April 6, 1882.] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
279 
to them. William I. Peas sown in November have done well, and 
are now showing Iheir flowers. This variety with me I find is 
better and stronger than the old favourite, Sangster’s No. 1.” 
- Mr. B. Cowan regrets to inform us that “ Mr. James 
Dale, gardener at Brancepeth Castle, Durham, died on 
Saturday, April 1st. He was born on January 1st, 181G. Mr. 
Dale succeeded his father as gardener at Brancepeth, and 
held that position for many years. He was well known in 
the north, and highly esteemed amongst his gardening con¬ 
freres. He was successful in his efforts as a practical gardener, 
more particularly in growing Pines and Orchids, and the many 
valuable additions made to the beauty of the grounds show that 
as a landscape gardener he was also skilful. An account of 
Brancepeth, which is the seat of Viscount Boyne, appeared in 
this Journal December 25th, 1879, page 509. Mr. Dale was a 
great student of nature. His collections of stuffed birds and geo¬ 
logical specimens are both numerous and interesting, and won 
the approbation of the late Mr. Waterton.” 
- Considerable progress is being made with the new 
rockery at Kew, for which a grant of about £400 was, we 
understand, recently obtained. The site selected is the oblong 
piece of lawn between the wall of the herbaceous garden and the 
Orchid house— a very convenient position, and where the rockery 
will appear to excellent advantage if well executed. It is at 
present too early to judge of the design, as only the foundation is 
being formed, but it is desirable that in our noted national gar¬ 
dens every effort will be made to avoid the formality and same¬ 
ness which characterises too many of such structures in ordinary 
gardens. Such an elaborate and beautiful rockery as that in 
Messrs. Backhouse’s nursery at York can scarcely be expected, 
but something a little out of the common will be confidently 
looked for. Judging by the space devoted to it, this when fully 
planted will, we should think, contain one of the largest collec* 
tiona of alpine plants in the kingdom. 
- Every year the Hyacinth Beds at Duneevan are 
worthy of note, so completely are they filled and neatly are they 
kept. Between four and five thousand imported bulbs are planted, 
one-third being of double varieties. They are inserted about 
6 inches apart in nearly twenty beds, the central bed contain¬ 
ing a thousand plants. Each plant is supported with a stake 
made of stout galvanised wire—the neatest and most durable 
stakes for these and other small border flowers that we have seen. 
Many of the spikes of flowers are of exhibition quality, and 
as the colours are brighter than those of plants grown under 
glass the effect produced is singularly beautiful. The beds 
are margined with Crocuses, the bright green elegant foliage of 
which forms a graceful fringe to the masses of Hyacinths. In 
all other departments Mr. McIntosh’s garden is worthy of high 
commendation by the neatness and good culture that prevails— 
Vines, fruit trees, Liliums, Rhododendrons, and two hundred 
varieties of Zonal Pelargoniums, including many of the late Dr. 
Denny’s latest unnamed seedlings, being in most promising con¬ 
dition, and both owner and gardener must be congratulated on 
their excellent work. 
- We are requested to announce that a cheap work by 
Mr. Fawkes on heating by hot water on the low-pressure 
system is in the press, comprising some of the principles involved, 
an illustrated explanation of the apparatus and its parts ; also its 
application to greenhouses, hothouses, conservatories, churches, 
chapels, mansions, &c. 
- On Tuesday, the 4th inst., in the High Court of Justice, 
Chancery division, before Mr. Justice Chitty, a petition was pre¬ 
sented by a creditor for the winding-up of the General Horti¬ 
cultural Company, Limited. It was alleged that the Company 
was doing a large business ; and it was represented that the share¬ 
holders and the bulk of the creditors desired that the Company 
should be allowed to continue its business in the expectation that 
it would ultimately be successful. His Lordship ordered the 
petition to stand over for three months, and continued the ap¬ 
pointment of Messrs. Stagg and Smith as provisional liquidators 
in the meantime. We also learn that at the meeting of the 
creditors at Warwick House, Regent Street, on the 30th ult., the 
Company undertook to pay half its debts in six months, and the 
remainder in eighteen months, dealing in the meantime with its 
creditors on cash terms. 
- The Manchester Flower Show, held in the Town Hall 
on Tuesday last, proved a great success, but we can only state 
that the following were some of the chief exhibitors with the 
awards granted them. The Society’s silver medal to Messrs. 
Fisher, Son, & Sibray, of Handsworth Nurseries, Sheffield, for 
greenhouse Rhododendrons. First-class certificates to Messrs. 
Fisher, Son, & Sibray, for a Rhododendron named Duchess of 
Connaught, and for Rhododendron Lady Alice Fitzwilliam ; 
Messrs. Cranston & Co., for Hoya globulosa; Messrs. R. P. 
Ker & Sons, for Cyperus laxus variegatus. First-class cultural 
certificates to Mr. G. B. Blair, for Cinerarias; Mr. Oskar 
Schneider, for Dendrobium nobile ; Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, 
Swanley, for Cinerarias ; Messrs. R. P. Ker & Sons, for a collection 
of miscellaneous plants; Mr. T. Jannock, Lily Nursery, Der- 
singham, Norfolk, for Lilies of the Valley. First-class com¬ 
mendations to Messrs. Dickson, Brown, & Tait, Corporation 
Street, Manchester, for Hyacinths; Mr. James Marson, for Rho¬ 
dodendron Veitchianum ; Mr. Thos. Walkden, for Pansies ; Mr. E. 
Rogerson, for Cinerarias ; and to Mrs. Tootal, for Rhododendron 
javanicum. 
- In the miscellaneous collection of Orchids at The Firs, 
Sydenham, some of which were referred to last week, Cattleyas 
are promising a grand display, and already there is a fine show of 
C. Trianae and its varieties, ranging in colour from white to rich 
crimson. In some the blooms are surprisingly massive, the petals 
broad, and the lip most handsomely coloured. C. Mendeli and 
C. Mossim have abundance of sheaths, and the plants all appear in 
excellent health. Masdevallias are also in very good condition, 
some beautiful varieties of M. Lindeni and M. ignea being in flower, 
the latter being especially fine. M. Shuttleworthi, one of the most 
distinct and pretty species in the genus, is flowering well, the 
neat purple-tinted lower sepals being very attractive. Amongst 
the novelties is an unnamed species of Eulophia, which has been 
referred to Professor Reichenbach, but is not yet determined. It 
has compact panicles of small flowers, the sepals, petals, and lip 
being yellow, barred and spotted with rich brown. It is very 
free and graceful in habit. The pure white Lycaste Skinneri 
alba must not be omitted, as it is now in admirable condition, 
bearing large wax-like flowers. The peculiar Masdevallia chi- 
msera also has several flowers 15 inches in diameter from tip to 
tip of the opposite sepals. These are only a few of the beautiful 
and noteworthy plants grown in the houses at The Firs, for stove 
and greenhouse plants also receive good attention, and are in 
similarly satisfactory condition. 
-Amongst the very numerous Orchids in the other depart¬ 
ments at the above gardens Dendrobiums are now flowering 
particularly well, and most of the best species and varieties are 
included in the collection. A remarkably handsome form of D. 
crassinode is especially noteworthy, the white sepals and petals 
being tipped with very rich crimson, the lip having a deep yellow 
central blotch, and is tipped with a similar shade to the petals. 
One plant of D. Wardianum has flowers 4 inches in diameter, the 
sepals and petals very broad, and the lip of unusual size, nearly 
circular, and about 14 inch in diameter. D. Freemani is still 
