April IS, lSfc5. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



305 



Drummondi; Ixora GriJTithi, in fine bloom; Dendrobium 

 Dayanum ; Hedaroma, &o. ; and Mr. Ball, Orange trees, 

 Palms, and Perns, among which were a fine mass of Tricho- 

 miines radicans, Platycerium alcicorne, and some good 

 Gleiohenias ; Camellias Conntes? of Orkney and La Eeine, 

 both fine white varieties ; Araucaria gracilis, with pendent 

 shoots ; Draeajuas, &o. A first prize was awarded to Messrs. 

 Lee a second to Mr. Bull. 



Mr. Veitch again exhibited his fine new Rhododendron 

 Princess Alexandra, Azalea Stella, the scarlet-spathed An- 

 thurium Soherzerianum, and Manettia micans, with long 

 orange scarlet flowers, for each of which he received a first- 

 class certificate ; also. Primula cortusoides grandiflora, with 

 large, saucer-shaped, drooping flowers, rosy lilac outside, 

 and paler within; and Primula cortusoides ccerulea, lilac 

 rose flowers ; a first class certificate was awarded to each of 

 these. A white variety was also shown. From Messrs. 

 Smith, of Dulwich, came Azaleas, including amon-^ others, 

 Etna, a fine colour, salmon scarlet and dark crimson spots, 

 a promising variety; Cinerai-ia Flower of the Day, purplish 

 plum, with a conspicuous ring of red at the base of the ray 

 florets, surrounding a narrow white ring; from Mr. Cooling, 

 Bath, Verbena Annie, of which a coloured plate was given in 

 the "Florist and Pomologist" of February last ; from Mr. W. 

 Paul, Beaton's Geraniums ; from Mr. Beadon, North Stone- 

 liam, cut blooms of Camellias grown in the open air ; from 

 Mr. Bartlett, Lily of the Valley and Cyclamens ; and from 

 the Society's garden at Chiswick a species of Peperomia, 

 with ample foliage, having silvery markings. A few other 

 objects were exhibited, but not of a nature to call for special 

 mention. 



INTEEXATIONAL FBUIT SHOTV. 



The challenge which has been given by the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society to the gardens of the Sovereigns of Europe, 

 for a competitive exhibition of fruits and vegetables, to be 

 held from the 9th to the 16th of December, has been favour- 

 ably received by Prance, Russia, Italy, Turkey, Havover, 

 Greece. Belgium, ifcc, and further answers are being daily 

 received. The following prizes are offered :— 



1. The gold medal of the Society will be awarded for the 

 -best collection of fruit and vegetables produced in the gar- 

 den of a Sovereign. 



2. The gold medal of the Society for the best collection of 

 fruit and vegetables grown by any botanic or horticultural 

 society in any part of the world. 



3. The gold medal of the Society for the best and most 

 complete represmtalice collection of fruit and vegetables from 

 any of the Colonies. 



4. Fii'st Banksian gold medal for the best and most com- 

 plete representative collection from the Presidencies of India. 



5. Certificates will be awarded for separate exhibitions of 

 fruits and vegetables, either fresh or preserved, from all 

 parts of the world. 



6. The first gold Knightian medal of the Society to the 

 exhibitor who shall obtain the greatest number of first-class 

 certificates. 



7. The second gold Knightian medal to the exhibitor 

 who shall obtain the greatest number of second-class cer- 

 tificates. 



8. The second gold Banksian medal to the exhibitor who 

 shall obtain the greatest number of third-class certificates. 



y. The first gold Banksian medal to the exhibitor who 

 shall gain the greatest number of marks, counting first, 

 second, and thii-d certificates as three, two, and one marks 

 respectively. 



LAVEFDEU DISEASE. 

 One of the greatest Lavender growers is anxious about 

 the Lavender malady. Pine healthy plants wiU begin to 

 die off in pieces, and sometimes altogether, and the stem 

 below grourd becomes dark in the centre. I enclose 

 ■two or three pieces of the head from the same plant, dead 

 and alive. The dead part seems rather floury with mildew, 

 or something of that kind. I think if that 'is the ease, a 

 little powdered lime and charcoal would do good. I firmly 

 believe that the great growers must just go back in their 

 cultivation. For one load of dung used twenty or thirty 

 years ago, I should say that twenty or thirty are" used now, ■ 

 and the extreme luxuriance to secure heavy crops may be I 



the primary cause. The oil of Lavender made on the Con- 

 tinent is not worth a third of that made in this country. 

 The plants in France, are, I believe, still healthy, and as 

 I ascribe the difference in quality to the climate, I have a 

 strong belief that foreign plants grown here would yield 

 the properties of British-grown plants. It is a very serious 

 affair for a man to lose ten or twenty acres of Lavender in 

 full bearing. Can any of your readers give information on 

 this subject ? — R. Fish. 



SIZE OF PLOWER-POTS— CINDEES FOE 

 DRAINAGE. 



Mat I suggest to your correspondents that, instead of 

 calling flower-pots 48's, 24's, &c., according to the number 

 in the cast, they should name them according to their size, 

 as four-inch, six-inch, twelve-inch, &o. ? Many of the readers 

 of your Journal are not an fait in the different sizes of the 

 pots in the casts, besides they vary very muck in different 

 parts of England; and as one of the great objects of your 

 paper is to give assistance and easy rules for the guidance 

 of the amateur and those who have not had much practice 

 in gardening, I think every direction as to size of pots, &c., 

 should be as plain as possible. I think every one under- 

 stands that a six-inch pot is one wliicb averages 6 inches 

 across the top and G inches in height. 



None of your correspondents have ever to my recollection 

 recommended sifted cinders for the drainage of pots. Char- 

 coal is, I know, often mentioned ; but as a rule persons are 

 apt to think that crocks, or broken bricks, tiles, &c., are the 

 only legitimate drainage for pots. Now, for bedding-out 

 plants 1 always use cinders passed through two riddles — a 

 three-quarter-inch mesh to take out the large, and a half- 

 inch to riddle out the small dust. A few cinders at the 

 bottom of each pot are ample drainage for nearly all bedding- 

 out plants ; and when these are turned out to plant, the 

 roots have generally clung to the cinders, which act as a 

 sort of reservoir of moisture for them, and there is no neces» 

 sity to injure the roots by picking off crocks, but tlie plants 

 are put in, cinders and all. In large-sized pots a little 

 moss on the top of the cinders is a good addition, in order 

 to prevent the finer soil from washing too much into the 

 drainage. I am rather an advocate for Verbenas and Cal- 

 ceolarias having nothing as drainage but a little moss. 

 Many plants in April and May in small pots, especially Cal- 

 ceolarias and Verbenas, suffer more from over-drainage than 

 under-drainage, especially where plants are on raised wooden 

 stages. For large plants which require a good deal of feed- 

 ing with liquid manure, cinders will be found invaluable, as 

 they act like a sponge, keep the liquid manure in a sweet 

 state, and the rootlets suck the moisture fi'om them by 

 degrees. A mulching of ashes on the top of the soil in the 

 pots helps also very much to deodorise liqiiid manure. 



Many persons think old plants of Geraniums flower earlier 

 than spring-struck cutcings. This is contrary to my own 

 experience. Autumn-struck cuttings are always with me 

 the earliest in bloom ; then come spring-struck, and old 

 plants last of all. I am speaking, of course, of large old 

 plants which have been cut down and ha.ve had to make 

 fresh growth in the spring. Those which were only small 

 plants in autumn and were not cut down or topped when 

 they were taken up are, perhaps, as forward as autumn-struck 

 cuttings ; but for all bedding-out purposes no plants are so 

 good as those that have been struck in the autumn, potted 

 off early in January or February, and kept close to tbe glass 

 till bedding-out time. — 5. T. Z 



Messes. F. & A. Smith's Double Chistese Peimroses. — 

 Having had these in bloom during the pastwinter(and indeed 

 they are not yet over), I should like to say a word in their fa- 

 vour. They are really most desirable plants, being most pro- 

 fuse bloomers, and very enduring. Fairy is a most charming 

 little thing, literally covered with bloom ; while Candi- 

 dissima is a pure white ; but all are good — au opinion in 

 which I am not singular, as it has been observed to me 

 more than once by those who have largely to do with plants. 

 How excellent they are for winter and spring decoration. — 

 D., Deal. 



