April 20, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD- 
533 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned subjects vJere awarded certifi¬ 
cates according to merit by the Royal Horticultural 
Society on the gth inst.:— 
Amaryllis Doris.— The large and widely funnel- 
shaped flowers of this variety are notable for their 
intense crimson colour. The lower half of the 
flower is possessed of a glowing and glossy sheen. 
There were two scapes from one bulb bearing eight 
flowers in the aggregate, and all of handsome size. 
Award of Merit to Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Chelsea. 
Amaryllis Chimere. —The flowers in this case 
are widely bell-shaped with scarcely any tube. 
The three outer segments are very broad, rounded at 
the end, and the smaller ones are imbricated over 
them. All are white with a few deep red lines on 
either side of the midrib of the upper segments, the 
lower one and half of two others being white. It is a 
very telling and attractive flower, and one of the best 
of the light kinds. Award of Merit to Messrs. J. 
Veitch & Sons. 
Ataccia cristata.— The leaves of this striking, 
weird-looking and remarkable plant, popularly called 
the " Witch of Endor,” are oblong, ribbed on each 
side of the midrib deep green, and furnished with 
long, purple petioles. The flowers are brown and 
borne in clusters on stems rising from the rootstock. 
Numerous thread-like and pale lilac or pale purple 
bracts hang down from amongst them, and above all 
rise two large leafy bracts of a pale straw colour, 
shaded and netted with pink and purple at the base. 
These bracts earn for the species the name of the 
Witch Plant. First-class Certificate to Sir Trevor 
Lawrence, Bart, (gardener, Mr. W. Bain), Burford 
Lodge, Dorking. 
Anthuriom compactum.— In this we have a variety 
of A. Scherzerianum with concave and nearly 
orbicular spathes, cordate at the base, apiculate, 
and beautifully marbled, mottled, and marked with 
scarlet on a white ground. The white predominates 
on the upper surface, but the scarlet on the back. 
Award of Merit to Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. 
Clivia the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain.— 
The flowers of this variety, borne in large massive 
umbels, are bell-shaped with a large lamina and 
revolute segments of a deep rich orange. The 
throat is clear yellow internally. Award of Merit 
to Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. 
Saxifraga Boydi alba. —The leaves of this plant 
are subulate and arranged in small rosettes forming 
dense cushions. The white flowers are borne on 
scapes about 2 in. high, and which produce about 
three or four blooms on a cyme. The plant 
resembles S. Burseriana, but the latter has smaller 
leaves and only one flower on a scape. Award of 
Merit to Messrs. Paul & Son, Cheshunt. 
SOME USEFUL PLANTS 
FOR FURNISHING. 
While in the midst of propagation we must not 
forget the above. We have so constant a demand, 
both in variety and quantity, and a little care at this 
time will do much towards securing a stock of many 
useful subjects. Orchids and a few very choice 
things I do not propose to touch upon, but those 
which anyone with ordinary accommodation can 
grow with success. A large variety of Palms, the 
green and variegated Aspidistras, Ficus elastica, and 
some of the hardier Dracaenas are much used during 
autumn and winter. Several shrubs, such as the 
Solanum, Spiraea callosa, Deutzia gracilis, and Per- 
nettya mucronata, are well worth a little early con¬ 
sideration. 
Then we must have those pretty trailing subjects, 
of which Panicums, Tradescantias, and Selaginellas 
are easily propagated now, and will soon form use¬ 
ful plants that will do service all the season. A few 
small pots of Lobelia can always be utilised, and 
give us a much desired and scarce colour. Musk, 
both the common and Harrisoni, should not be over¬ 
looked. Canterbury Bells will afford a great show 
with comparatively little trouble and cost. Francoa 
ramosa is always light and graceful, and can be used 
in so many ways that they should always be 
grown. Saxifraga pyramidalis is a reliable spring 
flower. 
Then in how many ways we can use the Lachenalia: 
on brackets, in baskets, groups, almost anywhere in 
fact. They are no trouble, never fail, and come into 
use year after year, and extend over a lengthened 
period. More use might be made of the Echeverias 
early in the season, E. gibbiflora and retusa being 
very showy and useful. Fuchsias, Heliotropiums, 
Begonias, Gloxinias, and also the Chrysanthemums 
must have attention now, if they are to be of service 
later on. Abutilons and Sparmanias, with Salvias, 
will come in as a great help in the autumn with 
Chrysanthemums. 3 o, too, will Bouvardias and 
Eupatoriums. The more hardy and useful Cala- 
diums, with many variegated grasses, must by no 
means be overlooked. Cyperuses, Isolepis, and many 
Ferns, Cyclamen, Primulas, Cinerarias, Coleus and 
heaps more may well be borne in mind, and propa¬ 
gated as our needs point out. To be ready for 
decorating of the most simple kind we must look 
ahead, and it is very necessary to give this matter a 
little thought early in the year.— -Experience. 
-•**- 
AMERICAN PERIODICALS 
Whilst the periodicals of any subject are supposed 
to chronicle all the fleeting events of the days and 
years and to embalm them for future generations, it 
is the most difficult thing to remember and record 
the journals themselves. Many horticultural 
journals have lived and died in this country without 
having attracted the attention of a single library or 
collector of books. They germinated in the rich 
soil of expectation, bloomed in the dewy morning of 
enthusiasm, and collapsed when the sun rose. I 
believe that it is no exaggeration to say that 500 
horticultural journals have been started in North 
America. There are about forty in the flesh at the 
present moment. The first journal to devote any 
important extent of its space to horticultural matters 
was the “ New England Farmer," which was 
established in Boston in 1822, and which was one 
of the chief instruments in the organisation of the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Its first editor 
was Thomas G. Fessenden, author of the “ New 
American Gardener,” a book which appeared in 
1828, and passed through at least six editions. The 
“ Horticultural Register and Gardeners' Magazine,” 
established in Boston in 1835 and edited by Fessen¬ 
den and Joseph Breck, and Hovey’s Magazine were 
probably the first distinct horticultural periodicals. 
The former, although a magazine of more than 
ordinary merit, did not persist long. The latter was 
founded by C. M. Hovey and P. B. Hovey, Jun., 
and was called the "American Gardeners' Magazine 
and Register of Useful Discoveries and Improve¬ 
ments in Horticultural and Rural Affairs,” a journal 
which, in the third volume, became the " Magazine 
of Horticulture," and which enjoyed an uninterrupted 
existence until 1868, thus covering a third of a 
century of the most critical and interesting period 
in American horticulture. 
The next important journalistic venture was A. J. 
Downing’s "Horticulturist,” begun in 1846, and 
continued under many changes and vicissitudes for 
some thirty years, and still represented, in line of 
descent, by “ American Gardening.” It has been 
published in Albany, Rochester, Philadelphia, and 
New York. The first seven volumes were edited by 
A. J. Downing; the eighth and ninth by Patrick 
Barry; the tenth by Barry and j. J. Smith; the 
eleventh to fourteenth by J. J. Smith; fifteenth and 
sixteenth by Peter B. Mead; seventeenth and 
eighteenth by Mead and G. E. Woodward. Later it 
was continued by Henry T. Williams, in New York, 
until the close of 1875, when the " Horticulturist” 
was united with the " Gardeners’ Monthly,” of 
Philadelphia. This latter magazine started January 
1st, 1859, as a quarto, but became an octavo with its 
second volume. It continued until the close of 1887, 
when upon the death of its publisher, Charles Marot, 
it passed into the hands of "American Garden,” 
New York It had a long and useful career under 
the editorial management of one of the most accom¬ 
plished and conscientious of American horticulturists, 
Thomas Meehan, whom all the younger generation 
has learned to love. The " American Garden" itself 
was a continuation of the " Ladies’ Floral Cabinet.” 
In November, 1891, "American Garden” absorbed 
"Popular Gardening,” which was established at 
Buffalo in October, 1885, and the combined journals 
became known as "American Gardening.” With 
the issue of September, 1893, the journal passed into 
the hands of the present owners, and the magazine 
type of American horticulture ceased to exist. Here, 
then, is a continuous line of descent from the old 
" Horticulturist,” covering a period of very nearly 
half a century. 
The first pomologiual journal was probably 
Hoffy’s " Orchardist's Companion," a quarterly, 
established in Philadelphia in 1841. It was a pre¬ 
tentious quarto, with coloured plates, of which only 
one volume was issued. Other early horticultural 
periodicals were Warder’s " Western Horticultural 
Review,” Cincinnati, 1851 to 1853 ; " American Jour¬ 
nal of Horticulture,” later known as " Tilton’s 
Journal of Horticulture,” Boston, 1867 to 1871 (9 
vols.) ; “ Western Pomologist,” Des Moines, Iowa, 
and Leavenworth, Kansas, 1870 to 1872, by Mark 
Miller, Dr. J. Stay man, and others. Probably the 
first journal devoted to any particular fruit or plant 
was Husmann's " Grape Culturist,” St. Louis, 1869 
to 1871. Upon the Pacific coast, the earliest dis¬ 
tinct horticultural periodical was the “ California 
Culturist," the firs: number of which appeared in 
January, 1859. This ran through four volumes, and 
it records the marvels of the first era of modern 
fruit-growing upon the Pacific Slope. The “ Cali¬ 
fornia Horticulturist ” was established in 1870, 
and ran through twenty half-yearly volumes, when, 
in 1880, it was merged into the " Pacific Rural 
Press,” which is still in active existence. The cur¬ 
rent periodical literature calls for no comment here, 
except to remark that pomology—the one distinctive 
feature of American horticulture—has no journal 
devoted to its interests, and that the first successful 
attempt to establish’a weekly, after the pattern of 
the great English journals, was " Garden and 
Forest,” which appeared in New York, in 1888, under 
the management of Professor Charles S. Sargent, of 
Harvard. The country is now represented by four 
trade journals, two devoted to floriculture, one to the 
nursery trade, and one to the fruit trade. 
America has never been favoured with horticul¬ 
tural annuals to the extent to which England and 
other countries have. The first attempt of the 
kind seems to have been Woodward’s " Record of 
Horticulture,” edited by A. S. Fuller, which ap¬ 
peared in 1866 and 1867. The next venture was the 
"American Horticultural Annual,” New York, for 
the years 1868, 1869, and 1870. The attempt was 
not made again, so far as I know, until I established 
“ Annals of Horticulture ” in 1889, and which has 
now run through five volumes.— Florists' Exchange. 
BOUGAINVILLEA 
GLABRA. 
In the days of " specimen plants ” and collections of 
" stove and greenhouse,” this grand subject usually 
found a place, and was sometimes seen—as inferred 
at p. 501—a miserably distorted specimen. The 
finest plant that I ever saw was exhibited by Messrs. 
Jackson, of Kingston, at the Brighton Pavilion some 
twenty years ago. Many of the so-called stoves are 
so small and cramped that there is not sufficient 
space to do full justice to this fine subject; conse¬ 
quently it is grown as a pot plant, and so closely 
tied in that it cannot make growth sufficiently strong 
and plentiful to bloom satisfactorily, therefore it is 
vexing as well as useless to attempt its cultivation in 
such structures. Classed as a stove plant, and hail¬ 
ing from a warm locality, calls to my mind how 
remarkably well it succeeded in a lofty conservatory 
at an establishment I served in some years ago. It 
was planted in the corner of one of the beds, and 
trained up an iron supporting column. The lower 
part, of course, was only stem, but it produced an 
abundance of growth at the top, near the roof glass, 
where it got rather warm during the summer time, 
and well ripened the growth, so that it flowered 
splendidly : in fact we could cut barrow-loads of fine 
sprays. It was pruned in close during the winter, 
and the bed in which it was planted contained large 
Tree Ferns and Palms, but the head of the Bougain¬ 
villea towered well above them, so that it had the 
benefit of all light and sunshine. The soil was 
composed of turfy loam, peat, and sand, was effi¬ 
ciently drained, and received copious supplies of 
water during the summer; the structure being occa¬ 
sionally fumigated to keep down green fly. Just 
outside of the wall of the bed in which it was planted 
ran some hot-water pipes, which undoubtedly 
warmed the soil in which it was planted. I should 
have been sceptical as to the adaptability of the 
Bougainvillea glabra for conservatory adornment, 
thinking that the temperature would not be suffi¬ 
ciently high for its welfare, but having seen and 
admired that plant I should have no hesitation in 
utilising it could I but allow it a similar structure.— 
Pathfinder. 
