!78 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t August 2 4, ms 
following were selected as the best in their respective classes, and 
received three marks of merit:— 
Margarittm (Yallerand).—Pure white, fine, large-flowered. Good 
habit. 
Mauve Queen (Yallerand).—Mauve, with orange-spotted eye ; tube 
shaded orange. 
Longiflora macrantha (Vallerand).—Pale blue; tube shaded orange ; 
large showy flowers. 
Longiflora (Vallerand).—Blue; more compact in habit than the 
above ; leaves reddish beneath. 
Mauve Perfection (Vallerand and Van Houtte).—Mauve purple, 
veined with crimson ; fine large flowers; very free. This was re¬ 
ceived from Van Houtte under the names of Cassiopee and Mauve 
Perfection. 
Ambrojse Verschaffelt (Vallerand).—White, shaded mauve, deeply 
veinr-d with purple ; lemon eye. Prom Van Houtte under the name 
of Diamond. 
Sir Ireherne Thomas (Vallerand and Van Houtte).—Rosy purple, 
with orange-spotted eye ; leaves reddish beneath. 
Floribunda (Vallerand).—Deep violet purple. Very dwarf. 
Carl Wolfarth (Van Houtte and Vallerand).—Violet purple; pale 
yellow eye, spotted with red ; very free-flowering. Frau Schiller 
(Van Houtte), Pink Perfection (Van Houtte), and Baumanni (Van 
Houtte), are the same as the above. 
Diadem (Vallerand).—Bright rosy scarlet; yellow eye ; lobes of 
flower serrated. 
Unique (Vallerand).—Bright magenta ; orange-spotted eye. 
lirefly (Vallerand).—Bright scarlet, with orange eye. 
The following received two marks of merit 
Celestial (Vallerand).—White, slightly veined with mauve ; mauve 
eye. 
Cherub (Vallerand).—White, with mauve eye ; dwarf habit; leaves 
brownish beneath. 
Dentonia (Vallerand).—Pale mauve with purple veins. 
Longiflora picta.—Rosy lilac ; large flowers. 
Tubiflora (Vallerand).—Copper red, with orange centre; long 
orange tube. 
Georgiana (Van Houtte).—Bright scarlet; orange throat; long 
open tube, and small lobes. 
Dr. Hopft (Vallerand).—White, with mauve centre. Dwarf and 
very free-flowering. r-.r-j*' 
Ami Van Houtte (Vallerand and Van Houtte).—Deep violet blue ; 
throat yellow, with dark spots ; leaves pale green. 
Liebmanni (Van Houtte).—Mauve purple, shaded with white in 
centre. 
Grandiflora (Vallerand).—Rosy lilac, white centre. 
Masterpiece (Vallerand and Van Houtte).—Violet purple ; white 
throat; large brownish leaves. 
Admiration (Vallerand and Van Houtte).—Rosy purple ; whitish 
throat; rough brown leaves. 
Hofgartner Neuner (Van Houtte).—Magenta rose; orange-spotted 
Dazzle (Vallerand).—Bright orange scarlet; small yellow eye. 
Hofgartner Wendscanch (Vallerand and Van Houtte).—Violet 
purple ; small flowers ; compact habit. 
TYD^EAS. 
Cybele (Vallerand).—Soft rosy carmine; lobes spotted and striped 
with crimson. 
Magicien (Vallerand). — Deep orange scarlet; lobes spotted and 
striped with deep crimson. 
phiron (Vallerand).—Bright scarlet; lobes spotted and striped with 
crimson. 
Hailequin (Vallerand). — Tube purple; lobes greenish yellow, 
heavily spotted with purple. 
Venosa. (Van Houtte).—Tube red ; lobes soft carmine, spotted and 
striped with red. 
The two following Gesneriaceous plants were also regarded as 
meritorious : 
Rosonowia ornata (Van Houtte).—Creamy white covered with rose 
purple 11an< ^ on ^ wo superior lobes ; interior striped with 
Gesneria macrantha (Van’Houtte). 
Market Gardening! and Fruit-growing. —Market gardening 
for farmers has been strongly advocated as a partial remedy for the 
present distress; and within certain limits, and upon the better class 
of soils, this may prove a great auxiliary. But the danger of relying 
too much upon the production of vegetables has been shown by the 
aucumn-ef 1880, when.it was impossible to dispose of the produce at 
anything like remunerative prices. The perishable nature of the 
goods and heavy carriage are very much against the success of the 
enterprise, when attempted to be carried on in places remote from 
the centres of consumption. But in the direction of fruit-growing 
there is boundless scope for the farmer. Home-grown produce 
coming fresh into the market, has always carried away the prize' 
when opposed to the dried-up American Apples, Jersey Grapes, and 
the indifferent Plums of Germany and the Netherlands. Black 
Currants, Raspberries, Gooseberries, and some other fruits make 
immediate returns, and it does not require a very long lease to reap 
the benefit of Plums of all kinds planted in hedgerows and in selected 
spots or odd corners of the farm .—(The Agricultural Depression , and 
How to Meet It.) 
REVIEW OF BOOK. 
A Dictionary of Economic Plants. By John Smith, A.L.S. 
Demy-Svo. LondoD, Macmillan & Co. 
The veteran ex-Curator of the Royal Gardens, Kew, has added 
another work to those which have already gained him consider¬ 
able fame as an author, and it appears probable that his latest 
production will become even more popular. The study of econo¬ 
mic botany has been greatly extended in recent years, as it is a 
division of the science which interests a far larger proportion of 
persons than structural or systematic botany. In fact, a know¬ 
ledge of the uses and properties of plants, or the sources of the 
numerous vegetable products employed in this country, has 
become an important part of general education ; and to persons 
engaged in commercial pursuits, particularly in connection with 
the importation of colonial and other produce, it is almost indis¬ 
pensable. The works, however, that are available and suitable for 
consultation generally are by no means numerous, and it was on 
this account that the “ Domestic Botany ” published by Mr. John 
Smith in 1871 was well received, as it gave in a popular, concise, 
but clear form a description of the principal plants notable for 
their uses. This work principally comprised a portion of the 
materials collected by the late Mr. Alexander Smith, as the basis 
for an exhaustive treatise on economic and commercial botany, 
the completion of which was prevented by his early decease. 
Such of these as were deemed suitable for a popular work were 
selected by his father, and, together with a brief review of the 
structural characters of the vegetable world, were published, as 
before stated, under the title of “Domestic Botany.” The lapse 
of ten years rendered a revision necessary ; but instead of issuing 
another edition of the original work it was decided to give it a 
different form, arranging the various products for convenience of 
reference under their popular names in alphabetical order, instead 
of in the natural families, as had been previously adopted. As a 
result we have the work now being noticed, which in 449 pages 
contains descriptions and references to about 1600 subjects in¬ 
cluded in 1163 genera, thus comprising by far the greater portion 
of the most important plants that possess really useful properties. 
Though no elaborate research has been attempted, a large amount 
of information is conveyed in clear but concise language, and a 
most commendable accuracy, both as regards facts and nomen¬ 
clature, distinguishes the whole work. As examples of the method 
adopted we submit the following quotations :— 
Cranberry (Vaccinium Oxycoccus and V. macrocarpum), slender 
trailing-stemmed, small-leaved shrubs, belonging to the Cranberry 
family (Vacciniacere). They are natives of this country and North 
America, growing in boggy "heaths. The fruits are berries about the 
size of Currants, which are collected for preserving and for making 
tarts. V. macrocarpum has the largest fruit, and is imported from North 
America, where it is extensively cultivated, especially near Berlin, 
Wisconsin, where about one-fourth of 750 acres of marsh is under 
cultivation. It is flooded during winter ; in the spring the water is 
drained off, and in October picking commences. Sometimes there 
are as many as three thousand pickers employed. The ground is so 
marshy that a wooden railway is laid from the centre of the opera¬ 
tions to convey the berries in trucks to the warehouse, where they 
are laid on the upper floor, and on the lower are large fanning mills, 
to which the berries are let down in hoppers, and are thus cleaned 
from leaves and other impurities. 35,000 bushels are sometimes col¬ 
lected from this spot in one season, the greatest quantity of which is 
sent to the Chicago market. This quantity is far surpassed in New 
Jersey, where in favourable seasons 125,000 bushels are collected, 
valued at £60,000. 
Indian Fig. —Opuntia Tuna and O. Ficus-indica and other species 
of the Cactus family (Cactaceae) have received the names of Indian 
Figs or Prickly Pears. They are common throughout the tropical 
and subtropical countries of America, and since the discovery of that 
continent they have become naturalised in southern Europe, many 
countries of Africa and Asia, even growing on the old walls of Jeru¬ 
salem. Their stems when young are fleshy and nearly flat, but in 
age they become cylindrical, hard, and branched ; the branches con¬ 
sist of oblong fleshy joints superposed upon one another, smooth, or 
more generally furnished with strong spines. They seldom exceed a 
height of 10 to 12 feet, but Humboldt says he saw at Cumana “ erect 
Cactse (Cereus) and Opuntias 30 to 40 feet high, 4 feet 9 inches in 
circumference, and covered with lichens, and the wood becomes so 
hard from age that it resists for centuries both heat and moisture.” 
They make impenetrable hedges. Their fruits are pear or egg-shaped, 
flat at the top, 2 to 3 inches in length, covered with tufts of small 
spines, and are of a green, yellow, or red colour ; they are wholesome, 
and are esteemed for their cooling juice. They abound on the lava 
slopes of Mount Etna, and are the pioneers of cultivation, their roots 
penetrating and breaking up the lava. They naturally decay in time, 
