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THE FLORIST AND P0M0LOGIST. 



Royal Botanic Society, Regent's Park, April 16. — Another very pretty spring exhibi- 

 tion that must have delighted all who saw it. Groups of six Azaleas were shown in good 

 condition. Mr. Cross was first in the Amateur's Class and Mr. Turner in the Open Class : 

 the varieties similar to those shown at Kensington. The Rev. H. H. Dombrain and Mr. Turner 

 were first in the two classes for twelve Auriculas, some admirable plants being staged by 

 them. Mr. "Williams, of Holloway, and Mr. Lakeman, gardener to J. Campbell, Esq., Hendon, 

 divided the honours with the variegated plants ; Mr. Bull and Mr. Cross taking the second 

 awards. First-class Certificates were awarded to Messrs. Low & Co. for three handsome 

 varieties of Dendrobiums : D. Lowii, from Borneo, a yellow-flowered variety, very bright in 

 colour, seemed to be the favourite. The same award to Mr. Bull for Dracaena ferrea varie- 

 gata, a very handsome variety, superior to D. terminahs, which it somewhat resembles. To 

 Mr. Williams for an Alsophila species— a handsome frilled Fern. To Messrs. F. & A. Smith 

 for another fine double red Primula, and, like ' Delicata," of first-class properties. To Mr. 

 Turner, Slough, for a bright rosy pink H. P. Rose, Catherine Guillot, with remarkably fine 

 flower, and for Cineraria the Artist, noticed in previous reports. Some seedling Cinerarias 

 from Messrs. F. & A. Smith and Mr. Turner made a pretty display, supported by Hyacinths 

 and Tulips ; and a group of miscellaneous plants from Mr. Cutbush ; cut Roses from Messrs. 

 Paul & Son ; named Cinerarias from Messrs. Dobson & Son and Mr. Wiggins ; Begonias 

 from Mr. Bull; Rhododendrons from Mr. Noble, which seemed to have been injured by 

 travel or some other cause ; Pansies from Mr. Bragg and Mr. James ; and variegated herba- 

 ceous plants from Mr. Williams, of Holloway. Quo. 



CULTURE OF FIG TREES IN POTS. 



At page 60, "An Inquirer" wants to know about standard Figs in pots. As far as 

 the training is concerned, they may be any shape the party likes, or that most suitable to 

 house and circumstances ; " but they must have one stem where they leave the soil." There 

 is no fruit grown in pots so remunerative as Figs. Last season we had fifteen in 13-inch 

 pots. The fruit began to come in on the 9th of April, and between that time and October we 

 find the average number of fruit to be forty- five and a half to each plant. These plants are 

 from fifteen to twenty years old, and have their outside roots chopped off in November with 

 a hatchet, and put in the same pots when washed. We give a little bottom heat, and find 

 for an early crop it is necessary to watch when the crown of the fruit opens a little, and 

 give as much care as possible to regular temperature and careful watering. At other times 

 they can scarcely have too much manure water at the roots, and fresh water overhead. 

 The success in this method of growing Figs is simply from the pot counteracting its gross- 

 feeding propensities, instead of, as most people assert, that to grow Figs they must have 

 chalk. The fruit is becoming much more popular than formerly, and more sought after from 

 its excellent preserving qualities as a whole fruit for winter dessert. J. F. 



Perpetual Carnations. — Cannot you persuade some of your London readers (for 

 instance, the author of the valuable paper on in-door gardening in page 9) to try the 

 perpetual blooming Carnations in pots as a balcony plant ? In Italy, Rome especially, they 

 are seen on every window-sill, where they appear to thrive without the least attention, 

 producing blooms deliciously sweet all the year round, in the filthy atmosphere of Roman 

 courts ; and I was told that they lived for many years in the same pot without adding fresh 

 soil. Some of them had the creeping habit of our mountain Pinks, and hung in longtresses 

 of foliage from the upper storey windows, but always producing bloom. Surely, if they 

 thrive in Rome under such treatment they wotdd do well in London, and the fragrance and 

 constant presence of their bloom would afford a pleasing contrast during the autumn and 

 winter months. They have also in Rome an indigenous kind of Stock much used -as a 

 balcony plant, which appears always in bloom, and would be worth procuring. — Viator. 



The Propagation oe the Genus Statice. — All this genus can be quickly and easily 

 propagated by making incisions lengthwise in the stems close under the foliage, and taking 

 a thin paring of the wood from the under surface of the incision. Afterwards tie damp moss 

 tightly round the parts operated on. If the moss be constantly kept damp, the plant will 

 soon throw out an abundance of roots into the moss. As soon as this is found to be the case, 

 cut off the stems a little below the roots and pot them. It will then be seen that they will 

 make far better plants in less time, and also flower a great deal quicker, than plants raised 

 from cuttings.— C. J. W. T. 



