November 3J, 1376. J 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



473 



ful ; it ig a very quick-growing variety, email, but of good 

 quality. Star of the West ia a variety in strong repute with 

 market gardeners m this neighbourhood, but it is not adapted 

 for growing in a house. In a span-roof pit, where it had 

 plenty of room to ramble about, it did remarkably well, but 

 is evidently does not like much pruning. The last on my 

 list, but not least, is a variety that I mean to give, another 

 trial ; it is Osmaston Manor. It has done very well with me, 

 produoing some splendid fruit, from 24 to 28 inches in. length. 

 I grow Tender and True about the same length, but I must 

 give the palm to Osmaston Manor for flavour. It ia also 

 valuable as keeping its colour a long time after growth has 

 ceased — a point of no small importance at the end of the 

 season, when Cucumbers are becoming scarce. 



For general use I prefer Telegraph and Nonesuch, for the 

 exhibition table Tender and True, while Osmaston Manor 

 promises to be good for any purpose ; but one cannot cut a 

 fresh fruit every day from a long-growing variety when space 

 is limited. Perhaps some other growers will state their ex- 

 perience with different varieties, for the time is approaching 

 when preparations must be made for the Cucumber supply of 

 next year. — J. P. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



A MEETING OF THE DEBENTURE-HOLDERS OP THE ROYAL HoB- 



ticultubal Society was held on the 23rd instant. The result 

 was passing unanimously the following resolution : — " This 

 meeting declines to authorise the surrender of the lease of the 

 Garden to the Commissioners on the terms mentioned in the 

 letter of the 2ud November, 1876 ; and this meeting will not 

 authorise the surrender of the lease unless provision be made 

 for the payment of the debenture debt in full or by instal- 

 ments, and that a copy of the resolution be forwarded to the 

 Society." 



At present a houseful of Bouvabdias at Messrs. Veitch's 



Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, is very attractive, and the 

 visitor cannot but observe the marked superiority of the variety 

 Vreelandii ; it ia the most profuse bloomer, except Hogarth, 

 from which it sported. These two are grown in large quan- 

 tities. A variety named The Bride is of the purest white, and 

 well worth adding to a collection of these plants. Rose Queen 

 is distinct and beautiful. Amongst Tree or Perpetual-flower- 

 ing Carnations the pure white variety La Belle and the flesh- 

 coloured Miss Jollifie are the best in their respective classes, 

 and produce flowers in abundance. 



A correspondent, writing to us from Merionethshire, 



states that Mandevilla suaveolens is growing and flowering 

 out of doors at Peniarth without any protection. A plant of 

 it has been so growing for about four years on the south-west 

 Bide of the house ; it is now about 12 feet high, and this 

 year has flowered very well. It is also similarly growing at 

 Bodrhyddon near Rhyl, the seat of Captain Rowley Conway. 

 We shall be glad to hear further as to the hardiness of this 

 sweet-scented climber, and how many degrees of frost it has 

 endured without receiving injury. 



We have received from Mr. H. Cannell, Swanley, Kent, 



trusses of thirty varieties of double and single Pelaegoniums, 

 which for Bize, symmetry, and variety of colours we have never 

 seen surpassed at any season of the year. Some of the pips 

 of the single varieties are nearly 2 inches in diameter, and are 

 stout and of good form, and the double varieties are full and 

 fine. The colours range from pure white to crimson-maroon, 

 and embrace all the tints of pink, rose, cerise, salmon, with 

 orange-scarlet, and a decided dash of yellow in one, which we 

 recognise as Jealousy ; another variety, " New Life," being 

 bright scarlet flaked with white and rose like a Carnation. 

 Such flowers at any season are meritorious, but to have them 

 in profusion during the winter months renders these superior 

 varieties more than doubly valuable ; they are in fact indis- 

 pensable for winter decoration. 



Mb. E. Bennet, Rabley Nurseries, writes, " Could any 



of your readers inform me the name of the person who sent 

 out Garibaldi Steaweebby, or the reputed raiser of it ? This 

 might give a clue to its identity with Viscomtesse Hericart de 

 Thury or otherwise.— (See p. 467.) 



We have recently admired a number of plants of 



Aphelandea Roezli, which were raised from seed sown in 

 February last. These plants are in 5-inoh pots, and their 

 short vigorous spikea of fiery scarlet flowers are exceedingly 

 rich. Since thes9 brilliant plants can be bo easily produced it 



is surprising that they are not more frequently Been. They 

 are stove plants of the greatest decorative value, and are 

 worthy of extensive cultivation. 



A "Conservatory Foreman" writes to ua as follows: — 



" I have recently potted a number of plants from the open 

 ground of Schizostylis ooccinea, and for the next two months 

 they will produce their brilliant flowers in profusion. Few 

 plants are more effective and more easy to grow ia large 

 quantities than this. All the cultivation that ia required is 

 to plant in good ground in April and pot again in October, 

 and scarlet flowers will be provided for the remaining part of 

 the year." 



Few plants give better evidence of the " power of cul- 

 tivation" than Sedum spectabile. The best variety of this old 

 plant is attractive even when struggling for life, aa it were, in 

 the crevices of rocks or in the crowded thicket of the wilderness 

 or neglected herbaceous border ; but when well grown — that 

 ia, when young plants are raised and planted in good soil, they 

 produce an effect little short of surprising. Never shall we 

 forget seeing Borne wonderful beds of thia plant at Drumlanrig. 

 Many of the flower heads could not have been le6s than a foot 

 across, and the rosy-pink surfaces of the beds were as level 

 almost as a " glassy pool." Mr. Record, we have noticed, grows 

 this good old plant well at Vintners Park, and it would be 

 useful if he would describe his mode of culture. 



Some email beds at the Ceystal Palace are effectively 



planted with dwarf evergreens ; one from its simplicity may 

 be noted aa an example. The centre is filled with Cryptomeria 

 elegans, and surrounded with dwarf plants of Aucuba japonica; 

 next to the Auouba oomes a band of green Box, then a row of 

 Enonymus radicans variegats, the margin being planted with 

 Golden Feather. The centre of the bed is not more than a 

 foot in height, and the surrounding rows diminish in height 

 as they approach the margin. The effect of these distinct yet 

 diminutive shrubs thus arranged is quite cheering, and the 

 beds will continue attractive throughout the winter without 

 receiving any attention whatever. They are a great improve- 

 ment on beds " furnished " with bare brown soil. 



— — The unsightly patches of babe ground abound the 

 stems op deciduous teees on lawns in pleasure grounds have 

 been frequently observed and regretted. Under such trees 

 grass will not grow, but the ground nevertheless need not be 

 bare when a plant bo plentiful as the common Ivy will cover 

 it effectively. Ivy is the best of all evergreen carpet plants 

 for planting under trees. A circle of closely kept Ivy 10 or 

 20 feet in diameter around the stem of an old deciduous tree 

 ia peculiarly appropriate, and adds greatly to the ornamenta- 

 tion of the lawn and garden. In covering the surface of the 

 soil in dense Bhade, the best plan is to plant strong established 

 plants of the common green Ivy at the present time. The 

 plants should be closely planted, and they will speedily form 

 a covering that will last a lifetime. It is -an advantage if the 

 Ivy has been established in pots previously to planting under 

 the tree3 ; such plants are now provided in most nurseries. 



Mr W. J. Taylor writes to us that the Newcastle- 

 upon-Tyne Horticultural Show was instituted in 1824, and 

 has been held annually for fifty-two years, and he asks if any 

 older horticultural society's show is known. 



We have received from Mr. Harriaon Weir, Weirleigh, 



a medium-sized bunch of Mrs. Pince's Black Muscat Grape. 

 For perfect finish, colour, and bloom an equally good example 

 of thia Grape seldom comes under our notice. The berries are 

 also regular in size throughout the bunch, and are of good 

 flavour. The bunch reflects credit on the cultivator. 



On the 9 th and 10th the Haggerstone Entomological 



Society held its annual Exhibition at its place of meeting, 

 No. 10, Brownlow Street, Dalston. It was only in 1857 that 

 a few working men interested in inaect-colleeting discussed, in 

 West Wickham Wood, the desirability of an east-end club for 

 mutual assistance. A club was formed, and now numbers a 

 hundred members. The subscription is but a penny a-week, 

 but with this a reference library has been accumulated. The 

 type cabinet for the collections consists of forty drawers, in 

 which there are now some 15,000 specimens, and the library 

 and collection together are insured for £200. All through the 

 year the Society meets every Thursday, and many points of 

 practical importance (some of them bearing on "the theory of 

 evolution " put to the test by breeding) have been discussed. 

 Among tb.9 ways in which members of the Society have done 

 valuable work may be mentioned the preservation of the 

 avenue of Elms ia Yiotoria Park from insect ravages by a 



