BOTANICAL INDEX* 
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[We solicit the privilege of publishing extracts from correspondence, of interest to the general reader. Corre- 
spondence upon Botanical subjects respectfully solicited.] 
February 3, 1879. 
Mr. L. B. Case: 
Dear Sir : I have a very peculiar plant— 
the Amorphophallus — now in bloom in my greenhouse ; it 
commenced throwing up its bloom about 1st January ; 
it is now about four feet from top of ]pot. The bloom 
opens around the stalk, about one foot from the top, (lily 
shape) ; the flower and stalk are of a dark purple and 
spotted— rather snakish in appearance. This blooming 
stalk goes down in about one month, and then the leaf 
stalk puts up and makes a very handsome plant through 
the summer. Yours, 
|gg§ 
JAS. HINTON. 
(RICHMOND, 
U. S. North America. 
IE (MAN A. 
New Orleans, La., January 17, 1879. 
L. B. Case, Esq.— Sir : * * * We have had severe cold here this winter, and 
many plants have suffered destruction — particularly those of a succulent nature. We 
are not prepared for “zero ” in this sunny clime. We longed and' prayed for “Jack 
Frost; ” he came furiously, and nearly froze the life out of those “ Yellow Jack ” 
had spared. B. 
Manchester, England, November 21, 1878. 
L. B. Case, Esq. — Dear Sir : * * * There is not much new to say, except 
that since I wrote you last I have visited the Botanical Cardens at Old Trafford, Man- 
chester, on the occasion of the yearly flower show, which continues a week. It was 
the first time I had the pleasure of seeing the houses and grounds, and can assure you 
I came away well satisfied that I had spent a few hours there. The gardens are 
public, and are upheld by the people of Manchester. They are open daily, I believe ; 
the entrance fee is sixpence, except on show days, when it doubles. Besides the 
yearly flower show, which is a general one, there are special ones; for instance, one 
week is taken up with roses, another with chrysanthemums, etc. Of course, the 
general one is of the most interest, and is visited by thousands each day. In com- 
paring it with American flower shows, you don’t find the abundance of cut bloom as 
with you, nor yet the floral designs. Neither dp we find the cactus so good and so 
numerous as in the United States. In foliage plants, too, America excels. But for 
well grown plants, such as palms, ferns, orchids, azalias, vincas, pelargoniums, tri- 
color geraniums, and a miscellaneous lot of other plants, England takes the lead. 
There were plants exhibited from all parts of Great Britain ; the best collection, as 
far as I could judge, was from the nurseries of B. S. Williams, of Upper Holloway, 
London. I cannot give you a description of the affair — it was simply immense. 
There seemed to be everything, from the skeletonized frond of Adiantum to the 
gigantic Ficus elastica of 30 feet. This plant was truly noble ; you might climb it like 
an oak. On one side of it was planted a palm, with leaves the size of an ordinary 
door, being compound and recurved. On the other side rose a mighty cereus— a high 
dome of glass covered these three. I name this, because it was the center ; from each 
side the houses branched off in a line for hundreds of yards. The palm house, fernery, 
and orchid house, were of very special interest ; the number of orchids in bloom was 
astonishing; palms and tree ferns, that made you dizzy to look at their dimensions. 
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