April 16, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
313 
Camellias, Cinerarias, Narcissus, &e.; on the other side is the East India 
house, in which there is a splendid display of Phalaenopses, finely flowered. 
In the flower house first alluded to are some very fine varieties of Odonto- 
glossum Alexandra, one especially—0. Alexandra grandiflora—being a 
superb form, the flowers each fully 4 inches across, the sepals and petals 
very broad and stout, colour white suffused with rose pink, lip a most 
beautiful bright orange with pencillings of crimson at the base. A fine 
plant of the white type of 0. Alexandras has twenty expanded flowers of 
pure white in all except the lip, which is lightly coloured pale yellow 
A fine plant of O. Pescatorei is carrying forty-eight flowers. Of 0. cir- 
rhosum there are numerous fine varieties ; there are also flowering plants 
of 0. Halli, 0. gloriosum, 0. nebulosum, O. luteo-purpureum, 0. corda- 
tum (this plant, which is now carrying two good spikes of bloom, has 
been in bloom continuously since September last). Of 0. citrosmum 
there are numbers of plants flowering profusely. They are grown the 
year round on a cool, elevated, and somewhat dry shelf in the flower 
house, the comparatively dry air of which suits it well. A large plant of 
Pilumna fragrans is now producing its second crop of flower spikes imme 
diately the first lot, which numbered fully two dozen, are over. Of Tricho- 
pilia suavis there is a very finely coloured variety, carrying four flower 
spikes with four flowers on each. 
Of Dandrobes, there are numerous varieties in flower. Especially fine 
are D. primulinum giganteum, D.Wardianum, D. crassinode Barberianum, 
and D. heterocarpum phdippinense, the latter being an almost perpetual 
bloomer ; the sepals and petals are creamy yellow. In the same house 
are a number of very healthy plants in 6-inch pots of Sophronitis grandi¬ 
flora, carrying ten flowers each. This is very successfully treated at 
Oakholme. It is very impatient of removal or repotting, and these have 
remained in the same pots for a considerable time. As before stated, the 
Phalaenopses in the East India house are very fine. There are about 
twenty plants, and include some especially fine varieties. The plants are 
mostly large and strong, and have vigorous branching flower spikes. Lycaste 
lanipes, in the same house, has been very attractive with its numerous 
large and singular creamy white flowers. Yanda tricolor is also flowering 
finely, the blooms very highly coloured. In the same house at the back 
are eight or ten handsome specimens of Eucharis amazonica, averaging 
3 feet across, with fine stout leaves each 2 feet long. Such vigorous 
specimens are rarely met with ; evidently the temperature suitable for 
Phalaenopses agrees equally with Eucharis. In the Odontoglossum house 
there are many plants with strong flower spikes just about to open their 
flowers of 0. Alexandras, 0. Pescatorei, andO. cirrhosum, the plants all in 
the most vigorous health. 
RHODODRENDRONS, AZALEAS, AND FOLIAGE PLANTS. 
A year ago you published some notes from me respecting what is, I 
should suppose, one of the finest specimens of Rhododendron Veitchianum 
to be found, in the country. This plant is again coming freely into bloom, 
and looks likely to be at the height of its beauty this week ; it will be 
even finer than last year, owing to the increased size of the plant. There 
are upwards of 200 trusses of flowers upon it open and to open ; about 
two-thirds of them are bearing three flowers each, the remainder having 
two. When I saw it 100 flowers were expanded, pure white, very 
fragrant and beautifully fringed, each about 4 inches in diameter. The 
house in which it is growing is a “half-span” roof, the longest side 
facing south. The plant is trained over the back wall. The centre of the 
house is occupied by large bushes of Camellias reaching almost to the 
roof, and which thus somewhat shade the Rhododendrons from the direct 
rays of the sun. On a narrow stage along the front of the same house 
are numbers of fine plants in pots of the greenhouse Rhododendrons, 
such varieties as Princess Royal, Taylori, Princess Alexandra, &c. A 
fine plant of Lady Alice Fitzwilliam (a beautiful large white-flowering 
variety lately introduced by Messrs. Fisher, Son, & Sibray, the flowers 
somewhat resembling R. Veitchianum, but having smooth edges, and the 
foliage being much smaller) has thirty trusses of flowers just bursting. 
The conservatory is very gay with a good selection of greenhouse 
flowering plants, such as Azaleas, Camellias, Narcissus, Mignonette, 
Chorozemas, Salvias, &c., amongst which especially the Azaleas are very 
fine. A large specimen of Souvenir du Prince Albert, solid with bloom, 
is very effective, as are also similar specimens of Criterion and Reine du 
Pays Bas. Two smaller plants, however, of comparatively new varieties 
at once arrested my attention as being the largest and finest white varie¬ 
ties I had yet seen. The first was named Remembrance of Lady Flora 
Hastings, a somewhat unwieldly name, but a superb variety, the flowers 
4 inches in diameter, single, pure white, very stout and wax-like. The 
second was a semi-double white variety, also very large flowers and pure 
in colour, named Madame Maria Planchon. In the large stove are 
wondrously fine specimen Crotons, several of them being about 6 feet 
high and nearly as much through, splendidly coloured; a specimen of 
C. Weismanni of the size as above is the finest example I have ever met 
with, and resembles a fountain of gold. There are also some very large 
and fine specimens of Dracaenas and Sphaerogynes. A fine plant of Iman- 
tophyllum miniatum superbum in the same house is very brilliant with 
seven flower spikes. A walk through this establishment can be enjoyed 
by any lover of floriculture, as superior skill in cultivation is witnessed 
in every department, and reflects the highest credit upon the able gar¬ 
dener who has for upwards of twenty years managed them so well.—■ 
W. K. W. 
The Public Gardens and Plantations of Jamaica. —In Mr. 
Morris’s report upon the above gardens the money value of rain in 
Jamaica is well shown in a paragraph quoted from Mr. Maxwell Hall’s 
estimate. A comparison has been made between so many inches of rain 
per annum and so many casks of sugar per acre. Thus there were 1559 
casks per acre for 79 inches rainfall, and 1441 casks with 56 inches, so 
that the difference due to a larger or smaller island rainfall is on an 
average nearly one-tenth of the export sugar crop. This one-tenth export 
crop, for sugar and rum, represents in value nearly £100,000 ; but if other 
produce which is likewise affected by a greater or less rainfall, such as 
Coffee and Pimento, the difference would amount to a very considerable 
sum. During the year considerable attention wa3 devoted in the her¬ 
barium to the medicinal plants of the island, and to forming not only a 
collection of botanical specimens, but also of the barks, roots, and the 
portions used for medicine. The value of this herbarium to the com¬ 
mercial interests of the West Indies was shown while working up the 
botanical classification of the indigenous plants capable of yielding fibre. 
It was found that the common native Agave (Aloe) of Jamaica was not, 
as had been represented in books on Jamaica plants, the Agave americana, 
but an entirely different species, the Agave keratto of Salm Dyck. The 
application of this difference, which appears to him only one of botanical 
nomenclature, to the industrial arts is that under the belief that this plant 
is Agave americana, and therefore capable of yielding valuable fibre, 
large sums of money were spent and lost in getting out machinery to 
clean fibre which was of inferior quality. 
ROYAL CALEDONIAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The Spring Show of this Society was held on the 8th and 9th inst. in 
the Waverley Market, Edinburgh, and was acknowledged to be the best 
that has been held at this season under the auspices of this Society. OE 
the 141 classes 114 were for gardeners and amateurs, the remaining twenty- 
seven for nurserymen. The prize money offered was £338, and for this 
640 entries were made, being 120 more than the largest number in any 
previous year. The public took advantage of the floral treat afforded 
them to an extent that must have been gratifying to the Council, some 
10,000 passing through the gates on the 8th, while on the second day the 
Show was also largely attended. On the forenoon of the 9th the children 
from several of the City institutions were allowed to inspect what, to them, 
must have appeared a vision of Fairyland. 
The following brief notes give some idea of the more remarkable pro¬ 
duce exhibited. Mr. R. Grossart, gardener to J. Buchanan, Esq., Oswald 
Road, was the sole exhibitor of a table of plants 20 feet by 5 feet, and for 
this the first prize was awarded. The arrangement was very good, most of 
the flowering plants being choice Orchids, the spikes of which rose up from 
among an undergrowth of Ferns, &c. The Azaleas were a striking feature; 
the first-prize four, the first single specimen, and the first four in 8-inch pots 
from Mr. John Patterson, Millbank, being models of good culture ; others 
were of only inferior merit. For six stove and greenhouse plants Mr. 
Patterson was again first, staging two good Heaths, two fine Azaleas, Anthu- 
rium Schertzerianum, and an example of the old Acacia armata, which makes 
a showy exhibition plant. Mr. R. Grossart was second, a notable plant 
being Cselogyne flaccida in this collection. Mr. Patterson was again easily 
first for four Cape Heaths, his specimens being neat examples of Ericas 
Victorias, profusa, florida and Bothwelliana alba. The Orchids were more 
numerous and finer than we have seen them in Edinburgh, the competition 
being keener. Unfortunately the judging with regard to these failed to 
give satisfaction. For six plants Mr. R, Grossart secured the first place, 
having a grand Cymbidium Lowianum, Dendrobium nobile, D. thyrsiflorum, 
Ada aurantiaca, Vanda tricolor, and Cymbidium eburneum. The second 
prize was secured by Mr. Curror, gardener to G. Douglas, Esq., Eskbank ; 
Denbrobium speciosum, a fine Cattleya Trianae, and a profusely bloomed 
Trichopilia being noticeable. Mr. Findlay, gardener to J. McKelvie, Esq., 
14, Osborne Terrace, third. For three plants Mr. R. Cockburn, gardener to 
H. More, Esq., Coltbridge Hall, was first with small plants of Phalsenopsis 
Schilleriana, P. Stuartiana, and Angraecum citratum. Mr. Patterson second, 
and Mr. Wilkins, gardener to A. Fraser, Esq., Canonmills Lodge, third. In 
this class Mr. W. McDougal, gar Jener to W. Sanderson, Esq., Talbot House, 
Ferry Road, in this class had a wonderfully fine Dendrobium Wardianum, 
which bore four spikes about 110 flowers, the best spike being like an ordi¬ 
nary walking stick, and bearing forty-three blooms. For one Orchid Mr. 
P. Walker, gardener to G. Ure, Esq., Hope Park, Bonnybridge, was first for 
a good Dendrobium nobile, and Mr. R. Cockburn second for a fine piece of 
D. Findleyanum in prime condition. 
Mr. Scott, gardener to Lord Elphinston, Carbery Tower, had the best 
four foliage plants; Mr. Grieve, Falcon Hall, being first for two foliage 
plants. For six pot Roses Mr. Patterson was to the front with handsome 
medium well-flowered specimens ; Mr. Gordon, Niddrie, being second. Mr. 
R. Johnson took first prize for three pot Roses. For twelve Cyclamens Mr. 
Gordon was first, and for twenty forced plants Mr. Grieve was also awarded 
the first prize, and Mr. McIntyre, The Glen, Innerleithen, the second. With 
two large and profusely flowered Deutzias Mr. Grieve was first; Mr. Bald, 
Cannon Bank, being first for one specim°n. Standard and dwarf specimens 
of Mignonette were very fine. For the former Mr. Richardson, Morningside 
Cemetery, was first, Mr. J. Cameron, Cargillfield, being first for the latter. 
Mr. Grossart staged three fine panfuls of Lily of the Valley for the first 
prize ; Mr. Pearson, gardener to Lady Lucy Dundas, Beechwood, being first 
for one potful. Mr. McKinnon, gardener to Viscount Melville, Melville 
Castle, for four distinct exotic Ferns staged for the first prize beautiful 
medium specimens of Davallia Mooreana, D. bullata, D. insignis, and Leuco- 
stegia immersa. Adiantums were small but fresh, Mr. Johnston, Woolmet, 
Dalkeith, being first for three plants with farleyense, gracillimum, and 
cuneatum. 
The prizes offered for Hyacinths brought a number of plants that were 
generally good, though we have seen them decidedly better, many of 
even the prize plants being too tall. Tulips and Narcissus were in much 
smaller numbers than in some previous years. For twelve Hyacinths Mr. 
Sime, Ridge Park, Lanark, took the first prize with good examples of Von 
Schiller, Grandeur a Merveille, Garibaldi, Ida, KiDg of the Blues, and 
Blondin. Mr. Pearson, gardener to Lady Lucy Dundas, Beechwood, took the 
second place, his strongest examples being Czar Peter, Lord Derby, La 
