466 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June T, 1888 
greater is also the proliability that the work of restoring this country 
to cultivation will prove to be an easy ami delightful one, so that if 
tire work is taken energeticallj’’ in hand at once there can be little 
doubt that Australia, perhaps even Ijcfore another generation has passed 
away, will have sliown some marked signs of ultimately becoming one 
of the most fertile countries on eartli. 
This geological explanation is, however, a suggestion which ought 
to be ke])t quite distinct from the other parts of my argument, w'hich 
possess all but mathematical exactitude, being based as they arc on 
the number of gallons of water exhaled by an ordinary tree during 
twenty-four hours, and the ])roved elTect of this evaporation on the 
specific gravity of the atmosphere that absorbs it.” 
Events of the Week. —The Royal Horticultural Society will hold 
a meeting in the Drill Hall, Westminster, on Tuesday next, June 12th, 
and the York Gala will open on Wednesday, the 13th inst., which, with 
the usual sales, will be the principal horticultural occurrences of the 
week. 
- Royal Hoeticultueal Society.— We are informed that 
efforts are being made to render the next four meetings in the Drill 
Hall at Westminster specially interesting and attractive The Assistant 
Secretary has written to several leading nurserymen and flower growers, 
calling their special attention to them, and asking their support during 
these two months, the height of the London season. The meetings 
and their special features are as follow ;—June 12th, cut Rhododendrons, 
hardy Azaleas, flowering shrubs. Ranunculus, Anemones, and Iris 
June 2Gth, Begonias, Gloxinias, Relargoniums, cut Clematis, Poeonies, 
Roses, Pinks. July 10th, Roses, Lilies, Strawberries. July 2-lth, show 
of the Carnation and Picotee Society, also Ferns, and Zonal 
Pelargoniums. 
- The Weathee. —‘‘B. D.” writes—“ May has closed and June 
begun w'ith very unseasonable weather. In the middle of last week 
many of the hills in W. Perthshire were covered with snow. An intense 
frost is reported from the north that has made complete havoc of vege¬ 
tables- an<I flowers in gardens, and done much damage amongst forest 
trees. In S. Perthshire the 2nd and 3rd inst. were extremely wet with 
a bitter H.E. wind. Hawthorn is beginning to show blossom. The 
iScotgma/i of the 4th inst. contains reports from the north rather startling 
for the beginning of .Tune. I therefore quote—‘ Snow fell over north of 
Scotland last Saturday. In Strathspey the hills were covered to their 
base, and water was coated with ice a quarter of an inch thick. At 
Balmoral snow fell for twenty-five hours, and last night it was lying 
several inches deep.’ ” More genial conditions have prevailed in the 
south, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday being extremely hot days. 
Tue.sday was dull with very cold wind. 
- ^tE are desired to announce that the Colchester and East 
Essex Horticultural Society will hold a Rose Show on June 30th, 
at which liberal prizes are offered for amateurs. The Hon. Secretary is 
Mr. J. C. Quilter, Head Street, Colchester. 
-G.” writes : Two useful Fuchsias for decorative purposes 
are Starlight and Prince Imperial, which are employed extensively by 
Mr. W. Holmes, Frampton Park Nursery, Hackney, in conjunction with 
other decorative plants, such as Pelargoniums, Rhododendrons, 
flydrangeas. Ferns, and Palms. Starlight is a free flowering variety of 
compact habit, the sepals and tube white, and the corolla of a bright 
rosy tint and good size ; it is regarded as a great improvement upon Mrs. 
Marshall, and is much appreciated in the market. Prince Imperial is a 
dark variety, with scarlet sepals and tube and deep purple corolla, of 
similarly free habit. They afford a pleasing contrast when together, 
and are very effective in windows or recesses.” 
- Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son, Haarlem, send us a col¬ 
lection of Breeder Tulips, which they intend offering for sale next 
autumn, without waiting until they have “rectified.” The flowers are 
large, of good form, and most varied in colours, purple, mauve, crimson 
rose, and vermilion shades being very abundant, and a number could be 
selected that, judged by a florist’s standard, would be considered most 
promising when “ broken.” 
- In recognition of the assistance rendered by Mr. J. Newton 
on the occasion of the recent Show in the Inner Temple Gardens, he 
has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society without 
payment of the usual fees. 
- “M. C., Ashton," writes—“A decided acquisition to the select 
list of spring bedding plants will be found in Myosotis grandiflorAi 
a really grand improvement on the old form of M. dissitiflora, both in 
the size of the flowers and also in the profuse way they are produced 
from free growing yet compact little plants. As grown by Mr. H. Virgo 
at Portishead, the plant has a charming appearance, its large deep blue 
flowers and general habit giving one the impression of a blue Silenc 
compacta. To judge from the great demand for its sprays in Clifton 
and Bristol the plant in question will undoubtedly become the most 
popular form of the poetical Forget-me-not. The enclosed flowers 
hardly do it justice, the hot weather has reduced their size and colour.” 
The variety is a good one, as our correspondent represents, the flowers 
being much larger than those of the ordinary M. dissitiflora, but we 
have seen a variety shown by Mr. Virgo with much more deeply coloured 
flowers. 
- Mr. H. Cannell sends us a box of blooms of hose-in-ho8e 
Mimulus, and most effective a bed of these richly coloured flowers must 
be. They are represented in several brilliant varieties, every one pos¬ 
sessing the duplex character in a marked degree. 
-Leeds Professional Gardeners’ Friendly Benefit So¬ 
ciety. —“ J. L. B.” writes—“In the Journal, May 24th, there is an 
account of a very interesting presentation to the Secretary of this 
Society, and I thought I should like to encourage young gardeners to 
join such a Society in preference to mixed clubs which have all classes 
in them, whether they follow a healthy or an unhealthy calling. 
Gardening is considered a healthy occupation, and I find, as a rule, 
gardeners do not go on the club for a slight illness. I have often wished 
I knew of the existence of gardeners’ clubs when I was a young man, 
and I should not have joined a mixed club. In the abore mentioned 
gardeners’ Club by paying only Is. per mouth lOs. per week may be 
had during sickness, £10 at death, and £G at death of a wife,.and it 
does not matter what part of the country a gardener may reside, he can 
join and p.ay his money without ever going to Leeds.” 
- Me. G. Aslett, Warren IS’'ood Gardens, Hatfield, Herts, sends 
us flower trusses of Rhododendron Fortunei, . variety Mrs. G. 
Butler, which is notable for its powerful fragrance. The flowers 
are large and expanded, of a soft pale pink hue, in loose clusters, very 
delicate and charming. 
- The following plants are figured in the Botanical Magazine 
for May :—T. G993, D. clavatum, noted fully on another page. T. 6994, 
Allium Suworowi, a native of the Kerghis Desert and the vicinity of 
Bokhara, introduced by Dr. Albert Regel, and named in honour of Herr 
J. P. Von Suworow, Medical Inspector of the Province of Turkestan. 
It has scapes 2 feet high, and dense globular heads of mauye purple 
flowers. T. 6995, Alpinia officinarum, a native of South China, and 
formerly “ in great repute as an aromatic stimulant amongst the Arabs 
and Greeks and in Western Europe. The flowers are white, veined 
with red, the long narrow leaves arising from a thickened tuber-like 
rootstock.” T. 6996, Douglasia laevigata, a primulaceous plant from 
the Alps of Oregon, of similar habit to the Androsaces, to which it is 
nearly related, and bearing bright rosy pink flowers on short stalks. 
T. 6997, Passiflora violacea, a Bz’azilian species related to P. cornuta and 
P. Mooreana, introduced from Rio Janeiro to Kew by M. Glaziou ; the 
flowers are purjfle in the centie, with white and purple rays and pinkish 
petals. 
- Gardening Appointments. —Mr. J. Rogers, late gardener to 
B. R. Langton, Esq., Langton Il.all, Spilsby, has been appointed head 
gardener to R. Phipps, Esq., Buckenhill, Bromyard, AVorcester. Mr. 
W. Strugnell, recently of Benham Court Gardens, Kingsclere, Newbury, 
has been apjwinted gardener to A. R. Baily, Esq., AA'illow A'^ale, Frome ; 
and Mr. George Smith, who has been principal foreman at Mentmore 
for the last five years, has been appointed gardener.to E. L. Rowcliffe, 
Esq., Hall Place, Cranleigh, Surrey. 
