400 



JGTJEX.VL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDEXEK. 



M.iy 31, 1S05. 



white eye, ami dark top, Ariel, white with carmine spot, 

 Desdemona, and Celeste, orange scarlet, white eye, and 

 scarlet top, a very pretty vaiiety. For twelve Mr. Fraser 

 was first, llr. Turner second, and in the amateur's class for 

 ten Mr. Wiggins took the first position. In Fancies Mr. 

 Fraser and Mr. Turner took the same relative positions. 

 The former had Cloth of Silver, Arabella Goddard, Delicatum, 

 Celestial, very fine, Koi des Fantaisies, and Queen of the 

 Valley. In Mi-. Turner's sis the most noticeable were Ellen 

 Beck, Celestial, Evening Star, and Eoi des Fantaisies. 



EosES. — In the Nurserymen's Class for ten distinct varie- 

 ties in 13-inch pots, Mr. W. Paul wa.s first with remarkably 

 fine plants of Souvenir d'Elise Vardon, Louise Odier, very 

 fine, Madame Tillermoz, Souvenir d'un Ami, Senateur Vaisse, 

 Paul Pen-as, Madame de St. Joseph, Catherine Guillot, and 

 Comtesse de Barbautanne. In the collection of Messrs. 

 Lane, who were second, we noticed Charles Lawson, Anna 

 de Diesbach, large and fine, also Souvenir d'un Ami. In the 

 Amateurs' Class for sir, good plants were shown by Mr. 

 Terry, gardener to A. G. PuUer, Esq., Toungsbury, for 

 which he received a first prize. The class for twelve Eoses 

 in eight-inch pots was also a good one. Here Mr. Turner 

 was first, Messrs. Paul & Son and Messi-s. Lane second. Mr. 

 Turner's plants were remarkable for their fine condition, 

 both as regards foliage and bloom, particularly Souvenir de 

 la Malmaison, Senateur Yaisse, Madame Villermoz, and 

 Charles Lawson. Good collections, as well as cut blooms, 

 were also shown by Messrs. Paul & Son. 



Miscellaneous. — A vei-y extensive and interesting col- 

 lection of new plants came from Mr. Bull, comprising the 

 new Japanese Aucubas, double Mimulus, his new variegated 

 Verbena and Chrysanthemum, Zonate Pelargoniums, Petu- 

 nias, and other objects, which have been noticed in recent 

 Floral Committee reports. Mr. Eobson, gardener to G. 

 Cooper, Esq., sent the beautiful new Phalsenopsis Liidde- 

 manniana ; and Messrs. Ivery, Dorking, four new vai-ieties 

 of hardy Ferns, all of which received first-class certificates — 

 viz., Athyrium Filix-foemina Fieldiie compositum, ramo-cris- 

 tatum, and two Scolopendriums, one of which, called vai-ie- 

 gatum, had a beautiful golden tinge in the fronds. Mr. 

 Turner sent LUium auratum, and a fine stand of Tulips ; 

 Messrs. Downie & Laird, and Mr. Sheuton, Pansics ; and 

 "W. Hoyle, Esq., Reading, a beautiful new Pelargonium, 

 Charles Turner, which received a first-class certificate. It 

 is a fine bright scarlet, with a dark top and white eye. 

 Prom Mr. Turner came Pelargonium Marion, which also re- 

 ceived a first-class certificate — rose, with a very dark top 

 and a large white eye — a showy variety ; also Elegans, rose 

 and crimson lower petals, conspicuous white eye, and dark 

 top. The pretty white-fiowering Deutzia crenata flore pleno 

 was shown by Mr. Shenton, Clematises by Mr. Townsend, 

 Beaton's Geraniums by Mr. W. Paul, and a number of 

 tastefuUy-fiUed plant cases by Messrs. Barr & Sugden. 



FEUIT. 



For so early in the season there was a tolerably good 

 show of fruit as regards quantity, and the quality was fair. 



In Pines Mr. MiUs, gardener to Lord Carrington, High 

 Wycombe, was first with a good Providence; Mr. Page 

 second with a Cayenne weighing fi lbs., and third with a 

 4-lb. Queen, one of the same weight from Mr. Barnes, Bicton, 

 being fourth. Mr. Standish, Ascot, had a third prize for 

 a good Smooth Cayenne, and he likewise exhibited, growinrj 

 in a pot, a kind called " Abacachi," stated to be the most 

 luscious of all Pines. In Grapes Mr. D. Clements took first, 

 second, and third prizes with well-coloured good bunches of 

 Black Hamburgh ; and first and second prizes for very good 

 baskets, Mr. Hill, Kecle Hall, being third. Muscats were 

 .ill unripe. Mr. Cawkoll was first, Mr. Homood second, 

 Mr. Tansley third. Excellent bunches of Foster's Seedling 

 were shown by Messrs. Lane, and Buckland Sweetwater by 

 Mr. Embery, gardener to .T. Drew, Esq. In Peaches Mr. 

 Horwood was first with Koyal George, Mr. Turner second, 

 Mr. Farrancc third; and in Nectarines Mr. Turner had 

 the first prize for an excellent dish, the only one shown. 

 In Melons the best were a Hybrid Green-fleshed, and a 

 Hybrid Scarlet-fleshed, from Mr. Enstone, gardener to Sir 

 J. Duckworth, Bart., Wear House, Eicter; and Mr. Hor- 

 wood, and Mr. Lynn, gardener to Lord Boston, were second 

 in each class respectively. Of Cherries only two or three 

 dishes were shown. Messrs. Jackson, Kingston, had a 



second prize for Slay Duke. Of Strawberries remarkably 

 fine dishes were shown by Mr. Smith, of Twickenham, and 

 Mr. Standish. The former was first in the class for three 

 dishes with British Queen, Sir C. Napier, and Empress 

 Eugenie ; the latter second with La Constante, very fine, 

 Oscar, and Sir C. Napier. With the last-named kind Mr. 

 Smith and Mr. Standish carried off the first and second 

 prizes in the class for single dishes of fifty fruits. Mr. Hor- 

 wood, Mr. Kaile, and others, exhibited good dishes, and 

 some plants in pots were also shown. Mr. Carr, gardener to 

 P. Hinds, Esq., Byfleet, was awarded an extra fii-st prize for 

 a cluster of Musa Cavendishii weighing 79 lbs. He also 

 sent several kinds of Capsicums. 



CULTUEE OF OECHIDS IX LOW 

 TEilPEEATUKES. 

 Orchids have a great deal of vitality, and are capable ot 

 bearing more rough usage than persons in general would 

 give them credit for ; in short, they are not easily killed, 

 and will linger on a miserable existence even under the 

 worst form of treatment. But there is a great difference 

 between keeping them alive and growing them to perfection, 

 and from what little experience I myself have had of Orchids 

 I am quite sui-e that there are very few, if any, that can be 

 satisfactorOy grown under the cool treatment— I mean by a 

 cool treatment a temperature such as Camellias and Azaleas 

 like best in winter. In medio ttdissimus is always a safe 

 maxim, and does not mean mediocrity as some persons 

 would aver. The " golden mean " is nearer the truth, and if 

 any person will keep this maxim before him, and will also 

 remember that common sense and common care are at the 

 bottom of all good gardening, he will find that the gene- 

 rality of Orchids are far from being a difficult class to deal 

 with. The cool treatment of Orchids is only a reaction from 

 what to my mind is a far more unsuccessful plan — that of 

 growing them in a very hot close atmosphere, tied on blocks 

 of wood with hardly a portion of nourishment to the roots. 

 I remember that, some fourteen or fifteen years ago, I never 

 could see a collection of Orchids without seeing a great 

 many poor starved specimens dragging out a miserable 

 existence, with shrivelled bulbs and spotted leaves, wired 

 on to baskets or blocks of wood, and I used to be told, if I 

 remonstrated, that Orchids in theirnatural state were found 

 growing on trees in tropical climates, and that this was 

 the nearest way to imitate nature. Now, apart from the 

 fallacy that we ought to imitate nature in cultivation, I 

 always asserted, and still assert, that we cannot imitate a 

 tropical climate in our Orchid-houses. It does not, however, 

 at all follow on that account that we cannot grow Orchids 

 quite as fine as any that are found in a natural state. It is 

 not the science of gardening to imitate nature, but to im- 

 prove upon the way in which plants are gi-own in a state 

 of nature, taking natiu-e as our guide. It has never fallen 

 to my lot to see Orchids growing in the tropical jungles, but 

 thoug'n the beauty of the plants is enhanced by the sur- 

 rounding scenery, I am assured, and I feel tolerably certain 

 it iii true, that finer individual specimens are to be found in 

 cultivation than those which are growing in their wild state. 

 I am, however, digressing. I wished to add the results of 

 my own slight experience with Orchids to the remarks which 

 Mr. Findlay made in your Journal of the 11th ult. 



Before I lived here I used to grow some Orchids in an 

 early forcing vinery, at the warmest end, about fourteen or 

 fifteen different species, including good specimens of Stan- 

 hopea tigrina, Ccelogyne cristatn, Dendrobium nobile, 

 Pierardi, Ac, Cattleya Mossia>, Bletia Tankervilliae, Ac. 

 The house was forced to ripen (i rapes about the middle 

 or end of July, but tho Orchids had comparatively little 

 heat in November and December. With this treatment they 

 grew and flowered well ; they seemed to like the shade of 

 the Vines, and made rapid and strong gi-owth. When in 

 bloom they were taken into a cool conservatory near the 

 house, where they continued in bloom a long time, and the 

 colder house never seemed to injure them ; Cojlogyne cris- 

 tata, especially, used to continue in bloom for three months. 

 When I came to live here I built a gieenliouse against the 

 house, and seeing how well these Orcliids had stood the 

 grecniiouso when in bloom, I thought I would give them .-v 



