Fehruary 3. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
341 
root cannot extend rapidly without a corresponding 
extension of branch in any shrub or tree ; recij)rocity is 
nature's law in this respect, and may not be altogether 
set aide. Much care should be taken over the thinning 
of the berry; many persons thin too freely: this, of 
course, produces larger berries, but such bunches dish 
up badly, and require packing. Grapes at table always 
look best in bold relief; but it is difficult to dish-up 
over-thinned grapes. R. Errington. 
MEETING OE THE HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY.— January 1H, bS.ld. 
There was a large meeting of the Society this day, 
which happened to be the finest day for the last three 
months. The special subjects set apart for this trial, 
were lumhj winter-Jiowerlng Plants, in any shape they 
chose to send them; Grapes of English growth; and 
the best and most varied t;ialad Plants: of all of which 
wo had large quantities. There were nearly fifty kinds 
of out-door plants, in bloom, from the garden of the 
Society; cut flowers, of course, and done up very nicely 
i in bunches, with a little moss round the bottom, then 
I stuck into little pots or jars, as one would arrange them 
at home for the mantel-piece, or anywhere about the 
rooms. In a dirty, smoky-looking place, like London, 
this kind of gardening is a species of luxury in winter, 
of which all classes seem to lake advantage, more and 
more, every year—;judging from the quantities of cut 
flowers one secs in Covent Garden market. 
I went through the market that morning on purpose 
to see how they stood there, as compared with our own 
gathering in the afternoon. What 8urj)rised me most, 
was the cheapness of the nosegays, and the choice of 
flowers in them, and tlie excellent way they make them 
up: Camellias, Scarlet Geraniums, Gardenias, Roses, 
and Violets, mixed iq) into six-inch nosegays, that is, 
six inches across the circle, for half-a-crown. A wedding 
nosegay, as white and as sweet as a Rose or Violet, for 
5s., 7s. (id., to lOs. Od., according to size. I recollect, 
one very hard winter, not many years back, when a 
duchess paid just twelve sovereigns for a bouquet to go 
to the christening of, 1 believe, the I’rinco of Wales, at 
any rate, of one of the royal children. Since then, 1 know 
thatdis. bd. were given fora small nosegay, in the month 
of May, that I could buy to-day in Co vent Garden 
Market for si.xpence. I mention this to show that we 
who stimulate the cultivation of plants and Howers have 
some foundation for giving prizes for cut flowers in the 
dead of winter, a7id in the heart of London, where cut 
flowers are always far more sweet than in the country, 
as the ladies affirm when they go home to their country 
seats. Then, as a hint to those who are about to 
man-y; it is now thought quite vulgar to go together 
without wedding nosegays—all white, if possible; not 
too big,—say the bride’s nosegay four inches across, and 
those for the bride’s-maids not quite so large. 1 had an 
earnest request, the other day, from a young gentleman, 
fresli from his lexicons at Cambridge, to order seven 
bouquets for his wedding, and to choose the flowers, 
size, &c., for him. 1 shall just jnention how the bride’s 
bouquet was to be made—a large, double white Oa- 
mellia for the centre; then a close circle oi Gardenias, 
with throe or four Orange Blossoms in little bundles, 
alternating with the Gardenias all round; then an 
outside border of a White Narcissus, having a crimson 
edge to the eye; guard leaves of the Rose-scented Gera¬ 
niums, and the whole put up in a beautifully-cut white 
])a 2 )er. The seven cost only 30s., a hundred miles from 
London. So wo see that cut flowers arc very useful 
in other places, and in counti'y places, too, as well as 
in London. 
Before I come to our cut flowers, however, I must 
mention a new plant in point, a Dendrohium, the only 
orchid in the room; it was a very dwarf plant, with 
white blossoms, as much like orange-blossoms as any¬ 
thing you ever saw; and in the lecture it was suggested, 
that the flowers of this now orchid might be used for 
any purpose for which orange-blossoms are adapted; 
which some of us believed to be the most philosopliical 
part of the whole lecture. 
The Messrs. Veitch sent up, from Exeter, a small plant 
of the beautiful Souerila, which was so much admired at 
the last meeting. Some people spell the name wrong, 
and few jirouounco it right; the stress is on the i, and 
the sound is like rye, or thus, so-no-rye-la. It is a pity 
that a wrong sound should be given to the name of so 
beautiful a plant, which is sure to come into general 
use, like the Achimenes ; and, as it comes in when the 
Achimenes are over, and will last on to, and through, 
January, everybody will have it by-and-by. After flow¬ 
ering it will go to rest, and it may be kept dry, or nearly 
so, till the beginning of April; then a corner of the 
cucumber bed will set it off again to the end of May; 
after that a close pit culture, without artificial heat, will 
do for it to the end of September; at any rate, that must 
do where no better means are at hand; then, if it W'ere 
managed on the single small-pot plan, like Mr. Pince’s 
zElschynanthus, no doubt it would be in bloom by the 
end of September, and fit to go to the drawing-rooms, in 
succession, along with Gesnera zebrina; also on the 
small-pot culture as I lately set forth. It appears to me, 
from a slight acquaintance with it, that this Soneriki 
will bear the same degree of hardship in the drawing¬ 
rooms as the Begonia parriftora, or Drcgeii. At all 
events, it is more creditable for an old gardener that 
what he says of a new plant should almost fail, than 
that he should be so chicken-hearted as to say nothing 
about it till the rest of the world know all its points of 
culture. 
'The next best wiutor-lloworing plant in the room was 
from the garden of the Hociety, ISiphocampglos microsto- 
miis rubrtts, with heads of brilliant crimson flowers; a 
bushy plant, two feet high, and every branch of it end¬ 
ing in beautiful heads. 'Tho species, microstomus, was 
there also, from the same collection, but it is not nearly 
so handsome ; the two, however, are well worth growing 
in quantities for the winter season. 'The i)hints were 
very healthy-looking, and clothed with deep green 
leaves down to the pot, which is not usual in this 
gay family. I did not learn how this variety was 
obtained, but the species is from New Grenada, and 
is as easily managed as a Justicia carnea, and, I should 
say, much in the same way. Let us follow our prac¬ 
tice with this very plant, and say, that after the flowers 
arc over wo will give it three months’ rest, with 
no more water than would keep it from shrivelling; 
then to cut it down close; water it; apply a little sti¬ 
mulus in a warm pit; and when it was again in leaf, 
to shake off all the soil from it, as we would from a 
Geranium under similar circumstances; then to trim 
the roots a little, and put it into a small pot, with a 
rich, light compost, such as one would use for a pot 
Euchsia. After that, to grow it on kindly through the 
summer, and change the pot two or three times; the 
last potting not to bo later than tho middle of July ; to 
keep it rather dry, airy, and sunny, all through Septem¬ 
ber and October, so as to stop the growth, ripen the 
shoots well, and give them time to form their brilliant 
heads of flowers before the very dull short days, and 
then to force them to open, or lot them do so without 
any hurry. Cuttings of tho first early shoots, in April, 
would make the best plants; but, probably, pieces of 
the old shoots would do when tho plant is cut down, 
and, no doubt, an old plant might be divided into three 
or four divisions at the time of shaking off the soil, and 
