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33 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 31, 1878. 
and Mr. J. Unite, London, for tents. Several bronze medals 
were also awarded for products relating to horticulture. 
—— WE are requested to state that the portrait of the REV. 
M. J. BERKELEY, which has been painted by Mr. Peele for a 
few subscribers, will be presented to the Linnean Society on 
Thursday next, November 7th, at 8 p.m. The presentation 
will be made on behalf of the subscribers by Sir Joseph 
Hooker. The portrait will be open for public inspection at all 
reasonable times. Those who have not yet sent in their con- 
tributions should do so without delay to the Hon. Treasurer. 
Dr. Hogg, 99, St. George’s Road, Eccleston Square ; or to the 
Hon. Secretary, Dr. Masters, 41, Wellington Street, Covent 
Garden. 
A CORRESPONDENT writes of an OAK standing in the 
churchyard fence of Headcorn in Kent. The girth of the 
trunk, he says, at about 5 feet from the ground is exactly 
303 feet. 
—— THE Rey. W. F. Radclyffe states that he finds the 
SEEDLING BRIAR excellent as a stock, and as soon as Roses 
on it can be bought at the same prices as those on the Manetti 
he will buy them largely. He has the following Roses on the 
seedling Briar, which do excellently—namely, Marie Rady, 
Baronne de Rothschild, Maurice Bernardin, Pierre Notting, 
Reine Blanche, Marquise de Castellane, and Gloire de Dijon. 
A sign of brood has not been seen on them. 
PRIZES for GARDEN PRODUCE were competed for at 
Clonmel on the 23rd inst.—namely, a silver challenge cup 
given by D. H. Higgins, Esq., for vegetables, and a similar 
cup given by Lord Lismore for fruits. His lordship’s gar- 
dener, Mr. J. Wilsher, secured both the cups, having now 
won them two years in succession with collections of very 
great merit. 
THE best of all the white varieties of Mignonette that 
we have seen is GARRAWAY’S NEW WHITE. _ Its distinctness 
is not fully appreciated unless it is seen growing in large 
masses, when its whiteness is very apparent. We recently saw 
large beds of it in Mr. Cannell’s grounds at Swanley, where 
this and other varieties are largely grown for affording cut 
flowers and seed. Miles’s ‘Spiral’ is the more luxuriant in 
growth, but Garraway’s is preferred for bouauets. 
— ONE of the most graceful of trees is the WEEPING 
WILLow, and yet comparatively few trees are planted for 
purposes of ornament. Its scarcity in gardens is perhaps 
attributable to the idea, which is pardonably common, that 
the tree will only thrive satisfactorily in moist soils and 
positions. We have recently seen handsome examples of this 
Willow growing in dry gravelly soil in the suburbs of London, 
and while most of the surrounding trees were leafless or nearly 
so the Weeping Willows were green and attractive. It is 
one of the most suitable of trees for planting near the boundary 
fences of gardens abutting on public thoroughfares, its light 
green drooping foliage contrasting effectively with all other 
trees, while the tree overhangs just sufficiently to display its 
beauty without being obtrusively inconvenient. 
— Amonest the most distinct of TUBEROUS BEGONIAS 
are Rosezflora and Queen of Whites. Messrs. Veitch have been 
fortunate in raising another variety of this type with bright 
crimson flowers, thus completing a trio of Begonias of great 
usefulness. The new yariety possesses great substance of 
petal, and is remarkably rich in colour. The flowers of these 
Begonias are quite upright, and their stems proceed direct from 
the root. The plants flower with great freedom when planted 
out in cold frames. 
— AS a small-growing tree for suburban gardens few 
excel the MOP-HEADED ACACIA, A. inermis. This distinct 
tree combines compactness with elegance in a remarkable 
manner. Some attractive specimens may be seen in Mr. 
Spurgeon’s garden at Balham, the heads of the trees showing 
attractively above the evergreen shrubs amongst which they are 
planted. The renowned preacher appears to be an admirer of 
evergreens, for the front garden is not only densely filled with 
them, but small specimens in pots crowd the sills of all the 
windows, which impart to the pretty villa a snug home-like 
appearance. 
—— KirxKova (Turkey) is, says the Daily Mens corre- 
spondent, a little Garden of Eden—without the serpent. It is 
situated in a little nest of hills, clothed from base to summit 
with stunted Oak and Walnut trees. Every available spot of 
ground within a radius of a couple of miles is cultivated. 
Maize, Corn, Oats, Melons, and Vines flourish in profusion. 
From the door of the little hut in which I haye found shelter 
for the night I can count at least a dozen species of fruit and 
vegetables; Vines laden with yellow and purple Grapes are 
climbing Plum trees, the branches of which are borne to the 
ground by the weight of golden fruit; whilst luscious Water 
Melons, red, yellow. and pink, straggle here and there amongst 
the Indian Corn, shaded at irregular intervals by Pear and 
Apple trees. There is no post here, no telegraph; and if you 
speak to a native of this little village about a newspaper, he 
will probably think it is something to eat. But ask him for 
Melons, Grapes, Plums, Apples, Pears, or Blackberries, and he 
will overwhelm you with them at about half a farthing a pound. 
UNDER the heading of “ A Roman Scourge ” the corre- 
spondent of a daily paper describes the following mode of 
FORCING THE SALE OF VEGETABLES :—The bagherini are most 
fatal to commerce. They come at the very earliest hour to 
market, they sidle up in groups of four or five to a cartload of 
vegetables, and, as if. for mere form’s sake, they ask the price 
of it. After a long negotiation the bagherino flings a leaf 
upon the load, thus making it understood that he has acquired 
it ; his confederates, like so many porters, immediately pounce 
upon the produce, and in a twinkling it is distributed among 
the retail dealers. In-vain does the unfortunate owner resist 
this daily organised forcing system ; his cries, his protests, his 
struggles, are alike unheeded ; “the contract,” he is told, ‘is 
concluded,’ and he cannot revoke it. 
FROGS AND STRAWBERRIES. 
IN the interesting article on page 289, on the culture of 
Strawberries, I find that frogs are charged with the crime of 
gathering and devouring the fruit. I believe that this is a 
case of involuntary false witness against the harmless Batra- 
chian. The little heaps of Strawberries are gathered by mice 
for the purpose of extracting the seeds at their leisure. Having 
done so they have no further need of the fruit. But not so 
our slimy acquaintances the slugs, which rejoice in the repast 
heaped up for theirdelectation. Against them thus employed 
advances the frog, and rapidly transfers them to his maw. If, 
then, he is found sitting on the gathered heaps of Strawberries 
he is not to be ignorantly taken as the delinquent. He should 
rather be regarded as the gardener’s friend, ridding him of his 
hated foes the slugs, which, though they have sins enough to 
answer for in all conscience, yet in this case are not the 
primary malefactors, but the nimble-footed mouse.—F, T., 
Dublin. 
THE WARS OF THE ROSES. 
I HAVE waited several weeks to see if anyone would answer 
Canon Hole’s strictures on my remarks upon his place in the 
Rose contest.’ As none of those interested have done so I 
must conclude that they agree with Mr. Hole, Mr. Pochin, and 
others, and consider that I was not justified in relegating 
Canon Hole to the position of third best. This being so, and 
it being evident from the severe way in which he wrote about 
me that he considers himself very much hurt at my placing 
him in that position, I write to express my regret at having so 
placed him. And, indeed, I was not justified in so doing, as 
on consideration it is evident that a first prize at the Man- 
chester National Show is equal to a first at the same Society’s 
show at the Crystal Palace. 
I hope that this explanation and apology will be satisfactory 
to Canon Hole and any other exhibitor in the midland counties 
who may consider that I have done injustice to so excellent a 
rosarian as the author of the “Book upon Roses,”—WYLD 
SAVAGE, 
SCHOMBURGKIA UNDULATA. 
As I directed my steps from Bogota in the direction of the 
Llanos, or the great Savannahs, in the territory of St. Martin 
(New Granada). I came across this beautiful Orchid growing 
abundantly on the glittering schistose rocks of Quetame. Those 
bare rocks on which it grew, composed as they were of strata 
of a peculiar nature, inclined very often at an angle of 45° and 
even more ; others, again, being quite in a vertical position, 
mostly presenting what is termed in geology a discordant 
stratification. Each strong pseudobulb had two broad and 
long leaves, leathery in texture and of the darkest green, from 
' which rose the flower stem to the height of 3 feet to + feet 
| G6 inches ; on its extremity a beautiful cluster of flowers with 
undulated divisions, of a dark violet colour and with a red 
labellum, surmounted by large drooping bracts of a beautiful 
