414 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June J, M9J. 
which answer our purpose the best and grow them exclusively, for there 
is nothing like making a rigid selection ia cases where the general effect 
has to be considered. 
I consider Belvoir Castle to be by far the best Wallflower grown for 
spring bedding; it ia so hardy and floriferous, and moreover, supplies the 
bright yellow colour so largely in demand, for contrasting with other 
spring flowers in which blue and purple colours predominate. This 
variety we shall therefore grow extensively. Among dark varieties 
Covent Garden Blood Red is our favourite ; the habit is good and the 
colour quite distinct, but it flowers a week later than the first name 1 kind. 
It is quite possible, however, that this may be remedied by sowing the 
later variety a little earlier than Belvoir Castle. Harbinger is a good 
early variety, but the colour is not so distinct as Covent Garden Blood 
Red, for this reason we prefer the latter. 
To obtain sturdy plants clothed with foliage to the base they must 
be well grown, and at no time be allowed to crowd each other. Sow on 
a warm border at once. Mark out beds 3 feet wide ; sow the seeds 
thinly broadcast, and cover with fine soil. When the necessary quantity 
is sown give a good watering through a rose, and place a net over the 
beds to keep the seedlings, when they appear, safe from the attaclis of 
birds. When the plants are large enough to handle prick out in nursery 
beds 3 inches apart, and attend closely to watering till the plants are 
established. As soon as they have grown sufficiently to almost touch 
each other, lift with a trowel and plant 9 inches apart on land which 
was well manured for the previous crop, taking care to press the soil 
firmly about the roots. It is important that the soil should be moist 
both at this and the final transplanting, so that good balls of earth may 
be secured. When trea'ed as above described sturdy plants are pro¬ 
duced, which are in marked contrast to the “leggy” specimens one 
sometimes meet with.— H. Dcnkin. , 
Events of the Week. —An Exhibition of Orchids will be held by 
the Manchester Royal Botanic Society on the 3rd inst., and a Conference 
on the 4th. Committee meetings of the Royal Horticultural S ciety 
will be held at the Drill Hall, James Street, Westminster, on the 7ch, 
when a paper by Mr. A. Young will be read. A meeting of the Horti¬ 
cultural Club takes place on the same day, at which Mr. F. W. Burbidge 
will lecture. The National Tulip Society’s Show is fixed for June 8th 
at the Manchester Botanical Gardens, and on the 9th the Midland 
Pansy Society’s Exhibition will be held at Birmingham. Important 
sales of Orchids will be conducted at Protheroe & Morris’ rooms on 
the 3rd and 8th insts., and a sale will take place at 72, Renfield Street, 
Glasgow, on June 8th, For particulars see advertisements, 
- The Weather in London,—W elome showers have fallen 
during the past few days, and vegetation has been greatly stimulated. 
The barometer was depressed on the 30th and 31st ult, and heavy 
showers fell in the evening of Tuesday. On Wednesday morning the 
barometer was rising and the weather bright, but threatening showers. 
- Gardening Charities.— By request of Mr. H. J. Clayton 
(gardener), J. Fielden, Esq., has kindly given permission for a f§te to be 
held in Grimston Park on behalf of the Gardeners’ Benevolent Institu¬ 
tion and Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. 
- Kew Notes. —The rumour that the publication of the “ Kew 
Bulletin” was to be discontinued proves to be unfounded, Mr. Plunket 
having stated in the House of Commons that the Government had no 
such intention. The new edition of the official guide to the Arboretum 
and Botanical Gardens is expected to be ready during the summer 
The Director of Kew Gardens, Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer, has been 
created a Companion of the most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire. 
- Royal Botanic Society's Fetes — Schedules have been 
issued of the two Floral F&tes to be held in the gardens of the Royal 
Botanic Society this summer. The first, a Children’s FSce, is fixed for 
Wednesday, June 22nd, and prizes are offered for flower-dressed 
carriages, chaises, chairs, tricycles, wreaths, and bouquets, decorated 
and arranged by children. The second, the Evening Fete, is to be 
held on Wednesday, July 6th. 
- Horticultural Club.—A special meeting on the occasion of 
the great Temple Show of the R.H.S. was held on Wednesday, May 2oth, 
Sir John T. D. Llewelyn, Bart., the Chairman of the Club, presided. 
There was a good attendance of the members, including the Rev. 
B. Handley, Rev. F. H. Gall, Messrs. Moss, Sherwood, H. J. "Yeitch, 
Peter Veitch, Manning, Soper, Leonard, Gordon, C. Pearson, and others. 
The Secretary, in proposing the Chairman’s health, said he had been 
good enough to promise to give some notes on his recent visit to Egypt, 
This he did, dealing in a most interesting manner with its agricultural 
and horticultural aspects. We hope to give a rhumS of the address, 
which was cordially received, and for which a vote of thanks was 
moved by Mr. Harry Veitch. The next meeting will be held on 
June 7th, when a paper by Mr. F. W. Burbidge of the College 
Botanic Garden, Dublin, on “ Nature and Cultivation ” will be 
read. 
- Royal Horticultural Society.—T he next meeting of the 
Society will be held in the Drill Hall, James Street, Victoria Street, 
Westminster, on Tuesday, June 7th, when the Fruit, Floral, and Orchid 
Committees will again assemble at twelve o’clock. In the afternoon a 
paper on “ The Summer Pruning and Training of Fruit Trees” will be 
contributed by Mr. A. Young, of Abberley Hall Gardens, Stourport. 
Amateurs who grow hardy Rhododendrons and Orchids will on this 
occasion have an opportunity of competing for the prizes offered in the 
Society’s schedule, and a silver-gilt Flora medal is also offered to the 
raiser (amateur or professional) of the best new seedling Orchid. 
Intending exhibitors are requested to send particulars of their exhibits 
to the Superintendent, R.H.S. Gardens, Chiswick, without delay. 
-Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.—W e learn with pleasure of the 
receipt by the Secretary of the following donations to the Gardeners’ 
Orphan Fund—viz. : £10 from the Ealing Gardeners’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Society, the proceeds of a lecture given by the Rev. Thain David¬ 
son to that body ; and £20, the proceeds of a concert held at 
Altrincham under the auspices of the Manchester Local Committee of 
the Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. Such efforts are most praiseworthy. 
- Effects of Frost in Norfolk.—L ike “ J. A. W.” I live on 
the borderland of Norfolk and Suffolk, just in Norfolk, in the Waveney 
Valley, but I cannot say that our fruit crop is good. We have no 
Pears on standards, few Apples, no Plums, very few Gooseberries, but a 
fair crop of Black and Red Currants. So much for the spring frosts ; 
and all I can say for the winter frost is that more than half my 
standard Tea Rose trees are dead, and the dwarfs breaking very weakly. 
—F. Page Roberts. 
- Wasps. —In the spring of 1891 there was an unusual abundance 
of queen wasps, but the predictions of those who expected a large 
number of these pests in the autumn were singularly falsified, as I 
hardly remember a season more free from them. We may probably 
thank the Whitsuntide frost, following some warm weather, for this 
deliverance. Not one of my Peaches or Apricots in the open was 
attacked. We had a few hornets, but practically no wasps. As a 
natural result we have hardly any queens this spring. I have only seen 
two.—W, R. Raillem. 
-Aspidistra Flowering from the Leaves.—A friend 
of mine has been repotting an Aspidistra lurida variegata, and was 
surprised to find flowers growing directly from the leaf stem, the 
peduncle of the flowers being about 1^ inch in length, and not from the 
rhizome as it does in my greenhouse. I ought to mention that the roots 
of the plant were found to be confined to the upper part of the pot, and 
as it had been grown in a dwelling house it may have been insufficiently 
watered, and the abnormal result of producing flowers on the leaf stem 
may have arisen from being grown under unhealthy conditions of some 
kind. I shall be glad if your readers can say whether this peculiar 
growth is uncommon or otherwise, and the cause of it. My friend being 
a botanist is naturally much interested in the subject.—J. F. C. 
- The Band or the Show?—T he opening day of the first 
great flower show at the International Horticultural Exhibition also 
marked the appearance of the band of the Garde Republicaine from 
Paris, one of the most famous of the great European military musical 
organisations. The gardens were densely crowded during the evening, 
and now the question is raised. Was the Band or the Show the great 
attraction ? One French visitor appeared to be highly indignant at a 
suggestion that the flower show, and not the musicians, was the real 
source of the crowded attendance. No doubt both features had a share 
in the result, and the management are to be congratulated on their 
enterprise. They evidently intend to spare no means to make the 
Exhibition at Earl’s Court a great success. 
