THE FLOKAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES.] JANUARY, 1872. [No. 1. 



EXHIBITIONS. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, Dec. 6th. 



Ose of the greatest boons conferred by this Society 

 on horticulture has been their monthly or bi-monthly 

 Wednesday meetings. They afford an opportunity to 

 those interested in gardening in any of its branches, 

 of meeting together during the dull months of the 

 year, when much has to be talked about, although, 

 perhaps, but little to be seen. They also permit of 

 products being brought before the public, which would 

 otherwise be kept either in the nursery or private garden. 



The intense frost in the early part of the month 

 prevented growers from sending in any tender plants to 

 the monthly exhibition on the 6th of December, but 

 there was still a sufficiently intei'esting collection : prizes 

 were offered for twenty-four cut blooms of chrysan- 

 themums and, notwithstanding the very unfavourable 

 nature of the season, some very nice collections were 

 exhibited, the first prize being awarded to Mr. Rowe, 

 gardener at the Rookery, Roehampton ; the second to 

 Mr. Douglas, gardener at Loxford Hall. Amongst the 

 blooms exhibited were Dr. Masters, Red Dragon, John 

 Salter, Chang, Apollo, Lady Hardinge, Mr. Brunlees, 

 &c. Mr. Goddard, gardener to Mr. Little, Cambridge 

 Villa, Twickenham, had the very darkest cyclamen we 

 have yet seen, and which we hope to figure before long ; 

 it is called Queen of Crimsons, and well deserves the 

 name. There were some examples of a new strain 

 of Chinese primula with white flowers, and measuring 

 from one inch and a half to two inches across ; also some 

 nice specimens of berry-bearing hardy shrubs; and ex- 

 amples of the Yew and Cypress type, exhibited by Messrs. 

 Standish and Co., Ascot, who also showed a plant of 

 asparagus decumbent, with a slender trailing habit of 

 growth, and likely to be very valuable for cutting for 

 bouquets, so that although the variety was small, there 

 were many objects of interest. 



GARDEN ECONOMICS. 



Under this head we purpose noticing from time to 

 time some of those contrivances which are being con- 

 tinually introduced, for the purpose of aiding the 

 gardener, and more especially the amateur gardener, 

 in his pleasant labour of love, and we may class as 

 amongst the most useful of these — 



RENDLE'S PLANT PROTECTORS, AND 

 LOOKER'S ACME FRAME. 



We class these together for, although somewhat dif- 

 ferent in appearance, they are made upon the same 

 principle — viz., a combination of earthenware and glass. 

 Probably the first effort of the kind was that of the 

 Curate's Vinery of Mr. Rivers ; this was, however, of 

 wood and glass. Mr. Rendle's is simply brick and 

 glass, while Mr. Looker's has besides a wooden moveable 

 frame. W r e can testify to the great value of these in- 

 ventions ; we have tried them as protectors for lettuces 

 in the winter and spring, as means of forcing straw- 

 berries, bringing them into fruit fully a fortnight 

 before those in the open grounds, for pricking out seed- 

 ling plants of flowers before transplanting into beds ; 

 and in all these cases we can conscientiously recommend 

 them. It has been objected to them that they are 

 liable to breakage ; we have not found them so. They 

 require a little care in putting up, but the instructions 

 given are ample and clear, and if followed out, cannot 

 fail to command success. In small gardens they are 

 invaluable, being not unsightly, and easily removed 

 from one part of the ground to the other; they are, 

 moreover, most reasonable in price, so that no amateur 

 need be without them. 



R EVI EWS. 



The Orchid Grower's Manual. By Benjamin S. Williams, 

 F.R.H.S. Fourth Edition, enlarged and revised, 

 with Illustrations. 1S71. 



There is always a difficulty in combining sound 

 scientific knowledge with popular and readable instruc- 

 tion. On the one hand, the man of science is so 

 wedded to his own way of seeing and describing the very 

 simplest things, that his writing is likely to be so dull and 

 uninteresting that the general public will not care to 

 read it ; while there is the danger that he who writes 

 popularly will be so ignorant of, or so indifferent to 

 scientific details, that it deprives his writings of any 

 permanent value or any real authority. In the book 

 now before us we have combined both thorough know- 

 ledge of the subjects on which the author writes, and 

 also a pleasant and agreeable method of communicating 

 information. It is true that Mr. Williams disclaims 

 any idea of dealing with orchidaceous plants from a 



