90 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
[ Ftbruiiy 8 1P87. 
- The fifty-ninth annual meeting of the proprietors of the 
Royal Botanical Gardens, Manchester, was held recently at the 
Town Hall, the Mayor (Mr. Alderman Curtis) presiding. It was stated 
that the debt had been somewhat increased owing to the expenditure of 
£2000 in the erection of a Palm house, but all agreed that the Council 
had acted wisely in this matter. There had also been a slight falling 
off in the receipts at the Exhibition owing to the had weather. In the 
past twelve years about £8000 have been expended in the Gardens, and 
they are now in a most satisfactory condition. After some discussion 
with regard to tickets for the Jubilee Exhibition, votes of thanks were 
accorded to the retiring Council, and the officers were elected for the 
year. 
- Chrysanthemum growers will be interested to know that 
amongst other Jubilee prizes Messrs. W. Wood & Son of Wood Green will 
offer at the National Chrysanthemum Society’s principal Show a series 
of prizes—silver cup value 5 guineas, one of their Jubilee Memorial 
silver medals value 30s., and cash prizes—for the best specimen plant 
of a white Chrysanthemum. Any variety, any size pot, any shape, and 
any kind of stimulants are permitted, there being no restrictions what 
ever. This should incite a good contest, and bring up country grower, 
to compete with the Central Society’s usual exhibitors. It will also 
help to show what variety in whites is most esteemed. 
- A Good Late Chrysanthemum. — “ J. H.” writes:—“ Victoria 
Chrysanthemum is one of the very best that could be grown where a 
supply of white flowers is in request at this time of year. Being a 
strong grower of dwarf habit, about 3 feet high, with large dark green 
foliage and pure white flowers, it is especially well adapted to fill the 
stages after the majority of Chrysanthemums are over. I find it best 
not to disbud this variety, as it produces a lot of solid buds around the 
terminal like the one enclosed. They are very suitable for bouquets or 
crosses, wreaths and buttonholes. I also enclose a flower of a sport I 
have on one plant of Victoria, and if I am fortunate in fixing it I am 
sure the colour would lie an acquisition for January and February.” 
Both the flowers are very pretty, the sport being of a rosy purple tinge, 
rather deeper at the margin, like Belle Paule. 
- Mr. Robert Owen, Maidenhead, sends us specimen blooms of 
Primula sinensis varieties, all of great substance, diverse in 
colours, some very bright and rich, others of delicate tints,'spotted or 
pure white. The strain is a very good one. 
- Mr. J. Horsefield, The Gardens, Heytesbury, Wilts, writes : 
—“ I send the enclosed berries of Mrs. Pearson Grape as a proof of 
its keeping qualities. The bunch from which they were taken has been 
cut and bottled for five months, and as you will observe at the present 
time the footstalks are perfectly green, berries plump and of good 
flavour. I regard it as superior to the Muscat of Alexandria at this 
season, and decidedly the best late-keeping white Grape in cultivation.” 
[The paper box was smashed and the Grapes, too ; and all we can say 
is the footstalks are quite green and the skins smooth, indicating that 
the berries were firm when placed in the box.] 
- A paper entitled Orchid Lore by Mr. Lewis Castle was 
read at the monthly meeting of the Lee, Lewisham, and Blackheath 
Horticultural Society on Friday, January 28th, when there was a good 
attendance of members. It was followed by a long and interesting dis- 
cussioM, a unanimous vote of thanks being accorded for the contri¬ 
bution. 
- The annual general meeting of the Liverpool Horticul¬ 
tural Association was held in the large lecture room of the Free 
Public Library, William Brown Street, on Saturday evening, the 29th 
inst., eighty members being present. The report and balance-sheet 
•showed that the Society was still in a prosperous condition. The mem¬ 
bership has increased, as no less than 1280 honorary and ordinary 
members contribute to the funds of the Association. The amount sub¬ 
scribed amounts to £591 4s. The gain on the year’s working is 
£41 15s. 8d., which, added to the balance in the bank, amounts to the 
sum of £549 16s. 4d., a very handsome sum with which to commence 
operations for another year. The special prizes offered at the three 
exhibitions to be held during the present year are more numerous than 
has ever been the case before. Fletcher Rogers, Esq., Woodend, Grassen- 
dale, was again elected Hon. Treasurer, and Mr. Blackmore Sub-Treasurer 
in the place of Mr. William Marshall, who had held the office most 
creditably for four years, but had been compelled to resign 
through failing health. Messrs. J. Peers, Aigburth, and J. Kelly were 
again elected Auditors, and Mr. Edward Bridge Secretary, whose exertions 
cannot be too highly commended. It was proposed by Mr. R. W. Ker 
that the sum of £5 as a donation be granted annually to the Gardeners’ 
Royal Benevolent Institution, but it was considered better to make the 
grant from time to time at the annual meeting according to the pro¬ 
sperity of the Association. This was adopted and the Committee 
empowered to pay the money, the Chairman and Committee to have the 
power of voting on behalf of pensioners. It was suggested by Mr. F. 
Mee that a like sum be paid to Mr. Marshall, the late Sub-Treasurer, 
the Committee being finally empowered to forward £10. It was sug¬ 
gested by Mr. Bardney for consideration that a gardeners’ library be 
started in connection with the Association. Votes of thanks to the 
Committee, officers of the Association, and gentlemen who had promised 
special prizes, and to the Vice-President, Mr. White, for presiding, brought 
the meeting to a close. 
t*el)id3 
CALANTHES FAILING. 
“ R. M.” does not seem to agree with my views of insufficient air 
among the roots. I had forgotten to mention that the pseudo-bulbs in 
question were grown in pots on a slate slab about a yard from the glass, 
and after watering and syringing twice daily I have seen the water¬ 
standing between the slate slab and the pot. It is the practice of some 
Orchid growers to raise the pots from slabs or stagings, so that the water 
can run throngh and get clear away, also as a guard against pests ; but 
in this case it was the reverse, and I can partly agree with “ R. M.” 
that they receive more moisture through the source I have mentioned in 
continuing to wet the slab, so that the two evils together, no doubt, 
wrought the failure. Not, as Mr. D. Philips thinks it was due to ex¬ 
cessive dryness at the root during development, but having to look after 
them myself I am certain it was not so.— F. Debnam, Buttcxhangcr. 
CCELOGYNE CRISTATA. 
Amongst the really useful Orchids this Coelogyne deserves a promi¬ 
nent place, a fact with which most growers are now well acquainted. 
It amply repays for all the attention it requires, and its demands are 
not very extensive. A beautiful example of what can be accomplished 
with Coelogyne cristata by good cultivation is to be seen in the garden 
of Mrs. Evans, Witley, Surrey, where a plant has now thirty spikes 
bearing four or five flowers each. The plant is in excellent health.— 
A. B. 
CYPRIPEDIUM BOISSIERIANUM. 
In the choice collection of Orchids at Studley House, Hammersmith, 
Mr. J. F. Tautz makes a specialty of the genus Cypripedium, and has 
collected a large number of the most valuable hybrids, species, and 
varieties that can be obtained. Several distinguished amateurs have 
paid considerable attention to these distinct Orchids, both in England, 
on the Continent, and in America, some of the handsome Chelsea 
hybrids, like C. Morgan®, ranking amongst the most valuable Orchids of 
the present time. When paying a visit recently to this interesting col¬ 
lection a plant of a very distinct Cypripedium bearing the name of 
Boissierianum was in flower, a sketch of which is given in fig. 14. It is 
related to the South American Selenipediums, and is remarkable for the 
very long twisted and undulated petals ; and though the prevailing 
colour is a light green, these give the flower a curious and most striking 
appearance. There is a slight veining with rose of crimson, and the 
narrow light margin to the petals and dorsal sepal is distinctly marked. 
Like most of the section it is easily grown, of vigorous habit, with long 
graceful narrow arching leaves. At Studley House Mr. Cowley has it in 
the warm house, and like the other plants under his charge it is very 
healthy. 
CYPRIPEDIUM SPICERANUM. 
I strongly advise all who are anxious to possess easily grown and 
beautiful flowering Orchids to secure this Lady’s Slipper. It is one of 
the easiest of all Orchids to grow, and in my opinion one of the prettiest 
of the Cypripediums. Three years ago, while in Messrs. Veitch’s nursery 
at Chelsea, I secured a little plant of it, which had eight or ten 
leaves, and this plant is now 18 inches in diameter, well furnished with 
healthy foliage, and has lately produced some dozens of blooms. In 
fact, it was in bloom in October, and the blossoms are still fresh. Our 
house accommodation for Orchids is not the best, and this is why I infer 
it is easily cultivated. Like all the Cypripediums, it requires abundance 
of drainage, and the soil we grow it in is composed of fibrous turf, peat, 
and oyster shells, which are gathered on the shore not far from here and 
broken into small pieces. We find these better than sand for keeping the 
soil open, and for drainage we prefer them to broken pots. 
