96 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 29, 1880. 
admired by the visitors. Mr. W. Rumsey, Waltham Cross, con¬ 
tributed seven boxes of neat and fresh-cut Roses, comprising a num¬ 
ber of excellent varieties in very good condition. Some of the best 
were Leopold Premier (very neat and fresh), Madame Victor Verdier, 
John Stuart Mi'l Dr. Andry, La Rosiere, and an excellent dozen of 
Alfred Colomb—bright, of good form and substance. A bronze 
Banksian medal was awarded. Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, 
exhibited eighty blooms of border Carnations and Picotees grown at 
King’s Road, Chelsea, comprising a large number of excellent varieties. 
Among the Carnations the most noticeable were Lord Chelmsford, r.f. ; 
Sulphur King, yellow self ; Crimson Pet, a rich crimson self ; Purple 
Prince, fine purple self; and Mrs. Teigner, fine pink self. Of the 
Picotees Mrs. Rayner, rose, medium edge ; and Lady Armstrong, a 
heavy red-edged variety with a yellow ground. 
First-class certificates were awarded for the following plants :— 
Lygodium palmatum (G. F. Wilson, Esq., F.R.S.).—A beautiful 
climbing Fern, which was stated to have been grown upon a rockery 
and unprotected for several winters. This is one of the most elegant 
and free-growing Lygodiums in cultivation, and proves of consider¬ 
able value for training up pillars in greenhouses or conservatories. 
Rose Duchess of Connaught (C. Noble, Bagshot).—A Hybrid Perpetual 
of rich crimson hue, neat form, and possessing a particularly powerful 
and agreeable fragrance. 
Rose Mrs. Jowitt (Cranston & Co.).—A handsome Hybrid Perpetual, 
of symmetrical form, great substance, and a glowing rosy crimson 
colour. Very beautiful. 
Macrostylis metallica (Veitch).—An attractive dwarf terrestrial 
Orchid, with neat foliage of a shining metallic deep brown colour, 
with a crenated margin. Very pretty for culture in pans on stages in 
stoves or Orchid houses. 
Oleobachiapalustris (Williams).—A graceful table plant with digi¬ 
tate leaves, the divisions being narrow and rich shining green in colour. 
The habit of the plant is compact and dwarf. 
Iris Kcempferi, vars. Crimson King and Magnificence (Veitch).—Both 
these varieties were of exceptional size and rich in colour, the former 
being particularly beautiful, the shade of crimson being intensely 
bright and clear. 
Scientific Committee.— Mr. W. G. Smith exhibited a specimen 
of Pyrethrum more or less fascicled and bearing a proliferous head— 
the so-called “ hen and chickens,” not uncommon in the Daisy. Mr. 
Roberts, Penzance, forwarded specimens of the following rare British 
plants :—Chara fragifera (living), Allium Schcenoprasum var. sibiri- 
cum, Orobanche rubra, and Erica vagans (dried) from the Lizard, 
Cornwall. The Rev. G. Henslow exhibited a foliaceous and proli¬ 
ferous Trifolium repens, and called attention to the fact that while 
the sepal-teeth grow out into petiolate leaves, stipule-like processes 
appeared at the top of the calyx-tube between the petioles, seem¬ 
ingly proving that the tube is really receptacular and not of calycine 
origin. Mr. Fletcher of Ottershaw forwarded male cones of Arau¬ 
caria imbricata. 
Mr. Cheshire being subsequently about to lecture on bees, the 
Rev. G. Henslow took the opportunity to speak principally on the 
fertilisation of flowers by them and other insects. 
A basket of Tropaiolums furnished illustration of strong “ proter- 
andry ”— i.e., the stamens, maturing first, rise up in front of the orifice 
to the spur and then retire on shedding the pollen. Subsequently 
the stigma matures and takes up the same position ; hence such a 
flower is fertilised by pollen brought from a younger one. Fuchsias 
illustrated the false generalisation that, whether a flower be pendulous 
or erect, the stigma will be below the anthers, so that the pollen may 
fall upon it. Though such an arrangement is in the Fuchsia the 
flower is proterandrous, and therefore is not adapted to self-fertilisa¬ 
tion. Moreover, when flowers are habitually self-fertilised the 
anthers are placed in close contact with the stigmas, as is the case 
with the “ cleistogamous ” buds of Violets. A group of Pentstemons 
furnished the case of a flower fertilised by bees, but which by means 
of the fifth (abortive) stamen standing over the nectary, afforded 
an obstruction to all insects whose proboscis could not reach to 
the bottom of the tube, and so would not be of any assistance in 
pollinating the flower. The structure of Abutilon, Malva sylvestris, 
and Salvia was described as being especially adapted to insects in 
securing cross-fertilisation, while cleistogamous Violets and Malva 
rotundifolia, &c., were self-fertilising. 
The lecturer observed that all the varied beauty of flowers in 
nature was solely due to their being adapted to insects, whilst self- 
fertilising flowers were inconspicuous and unattractive. A plant of 
Lygodium palmatum, exhibited by Mr. Wilson, illustrated the pecu¬ 
liarities of climbing stems or “ twiners,” and the lecturer suggested 
that as the property of bowing in a circular manner was not confined 
to climbers, for the apex of a Pine does the same, that it is probably a 
general phenomenon of plant growth, but specially utilised by plants 
with weak stems as a means of support. 
The following plants were certificated at Chiswick on July 20th. 
BEGONIAS. 
Dr. Denny. —Strong vigorous habit, very free-flowering. Flowers of 
medium size, well thrown above the foliage, very pale scarlet, ap¬ 
proaching almost to a salmon. 
Dr. Hogg. —Very strong growth. Stems pale green. Flowers well 
displayed, of a very bright scarlet, shaded towards centre with a pale 
hue. Very free-flowering and good. 
Lucy Violet. —Vigorous habit, very free-flowering. Flowers of 
medium size, clear rosy pink, shaded towards the centre of the flower. 
Anna Ria. —Strong vigorous growth, very free-flowering. Flowers 
of medium size, pale scarlet. Good. 
Lizzie Smith. —Free vigorous growth. Flowers dark scarlet, with 
distinct magenta shade ; round, medium size. 
Henry Webb. —Strong vigorous hahit, free-flowering. Flowers large, 
of good form, clear scarlet. Very good. 
Annie Wilkie. —Strong habit. Stems pale green. Flowers large, pale 
carlet, well thrown up. Very good. 
Nellie Barron. —Very close compact habit, very free-flowering. 
Flowers erect, of a beautiful dark scarlet. Very fine. 
Rosea Grandiflora. —Tall erect habit. Flowers very large, of good 
substance, beautiful rosy pink. 
The certificates which had been previously awarded to the varieties 
Nellie May and A. Hemsley were on this occasion confirmed. 
All the above varieties were raised in the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s Gardens. 
PELARGONIUMS. 
Gloire d'Orleans (Lemoine).—Of dwarf close habit, very free-flower¬ 
ing, medium, erect-growing truss, beautiful magenta scarlet. The 
brightest coloured in the Ivy-leaved section. 
Lucie Lemoine (Lemoine).—Show-Decorative. Very dwarf close 
growth, very free-flowering. Flowers pure white, slightly pencilled 
at bottom of petals. The best white. 
Mrs. Potten (Lemoine).—Show-Decorative. Free habit, free-flower¬ 
ing, white, slightly shaded; distinct purple blotch on upper petal. 
Very distinct and showy. 
Madame Thibaut (Lemoine). — Show-Decorative. Free vigorous 
growth, very free-flowering. Large compact truss, white suffused 
with magenta ; distinct, broad, and irregular rosy margin round petals. 
Very fine and showy. 
Mont Blanc (Lemoine).—Ivy-leaved, white shaded pink, very free- 
flowering, large truss. Very fine. 
Similar awards were also made to the two following plants on the 
same occasion :— 
Gomphrena globosa nana compacta (Benary).—A very fine dwarf 
free-flowering form of the Globe Amaranth, from 9 to 12 inches high. 
Oleander Professeur Duchartre (Huber).—Flowers purplish wine 
colour, beautiful shade, free-flowering and very showy. The darkest- 
coloured of any. 
STRAWBERRY PAULINE. 
The enclosed letter from Mr. Ruffett of Panshanger, a fruit 
grower and exhibitor well known to your readers as no mean 
authority, confirms your observations and our experience as to 
the value of this now well tested Strawberry. Mr. Turner’s remarks 
on page 66 savour too much of ex cathedra utterances—that, 
because not good at or coming from Slough, a Strawberry must 
necessarily be worthless. We remember showing Pauline in 1877 
at the Crystal Palace Rose Show, and Mr. Turner admiring it; and 
we sent him plants in August, 1877, for trial. His experience 
consequently, is not so long as ours.— Paul & Son, Cheshunt. 
“ Pauline Strawberry is by far the most useful early Strawberry 
I have ever grown, quite ten days earlier than Keens’ Seedling 
with exactly the same treatment. The plant is of good constitu¬ 
tion and a great cropper, only second-rate in quality, but its 
extreme earliness makes it invaluable.—W. Ruffett.” 
DRAINAGE OF LAND. 
The wet and sunless summer and autumn of last year will have 
shown those having ill-drained gardens how important it is to 
have the means of carrying off superfluous water. Whether it is 
for vegetables, trees on walls, plants under glass or cultivated in 
pots, a thorough drainage is the first thing to be secured, and of 
the greatest importance. One might prepare a most suitable soil 
for a plant in a pot, but if the drainage is carelessly placed in, 
and the soil is soon washed into it, the plant will quickly become 
unhealthy. If it be so in the case of plants m pots, why should 
it not be likewise applicable in the open ground ? In proof of 
the above remark, I may mention having read of the general 
failure of Peaches outside this year; but in some cases it was 
remarked one cultivator had a moderate crop of fruit, while his 
neighbour had not one. How is this ? I fancy someone saying, 
“ One was well sheltered and the other very much exposed.” This 
would be a reasonable reply ; but the answer I would give to such 
a question would be, “ One border was well drained and the other 
was not.” I remember reading some time ago a paper written by 
one of our leading agriculturists, and in it he said he did not 
consider drainage necessary providing the land was deeply 
cultivated, but I would advise good drainage and deep cultivation 
combined. This, with proper after treatment, will be the means 
of making an unsatisfactory garden productive, and one that is 
late comparatively early. Bringing forward this subject early 
in the season will enable those—seeing the great importance of 
good drainage to their soil—to lay down their plan to be carried 
