276 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 1, 1887. 
dread to see more; but it is certain, come what 
will, that the year will be one of common-place 
character in all its natural features. One event 
will, perhaps, for a few days, excite British 
people, because the Sovereign of this empire 
will celebrate a period of government seldom 
the lot of kings or queens—the 50th anniversary 
of the ascent of Her Majesty to the throne of 
Great Britain. That this Jubilee celebration 
will, for a time, give some stimulus to trade is 
certain, and it is hoped that it may prove bene¬ 
ficial to horticulture. There can be little doubt 
but that it would be unwise to anticipate too 
much from that event, for bursts of excitement 
or of expenditure too often are followed by 
periods of dullness and depression, which often 
more than counterbalance any good resulting 
from the previous outburst of activity. 
Those who remember the general rejoicing 
indulged in over the celebration of peace at the 
close of the Crimean war can hardly have other 
than painful remembrance of the depression or 
reaction which succeeded. So closely are our 
special interests, as embodied in gardening, 
identified with national vigour and prosperity, 
that we can hardly avoid glancing with anxiety 
to the disturbed condition of affairs on the 
continent of Europe. -.There the materials of a 
terrible conflagration seem to be in course of 
preparation, and but awaits the act of the 
political incendiary which shall set the whole 
ablaze. At home we find ourselves in the 
midst of an exciting and disturbing political 
crisis, and evidence is not wanting that the 
coming year will be one fraught, in our domestic 
affairs, with much that is angry and passionate 
as well as of absorbing interest. Ho doubt 
we have, nationally, a severe ordeal to pass 
through, out of which, it is hoped, we may come 
strengthened, purified and more prosperous; 
but till that haven is reached we must make up 
our minds for troublous times, and the best 
thing to do is to face them wisely and boldly. 
Me have no desire to adopt the role of 
Jeremiah, and paint a dolorous picture. Me 
simply refer to matters which seem so inevitable 
that even the blind may almost see them, and 
which to be forewarned upon is to the more 
easily faced. Me have said that national pros¬ 
perity is associated with the welfare of gardening. 
Me might, indeed, say that both are indis¬ 
solubly connected, and in the growth of one we 
see the expansion of the other. Indeed, from 
our point of view, there is not to be found any 
evidence of our progress as a people that is at 
once more patent and more satisfactory than is 
seen in the growth of gardening and the warm 
love for it so universally extant. In spite of 
all disturbances, political or otherwise, which 
may interpose between us and complete hap¬ 
piness, the spring, summer and autumn, with 
all their rich profusion of products of the earth, 
will inevitably come. Storms may sometimes 
rage ; but so also will the sun shine out in 
all its pristine beauty, causing the earth to 
rejoice, and the very fields and gardens to break 
forth into splendour. The statesman, exhausted 
and wearied with political cares ; the merchant, 
worried and tired with business ; the profes¬ 
sional man, borne down with the weight of 
toil, all alike find in gardening a sweet recreative 
repose from trouble and labour. To the myriads 
of workers in gardens, who know little of these 
greater cares, life should be happier than to 
most other workers. Me hope it is, and speci¬ 
ally do we hope that the year now entered upon 
may prove prosperous to them, to us, to the 
kingdom, to all, in spite of gloomy forehodings. 
-->x<-- 
Mp.. Alexander McLeax, late foreman at Park 
Hall, Polmont, lias been engaged as gardener to Colonel 
Hanbury Barclay, Crossoak, Great Berkhampstead. 
Mr. George "Wright, late foreman at Gallonhill, 
Paisley,has been engaged as gardener to W, D. Crpwdson, 
Esq., Helme Lodge, Kendal. 
The fourth annual exhibition of the Shepperton 
and Thames Valley Horticultural Society will be 
held at Sunbury Court on June 30th, 1887. 
The annual general meeting of the subscribers to 
the Gardeners’ Roy'al Benevolent Institution will 
be held at “ Simpson’s,” 101, Strand, on Jan. 14th, at 
3 p.m. 
We understand that Messrs. Hooper & Co., Covent 
Garden, are about to convert their business into a 
Limited Liability Company, into which it is proposed 
to absorb the Pine Apple Place Nursery of Messrs. 
E. G. Henderson & Son, and one of the City seed houses. 
We hear that Mr. Dick Radclyffe is also forming a 
Limited Company to take over his business. 
Mr. Patrick Bermingham, late ofPotholm, Lang¬ 
holm, has been engaged as gardener to the Rev. A. 
Masson, The Manse, Kirkliston, N. B. 
At the last meeting of the Floral Committee of 
the Royal Society of Agriculture and Horticulture at 
Ghent, Certificates of Merit were awarded to M. Ad. 
D’Haene, for Calanthe Veitchi rosea alba ; to M. Louis 
Van Houtte, for Cypripedium Leeanum and C. Leeanum 
superbum ; to M. Jules Hye, for Cypripedium caudatum 
roseum splendens, C. politum and C. Lawrenceanum ; 
to M.M. Boelens freres, for Odontoglossum Alexandr® 
var. alba ; and to M. Louis Desmet-Duvivier, for 
Dracffiua fragrans aurea lineata. 
Mr. Andrew Bogie, late of Adderley House, 
Monifeith, has been engaged as gardener to H. T. 
Stainton, Esq, Mountsfield, Lewisham, London, S.E. 
The Jubilee fever is setting in strong. Since our 
last issue went to press we have received from Messrs. 
John Laing & Co., Forest Hill, a handsome coloured 
plate of Jubilee Begonias, accompanied by a large 
lithographic portrait of H. M. The Queen, which will, 
doubtless, be appreciated by the many gardeners who 
will receive it, for gardeners are the most loyal of men. 
The coloured sheet of Begonias comprise characteristic 
representations of a dozen of the Messrs. Laing’s best 
double varieties, admirably grouped. 
Messrs. Watkins & Simpson, Exeter Street, Strand, 
also propose to commemorate the 50th year of the 
Queen’s reign by presenting all their customers with a 
portrait of Her Majesty as a souvenir of the occasion. 
The portrait is a good one and neatly turned out by 
the lithographers, Messrs. Blake & Mackenzie. 
“ Round about the World of Horticulture” will form 
the subject of an address, which Sir. R. Dean will de¬ 
liver at a meeting of the Chiswick Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Association, on Jan. 28tli. 
Mr. Wm. Scott, late of Park Hall, Polmont, has 
been engaged as gardener to the Hon. Henry Bourke, 
Hayes House, Beau Park, Co. Meath. 
Mr. Andrew Smith, late of the Glenburn Hydro¬ 
pathic Establishment, Rothesay, has been engaged as 
gardener to George Ure, Esq., Wheatlands House, 
Bonny bridge. 
The Winners of the Champion Prizes offered for 
competition during the past season by Messrs. James 
Carter and Co. were -.—First, Mr. J. McKean, gar¬ 
dener to E. H. T. Crawford, Esq., Auchenames, West 
Kilbryde, Ayr, with a record of seventy-six prizes ; 
second, Mr. W. Chettleburgli, gardener to Col. Rous, 
Worstead House, Norwich, sixty-nine prizes ; third, 
Mr. J. Davis, gardener to the Rev. H. Arkwright, 
Bodenham Vicarage, Leominster, forty-five prizes; 
fourth, Mr. T. Foggin, gardener to Mrs. Wilson, Tapton 
Hall, Sheffield, forty-prizes ; and fifth, Mr. H. Sell, 
Windsor Street, Luton, who won thirty-seven prizes in 
all. The Messrs. Carter offer seven prizes for a similar 
contest next year. 
Mr. J. Clement, for upwards of twelve years 
gardener to the late E. G. Carew, Esq., has been 
appointed gardener to Mrs. Carew, Halsway Manor, 
Taunton, Somerset. 
Mr. J. G. Bedford, formerly gardener to Colonel 
Dyott, Freeford Hall, Lichfield, has been appointed 
gardener to R. Ratclitfe, Esq., Newton Park, Burton- 
on-Trent. 
We understand that Mr. E. Barker has disposed of 
his nursery and seed business at Castle Cary, Bath, to 
Mr. Walter Bergman. 
The snow storm which raged on Sunday night last 
over such a wide area, jn-oved dreadfully destructive to 
property. In the Metropolis, greenhouse roofs and 
skylights have been wrecked by hundreds, and tele¬ 
graph poles and wires have been broken in all direc¬ 
tions. In consequence of the mildness of the tempera¬ 
ture favouring the accumulation of snow on the 
branches, a vast amount of damage has been done to 
trees in the parks and gardens. Conifers and Yew 
trees especially have been irrecoverably damaged, the 
former in many instances being reduced to bare poles. 
When practicable, where the snow falls so heavily as in 
this instance, valuable specimens should be dis¬ 
burdened as quickly as possible by shaking the 
branches with long poles. 
-->3=4---— 
PERISTROPHE SPEGIOSA. 
W hen allowed to attain its full size this useful winter- 
flowering plant will grow to the height of 4 ft., but by 
pursuing a certain method of cultivation, bushy service¬ 
able plants may be obtained not exceeding 15 ins. in 
height. It is a native of India, and generally described 
as a stove plant ; but it may be kept for a considerable 
part of the year in a warm greenhouse temperature. 
For winter-flowering it is advisable to propagate a stock 
annually by cuttings, and by growing the plants unin¬ 
terruptedly, with a little timely pinching, they make 
nice bushy plants by autumn. Previous to this, they 
should be grown in a warm pit close to the glass, which 
enables the plants to retain their leaves, and fosters a 
close and bushy habit. 
When about to flower they may be transferred to 
the greenhouse, where a moderately high temperature 
should be maintained to encourage flowering. A group 
of them introduced at this season amongst other plants 
serves to give variety—a highly desirable feature, which 
should be aimed at by every cultivator. The bright 
and attractive purple flowers are borne in small 
axillary cymes; and, owing to their comparatively 
large size and the freedom with which they are pro¬ 
duced on healthy young plants, are well worth the 
cultivator’s attention. It is allied to Justicia, under 
which name it is figured in the Botanical Magazine, t. 
2722, and other contemporary publications of a similar 
kind. The cultural requirements are few, and not very 
special. Cuttings should be inserted in spring in sandy 
soil, and when rooted should be grown in frames till 
autumn in a compost consisting of fibrous loam, leaf- 
soil and a sprinkling of sand to maintain its porosity. 
-—>x<—- 
GRAND NATIONAL DAHLIA 
SHOW. 
A meeting of the promoters of this annual show took 
place at the Botanical Gardens, Chelsea, on the 22nd 
inst., Mr. Henry Glasscock in the chair. There was 
present also, Messrs. H. Turner, Williams (of Salisbury), 
Rawlings, Cheal, W. Holmes, G. Harris, J. T. West 
(Brentwood), R. Dean and Thomas Moore, hon. sec. 
The minutes of the last meeting having been read, 
Mr. Moore announced thdt the Crystal Palace Company 
would continue the same arrangements as last year, 
and the exhibition was fixed for September 2nd and 
3rd, subject to any alteration by the Crystal Palace 
Company. The executive committee was reappointed 
and the judges were named ; any necessary alterations 
in the list to be made by Mr. Moore. Much regret was 
expressed that old supporters of the Society, like Mr. 
William Dodds and Mr. Henry Eekford, were precluded 
by distance from being present at the show to assist in 
the judging as heretofore. Mr. Moore was authorised 
to engage such assistance as he might require at the 
annual show. The consideration of the new schedule of 
prizes led to a discussion on the subject of attempting a 
new classification of Dahlias in the same. It was at 
first proposed that there should be classes for self and 
shaded Dahlias, and also for parti-coloured flowers, 
including Fancies ; eventually it was decided, as far as 
the nurserymen’s classes are concerned, to abolish the 
distinction between show and fancy varieties, in order 
that they might be shown in the same stand at the 
option of the exhibitor, and these classes will now be 
for seventy-two blooms in not less than thirty-six 
varieties and not more than two blooms of a sort; 
forty-eight blooms, twenty-four blooms and twelve 
blooms, all distinct ; no person to show in more than 
two of the foregoing classes. The representatives of 
the amateur exhibitors present not being much in favour 
of this new arrangement, it was resolved that the classes 
for these should remain the same as last year, retaining 
the distinction of show and fancy Dahlias. The classes 
for premier blooms of show and fancy Dahlias wero 
struck out as serving no practical purpose. 
