April 23, 1801. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
825 
Events of the Week, —The Royal Society meets to-day (Thurs¬ 
day) at 4.30 P.M,, the Royal Botanic Society on Saturday, April 25th, 
at 4 P.M., and the Society of i^rts at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29th. 
Sales will be held as usual at King Street, Covent Garden, and Cheap- 
side, both of bulbs and Orchids, 
- The Weather in the Metropolitan District has not 
yet given general satisfaction, for the brighter days have been attended 
by keen north-easterly winds, very trying alike to vegetation and 
human beings. Frost, too, has been experienced in some low positions, 
and 5° to 7° registered, quite sufficient to be dangerous to early fruit 
tree buds. 
- Gardening Appointment, — Mr. John Heeremans, late 
foreman at the Friary Gardens, Old Windsor, has been appointed 
head gardener to W. Pethick, Esq., J.P., Woodside, Stoke Bishop, 
Bristol. 
- Omphalodes VERNA is extremely pretty now in a warm 
nook in the rockery. Its rich blue flowers with a white eye render it 
very distinct. Certainly it deserves more extended cultivation than it 
receives as a rockery and border plant. By dividing the creeping roots 
and stems a quantity can soon be had,—M. 
- “ Omega ” in last issue inquires where he can obtain 
particulars of the method of heating bt steam. From circulars 
and plans I have received he will, I have no doubt, be able to get all 
information from Mr. John M. Newton, the Managing Engineer of 
the Manchester Heating Company, Manchester and Stalybridge.— 
R. Irwin Lynch. , 
- Stachys tuberifera is slowly making its way into favour. 
Many have tried it as an addition at the dinner table, and speak well of 
it, and I know several gardeners who are planting it extensively. Any¬ 
one at all sceptical as to its usefulness may soon settle the matter by 
having some tubers well scoured and cleaned. Boil them for ten 
minutes, and then cook them as you would whitebait, or fry in 
butter, using bread crumbs at pleasure. It has a pleasant Jerusalem 
Artichoke kind of flavour.—D. S. 
- The Weather in Paris appears to be much more spring¬ 
like than in London, for a correspondent writes to a daily paper in these 
terms:—“For the past three weeks the peasant proprietors, agricul¬ 
turists, and mrrserymen in the rural environs of Paris have been 
bemoaning bitterly the lateness of the spring. The Vines which furnish 
the tart beverages of Suresnes and Argenteuil, immortalised by Paul de 
Kock and song wr'bers innumerable, have been in a languishing con¬ 
dition, uni.petit-hleu threatens to be scarce and dear this season. The 
cultivators of the countryside about Mont VaKrien and Buzenval will 
have barely enough wine for themselves, and whoever cares to call for 
vin dc Suresnes —which is not a remarkably generous drink at the best 
of times—in the city restaurants out of curiosity during the summer 
will undoubtedly be offered a sham and spurious concoction, fabricated 
in the Bercy riverside depot. So far the long winter and the cold 
spring have done irretrievable damage. The farmers and florists, how¬ 
ever, are beginning to pick up courage. After a fortnight of excep- 
8 onally bitter weather for the time of the year the rural districts—like 
the city itself—are bathed in warm and invigorating sunshine. We 
seem to have entered suddenly into some region of ‘ cloudless climes 
and starry skies,’ for the nights, as well as the days, are calm, clear, 
and mild. Plants and flowers are thriving, as if to make up for lost 
time, and there will be soon a wealth of bloom and verdure all over 
Paris. The Premier houquet de Lilas, sung by local poets so often, has 
come already, and only this morning loads of fragrant blossoms arrived 
in the Halles-Centrales, and were bought up speedily by florists, who 
will soon get rid of them at a profit, for in hardly any other European 
capital are the first flowers of spring so welcome as in this city, 
where rich and poor alike enjoy them while they last. Everything, in 
fact, denotes that spring, so long delayed, has come at last, and Paris 
has assumed that aspect of genuine gaiety which will continue until the 
midsummer heats begin to render the asphaltc intolerable.” 
- Liverpool Show.—W e are informed that the first prizes in 
classes for three Palms or Cycads and one Palm or Cycad were awarded 
to Mr. T. Healey, gardener to Colonel Wilson, Hillside, Allerton, and not 
to Mr. T. Wilson as stated last week. 
- Olivias are fast taking a high place as useful and popular 
plants, and to this result Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, may 
claim to have contributed in no small measure. In the Stanstead Park 
Nurseries at the present time these plants constitute an exhibition of 
great beauty, and the range of variation now secured is astonishing 
as compared with a very few years since. Tuberous Begonias are also 
advancing rapidly. The stock is this year even larger than ever, and 
the meaning is that all who have visited this nursery in Begonia time 
will fully understand. 
-Hippeastrhms at Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons’ Nursery, 
Chelsea, are just now in grand condition and provide a display that 
is worth a long journey to see. The plants are strong, the scapes 
numbered by hundreds, the flowers large and the colours brilliant, but 
with sufficient light and delicate tints to effectually remove all tendency 
to monotony. In addition to the fine varieties which have received 
certificates in recent years many seedlings are flowering for the first 
time, and present distinctive characters of much interest. In other 
departments the floral attractions are also abundant at the present 
time. 
- We are informed that Mr. William Barron of the Elvaston 
Nurseries, Borrowash, Derby, died on the 8th inst. in his eighty-sixth 
year, and many of the older horticulturists will hear the news with the 
deepest regret. Mr. Barron had gained considerable reputation as a 
landscape gardener, and possessed a wide knowledge of trees and shrubs 
which he utilised to good purpose in his business. After serving as 
gardener at Elvaston Castle for some time he left and formed his 
nursery at Borrowash, which is well known to all interested in arbori¬ 
culture. Tree moving was successfully performed on several occasions,, 
but that which attracted most attention was removing the old Yew in 
Buckland Churchyard, near Dover. 
-Haywards Heath Horticultural Society.—T he schedule 
of this Society has just come to hand. In addition to their usual summer 
Show on the 29th July, at which prizes to the amount of £130 are 
offered, the Committee has this year arranged to have a spring show, 
to be held in the Public Hall, South Road, on April 28th and 29tb. 
This, we believe, is the only serious attempt at a spring show in the 
county. Its position is central and convenient, may it prove such a 
success as to warrant its continuance.—R. 
_ Bothwell Bank and President Strawberries —Dr, 
Livingstone Strawberry was at one time grown at Bothwell Bank, and 
in some respects resembles President, but answers the description given 
by Mr. J. Doughty, Angley Park, Cranbrook, to a great degree. Many 
plants get a new name from the place where they are grown, which 
creates confusion, and ought to be guarded against, especially by 
gardeners. I am inclined to believe Bothwell Bank is none other than 
Dr. Livingstone, or perhaps Admiral Dundas.—W. T. 
_ Phyllanthus nivosus. —This is a distinct and beautiful 
plant of slender habit, and when well coloured the leaves in many 
instances are quite white ; others have a few green spots at irregular 
intervals, while the young leaves at the point of each shoot have a very 
attractive magenta tinge. As may be supposed from the above descrip¬ 
tion, this Phyllanthus is capital for arranging in groups or for dinner- 
table embellishment. Good sized p’ants of various heights can be grown 
in 3, 4, and 5-inch po's. AYhen well rooted they must receive plentiful 
supplies of water, and be kept near the glass in a stove or intermediate 
temperature, in positions where they have a good amount of sunshine. 
Two parts loam to one of leaf soil and some sharp sand added is a com¬ 
post in which they grow and colour splendidly. Young plants are 
Lsily raised, either from cuttings or leaves ; the latter, if detached from 
the shoot with the axil of the leaf, and inserted in sandy soil, placed 
under a handlight where there is good bottom heat, will root as freely as 
cuttings, and grow into capital plants for use in 3-iach pots the first 
season. Cut-back plants form bushy specimens for filling vases. This 
plant was generally very telling in the beautiful groups put up in recent 
years at the West of England shows by Mr. Lock, and without doubt 
much of the success achieved by this well-known exhibitor when com¬ 
peting for the prizes offered for groups of plants arranged for effect was 
due to the admirable selection of plants and Ferns he prepared for the 
purpose, and which he knew so well how to arrange to advantage. 
• H. Dunkin. 
