May 22, 1897, 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
597 
The Lilac was flowering freely in and arouDd 
Plymouth about the end of April, and the Horse 
Chestnut made a display by the beginning of May. 
While gathering flowers over the railway at the 
mouth of a tunnel, a Chatham boy missed his footing 
and fell. When picked up he was found to be dead. 
The Wooden Harmonicon, one of the most ancient 
instruments, is still found in a very primitive form 
all over Africa, as well as parts of Asia and Oceania. 
The Cotton sowing is now completed everywhere all 
over the country according to a telegram from Cairo. 
The acreage is up to that of last year and the plants 
are reported to be very healthy. 
Mr. Herbert Newton, who used to be general fore¬ 
man to his father at Campsall, has now gone to Don¬ 
caster to begin business as a grower for market and 
nurserymen in the nursery bought by his father a 
few years ago. His father, who died on the 31st 
March last, from a very painful illness, lasting seven 
weeks, was gardener at Campsall for 28$ years. 
Previous to that he was at Hooton Hall, Chester, 
Ted worth House, Salisbury, andBlankney, Sleaford. 
He began his career with Messrs. Charles Sharpe & 
Co., Sleaford, and was for some time with Messrs. J. 
Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea. We wish his son, Mr. 
Herbert Newton, every success in his new venture. 
His present address is 8, Cartwright Street, Don¬ 
caster. 
The Temple Show.—For the tenth time the Royal 
Horticultural Society will hold its Great Annual 
Flower Show in the Inner Temple Gardens, on May 
26th, 2.7th, and 28 th. There is sure to be a marvel¬ 
lous display, judging from the very large number of 
entries which have been received, and there is reason 
to believe that some of the exhibitors will show 
something original this year in the way of displaying 
their plants. The judges will meet in the secretary’s 
tent at 10.30 a m.; the Fruit, Floral, and Orchid Com¬ 
mittees will assemble at n a.m , and the show will 
open to the public at 12 30 p.m. An interesting 
feature of the Catalogue will be an article on the 
“ Royal Horticultural Society,’* from the pen of the 
president, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. P.S.—Owing 
to the great pressure upon the society's officials, 
plants for certificates cannot be entered on the morn¬ 
ing of the show. 
Forest Gate Chrysanthemum Society.—The monthly 
lecture of the society was held at the Norwich Hall, 
Forest Gate, when Mr. D. B. Crane discoursed upon 
Violas. The chair was occupied by Mr. Louis 
Sinclair. Mr. Crane pointed out the differences 
between the Viola and the Pansy, and illustrated his 
remarks by a number of specimens. He spoke of 
the fine effects that might be obtained by massing 
the plants and dealt in a practical manner with the 
best methods of cultivation. At the conclusion Mr. 
Sinclair testified to the value of the information that 
had been given them by Mr. Crane, and said that by 
cultivating and improving the Viola they were not 
only improving the good things Nature had sent 
them, but they were also improving themselves. 
During the evening the secretary announced that 
£21 of the proceeds of their recent concert had been 
handed over to the West Ham Hospital; that the 
animal summer excursion would be to Tring Park, 
on July 17th ; and that the Duchess of Teck had 
consented to open their Chrysanthemum Show, 
Crops Destroyed by frost.—Over a wide area of 
Western Europe, including the British Isles, the 
weather was very cold during the last and the 
previous weeks. In the suburbs of London, the tops 
of early Potatos have been destroyed and the Straw¬ 
berry blossom seriously injured wherever they had 
been left unprotected. Naturally the cold has been 
more severe in Scotland with more or less heavy falls 
of snow, sleet and hail, and damage to fruit trees and 
vegetation generally has been reported. Heavy snow 
fell in most of the provinces of Austria during the 
12th and 13th inst. causing enormous damage to 
crops grown for seed, as well as fruit trees. During 
the same period there were from 6° to g° of frost in 
various parts of France doing irreparable damage to 
the vineyards which are regarded as ruined for the 
season. The damage to vines, fruit trees and vege¬ 
table crops is estimated at £800,000, possibly more, 
when the damage comes to be fully realised. The 
outlook for the natives is very gloomy indeed. 
STRAWBERRIES. 
The Strawberry crops in the north (like the south) 
always excite great interest, and when any new sort 
is lauded by the press (or otherwise) it finds its way 
into most gardens, especially in Scottish ones. It 
was with amazing rapidity that Royal Sovereign 
became established in Scottish gardens, and that fine 
variety is giving great satisfaction to many who 
make Strawberry culture a speciality. Many others 
have been proved of late years, but are scarcely 
found in any gardens now. Noble belongs to this 
class. Perhaps no Strawberry in Scotland has given 
more satisfaction than President, a variety which 
has many admirers in the south as well; and I can 
endorse all you say of it at p. 582. For outdoor cul¬ 
ture and for forcing I have none better. While once 
inspecting a large Aberdeen nursery and purchasing 
Strawberry plants, I was told that President was 
not in favour with many of the large growers in the 
district, and I may add that I had to get rid of the 
several varieties which I purchased for trial, as 
they did not do in Stirlingshire any more than at 
Aberdeen. Garibaldi is much grown in Scotland.— 
M. Temble, Carton, N B. 
- •** - 
ORCHID NOTES & GLEANINGS, 
By The Editor. 
Dendnobium wardianum album.— When the true 
form of this turns up it should have pure white 
sepals and petals, the customary purple tips having 
disappeared. The lip should be entirely without the 
usual two maroon blotches at the base. This variety 
has recently turned up in the collection of the 
Marquis of Camden, at Bayham Abbey, Lamber- 
hurst, Kent. A short time ago we recorded the 
occurrence of a fine subvariety of D. wardianum to 
which we gave the name Marquis of Camden's var. 
Now both of these choice things turned up in a re¬ 
cent importation, and the owner is to be congratu¬ 
lated. D. wardianum album has a rich orange 
blotch covering the whole area of the lip with the 
exception of the tip and a narrow marginal line of 
white. D. w. candidum Marquis of Camden’s var., 
we consider the finer of the two on account of the 
great size of the lip and the conspicuous character of 
the blotch. Mr. A. Methven understands Orchids 
and will no doubt nurse these importations into size 
and beauty. 
-» « — - — 
EUCHARIS LOWII. 
Forms of Eucharis continue to turn up amongst im¬ 
portations, and every now and again puzzle cultiva¬ 
tors as to what they are. Ernest H. Krelage in a 
review of the Eucharis in Tijdschrift voor Tuinbouw 
about two years ago, made out a list of six species, 
three hybrids and five varieties. Eucharis Lowii is 
by him regarded as a variety of E. grandiflora, but 
we fail to see how such a view can be taken whether 
E. Mastersii be regarded as a species or a hybrid, 
for both are intermediate between E. grandiflora, 
and E. Sanderi differing chiefly in the size of the 
flower and the disposition of the segments. E. 
Lowii takes more after E. grandiflora than E. 
Mastersii, which inclines towards E. Sanderi in the 
smaller size of the flowers and the ascending direc¬ 
tion of the inner segments. 
After consulting various illustrations, some of 
which were taken from the same lot of plants of E. 
Lowii, we come to the conclusion that the different 
draughtsmen employed to sketch the flowers give 
quite a varied aspect to one and the same thing. 
Possibly the taking of flowers from different 
bulbs might account for this; because if each 
bulb represents a different seedling from one or 
more pods of seed resulting from a natural cross, 
there might be variations amongst individuals 
just as occurs when artificial hybrids are produced. 
The flowers of E. Lowii are as large as those of 
E. grandiflora, and the corona has a narrow, 
free rim above the tube with two triangular teeth 
between every two filaments. The figure in The 
Gardening World, Vol. x. p. 7, shows that the 
three inner segments are incurved at the sides. The 
Gardeners' Chronicle for May 6th, 1893, p. 539, shows 
much less of this incurved character to the inner 
segments. At the same place the flowers are shown 
to be sessile, that is, without pedicels to the flowers, 
yet the description of Mr. J. G. Baker, of Kew, says 
that the pedicels are very short. Some flowers of 
E. Lowii were shown by Mr. W. Bain, gardener to 
Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., BurLrd Lodge, Dork¬ 
ing, at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural 
Society on the nth inst. The pedicels in this case, 
or some of them, were g io. long. The floweis 
differed from those illustrated in 1893, chiefly by the 
inner segments being often nearly erect and recurved 
at the edges instead of being incurved. We scarcely 
think this sufficient to warrant a distinguishing 
name, as individual flowers differed more or less 
from one another, and they may not be exactly the 
same when the bulbs next come into flower. We 
prefer to regard these variations as individual 
differences amongst the seedlings of a natural hybrid. 
Mr. Baker, of Kew, did, indeed, suggest that E. 
Lowii might prove to be a hybrid between E grandi¬ 
flora and E. Sanderi. 
- - - 
THE FLOWER GARDENS OF VICTORIA 
(AUSTRALIA).* 
Most people I have met in England seem to have an 
idea that Australia is a scorching sun-baked land, 
ever thirsty and parched, and seem filled with 
incredulity when told that it can grow the lovely 
flowers and plants that it does. Now this state of 
things is much to be deprecated and wondered at, for 
with so many hundreds of persons passing between 
England and Australia every week, it is time the folk 
here had a brighter, pleasanter, and at the same time 
more correct idea of the place they may be merely 
going to visit, or perhaps think of making their 
future home, so that when they bid farewell to this 
fair land they may not leave with a sense of saying 
" good-bye ” to all that goes to make up an English 
home, and especially an English garden. 
However, I shall endeavour to give you a layman's 
ideas or remembrances of average gardens in and 
around the suburbs of Melbourne, and in certain 
country districts where it has been my good fortune 
to have been, when I had a good opportunity to 
judge how imported flowering plants behave in their 
adopted country. I propose first of all to give some 
slight idea of our climate in the colony of Victoria, 
as a preface, so that you can understand some of the 
external conditions under which our plants and 
flowers grow. 
Briefly then, we have two very warm months— 
viz., January and February. These form our mid¬ 
summer. Beginning to get warm in November, 
December gradually becomes warmer as the days 
slip by. Flowers and shrubs commence to wear a 
jaded look. January comes along, and we find this 
condition increasing, until ia February the thermo¬ 
meter generally reaches its highest point, which 
varies according as the season be a mild or severe 
one, as in any other part of the world Now the 
gardens and country generally look distressed, the 
earth is baked hard, and Nature, save in some 
instances, appears worn out with struggling against 
long odds, and is only saved from downright death 
by a timely change and a good shower, which puts 
enough vigour into plant life to sustain it. Of course, 
by the plentiful application of hoses and sprinklers, 
for the use of which there is a small tax, hundreds of 
gardens are kept in proper state, and the dews at 
night, along with this and the humid atmosphere, 
make things grow in a semi-tropical manner. 
Then again the heat is not continuous, and sudden 
cool changes occur after a few days heat; rain fall¬ 
ing, the earth is cooled, and it seems as if these 
changes were sent to keep things going. But alas ! 
in many places inland the long-looked-for change 
may not come for weeks or months, and then comes 
a drought, which seems to recur periodically. I 
am, however, speaking of places which are within 
one hundred or two hundred miles from the coast 
and not too hot for the aboriginals. So, to sum 
up the summer—it is a very warm or hot season, the 
temperature going up at times to 105° and 106° at 
rare intervals near the coast, with an average of 
about 90° Fahr., varied by several cool days together 
and a recuperation. For instance, we read of the 
present summer of birds dropping down dead off the 
branches from the great heat, and then a few days 
* A paper read at a recent meeting of the Horticultural Club 
by Dr. Ernest D’Ombrain, of Melbourne. 
