March 7, 1866. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDBNER. 



189, 



trade have been driven to procure liome-grown seedlings, 

 very many of which are very far inferior to the original ones. 

 in addition to the above there are Lachenalias quadricolor, 

 pustulata, and others ; Oxalis fulgida, and sanguinea ; Tri- 

 teleia uniflora (forced) ; the prim little Oxalis tricolor ; Phcc- 

 dranassachloracra; Ixia scillaris (variegated) ; Hynienooallis 

 Skinneiiana; Scilla brevifolia, bilolia, &o. — W. B. 



]\£R,. iUBBEY'S PLAN OF PLACING 

 STEAWBEERY SHELVES. 

 At a moment when Strawberry forcing is in progress, and 

 very many gardeners and amateurs are obliged to resort to 

 various contrivances to secure additional space and suitable 

 positions in their forcing-houses for the Strawberry plants 

 they wish to force, the plan described and illustrated in 

 the article on " Strawberry Forcing" in a recent Number of 

 your Journal by Mr. G. Abbey may seem to some of those who 

 are inconvenienced by having more plants to force than space 

 to give them, a very opportune and useful suggestion, and 

 as far as regards the extension of space for Strawberry pots 

 in a house it may be so ; but in respect to the suitability of 

 the plan for successful Strawberry forcing I venture to ex- 

 press a doubt. In Strawberry forcing it is undoubtedly an 

 advantage to place the plauts'on shelves near the glass, and 

 Mr. Abbey's plan secures to the plants one of the conditions 

 it is desirable they should enjoy ; but with that proximity 

 to the glass there should be a provision for the admission of 

 ail', not in strong sweeping currents when the sun shines, 

 but slowly and steadily ; in short, there should be an equal 

 yet restricted play of air about the plants night and day. 

 It is very necessary to prevent undue heat and dryness 

 operating upon the plants, as excess in these particulars 

 tends to interfere with the setting and swelling of the fruit. 

 Placed as the shelves are seen in Mr. Abbey's design, it 

 would be difficult in ordinary houses to preserve the i^lauts 

 from the scorching eifects of the sun in the bright drying 

 weather of March, and the exposure of the Strawberry-pots 

 to the sun's rays and the currents of air necessary to keep 

 down the temperature of the house, would dry up the soil 

 and injure the roots, which should always be kept cool and 

 moist. Having tried, some years ago, the plan now suggested 

 by Mr. Abbey of hanging Strawberry shelves, and found the 

 objections to it which I have stated, I am induced to speak 

 ■with greater confidence ; and I was led to devise the little 

 Strawberry forcing-houses which bear my name, in conse- 

 quence of the difficulty I found in securing suitable places 

 for Strawberries in ordinary forcing-houses. I Was led 

 to the idea of my plan by finding that Strawberries always 

 succeeded on shelves placed in the front of lean-to houses 

 close to where the roof-lights rested on the front-supporting 

 plate, and where a little air constantly entered; at the 

 same time the pot was shaded from the sun by the thick- 

 ness of the plate. 



In other resoects I am glad to bear testimony to the pro- 

 priety of the recommendations in regard to Strawberry 

 forcing in Mr. Abbey's very able article. — William Ingkam, 

 Belvoir. 



one hand, and on the other an incentive to and opportunity 

 for observation, such as nothing else has the power of af- 

 fording. 



By all means encourage fxesh subjects as far as prac- 

 ticable without lowering the character of the exhibitions ; 

 but it is well known to jjersons experienced in plant grow- 

 ing that comparatively few of the plants introduced to this 

 country can be made subservient to the skill of the gardener 

 so as to become fit tor exhibition purposes. Although the 

 same varieties, and in some cases the same plants, are gene- 

 rally successful, still I maintain it is better even so than to 

 supplant them by subjects that are less calculated to exem- 

 plify what it is possible to accomplish by first-class culture. 



"F.E.H.S." asks. What have those "magnificent speci- 

 mens " to do with horticulture ? More, I maintain, than any 

 person can calculate, by the example they place before those 

 connected with horticulture in all its bearings. Critics to 

 be consistent ought to turn round upon the fruit-growers, 

 something in this fashion — "We are tired of seeing your 

 magniiioent Pines, splendid Grapes, Peaches, Nectarines, 

 &c., and request you to ransack the globe to find fresh fruits 

 to operate upon ; if they are fine-looking and palatable so 

 much the better, but something fresh we must have." 



If the London societies wish for fresh exhibitors, with pro- 

 bably a few different varieties of plants, then they ought to 

 make a few classes for distant exhibitors — say those who 

 reside 150 or 200 miles away. Not that provincial growers 

 are afraid to compete with those near the metropolis, but 

 simply for this reason — plants which have travelled so far 

 cannot possibly look so fresh as those grown near to the 

 place of exhibition, not so much in consequence of the dis- 

 tance as the time that stove plants must necessarily be out 

 of their proper temperature before they can be placed on the 

 exhibition stage. — T. Baines, The Gardens, Summerfield, Bow- 

 don, Cheshire. 



THE EXHIBITOES' LETTEE TO THE COUNCIL 



OF THE EOTAL HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



Your correspondent "P.E.H.S.," page 126, writing in 

 defence of the Eoyal Horticultural Society's programme for 

 the present year, alludes to the sameness of the exhibitions 

 from the repeated success of the same subjects ; and, like 

 the majority of those who write on the matter, he falls into 

 the mistake of treating these exhibitions as mere spectacles 

 for the horticultural sightseer. Now, I say without the 

 least hesitation, if that were the chief and highest object in 

 view, the exhibitions would be comparatively useless. To 

 persons who are in the habit of seeing all the London or 

 leading provincial shows, I admit there is not that novelty 

 which many people are always craving for; but there is 

 another very important matter which novelty-hunters lose 

 sight of — namely, that at any one of those exhibitions there 

 are hundreds of ladies and gentlemen, and also gardeners, 

 who for the first time see a first-class horticultural show, 

 and whose tastes for horticulture receive a stimulus on the 



DEVONIENSIS EOSE. 



I QUITE agree with Mr. S. J. Pavitt, of Bath, in thinking 

 there is but one variety of this Eose, and I have much plea- 

 sure in giving my testimony as to the extraordinary vigour 

 and hardiness of the plants sent out by him. There are 

 at present growing in the garden of Henry Abbot, Esq., of 

 the Priory, Abbots Leigh, near this place, three Bevoniensis 

 plants budded on the Briar, which I purchased for him of 

 Mr. Pavitt in the year 1862, and which for size and vigour 

 siu'pass any Eose plants I have ever seen. They are all 

 three planted side by side against a south wall, one of them 

 covering a space of upwards of 40 feet wide, and having 

 shoots of the last year's growth from 10 to 16 feet long, and 

 measuring in circumference at the base the extraordinary 

 size of 2f inches. 



All three plants were last summer covered with blooms 

 far surpassing in size and beauty any Tea Eose I had ever 

 before seen, and I may, perhaps, add that my experience as 

 a Eose amateur and visitor of Eose exhibitions has been by 

 no means limited. On the occasion of my visiting Mr. 

 Pavitt's nursery to purchase these plants, he took me to see 

 some Devoniensis Eoses sold by him, and growing in the 

 garden of a gentleman residing near; they were grown as 

 pillar Eoses, and for rampant growth and vigour could 

 scarcely be equalled by Charles Lawson, which for a pUlar 

 Eose would, I suppose, be considered one of the best summer 

 Eoses ever sent out. — E. C, Clifton. 



The United HoKTicuLTtrBAL Society. — A meeting has 

 been held for the pui-pose of establishing a society under 

 this title. Various rules were adopted but we have only 

 space to spare for theu- preface : — " The objects of the 

 Society shall be to promote the practice, study, and advance- 

 ment of hor'ticulture in all its various branches ; means shall 

 be especially taken for the examination of plants, flowers, 

 and edible fruits, their nomenclature and synonymes, estab- 

 lishing their relative merits, investigating their physiology 

 and diseases, their uses, properties, cultivation, and im- 

 provement ; also to facilitate the formation of a fund for the 

 benefit of gardeners during sickijess, calamity, and old age ; 

 such fund to be managed by a separate committee, acting 

 vmder a separate code of rules." When we have had an 



