294 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 1, 1885. 
Monmouthshire, writes respecting the weather in Wales as follows— 
“Frost has made its appearance in this part of Wales rather earlier 
than usual. On the night of Saturday the 26th, the temperature regis¬ 
tered 4° helow freezing point. It has played sad havoc with outside 
flowers, such as single Dahlias, Sweet Peas, Tropteolums, and other flowers 
most valuable this time of the year. Iresines and Mesembryanthemums 
amongst the rest have suffered. It has been rather hard on vegetables 
such as Dwarf Beans, Scarlet Runners, &c.” 
- A dinner to celebrate the twenty-first anniversary of the 
Ealing, Acton, And IIanwell Horticultural Society took place in 
Lyric Hall, Ealing, on Wednesday evening, 23rd inst. The officers and 
friends of the Society, and all classes of exhibitors at the Society’s shows, 
to the number of 160, assembled. The Hon. Secretary, Mr. Richard 
Dean, presided, and was supported by the Right Hon. Spencer Walpole, 
the President of the Society. A very pleasing feature in the evening’s 
entertainment was a presentation to Mr. Dean, which consisted of an 
illuminated address and a marble fourteen-day timepiece, presented by 
the gentlemen’s gardeners and cottagers exhibiting at the Ealing, Acton, 
and Hanwell Horticultural Society. 
—— Mr. C. Orchard, The Gardens, The Leigh, Coombe Warren, 
Kingston-on-Thames, writes :—“ I have sent you a flower of Abistolochia 
oigas, which is a curiosity, as are all the species of this genus. It is not 
often seen, as it is not very common. I saw the plant growing on the 
back wall of a greenhouse in the garden of a friend of mine at Claygate 
when on a visit to a few Chrysanthemum growers. It is a suitable plant 
for a lofty warm greenhouse or intermediate house on account of the fine 
foliage, and the curious shaped flowers is always an attraction to visitors.” 
The flower received is a fine one, and very distinctly veined with maroon 
on a pale yellow or creamy ground ; it is one of the finest coloured forms 
we have seen, though much inferior to the remarkable Aristolochia 
Goldieana figured in this Journal, page 456, June 10th, 1880. 
- Messrs. Collins Bros. & Gabriel, 39, Waterloo Road, S.E., 
send us a flower of Lilium speciOsum rubrum cruentum, which they 
state is “ a Japanese form. Several large beds of the variety at our 
nurseries, Hampton, are really grand, the plants being from 4 to 5|- feet 
in height against the Dutch variety only 2£ feet. Another fine variety 
is album Krtetzeri, pure white, altogether superior to the ordinary 
Album, which has a dark red streak on back of petals.” The variety is 
a most handsome one, of an intensely rich crimson colour extending 
nearly to the tips of the petals, which have a narrow margin of white, and 
a green line in the centre. The white margin brings the rich colour of 
the petals into splendid relief, and in company with the white variety 
named it must have a beautiful efiect. 
- “ Can any of your readers give me any information about Mig¬ 
nonette Machet ? ” writes a correspondent. “ I have been told that a 
very fine variety is grown under this name on the continent, and that it 
has been introduced this year to England. It is described as of a strong 
floriferous habit, with tall compact spikes of extremely fragrant flowers, 
superior to any other variety yet grown. This is such high praise that 
I am very doubtful as to its accuracy, especially as we have so many fine 
strains now.” 
- Referring to the Apple crop in America, a Connecticut paper 
observes—“ Apples have never been known to be more plentiful in this 
State, though here and there the crop has been blighted by insects. A 
ride in any direction will disclose tree after tree laden with Apples so 
that the limbs fairly bend beneath their weight, in some cases to the point 
of breaking. Even the miserable, scraggy, gnarly trees growing by the 
roadside have the fruit strung upon their branches as thickly as OnioDS 
suspended from a string in a country store. Under the circumstances it 
is likely that there are more Apples than can or will be consumed by the 
market, and as other States share this abundance with Connecticut, it is 
presumable that thousands of bushels will find their way into cider 
mills.” 
-A Meeting of the West Wycombe Horticultural Society was 
recently held to make a presentation to Mr. G. T. Miles, gardener to 
Lord Carrington, Wycombe Abbey, in recognition of the services he has 
rendered to the Society as Judge during fourteen years. A handsome 
Chippendale cabinet of local manufacture was selected as a fitting object, 
and this was presented to Mr. Miles by Lady Dashford in complimentary 
terms, to which the recipient suitably replied. A complimentary dinner 
was subsequently held, at which sixty gentlemen were present, the Rev, 
H. T. Young presiding. 
- The twenty-second Exhibition of the Bristol Chrysanthemum 
and Spring Show Society will be held in the Victoria Rooms, Queen’s 
Road, Clifton, on Wednesday and Thursday, November 18th and 19th, 
Sixty-two classes are enumerated in the schedule for Chrysanthemums, 
miscellaneous plants, cut blooms, and fruit. A silver cup, value four 
guineas, is offered for six Chrysanthemums in pots ; the National Chrys¬ 
anthemum Society’s silver medal, and the Royal Horticultural Society’s- 
Knightian bronze medal are also included, and numerous prizes are- 
offered by local friends of the Society. The Secretary is Mr. Alfred 
Polkenhorn, 96, Egerton Road, Bishopston, Bristol. 
-Around the central beds in the house devoted to succulent plants 
at Kew a border of Streptocarpus was planted last year and has 
attracted much attention this season. The most noticeable has been the 
lilac purple flowered S. Rexi bifiorus, hut groups of the small but profuse 
white S. pauciflorus and the free lilac-flowered hybrid between that and 
S. multiflorus have also been greatly admired. Another remarkable 
species which is unnamed, and presumably has not yet flowered, is one that 
is said to grow at an elevation of 3 to 6,000 feet in the Transvaal. This 
produces a single leaf, which, when fully developed, is 6 to 9 inches 
broad and 12 to 15 inches long, very prominently veined. If the flowers 
are as distinct and striking as the leaves it will be an important addition 
to the genus. The border devoted to these plants is only about a foot 
wide and consists chiefly of peat, but it is astonishing what a number of 
flowers have been produced, and how much it has improved the appearance 
of the house. 
-In the same house Cereus Napoleonis is bearing a number of 
its handsome fruits, which are globular in form, 2 inches in diameter, and 
of an exceedingly rich crimson colour. Of several species of Cereus 
which produce ornamental fruits this is one of the best. Cereus triangu¬ 
laris, the Strawberry Pear, has had several of its enormous flowers, and 
Pilocereus latefrons has been bearing its white or yellowish flowers 
freely. 
- The Southend-on-Sea Chrysanthemum Society will hold 
their first Exhibition on November 10th, this year, in the Public Hall, 
Southend. Twenty-six classes are provided, for Chrysanthemums in pots, 
cut blooms, miscellaneous plants and fruits, the prizes being mostly of 
moderate amount. The Hon. Sec. is Mr. J. C. Johnstone, Creevelea 
House, Southend. 
-There were recently several pretty and useful Orchids in 
Flower at Kew, though this is not the best season for such plants, but 
the condition of the Orchids in this establishment seems to be steadily 
improving, and in the warm house the appearance of the side stages is 
much better now there is a carpeting of Selaginella and Panicum. The 
only objection to this is that it forms a harbour for insects, slugs, and 
other pests, but with care and watchfulness on the part of the cultivator 
such evils can he avoided, and anything is preferable to the bare stages 
and shelves too often seen in such houses. The handsome Oncidium 
varicosum had a grand panicle of its large yellow flowers, and near it also 
in the cool house was a plant of Oncidium incurvum bearing three pani¬ 
cles, each 3 to 4 feet long, with numerous small white and purple flowers. 
Stenoglottis fimbriata is a curious Orchid, with purple-spotted leaves and 
r osy p urple flowers, the lip in three narrow segments. Zygopetalum 
Wendlandi is a good distinct form with white flowers, the lip tinged with 
purple. Satyrium Wightianum is a member of an interesting genus of 
terrestrial Orchids far too seldom seen in gardens ; this is a very pleasing 
species with bright rosy flowers in a close spike. Eria stellata has white 
flowers in a spike 8 or 9 inches long, but is chiefly remarkable for its 
delicious fragrance. A plant of Saccolabium Blumei majus had fou 
handsome spikes of highly coloured flowers, and Dendrobium formosum 
giganteum had unusually large flowers 4( inches in diameter, and eight 
in a spike. 
-Mr. W. BottinG Hemsley states in Nature that the Forster 
Herbarium, a portion of the collections of Cook’s second voyage, has 
been acquired by exchange from the Liverpool Corporation for the Kew 
Herbarium, and it will be incorporated in the general collection. Sir 
Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander accompanied Capt. Cook on his first 
voyage round the world; John Reinhold Forster and George Forster, 
father and son, were the botanists of the second voyage (1772-75), and 
Mr. Anderson, the surgeon of the expedition, collected a little on the 
