June 17, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
661 
The Queen’s Birthday Orchid.—We have received 
notice from a friend about an Orchid figured and 
detailed in some daily paper, and said to be worth 
£2,500 to £3.000 It is mentioned to have been 
presented to Her Majesty the Queen at her eightieth 
birthday, but whether or no she accepted it we 
have not heard. Its (late) owner received it from 
the Andes and after getting it, he or the growers, by 
inattention at the outset, nearly lost what has proved 
to be one of the greatest floral wonders of the 
century. Judging from the illustration sent us, the 
outer segments of this so-called Orchid appear like 
those of Iris laevigata (Kaempferi), while the inner 
ones appear like part of the head gear of a clown at 
the Christmas pantomimes—an artificial hybrid 
truly. 
Syndical Chamber of Belgian Horticulturists.— 
At the meeting of this body in conjunction with the 
Royal Agricultural and Botanical Society of Ghent, 
in the Casino, on the 4th inst., Certificates of Merit 
were accorded to Cattleya Mossiae Reinedes Beiges, 
shown by M. G. Vincke-Dujardin (by acclamation) ; 
to Cymbidium eburneum, shown by M. J. Van Baer ; 
to Alocasia Duvivieri, presented by M. L. de Smet- 
Duvivier (by acclamation); and to Anthurium 
scherzerianum fol. aureis striatis, presented by M. J. 
de Cock (by acclamation). Honourable Mentions 
were accorded to Odontoglossum ruckerianum var. 
Goossenii, and to Cattleya Mossiae var., presented 
by MM. Praet & Cie. 
Rose Show at Stuttgart, Germany. —An important 
Rose show is in progress in the Concert Hall, at 
Stuttgart, Germany, under the auspices of the 
German Rose Amateurs. It commenced on the 
15th inst., and closes on the 18th. A congress 
of Rose growers and amateurs took place at 
9 o'clock on the morning of the 17th, after 
which luncheon was partaken of. The Rose 
lovers assembled then proceeded to examine 
the show. On the 18th they intend seeing the 
principal sights of Stuttgart and Umgebung. Prizes 
were offered for Roses and necessary implements, &c., 
in 71 classes. 
Real Horticulturists—It is said of the late Sir 
Archibald Grant, Bart., of Monymusk, that he was 
a devoted and successful fruit and plant cultivator, 
and all his forebears were likewise of the same 
nature. It is even said that one of the same family 
planted so many as fifty million trees. Would that 
more of our present day proprietors would be like¬ 
wise generous. The results would be as gold mines 
to their often hard-up and spendthrift heirs, and the 
endowment to the nation at large would not be 
small. The Sir Archibald Grant we now mention, 
when he fell heir to his beautiful estate, purchased 
a large quantity of flower and vegetable seeds and 
gave them to his tenants and servants. He also 
established a horticultural society and took an 
active part in its working. At the annual show he 
induced his neighbouring aristocratic friends to give 
attendance and help, by inviting them to luncheon, 
and by giving away many prizes to exhibitors. We 
always have found that such gentlemen lived far the 
happiest and best lives who got their pleasure from 
the giving of pleasure and help to others. 
The Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution. —The 
rules and report of the committee of the above in¬ 
stitution, with a list of the subscribers for the year 
ending 31st December, 1898, is placed in our hands 
in neat booklet form, The report is favourable; and 
bespeaks of increased demand and also increased 
supply to the needs of many aged petitioners. Thus 
the institution is ever becoming more and more 
helpful. Early in 1898 there were 168 pensioners on 
the funds, who alone sapped away £3,060. Sixteen 
of these have died, leaving aged widows, whose 
claims for a continuance of the pension have been 
considered and granted. During the first year of the 
“Victorian Era Fund” £4,075 were raised, but 
£925 is required to raise it to the £5,000, the sum 
desired by the committee. £540 has been gathered 
during the last year towards this object, while the 
following gentlemen have kindly promised £50 each, 
conditionally on the amount being obtained:—N. 
Sherwood, Esq., V.M.H. (Trustee); Arthur W. 
Sutton, Esq.,; V.M.H., Leonard Sutton, Esq. ; 
Harry J. Veitch, Esq. (Treasurer); Geo. Munro, 
Esq , V.M.H.; and R. Millagan Hogg, Esq. The 
balance in the hands of treasurer and secretary at 
the close of the year was £975 us. 4d. 
The Oak reaches maturity at the age of 200, the 
Elm at 150, and the Ash at too years. Trees that 
grow quickly have the shortest lives as a rule, 12 in. 
being the average growth of an Oak annually, and 
2J ft., that of the Elm. 
Death of Mr. Peter Drummond. —Only a fortnight 
after Mr. James Kelway's death, his nursery fore¬ 
man, Mr. Peter Drummond, has died. He was 
apparently in the best of health up to the last 
moment, and fell lifeless while at his work. He was 
sixty-six years old last August, having been with the 
Kelways for twenty-six of those years. He was 
what we term a " good all-round man,’’ very 
pleasant in converse, courteous and obliging, and 
kind to instruct in all those things he had mastered. 
In every branch of his occupation he emulated his 
late employer, and his care and ardour for his various 
charges has left with us a name proudly honoured 
and weli remembered. The Messrs. Kelway have 
lost a reliable man, and all who knew him will 
greatly miss his personality. Apoplexy, due to the 
heat, was the cause of death. 
Hanley Horticultural Fete —The Hanley Park fete 
and third annual horticultural show will this year be 
held on July 5th and 6th, and will again take place 
in the grounds of Hanley Park which covers above 
80 acres and which has been acquired, laid out and 
ornamented by the Hanley Corporation. One of 
the two Veitch Memorial Medals with cash prize 
annnally offered by the trustees of the Veitch 
Memorial fund is to be competed for at this show 
and upwards of £1,600 is allocated to prizes, music 
and other attractions. In the children’s section of 
the flower show, which was a section that aroused 
very considerable sympathy and interest last year, 
some 2,000 entries have already, been received ; and 
it is also certain that the liberality of the prize list 
in the competing sections for the amateur and pro¬ 
fessional alike will again be well filled. The Horti¬ 
cultural Secretary is Mr. J. Kent, F.R.H.S., The 
Park, Hanley. The enterprising committee of this 
increasingly popular show has recently offered for 
"Sale by Auction" the privilege of providing 
refreshment tents for the forthcoming show. The 
Auctioneer’s list shows that £485 has accrued to the 
society from this source, which demonstrates what 
wonderful strides the society must have made in 
public favour, after but 2 years' experience. This 
is how they can give £500 in prizes. 
-•*—- 
STREPTOSOLEN JAMESONII. 
Previous to seeing the note on this plant in your 
issue of May 27th from F. G. Brewer, I had on 
several occasions been on the point of writing you 
a few lines about it, having for some months been 
meeting with it in flower under varying conditions. I 
have almost accustomed myself to think of it as one of 
those things which will flower under whatever treat¬ 
ment is accorded it. Truly, as Mr. Brewer says,it is 
a charming plant. I am constantly meeting with it 
growing in large pots or planted out and trained to 
pillars, under roofs and the back walls of conser¬ 
vatories. When under these conditions the wealth 
of cut flowers to be had from it can scarcely be 
imagined. It is cut and come again ; and intermixed 
with flowers of different form and colour the effect is 
most admirable. As a climbing plant for the 
positions indicated it stands in the foremost rank. 
Now, a few words as to its adaptability for general 
decorative purposes, when grown in the favourite 
48- size pot. It has been a real pleasure to me to 
find it being made use of in that way ; and having 
also seen it flowering well in 60 size pots, I see no 
reason or difficulty in the way of growing batches of 
it for house and conservatory decoration in the 
favourite 4-in. jiots. Fresh batches of it should be 
struck and grown on at intervals to suit the particular 
requirements of the various establishments, because 
it will not do to starve it,as is too frequently the case, 
where its merits are not so fully recognised as they 
might be.— W. B. G. 
- 
ANDROSACES. 
Some of the most charming alpine plants in culti¬ 
vation are, without doubt, the different species of 
Androsace. They belong to the order Primulaceae, 
and are essentially alpine plants, coming mostly from 
the Alps, Tyrol, Pyrenees and Himalayas. In size 
the Androsaces are small, of neat compact habit with 
heavy foliage, and stems attaining an average height 
of about three inches. In their native habitats the 
Androsaces are almost totally confined to snowy reg¬ 
ions of great altitude, certain varieties, as A. glacialis, 
growing in clefts and cracks in the rocks in the regions 
of glaciers and perpetual snow and ice. In these 
regions they have to live in almost extremes of heat 
and cold, as all who have done much alpine climbing 
must know from experience. During the day the 
rays of the sun strike on the plants and rocks with great 
fierceness, and at night they have to endure intense 
cold and bitter frosts, frosts which would speedily 
destroy any shrubs or large plants exposed to them 
for even a short period of time. And yet in these 
extremes of temperature these little plants live and 
thrive, and produce most exquisite flowers of various 
hues, some pure snow-white,others rose coloured, and 
others again crimson with white or yellow eyes, one 
species, A vitaliana, being yellow. 
Growing as a rule in clefts of the rocks amoDg the 
snow, they are frequently found on the vertical faces 
of steep precipices, where the plants follow along the 
cracks and fissures and send their long roots far into 
the rocks, and so find abundant moisture in the 
hottest summer weather and during the longest 
droughts. 
Many of the truly alpine plants, such as Gentians 
and Saxifrages, are to be found also growing in the 
meadows of the lower Swiss slopes ; and even on our 
own English hills and coast rocks; but not so the 
Androsace. It is alpine in every sense and is never 
found growing in the pastures nor on the lower 
slopes of the mountains, but is indigenous only on 
the lofty summits and elevated rocks of the snowy 
regions. 
Cultivation. —Although the Androsaces are so 
particular as to their native habitat, they can never¬ 
theless be acclimatised and grown under ordinary 
conditions of life. Those who are fortunate enough 
to be able to cultivate their plants in pure country 
air are far more likely to succeed with these alpines 
than their less fortunate comrades around the 
metropolis and other cites, as the small leaves, gener¬ 
ally hairy or downy, collect far more dust, smoke, 
and soot, than the majority of evergreen alpines. 
Androsaces are frequently grown in pots and 
pans, and with excellent results, as may have been 
noticed by many at the last two or three shows of 
the R. H. S. at the Drill Hall, Westminster, and at 
other shows. The deeper the pots or pans are, the 
better. The plant should be firmly packed between 
pieces of stone, in a peaty mixture, with plenty of 
sand, grit, and broken sand-stone. The stones 
should be so placed as to allow good drainage and 
yet not so much as to let the moisture flow away too 
easily. The general treatment required is much the 
same as that for Saxifrages. The pans of the hardier 
varieties may be kept outside unprotected all the year, 
the more difficult varieties being kept in cold frames 
during the winter. 
When planted in the rockery they should be 
placed, if possible, in sloping or perpendicular clefts, 
which pentrates some distance among the stones, the 
clefts being well and tightly filled with a mixture of 
peat and sand or light loam, with much sand, gritty 
matter and broken sand-stone. They should be 
planted as far as possible on a slope, to avoid any 
danger from winter wet, which is fatal to the plants. 
Many of the Androsaces can be raised from seed 
with little difficulty, the annual species often coming 
self-sown. 
Seed should be sown in autumn in light sandy soil 
and the pans placed in cold frames. Some small 
pieces of broken sand stone should be placed on the 
surface to prevent the growth of " green ” as much 
as possible. 
Species. The following species are the most 
suitable for ordinary and amateur culture :— 
A. sarmentosa. —Rose coloured, a popular species 
of easy culture in pots and pans, and also suitable 
for rock work. 
A. Helvetica.— The most common Swiss species. 
A. ciliata.— A choice species from the Pyrenees, 
of strong growth, with rose flowers and very downy 
foliage. 
A.villosa. —Also a Pyrenean plant of easy culture, 
with hairy foliage and white blossoms. 
A. vitaliana is the only one in culture with yellow 
bossoms. 
A. corono pi folia is an annual of extremely easy 
