334 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 18, 1833 
appearance of some of Pearson’s Golden Queen and Gros Guillaume 
Grapes. Some of the last-named are exceptionally good both in size 
of bunch, berry, and finish. I should say as many as half a dozen 
bunches on one Yine average at least 8 or 9 lbs. each. On a single rod 
of the Golden Queen are some very useful bunches, well finished, and 
not a shanked berry among them. Some Black Alicante and Lady 
Downe’s are also very creditably finished. The grounds at Old Warden 
are at all times worth a visit, but in the spring they must be especially 
charming. If spared till that time another year I hope to be able to 
have a look round with Mr. Allis, the head gardener, who would, I think, 
at all times do his best to entertain—A Visitor. 
We are glad to hear that the National Apple Congress and 
Great Exhibition of Apples is to be prolonged for a week. 
In consequence of the vast amount of labour involved in the examination 
of the very numerous examples of Apples exhibited, and the great interest 
that is being taken in the Exhibition by the general public, it has been 
decided to continue the Exhibition open until Thursday the 25th inst. 
Exhibitors who desire to do so may remove their fruit on Friday the 
26th inst. 
- The magnificent Vanda Sanderiana shown by W. Lee, Esq, 
Downside, Leatherhead, at Kensington last week, was unanimously 
pronounced to be one of the finest Orchids that has been exhibited for 
several years. Any addition to the rapidly increasing ranks of hand¬ 
some Orchids is especially welcome when it combines attractions of an 
unusual character with a striking novelty of type, as is the case with 
this Vanda. It is not surprising, therefore, that it caused a sensation 
amongst Orchid growers, for this is the first plant that has produced 
flowers in England, and is, we understand, probably the largest in 
cultivation at present. The specimen is one of Messrs. Low's importa¬ 
tion, and now has five sturdy growths, the leaves of moderate length 
and slightly recurved. The flowers in form are very suggestive of 
Odontoglossum vexillarium, the two larger lower sepals corresponding 
to the lip in that Orchid, and all the petals and sepals are on the same 
plane. The colour is also peculiar, in the lower sepals particularly so, 
the parallel reddish purple veins being very distinctly marked on the 
yellowish ground, and the secondary veinlets interlace freely, giving 
quite a netted appearance. The upper petals and sepals being of pinkish 
hue also contrast strangely with the other portions of the flower. The 
plant seems to be of vigorous and free-flowering habit, as it was bearing 
two spikes, one having eight flowers. 
- The International Forestry Exhibition, to be held in 
Edinburgh next year, is now being fully discussed, and is likely to prove 
the most extensive show of this character ever held. The Queen has 
accorded her patronage, and a large number of noblemen and gentlemen 
are also supporting the project. A guarantee fund of nearly £5000 has 
been raised, and twice that amount is expected. The General Com¬ 
mittee is under the presidency of the Marquis of Lothian, who will be 
aided by several scientific and practical foresters. The principal classes 
will be for practical forestry, forest produce, scientific forestry, orna¬ 
mental forestry, illustrative forestry, forest literature, economic forestry, 
loan collections, essays, reports, and miscellaneous. 
- Around the mound near the Cumberland Gate of the Royal 
Gardens, Kew, efforts are now being made to establish a wild garden 
that will undoubtedly prove a great attraction in the early spring months. 
Great numbers of bulbs are being planted. Galanthus nivalis and 
Elwesi, with Eranthis hyemalis and Crocuses, form a large proportion 
of those employed, while the common wild Hyacinth has been placed 
out in thousands. When in flower these will produce a charming effect, 
and, being near a walk that is much frequented, they will be seen and 
enjoyed by a large proportion of the visitors. The idea is a good one, 
and might be still further developed, as there are many positions in the 
Botanic Garden that could be utilised in this way. Near the lake in 
front of the Palm house Colchicums have been lately flowering beauti¬ 
fully, several of the slopes being quite covered with their purple flowers. 
At the foot of the mound above mentioned it is intended to plant the 
grand specimen of Polygonum sachalienense, which now occupies a 
position near the No. 2 museum. Several other imposing plants will be 
also introduced. 
- Another consignment of single Dahlias from Messrs. John 
Jefferies & Co., Oxford, include some beautiful varieties, but are specially 
notable for the satisfactory condition in which they arrived and for the 
time the flowers have since lasted. The florets had all been secured by 
dextrine, a simple means of overcoming the chief defect of these varieties 
—their fugaciousness. Comparatively few single Dahlias are seen in the 
florists’ shops in Covent Garden Market, owing to this character, the 
pompons and semi-doubles being the chief favourites. 
- A Public Park presented to Coventry by Mr. David Spencer, 
an old citizen, was opened on Monday, the 11th instant. The occasion 
was also utilised for the performance of two other ceremonies—the 
unveiling of a statue erected to the memory of Sir Thomas White, a 
Lord Mayor of London in the sixteenth century and a great local 
benefactor; and the dedication to the residents of another park,given by 
the trustees of the Sir Thomas White charities, and planted and laid out 
by the corporation. 
- On Saturday afternoon last the Hackney Microscopical and 
Natural History Society held a Fungus Foray. About thirty of the 
members and their friends, two or three of the best known fungologists 
in London being among them, met at Chingford, and explored some of 
the richest ground in Epping Forest. About 100 species of Fungi were 
found, including one hitherto unknown in Britain, and several rarities. 
A large number of those collected, after being authoritatively identified, 
were carried home to be experimented upon gastronomically. 
- We have received the following circular relative to the Com¬ 
pletion of the “ Pinetum Britannicuh,” which we readily pub¬ 
lish “ In announcing the arrangements for the completion of this 
work the proprietor desires, in the first place, to express his thanks to the 
subscribers for the great forbearance and kindness which they have 
extended to him during its interruption for some time past. The costly 
nature of the publication and its unremunerative results may perhaps be 
accepted as some apology for its interruption ; but in his desire to keep 
faith with the subscribers the proprietor feels that it is incumbent on 
him to proceed with the work, trusting to reap in the future, by the sale 
of copies of the complete volume, some reward for his labour and expen¬ 
diture. As originally announced, the present series of the “ Pinetum 
Britannicum ” will be completed in fifty parts, thirty-seven of which have 
already been published. The remainder will be issued as follows :— 
Parts 88 to 42 on November 1st; parts 43 to 48 on December 1st; parts 
49 and 50, with title and index, January 1st. Subscribers who require 
back parts to complete their sets are requested to make application 
without delay, as very few remain on hand. There will be a few com¬ 
plete sets for sale after the publication cf the last part, orders for which 
should be at once sent in, price 25 guineas. Communications relative 
o'the work to be addressed to Mr. Edward Ravenscroft, 14, Loudoun 
Road, St. John’s Wood, N.W. ; or to Messrs. W. Blackwood & Sons, 
Publishers, George Street, Edinburgh, and Paternoster Row, London.” 
- An address on Variations in Nature, read by Mr. Meehan 
before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Montreal) 
has been published, and contains many interesting facts in reference to 
this subject. After briefly discussing Darwin’s views he gives the following 
example of variation :—“ Near my home in south-eastern Pennsylvania 
we find the common Virginia Creeper, Ampelopsis quinquefolia, with five 
leaflets. In Texas Mr. Buckley finds it with seven, in northern Pennsyl¬ 
vania it is found sometimes with three. Along the Canadian line it is 
mostly with five, but sometimes with seven. In south-eastern Pennsyl¬ 
vania the leaflets are usually broadly ovate, slightly serrate, dark green, 
and the flowers and fruit are borne on rather stout pedicels. In Colorado 
the leaflets are rather wedge-shaped, deeply laciniate, of a somewhat 
glaucous green, and the pedicels slender. In south-eastern Pennsylvania 
the secondary veins are delicate, curved, and diverging from each other 
as they extend towards the edge of the leaflet; along the shores of Lakes 
Erie and Ontario, especially on Goat Island, near Niagara, the veins are 
very prominent, straight, almost parallel, and give the appearance at first 
sight of Horse-Chestnut leaves. We do not regard these outlying forms as 
species, we do not even consider them as varieties. But why 1 Merely 
because we find in what I will call the central form a tendency to all 
the characters referred to. If this central one were to disappear I think 
