THE ELOBAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES.] MAY, 1872. 



EXHIBITIONS. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, April 3. 



Although not equal iu excellence and importance to 

 the Hyacinth Show, this was really a very creditable 

 exhibition; the prizes offered for Odontoglossums, 

 Cyclamens, Cinerarias, and Amaryllids, brought to- 

 gether some splendid collections, while the miscel- 

 laneous class contained many groups of high merit. 

 The Odontoglossums exhibited by Messrs. Ward, 

 Bull, and Linden of Brussels, comprised O. Trium- 

 phans, Phalsenopsis, Hallii, Pescatorei, roseum, hystrix, 

 and odoratum ; the Cyclamens exhibited by Mr. 

 Goddard, gardener to H. Little, Esq., Cambridge Villa, 

 Twickenham, were marvels of good culture. Nothing 

 can be more attractive than these plants, and they 

 may be had in bloom where there is a good collection 

 from October to May. The Cinerarias were far behind 

 the examples we have seen exhibited in former days ; 

 the only collection of Amaryllids shown was that of 

 Mr. Baxter, gardener to C. Keiser, Esq., Broxbourne ; 

 it contained some remarkably fine flowers, Olga being 

 the cream of the collection. It would be impossible to 

 enumerate the many beautiful plants shown by Messrs. 

 Veitch, Paul, Williams, Rollisson, and others. There 

 were a few very remarkable new plants submitted to the 

 Floral Committee by Mr. Linden of Brussels, com- 

 prising Masdevallia Lindeni, a most lovely species, 

 with brilliant magenta-coloured flowers : Tillandsia 

 Lindeni vera, with deep rose-coloured bracts and bril- 

 liant violet-blue flowers — these we hope to figure. 

 From Mr. Veitch came Oncidium crsesus, and from 

 Mr. Bull, Dracaena metallica, with dark bronze foliage, 

 and Zalacca orientalis, an ornamental palm ; and from 

 Messrs. Smith of Dulwich, Azalea Beauty of Surrey, 

 one of the very finest, if not the very finest white 

 Azalea yet introduced. 



April 1 7. — Another exceedingly good and varied exhi- 

 bition, in which prizes were offered especially for Azaleas, 

 Rhododendrons, and Auriculas, but at which (as usual at 

 these shows) the miscellaneous subjects formed a large 

 and important portion of the show; amongst the 

 most interesting plants were the Auriculas, which we 

 have never seen at these shows in such good character 

 and condition. Mr. Turner took first prize for twelve, 

 and Mr. James of Isleworth second. In the class 

 for amateurs, the Rev. H. H. Dombrain, Westwell 

 Vicarage, Ashford, Kent, was first with (says the 



[No. 5. 



Journal of Horticulture) "trusses in which the pips 

 were large without being coarse ; his varieties were 

 Traill's Mayflower, Gairn's Model, Headly's George 

 Lightbody, Campbell's Pizarro, Smith's Waterloo, and 

 Cheetham's Lancashire Hero. In the Metropolitan 

 Floral Society's classes, the Rev. H. H. Dombrain was 

 first for six, Mr. James second, and H. Little, Esq., 

 Twickenham, third ; for green edges Mr. Turner was 

 first with Leigh's Colonel Taylor, the Rev. H. II. Dom- 

 brain second with Admiral Napier, and Mr. James 

 third with Lovely Ann ; for grey edges the same exhi- 

 bitors occupied the same position with Headly's George 

 Lightbody, and for white edges with a plant named 

 John Waterston, but evidently not it, and Smith's 

 Ne plus ultra; for selfs the Rev. II. H. Dombrain was 

 first with Spalding's Metropolitan, very fine in truss 

 and splendid in colour, Mr. Turner being second with 

 Pizarro, and Mr. James third with Mrs. Smith." 

 Amongst the miscellaneous subjects perhaps one of the 

 most interesting were the Azaleas of M. Van Houtte 

 of Ghent, who received first-class certificates for J. G. 

 Veitch, Madlle. Marie Van Houtte, a large semi- 

 double white flaked with salmon, Sigismund Rucker, 

 pink bordered with white nicely painted, very like 

 Ivery's Fascination but larger. There was also a very 

 beautiful collection of the fine cutleaved Japanese Maples. 



REVIEWS. 



The Fairfield Orchids. 



We need no greater evidence of the widespread attention 

 given to the cultivation of Orchids, than that afforded 

 by the book now before us ; it is in truth, a catalogue 

 of the Orchids grown for sale by Messrs. James Brooks 

 and Sons, the Fairfield Nurseries, near Manchester. 

 But instead of being merely a dry catalogue, it contains 

 an introduction of twenty-six pages on the best method 

 of treatment ; then an admirable descriptive list of the 

 various species in cultivation ; and an appendix, giving" 

 the meaning of the names by which they are called. 

 The cultural directions seem to us to be founded on 

 plain principles, and to be carried out with good common 

 sense : take, for example, the following remarks on the 

 culture of the suspended Epiphytes : — 



" The best and easiest way is that most natural to 

 the plants themselves, and that is to let them feed after 

 their own manner from an atmosphere saturated with 

 moisture which contains the products of some simple 

 vegetable matter. To be dosed from a watering-pot 

 with liquid manure is not natural to them. The most 

 easy and natural formula is atmospheric precipitation, 



