FLORAL AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
451 
apt to die back a joint, unless the wound is 
confined to the merely taking out of the end 
bud as close as possible, without wounding 
the stem below it. In some plants it matters 
not how carelessly the end shoot may be 
pinched out, or off, only the joint on which 
the bud is will be lost ; but in this, the Eu- 
phorbia jacquinifiora, the whole shoot will 
die back sometimes if it be carelessly done. 
Russellia juncea stands alone in habit, pe- 
culiarity of growth, bloom, and necessary treat- 
ment, yet the early part of the management is 
not unlike some other matters. The plant is 
more like a delicate weeping broom than any- 
thing we can liken it to, only that the bloom is 
almost like a berberry in form and colour, but 
it comes out all along its weeping, thin, broom- 
like branches, the same as the yellow, pea- 
shaped blooms come out along the broom. 
Again, it differs in one other respect, because 
the plant cannot, with any ordinary manage- 
ment, be made a standard ; it would, there- 
fore, lose its character by the attempt ; by 
taking off the top of a cutting, when struck, it 
would not only throw out side-shoots, but it 
would throw up suckers, and, in a short time, 
a tolerably large^sized pot would be filled with 
its roots, and when allowed to grow up, they 
would turn over the pot, and droop all round, 
hanging down several feet. The principal 
object is, to manage the growth so as to hang 
all round alike, and stand the pot on a pedes- 
tal, that its branches may hang uninterruptedly 
all round. It is no use attempting to force it 
into bloom ; for, while it is inclined to grow, 
it should be indulged, it being a most beauti- 
ful object, even without a flower, and the 
larger the growth the more beautiful will it 
be, and the more abundant will the bloom be 
when it comes. The soil already mentioned 
will do for all these stove plants: the Gardenia 
and Ixora like plenty of heat, quick growth, 
and moisture. They both do best plunged in 
the tan to the rims of the pots they are in; 
the former might be better grown in a com- 
mon hot-bed fitted for cucumbers than a 
stove at all ; and we have covered them with 
a hand-glass in the stove, to keep them both 
hot and moist ; they want nothing but hard 
growing, and scarcely even want stopping, 
for they grow naturally dwarf and bushy. 
The Ixoras require stopping several times, to 
bring them into a neat bushy shape ; but they 
must be constantly watched, to protect them 
from vermin; for their young leaves and shoots 
are more susceptible of injury than any other 
plant we know of. They must be grown near 
the light, for the colour of the foliage is soon 
damaged ; and unless this be a bright green 
the plant is not half so handsome. When the 
form is unobjectionable, which will, perhaps, 
be while the plant is moderate in size, it may 
be allowed to grow ; that is, supposing there 
are a dozen or so branches in good order; for 
the bloom is small, but comes in close bunches 
at the ends of the branches, and the stronger 
and better it is grown the larger the bunches 
of flowers ; for this reason it must never be 
stinted in the pots ; but, as soon as the fibres 
come freely to the side of the pot, the plant 
must be shifted to a larger one ; by these 
means there will always be some of the plants 
mentioned in flower, and there will be no 
difficulty^ in finding half-a-dozen during the 
show seasons. 
ON FLORAL AND HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETIES. 
It is a question whether the leading Socie- 
ties for the promotion of Floriculture have 
been founded and conducted on sufficiently 
liberal principles to obtain general fovour, 
and whether the spirit which induces a man 
to spend twenty pounds to get a ten-pound 
prize may not occasionally warp his judgment 
in the selection of proper objects for prizes. 
In examining the productions of many country 
shows, we have often observed what we 
should call injudicious prizes. Not that we 
would curtail the amount distributed in 
rewards of this kind, but that some prizes 
awarded to particular productions we should 
have given to others. We take it we are 
right in our notion that these Societies are to 
encourage the cultivation of useful or ornamen- 
tal things. There are some points, then, to 
attend to in the making up of a schedule. 
1. There should be some merit in the 
cultivation of any subject intended for a prize. 
2. There should be some object in encou- 
raging the cultivation of anything intended 
for a prize. 
3. Any production, therefore, to entitle the 
grower to a prize should be above an average 
quality, owing to his superior culture. 
Now, the first of these propositions shuts 
out a vast quantity of produce from country 
shows, because Apples, and Pears, and Plums, 
from standard trees, come without any par- 
ticular merit of the growers, and are of a 
nature to prevent all new occupiers of allot- 
ments or gardens from competing with them. 
And if such things, are produced from gentle^ 
men's orchards, the merit of gathering and 
producing them is very limited indeed ; yet 
have we seen at provincial shows many tables 
covered with this orchard fruit, which there 
was no merit in producing, and consequently 
no possible good could arise either to the 
science or the Society by the prizes awarded 
for such produce. The mere production of 
a Ribstone Pippin or an Alexander, or a Blen- 
heim Orange, larger than a neighbour, does 
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