FOREIGN NOTES. 



Orchid Exhibition. — There will be an international 

 orchid exhibition at the Hague, May 28 to 31, i8gi. For 

 full information apply to Ihr. L. J. Quarles V. Ufford, 

 Spiegel Straat 8, La Hage, Holland. 



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The Shirley Hibberd Memorial. — It has been de- 

 cided to perpetuate the memory of the late Shirley Hib- 

 berd by a portrait of himself, which is to be placed in 

 the Lindley library on behalf of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society. 



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Obituary. — Gotthelf Wilhelm Poscharsky, court 

 gardener at Dresden, Germany, died September 7, iSgo, 

 aged 72 years. 



William Houghton, treasurer of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society, died recently at Kilmacurragh. 



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Protection Against Rabbits. — For years I have 



bound juniper branches around my young trees, for a 



distance of two to three feet from the ground, and have 



never been troubled by rabbits. If juniper cannot be 



obtained any thorny material will answer. — /. N. f.im- 



hoitrg, in Der Prakt . Ratgehcr. 



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Orchid Sale. — Mr. Harvey's collection of orchids, 



which was one of the largest in England, was recently 



sold at auction. The following are some of the prices 



realized on the best varieties ; Cypyipcdiitiii tas^ latuin, 



WAX. porphyrL'uin, $355; C. I\/orgaiiiir va.r Bnrfoi-dii'iise, 



$245 ; Lcclia elegans, var. , $240. 



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Vine Culture in France continues to decline in 

 consequence of the damage done in the vineyards by the 

 phylloxera. Last year the area was 1,243 hectares less 

 than in i88g, a proof that the efforts that are being made 

 to restore vine culture to its former position are not suc- 

 ceeding. — TIic Gardeners' Magazine. 



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The Weather in Central England was exceed- 

 ingly severe in December last. From the 7th to the 31st, 

 on three days only did the mercury rise as high as 32°. 

 The average maximum temperature during this period 

 was 26° ; the average minimum, ig'^ ; the mean tempera- 

 ture, 22.5°. On the 22nd the mercury stood at zero. 



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Chrysanthemum Certificates. — The floral commit- 

 tee of the National Chrysanthemum Society granted 

 forty tirst-class certificates for chrysanthemums exhibi- 

 ted from September loth to December loth, i8go. Of 

 these it is comparatively easy to recognize twelve as 

 French seedlings, fourteen as American seedlings, or 

 importation from Japan, eleven as English sports or 

 seedlings, and the remaining three as doubtfuls. The 

 race is pretty evenly run this year. — The Gardeners' 

 Magazine. 



New Cattleya. — Cattleya rex is a novelty which will 

 cause a sensation the coming season. It is a species en- 

 tirely distinct from those already known, and greatly 

 surpasses them. The segments of the flower are cream 

 white ; the petals are very large and exceedingly grace- 

 ful in form ; the labellum, of the same shade, is light 

 orange-yellow at the throat As to the anterior lobe, it 

 is an admirable combination of gold and velvet purple. — 

 Le Journa/ des Orchidees. 



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Chrysanthemums of iSgo. — In the incurved section 

 of chrysanthemums I fail to find one variety which is a 

 decided advance on the finest of the established kinds. 

 Indeed, the season of i8go will be remembered as being 

 remarkable in this respect. Not a single variety of high 

 class character has been shown, although several useful 

 kinds have received mention. 



Japanese varieties contribute most liberally to the list 

 of novelties. — Edii'in Malvneiix , in tlie Gardeners' Maga- 

 zine. 



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McDougall's Self-Acting Tobacco Paper, which 

 has already occasioned considerable inquiry, appears to 

 be especially deserving attention as an efficient agent 

 for the destruction of plant pests without the trouble 

 and inconvenience involved in the use of ordinary to- 

 bacco paper. The sheets consist of specially prepared 

 cellulose, highly charged with nicotine of standard 

 strength, and when ignited they smoulder slowly until 

 wholly consumed, without further attention. — The Gar- 

 deners' Magazine . 



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The Effect of Fog on Plant Life was reported 

 upon at a recent meeting of the Royal Botanic Society. 

 Mr. W. Sowerby said the destructive action of fog on 

 plants was most felt by those tropical plants in the so- 

 ciety's houses of which the natural habitat was one ex- 

 posed to sunshine. Plants growing in forests, or under 

 tree shade, did not so directly feel the want of light. 

 Soft, tender-leaved plants and aquatics, such as Victoria 

 regia, suffered more from fog than any other class of 

 plants. — The Gardeners' Magazine. 



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The London Fogs. — The severity of the weather of 

 the past month in conjunction with the poisonous fogs 

 which prevailed almost daily in the neighborhood of 

 London, and the consequent wretched light, have been 

 highly injurious to plants of many kinds. Nurseries 

 and private gardens wherein winter gardening is prac- 

 ticed, present an appearance that might well be described 

 as heart-breaking. Orchids are not only flowerless, but 

 even the foliage of many of them has suffered. All the 

 winter flowering begonias are not only flowerless, but in 

 many cases entirely stripped of foliage ; poinsettias, 

 linums, euphorbias, eupatoriums, Christmas roses, 

 bouvardias, and even pelargoniums, with many other 

 things, have been reduced to flowerless skeletons by the 

 cruel weather of the past month (December, i8go). — 

 The Gardeners' Magazine. 



