516 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 18th, 1885. 
(Sarbmhrg UTistcKanir. 
Flower Shows and Meetings to be held Next 
Week. —Tuesday : National Auricula Society’s Ex¬ 
hibition at South Kensington. The Fruit and Floral 
Committees will also meet this day instead of on the 
28th, when the Conservatory will not be available.—- 
Wednesday: Royal Botanic Society’s Second Spring 
Show at Regent’s Park; Royal Horticultural Society 
of Ireland’s Spring Show in Dublin, postponed from 
16th inst. 
On the occasion of the visit of their Royal High¬ 
nesses the Prince and Princess of Wales to Trinity 
College, Dublin, on the 11th inst., the floral decora¬ 
tions were carried out by Mr. Burbidge, as also 
were those at the Provost’s house on the 8th inst., 
when the Royal party made their public entry into 
the city. Our friend’s Daffodils doubtless played a 
conspicuous part in the decorations on both occasions. 
The nursery business of Mr. J. Tomkins, the well- 
known Primula raiser of Birmingham, has been 
purchased by Mr. J. B. Thomson, and will in future be 
carried on in connection with the large seed trade which 
he has conducted for some years at 20, High Street, 
Birmingham. 
All the giound available for the Potato trials at 
Chiswick this season having been planted, Mr. Barron 
requests that no more varieties be sent to him. 
Mr. J. Clarke, late of Moor Park, Farnham, and 
seven years gardener to Lord Hastings at Melton 
Constable, has commenced business as a seedsman, 
nurseryman, and florist at the Albion Nursery, Farn¬ 
ham, Surrey. 
There was a strong demand for bouquets for the 
Princess of Wales’s Drawing Room at Dublin Castle 
last week, and a considerable number was sent from 
this side of the Channel. Amongst others who 
received orders were the Messrs. Cannell, of Swanley, 
who turned out some first-class examples. 
Judging from the renewals that are now being made 
in the Rhododendron beds in Hyde Park by Mr. 
Anthony Waterer, the forthcoming display should be 
a very fine one. We notice among the new arrivals 
from Knap Hill, a matchless specimen of the splendid 
Michael Waterer. It will be found about half-way 
down the ladies’ walk. 
It was proposed early last year that a garden fete 
in aid of the funds of the Gardeners’ Royal Benevo¬ 
lent Institution should be held in Mr. Webster’s 
extensive gardens at Harefield Grove, near Uxbridge, 
but, owing to the death of Mrs. Webster, it had to be 
abandoned. Not to be behind his fellows in his zeal 
for the institution, Mr. Gough, the gardener, last 
week organized a concert in the Memorial Hall, 
Harefield, with the result that the Institution will 
benefit to the extent of about ten guineas. 
The Societe Nationale D’Horticulture de France 
has decided to hold in Paris next month, during the 
time the International Flower Show is open, a 
Botanical and Horticultural Congress, to which it is 
hoped many English horticulturists will give their 
support. Amateurs and nurserymen wishing to 
become members can do so at once by writing to 
the President of the Society, 84, Rue de Grenelle, 
Paris. An executive committee has been formed, and 
is composed of the following five gentlemen :—M.M. 
Duchartre, Ferd. Jamin, Chs. Verdier, Truffaut fils, 
and Bergman fils. Further particulars will be 
published in our next. 
In connection with the Exhibition to be opened at 
Antwerp on August 1st, under the auspices of the 
Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of that 
city, it has been decided to hold a Horticultural and 
Botanical Congress for the discussion of various 
matters connected with horticulture, and to which all 
horticulturists are cordially invited. At present the 
subjects fixed for discussion are :—What are the best 
means of generalizing and spreading a love for horti¬ 
culture, especially in rural districts ? and, What are 
the means to employ in order to encourage the culture 
of plants among the working-classes ? The President 
is M. Charles de Bosschere ; the Treasurer, M. Charles 
Van Geert, jun.; and the Joint Secretaries, M. Franc 
Crepin, M. Henri de Bosschere, and M. Adolphe 
d’Haene, 
GARDENING IN AUSTRALIA, 
I congratulate you upon the establishment of your 
new journal. The numbers which have been received 
here have interested me greatly, and I trust your 
undertaking may be crowned with the success which 
it deserves. I wish I could see more enterprise 
displayed by this Colony in the same line. The only 
horticultural notices which we see are occasional 
paragraphs in The Town and Country Journal , an 
illustrated weekly. The colonists of this part appear 
to possess little appreciation of the beauties of nature. 
The public mind runs too much on land sales and 
anything which offers a field for gambling. 
With the nurseries, as far as I have seen them, I 
have been much disappointed. That of Messrs. G. 
Brunning A Sons, Melbourne, which we visited on 
our way out, does its proprietors great credit, and 
would still do so if in the old country. Here we saw 
“bush-houses” full of plants and trees of all de¬ 
scriptions (except fruit) growing in pots ; everything 
being in perfect order, and as clean as possible. 
As a rule, the pot specimens displayed in the 
Sydney markets and flower shops would not find any¬ 
one to take them away gratis in Covent Garden. No 
doubt this may be explained to a certain extent by 
the difficulty of obtaining a permanent supply of water. 
We generally get plenty of rain in the course of the 
year, but it is necessary to “store” against all re¬ 
quirements. The creeks (streams) cannot be depended 
upon, and artesian borings, except in a case or two, 
have only been attempted by Government. 
After seeing the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, I 
must say that I was disappointed with those in this 
city, although we have a great advantage in situation. 
Scarcely a finer site could have been found than that 
which the gardens occupy overlooking the Bay in 
which the men of war are stationed. The specimens are 
generally very poor. In this neighbourhood (Sydney) 
fruit alone is cultivated, the principal being Oranges, 
and some Lemons and Peaches; the latter are the 
cheapest and most plentiful fruit grown. Grapes are 
also cultivated to a limited extent for the market. 
South Australia is more in this line, and produces the 
bulk of the wine. 
There are a few curious facts about this country, 
and of the most interesting to me is that bulls are 
seldom, if ever, dangerous. For some weeks I crossed 
an open paddock almost daily, in which was a black¬ 
necked beast which I would not have met in such 
close quarters in England on any account. I have 
heard it stated at home, but always doubted it, that 
Barley, if kept growing and not allowed to seed, would 
produce Oats the second season. When talking with 
an old settler the other day, he told me that this had 
occurred with him ; not in a solitary instance, but over 
a whole field. Cereals are here grown for the sake 
of fodder, being cut green and made into hay. My 
informant states that he cut his Barley in this way 
three times, and then allowed it to take its chance, when 
it produced Oat ears. This was not done for the sake 
of experiment, as he had never heard or supposed that 
Barley could produce anything but Barley. Another 
old resident declares he has seen the same result in 
several eases. I shall be quite convinced when I have 
proved it by an experiment of my own. 
Within the last year or two a floral novelty was 
discovered in the bush in this parish by a school-boy, 
viz., a White Waratali, evidently a sport from the 
scarlet variety, Telopea speciosissima, our “ native 
Tulip ” as it is called. The plant bore three blooms 
of the most beautiful waxy white. The schoolmaster 
to whom the boy pointed out the tree, lifted it, and 
sent it to one of the principal Sydney nurserymen, 
with whom I am told it perished. It is a thing rather 
difficult to transplant unless very young, but had it 
come into my hands, I have an idea that I would have 
preserved it by some means or other. I believe it is 
represented—like Mdme. Tussaud’s celebrities—by a 
model in wax. The original scarlet variety is the 
most magnificent flower of our bush, if not indeed of 
our gardens. [Our friend proved himself “ at home ” 
to be such a successful cultivator of what are generally 
called “ bad doers,” that we regret this novelty did 
not fall into his hands.—Ed.] 
Cape shrubs seem to take kindly to our climate. 
Plumbago capensis and Tecoma capensis grow 
rampantly side by side, and their flowers form a 
pleasing contrast for the greater part of the year. 
Hydrangeas also thrive well in this neighbourhood, 
and are generally of the most beautiful blue colour 
—the blue of the water Forget-me-not. The species 
appears to be H. hortensis, and I attribute its hue to 
the presence of iron-stone in our soil. 
I mentioned bush-houses above ; you j>robably know 
what these structures are, but as they appear to be 
peculiar to these colonies, I may mention that they 
are a framework covered with any close-growing scrub 
which forms a good shelter from sun and wind. I 
believe there is a general impression among the 
indifferently informed in England that Australian 
trees all shed their bark annually, whereas the cases 
in which this takes place form a small minority. The 
greater number of our timber trees belong to the 
“ Gum ” family (Eucalyptus), but the general public 
usually adopt the timber merchant’s classification 
rather than the botanist’s. The native Oak is a species 
of Grevillea, the Mahogany and Apple-tree Gums, Ac. 
I am afraid I can communicate very little which 
will be of interest to your readers. Botanical and 
Horticultural Societies do not exist here, and there 
are very few floral exhibitions. Queensland is before 
us in the possession of an Acclimatization Society, 
which does good service.—C. B., Sydney. 
— -ro <> ;T ' —■ 
A LILY AND ORCHID NURSERY. 
Every nursery establishment has a trade peculiar 
to itself, dealing in specialities, or in plants of special 
character or growth. The specialities at Mr. William 
Gordon’s Twickenham Nurseries are Lilies, Orchids, 
Japanese plants, and general hardy bulbous and herba¬ 
ceous plants, a special feature being made of things 
suitable for the wild garden. In all the different 
branches of the trade, Mr. Gordon’s main object is to 
supply sound stuff at a very low rate, and so well has 
he succeeded, that his cheap Lily, Orchid, and other 
plant lists have made him a name far and wide, and 
secured for him a numerous clientele among those who 
wish to possess healthy little plants for growing on. 
The Orchids are contained in a compact block of 
neat houses, the first being devoted to Dendrobes, of 
which a fine general collection, containing some rare 
things, has been got together. D. Falconeri, D. 
aureum, D. Wardianum, D. crassinode, D. chrysotoxum, 
and the true D. thyrsiflorum Walkerianum are now in 
flower. The second house is a low span, filled with 
Cypripediums, which always seem to bloom well here. 
C. argus, C. Lawrenceana, C. niveum, and others, are 
now in bloom in quantity. The third is a cold house, 
with healthy established 0. Alexandra and 0. Pesca- 
torei on the left-hand side, Lycastes and other cool 
Orchids on the right, and Sophronitis and other small 
growers suspended overhead. 
The fourth is the new Cattleya-house, which is 
filled with semi-established, and established plants of 
most of the favourite Cattleyas and Lalias, such as 
C. Mendelli, C. Dowiana, C. Triana, C. Mossi® (many 
in bud), Lalia purpurata, Ac., the whole being in a 
remarkably sturdy and healthy condition. In this house, 
too, a good importation of Brazilian things is placed, 
some fine masses of Zygopetalum Gautieri, Oncidium 
sarcodes, 0. concolor, and Laslia Perrinii being in 
exceptionally good condition. The fifth house is the 
long, low, new span for Masdevallias and other small¬ 
growing cool Orchids, and the sixth is just now turned 
into a receiving house for a very good consignment of 
Indian Orchids, such as Dendrobium formosum, D. 
infundibulum, D. Jamesianum, Saccolabium Blumei 
majus, Ac. 
The seventh is an intermediate house, with Oncids, 
Ac. The eighth, an East Indian house, with Angnecum 
Sesquipedale and some nice Phahenopsids in bloom, 
and a healthy general collection growing in a very 
satisfactory manner. The ninth house is filled with 
a good general collection of Dendrobes, and the tenth 
is an ornamental conservatory fronting the offices. 
The whole place is neat and convenient, even to the 
roomy packing-shed, with extensive cellarage for 
storing bulbs beneath. The beds outside are planted 
with Lilies and other bulbous plants, many of them 
being either new or rare varieties, or things on trial, 
among the latter being a grand collection of new 
double Tree Pasonies, which, if they come as fine and 
as brilliant in colour as the drawing sent with each 
represents it to be, we shall hear more of when they 
are in bloom. The pits are filled with tender bulbs 
