394 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ June 2, 1863. 



this should be, ye metropolitan growers ought to ask. But I 

 believe it would require something to beat the stands exhibited 

 that day. Mr. Treen, who took both first and second, had Mag- 

 nificent, Foxhunter, Eugby Hero (a very fine flower), Snow- 

 flake, Geant des Batailles, Apollo, Firefly, Great Eastern, La 

 Gloire, Mrs. Harrison, Nemesis, Decorator, Venus, Julie, Miss 

 Field, Auricula, Lord Raglan, Mrs. Moore, Kate, Rainbow, Mrs. 

 Pennington, Eenilworth, and Countess of Aylesford. Some of 

 these were really splendid, and reflected great credit on the 

 growers. Mr. Perkins had also some excellent blooms : amongst 

 which I was glad to see that Lord Leigh maintained its position. 



No less than thirteen stands of Pansies were set up, including 

 several of Fancies from Messrs. Downie, Laird, & Laing. The 

 first prize was obtained by them, and contained General Young, 

 Attraction, Prince of Prussia (seedling, yellow ground), Mary 

 Lamb, Francis Low, Jenny Lind, Lord Clyde, Mrs. Laird, 

 Imperial Prince, Cupid, Countess of Rosslyn, Sir J. Gra- 

 ham, Lady Burn, Beauty, Thomas Martin, C. W. Ramsay, 

 Mrs. Hopkins (very smooth), Eclat, Perfection, Alice Downie, 

 and Masterpiece, very fine. Amongst Seedling Pansies were 

 two curious Fancies — Mr. Nethercote, dark claret, edged with a 

 light border all round; and Earl of Rosslyn, a curious dark 

 clarety flower. 



There were two collections of Cut Roses from Messrs. Paul 

 and Son and Mr. Wm. Paul. Amongst the former I noticed 

 La Boule d'Or, very good; Louise Chair; Francois Lacliarme, 

 a splendid flower ; MadameFurtado; Eugene Appert ; Madame 

 Charles Wood; Alphonse Damazin, very full; Souvenir de 

 Comte Cavour ; and a box of yellow Tea and Noisette, contain- 

 ing Louise de Savoie, Marquise de Foucault, Safrano, Solfatarre, 

 Viscomtesse de Cazes, and Madame William. In Mr. W. Paul's 

 collection I saw Monte Christo, Souvenir de Lady Eardly, 

 both good ; Beauty of Waltham, and Amiral Gravina, a dark 

 and good flower. 



I cannot pass by the nice strain of new Mimulus exhibited by 

 Mr. Bull, nor the two fine Clematises of Mr. Standish, and the 

 white Azalea, Louise Yon Baden, of Mr. Turner. 



I must now finish, as my space is fully occupied, but cannot 

 do so without saving what indeed is unnecessary almost of the 

 Palace, that everything was done to promote the comfort and 

 pleasure of the exhibitors and visitors, and that Mr. Houghton 

 may fairly be congratulated on the high position to which under 

 his judicious and excellent management the Crystal Palace Flower 

 Shows have attained. — D., Deal. 



SHIFTING PLUM TEEES WITH FETJIT 

 ON THEM. 



I HATE some Plum trees in pots which promise to produce 

 heavy crops this year. The pots the trees are in are rather 

 small for them, and their foliage is very scant. My gardener 

 proposes to shift them into larger pots now. Would this be 

 proper treatment? — An Ihish Subscriber. 



[If the trees could be moved without at all disturbing the 

 roots no harm to them would arise, but we do not think there 

 is any necessity of running the risk. We should prefer removing 

 the surface soil, and replacing it with well-decomposed stable- 

 manure. This, combined with weak liquid manure, would sus- 

 tain the growth of the trees as well as of the crop. Do not 

 allow any tree to be overloaded ; thin without mercy ; and a 

 good rule is, when you think you have thinned sufficiently, then 

 to take off half of the fruit you have left. The vigour of the 

 tree and the size and flavour of the fruit depend upon a judicious 

 thinning of the crop.] 



EHODODENDEONS. 



I confess entering on the subject of Rhododendrons more 

 with a view to the encouragement of Bome other of your cor- 

 respondents to record their opinions on the matter than with 

 any expectation of throwing much light on their cultivation 

 myself, for it iB now some years Bince I was amongst them, where 

 they might be said to be fairly at home. We hare some here, 

 and, in fact, most places of note have their Rbododendron-beds ; 

 yet it is cnly in places possessing a soil adapted to them that 

 they grow with that freedom which indicates that they are quite 

 at home. 



Beds artificially made will afford for a time a certain amount 



of success ; but even then the plants seldom do so well as when 

 the natural soil of the district suits them ; and although I am 

 far from assuming to myself the credit of being perfectly right in 

 my views of their habits and requirements, I should say that a 

 soil in which they will grow and prosper and perfect their seed, 

 and where that seed sows itself and produces plants amongst the 

 wild rubbish by which they are surrounded, is the soil adapted 

 to the Rhododendron. But there is even great diversity in soils 

 of this kind ; and moisture, which exercises so powerful an in- 

 fluence on certain plants, either by contributing to their success 

 or by causing their extinction, is certainly not the all-powerful 

 agent here, for I have seen Bcores of acres of Rhododendrons 

 occupying the crest and sides of a dry peaty hill with some 

 stunted Birches overtopping them ; while in another place the 

 plant is seen occupying a wet springy dell, not a stagnant swamp, 

 but receiving large quantities of spring water in its descent to 

 the basin below. Colour and texture of the soil are likewise not 

 much of a criterion, for on a dry hilly situation in the grounds 

 at Linton Park, hhododendrons flourish and ripen their seeds, 

 and occasional plants are found a good distance off. Doubtless, 

 there might be more, only the scythe is apt to destroy them. 

 This soil is a sort of yellow friable loam, with at least three- 

 fourths stones, with rock underneath — Btanding water at not 

 less than 90 or 100 feet from the surface. I may add, that the 

 kinds planted are common hardy ones, not all the old ponticum, 

 but such as were esteemed useful and good some twenty-five 

 years ago. 



I will adduce another case. At Preston Hall, only a few 

 miles from here, a rounded hill of dry Band, previously a coppice 

 of Hazel, Birch, and other trees, apparently self-sown, was cleared, 

 all but some large Scotch Fir trees, and a summer-house was 

 erected on the summit. The space having been formed into a 

 half-dressed pleasure-ground, with rockwork and other rustic 

 appendages, Rhododendrons and similar plants were introduced 

 on a large scale. The eastern Bide of the mound, or hill, for it 

 was of considerable elevation, was planted some three or four 

 years before the western side, the soil being a sort of pale yellow 

 sand without a stone, and to all appearance all Bides of the hill 

 were alike ; but, strange to say, the plants on the eastern side, 

 though they grew vigorously and flowered well, did not perfect 

 their seeds so as to produce young plants by self-sowing ; while 

 on the western Bide it is not too much to say these were growing 

 by millions. Self-sown Groundsel on the best quarter of the 

 kitchen garden could not have come up thicker ; and when I saw 

 them in the spring of the present year they were in a nice con- 

 dition to transplant, having some half a dozen leaves each, and 

 being sturdy and well rooted. 



Now, the question arises, Why did not the eastern Bide of the 

 hill produce plants as well as the west side, the soil being alike 

 in both cases, and the varieties much the same ? The attention 

 or rather non-attention, for they did not require much care in the 

 summer months, was the same in both places, and the plants, 

 bo far as related to their general healthiness and freedom in 

 flowering, were also alike. Mr. Frost, the very able gardener 

 there, was at a loss to account for the above circumstances. I 

 might also add that Andromedas looked remarkably well, as 

 likewise did some of the Azaleas. Kalmias were not so satis- 

 factory. Amongst the Rhododendrons were many new and 

 valuable kinds which promised to vie with the commoner ones in 

 robustness and well-doing. I believe some peat was added to 

 the natural soil, or sand for some of the choicer kinds ; but it 

 was evident such assistance was not wanted for the ordinary ones. 



Taking a view of the 6ame plant in other counties, I think the 

 largut specimens I have ever seen were in Lancashire, where a 

 rich, black, sandy soil, well adapted for all root crops, seemed 

 also to Buit the Rhododendron. In northern Cheshire the 

 Rhododendron is likewise at home ; while on the steep hill sides 

 of some places in Staffordshire and Derbyshire, it is evidently 

 hardier than the common Laurel. At Alton Towers, I was told 

 it sowed itself and reproduced a numerous offspring on a soil dif- 

 fering considerably from those I have previously described. At 

 Chat6worth it is "also extensively planted on soils and in posi- 

 tions differing widely from each other in character ; but I had 

 not an opportunity when there of observing all, and I have been 

 told that there are stations in Wales where it thrives better than 

 anywhere, but I am not acquainted with them. It seemed to 

 thrive pretty well in Cornwall, though what I saw was not so 

 good as I have seen in less favoured localities ; Mr. Pooley, the 

 gardener at Mount Edgecumbe, pointed out to me the positions 

 in which it prospered, and those in which it would not do so in 



