THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 30, 1887. 
756 
properties very considerably during the last 
two or three years. If any thing could give it 
a final death-blow surely it should be the heat 
and drought that will long render the summer 
of 1887 memorable. 
-- 
The annual exhibition of the National Carnation 
AND PlCOTEE SOCIETY (NORTHERN SECTION) will take 
place in the Exhibition Palace, Manchester, on Friday, 
August 5tli, following that of the Oxford Carnation 
and Picotee Union by three days. Notwithstanding 
the hot weather and absence of rain, it is generally 
believed there will be a good exhibition of flowers. 
The rain that fell on Monday morning, if it happened 
in the north also, will greatly help the plants. Close 
shading will be necessary in bright weather. 
The balance-sheet of the Grand Yorkshire Gala, 
in June last, is now before us, and we notice that the 
income of the society for the current year, from various 
sources, is £1,671 10s., and the expenditure within £12 
of that sum. The receipts of the first day exceeded 
those of the corresponding day last year ; whilst on 
the second and third days they fell short by £179 
against the same days last year. Although the com¬ 
mittee hoped for a good sum as profits to hand over to 
the charities of York, the Jubilee year will be celebrated 
by no donations to the charities from the York Gala. 
Since the Gala in June, two old and respected members 
of the committee—Mr. Anderson and Mr. Sampson 
have died, and the Lord Mayor, who is chairman of 
the committee, has received the honour of knighthood. 
Messrs. John Laing & Co.’s Employes, numbering 
over seventy, had their annual outing on the 22nd 
in«t.—a day trip to Ramsgate. A capital dinner was 
be. ved at Grant’s Hotel, under the presidency of Mr. 
Laing, who was supported by his two sons and the 
heads of the various departments. A most enjoyable 
day was spent by all. 
A Memorial-stone of white marble, with an appro¬ 
priate device of Ferns and Stangeria, designed by Mr. 
J. Page and Mr. W. G. Smith, has been erected in 
Brompton Cemetery to the memory of the late Mr. 
Thomas Moore. The inscription runs as follows : — 
“To the memory of Thomas Moore, F.L.S., for 
thirty-eight years Curator of the Botanic Gardens of 
the Society of Apothecaries at Chelsea, who died 
January 1, 1887, aged sixty-five years. In testimony 
of their appreciation of a career unselfishly devoted to 
the promotion of botany and horticulture, especially to 
the investigation and classification of Ferns, as well as 
in grateful remembrance of his sterling qualities as a 
friend and a colleague, this memorial has been erected 
by a few of his fellow-workers.” Those friends who 
have not yet sent their contributions to the memorial 
fund are requested to do so, as soon as possible, to 
either Mr. Harry J. Veitch or Dr. Masters. 
A well-attended meeting of the Executive Com¬ 
mittee of the Gardeners’ Orphan Fund was held, on 
Monday evening, in a room kindly placed at the service 
of the committee by Messrs. John Weeks & Co., King’s 
Road, Chelsea, when a heavy agenda was satisfactorily 
disposed of. Mr. George Deal was unanimously elected 
chairman of the committee, and a small sub-committee 
was appointed to consider and report on the best 
means of carrying out the scheme for forming local 
committees. It may interest the friends and supporters 
of the Fund to know that an appeal has already been 
made to the committee for aid, in the case of the 
fatherless children of a man who was second gardener 
in a private establishment. It is a case in which a 
little help would be of the greatest possible assistance 
to the widow ; but the committee can only plead regret 
for the present that they are not in a position to 
entertain the appeal. Strenuous efforts, however, will 
be made to get the machinery in order for dealing with 
such cases at an early date. In the meantime, it is 
desirable that promised donations and subscriptions 
should be remitted to Mr. Barron as soon as possible. 
The Grand National Dahlia Show will take place 
at the Crystal Palace on September 2nd and 3rd. The 
hon. secretary and treasurer, Mr. H. Glasscock, of 
Bishop’s Stortford, has just issued a circular soliciting 
subscriptions from those interested in the exhibition, 
and he states with much truth that “owing to losses 
occasioned through death and other changes, the fund 
has always a tendency to diminish in amount,” and 
therefor; there is urgent necessity for an increase of 
subscribers. In addition to the prize money, there are 
such matters as printing, postage, &c , that have to ho 
charged upon the fund, though the machinery of the show 
is worked at as low an expenditure as possible. The prize 
schedule is made additionally attractive to amateurs, by 
prizes offered by the trustees of the Veitch Memorial 
Fund, and the Turner Memorial Cup is also competed 
for by amateurs. The show deserves to be supported, 
and it is to be hoped many of the readers of The Gar¬ 
dening World will respond to the appeal put forth by 
Mr. Glasscock. 
The annual meeting of the Scottish Arboricul- 
tural Society was held in Edinburgh on Tuesday, 
when the following prizes were awarded for competitive 
essays:—Silver Medal to Mr. George Cadel for an essay 
on Forest Administration in the Canton Yaud, Switzer¬ 
land ; on the National Reproduction by Self-sowing of 
Forest Trees, Mr. John Smith, surveyor, Romsey, 
Hampshire, Bronze Medal; Forestry in Hungary, Major 
Bailey, Simla, Gold Medal ; Plantations on - 
Estate, Mr. A. D. Webster, Penrhyn, No. 2 Silver 
Medal ; Town Planting, Mr. A. D. Webster, Penrhyn, 
Bronze Medal ; Trees and Shrubs suitable for Seaside 
Planting, Mr. A. D. Webster, No. 2 Silver Medal ; 
Forester’s Cottage, with plan, Mr. John Smith, No. 2 
Silver Medal; The Effects of the Great Gales of the 
last twenty-five Years on Woods and Forests of Britain, 
Mr. John Smith, Bronze Medal ; Report on Woods 
and Plantations upon the Estate of -Mr. George 
Dodds, Wentworth, No. 2 Silver Medal ; Watkin’s 
patent girthing tape, Bronze Medal to Messrs. Rider & 
Son, London ; best kind of dead fences for plantations, 
Mr. D. A. Glen, Gartshore, Bronze Medal. No awards 
were made for an essay on the abnormal growths of 
forest trees —the Beech knot—or on the hygienic effect 
of trees and plants, these being under the average. It 
was reported, however, that on the whole the essays 
were of more than usual ability. 
-- 
NEW HYBRID STREPTOCARPUS. 
No one interested in plants could fail to be pleased 
with the recent grand acquisition to the number 
of the cultivated species of Streptocarpus in that 
remarkable form of vegetable growth, S. Dunnii, 
discovered in the Transvaal, seeds of which were sent 
to Kew, and flowered there for the first time in Europe 
in the spring of last year. Its enormous leaf and the 
immense number of flowers it produced, as compared 
with other species, is probably unique in the genus. 
Scarcely less remarkable is the fact that it hybridises 
readily with S. Rexi and S. parviflora. Experiment 
has hitherto failed to cross it with S. polyantha, but 
further trials in this direction may yet succeed, and no 
one need despond at the failure of the first attempt. 
S. Dunnii seems normally to produce but a single 
leaf, while in the case of the two species with which 
it has been hybridised, a number of leaves are pro¬ 
duced. The process of hybridisation up till now has 
resulted in the development of one large leaf by the 
seedlings, with two or more much smaller ones ; there 
can thus be no doubt with regard to the efficacy of the 
foreign pollen and the hybrid nature of the seedlings. 
The leaves, moreover, are less rugose than those of 
S. Dunnii, and lack the rusty red colour peculiar to 
the leaf of the latter species. This is more conspicuous 
on the underside of the leaf, where the rusty-coloured 
hairs of S. Dunnii give place to grey or white ones. 
The difference of the inflorescence is even more 
notable. In the case of Kewensis, a hybrid between 
S. Dunnii and S. Rexi, about ten separate scapes 
are produced in close contiguity along the basal 
part of the mid-rib of the large leaf, with one or two 
on each of the smaller leaves, and each of these scapes 
produce from six to ten flowers in a cymose manner, 
whereas the bulk of the flowers in S. Dunnii are 
produced on one large scape, with, however, a similar 
arrangement. They are intermediate in size between 
the parents, and are violet-blue, with heavy violet-blue 
lines on the lower side of the throat and limb. 
The hybrid between S. Dunnii and S. parviflora, 
namely, Watsoni, is similar in many particulars to 
the other, but the individual scapes, equally numerously 
produced, bear from eight to thirteen flowers each, and 
these are rather smaller, but far more attractively 
coloured. The tube externally is pale purple, and 
white internally, while the lamina is a deep reddish or 
rose-purple, marked with darker lines in the throat, 
and all become paler and soften sometimes after 
expansion. If earnestly taken into hand, improvements 
would, no doubt, furnish us with some excellent and 
very ornamental varieties. So far as experiments 
already go, we are indebted to the skill of Mr. "VV. 
Watson, Assistant Curator at Kew, 
THE PEOPLE’S PALACE. 
The first flower show in connection with this place 
of entertainment was held on Monday and Tuesday, 
in a large marquee and tent adjoining the Palace itself. 
As a show, it was quite unique in its way, having been 
got up all in a hurry, and mooted only a month pre¬ 
viously by way of entertaining the Crown Princess of 
Germany, who was warmly cheered as she passed 
through the exhibition in the afternoon. 
There was no regular list of prizes, but the Beaumont 
Trustees offered awards for exhibits from East London, 
cut flowers and window plants being chiefly shown. 
The bulk of the exhibition was made up of miscel¬ 
laneous groups staged by Messrs. B. S. Williams, 
J. Laing & Co., Barr & Son, T. S. Ware, Carter & Co., 
Hooper & Co., H. B. May, William Rumsey, and 
others. The show was a great success as far as the 
number of visitors were concerned, hundreds of whom 
had doubtless never before seen the like in their life. 
Nepenthes were taken for odd-looking flowers, Dahlias 
for Roses, and comments were ripe on every hand. 
One poor woman exhibited a seedling Apple tree raised 
last Christmas ; which was worthy of every recog¬ 
nition. 
The following were some of the exhibits brought 
forward for the prizes offered:—Mr. E. Rivers, gar¬ 
dener to B. Bryan, Esq., Waterworks, Old Ford, got 
the first prize for six bunches of cut flowers. Misses 
Amy and Lily Saunders, 400a, Mile End Road, secured 
the first prize for a bouquet, Mr. E. Rivers taking 
second. The first prize for a pot of Musk was awarded 
to Mr. J. W. Ransom, 85, Old Church Road, Stepney. 
The two latter exhibitors staged groups of plants 
which -were commended. The Rev. A. W. Cribb, 
St. Thomas’ Vicarage, Stepney, exhibited a group of 
plants, and Mr. G. Matthew Smith, Board School, 
Single Street, Bow, a group of window plants. Mrs. 
Eliza England, 66, Shandy Street, Harford Street, was 
the prize-winner for window plants, receiving awards 
for a Musk, Fuchsia and window-box. 
Mr. B. S. Williams, Yictoria and Paradise Nurseries, 
Upper Holloway, exhibited a very extensive group of 
stove and greenhouse plants, that entirely filled the 
central stage of the large marquee. A few Orchids, 
such as Cypripedium ciliolare, C. superbiens and 
Epidendrum nemorale were noticeable; but Palms, 
Dracaenas, Crotons, Allamandas, Aralia Kerehoveana, 
Ficus eburnea, Anthurium Scherzerianum Wardii, the 
beautifully tesselated Tillandsia tesselata, and the 
curious Attacia cristata, besides a host of other things 
too numerous to mention, went to the formation of 
this monster group. Messrs. J. Laing & Co., Forest 
Hill, London, exhibited a very attractive group of 
tuberous-rooted Begonias, both single and double. A 
great range of colour exists among double kinds, but 
this is put in the shade by the endless variety of tints 
and striking combinations seen in the singles, for the 
description of which new terms would be necessary. 
Messrs. Barr & Son, King Street, Covent Garden, 
occupied a considerable length of the side staging with 
a micellaneous group of hardy plants, including 
Hemerocallis Kwanso fl. pi., Campanula macrostyla, 
Lilium longiflorum eximium, L. Thunbergianum, Yan 
Houttei, Dahlias, Monarda didyma, and many other 
fine things. The group was a showy one, as was that 
of Mr. T. S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham. 
Gaillardias were fine, as well as Lilium longiflorum 
Wilsoni, Helianthus japonicus, Alpine Poppies, Lithrum 
virgatum, Malva moschata alba, and Echinops Ritro. 
Messrs. Carter & Co’s annuals were there in strong 
force, including such pretty species as Clintonia 
pulchella, Nycterinia selaginoides and Phlox Drum- 
mondi, Coleus, Petunias, Begonias, and others, which 
formed a showy group. Mr. H. B. May, Dyson’s Lane, 
Upper Edmonton, exhibited a fresh-looking group of 
popular and useful decorative Ferns, including Pteris 
Mayi, P. aspericaulis, Adiantum gracillimum, A. Pacotti, 
and a finely tasselled form of Pteris serrulata, besides a 
host of other fine species and varieties. A miscellaneous 
group of hardy flowers was also shown by Messrs. 
Hooper & Co., Covent Garden. Prominent among 
others were Hollyhocks, Godetias, Zinnias, Hyaeinthus 
candicans, Gypsophila paniculata, &c. A quantity of cut 
flowers were made up in baskets and bouquets. A 
large collection of Roses in baskets and boxes was 
staged by Mr. William Rumsey, Joynings Nurseries, 
Waltham Cross. They were immensely popular with 
the East-End people. 
