120 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 10, 1876. 



from the enthusiasm which the visitors evinced for the flowers 

 that the Brighouse Horticultural Society could stand on its 

 own merits, and not be what it isnow — an olla podrida. — Wyld 

 Savage. 



MOMOEDICA BALSAMEA. 

 The above is the name of the specimen submitted by 

 " D. T. S.," and of which we are able to give a figure. It is 

 as our correspondent suspects that the plant has no particular 

 claims to beauty, and is seldom to be found in this country 

 except in botanical collections. It is a stove plant belonging 

 to the family of CucurbitaceEe, and grows freely in ordinary 

 garden soil in a well-heated structure. We cannot give better 

 information in reference to the Momordicas than the following, 

 which is quoted from Dr. Hogg's " Vegetable Kingdom :" — 

 " Momordica balsamea, or Balsam Apple, grows in Syria, and 

 is famous for curing wounds. The unripe fruit is infused in 



IIMlii 







mm 



mil 





Fig. 14. — Momordica balsamea. 



sweet oil, and exposed to the sun some days till it becomes 

 red. This, applied on cotton to a fresh wound, is esteemed 

 by the Syrians next to Balsam of Mecca. The plant is also 

 used to form arbours. M. mixta, called in India Gol-kakra, 

 produces a large, red, and thorny fruit, containing a yellow 

 insipid pulp, totally inert as a medicine, and is occasionally 

 used for food in Bengal. M. echinata produces a round fruit 

 covered with bristles, the size and appearance of a large hairy 

 Gooseberry. It is sometimes seen in Covent Garden under 

 the name of Gooseberry Gourd, and is pickled when green, aB 

 Cucumbers are, in vinegar." 



THE HAILSTORM RELIEF FUND FOR 

 NURSERYMEN AND FLORISTS. 

 An energetic movement has been set on foot towards raising 

 a fund for the relief of the necessitous nurserymen and florists, 

 sufferers by the violent hailstorm of Sunday evening, July 

 23rd. An influential and thoroughly representative Com- 

 mittee has been appointed, of which Mr. John Fraser, Lea 

 Bridge Road, is Chairman; Mr. Shirley Hibberd, Stoke New- 

 ington, Treasurer ; and Mr. Richard Dean, Ealing, Secretary, 

 and they are now engaged in issuing a circular to the whole of 



the nursery and seed trades, asking for subscriptions to the 

 fund. The circular sets forth that the destruction of glass 

 erections, and stock in the form of plants and trees, has been 

 extensive and complete, that many persons in a small way of 

 business are actually deprived thereby of the means of sub- 

 sistence, and the Committee state that the sum of £4000 will 

 be required to meet the many pressing demands made upon 

 the fund. 



Towards this sum Messrs. Veitch & Sons, and Messrs. Hurst 

 and Son, subscribe £25 each; Messrs. Jno. Fraser, and W. 

 Bull, £10 10s. each ; while Messrs. B. S. Williams, E. G. 

 Henderson & Son, Nutting & Sons, T. S. Ware, H. Low & Co. f 

 Jno. Wills, P. & S. Kay, H. Stroud, Parsons, Rowbridge, Jno. 

 Turtle, Jno. Matter, J. Sweet, Oddy, and W. E. Gumbleton, 

 subscribe five guineas each ; and there are many subscribers of 

 two guineas and one guinea, as well as smaller sums. Already 

 over £200 has been subscribed, and the Committee confidently 

 appeal to all charitably disposed persons for assistance under 

 this grievous calamity. Inspections of the damage sustained in 

 most cases have been made, and the results prove much worse 

 than has generally been conceived. 



ASPECTS OF NATURE.-JULY. 



" The mead is onr study, and Nature cur book." 

 In the early weeks of spring, when the first flowers come 

 to deckthe ground with beauty and brighten the bare bosom, 

 of earth with blossoms, they are, we might say, petted and 

 made much of. Everyone knows them by name; but as the 

 season advances, and the woods and fields, the hillsides and 

 depths of the valleys, become the habitatB of more numerous 

 varieties of flowers, they are not sought out so eagerly, nor are 

 their beauties so well known. They appear in such profusion 

 that all, save the botanist and enthusiastic lover of nature, 

 pass by them, looking upon them only as part of the full 

 development of the floral season, but scarcely knowing one 

 from the other, nor ever dreaming of their marvellous beauty 

 when closely examined. July is indeed the month of the full, 

 blush of Flora's matronly charms. 



" A gracions mother art thon, kind July, 

 Thy lap all laden with most precious things ; 

 Earth seems to mingle with the distant sky 

 That Bheds a hallow'd light upon thy wings." 



In the deep shade of thickly planted woods the stately Fox- 

 glove uprears its tapering point hung with its many-speckled 

 bells, which send a fairy tinkle forth with every breeze. 



In favoured spots in south Devon and many similar places- 

 the Flowering Fern grows near at hand, and attains a size and 

 beauty that well entitle it to the distinctive title of Osmunda 

 regalis. Not only are the woods full of greenery, but the 

 heaths and commons display their greatest wealth of waving 

 foliage and gorgeous blossom, for now in some districts the 

 Gorse is brilliant with flowers, and their honey-laden nectaries 

 invite the visits of hundreds of busy bees ; while the Broom, 

 scarcely less brilliant in hue, will bloom not only on wild lands, 

 but find a resting-place in the clefts of rocks and the mortar 

 of old ruins, where it grows as luxuriantly as its rival the 

 golden Gorse on rich common lands. 



While Scotland displays the Broom " yellow and bright as 

 bullion unalloyed " on her hill Bides, and the purple of the 

 Heather on her moors, sunnier climes cannot rival the bril- 

 liancy of her Bummer landscape, though the fields be clothed 

 with the gorgeous flowers of tropical vegetation. 



" Their groves of sweet Myrtle let foreign lands reckon, 

 Whose bright beaming summers exalt the perfume ; 

 Far dearer to me yon lone glen of green Bracken, 

 Wi' the burn stealing under the long yellow Broom. 



" Far dearer to me are yon humble Broom bowers, 

 Where the Bluebell and Gowan lurk lowly unseen, 

 For there lightly tripping among the wild flowers, 

 A listening the linnet, oft wanders my Jean." 



But with all its beauty and usefulness the Broom must bow 

 before the Furze in respect of colour, perfume, and the amount 

 of honey secreted in its blossoms ; and the enthusiasm of the 

 great Linnasus may well be understood when he saw this 

 latter on Wimbledon Common, as it was some years since, a 

 blaze of gold in a July Bun. The Heath is generally associated 

 with the Highlands of Scotland, the home of the grouse ; but 

 our own island has many spots where the beautiful purple 

 carpet is spread out during the whole of the autumn season. 

 The Yorkshire wolds, the Cornish moors, and many other parts 

 are scarcely less lovely than the lake and mountain scenery of 

 the sister land. 



