444 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 29,.1330. 
Society was held on Wednesday, May 21st. BIr. G. Rose, gardener, 
Merlewood, occupied the chair. An excellent paper on the cultivation 
of the Peach was read by Mr. G. Peel, gardener, Studley, Mr. Peel 
treated the subject in a practical manner, dealing more particularly 
with Peach growing outside. A capital discussion followed, and a 
number of questions asked, which were replied to satisfactorily. Mr. 
Peel received a hearty vote of thanks for his paper, and a similar 
compliment was paid to the Chairman for presiding. 
Cattleya Parthenia. 
Unoer the above name M. Bleu exhibited a plant in flower at 
the Paris Show, which attracted the attention of all the orchidists 
present as one of the most beautiful hybrid Cattleyas yet 
raised. It will be remembered that M. Bleu flowered a 
hybrid between C. intermedia (amethystina) and C. Acklandiae 
a year or two ago, which was named C. calummata, but this 
was not found subsequently to possess such distinctive characters 
as at first thought, though I understand that some of the 
, _ ^ ^ ric. G.5.—PHAius HYBRIDUS COOKSONI (see page 416). 
, - In the year 1886, when BIr. John Gardiner was scientific 
adviser to the Board of Agriculture of the Bahamas, he was asked by 
Governor H. A. Blake to prepare a list of the flora of the colony. At 
the same time a list of the plants of New Providence, prepared some 
years before by BIr. L. J. K. Brace, was placed at his disposal. With 
this as a base, BIr. Gardiner set to work, and in due lime his task was 
accomplished. The list, with notes and additions by Prof. Charles S. 
Dplley, has now been printed in the Proceedings of the Academy of 
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. , It is called provisional as BIr. 
Gardiner explains in an introductory note, mainly because it is not 
backed throughout by herbarium specimens. 
- BIr. George W. Perry of Rutland, Vt., writes to Science 
that European Furze grow’s in one spot in the island of Nantucket, 
where it has maintained itself for fifty years. It was introduced by an 
Irishman, “ who was homesick becaiuse it did not grow about his cabin 
as in the old country.” BIr. Perry believes it has not spread to any 
great extent. “ It may be interesting to some,” he adds, “ that the 
Scotch Heath also is found in one spot in the island, where it has con¬ 
tinued for a long time.” BIr. George M. Dawson of the Geological 
Survey of Canada, also writes to our American contemporary about 
Gorse or Furze in the New World. He says it has for many years been 
fully naturalised in the southern part of Vancouver Island, where along 
roadsides and in waste places near Victoria it is very common. The 
Broom is also abundant in similar situations in the same locality, and 
'• both plants appear to be as much at home as in their native soil.”— 
(^Kature'). 
- Leicester and BIidland Counties Chrysanthemum 
Society. —The schedule of prizes for the Show of this Society, to be 
held in the Temperance Hall, Leicester, on November 14th and 15th 
next, has just been issued, and shows a marked advance and improve¬ 
ment on all previous efforts of the Society. Several new and additional 
classes are added, including one in which the prizes, 50s., 30s., and 10s., 
are given by Thos. Brooks, Esq., of Barkby Hall, for twelve blooms 
distinct, six incurved and six Japs, grown by working men residing 
within a radius of five miles of Leicester clock tower. A silver cup, 
value ten guineas, is added to the cash prize of £10 as a first prize in 
the open class for forty-eight cut flowers ; also a second silver cup 
given by the tradesmen of Leicester, value £5, is allotted as a first 
prize for twenty-four blooms in the district class, open to gentlemen’s 
gardeners and amateurs residing within a radius of six miles of the 
clock tower. Owing to the recent resignation of the late Secretary, 
BIr. J. Read, a complete reorganisation of the Committee has taken 
place, and the following officers been appointed :—President, Thos. 
Wright, Esq., The Hollies, Leicester ; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. A. F. Lucas, 
8, Lower Hastings Street, Leicester; Hon. Sec., BIr. F. H. Anthony, 
» Church Road, South Knighton ; Chairman of Com¬ 
mittee, Mr. W. K. Woodcock, Barkby Road Nurseries, 
Syston, Leicester; Deputy-Chairman, BIr. A. Bridge- 
water ; Secretary, Mr. E. E. Waite, 12, Diseworth 
Street, Blelbourne Road. BIr. J. Burns, F.B.H.S., 
Curator of the Leicester Abbey Park, has, with the 
consent of the Parks Committee, kindly promised to 
decorate the hall on the occasion of the Show, which 
is being looked forward to with confidence, as likely 
to be of a far higher order of merit than any the 
Society have previously held. 
- Roses in America. —It is rather a remark¬ 
able fact that there is now nowhere in the United 
States anyone distinguished for a knowledge of culti¬ 
vated Roses. Rosarians, as they are called in England, 
are common enough there, and their patient researches 
and their zeal in gathering and disseminating know¬ 
ledge about Roses has been of the greatest service 
in increasing the taste for the cultivation of the queen 
of flowers. It is hardly conceivable that the Rose does 
not hold the first place among flowers in the affection 
of the people of this country. She must still be 
queen by right and by tradition, although some newer 
favourites, like the Chrysanthemum, may appear to 
press her hard for a time. No people in the world 
buy so many Roses as ours, and although fashion and 
love of display may have something to do with the 
great prices often paid for these flowers in winter, a 
real love of Roses for their own sake is the true 
reason for their popularity. American florists grow 
Roses, especially under glass in winter, to perfection, and the best 
products of their skill are hardly to be matched anywhere. One 
can be a good commercial grower of Roses and yet have only a 
limited knowledge of a comparatively few varieties, and the professional 
florist from a business point of view need only know how to draw from 
these the best money returns. What is really needed, however, in the 
interest of horticulture here is someone with leisure and opportunity 
to take up and carry on systematically the study of Roses where 
Parkman and Ellwanger have left the subject. The field is an inviting 
one. The possibilities of Rose culture in this country are great, and so 
are the possibilities of improving the various races of the Rose to meet 
the demands of the different climatic conditions in various parts of the 
country. What a tempting field California and our Southern States offer 
to the enthusiastic rosarian ! There is much to learn, too, of the 
possibilities of Rose culture in the trying climates of the Northern 
States. Certainly there is not now in American horticulture any other 
field where careful study is so much needed as in that offered by the 
Rose, and no other where intelligent investigation in the right spirit 
will find so little competition, or can do more useful work, or earn for 
the investigator a more agreeable reputation .—(The American Garden 
and Florist.') 
