Royal 

 Rhododendron exhibited by Messrs. Veitch. This 

 striking novelty was obtained from the white R. 

 jasminiflorum by the palest variety of R. java- 

 nicum. In form it was intermediate between its 

 parents, but its flowers were a clear pure rose 

 colour. Along with it was a fine Californian plant, 

 resembling Phlox setacea in flowers and leaves ; 

 but forming a stiff hard-wooded shrub. It was 

 shown under the name of Leptodacti/lon califor- 

 nicurn, which was a mistake. The plant appeared 

 to be a Phlox, allied to Phlox speciosa. To the 

 same group has to be added a Rhododendron 

 from Borneo, apparently the same as the sup- 

 posed variety of R. BrooJceanum with red- 

 edged leaves, to which allusion was made last 

 week in our column of new plants ; it was not in 

 flower, so that nothing more can be said about it for 

 the present. To these must be added a singular 

 Dendrobium "from Amboyna," in the way of 

 D. secundum, with purplish flowers tipped with 

 green. Messrs. Rollisson are the possessors of this, 

 which is quite an acquisition. 



Other novelty there was none of much moment 

 except a beautiful hybrid Achimenes, with most 

 brilliant scarlet flowers, raised by Mr. Ingram at 

 Irogmore, and a very fine deeo rose-coloured 

 1 ctunta, almost as handsome as a Dipladenia; this 

 bore the name of the Marquise de la Ferte, and 

 came from Mr. \\ estwood, of Acton " 



The rest of the exhibition consisted of the usual 

 tribes of plants, among which fine leaved plants 

 were a new feature ; and by surrounding such groups 

 With a border of fancy Pelargoniums thev were 



Variegated plants too are 



made hichly effective, 

 increasing in variety and becoming every year more 

 attractive We think that gardeners may congratu- 

 late themselves upon attention being thus directed to 

 a new mode of decoration, which is sure to be found 

 useful when flowers themselves are not procurable. 

 As Ion* ago as November 1st, 1845, we pointed out 

 how wide a field there is among the variegation of 



leaves, and how numerous are the colours besides 

 green which foliage presents ; that the public has 

 profited by the hint is shown by the fine examples 

 of variegation now to be found at every metropolitan 

 exhibition. Let us hope that growers will make 

 yet another step in advance, and separate on the 

 exhibition tables the hardy from the tender, or 



very delicate races. • : * . 



For details we refer to the report given in another 



column. 



The following account of a new kind of garden 

 pot appears in the Revue Horticole. An English 

 amateur, Mr. Keir, residing in Paris, has contrived 

 a method by which the branches of trees can be 

 more conveniently layered than heretofore. Pots 

 with a slit on one' side have been long in use : but 



difficulty has been found in their use out of doors, 

 on account of the want of any good means of securing 

 them in a fixed position or at any desired height. 

 Mr. Keir proposes to make such pots with a tubular 

 projection on one side {a b) through which a staff 

 may pass, and, being driven into the ground, hold 

 the pot perfectly steady. 



The following cut explains at a glance the nature 

 of the invention. In forming such a pot, it is said 



died from " the effects of the _ 



proper accommodation," & c and^bV 1 * ***** 



replaced ; but most of them had reaSn'p *? *** 



shape of young plants on sale at the SI , * 



private nursery This cinmn*^ 



and commented upon, yet there had bee* ™ 7* 1 



his conduct to justify the managers fc Jj?* 



charge of dishonesty. uwmg ^ 



A much more common practice is »h,™ 

 gardener propagates curious or ornamental 2-1 



produce of the sales. This 



interest 





Sj£? S^?/ * h S? ° , l the gar ^ en to* with* 



in 



anuria 

 tuc v,«,o^ v/i. oiAuov>nyi,ivii gaiueus, wnere the* 



botanic garden with the outward show of scS> • 

 intended rather as an evidence that the object tftW 

 subscribers is rational recreation without pectin 

 profit, than as a pledge to afford efficient as*2 

 to botanical instruction. In such gardens it i* 

 fectly true that the means of propagation necesiani 

 for keeping up the ornamental beds and shmbbelS 

 may be with a trifling expense extended bo 



that the potter must take care that the slit c is so 

 small as just to allow the branch d to pass in with- 

 out leaving room for the earth to slip out. But this 

 precaution seems needless ; for it would be easy to 

 prevent the earth slipping by means of pebbles or 

 crocks applied to the slit after the branch is in- 

 serted, and as the pot is being filled with earth. 



~ * .... .i .1-- -^. — — 



The attempt to make up for the deficiencies in 

 the funds allotted to botanical gardens by commer- 

 cial arrangements, is seldom attended with much 

 success ; but undoubtedly the worst plan of all is 

 the endeavour to obtain the ^services of a superior 

 head gardener or curator at a low salary by allowing 

 him to carry on a separate business as nurseryman 

 on his own grounds, or to raise plants for sale on 

 his own account in the garden itself. As the salary 

 he receives from the garden is thus professedly in- 

 sufficient to purchase his whole time and talents, he 

 feels perfectly justified not only in devoting a 

 portion of both to his private business, but also in 

 diverting to the latter many of the means of pro- 

 curing and preserving plants which should, strictly 

 speaking, belong to the garden. He is indeed the 

 sole judge of how far his resources should be dis- 

 tributed between the two, and he must be an 

 extraordinarily scrupulous man who would not in 

 cases of doubt prefer his own nursery. In one of 

 those large continental establishments where the 

 annual allowances are not always in proportion to 

 the liberality of occasional outlays, we had occasion 

 many years ago to admire the number, the beauty, 

 and variety of specimens of rare and curious plants 

 illustrating the flora of a particular country as ob- 

 tained from a collection at considerable expense. 

 Visiting the same garden but a few years later, this 

 fine collection was reduced to a most ordinary one, 

 the best specimens had disappeared — they had 



have a few plants for sale. The subscribers mat 

 procure a few things at a low price, and there mat 

 possibly be a small apparent balance to bring u 

 account beyond the extra expense. But this cm| 

 be done to any important extent without interferin 

 with the main object of the garden ; the ordinary 

 surplus plants will seldom be such as precisely to 

 suit the demands of the public ; a ready safe at 

 remunerative prices cannot be ensured without 

 entering into a regular nurseryman's business; tim 

 it is well known, brings no profit, unless the be* 

 man devotes to it his whole energies, and, if he does 

 that, what is to become of the society's ornamental 

 or recreative botanic garden ? A nursery gardoi 

 may have its beauties if viewed as a nursery, bit it 

 cannot be made into a botanic garden or an om- 

 mental promenade without a proportionate lo«: 

 unless indeed the scientific or ornamental part ie 

 considered as a means of attracting customers, sri 

 thus be wholly subservient to the commercial raja 

 in view. When once the commercial element is intro- 

 duced, science and ornament become seivante, cot 



masters. 



This is still more strongly exemplified in the c 

 of University and public botanic gardens, h aU 

 cases where we have known the sale of plants in- 

 duced as an aid in support of these establishment!, 

 it has invariably been done to the detriment of the 

 main collection— the end is more or less sacr 

 for the means. It being decided that tie gar* 

 cannot be maintained without the produce of sales, 

 the first attention is bestowed on the propagatit 



purpose ; the main collection is Uttt 

 attended to except at spare times, till m some am 

 it comes to be little more thought of than as itM 

 to procure grafts or cuttings from. We believe it ma? 

 be generally stated that there are few, it «Jj« 



cases of combination, where, if ™*7~i 

 «™ strictly and fairly kept, it would notljW 

 that the commercial part of the ufjgy, 

 carried on at a bare compensation for tbe 

 outlay, or even at a loss, and that seldom, J ^ ^ 

 there any real surplus applicable in ai 

 maintenance of the botanical collection, tr. 



for this 



were 



New PI 



J 32. JUNIPERUS PYR1F0RMIS H#IIim _- 



J. foliis primariis patentibus ternatta ™™*5J ^ 

 glaucis, secundariis arete adpressis imbncan ^^^ 

 pyriforinibus (obovatis) deniqiie oblongis squam -r 

 foliaceis demum reflexis. YeitAV 



A very distinct species, brought to Mess -^ % 

 Mr. W. Lobb from the mountains ot *:~ li f&\i+ 

 California, where it forms a low tree iv- r^ 

 When young the leaves are whorle d uij ^^ & 

 spreading, and sharp pointed ; on the o ^^jji 

 become closely pressed, short, ana b ^ j^siP 

 form nearly terete twigs. The I* "* y0U i# * 

 for being very like small Pears JJ^J,, ^ 

 marked with the free spreading and rain ^ ^j 

 the consolidated scales ; when full grow n ^^ 

 back and apply themselvesclose^^ ^^ 



"' ' id," 



possib^ 



same as Jeffrey's No. 1475. 



berries are^p P-^^ftEEtfM 

 Young plants of this are, we ^ 



session of Messrs- veitcn. 



133. Copressus Macnabiiw. m *> u< 



new Phil. Journal, i., &*> ^*if*_ 



C. foliis obtusis utrtaqne concavU teuKW-^ ^ 



dibus, Btrobilis globosis: squami* 

 incurvo armatis. _ , 



umboBe 



with 



shmb growing to no great JU£ ^^ ^ 



tortuous appearance ; »nd «n ^.^ weJJJjt, 



dia*g5 



serables C. Vhdeana, but is rm"^ a* »>*• 

 by the leaves being ^ J^f^ted w» • g> 

 of the midrib, and being there wbJ ^sJ«* 



matter resembling the bloom .of ' ThiflC i r c«^ 

 and points remain bngbt green- 



I 





