380 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



C Apnl 11, lass. 



(a very common arrangrement in what are called show 

 gardens), and we add another monotone, which I will com- 

 pare to the scream of the clarionet. Imagine, then, reader 

 with the sensitive nerve, if you can without a shudder, the 

 utterance of such a diabolical yell. The nearest approach in 

 nature to the scarlet of Tom Thumb that I can think of, is 

 the common Corn Poppy ; but what more beautiful than the 

 little "headacher"' glinting and glowing among the stalks 

 of the bromiing Barley with a rich undergrowth of ''llover 

 and seeds ? The Poppy leaf, however, is stained with purple 

 at its base, and is crumpled in texture like the wing of a new- 

 born butterfly. The mass, too, is dispersed and broken by 

 the Bailey stalks mingled with the blue and white Corn- 

 flower, and blended, except in a direct line with the eye, 

 into a purplish rosy bloom. 



Colour in nature is seldom, if ever, positive. Gaze around 

 you in a landscape, there is not a square inch of positive 

 ■colour. In a flower there is a subtle gradation of tint from 

 the tip to the base of the petal. In double flowers, espe- 

 ■cially, the shadows of overlying petals and efiFects of trans- 

 mitted light are very considerable. It is these, added to 

 the charming irregularity of the petals, which give to the 

 Rose its exquisite grace. In some single flowers — the white 

 Lily for example — ^the depth of the convolutions renders the 

 ■effects of the shadows and transmitted light still more 

 characteristic. Now one result of what is called successful 

 hybridisation has been to render colour more positive. 

 Indeed the aim of the hybridiser seems to have been to 

 obtain flowers of positive colour: this applies more parti- 

 cularly to bedding Geraniums ; we have as a result colours 

 of the Tom Thumb and Frogmore class which may be called 

 " the hard scarlet section," they are a necessary conse- 

 quence of the present system of massing colours, when the 

 garden is appreciated chiefly from the drawing-room window 

 or from the balcony of a Crystal Palace. 



One remarkable characteristic of plant-nature is the 

 preponderance of green foliage ; the flower is the gem, the 

 foliage the massive and beautiful setting. In the partene ; 

 the turf serves this latter purpose to a very imperfect de- 

 gree. However pleasing in some respects the fresh green : 

 turf, it is ill adapted to furnish the light and shade, the 

 varying green tints of growing shoots, and the rich luxu- ■ 

 riance of leaf-growth, necessary for a perfect coup d'adl. It 

 is the intermingling of leaf and flower that gives to the 

 flower-bed its most charming and interesting feature — the I 

 infinite play of light and shade caused by the varying height , 

 of flowers and leaves. Foliage, then, should not only be ] 

 present in abundance, but the form and distinctive character I 

 of the foliage should be conspicuous, and this principle should j 

 obtain not only in the planting of flower-beds but in the I 

 exhibition of specimen plants and cut flowers. The beauty i 

 of great masses of bloom in the Azaleas and Geraniums I 

 exhibited would be enhanced by the presence of a more ■ 

 adequate proportion of healthy green foliage. Cut flowers, 

 too, especially Roses (and here I join issue with your able 

 coadjutor " D.," of Deal), would surely present a more pleas- 

 ing aspect if accompanied by a spray of their own foliage, 

 which is. moreover, in many instances, as characteristic as 

 the flowers themselves — take, for example, Eugene Appert, 

 Lord Raglan, and Gloire de Dijon. There is something in- 

 congruous, it appears to me, in these long-extended lines of 

 decapitated Roses destitute of a single green leaf. I remem- 

 ber still the indignant feeling that filled ray breast years 

 ago when a boy — an old lady being solicited for a Rose, 

 broke off an opi-ning bud, and stripped it, kind soul, of every 

 vestige of foliage. 



Speaking of Roses, what ugly inartistic objects are standard 

 Rose trees ! towering above our children's heads, dotted 

 about on their solitary spindle shanks. On their first intro- 

 duction novelty and its accompanying pi-ice caused thom to 

 be much sought after. A noted Rose-grower has suggested 

 pyramidal trees; but what more simple, and beautiful, and 

 eligible than a well-trained bush ? To be sure, they are 

 only a quarter of the price, but when on their own roots 

 it iti well known that they produce much finer flowers. If 

 standard Rosos must be grown, let them grow naturally, so 

 aa to shield the hidcona stem ; the flowers may not bo quite 

 80 fine, but thoy ore much more numerous, and a standard 

 •t feet high with its branches forming a beautiful dome of 

 ftliage and flowers is a far more beautiful object than the 



things now grown as standards. Last year I had a plant 

 of Coupe d'Hebe so grown without the aid of the pruning- 

 knife. There were at one time upwards of one hundred 

 fully-expanded blooms decking its branches, which drooped 

 in graceful wreaths to the ground. By the way, what Rose, 

 excepting the old Cabbage, of course, is more beautiful than 

 Coupe d'Hebe ? Not Comtesse de Chabiillant, certainly, in 

 spite of the catalogues. It is too like a florist's flower. — 

 T. W., Harrow. 



(To be ooQttnaed.) 



GENEEAL HOETrCULTURAL EXHIBITIOJT 

 AT AMSTEEDAil. 



OtTE earliest ideas connected with gardening associated it 

 with Holland ; and when we were informed that the Royal 

 Netherlands Horticultural Society were making an effort, 

 under the patronage of their Queen and the Prince of Orange, 

 to assemble the botanists and gardeners of Europe, and to 

 have at the same time an exhibition of plants, flowers, and 

 fruits, and of the art productions relative to gardening, we 

 hailed it as a right effort and in ihe right place — but let no 

 one suppose that such an effort is needed to revive there a 

 love of horticulture. The love of bulbous flowers is still 

 there in the ascendant, as we shall hereafter particularise ; 

 but more than that, a general love of gardening prevails. 

 It is gardening under difficulties, for the climate and excess 

 of water, both in the soil and atmosphere are at a maximum, 

 yet first-rate gardening prevails. The growers of plants for 

 sale are among the princes of florists and nurserymen ; and 

 even down to that class who live in barges throughout the 

 year, their cabins are to be found adorned with flowers, and 

 Tulips, Crocuses, Hyacinths, and Anemones are grown by 

 them in pots placed in secure corners about the barge. 



Well, to Amsterdam, on the 5th of this current April, 

 were invited 150 of the botanists and gardeners of the 

 Netherlands, 56 of France, 75 of Belgium, 1 of Switzerland, 

 2 of Italy, 1 of Spain, 27 of Prussia, 7 of Austria, 3 of 

 Bavaria, 3 of Hanover, 3 of Wurtemburg, 3 of Baden, 2 of 

 Saxe, 2 of Luxembourg, 1 of Weimar, 6 of the Grand Duchy 

 of Hesse, 1 of the Electorate of Hesse, 2 of Nassau, 5 of 

 Hamburg, 1 of Frankfort, 1 of Sweden and Norway, 2 of 

 Denmark, 4, of Rnssia.l of Sclileswig,and 12 of Great Britain. 

 Of these, very few failed to attend, and, consequently, at 

 noon on the day we have named, were assembled in the 

 Palace of Industry nearly 300 of the most distinguished 

 botanists and gardeners of Europe. It would be invidious 

 to particularise eveu one, but whoever had the pleasure of 

 being there saw assembled, we hope not for the last time, 

 some of the best botanists and horticultui'ists of nearly 

 every State in Europe. 



The President of the Royal Horticultural Society having 

 addressed this assembly, they were divided into ten sections. 

 To each section a certain number of the classes of plants 

 and relative articles exhibited were assigned, and to which 

 they were to award prizes. This was no easy task, and 

 again and again had a show of hands to be taken before a 

 decision could be obtained. 



The Palace of Industry, in which the exhibition was held, 

 was evi.-cted in 1(563 for an international exhibition of the 

 same kind, but on a smaller scale as that in this country at 

 Kensington ; but the Netherlanders, with sounder judgment 

 than usually prevails in such matters with us, erected a 

 building so ornamental and so durable aa to be worth pre- 

 serving for similar purposes in after-years. The best idea 

 we can give of it is by describing it as two conservatories 

 like thiit in the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens at 

 Kensington, but more oi-namonted, with a gallery all round 

 instead of only on one side, and with a handsome centre, 

 siumounted by a lofty dome. Besides the centre nave, if 

 we may so describe it, there are side aisles, and over these 

 .'ire rooms, suitable for the supply of refreshments, committee 

 meetings, and similar purposes. 



The floor of the nave was marked out by broad turf 

 edj;ings, so as to represent a geometrical garden. In the 

 Ijcds thus bordered were the plants exhibited, grouped and 

 arranged, and the paths among them were devoted to the 

 spectators. There is a fountain in the centre of each half of 

 the nave, but these rather marred the effect, for they are 

 neither artistic nor powerful. 



