404 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
for Mrs. Calderhead, as a mark of the high esteem and respect in 
which he has been held. Mr. Brown, President of the Wemyss 
Horticultural Society, made the presentation, and Mr. Calderhead 
feelingly replied. 
- “ Observer ” writes :—“ Many visitors to the .Royal 
Horticultural Society’s Promenade Show last week were as¬ 
tonished at the large number of certificates granted, some being 
for plants of little interest and less use. The Floral Committee 
appears to vary strangely in its moods, if I may be permitted to 
so express it. Sometimes they are rigid, and regard with a cold 
eye plants of considerable beauty that have to be submitted to 
their attention repeatedly before their value is appreciated ; at 
other times certificates are strewn about literally broadcast. Is 
this influenced by the weather, or what ? for I have failed to 
discover the cause, and at the last meeting several members of 
the Committee itself admitted that some of the certificates 
awarded were undeserved, a fact about which there is little doubt, 
though it would be invidious to name them. One gentleman, 
himself a recipient of many certificates, suggested that there 
should be botanical and horticultural certificates, and something 
of the kind is certainly needed to mark the difference in the 
value of the plants so honoured.” 
- The fine collection of Orchids formed by the late 
Lord Egerton of Tatton was sold by Mr. J. C. Stevens, 38, King 
Street, Covent Garden, on the 9th and 10th inst., when the total 
amount realised by the sale was £650. Some of the principal 
prices obtained were as follows :—Cattleya labiata, autumn¬ 
flowering variety, 15 guineas ; Lselia anceps Dawsoni, 25 and 
13^ guineas; Vanda Lowii, 50 guineas; Cattleya domingensis, 
10£ guineas; Odontoglossum nasvium majus, 15 guineas; and 
Masdevallia Harryana, 15 guineas. 
- The conservatory in the Royal Botanic Society’s Gardens^ 
Regent’s Park, has during the past month been quite gay with 
Rhododendrons and Azaleas in flower. The former include 
fine specimens of R. Nuttali, which had handsome trusses of 
its enormous trumpet-shaped creamy-white or yellowish flowers, 
while the smaller but pretty R. Gibsoni and R. formosum have 
been loaded with their pure white blooms. A specimen of con¬ 
siderable size of R. Countess of Haddington, too, has been mag¬ 
nificent, its beautiful rose-tinted flowers being produced in great 
abundance. A valuable quality of this variety is the freedom 
with which small plants flower, and it is consequently one of the 
most useful for conservatories in pots, especially as it lasts in 
flower a good time. R. Henryanum is another of the species 
with trumpet-shaped flowers, creamy or tinted with yellow, but 
of rather bad habit. R. Veitchianum has well maintained its 
character as a free-blooming handsome species, its fine white 
flowers with wavy petals quite hiding the foliage on one 
specimen. 
- In the tropical house of the same gardens two very 
notable plants have been flowering—namely, Petr^ea volubilis 
and Mangifera indicA. The former is a climbiDg or trailing 
plant that produces quite a cloud of flowers, the expanded mauve 
calyx and violet corollas of which have a most distinct and 
pleasing effect. The other is promising a crop of the far-famed 
Mango, which is so much esteemed in the tropics, and is con¬ 
sidered “ superior to the finest fruits of India, with the exception 
of the Mangosteen and some of the finest Pine Apples.” Un¬ 
fortunately the fruits produced in England, or even those which 
are occasionally imported, rarely possess any attractions for the 
fruit lover who is accustomed to our own delicious Pears and 
Grapes. 
- Our correspondent, “ R. T.,” who has not been able to 
reply sooner to Mr. Sanders’ question on potting Lily of the 
Valley, desires us to state that he repots his plants after they 
have flowered. We think, perhaps, the information wanted 
had reference to preparing the crowns before they were potted, 
and “ R. T.” will probably oblige by sending a note on this 
subject. 
- The weather in some parts of England has been very 
severe during the past week. On Thursday a daily contemporary 
states that at Newbury “from an early hour in the morning snow 
fell heavily in Berkshire and North Hants, the temperature 
being particularly low for the time of year for some days. In¬ 
formation from Durham also stated that a snowstorm raged on 
Wednesday (9th inst.) at the head of Weardale, the snow lying 
6 feet on the North-Eastern Company’s branch line at Stanhope, 
and having to be removed by platelayers, whilst the snow-plough 
had to be employed on the roads. Much rain fell at Durham, 
and the rivers were very much swollen, whilst out-of-door work 
was practically at a standstill. It is now resumed. 
- A Somersetshire correspondent writing on the 3 0th 
inst. states “ This morning it snowed heavily for upwards of 
three hours ; the hills this evening are still covered. If it clears 
up it will be all over with early Potatoes, Peas, and Apples. 
The Apples are blooming splendidly everywhere.” 
-At the last meeting of the Horticultural Club Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P., Burford Lodge, Dorking ; Capt. 
Patton, Alpha House, Regent’s Park ; W. Lee, Esq., Downside, 
Leatherhead ; and J. T. Peacock, Esq., Sudbury House, Hammer¬ 
smith, were elected members. The members afterwards dined 
together, and most of them afterwards attended the meeting of 
the Royal Horticultural Society at Burlington House. This 
notification arrived too late for insertion last week. 
- The samples of varieties of Rhubarb shown at 
Kensington last week from the Royal Horticultural Society’s 
Gardens at Chiswick were very interesting, and much attention 
was paid to them by the visitors. There was every gradation in 
size, from the small Buck’s Early Red, which has stems not more 
than an inch in diameter, to the gigantic Stott’s Monarch, which 
was fully 3 or I inches in diameter. In colour, too, there was 
also great variation, the first-named being very dark, and the 
colouring extending right through the stems. Johnston’s St. 
Martin’s was another finely coloured variety, the stems of good 
size, though not coarse ; this is also an excellent variety for cook¬ 
ing, the flavour good, and the acidity not too powerful. Linnaeus 
was also notable for its colour and moderate size, and is also 
much esteemed for cultural purposes, particularly in market 
gardens. The Monarch was the greenest of all, except the diminu¬ 
tive palmatum, which is simply a curiosity. 
-The schedules of the National Rose Society’s Exhi¬ 
bitions have been issued, and from them we learn that the first 
will be at Southampton, Thursday, June 28th, in the grounds of 
the Royal Southampton Horticultural Society, Westwood Park. 
The Exhibition at South Kensington will follow on Tuesday, 
July 3rd ; the Sheffield Show taking place on Thursday, July 3rd, 
in the Botanic Gardens of that town. 
-Amongst noteworthy Orchids at Kew the following 
are the most remarkable. Oncidium insculptum, which has 
panicles of purplish-brown flowers 12 to 13 feet long ; Masde¬ 
vallia Benedict®, a small-flowered species, with white or yellowish 
sepals, dotted purple ; M. xanthina, also a small species, with 
diminutive yellowish flowers, the two lower sepals having each a 
large blotch of deep purple near their base ; M. Wagneriana is 
quite a diminutive plant, with tiny yellow flowers and a few 
dots. Leptotes bicolor is extremely handsome, a plant in a small 
shallow pot 4 inches in diameter having sixteen of its beautiful 
