April 17. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
35 
tree, following up the idea of Tree-Carnation. It was 
sent by Mr. John Wadson, florist, Albion Road, Ham¬ 
mersmith. This is just one of those useful plants 
which is so far out of the common run as to make it 
very acceptable to the one-greenhouse amateur who can 
have it in bloom by the end of March. It was a two- 
year-old plant, twenty inches high, and nearly a foot 
across the bottom, full as it could stick of bloom-buds, 
and six or eight of them open; a nice white pink with 
a purplish bar across the bottom of each petal. Whether 
all Pinks could be grown into “trees” or large shrubs, 
I do not know; but I should like one of those for 
myself, as being so much out of the common, and yet 
of the commonest thing in the garden. 
THE SOCIETY’S PLANTS. 
There were two plants of Thyrsacanthus rutilans 
from the garden of the Society, with Muraltia, alias 
Poly gala stipulacea, that never fails to bloom in winter; 
a Boronia tctranda, a tine plant. The Sciadocalyx 
Warzene , a stove Oesnera to all intents and purposes; 
Trymalium Odoratissirnum which they “do” better than 
all England put together, and lots of Begonias, among 
which I noticed a foreign cross from Manicata called 
IcBte-virens, which I would prefer to the species, as being 
so much larger in all the parts about the flower, and 
smaller in the leaves. Between Her Majesty’s garden 
and this Society, the Begonias will soon be as fashionable 
as Orchids and Geraniums. 
ACHIMENES. 
There was another cross from Messrs. Veitch which 
took my fancy; it was a seedling between Achimenes 
Jdrsuta and picta; the name is gigantea, because pi eta is 
made so much bigger by hirsuta. This cross shows 
what we all ought to have known ever so long—that 
Achimenes picta, like Fuschia serratifolia, is capable of 
giving a race of winter-flowering plants by a judicious 
plan of crossing in and in till the winter habit is esta¬ 
blished from picta on a sure basis. 
CHINESE AZALEAS. 
Mr. Toddman, gardener to Mrs. Buckmaster, sent six 
well-bloomed Chinese Azaleas, of which Fulgens superha 
and Coronata were the highest and best coloured; and 
Mr. Wood, gardener to G. W. Norman, Esq., of Bromley, 
sent another lot, but smaller plants, which were just 
such as amateurs in a private way ought to aspire to. 
Those large bushes at the May or June shows are more 
likely than not to dishearten amateurs altogether; there 
they shoot beyond the mark; but Roses, such as those 
from Mr. Francis, and these Azaleas from Mr. Alnut, 
hit the bull’s eye exactly in the middle. But gardeners 
are not the only parties who forget the really practical 
in the practice of their art; look at the Baltic fleet for 
last year, real “specimens” in their ways, but not 
practical for the purposes required. The present J udges 
for this show had all this before their eyes, otherwise, 
would they have given the best prize to the smaller 
Azaleas in preference to those big, flat, and florid ones 
from Mrs. Buckmaster? 
PELARGONIUMS. 
There was one collection of forced Pelargoniums from 
Mr. David Cox, of Manor House, Ham, not far from 
here; they also were of the right sizo and stamp for 
the amateur. Alba multijlora was the bost grown and 
bloomed of the lot; this being the only Geranium which 
no heat can spoil. Silene was the next best of them, 
a lively red flower. Gauntlet, a good flower, as I often 
said, but not a good habited plant, the worse luck. One, 
called Mrs. Johnson, is a good forcer, but is too common 
in looks ; and Bloomsbury , a real Covent Garden-looking 
flower, as Covent Garden used to be supplied twenty 
years ago. But now, if you want to see real good gar 
dening, you ought to go to Covent Garden for the- sight. 
HYACINTHS. 
There was one dozen collection of well-bloomed 
Hyacinths from Mr. Cutbush, of Highgate, in which the 
black metallic lustre of Prince Albert, and the nearly 
scarlet Cavaignac, were the most conspicuous. The 
latter is a great improvement on the old scarlet Hya¬ 
cinths, and there is a light shade down the middle of 
the petals which adds to the distinctness of this kind. 
Two more new kinds were in Mr. Cutbush’s collection 
last month, and the four names ought to be memoran- 
dumed for next autumn by those who do not yet possess 
them. Every one ought to note down all the improve¬ 
ments which I and the rest of us notice in our weekly 
articles, whether he intends buying or not. To be able 
to discourse about this and that, in every department of 
gardening, is the surest way of impressing your friends 
about the value of “ such a head ” as you have got. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
There was a collection of stove and greenhouse plants 
from Mr. Davies, gardener toE. Rosher, Esq., Hamilton 
Terrace, St. John’s Wood, in which was the white- 
berried Ardisia crenulata, a very marked plant in 
contrast to the red-berried kind, which was there also ; 
a Rhododendron Javanicum, with three heads of bloom ; 
a Croton variegatum, Eriostcmon neriifolium, and others ; 
by tho side of these was a fine plant of Phrynium 
sanguineum , from the Pine-Apple Place Nursery. This 
was a fine plant, with several spikes of its light scarlet 
flowers. It is a little known genus between Maranta 
and Ganna. The plant has a long reed-like stem, then 
branches out into Canna-like leaves, which are greenish- 
purple, and upright long spikes of scarlet flowers, after 
tho manner of Maranta. 
FRUIT. 
Grapes. —There was only one dish of Black Ham¬ 
burgh grapes, and that from Mr. Allport, gardener to 
H. Akroyd, Esq., of Doddington, near Nantwich. They 
were a good sample, highly-coloured, and obtained a 
prize. 
Pears. —Mr Tillyard, gardener to the Right Hon. the 
Speaker, at Heckfield, is the luckiest Pear-grower in the 
country. He had the very best samples of them at every 
one of the meetings we have had since Pears came in last 
autumn ; and it often struck me, that the Speaker ought 
to have a basket of such Pears in “ the house,” to stop 
the mouths of sjuch members as speak a great deal 
about things of which they know little or nothing. 
Either those Pears, or a fow bunches of such Asparagus 
as Mr. Solomons exhibits from Covent Garden, would 
effectually stop the mouths of the green Coffee-berry 
gentry for the rest of the session. Mr. Tillyard showed 
six Easter Beurre, twelve Beurre Ranee, fifteen Ne Plus 
Meuris, still very fine, and fifteen Knight's Monarch. 
I moved for leave to bring in a bill for tasting one of 
the latter after the meeting was over. This motion was 
seconded by the Speaker’s own gardener; but the pre¬ 
amble was either not proved, or was out of season for 
tasting the Monarch Pear, and I lost the chance. I 
never tasted Knight's Monarch after tho middle of 
March; but Mr. Tillyard declares it to be a better Pear 
than Beurre Ranee, and will keep as long. 
Mr. Hill, gardener to R. Sneyd, Esq., of Steele Hall, 
Staffordshire, sent nine of the finest Beurre Ranee Pears 
that any of us had ever seen, and Mr. Hutchenson, 
gardener to H. Harrison, Esq., of Aigburth, Liverpool, 
six Beurre Ranee, six Knight's Monarch, six Ne Plus 
