JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
t May 25, 1882. 
One of the most remarkable features of the nursery is the collec¬ 
tion of pot Vines from eyes, which occupy four or five large 
houses. The foreman in this department informed me that the 
number annually grown by the firm for sale is about two thousand, 
also that the eyes were inserted during the early part of January, 
but that no heat was given them till the second week in February. 
The most forward amongst them are now 5 to 6 feet in height, 
very strong, and furnished with fine, large, healthy foliage down 
to the pot. Much importance is attached to not forcing them too 
rapidly in the earlier stages of their growth. 
MR. B. S. WILLIAMS’ NURSERIES, UPPER HOLLOWAY. 
In these celebrated nurseries the fine collections of Orchids 
stove and greenhouse plants, Palms, Ferns. See., are all in excellent 
condition. In the Orchid houses the Cypripediums, of which 
there is a large and fine collection, are now flowering superbly. 
Especially noticeable were a fine lot of C. Lawrencianum, a very 
fine variety of the barbatum type, also C. Lowi and C. caudatum, 
of the latter of which there are some large specimens well flowered. 
Of Vandas there is one of the finest collections in the country, 
most of them being large and very vigorous specimens, many of 
which are now bearing large spikes of bloom. In the houses de¬ 
voted to cool Orchids I especially noticed a fine large specimen of 
Mesospinidium sanguineum bearing upwards of twenty-five spikes 
of bloom, also a large number of smaller plants, all profusely 
bloomed. This appears to be a charming little Orchid for basket 
culture in the cool house. There is also a large, number of Odon- 
toglossums now in bloom, amongst which are some very fine 
varieties of 0. Alexandras. Suspended amongst the flower spikes 
of the Odontoglots are a number of plants in bloom of the yellow- 
flowered Oncidium concolor, which are very striking and showy 
amongst the white and pink flowers of the Odontoglots. In the 
Azalea houses I noticed a fine new hybrid variety named Miss 
Beust, which has the close compact habit of the A. amoena type, 
with large pure white flowers like the varieties of A. iodica. In 
the Fern house is a fine batch of the beautiful Adiantum Williamsii 
and a magnificent specimen of the same fully 3 feet in diameter. 
Davallia Tyermanii is also here very beautiful, grown on blocks 
of wood about 2 feet high. 
MESSRS. H. CANNELL A SONS’ NURSERIES, SWANLEY. 
One of the most enjoyable of my rambles was a visit to these 
nurseries, which are noted for the excellent strains of florists’ 
flowers there cultivated. The chief object of my visit was to see 
the collection of the herbaceous Calceolarias which are now in 
very fine condition. A house 100 feet long by 12 feet in width 
is filled with flowering plants, the bulk of which are beautiful 
specimens about 15 inches in height, and with dense heads of 
bloom often 18 inches across ; the individual flowers being gene¬ 
rally large and finely marked and coloured, those with bright 
yellow and deep crimson and purple markings being especially 
fine and in large numbers in this collection. I understand that 
all the best are selected for the production of seed. 
Another house of the same size as the above is filled with 
healthy vigorous plants of the fine Primula Swanley Red, now 
ripening a fine crop of seed. The sterling qualities of this variety 
of Primula have been well demonstrated at the various exhi¬ 
bitions during the past season. The other varieties of Primula 
named in Mr. Cannell’s catalogue are to be met with in large 
numbers in other houses. Adjoining these is one filled with 
Zonal Pelargoniums, quite a blaze of colour, and most remarkable 
for the vigour of the plants, the size of the trusses, and the fine 
quality of the flowers. All the best varieties in cultivation are 
grown, twelve of the best there represented are Attalea, W. B. 
Miller, Mrs. Strutt, Henry Jacoby, Lizzie Brooks, Constance, 
Lizard, Zerlina, Miss Hamilton, Sophia Birkin, David Thomson, 
and La France. In another house a large batch of the beautiful 
semi-double-flowered Ivy-leaf Pelargonium Madame Crousse was 
flowering very profusely ; this is a fine variety for baskets and 
balconies, and for conservatory decoration. Cinerarias, of which 
there has been a fine display and equally good, with the Cal¬ 
ceolarias, are now nearly over and are ripening a fine crop of 
seed. 
In the almost innumerable ranges of pits are fine collections of 
bedding plants. Dahlias, especially the single varieties which 
Mr. Cannell has done so much to popularise, are represented by 
very large stocks. Single and double Pyrethrums, too, which are 
now becoming so deservedly popular, are here grown in thousands 
and in great variety. These are essentially plants for the town 
garden, and cannot be too highly recommended. In the outdoor 
nursery hardy herbaceous and spring flowers are grown in large 
numbers, and all the best varieties in each class of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, about five hundred varieties, are grown ; and an admirable 
system is adopted of keeping each variety in groups by themselves 
for keeping them true to name. Altogether the wonderful collec¬ 
tions of plants to be found in these nurseries are both a surprise 
and delight to the visitor, and testify more eloquently than words 
can do to Mr. Cannell’s energy and perseverance. 
The new white-flowering Heliotrope White Lady is represented 
by a large batch of strong plants covered with fine trusses of 
fragrant flowers. Some new double Petunias lately received from 
France are producing exceedingly fine flowers, large, highly 
coloured, and beautifully fringed. The best amongst them are 
Neptune, Ophelia, Virginal, L’Azure, Madame D. Marin, Mr. A. 
Solner, Comte De Montbron, and Concolore. In another large 
house is the finest collection of Begonias with ornamental foliage 
I have ever yet met with, most of them recent introductions from 
France. The most striking and distinct amongst them are Adrien 
Robine, Berthe Proutieri, Mons. Edmund Derox, Madame L. 
Tisserand, Clementine Gillot, Jules Chretien, Otto Forster, Talis¬ 
man, Gaeton O’Gorman, and Julia Serot. These are certain to 
become general favourites. Several houses are filled with dwarf 
yet vigorous plants of Pelargoniums, including all the best varie¬ 
ties in the different types of Show, French, Fancy, and Regal. 
That beautiful variety of the latter, Madame Thibaut, is flowering 
freely, and should be in every collection. A walk through these 
houses in a few weeks hence will be a treat to lovers of Pelar¬ 
goniums.—W. K. W. 
MESSRS. CARTERS, PERRY HILL. 
There is always something worth note in the Perry Hill Nur¬ 
series of Messrs. Carter Sc Co. Latterly the Tulips have been 
gorgeous, but they are over, and the Primulas, which were lately 
splendid, are now ripening their seed—a fine crop, except as 
regards the blue novelty, Holborn Gem, which is unfortunately 
a shy seeder, and the packets of seed will be necessarily small. 
Calceolarias are now in flower—a great stock in great variety, 
the flowers richly spotted, smooth, and in brilliant colours. The 
fine variety, Cloth of Gold, that was certificated last year, com¬ 
mands attention, and it fortunately comes true from seed. Great 
attention is evidently bestowed on these flowers, and no inferior 
varieties are allowed to produce seed. It is the same with Cine¬ 
rarias : only those that are good bear seeds, those below a par¬ 
ticular standard of merit being placed together in a house far 
distant and used as cut flowers. Petunias are grown in thou¬ 
sands for producing seed ; their numbers are quite extraordinary, 
and the plants most healthy. Balsams, too, are grown on a 
similarly large scale for the same purpose. In one of the houses 
Clianthus Dampieri is flowering, and cannot be surpassed in bril¬ 
liancy of colour. The double white Bouvardia, Alfred Neuner, is 
in great force and great demand. To this the double pink form, 
General Garfield, will form a fitting companion, and everybody 
must grow them both. 
The certificated new Coleuses, such as Ada and Edith Sentance, 
Miss Simpson, Mrs. Steddall, and some others, are being propa¬ 
gated largely, the demand for them being great, and no wonder, 
as the colours are so rich, and the plants so easily and quickly 
grown. In one of the stoves the new Croton Beali arrests atten¬ 
tion by its free growth and bright colours—a mixture of orange, 
crimson, and green, the leaves arching gracefully and broader 
than those of C. Queen Victoria. 
In frames are annuals of all kinds grown in pots. In the grounds 
alpine and herbaceous plants, beds of Lilies, trial Potatoes, Prim¬ 
roses, especially the fine double variety Cloth of Gold, Pansies in 
pots and planted out, a golden mass of the bright and fragrant 
Wallflower Graham’s Perfection, and a Mushroom ridge h la Barter 
in fine bearing, are a few of the many things that attracted atten¬ 
tion at this branch of the great Holborn firm a week ago. All 
appeared busy as bees, and the bees were busy too, as one of the 
finest swarms that ever issued was being hived by one of the fore¬ 
men, who appeared to know what he was about in tending the 
industrious insects. They are useful in two ways in an establish¬ 
ment of this kind—yielding honey, and fertilising the flowers, thus 
contributing to better crops of seed.—J. 
FLOWER SHOW IN PORTUGAL. 
The spring flower show of the Oporto Crystal Palace Company 
was held in the central nave on the 6th, 7th, and 8th inst. 
Owing to the late unfavourable weather the show of Rose 3 was 
somewhat inferior to that of previous years, but the other sections 
were good. The classes competed in were for Roses in pots or cut 
blooms, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, variegated-leaved Pelargoniums, 
Fancy and Show Pelargoniums, Tuberous Begonias, Agaves, Yuccas, 
Bonaparteas, Phormiums, Echeverias, Palms, Tree Ferns, Cycads, and 
variegated-leaved plants ; there were also sections for the arrange- 
