April 16, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
307 
Roses was so thoroughly ripened last autumn, and the winter has been so 
mild, that all may, I hope, anticipate a good Rose season.—D., Deal. 
M. Ernest Bergman requests us to announce that a Botanical and 
Horticultural Congress will be held in Paris in May next during the 
time of the International Flower Show. Further particulars as to dates 
and questions to he treated will be duly published. Gentlemen wish¬ 
ing to become members of the Congress can write at once to the President 
of the Society, 84, Rue de Grenelle, Paris. The Congress Committee 
named at the last meeting of the Society is composed of the following 
gentlemen :—Messrs. Duchartre, a well-known botanist ; Chs. Verdier, 
Ferd. Jamin, Truffaut fils, and Bergman fils. 
- At a general meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 
held this day, Sir James Tyler in the chair, the following candidates 
were unanimously elected Fellows—viz., C. Bloodworth, W. Boutcher, 
Mrs. Bramwell, John Brill, William Brockbank, F.L.S., F.G.S.; George 
Browning, George T. Chambers, Walter Christmas, William Bedford 
Dyson, John Edwards, Charles J. Gapp, J. T. Gideon, Hugh Roumieu 
Gough, F.R.I.B.A ; Richard Grice, Mrs. Hatch, Thomas Every Innous, 
N. Kempthorne, Benjamin Thompson Lowne, W. H. Mann, M. L. 
Massouee, Frederick McTier, W. D’Arcy Godolphin Osborne, W. J. 
Plaister, Newton Pratt, T. A. Rolls, M.P. ; A. O. Saunders, Thomas 
Simpson, J. Surrey, Charles Todd, Frederick Tyler, and Wm. Layton 
Vincent. 
- We are requested to state that at the Liverpool Spring Flower 
Show, in Class 26 for three Azaleas, H. Cunningham, Gorsey Cop, 
Gateacre, was awarded the third prize and the first prize for one 
greenhouse Rhododendron, with a good plant of Countess of Haddington. 
- In the note last week cn Angr^cuh sesquipedale at West- 
crook, Sheffield, it was intended to state that the spurs (not the sepals) 
were 12£ inches long. 
- A collection of White Cineraria Blooms submitted to us by 
Messrs. J. Carter & Co. recently contained a remarkably fine variety, 
named Snowflake, pure white, and not diDgy or dull, as manyso-called 
white Cinerarias are, the blooms being moreover of good substance and 
well formed. It is an excellent variety, much the best that we have 
seen. 
- Everyone is familiar with the good qualities of Horseradish, 
but a daily paper announces some serious results from eatiDg it. “ Six 
valuable heifers belonging to a farmer at Denton, near Canterbury, have 
been killed by eating Horseradish.” This vegetable contains a large 
quantity of sulphur, and the oil, when extracted, is very pungent and 
corrosive, but in its fresh state the root is usually extremely beneficial, 
assisting digestion. 
- We are informed that Mr. J. Clarke, late of Moor Park, Farn- 
ham, seven years gardener to Lord Hastings, and formerly of Farnham 
Castle, has commenced business as seedsman, nurseryman, and florist at 
the Albion Nursery, Farnham, Surrey. 
- An American paper, referring to the Value of Strawberries) 
states that “ Dr. P. E. Johnson, of Jacksonville, has the reputation of 
being a very successful Strawberry culturist, his crop of three acres 
netting him a year ago 5000 dollars.” Anyone who could in England 
realise £330 per acre for Strawberries would undoubtedly deserve to be 
considered “ successful,” but they are accustomed to big things in 
America. 
-We have received copies of several letters]that have passed between 
Mr. W. Howard, Southgate, and Mr. John R. Bourne, Bedford Office, 
Bloomsbury, in reference to the system of Porterage at Covent Garden 
MAifeET, from which it appears that vendors are compelled to employ the 
market porters only to convey their goods from their carts to the stacks. 
It is stated by Mr. Howard that there is no regulation to this effect posted 
in the market, that it subjects the vendors to considerable inconvenience, 
and that many consider the rule very arbitrary. 
- A Precocious Chrysanthemum. —It does not seem improbable 
that Chrysanthemums may soon be had all the year round if we require 
them. A fortnight ago we had beautifully fresh blooms of Mrs. C. Carey sent 
to us, and now we have a plant of the new Japanese variety, Mr. J. 
Laing, quite attractive by its rich distinct flowers and amber centre. 
When the flowers develope in the autumn the florets incurve, and the 
amber of the under sides is the prevailing colour; but the flowers now 
so attractive are reflexed, except a few small florets in the centre. The 
plant is about 9 inches high in a 3-inch pot, the three stems bearing 
flowtrs, of which two are expanded. The plant was brought to our office 
by Mr. Wright of the Middle Temple Gardens, and a few similar 
examples would be effective in conservatories. Mr. Wright states that 
all his young plants of this variety are flowering prematurely, whether 
propagated from side shoots or cuttings. Mr. Orchard refers to the pre¬ 
cocity of certain new varieties in another column, and suggests a cause 
for the circumstance. 
- Referring to the recent note on Sixpenny Telegrams, Messrs. 
James Carter & Co., High Holhom, write:—‘‘The discussion upon six¬ 
penny telegrams, and the desirability or otherwise of abbreviated 
addresses, brings out some curious statistics in the history of the seed 
trade. We find upon scrutiny that amongst our 48,500 customers we can 
only muster 851 Smiths against Messrs. Sutton’s 1060; but when we 
come to the Browns we are brought to the front with a total of 503 
against Messrs. Sutton’s 450, and we can ‘ throw in ’ 205 Robinsons. We 
must leave some wiser head than ours to account for the peculiarities of 
these statistics.” 
- Since Oranges have been so largely cultivated in Algeria the 
quantity of that fruit landed at Marseilles has increased to a wonderful 
extent. Fifty years ago the total quantity of Oranges imported into 
France was 7850 tons, of which 2300 tons were landed at Marseilles, 
nearly the whole of the fruit coming from Spain. In 1856 the imports 
had risen to 16,000 tons, of which 10,000 tons came through Marseilles. 
Ten years later, in 1866, the imports reached 26,000 tons, but only 9000 
tons came through Marseilles, as the opening of railway communication 
between France and Spain had quite altered the conditions of the trade. 
But since then the cultivation of the Orange in Algeria has caused the 
trade in that fruit to revive at Marseilles, and out of the 55,000 tons of 
Oranges imported into France last year, 13,000 tons came through Mar¬ 
seilles, of which quantity 6500 tons were from Spain, 4800 tons from 
Algeria, 1160 tons from Italy, and the rest from Turkey, Greece, &c. 
Fifty years ago only eight tons of Oranges were exported from Algeria to 
France, but this total has gradually risen to 380 tons in 1856, 1000 tons 
in 1866, and 5000 tons last year. It may be added that the total value 
of the Oranges imported into France last year was £520,000, and of this 
total £160,000 represents the trade in that fruit done at Marseilles. 
- In the notice of the Jamaica public gardens elsewhere referred 
to, Mr. Morris mentions some curious superstitions respecting 
PLANTS among the negroes. The plantation labourers believe that if 
they take up the Horse Plaintain suckers— i.e., those with long fingers, 
and then take up one of the maiden Plaintains, with the short fingers, 
while the gum or juice is still fresh upon their cutlasses, and they use the 
same cutlass, the maiden Plaintains will produce Horse Plaintains, and 
this wa 9 said by them to be a matter of common experience. It is 
believed also to be unlucky to point the finger when speaking of any 
growing plant in a provision ground, or even to name one which has 
recently been planted. It i9 stated even by intelligent Europeans that if 
the seed of the Shaddock (Citrus decumana) is planted, there is but one 
in a whole Shaddock that will produce good and pleasant fruit; and also 
that there are fifty-two seeds in a Shaddock, only two of which produce 
the real Shaddock, while the others produce a variety of fruits, such as 
the Sweet Lime, Forbidden Fruit, Grape Fruit, Chester Fruit, and 
Orange! _ 
PENTSTEMONS. 
Few border plants have been so much improved and become so 
widely popular during the last few years as these, and those who have 
seen the splendid effect produced by them at Battersea Park will 
undoubtedly have been induced to cultivate them. They are hardy in 
growth and remarkably floriferous, having flowers large in size and varied 
in colour, and all deserve a place in the mixed border. For the centre 
of large beds or as a back line in the ribbon border they are very 
effective. 
They flourish in any good garden soil, but a rich sandy loam is most 
suitable for them, in which, when established, they will continue throwing 
