374 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ May 26, 1863. 



productions came from those who are commercially engaged in 

 the pursuit. There is one other reason which I think also adds 

 to this difference, indeed it grows out of the last — viz., that as 

 a rule the French nurserymen do not keep specimen plants, they 

 cannot afford to do so ; and hence the plants they send are 

 diminutive indeed compared with those which come to our great 

 exhibitions. 



But to return to the Exhibition. The space enclosed by the 

 tent was, I Bhould suppose, about as large as that occupied by 

 the one under which the Royal Botanic Society is held every 

 year, the ground, however, being level instead of undulating. 

 On entering the tent there was spread out before you a pretty 

 grass garden, filling the centre of the parallelogram which the 

 tent comprised, and the grass having beds arranged in it, in which 

 the plants were plunged in pots : consequently, although oc- 

 cupying a tolerably good space, the plants in flower formed but 

 a Bmall portion of it ; Yuccas, Norfolk Island Pines, Eucalyp- 

 tus, and collections of Conifers being planted in the grass. A 

 broad walk ran all round this grass garden, while a narrow stage 

 of about 4 feet ran round the entire length of the tent. On this 

 were arranged the vegetables, fruits, and some of the flowers, cut 

 and in pots. On either side of the door as you entered there 

 was a collection of Roses, contributed by Fontaine et Renavol, 

 of Versailles. These were standards, half-standards, and dwarfs 

 planted out, and well arranged for effect; but the individual 

 flowers were poor, and nothing of novelty beyond Madame 

 Bouiin and Yicomte Vigier, both of which seemed good flowers. 

 There were two beds of Fancy Paneies, which had a pretty effect 

 and suggested the desirability of their use for early spring 

 gardens. The flowers themselves were not better, if so good as 

 those by Mr. Dean and Messrs. Downie & Co. in our own 

 country. Then there was another bed containing a collection of 

 Pelargoniums, Verbenas, Cinerarias, and Fuchsias, amongst 

 which the most noticeable was a collection of the new Italian 

 Verbenas, from which I hope we shall obtain quite a new Btart, 

 as they are striped, spotted, and mottled in the moBt curious 

 manner. Not far from this was a charming little bed of one 

 of the best bedding Verbenas I ever saw. It was raised by one 

 of the numerous small growers around Paris, and is called 

 Mademoiselle Lefebvre, a fine rosy crimson, very short-jointed, 

 and one mass of bloom. It was, of course, in pots ; but I shall be 

 very much mistaken if it be not one of the best for the purpose 

 that we have. Then there was a bed containing three varieties 

 of Zonale Pelargoniums raised by M. Jactot, head gardener at 

 the Chateau de Bagatelle, at Neuilly — Prince Imperial, which 

 was let out this spring by Rougiere-Chauviere ; Fairy La- 

 brousse, a fine salmon ; and a white, which will, I believe, throw 

 Madame Vaucher far into the shade. It is dwarf and very free- 

 flowering, and seems to be a beautifully clear white. Of course, 

 as to whether it will retain this out of doors is another matter. 

 It was named Madame Barillet, and has passed into the hands 

 of M. Rougiere-Chauviere, who will send it out in autumn or 

 spring next. There was a fine collection of tree Pseonies, from 

 M. Dupuy-Jamain, some of which were truly enormous, and 

 very brilliant in colour, but we fear they flower at a time when 

 we could not rely much on them in our climate. Our kind and 

 excellent friend, M. Margottin, of Bourg-la-Reine, had a nice lot 

 of Azaleas ; among them a very good seedling of his own, a 

 clear white, and some neatly-trained standards. 



At the further end of the tent were two collections of Conifers, 

 from Messrs. Morlet, near Fontainbleau, who exhibited amongst 

 others small plants of some of the new Japanese Conifers ; and 

 M. Honore Defresne. 



New introductions were exhibited by Messrs. Thibaut et 

 Eeteleer, Rougiere-Chauviere, and Lierval, and comprised many 

 of the new Japanese novelties introduced by Messrs. Standish 

 and Veitcb, and other plants of value, but nearly all in a very 

 small Btate. 



Orchids were contributed by Thibaut et Keteleer, Rougiere- 

 Chauviere, and Luddemann, the latter formerly gardener to 

 M. Pescatore, but now a nurseryman. These collections were 

 very different to those which we are in the habit of Beeing : thus 

 M. Luddemann's collection contained thirty-two varieties, but 

 a space of 10 feet by 4 held them all. Few of the plants had 

 more than one spike of bloom on them, and were very different 

 from those which Mr. Williams, Mr. Warner, &c, send to our 

 exhibitions. 



Then there were three or four collections of Cacti, Melocacti, 

 Agave, Aloe, &c. — a sort of thing quite unknown at our shows, 

 but apparently exciting considerable interest in France. That 



the plants were not very large may be gathered from the fact, 

 that some of the collections comprised 230 varieties, and that 

 a space of 10 or 12 feet by 4 held them all. 



Cut flowers were sent in small numbers. There were two 

 collections of Tulips and one of Pansies, which would have pro- 

 voked the risible faculties of Messrs. Headly, Turner, Betteridge, 

 or any of our Tulip-growers ; and, of course, after the first day 

 they exhibited a sorry spectacle of faded charms, of which, to 

 tell the truth, they had but little at the best of times. 



I Snd that my observations have run on, so that I must reserve 

 my notices of the vegetables and fruits for another time, and, 

 perhaps, it wili be well to do so in connection with the markets, 

 especially the Halle Centrale. It is sometimes said, "They 

 manage these things better in France," and it is true of many 

 things, but certainly not of flower shows. They did what they 

 could with the materials at their disposal, and the taste for which 

 they are proverbial was evident here. What they would do if 

 they had the material that we have one cannot conjecture. 



I may add that there were two English exhibitors. Mr. Arthur 

 Henderson Bent a plant of his Tropseolum Ball of Fire, and just 

 at the last moment as I was starting off I cut off a number of 

 blooms of Auriculas, and am bound to say that they excited 

 quite a sensation, as the flower as we grow it is almost unknown 

 in France. Nothing could exceed the politeness with which 

 I was treated by all concerned — a rule to which one rarely meets 

 an exception in matters connected with horticulture at home or 

 abroad. — D., Deal. 



ME. SALTEE'S NEW DOUBLE PYEETHEUMS. 



Me. Salter, of the Versailles Nursery, Hammersmith, who is 

 so celebrated for his admirable Chrysanthemums, has succeeded 

 in producing a formidable rival to that flower in the shape of a 

 race of double Pyrethrums, which in size and appearance bear a 

 striking resemblance to Chrysanthemums— but with this differ- 

 ence, that they bloom in May and June. We saw these flowers 

 under very disadvantageous conditions as regards weather — in a 

 day when rain poured down, and the wind blew in heavy gusts, 

 both of which circumstances must have detracted much from 

 the appearance which the blooms would otherwise have pre- 

 sented ; and yet we can say that they were entitled to rank 

 among the most attractive flowers of the season ; and although 

 intended far out-door decoration, they might even be introduced 

 into conservatories with excellent effect. 



There are several varieties, all of which are not yet in flower ; 

 but the finest in our opinion is one called Versailles Defiance, 

 which is a perfectly double ranunculus-shaped flower, fully 

 3 inches across, and of a light-reddish pink ; Purple King has 

 double flowers, some of them quite as large as the preceding 

 kind, but with a high anemone centre, in colour of a dark purple 

 carmine ; Brilliant, also anemone-flowered, is 3J inches across, 

 and of a beautiful bright rosy carmine ; Bride is rosy flesh and, 

 like those which follow, is likewise of the anemone form. Pink 

 Beauty is bright pink with a very high centre ; Striata, rose 

 striped with white; Album Plenum, 2i inches across, blush 

 white ; Madame Foucard, blush ; and Bridesmaid very delicate 

 blush pink. Princess Alexandra is a pure white, nearly 3 

 inches across and remarkably double ; Amelina, purplish-pink ; 

 Hendersoni, a deep rosy red ; and Rosa Alba bright rose with 

 part of the petals white, the blooms measuring 3J inches 

 across. Charles Baltet is a large and very double rosy pink, 

 while Thomas Massart is a very pretty delicate pink, and 

 Defiance a very large and fine bright roBe, the flowers being 

 nearly 4 inches in diameter. 



Taking a haBty glance over the houses, we observed among 

 the British Ferns a variety of Scolopendrium vulgare laceratum, 

 with the fronds very deeply cut at the edges, and forking ; 

 another variety, polycuspis, had the extremities much branched. 

 The North American Oamunda cinnamomea was throwing out 

 panicles, which are seldom seen in this country ; and Osmunda 

 interrupta was also in a similar condition. 



In a house devoted to hardy variegated plants, a variety of 

 Sedum Telephium or Orpine, called pieturatum, had the leaves 

 beautifully mottled with rose ; Oxalis corniculata picturata was 

 also very pretty, the leaves being brown mottled with bright 

 pink, instead of being green. Funkia japonica picta from 

 Dr. Siebold had large yellowish-green leaves with dark-green 

 edges ; and in Convallaria angustifolia(P), another Japanese plant, 

 the leaves were prettily edged with white. Another ornamental- 



