JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 469 
prising some hundreds of flowers of various hues. Along the sides 
are gorgeous Cattleyas, C. regina being magnificent, the queen of 
the house, with which white forms of C. Mossire contrast effectively. 
Large arching spikes of Odontoglossum Alexandra in great variety 
from almost pure white to deep pink ; fine racemes of 0. citrosmum, 
red, pink, and white ; rich Masdevallias ; golden masses of Den- 
drobium densiflorum and suavissimum ; Laelias in numbers; 
Yandas, Tricopilias, Angracum Lowi; grand blooms of Sobralia 
macrantha nearly 9 inches in diameter; Oncidium macranthum and 
concolor—in fact, nearly all Orchids that flower at this season are 
represented, and a floral spectacle is produced that it is impos¬ 
sible adequately to describe. Nothing like it is ever seen at 
flower shows, and all who desire a treat in Orchids should see this 
remarkable display. 
- It is announced that Miss Marianne North’s Gallery 
in the Royal Gardens, Kew, will be opened to the public to¬ 
day (8th of June), and henceforward will be opened on each day 
at the same time as the gardens, the time of closing being regu¬ 
lated according to the season, like the houses and museums. It 
may be well to remind our readers that Miss North’s superb col¬ 
lection of oil paintings, representing tropical plants and scenery 
in all parts of the world, was presented to Kew some time since 
with a handsome donation for the erection of a building to contain 
them. A site was accordingly selected near the Richmond Road, 
facing the temperate house in the pleasure grounds ; a red brick 
oblong building of neat but unpretentious appearance has been 
erected there, and is now occupied with the collection. The apart¬ 
ment devoted to the pictures is nearly 60 feet long and about 
30 feet wide, the walls for 12 feet or more in height being covered 
with the 620 paintings closely placed, all in neat black and gold 
frames, and plainly numbered. A catalogue, fully describing the 
scenery and plants represented, is being prepared, the first edition 
of two thousand entirely at Miss North’s expense, the subsequent 
editions to be produced by the Kew authorities as required. This 
work we understand is being compiled by Mr. Hemsley, and will 
undoubtedly be a very instructive work. As works of art executed 
by a lady during eight years’ travels in some of the most beautiful 
tropical countries, these pictures will possess considerable interest 
to the general public, but to the botanist or horticulturist they are 
especially valuable, their fidelity being astonishing, and the plants 
selected for pourtrayal are all either distinguished by their 
extreme beauty or rarity. Around the porches of the doors are 
wreaths of flowers and fruits most accurately painted, while in a 
small gallery at the upper part of the building are some larger 
pictures representing such remarkable plants as Anthurium 
Anareanum and Aristolochia Goldieana of their natural size. 
- According to the report of Mr. Payton, British Consul in 
Morocco, few countries can excel this part of North Africa for the 
production of garden vegetables. The markets, we learn, are 
plentifully supplied with good and cheap produce all the year 
round, a circumstance which is attributed to sedulous cultivation 
and the system of irrigation pursued in the market gardens around 
the large towns and cities. The cultivation of Potatoes is stated 
to be increasing every year. Last year their price was one dollar 
per cantar, or a fraction over a farthing a pound. Green Peas, 
which were very plentiful from the beginning of February to the 
beginning of May, fetched 11s. to 14s. the camel load, or about 
is. a hundredweight. The pods, we learn, were well filled with 
peas of 6mall size and of fair flavour. Mr. Payton considers that 
fair English choice varieties of Peas would, with careful culture 
in the fertile soil of Morocco, be attended with “grand results.” 
Fruits in general were also plentiful. Walnuts were sold at two¬ 
pence per hundred. 
- It is too frequently a source of regret that labelling 
PLANTS AT HORTICULTURAL exhibitions is carelessly and in¬ 
accurately performed, greatly to the disadvantage of the general 
public and unsatisfactory to horticulturists. Illegible writing 
and very irregular modes of spelling plant names often disfigure 
really well-grown collections, for competitors do not attach suffi¬ 
cient importance to nomenclature, though they may be sure that 
where two exhibits in the same class are very nearly equal in all 
other points the one that is most carefully labelled would be 
selected for the leading honours. At the recent Manchester Show 
we noted an instance of an excellent system of labelling that 
well deserves attention. This was in the handsome collection of 
hardy plants for which Mr. J. Broome of Didsbury was worthily 
awarded the chief prize; and though specially suitable for such 
plants, similar labels could be advantageously employed for many 
others. Neat stiff white cards If inch wide by 2^ inches long were 
finely bordered with red ink near the margin, the popular or 
English name being written in red at the upper part of the card, 
next the botanical name with the authority and the most common 
synonym in black ink, and the geographical distribution below in 
red. For example, the well-known Anthericum was given in this 
way : “ St. Bruno’s Lily. Anthericum Liliastrum (Linn.), Czackia 
(Andr.). South Europe.” Each card was inserted by the base 
in a ring of wire bent like a key ring, one end being free and 
placed in the apex of a neat green stake, which elevated the card 
sufficiently above the plant to be plainly visible without being 
too conspicuous. Considerable information can be thus conveyed, 
and much credit is due to Mr. T. Entwistle for the care he had 
bestowed upon his labels, which might furnish a good model for 
other exhibitors. 
- Writing in reference to the Orchids at Kew, a corre¬ 
spondent observes that in a recent visit he especially observed the 
following :—“Both in the warm and cool compartments there are 
several pretty Dendrobiums worth noting, and one of the finest 
forms of D. crassinode I have seen is in flower. The flowers are 
large, the sepals and petals being marked more than a third of 
their length with deep purple ; the older pseudobulbs are an inch 
thick, short, and apparently quite distinct. This is, no doubt, a 
very scarce form. D. capillipes has short stout pseudobulbs, and 
produces its racemes of flowers from their extremity. The flowers 
are bright yellow, much in the way of D. aggregatum in size and 
colour. D. thyrsiflorum is a good old species, and deserves a 
place in all collections ; the beautiful creamy white reflexed 
petals show off the bright golden labellum to great advan¬ 
tage. D. crepidatum, D. Devonianum, D. Pierardii, D. pulchel- 
lum, D. dixanthum, and D. crystallinum all do their share in 
making the house bright and gay. The Vandas are at their best 
now, and very beautiful they are. I counted about thirty spikes 
of flowers in different stages of development. Y. suavis and 
V. tricolor are the most extensively grown ; amongst them will 
be found many really valuable varieties. Aerides odoratum and 
A. Fieldingii are showing their spikes freely, and when in flower 
will fill the house with their delicious perfume. Cattleya Skinneri 
is always appreciated when in flower, the light purple flowers are 
so lovely. C. Regnelli is a charming species ; the lip is deeply 
striped with purple, the wavy petals and sepals being blotched 
with dark brown. Two specimens of Leptotes bicolor are finely 
flowered. This is a curious little Orchid, the round fleshy leaves 
with incurved flowers, which are purple and white, render it a 
desirable species to any collection. It appears to grow well at 
Kew in shallow pans suspended from the roof in the cooler house. 
There is a good show of Thunia alba. The stems are short and 
stout, which are preferable, as in the opinion of many they flower 
much better than longer stems ; the pendulous racemes of white 
flowers are always useful. Several Odontoglossums are in flower, 
and amongst the number must be noted one of the best forms of 
0. Pescatorei, which, if it had not the characteristic blotch of 
purple and yellow at the base of the labellum, would resemble a 
