276 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
•January 2, 1886. 
of any year’s work. Our forefathers, whose 
experiences of shows was exceedingly limited, 
would, perhaps, marvel could they now revisit 
us and find us existing in a perfect atmosphere 
of shows, which seem to crowd upon us with 
marked redundancy as the year wanes. The 
Chrysanthemum is responsible for the latter 
development of exhibitions, and if in a year or 
two some other flower possessing not less useful 
and popidar features should arise, and create, 
say in spring, all that the Chrysanthemum does 
for the autumn, then another addition to our 
show season may be looked for. Truly, we 
may think we have enough of shows and to 
spare ; but it is just now absolutely impossible 
for the wisest to predict how much farther they 
may or may not expand to. In any case there 
is ample reason to believe that horticulture will 
expand to breadth and development beyond our 
present anticipations. 
Of course, one year alone may not accomplish 
much, but the years are steps in the upward 
progress of horticultural advancement; a single 
step means little, a score of steps shows a great 
bound. We may not be able to take credit 
for any material advance made during the past 
year, but the usual annual step has been taken ; 
and a review of the advance made during the 
past twenty years shows that stride upward has 
been a big one. The experience of the past 
constitutes our faith in the future, and those 
privileged to survey the condition of horti¬ 
culture in this country in 2000 will doubtless 
see much of which we may just now only 
conjecture, but cannot realise. We, therefore, 
look forward to the new year with hope and 
pleasant anticipations. There are myriads of 
earnest minds contemplating more usefulness 
and activity ; and although we are taught that 
prudence doth shape our ends, rough hew 
them how we will, we can but hope, that the 
shape will be in such a way as to promote the 
interests of gardening, and with them the 
interests of all classes of the community. 
--- 
GARDENING MISCELLANY. 
The Birds and Winter Berries.— What a 
marvellous disappearance of berries from various shrubs 
and trees took place during the recent sharp spell of 
frost. Large bushes of Yews, for instance, that were 
covered with their crimson fruit were soon stripped, 
thrushes and blackbirds, in particular, making them 
their prey. Even the berries of Cratmgus pyracantha 
were not sacred from their depredations, and at Hanger 
Hill House, Ealing, the residence of E. M. Nelson, 
Esq., J.P., a large space of wall on a west aspect, 
covered with Crataegus, the same being loaded with 
berries, became such an object of attack that it was 
found necessary to net a portion of the wall in order to 
save some for Christmas decorations. The haws in the 
hedgerows and berries of the Holly have disappeared in 
the same way. The seeds of the Yew are said to be 
acrid and narcotic, and it would seem that the birds 
devoured the crimson pulp surrounding them, but 
allowed the seeds to fall upon the ground. 
Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland. — 
This Society’s exhibitions during thp present year will 
be held as follows -.—Spring show, Thursday, April 
15th ; May show, Thursday, May 20th ; summer show, 
Thursday, July 8th ; autumn show, Thursday, August 
26th ; winter show, Thursday, November 18th. 
Mr. Robert Todd, so long in charge of the 
gardens at Rawcliffe and Ascog Hall, Scotland, has 
been appointed to lay out the grounds and act as 
superintendent at the International Exhibition of 
Industry, Science and Art, Edinburgh, to be opened 
in Slay next. 
Sutton’s Amateur’s Guide. —“ Better than 
ever!” we anticipate will be the general verdict on 
Messrs. Sutton’s “Amateur’s Guide in Horticulture” 
for the current year, for it is certainly a marvel of ex¬ 
cellence as regards arrangement, typography, and the 
practical usefulness of the information contained in its 
102 pages. The coloured and monotint plates are 
admirable, the former representing single Dahlias, 
Carnations and Picotees, and double 'Wallflowers, and 
the latter some half-dozen varieties of Broccoli and 
Sutton’s Earliest of All Tomato, a remarkably early 
and free-bearing variety, strongly recommended for 
open-air culture. Besides the coloured plates, the 
pages of the guide are embellished with upwards of 
eighty well-executed wood engravings, representing 
valuable novelties in vegetables and flowers, which the 
firm are sending out this season, and older introduc¬ 
tions, the strains of which are constantly being 
improved by the process of selection. “ The Pocket 
Garden Calendar ” issued by the same firm last year 
having proved acceptable to so many, a new edition 
for the present year lias been prepared, and as it is of 
a convenient size for carrying in the pocket, and con¬ 
tains a good assortment of useful information for 
amateurs, and withal can be obtained by anyone 
sending a penny stamp, the edition will doubtless soon 
be exhausted. 
Miss North’s Orchid Pictures. —A corre¬ 
spondent writes :—“It was once suggested in a con¬ 
temporary that these very beautiful and interesting 
pictures might be displayed in one or two English 
towns and then brought to Edinburgh or Glasgow for 
a while, so that more people might have an opportunity 
of seeing them than is possible if they are kept per¬ 
manently at Kew. I believe I am right in considering 
that Miss North’s presentation was made to the 
nation and not to a select few, and I feel sure anyone 
having influence enough, who would take this matter 
up, would be rewarded by the thanks of many who 
have not the opportunity of visiting London and all its 
wonders. If the collection were allowed to remain six 
months or so in each provincial town it was taken to, 
I feel certain thousands would go to see it, and it is 
hard to say how much it would do to increase the cul¬ 
tivation of Orchids. People want to see such a sight 
to let them know what beautiful forms and colours 
belong to the Orchid family. ‘ Bed tape ’ is strong, 
but it can be broken sometimes. Why not in this case ? 
London must ‘ devolve’ some of its treasures.” 
Tuberous Begonias.— Messrs. John Laing & 
Co., Forest Hill, have favoured us with a large and 
well executed coloured plate of single Begonias, which 
for the size, form, and brightness in colour of the 
varieties represented, completely puts in the shade 
everything else in this way that we have seen. The 
blooms are of a size that was undreamt of a few years 
ago, the largest, Princess Victoria, measuring no less 
than nearly 7 ins. across. Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, 
who have been successful in raising many grand double- 
flowered varieties, have also issued a large plate, 
printed in black and white on a tinted ground, and 
very effective as a whole. For size and shape the 
selection that has been made is all that can be desired. 
A Horticultural Congress in Paris. —Under 
the auspices of the Societe Nationale d'Horticulture de 
France, a horticultural congress will be held in Paris 
from the 4th to the 9th of May next, during the exhi¬ 
bition, when a great number of questions bearing upon 
horticulture and gardening generally will be discussed, 
and, no doubt, many valuable facts elicited. The 
active members of the committee of arrangements are 
Mons. Hardy, Ernest Beigman, M. Dybowski, Albert 
Truffaut, and Ch. Verdier ; the secretary, Mons. A. 
Bleu ; and the president, M. Leon Say. 
Late Flowering Chrysanthemums. —The 
exhibition to be held at the Westminster Aquarium on 
the 13th inst. should prove of great practical service in 
bringing together for comparison the latest flowering 
varieties. Two prizes are offered in each of six classes, 
and a third will be given where the exhibits are of a 
meritorious character. Miscellaneous contributions 
are invited by the executive, and it is hoped that a 
liberal response will be made. 
Dr. Talmage on the Chrysanthemum.— 
In a recent sermon, Dr. Talmage, of Brooklyn, U.S.A., 
said : — “ The Chrysanthemum has taken us this week 
by storm of bright colours. Horticultural Hall, New 
York, has been all ablaze with this foreign flower. 
Even people who long ago decided that the Chinese 
must go have generously decided that this Chinese 
plant may take possession of our gardens and hot 
houses. Thousands of citizens have paid this week for 
the privilege of looking upon these constellations of 
floral beauty. To walk among them has seemed like 
crossing a corner of heaven. We applaud this floral 
exhibition as indicative of elevated taste. He who in 
the Book of Books compares himself to the Bose of 
Sharon and the Lily of the Valley no doubt approves of 
this decoration of our city. There is a possibility that 
the Bose, which has heretofore been considered the 
Queen of Flowers, may be outvoted by the one thou¬ 
sand varieties of this Mongolian importation. Long 
live the Chrysanthemum ! ” 
-—►>*<—- 
USEFUL DECORATIVE PLANTS. 
It is at this dull season of the year when flowering 
plants and cut flowers generally are of the greatest 
value, that we are inclined to appreciate to the full 
those plants which, on account of their pleasing foliage 
and graceful habit, combined with their robust consti¬ 
tutions, are so well suited for the embellishment of our 
sitting and drawing rooms. Here it is, either owing 
to the inclemency of the weather outside or various 
other causes, that much spare time is spent, and 
accordingly it should be the endeavour of all to make 
these apartments as gay and cheerful as possible. With 
this idea in view, and also with a further view of briefly 
setting forth a variety of suitable plants, it is that I 
have taken up my pen, and in doing so will cite only 
those which, from their robust constitution, are capable 
of withstanding the greatest amount of hardship with 
comparative impunity. 
The Aspidistras. 
Without any attempt at selection, I think I may 
well place to the front the Aspidistras, a small genus 
of plants which, on account of their hard coriaceous 
leaves, are capable of withstanding more hardships and 
rough usuage than any plants of my acquaintance. 
They are very nearly hardy, too, though when grown 
under these conditions, we do not realise the hundredth 
part of their usefulness and beauty. They should be 
grown as greenhouse plants, and it is no common occur¬ 
rence to meet them among the ordinary occupants of the 
stove. It is, however, when the plants are well grown 
and coloured that they become valuable as window plants, 
or as suitable ornaments for pedestals in the entrance 
hall and like places. The Aspidistras are largely grown 
on the continent, for these and many similar places, as 
balconies, corridors, &c. ; and seeing that it is one of the 
easiest managed plants we possess, enduring to the 
utmost any amount of hardship we can inflict upon it, 
this is not to be wondered at. 
It is one of the plants we too seldom see employed 
in its right place, for it will last for months without 
the general effect being marred. The leaves generally 
are of a deep glossy green hue, sometimes blotched or 
striped with creamy yellow, or in other instances the 
one half of the leafis variegated and the other half green. 
The kinds most generally seen are A. lurida variegata 
and A. elatior variegata ; there is also a variety of 
elatior known as aurea punctata, with the leaves as 
signified in its specific names, spotted with gold. 
The India-rubber, Plant. 
For another instance where usefulness and hardihood 
are found in combination, I may mention Ficus elas- 
tica, a well-known plant, and one generally admired. 
It is as well suited for a window where it is compara¬ 
tively gloomy and dull, as it is for the greenhouse or 
conservatory, indeed, it seems to thrive equally well 
under conditions not generally considered favourable 
to their well being, doing nearly as well where in contact 
with various gaseous vapours, as they do in glass struc¬ 
tures, where their wants are duly attended to. It is a 
noble looking plant too, and may in summer-time be 
turned out-of-doors among sub-tropical plants. 
Eulalias. 
From this we may turn to a small group wherein 
beauty and grace are combined, the former of which 
may be found in their pleasingly variegated foliage, 
and the latter in their elegant pendant habit. Ireferto the 
Eulalias, which figure among the most conspicuous of the 
variegated grasses, and which are without doubt the very 
essence of effect in any group of ornamental foliage and 
flowering plants. The Eulalias are quite hardy, but as 
with the Aspidistras, so with these, if we would see 
the most of their beauty and elegant grace we must 
give them the protection they need. In the Vicarage 
Garden at Bitton, the hardiness of these beautiful grasses 
has been well tested, and they are in fine clumps. At 
least one, if not two or more kinds of Eulalia japonica 
fob var. has long narrow gracefully recurved leaves, 
with a band of creamy white running down the centre 
of each leaf, giving it an almost unique appearance. E. 
japonica zebrina is the zebra-striped Eulalia, remark- 
