72 THE FLOEIST AND POMOLOGIST. [ MARCH, 
iiuniber of the four usual types, green, grey, and Avhite-edged, and seifs, or even representa¬ 
tives of each, yet those who best illustrate these several types will assuredly come nearest to 
the specified limitation, that of dissimilarity. The success of this attempt to organise an 
Auricula show in London is very encouraging. 
- Amongst the new Potatos, Hooper's Covent Garden Perfection is highly 
spoken of. It was raised by Mr. Clarke, of Cranemoor, and is described as being 
of a flattish oval form, very level-eyed so as not to waste in paring, of medium 
and uniform size, with a rough skin, and great specific gravity. This variety, while unques¬ 
tionably handsome and holding a high position as an exhibition tuber, has the more important 
qualification of bearing the ordeal of cooking, since it comes to table as a “ ball of flour,” and 
having that chief requisite—a good flavour. 
- JtT is announced that the stock of Laxton's Seedling Pelargoniums^ 
including Vesta and Mrs. Trevor Clarke, which have been awarded First-class 
Certificates by the Floral Committee of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, has 
passed into the hands of Mr. R. Gilbert, of Burghley. His named and certificated New Roses, 
viz., Mrs. Laxton, Charles Darwin, Emily Laxton, Dr. Hogg, and Marchioness of Exeter, have 
become the property of Messrs. Paul and Son, of Cheshunt; while Mr. Turner, of Slough, has 
acquired all the unnamed seedling Roses. 
- ®HE hardiest of the Tritomas has been ascertained, by Messrs. Backhouse 
and Son, of York, to be T. Rooperi, It was found that while the flower-spikes of 
the other kinds, namely, T. Uvaria glaucescens, and grandiflora, succumbed to the 
first frosts, and drooped and withered at once, those of Tritoma Rooperi bore the same low 
temperature uninjured, and many plants of this species have bloomed through the winter in 
Messrs. Backhouse’s nurseries. T. Rooperi is a dwarf plant, from ft. to 2 ft., well adapted 
for positions in groups or borders where the taller kinds might be considered de trop. It 
commences to flower later than T. Uvaria. 
- JTrom the report and balance-sheet issued by the Committee of the 
Hailstorm Relief Fund^ it appears that the total amount raised for the relief of 
the sufferers in the neighbourhood of Tottenham was £779 18s. 7d., of which 
£699 158. 8d. was distributed among forty-one persons, in sums varying from £111 4s. lOd., 
the highest, to £l 7s. 3d., the lowest. The total amount asked for by those who suffered 
damage was upwards of £2,000, but the Assessment Committee carefully investigated each 
case, and acted accordingly. 
- ®HE exhibition of the Richmond Horticultural Society is fixed to take 
place in the Old Deer Park, Eichmond, on the 28th of June next. 
- — — William Melville, of the Tyneville Vineries, Jersey, died on 
January 2 7, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. Mr. Melville was for thirty years 
gardener at Dalmeny Park, near Edinburgh, and retired about eight years ago 
on a liandsohie annuity from the Earl of Rosebery. He was an enthusiastic cross-breeder of 
plants, particularly df the Brassica tribe, and sent out, amongst others, the Albert and 
Roseberry Sprouts, and a very superior Variegated Kale. He was also the raiser of the 
Muscat Champion Grape, and in early life was one of the first to improve the Pansy. Of his 
fifteen children, six were brought up as gardeners. 
- — IWr. John Harrison, of the North of England Eose Nurseries, 
Darlington, died rather suddenly, at Catterick Bridge, at the advanced age of 
seventy-six. As a Eose-grower he stood deservedly high, and was an efficient , 
supporter of most of the principal exhibitions in Yorkshire and Northumberland, besides 
other parts of England. Two of his sons have been brought up to the nursery business. 
