THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, June 28, 1859 
179 
within the frame getting too hot, the outer surface of the covering, 
whether of glass or paper, should be mottled over with paste and 
soot. This should not be put on in streaks, or a uniform coat, 
but daubed with the end of the brush, so as to have the appear¬ 
ance of small black specks with lighter spaces between them. Or 
common black oil-paint may be used, thinned with turpentine, 
when moro durability is required. I have tried every variety of 
shading, and have no hesitation in pronouncing this to be the best, 
i and very far superior even to the roughened glass. 
One of the frequent sources of failure with Tern seedlings is 
| their coming up too thickly, so that there is insufficient room for 
them to become fully developed. There are two ways of dealing 
! with them when this occurs. 
The first is, to take out small portions on the end of a penknife 
and transplant them in little tufts to another plate ; then, by 
having the soil thoroughly wetted, both those which remain and 
those which have been removed may be stirred about so as to 
separate them more completely. 
The other plan is to skim off a small portion of the surface, and 
put it into a teacup with a little clean water, to stir it well but 
gently until the plants are thoroughly separated, and then to pour 
it equally over the surface of a fresh portion of soil previously 
moistened and spread out to receive it. This is an expeditious 
and uniformly successful method, if resorted to sufficiently early ; 
and when a batch of seedlings from any choice spores have been 
obtained, it is worth a little extra trouble not to risk losing them. 
—W. K. Beidghan. 
FLOWER SHOWS AND JUDGES. 
I had a mind, for a long time, to tell why I refuse to go out 
of London to judge at Flower Shows, and this seems a fair oppor¬ 
tunity for doing so. The Horticultural Society having gone to 
Bath or Coventry, the Regent Bark Society being apprehensive 
of a swarm of bees or locusts, from the plains of Chiswick, alight¬ 
ing on the turrets of Kensington, and the exhibitors, judges, and 
reporters at the Crystal Palace not rightly understanding who is 
right or who is wrong—considering all this, it cannot be much of 
an intrusion if I tell the reason why I refuse. 
Some twenty or five and twenty years back, it was the fashion 
to register vows, some in one place and some in another. O’Connell 
registered his vow in heaven, as he said ; and I registered a vow 
over Handel’s grave. He lies where I then went to church—at 
Little Stanmore, near Edgeware. My vow was taken three days 
before it was registered, in the presence of Mr. John Henderson, 
then proprietor of the Pine Apple Place Nursery, and now retired 
on his laurels, and in the presence of the late Mr. Catleugli, 
another well-known nurseryman. We were the three Judges at 
one of the best-conducted county Shows near London. We 
often “ went out,” separately, with other Judges, but then for 
the first and last time by ourselves. We were three of a kindred 
spirit—each a practical man, who cared no more for the man in 
the moon than for the dogs who barked at him and her. We 
compared notes, and found out that it was not the good of 
gardening or gardeners that was then the ruling passion for 
Flower Shows, that one had one turn and one another turn, and 
that all the turnings were on the left-hand side of the way. We 
considered ourselves as three of the guide-posts ; and not liking 
the left-hand turnings, we resolved to take down three of the 
guide-posts which pointed the way we did not approve of. 
This resolution was equivalent to a vow that neither of us would 
go out so again “as long as he lived;” and, as I said, I registered 
my part of the vow over Handel’s grave next Sunday, and refused 
to act as a Judge, and to take pot luck, even though solicited by 
the Editor of The Cottage Gaedenee, eighteen years after the 
registry, anent the judging of their Flower Shows. But he who 
lives the longest of the three may go out again if he choose, when 
the other two are gone. Therefore, it will save bother to know 
that Messrs. John Hfcnderson and D. Beaton cannot go out of 
London to judge for love or money. 
This explanation may serve as an introduction to the following 
letter:— 
“ I am glad you have so spoken out about the mystifying of 
the exhibitors’ tickets. When our people had staged the new 
Saliginella and Oleichenia at the Crystal Palace, a printed card, 
stating from whom they were, was placed to them. On re-admission 
at twelve o’clock, this card was found to have been placed under 
one of the pots, and its blank side up, thus making the two plants 
appear to be part of Mr, Veitch’s group. 
“ If I read your notes correctly, you had to turn up most of 
the cards to the new plants to get at the exhibitors’ names. It is 
; well that there is a Cottage Gaedenee, and a writer fearless 
enough to censure the ‘ mangling and ironing ’ occoasioually done 
: elsewhere. 
“By the way, if all Flower-Show managers were, and had been, 
j as courteous as Mr. Eyles, there w’ould be but few grumblers, 
and those of that never-satisfied class, unless invariably success¬ 
ful.”— Robt, Sims, jun., Fool's Crag Nursery. 
All the best practical Judges at the Crystal Palace told me the 
plan of concealing the names of the exhibitors, or the make-believe 
plan, was most absurd as tar as they, the Judges, were concerned. 
Let the proceeding be ventilated fairly, justly, and gentlemanly, 
for the credit of the Crystal Palace Company, who desire to adopt 
the best practical course,—D, Beaton, 
NOTES ON NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 
Boeonia Deummondi. Planch. Nat. ord., Eutaoea. Na¬ 
tive of West Australia. — Evergreen, dwarf, erect. Branches 
slender, round. Leaves opposite, nearly sessile, pinnate ; leaflets 
from three to seven pairs, and a terminal one, w hich is shorter 
than the lateral ones ; linear, dark green. Flowers axillary and 
solitary; peduncles short, with two minute bracts a little above 
the base. Calyx consisting of four acute, ovate, glandular, green 
sepals, thickly marked with small pellucid dots. Petals four, 
ovate, beautiful rosy-purple. Stamens eight, arising from the 
base of a large glandular disk surrounding the ovary, opposite and 
alternating with the petals ; the four which are opposite shorter 
than the others—all are glandular and curve towards the pistil 
with capitate anthers. Pistil short, very stout, with a large, green 
i stigma. 
A very beautiful greenhouse plant, whose habit, naturally so 
good, requires little trouble to lorm it into handsome specimens. 
A compost of sandy peat, with a little light loam and small bits 
of charcoal, suits it best. The drainage must be kept in the 
most perfect condition to ensure success. The flowering of this, 
as well as many other Boronias, is much enhanced by being 
placed in a temperature a little higher than that of the greenhouse. 
Cuttings of the partially-ripened shoots, in very mild heat, root 
freely. Flowers in April and May. 
Boeonia poeygaljefolia. 8m. Native of West Australia. 
— Glaucous, erect, rather lax. Branches slender, smooth, round ; 
i when young, glaucous. Leaves opposite, entire, obtusely ellip¬ 
tical, thick, obscurely serrate. Inflorescence cymose, terminal, 
and axillary. Calyx of four acute, ovate, red-tinted sepals. Petals 
four, bluntly ovate, pale rosy-purple. Stamens eight, nearly 
equal. Pistil short. Ovary four-celled, seated upon a large, red, 
fleshy disk. 
Very distinct from the above, but equally desirable. It requires 
a little more attention to stopping and tying out; but in other 
respects it should have the same kind of treatment as B. Drum- 
mondi. It comes into flower a little later. 
Adenandba umbellata. Willd. Nat. ord., Eutacece. Na¬ 
tive of the Cape of Good Hope.—Shrubby, compact, very hand¬ 
some. Branches erect, reddish, glutinose. Leaves sessile, lauceo- 
| late elliptical, ciliated with minute glandular hairs, thickly covered 
on the under side with dark green dots containing oil. Flowers 
' terminal, nearly sessile, sometimes several together, then they' are 
umbellate, but more usually solitary. Sepals five, lanceolate, 
reddish, ciliated from the base half way up with minute glandu¬ 
lar hairs. Petals five, broadly elliptical, minutely ciliated, pink 
on the outside, white on the inside, with a narrow line of delicate 
crimson running from the base half way up the centre. Stamens 
ten, five fertile and five barren; the first having at the apex of 
each anther a round stipitate gland, which falls back as the 
anther becomes matured. Style short, with a capitate green 
stigma. 
This may not be termed a free-blooming plant, but it is cer¬ 
tainly a beautiful and highly interesting one. Mr. Fish, in a 
late number of The Cottage Gaedenee, gave excellent instruc¬ 
tions on the culture of this plant, under the name of A. speciosa, 
under which it is more generally known in gardens. 
Bossi/EA linophylla. E. Br. Nat. ord., Leguminosa. 
Native of New Holland.—Very graceful, about three feet high. 
Branches slender, compressed, with, when young, a narrow-, 
slightly transparent, wing. Leaves sessile, linear, narrow, ob¬ 
scurely muoronate. Flowers axillary, two or three together, on 
