February 13.J 
to bo wished that those who deal in seeds would consider 
well, that a gardener who is disappointed receives a very 
great injury. It would be far more honourable for a 
seedsman to say that he had none he can depend upon, 
because a gardener could then have some other kind. 
The Society for the Promotion of Floriculture, one 
branch meeting at Kingsland and the other in the City, 
had some hundreds of new flowers and plants exhibited 
for certificates during the last year, but did not grant in 
the whole half a dozen. This check upon the issue of 
worthless novelties has been of the greatest service to 
amateur purchasers, who have been preyed upon by 
dealers in new flowers at great prices, that have turned 
out good for nothing, until confidence had been all but 
destroyed. The productions are not judged by the mem¬ 
bers, but each branch elects six judges by ballot, and 
the twelve form a board, of which three form a quorum; 
and to those judges who may happen to be present are 
all novelties submitted. The consequence is, that if a 
plant, or flower, obtains a first class certificate, it may 
be relied on by any amateur as an advance upon the 
best we have already. 
The Annual Dahlia Show, which lias taken place iu 
or near London for many years under one direction, and 
which has for a considerable time settled the fate of 
seedlings, is likely to be transferred to other hands—and 
report says to Notting Hill, where it will be held upon 
an extensive scale, under the auspices of several well- 
known patrons of the flower. We hope they will secure 
proper judges, for the awards at many of the dahlia 
meetings have been very unsatisfactory. 
The cultivators of the dahlia are beginning to propa¬ 
gate their favourite varieties, and making up their notes 
for ordering new ones. Those who wish to add to the 
beauty of their garden collection, will find but few really 
novel colours; and the best formed ones are, one and 
all, uncertain. The most striking colours are, Baltic, a 
rich golden buff; Queen of Fairies, a singularly beauti¬ 
ful white, with a lavender or rosy lilac spot. Neither of 
these are of first-rate form, but very beautiful in colour. 
Two rival whites, Queen of the West and Bar-maid, are 
fine models, but not very certain; the former will be 
rather thin for the . late season of showing; and the 
latter has a thin green scale in the centre, but occasion¬ 
ally comes without it. Admiral is a fine rosy lilac, 
something like very fine blooms of Fearless, Duke of 
Cambridge, and Queen of Lilacs, apparently constant; 
but as the advertisements appear, we shall notice all 
that have been publicly exhibited. 
Mr. llendle, of Plymouth, has formed his grounds 
into regular horticultural gardens, and offered them to 
the Royal Devon Horticultural Society upon conditions, 
which, after awaim discussion, have been rejected. This 
has led to one of those unfortunate differences which 
end in the establishment of rival societies. A public 
meeting has been held for the purpose of forming a new, 
or “ South Devon Horticultural Society,” in connection 
with the new gardens, and a committee has been ap¬ 
pointed to carry out the design. A number of the resi¬ 
dent gentry having entered their names as subscribers. 
301 
The most persevering and, perhaps, most fortunate 
raiser of the Verbena, Mr. George Smith, has this year 
produced some half dozen novelties, which are an 
advance upon the varieties now in cultivation. Three 
we have noticed in fine condition publicly exhibited— 
Exquisite, Enchantress, and Shyloclc; Othello and British 
Queen we saw out of condition, but apparently little 
inferior. The first three have been universally admired. 
Balsams are, it seems, to be a leading feature at many 
of the country exhibitions; and we are glad to see plants, 
which contribute so greatly to the brilliancy of a show, 
when well grown and of good sorts, brought into greater 
notice. There was a time when the balsam used to 
excite the skill and attention of the gardener; and these 
qualities in the cultivator were almost measured by the 
manner in which he would produce them. But if the 
societies wish to encourage general competition, they 
should attach the conditions to the competition, and 
give the growers some notion of the properties they 
intend to consider perfection. For instance, the size of 
the pots must be limited, say six, seven, eight, or nine 
inches in diameter; or say pots twenty-four to the cast ; 
then the breadth or shrubbiness of the plant; the 
doubleness of the flower; the quantity and closeness of 
the blooms; the contrast of the colours; are all qualities 
which should be specified in the schedule; because last 
season, at most of the shows, the judges had to decide 
upon plants of all sizes and conditions; some were all 
four or six of a colour; some well grown plants, with 
worthless semi-double flowers; some past bloom, and 
others not come into flower. We shall be glad to see 
the balsam brought into general cultivation; it is the 
most noble of all annuals; requires great care to pro¬ 
duce it fine and shrubby, and good seed is most essen¬ 
tial. The antiquated notion that new seed is not so 
good as old, has been exploded; because Balsams were 
produced last year as fine as they could be from seed 
saved the year before.—E. Y. 
NEW PLANTS. 
THEIR PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES. 
Sulphur-flowered Francis’s Echites (Echites Fran- 
ciscea, var. Floribus sulphureis).—Botanical Magazine, 
t. 4547.—This is a geuus of very interesting stove 
climbers, which has a wide range in the East and West 
Indies and in South America, climbing up trees, which 
they embrace in coils with their smooth stems, and the 
young wood often streaked with different hues giving 
them much of the resemblance of huge serpents; hence 
the name from echis, a viper. In almost all our cata¬ 
logues, the origin of this family name is attributed to 
Linnaeus, but the true author of it was Patrick Browne, 
au Irish botanist, who wrote the Civil and Natural His¬ 
tory of Jamaica, published in London in 1750. Echites 
belongs to the Natural Order Dogbanes (Apocynacem), 
a large order, remarkable alike for plants bearing large 
showy flowers abundantly and produced chiefly on the 
wood of the same season’s growth; and also for the 
venomous or acrid qualities of their milky juice. The 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
