94 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
- Flowers in the Scilly Islands.—T he delightful labour of 
flower-farming is steadily on the increase among the people of the 
Scilly Isles, the astonishing quantity of 40 tons of cut flowers, chiefly 
Narcissi, being sent over to England weekly during the winter season. 
The farms, which employ many hands and much capital, are excessively 
interesting, and the sight of them in February or March is worth even 
the risk of a rough voyage. Literally millions of white and yellow 
blooms, richly fragrant, nestle between tall hedges of Euonymus and 
Veronicas, and form a fragrant picture—as exquisite as it is unique. 
- The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association.—T he 
twelfth annual report and financial statement was placed before this 
association at the last meeting, and both were adopted. The statement 
of accounts for the year 1894 showed that the income was £4300, against 
£6600 in 1893, and the expenditure £5400, necessitating a considerable 
call upon the reserve fund to makegood the deficit. It was announced 
that grants of £20 and £10 10s. had been received from the Grocers’ and 
Salters’ Companies, and that a lady had sent £25 for a drinking fountain ; 
that trees had been planted, at the suggestion of the Association, in 
Exhibition road ; and that the Association was in negotiation for the 
purchase of a site for a playground in Deptford. It was agreed to give 
£160 towards the laying out of Bartholomew Square, E.C., and to lay 
out the eastern end of the churchyard of Allhallows, London Wall, if 
the rector would maintain it as a public garden. 
-Woking and District Horticultural, Cottage Gar¬ 
deners’ AND Fanciers’Association. —The above young but flourish¬ 
ing Association held its first annual dinner at the Assembly Boom, 
Railway Hotel, Woking, on Wednesday evening, 23rd inst. The chair 
was occupied by J. Orlando Law, Esq. (President of the Association), 
and the vice-chair by Dr. T. C. Eager. The tables were well decorated 
with plants kindly lent by E. H. Drake, Esq., one of the vice-presidents, 
and Messrs. Geo. Jackman & Sons. After the loyal toast the Chairman 
gave “ The Woking and District Horticultural Association,” drawing 
attention to the excellent work performed during the first year of its 
existence, having held two capital shows, one in the summer and one 
principally devoted to Chrysanthemums in November, whilst most 
interesting meetings had taken place on the third Thursday in each 
month, at which very instructive lectures had been given. In referring 
to this portion of the Association’s work the Chairman wished to take 
the opportunity of publicly thanking the Surrey County Council for the 
valuable assistance they had rendered the executive in providing 
them at some of their meetings with such an admirable lecturer, whose 
visits were anxiously looked forward to by all the members, and to whom 
personally he also wanted to tender their heartiest thanks. The toast 
having been very heartily drank, Mr. H. J. Bidwell proposed “ The 
President of the Association,” remarking on the good work Mr. Law 
had done to insure the success attained. The toast was received with 
musical honours, and appropriately responded to by the President. 
- The “Botanical Magazine.”—T he following are the 
subjects of the January number of the above-named periodical :— 
Talauma Hodgsoni (Magnoliacese).—This was discovered by Sir Joseph 
Hooker in 1848, at an elevation of some 6000 feet, in the Himalayas. 
Sir Joseph describes it as being one of the handsomest of the Magnolias. 
There is a specimen some twenty years old in the temperate house at 
Kew. The sepals are a deep purple without, and the petals cohere so as 
to resemble hen’s eggs. Acidanthera asquinoctialis (Iridacese).—This 
genus of seventeen species is intermediate between those of the Gladiolus 
and Ixia. The corms were sent from Sierra Leone to Kew in 1893, 
where they have been successfully grown. The perianth-tube ia white 
with six-pointed segments, and each marked with a purple line at the 
centre. Lonicera Alberti (Caprifoliacese).—This member of the Xylos- 
teum section of the Honeysuckles was discovered by Dr. Albert Regel 
in Turkestan, who sent a specimen to Kew, where it flourishes as a 
hardy plant. It is very pretty, and has rose-coloured flowers. Acacia 
spadicigera (Leguminosse).—This is one of the Horned Acacias, and is a 
native of Central America and Cuba. The Horned Acacias are men¬ 
tioned as being grown at Hampton Court in the time of William and 
Mary, two centuries ago. The peculiar characteristic of the plant is its 
spinous, horny stipules like thorns. The most curious feature of the 
Horned Acacias is that these stipular thorns serve as the homes of a 
certain tribe of ants, which keep off other tribes of leaf-cutting ants 
which would otherwise make an end of the plants. Cyrtopodium 
virescens (Orchidace®).—This species was discovered at Lagoa Santa in 
Brazil. The flowers are about an inch broad, of a yellow colour 
splayed with dark red, and at their base are bracts some three- 
quarters of an inch in length speckled with red-brown. 
January 31, 1895. 
- Trees and Shrubs of the Bombay Presidency.—M r. 
W. A. Talbot, F.L.S., Deputy Conservator of Forests, has, says the 
“ Kew Bulletin,” compiled what he modestly entitles a systematic list 
of the trees and shrubs and woody climbers of the Bombay Presidency. 
Sind and North Kanara are included, and are referred to separately by 
name throughout the book. It is, however, very much more than a list, 
as it contains brief descriptions of the orders, genera, and species,, 
together with references to Hooker’s ' Flora of British India,” to 
Brand is’s “ Forest Flora,” and to other important works. There are 
also keys to the orders, genera, and species. Of course, the real merits 
or defects of such a book are discovered by using it; but from a cursory 
examination it appears to have been prepared very carefully, and it is 
certainly singularly free from typographical errors. The arrangement, 
paper, and typography are good ; and the book is certain to prove 
useful, and will probably promote the study of botany by forest officers. 
The author expresses a hope that it may form the framework of a future 
Forest Flora of the Bombay Presidency. 
- SWAINSONIAS IN AMERICA. —The planting of Swainsonia for 
cut flowers in this country began, says the “ Florists’Exchange,” in 
Philadelphia, and is still more largely grown near that city than else¬ 
where. It is said that a florist of Germantown has a house 90 feet long 
by 16 wide, with centre and side benches, filled with these plants- 
These benches were filled with soil without any manure, and the plant* 
put in about 18 inches apart last May. They are now about 3 feet 
high, very bushy, and covered with flowers. As Swainsonia has a habit 
of climbing, some method must be devised for keeping it dwarf. To- 
bring this about the surface of the soil is not loosened, but allowed 
to become hard under constant watering. The plants thus treated are 
short-jointed, and they flower freely at every joint. The flowers are cut 
and put in water in a cool place ten or twelve hours before shipping, 
and they have been shipped 120 milfcs and were in good condition for use 
four days later. Single flowers sell at the prices of Carnations, and Mr. 
Clifle’s house contained 500 sprays for Christmas week. No manure 
water or any other feeding has been resorted to, as the plants seem to 
flower better in poor soil than otherwise. 
- Public Parks and Gardens, Past and Present. — This 
was the title of a paper read before a recent meeting of the Exeter 
Gardeners’ Improvement Society by Mr. F. W. Mejer. In the first 
part of his paper, so we learn from a local contemporary, Mr. Meyer 
gave an interesting history of celebrated gardens generally, showing the 
gradual development of the art of laying out beautiful grounds. He 
described the most ancient gardens on record—namely, those of the 
early Egyptians, the Persians, and the Chinese, and quoted extracts 
from the Greek writers Herodotus and Diodorus, dealing with the 
ancient hanging gardens of Babylon, which existed many years before 
the Christian era. The first public gardens in Europe were thoje of 
the Greeks, and the so-called “ Akademy ” gardens in the suburbs 
of Athens, with their “ Philosopher’s walks,” the favourite haunts 
of Socrates, Plato, and their disciples were mentioned. Roman gardens 
were also described, and, after a brief reference to the mediaeval period, 
the lecturer described the gardens of the Renaissance, and the subse¬ 
quent Italian and French styles, giving as an example the enormous 
formal gardens at Versailles, with their miles of clipped trees and 
stupendous terraces and fountains, which, in spite of all their pomp and 
splendour, were so depressing and monotonous that even Louis XIVi, 
who had them constructed, soon tired of their formality, and retreated 
to the more modest and secluded Trianon. Dealing next with modern 
gardens in the irregular style, Mr; Meyer said the pu sent generation 
had learnt to appreciate the beauty of form in nature, and the modern 
landscape gardeners therefore tried their best to develop in their works 
a style of natural beauty, which could be practise! successfully only 
by those who had closely studied the subject. The cradle of this 
natural style was China, and it was a remarkable fact that a country 
generally considered to be several centuries behind the times should in 
this respect be 80 far advanced. The first European country to adopt 
the natural style was England, and from there it spread all over the 
Continent. Public parks and gardens should be places of enjoyment 
where the people could breathe pure air, where they could find repose 
and recreation after their daily toil, and where among tasteful arrange¬ 
ments of plants and flowers they could learn to appreciate the beautiful 
in nature, and educate their ta*te and refinement by studying the effect 
and development of plant life, and acquire in addition a most useful 
knowledge of plants generally. Modern public gardens on the Continent 
were dealt with at some length, including the public paik an! Botanical 
Gardens at Brussels and Antwerp, the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, the 
