May 16th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
581 
PROFESSOR REICHENBACH. 
In the ranks of Orchid-growers—an army of enthu¬ 
siasts of constantly increasing dimensions—few names 
are more familiar than that of the gentleman who since 
the death of Dr. Lindley, has been universally regarded 
as the Orchid king, Professor H. G. Reichenbach, 
Director of the Botanic Garden, Hamburgh. Professor 
Reichenbach is the recognized historian of Orchids—- 
the one man whose names of species and varieties 
are accepted without question, and whose descriptions 
of new forms are anticipated as keenly by importers 
and others as is the introduction of the plants them¬ 
selves. At the leading Horticultural and Botanical 
Congresses held during the last quarter of a century, 
Professor Reichenbach has generally taken a leading 
part, his services as a judge of Orchids being always 
in demand. He was one of the Vice-Presidents of 
the Congress held in London in 1866, and is not 
an unfrequent visitor to Kew, and other English 
establishments. The Orchid Conference Committee 
had great hopes that the Professor would have put 
in an appearance at South Kensington on Tuesday 
and Wednesday last, but he was most unfortunately 
indisposed at the time, and the Orchid Conference 
had to be held, to the regret of all, in the absence of 
the Orchid king. His absence, however, did not pre¬ 
vent the Committee from recognizing the great value 
of the services he has rendered to Orchid-growers for 
many years, by awarding him the first of the three 
Veitch Memorial Medals placed at their disposal by 
the Trustees. 
Professor Reichenbach was born at Dresden, in 
January, 1824, and in early life his labours were for 
some time conducted at Leipzig, but of late years he 
has held the post of Professor of Botany in conjunc¬ 
tion with that of Director of the Botanic Garden at 
Hamburgh. The Professor states that he has studied 
Orchids since 1841, but not Orchids alone, for he has 
written a great deal concerning the floras of several 
countries, including that of his own native land. 
In an appreciative notice of the Professor’s labours in 
the horticultural world, published some fourteen years 
ago in The Gardeners' Chronicle , it was stated that the 
Professor ascended the throne vacated by the death of 
Dr. Lindley amid the unanimous assent of his colleagues, 
and most worthily does he fulfil his regal duties. 
“ Nor does our Orchid king share the exclusiveness 
sometimes manifested by those in high positions ; on 
the contrary we doubt whether the President of the 
United States himself is more accessible than our 
Professor. Does a new Orchid arrive ? forthwith it is 
dispatched to Professor Reichenbach. Does a stranger 
make his appearance without his passport or visiting 
card? forthwith he is forwarded to the Hamburgh 
Professor for identification, verification or baptism, 
as may be required. Does any question arise con¬ 
cerning that most intricate and difficult family, the 
Orchidaceaa ? Professor Reichenbach acts as the 
universal referee and umpire ”—and as universal 
referee and umpire he still remains. May the duties 
of his high office sit lightly upon him, and his shadow 
never grow less. 
A LANCASHIRE NURSERY. 
Thebe is no county in England in which Floriculture 
and Horticulture is more loved than that which is 
situated between the Rivers Mersey and Ribble. Over 
half a century ago, Loudon said of the Lancashire 
people that they were the most enthusiastic customers 
of the London nurserymen for all new plants, and 
he described some of their flower-shows as being the 
best in the provinces, and in some respects as superior 
to those held in London. At that time there were 
several first-class nurserymen and florists’ estab¬ 
lishments round Manchester, but owing to the 
development of business, they had to make way for 
factories and dwellings, and now are only kept in 
remembrance by the names of streets—such as 
Nursery Street, &c. Then came a time in which 
pessimist views were the order of the day, and “ it 
is no use to try, smoke and gas poison everything,” 
was the cry. Even within the last seven years the 
writer was laughed at when he said, “ Only practical 
skill and common sense are requisite to piroduce 
flowers and fruits equal to any other county.” To 
grow a Rose on the north-west side of Manchester 
was thought to be an impossibility, even under glass, 
seven years ago; but there were a few who quietly 
plodded on and worked patiently, among them being 
Mr. C. J. Noyes, of the Pendleton Nurseries, whose 
father commenced business there when some of the 
old nurseries were being broken up, about 1838. 
Mr. Noyes is now reaping a rich reward for his 
perseverance. At these home grounds he has upwards 
of thirty houses, from 70 ft. to 110 ft. long, and the 
number is being yearly added to. No pessimist views 
are held here, for we saw, a few days since, fine plants 
of Marechal Niel, Gloire de Dijon, and other sorts in 
fine bloom, and were told that they had been cut from 
since February last. There were also some thousands 
of nice plants of Roses in pots just coming into bloom, 
and in one house were over a thousand Spirseas ; Cine¬ 
rarias and Hyacinths were nearly over. Calceolarias, 
Ferns, and in fact all plants suitable for market, either 
as cut blooms or in pots for general decorative purposes, 
are to beseenhere in any quantity, clean and well grown. 
Two specialities we must mention as being done 'well 
here, viz., Pelargoniums and Dahlias. The former, 
by the vigour of their growth, reminded us of the 
plants we used to see thirty years ago grown round 
the South of England, clean sturdy stuff, some just 
coming into bloom, with others to follow until July. 
The Dahlias are a grand collection, both single and 
double. 
To describe all we saw would occupy too much of 
your space, but we must not omit a few words about the 
Rhododendrons out-of-doors, which to us are the most 
interesting and, as we think, most important feature 
in Mr. Noyes’ nurseries. For many years past, villa 
gardens by hundreds have been formed and planted 
with trees and shrubs obtained from distant nurseries, 
but Mr. Noyes having long held the opinion that 
there was no necessity for being dependent on distant 
places for the supply of shrubs, &c., for this district, 
was successful in obtaining by purchase part of a 
tenant’s interest in some land near Barton Station, 
on the L. & N. W. line between Manchester and 
Liverpool, a part, in fact, of the well-known Chat 
Moss. This, if you will allow the diversion, is an 
extensive bog, nearly ten miles in length, and six in 
width, originally an extensive forest extending from 
Stretford and Old Trafford to Warrington, as the 
remains of the ancient trees and relies found at 
various times embedded in the bog testify. Here 
the native brigands hid themselves and sallied out 
to harass the soldiers under the Roman General, 
Agricola, who ordered his troopers to cut down and 
burn this forest, and to this day the trees found attest 
the fact that they all lay from west to east. Many 
grand trunks have been found burned and charred with 
fire, hard and black, but which fell to pieces when 
exposed to the atmosphere. Cows’ horns have been 
found of a breed now extinct; the trees were Oak, 
Birch, Fir, Yew, Beech, Holly, and others. After the 
Roman destruction it became a swamp until the latter 
end of the last century, when Sir Thomas Joseph de 
Trafiord obtained an Act of Parliament to enclose 
and let it on leases, and since then much has been 
done to reclaim it, first by Mr. Roscoe and Mr. 
Wakefield, and the late Sir Edward Baines and his 
manager, Mr. Bell, but much more remains to be done. 
Doubtless, however, in the near future this “Chateley 
More ” (as Leyland, the travelling historian, calls 
it) is destined to become of great importance as 
the market garden of Lancashire. Leyland gives the 
following quaint description of the moss :—“ Chateley 
More is a iii or iiii myles in Breadthe and vi myls yn 
lengt. Sum (part) brast up within a myl of Morley 
Haul and destroied much grounde with mosse 
thereabout, and destroied much fresh water Fische 
thereabout, first corrupting the stinking water 
Glassebrooke, and so carried the roulling mosse and 
stinking water into Marsey water, and Marsey 
corrupted carried the roulling mosse piast the shores 
of Wales, part to the Isle of Man and sum to Ireland. 
Syr John Holerofte’s House within a myle or more 
of Morle stoode in jeopardi with fleeting of the 
mosse.” Camden also repeats this “ fleeting of the 
mosse.” In other places also the moss appears to have 
rose up and then slipped away into the Irwell and 
the Mersey. All this has now been prevented by 
deep draining, and on some of this ground Mr. Noyes 
has planted some thousands of Rhododendrons, and 
a general collection of shrubs, which are growing 
remarkably clean and free, and set well for bloom. 
Without doubt in a few years the nurseries here will 
rival those in other places for the excellent quality 
of the plants, which will be more acclimatized and 
better adapted for the district.— N. J. D. 
A FOREST OF ARAUCARIAS. 
Miss Marianne North, the most celebrated of living 
flower painters, recently wrote from Ckanlion, Chili, 
to The Pall Mall Gazette “ My chief object in 
coming to Chili was to see and paint the old forests of 
Araucaria imbrieata, known in England as the Puzzle- 
Monkey Tree, rather unreasonably, as there are no 
monkeys here to puzzle; probably they crossed the 
Cordilleras in disgust at the general prickliness of all 
plants here, especially the Araucarias, and never came 
back again. It was not easy to make out how to 
reach these forests. Some people talked of difficulties 
and even dangers; they said I must sleep out, be 
eaten by pumas, or carried off by Indians, a noble 
race which has never yet been conquered by the white 
man; others declared the trees no longer existed, 
having all been sawn up into sleepers for railways. 
“But, as usual, I found all impediments vanish as 
I got nearer the spot, and four hours of easy and 
delightful riding from Angole, the present end of the 
PROFESSOR H. G. REICHENBACH. 
