JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 10, 1883 ] 
was the chief difficulty in their culture, and most of them are bene¬ 
fited by being' placed in a frame to make their growth, though such 
well-known but beautiful species as Opuntia Rafinesquiana succeeded 
well in borders on rockeries without any special attention. Walking 
sticks made from Opuntia arborescens were exhibited and attracted 
much attention, the woody fibre being very hard and curiously 
interlaced. 
Dr. Foster read a communication from Herr Max Leichltin of 
Baden-Baden upon some rare hardy plants growing in his garden 
there. One of these mentioned as possessing especial interest was a 
red Aubrietia, which had been obtained from seed of the common 
blue forms. 
Dr. Robert Hogg exhibited a number of Apples received from 
Australia, and drew attention to the importance of obtaining a 
supply from that country, if possible, as that would prolong the 
Apple season until the home produce was in the market, thus 
furnishing a continuous supply throughout the year. A letter was 
read from Mr. Neilson, Curator of the Horticultural Gardens, Mel¬ 
bourne, which is printed on page 375. The Apples were very fine, 
solid, and of good flavour, and were much admired by those present. 
In adjourning the meeting until the 12th of June, on which occasion 
Mr. Goldring’s paper on Cypripediums will be read, Lord Aberdare 
observed that he "was fully satisfied with the success of the meeting, 
with which the majority of his hearers fully concurred. A vote of 
thanks to the Chairman was proposed by Sir Joseph Hooker, who 
commented upon the importance of attention to scientific matters 
when steadily and perseveringly pursued, and he could only regard 
the meeting as a step in the right direction. The motion was seconded 
by Dr. Hogg, and carried unanimously. 
ALPINE SPOILS. 
It is the fashion for the many who can afford it to leave the 
town for a season in order to enjoy a change at the seaside, in the 
country, or perchance climb the Scottish Bens or the Swiss Alps. 
That much physical benefit is the outcome we do not hesitate to 
believe, but that utter weariness is all that large numbers ever 
experience we know. Often have I seen Londoners and Glas- 
gowegians making the tour of the Western Highlands (in one or 
other of the magnificent steamers that plough their way among 
the lonely islands of the Hebrides and past the gorgeous scenery 
of the mainland), lying on their backs in the bright sunlight, en¬ 
joying the sweet pure air and—a yellow-backed novel. And as 
often have we seen them on land trifling instead of enjoying to 
the full the glorious scenery—instead of eagerly climbing the 
steep crags and gathering limb power, lung power, and head 
power ; gathering geological or botanical specimens to take back 
for winter study, the enrichment and adornment of cabinets and 
herbariums at home, and as reminders of the enchanting tours, 
exhilarating climbing, and the intoxicating pleasure that came 
too quickly to a close if they did bring ruddy cheeks and a huge 
stock of health along with them. 
These thoughts were suggested by the sight of a little “ Flora 
Alpina,” kindly sent me by a lady to relieve the tedium of a long 
sickness. Books I love, but even my favourite authors had lost 
some of their charm. Not so the flowers ; these were as fresh and 
pleasurable as ever, and the little glass by the bedside never grew 
charmless. But when the dried Alpines were given us with beau¬ 
tiful tiny specimens, the names of which 1 had long been ac¬ 
quainted with but had never seen, how we did wish that those 
who spend autumn in the country would coly study botany just 
in a little way, helped by cheery popular books ! It is eminently 
a lady’s pursuit, but gentlemen, too, may take to it with advan¬ 
tage. Indeed, among the Alps, or up among the Welsh or Scottish 
hills, the ladies must often suffer regret at being obliged to return 
without a coveted beauty, simply because no bold cavalier was by 
to climb the steep and secure the prize. 
And then the chatting and story-telling at night when the 
specimens are being placed between the sheets of bibulous paper 
that is used for desiccating them into mummies, the searching for 
the correct names, and finally the mounting, naming, and arranging 
of them—perhaps on some stormy day—affords a delight known 
only to those who have experienced it. Then when the long 
nights of winter come round, and botanically-inclined friends are 
our visitors, no treasure we possess will afford half the pleasure as 
will the turning over leaf after leaf of our summer spoils to while 
away the hours. Depend upon it, employment alone secures 
happiness, and of all the employments calculated to make happy, 
to elevate, to expand the mind, and to benefit the physical man, 
botany stands first. 
But let us peep into this little “ Flora Alpina” and see what its 
contents are, and find the joy of being introduced to plants of 
which fame has spoken so loudly. The first that comes to hand is 
the half-golden half sulphur-coloured Anemone sulphurea, so 
beautifully preserved as to prove that the lady whose gentle hand 
plucked it from its mountain side was no novice at drying 
387 
specimens. The next is Anemone vernalis, not particularly 
beautiful in any way, but easily recognised by its woolly hirsute 
flowers and leaves not at all unlike our own Wood Anemone, 
which is not the least lovely among its compeers. 
After the Anemones are two or three Buttercups with beautiful 
golden cups and exquisitely cut leaves, not prettier than their 
near relations, the Buttercups of our own meadows. The first is 
Ranunculus glacialis, evidently a water plant, and possibly re¬ 
placing in glacier brooks and pools the Marsh Marigold 
“ Which shines like fire 
In the swamps and hollows grey 
here at home ; only it is a tiny beauty compared with its bigger 
brother. Not greatly different, but smaller, is the R. alpestris ; 
and here is a specimen, still retaining much of its natural hues, of 
the heavenly blue Aquilegia alpina—beautiful even in death. 
To name all the beauties in the box might prove wearisome, 
but we cannot pass by those deep blue gems of the alpine flora, 
Gentiana bavarica, G. verna, and the common G. acaulis. And 
we must at least name, if we cannot stop to describe, those neat 
little plants of the great Pea order, Trifolium alpinum, the near 
relation of our Bog Bean, Oxytropis campestris, with its little 
yellow Lotus-like head ; 0. montana, similar but blue ; Hedysarum 
obscurum, Tare-like but small, and Phaca astragalina, much in 
the same way, with flowers yellow tipped with blue, and very 
small indeed ; also Viola calcarata, so like our own wild Hearts¬ 
ease, but, like the rest of the contents of the box, smaller than 
its British representative. 
Eloydea serotina is worth naming for its Grass-like elegance 
and its neat yellow blooms, and Thlaspi rotundifolia for its lilac- 
purple heads of bloom, not greatly differing from the Cuckoo 
Flowers that so greatly delight our own country lads and lasses 
in May. Sweetest, and perhaps most interesting of all, is a wee 
plant with the golden flowers of Primula Auricula, for here we 
have the parent of those loveliest of garden flowers that have for 
generations—nay, centuries—gladdened the hearts of florists all 
over England and Scotland, and are now more lovely than ever. 
Like many of the plants from the Alps, Achillea nana boasts 
beautifully cut silvery leaves, and is altogether an elegant little 
thing. Pedicularis versicolor has just the flowers of a Dead 
Nettle, and leaves which in their dried state might well be mis¬ 
taken for fronds of some small Asplenium. The little—everything 
is on a small scale—Rhododendron ferrugineum has the unmis- 
takeable Rhododendron head of flowers. Judging from its leaves 
we should have pronounced it an Azalea. Evidently it is near 
the borderland that divides Rhododendron from Azalea, if there 
is indeed a borderland at all. 
Geum montanum is just our own Geum of the roadside without 
in this case, which is strange, the silvery foliage which gives one- 
half its charm. Gnaphalium dioicum is a sweet silvery plant 
4 inches high, with a head of flowers of a rosy pink colour. Last 
is its near relation G. leontopodium, the far-famed Edelweiss, and 
a neat little unique beauty it is. 
In looking over these, and indeed all collections of plants, the 
wonderful relations of species to species, of genus to genus, and 
order to order, strikes us so forcibly that, though we may push 
our studies indefinitely, a point comes at which we are forced to 
stand still. It is impossible to separate order from order, and 
even species from species, and when our researches have reached 
this point we are like the astronomer. We find that our specu¬ 
lations lead us where we cannot follow, that our minds are finite 
and the object we are studying infinite, and there still remain 
secrets behind the veil.— Single-handed. 
NEWCASTLE SPRING SHOW. 
The above Show was held in the Town Hall and Corn Exchange, 
Newcastle-on-Tyne, on the 2nd and 3rd inst. The date was a month 
later than usual, owing to the Society not being able to procure the 
Town Hall earlier in the season, and consequently the entries were 
not so numerous as at previous exhibitions, but the quality of the 
exhibits was in every respect good. The flowering plants and Auri¬ 
culas were better than in past years. The Hyacinths were both 
numerous and good, but it was evident that they had been retarded 
very much by shading. Appended we give the list of the prize¬ 
winners according to schedule, commencing with the division “ open 
to all.” 
STOYE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 
In the class for four dissimilar plants four prizes were offered and 
five collections staged. Mr. Neil Black, gardener to Mrs. Pease, South 
End, Darlington, was deservedly first with a superior quartette, con¬ 
sisting of a finely coloured Bougainvillea glabra, Anthurium Schertzeri- 
anum, Clerodendron Balfourianum, and Yanda suavis ; the latter was 
a magnificent specimen, containing sixteen spikes averaging thirteen 
