Jaanary 3, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



from my stock of Madame Vauoher." Madame Barillet, the 

 French variety that I saw, is perhaps a little more free- 

 flowering, but that is all. For bedding purposes these flowers 

 are of very little use. Rain soon soils their purity, while 

 the sun turns them of a dirty blush. As pot plants they 

 aie very valuable, and they do excellently for cutting for 

 bouquets. 



SOAKLETS OF VABIOUS SHADES, • PINKS, &C. 



*Qlitter (Bull).— A good scarlet, bright flower. "Very bril- 

 liant, and likely to prove useful. 



*ExceUent (F. & A. Smith).— A very free-flowering variety ; 

 strong horseshoe ; Ught scarlet rose flower, weU-formed ; of 

 good habit. 



Nonsuch (Bull). — Rose; horseshoe leaf, but the flower and 

 truss too small. 



Elegance (BuU). — Violet rose. Pretty, but too much like 

 Herald of Spring. 



Blushing Beauty (BuU). — In the style of Prince of Hesse, 

 and no better. Good horseshoe foliage. 



*Lorenzo (Bull). — Very large pip and truss, scarlet ; good 

 and well-marked foliage. An excellent variety. 



Loyalty (Bull). — Vivid scarlet, but too gross in habit to 

 be worth anything. 



*Miriam (BuU). — ^A very pretty rose-coloured flower ; habit 

 of plant vigorous ; free-flowering, colour novel. 



Purity (BuU).— White-flowered. No better than Madame 

 Vaucher. 



Regalis (BuU). — Salmon rose. Something in the way of 

 Herald of Spring. 



Vivid (BuU).^A very bright scarlet, large truss and pip ; 

 but I fear the habit is too gross ever to make it valuable. 



*Eve (BuU). — Pretty, pink shaded with white, and very 

 promising. It has received a first-class certificate. 



Celestial (Bull). — Too gross, and not free-flowering. 



Striking (BuU). — Like Diadem and Madame Rudersdorff, 

 but not equal to those varieties. 



Brilliancy (BuU). — Too gross in habit to be of any value. 



Provost (BuU). — Too much like Herald of Spring. 



*The Clipper (BuU). — An exceUent flower, and one weU 

 worth growing. Its habit is good, and the flowers large and 

 round. Colour bright scarlet, 



Effie (BuU).— Truss too small. 



*Charmer (BuU). — A flower somewhat in the style of Eve, 

 and, like it, wiU be useful. It is, perhaps, somewhat more 

 robust than that variety. 



*Lord of the Isles (G. Smith). — Crimson scarlet ; large and 

 weU-formed. Of good habit. 



Orange Globe. — Orange scai-let, white eye. Good habit. 



*Euginie Mezard. — Bright salmon, shaded and spotted with 

 white. Very pretty. 



*Culford Rose. — BrilUant carmine salmon; flowers large, 

 weU formed. A good trusser. 



Louis Schweitzer. — Salmon-coloured flowers, white centre ; 

 truss good. 



*Lady Cowper (Francis). — A perfect Uttle gem, and quite 

 distinct from anything I have seen. It does not grow above 

 7 or 8 inches high, is vei-y free-flowering, the flowers bright 

 scarlet, and as an edging for scarlet beds invaluable. Its 

 leaf is so small and fine that it hardly looks like a Geranium. 



*Loyalty (WUliams).— A bright scarlet flower. Habit of 

 plant good. 



There can be, I think, little doubt that in some of the 

 foregoing varieties we have advances on anything previously 

 out. There is a size and form amongst many of the Scar- 

 lets, combiaed as these quaUties are in some of them, with 

 good habit, that wUl not faU to recommend them for general 

 use. Such flowers as Excellent, The Clipper, Lorenzo, &o., 

 wiU, I am assured, be general favourites. The season not 

 having been a favourable one for determining the merits of 

 any bedding plants wUl justify one in not deciding positively 

 agamst a flower; but I am incliaed to think that those 

 marked with an asterisk will be found the best in each class. 

 In this as in every other department of horticulture there 

 IS progress ; while at the same time there are many thino-s 

 sent out which only the partiaUty of the raisers can see any 

 beauty m beyond those already in cultivation. 



WhUe on the subject of Scarlet Geraniums I cannot forbear 

 saying another word about the plants that appeared at our 

 metropohtan exhibitions this season. They were quite to 



my mind, unworthy of the well-known skUl of our growers. 

 Anything more frightful than some of them were, it is im- 

 possible to conceive. In some the trusses were tied right 

 across, so that stakes and stalks met the eye in every di- 

 rection. Other plants were trained table fashion, as plants 

 of Pompon Chrysanthemums sometimes are ; and in very few 

 was there that appearance of neatness and symmetry, which 

 it is very easy to give to a Scarlet Geranium. If there be 

 any competition this season, let us hope to see more natural 

 plants. — D., Deal. 



FEUIT IN THE NEW YOEK (AMEEICA) 

 MAEKET. 



Nevt Toek is abundantly supplied with a profusion of 

 various sorts of fresh fruits nearly all the year round, and 

 from the number and quality of indigenous varieties, as weU 

 as proximity to the "West Indies and other regions favour- 

 able to pomological development, she enjoys advantages in 

 this respect over most of the European cities. Amongst the 

 earlier arrivals come shiploads of Bananas and Pine Apples. 

 The Bananas are very fine, and are imported aU hanging in 

 huge clusters, just as they come from the parent tree. They 

 are retailed as cheap as two cents, a single fruit, finer ones, 

 of course, dearer in proportion to quality, and are exten- 

 sively used during the prevalence of the hot weather, when 

 large quantities of ripe fruit can be consumed without de- 

 triment to the system. Amongst Pine Apples I noticed 

 chiefly the Black Jamaica and Montserrat, with a good 

 sprinkling of Smooth Cayennes and a few Providences. They 

 are sold from 5 cents, upwards, very fine fruit to be had 

 for a quarter of a doUar, equivalent to an EngUsh shilling. 



Strawberries come in about the end of May, and begin- 

 ning of June, and for three weeks or a month reign supreme, 

 to the exclusion of almost all other fruits, and owing to 

 the extreme heat then prevaUing, the Strawberry season 

 only lasts for that period. The same cause also detracts 

 materiaUy from the flavour of the Strawberry, the very rapid 

 maturing process undergone, operating, at least, against 

 the juices of this fruit being highly perfected; but as 

 they are seldom eaten singly, and never sent to table as 

 gathered, any deficiency of flavom- is not easUy detected 

 when " smothered in crame." Strawberry-growing for 

 market has been gone into most spiritedly, the principal 

 grower in the States, Mr. Knox, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 

 rejoicing in the regal title of the " Strawberry King," and 

 long may royalty be thus honoured. Many varieties, such 

 as Keens' SeedUng, British Queen, and Sfr Harry, do not 

 thrive well ; but again some others, such as Triomphe de 

 Gand, Victoria, La Constante, &c., seem to have a more 

 adaptable constitution, and bear abundantly. The favourite 

 market variety, and the most prolific bearer I ever saw, is a 

 seedling raised in this country, oaUed "Wilson's Albany. It 

 is a little acid, unless when dead ripe, but a valuable Sti-aw- 

 berry for preserves. Triomphe de Gand has risen rapidly in 

 favour, and bids fair to be a standard fruit. 



SmaU fruits, such as Cm-rants, Raspberries, Cranberries, 

 "Whortleberries, Blackbei-ries, &o., are suppUed in immense 

 quantities, the Blackberry being a great favourite, and de- 

 servedly so. One variety, the Lawton, is cultivated exten- 

 sively and profitably ; it is a large fruit, a fr-ee bearer, and 

 answers admfrably for either dessert or preserves. Made 

 into what is termed Blackberry brandy, it is highly prized 

 as an antidote to many disorders incidental to a hot cUmate, 

 and I heard one energetic, demonstrative lady tell how this 

 summer, instead of idling away her time at a fashionable 

 watering-place, she took up her quarters in what is termed 

 the Blackberry country, in New Jersey, made seventy-two 

 gallons of Blackberry brandy with her own hands, and for- 

 warded it direct to the ai'mies in the field, where she 

 trusted it would be the means of aUeviating some suffering 

 — a most notable instance of how far active benevolence tran- 

 scends passive sympathy. Cranberries are cultivated ex- 

 tensively, and are highly prized by housekeepers for pies, 

 puddings, preserves, &c., one company having a patch of 

 25,000 acres in one location in New Jersey, for their pro- 

 duction, and having lately taken in another 10,000 acres for 

 the same purpose. Mr. 'TOlyard used to exhibit good dishes 

 of the American Cranberry at the various London shows. 



