650 
THE HARDENING WORLD. 
•Time 11, 1387. 
HORTICULTURE AT THE MAN¬ 
CHESTER JUBILEE EXHIBITION. 
The possibility of fixing, as the site of the above 
exhibition, a spot where the Botanical Gardens could 
be made an adjunct was, without question, a very 
fortunate circumstance for the promoters. Seeing that 
all art, not only the department specially distinguished 
by that name, but mechanical art as well, has its 
foundation in living nature, what could be more 
fitting than that the illustrations of first principles 
supplied by trees, plants and flowers should be allowed 
a place alongside of the most beautiful and useful 
adaptations of them ? It would be difficult to name 
any great law, applied by the constructors of machinery 
of any description, that has not some setting forth in 
the life-history of vegetation. It is in plants also 
that we have the first hints of everything which falls 
to. the lot of the architect and the mason, to under¬ 
take and to carry forward to useful completion. 
That the fine arts, emphatically so denominated, 
have their first principles illustrated in plants and 
flowers, scarcely needs repeating. “Who,” says the 
poet, “ can paint like nature ?” Another way of saying 
that nature is the first and foremost of all artists in 
colours, and in the perfection of their intermixture. 
The poet might have gone on to. say, “ Who can pro¬ 
duce such exquisite sculpture as we find in vegetable 
nature ? ” — sculpture, moreover, that is a little less 
durable than marble, if not often quite as durable ; the 
cones, for instance, of many kinds of Pine Trees, and 
the cone-like fruits of different Palms. Sculpture 
of the most delectable kind is also set forth in the 
seed-pods of many a little herbaceous plant; but over and 
above these minute points of agreement between the 
productions of scientific skill — of highly cultured 
taste and power in the use of the colour-brush on the 
one hand, and of the simple performances, on the other 
hand, of ingenious nature, an immense point is gained 
for all who will visit the exhibition in having the 
same trials alike of art-work and nature-work concen¬ 
trated, and side by side. It is a case, most truly, 
of “ Look upon this picture, and upon that; ” each 
one the presentment of the other. The grand gallery 
or avenue of approach forms one of the most charming 
features in the exhibition, and is just now most 
attractive. 
The building is 120 yds. long and 30 yds. wide ; on 
either side are raised banks, which are planted with 
Rhododendrons, Hollies, and Coniferce, and when we 
state that the whole of this vast area is planted by 
Messrs. John Waterer k Son, of Bagshot, Surrey, 
we need not say that the material is of the very best. 
In the gardens several plots are set apart for the 
exhibition of hardy shrubs. It would be most 
invidious—seeing that equal credit is due to each 
exhibitor—to name any one firm to the exclusion of the 
rest. Messrs. Fisher, Son & Sibray, of the Handsworth 
Nurseries, near Sheffield, have some fine Rhododendrons 
and Hollies ; Messrs. Dickson & Robinson, of Man¬ 
chester, have a tastefully-arranged collection of plants 
suitable for growing in the district ; and the same 
remark applies to Messrs. Dickson, Brown & Tait and 
Messrs. G. k W. Yates, of the same city ; whilst Messrs. 
Richard Smith & Co., of Worcester, make an artistic 
display. The whole of the Botanical Society’s range 
of glass is thrown open for several hours during the 
day, and the vast number of visitors seem to enjoy the 
floral treat provided for them. The Mendel house is 
at the present time very attractive with Azaleas, 
greenhouse Rhododendrons, and that lovely annual, 
Schizanthus. The Orchid houses are gay with some 
hundreds of Cattleyas in bloom : Odontoglossum, 
Lcelias, Cypripediums, &c., &c. ; and the new Fernery, 
Palm and aquatic houses come in for a large share of 
attention. We understand that a Rose show is to be 
held in the Jubilee Exhibition building, on the 22nd 
of July.— Alpha. 
-- 
An Erratic Laburnum. —We are most familiar 
with the yellow drooping racemes of the Laburnum 
during May and June, but some of the garden pro¬ 
ductions seem to vary in this respect, flowering late in 
summer, while a specimen in “ My Garden,” at the 
Grange, Carshalton, Surrey, flowers in May and June, 
and again in September, October and November. It 
is a variety of the common species, Laburnum vulgare, 
with stouter, more erect branches than usual Varieties 
of different habit might be selected from seedlings. 
There is a pendulous variety in gardens, and another 
with deeply-cut Oak like leaves. 
HARDENING MISCELLANY. 
C_2j ”S Ctirs 
Watering 1 Seed Pans.—I think if your corre¬ 
spondent, “ C. A. G.,” will get from a chemist a spray 
distributor—price 6d. —as used in sick rooms, she will 
find it answer admirably for bedewing her seedling 
Auriculas, and it will not indent the soil; or if she 
will stand the pots in water up to about 1 in. of the 
soil, the contents will get saturated in a short time, and 
the seedlings will not be disturbed.— T. F.. Reading. 
Charlock (The Irish Rashough Weed).— 
Probably this is known to all your readers, especially 
those having a home farm as well as a garden to 
superintend. I should like to ask, through your columns, 
the best method of extirpating it ? It is an annual, 
hut seeds freely, the seed having the peculiar property 
of being almost indestructible by heat, or cold or time. 
I have at present three fields of Oats that had been 
ploughed deeper than usual, bringing up the not 
usually stirred sub-soil, and with it a profuse seed crop 
of this weed, that must have been there for years. 
I see no means of getting rid of it, except by doing 
more harm than good to the crop ; though I should 
like very much not to allow it to seed. I have seen it 
denied that this seed can remain dormant in the ground 
at great depths, and the growth ascribed to the wind 
blowing it into the fields ; but in this case there was 
none growing convenient previously.— TV. J. Murphy , 
Clonmel. 
Toxicophlsea spectabilis. —Among really good 
plants of recent introduction, very few can compare 
with the subject of this note, and yet how seldom it is 
seen, except in a few well-kept gardens. "Why is this ? 
Simply because there are so few who will take the 
trouble to try anything fresh—no matter how well 
recommended it may be. When visiting the gardens 
at Eaton Hall, near Chester, a few days ago, I saw 
some magnificent plants from 2 ft. to 4 ft. high covered 
with clusters of its pure white sweet-scented flowers, 
which are not only produced from the terminal 
corymbs, but also from the axils of the leaves, thus 
forming a long branching raceme of bloom from 12 ins. 
to 18 ins. in length. Mr. Selwood, the head gardener, 
assured me that it was one of rhe easiest-grown plants 
on the place, and that his employers prefer it as cut 
flowers to any others he can give them. It requires 
the temperature of a warm greenhouse, and the compost 
most suitable for its cultivation is good fibrous loam, 
peat and leaf-soil in about equal parts, with some silver 
sand. The plants should be well cut back after flower¬ 
ing so as to keep them bushy, and a little extra heat 
and moisture will assist them in breaking freely.— 
TV. B. 
A Large Mahaleb Cherry Tree. —Notwith¬ 
standing the fact that Prunus Mahaleb grows to a 
larger size in Britain than on the Continent where it is 
a native, we seldom see trees of great size in this 
country. Possibly, this is owing to its being planted 
in shrubberies where it is not allowed free scope for 
development, but gets pruned to prevent it from over¬ 
crowding its neighbours. A variegated form of no 
great beauty also usurps the place of the typical form. 
There is a fine tree at Devonhurst, which at one time 
belonged to the Royal Horticultural Society, Chiswick. 
It measures 35 ft. in height, and has a broad spreading 
head, covering a circular space 58 ft. in diameter and, 
consequently, 174 ft. in circumference. The flowers 
are small, but were produced in great profusion, and 
the tree ripens fruit. Not only are the flowers strongly 
scented, but the leaves, wood, and fruit as well. 
Several large limbs were wrenched off the tree by the 
terrible storm just after Christmas last year.— Taxus. 
Fruit Prospects in North Northumber¬ 
land. —In spite of low night temperatures hitherto 
experienced almost continuously up to the present 
time (June 6th), and generally accompanied by white 
frosts, I think all our hardy fruits this year are likely 
to be much over an average. To begin with Apricots, 
these are something quite out of the common run, the 
fruits being set so thickly as to make the branches 
resemble so many ropes of Onions. I never, in all my 
experience, remember seeing such a “set” before. We 
have here three trees which cover about 70 ft. run of 
wall, and after leaving what will ultimately be a very 
heavy crop, something like about 3,000 were taken 
off. Peaches, which seldom pay for the space occupied, 
have also done well. Protection was given to these 
two crops as soon as the trees were showing bloom, 
though only in the shape of a double fold of herring- 
netting, which remained on till the crop was fully set; 
but it was placed at such a distance from the wall as to 
give room to walk beneath. Plums are likely to be a 
fair average crop, and Cherries an exceedingly heavy 
one. Raspberries are now coming into flower, and 
seem promising enough, which also seems likely to be 
the case with Apples. Pears have set a heavy crop, 
and a great deal of thinning will be required. Goose¬ 
berries and Black Currants we can speak of with some 
certainty, both being good crops, the latter rather 
extra. Red and White Currants are only now in 
flower ; but, I think, look fully up to former years, 
provided frosts keep off. These always crop very 
heavily with us. Strawberries are throwing up extra 
strong stalks this season. Potatos are growing away 
very fast now, but coming with more irregularity than 
I have ever noticed before.— R. Stevens, Pasto.i. 
A Rich-coloured Cereus.—Under the varietal 
name of J. T. Peacock, a very distinct and striking- 
flowered variety is blooming at Sudbury House, Ham¬ 
mersmith, in Mr. Peacock's collection, after whom it 
is named. The stems are dwarf, stout, and tri¬ 
angular, furnished with numerous tufts of small spines 
on the angles. The outer petals are scarlet, while the 
inner are of a lively rose with scarlet mid-ribs ; but 
what is very singular, these colours seem to play into 
one another, or those of the inner petals become alto¬ 
gether changed, according to the standpoint of the 
spectator or the direction of the incident rays of light. 
The flowers are of medium size or large for the particular 
species to which it belongs, and very ornamental. 
Some of these large and day-flowering Cacti might he 
more frequently cultivated than they are. 
Magpie Pansy.—Few bedding Violas are more 
distinct in their way than the subject of this note. It 
would seem to have become a general favourite in 
gardens soon after being raised, judging from the 
frequency with which one meets it, even at the present 
day. From this, two things may be taken for granted, 
namely, that cultivators generally like it, and that its 
constitution is such that it outlasts many of the more 
recent productions of raisers. There is a distinctness 
and quaintness about it, moreover, which one can 
hardly fail to appreciate. Individual flowers vary, but 
in general terms it may he described as plum-purple 
boldly striped with white in the longitudinal direction 
of the petals. YVhere these two colours meet or 
merge, a distinct violet shade is really noticeable, that 
harmonises well with the two leading and more strongly 
contrasting colours. It flowers so profusely all summer, 
that barren shoots for the propagation of it are difficult 
to obtain. Now is an excellent time to secure them, 
although autumn-struck cuttings trill furnish tolerably 
good stuff. It is now very gay at Parkside, Ravens- 
court Park, where it is planted with good effect round 
the narrow borders skirting the walks, and backed up 
by espalier Apple and Pear trees. 
Adiantum pedatum.—A fine specimen of this 
hardy Fern may now he seen in prime condition at 
Parkside, Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith, where 
Mr. Aitken grows a number of the more popular Ferns 
for decorative purposes. The specimen in question was 
recently introduced from North America, but is a very 
old inhabitant of British gardens, having been imported 
as early as 1640, before Ferns became popular and were 
cultivated to the extent they are at the present day. 
It was the first Maidenhair grown in this country, with 
the exception of A. Capillus-Veneris, our native species 
enjoying a cosmopolitan range of distribution and 
universally admired. The pedate fronds of the 
Canadian species under notice are circular in outline, 
or nearly so, owing to the numerous radiating pi mice 
that extend on every side. These are very mem¬ 
braneous in texture, and the whole frond is deciduous, 
which accounts for the hardiness of the species. 
Coleonema rubra.—The white-flowered species 
is much more frequent in gardens than this one, and, 
although the flowers alone, under good cultivation, are 
sufficiently numerous to render the plant ornamental, 
it is sometimes cultivated for the sake of its foliage, 
which is agreeably scented, contrary to the rule with 
many other members of the Rue family. The leaves of 
C. rubra are much longer than those of C. alba, but 
furnished with glands similar to those of its congener, 
and on the upper branches of a specimen at The 
