232 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 24, 1881. 
special jury, the case was tried before Mr. Justice Manisty in 
the Queen’s Bench Division at Westminster on the 22nd inst., 
and without any witnesses for the defence being called a verdict 
was at once given in our favour with costs. Such is a brief 
record of the case, on which we desire to make no comment ; 
but a feature in the case demands notice. We received a letter 
by post, a perfectly honest and genuine expression of opinion 
on the part of a correspondent, which we published on the page 
quoted, and on which the alleged libel appears to have been 
founded, on the assumption that such letter was either written 
in the neighbourhood of our office or with our cognisance. There 
is not the remotest particle of truth in either assumption. We 
were subpcenaed to produce the letter, which was in Court, but 
the plaintiff’s Counsel, in the exercise of his discretion, did not 
call for it. The litigation has now ended, and we desire to 
live amicably with all our contemporaries ; and as in the past, 
so in the future, we shall endeavour not to be the aggressors 
in any trifling dispute that may arise ; and if by any error we 
should transgress the rules of literary propriety, we shall feel 
that we can afford to adopt the honourable course of rendering 
our acknowledgments or tendering our apologies when either 
can be rightly expected. 
- At a general meeting of the Royal Horticultural 
Society held on Tuesday last, Col. R. Trevor Clarke in the chair, 
the following candidates were duly elected Fellows—viz., 
Ephraim Burford, Right Hon. Geo. Cubitt, M.P., Major General 
James Davidson, Mrs. E. A. Eno, Everitt Everitt, Mrs. J. W. 
Flanagan, R. T. Harding, Mrs. Henry S. King, Frederick W. 
Lawrence, Mrs. Ries, Archibald H. Secretan, Mrs. Catterson 
Smith, Richard H. Tidswell, Mrs. Underhill, and Col. Weguelin. 
- On Saturday last Messrs. W. Paul & Son of Waltham 
Cross had an Exhibition of Camellias at the Royal Aquarium, 
Westminster. About twelve hundred blooms were staged, repre¬ 
senting over fifty varieties. The majority of the flowers were 
very fine, all the. best varieties in commerce being shown. Some 
fine Hyacinths and Tulips were also contributed from Mr. Beck¬ 
with’s nursery at Tottenham. 
- Mr. Child has under his charge an extensive and beau¬ 
tiful display of Primulas at Garbrand Hall. The varieties, 
chiefly the grower’s own selection, are excellent; the flowers 
large, flat, finely fimbriated, circular in outline, and of good sub¬ 
stance ; the whites pure, and the crimsons bright. One house is 
entirely devoted to plants of the white variety, and the abundance 
of flowers produces a beautiful effect, there being no bright colours 
to mar their purity. In another house there is a similarly satis¬ 
factory display of the crimson-flowering forms. In all the plants 
the foliage is neat, the leafstalks moderately short, and the blade 
even and regularly cut; the rich green tint—the invariable 
attendant on careful culture—still further enhancing the beauty 
of the plants, the trusses of bloom rising sufficiently high to be 
clear of the foliage, thus avoiding the unpleasant and too fre¬ 
quently seen extremes of being so tall as to appear weak, or so 
dwarfed amongst the leaves as to be scarcely visible. The old 
double white Primula also receives attention, and with the same 
good results for vigorous health and a bountiful supply of these 
useful flowers. Mr. Child is a very successful grower of Primulas, 
and his mode of culture is detailed on page 225. 
- We are requested to state that the Burton-upon-Trent 
Horticultural Society will hold their Exhibitions on June 
the 22nd and August the 24th. Mr. R. B. Barratt, Abbey Cottage, 
Horninglow Street, Burton-upon-Trent, is the Secretary. 
- Referring to Gladiolus Culture in Scotland a 
correspondent writes—“After Mr. Galloway dissolved partnership 
with Mr. Robertson the latter showed them quite as fine as before 
that time. The most wonderful spikes I have ever seen were 
produced under the care of a manager at Stuart & Mein’s of Kelso 
He only grew a few dozens, but most of them turned out superb 
spikes. Your Irish correspondent’s mode of early planting would 
not do here at all.” 
- The decorative value of Lachenalias in pots is well 
shown at Gunnersbury House, where Mr. Hudson, the able gar¬ 
dener, grows a number of specimens, chiefly of L. tricolor, in 
48-sized pots, several bulbs in a pot. They are now bearing hun¬ 
dreds of spikes of their pretty tubular red and yellow flowers, pro¬ 
ducing quite a gay effect upon the shelves of a moderately cool 
house. The bulbs will flower well for several years in the same 
pots if supplied with liquid manure ; but the disadvantage of 
allowing the plants to remain too long without a potting is that 
they become very crowded and irregular in height, which can only 
be remedied by shaking them out every year, selecting the bulbs 
that are nearly equal in size for placing together. 
- We are informed that the weekly flower shows and 
marts at the Alexandra Palace will be recommenced during the 
present month, as Messrs. Jones & Barber have taken the Palace 
on a long lease, and have engaged Mr. Forsyth Johnson as Super¬ 
intendent of these displays. 
- On Tuesday last Mrs. Gladstone presented the prizes at 
the Bow and Bromley Institute to the successful members of the 
East London Floricultural Society. There was a crowded 
attendance, and the show of flowers was a very fine one. After 
the distribution a handsome bouquet was presented to Mrs. Glad¬ 
stone, as also a vote of thanks ; in acknowledging which, Mrs. 
Gladstone observed that the East of London, which had been 
noted for its smoke hitherto, would soon become famous for its 
flowers. 
- The schedule of the Farningham Rose and Horti¬ 
cultural Society announces that the annual Exhibition will 
be held on the 29th of June of the present year, when liberal 
prizes will be offered in sixty-six classes for nurserymen, gar¬ 
deners, amateurs, and cottagers. Thirteen classes are devoted to 
Roses, the prizes ranging in value from £4 to 3s. Miscellaneous 
plants, fruit, vegetables, and table decorations are also provided 
for, and a satisfactory display may be confidently expected to 
reward the efforts of the enthusiastic Hon. Secretary, Mr. Frank 
Burnside. 
- M. F. Brassac of Toulouse has forwarded us a copy of 
his Annuaire General d’Horticulture. It contains a va¬ 
riety of general information, with articles upon horticultural 
subjects, mostly reprints from French and Belgian periodicals, 
and a long list of nurserymen, florists, and seed merchants 
throughout France, arranged alphabetically under their several 
departments. 
- A correspondent writing respecting the MarAchal 
Niel Rose observes—“This Rose may be grown very success¬ 
fully on its own roots. A little over four years since I planted 
a very small side shoot against the back wall of a Peach house, 
and two years afterwards we had fully five hundred blooms on 
the plant. Since then it has grown freely and flowered profusely, 
and at the present time it is looking as well as ever it did. It is 
often said this Rose is short-lived, but_I do not know of any case 
where it has died prematurely on its own roots. In many 
instances I think it is too freely supplied with ^stimulants and 
then killed with hard pruning, neither of which are necessary to 
its well-being. Judicious thinning of the shoots is more likely to 
produce good results.” 
- The annual display of Cinerarias at Redlees, Isle- 
worth, is always worth a visit, but this year Mr. James appears 
to have been even more than ordinarily successful in his culture 
