March 24, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
469 
International Congress of Horticulture.—M. 
Viger has been appointed president of the Inter¬ 
national Congress of Horticulture, to be held in 
Paris this year, in connection with the Exhibition. 
His appointment fills the vacancy caused by M. 
Henry de Vilmorin. M. Viger is president of the 
French National Horticultural Society. 
Barr’s Hardy Perennials, Alpines and Aquatics. 
To the lover and cultivator of alpine and hardy 
plants Barr’s catalogue forms a constant companion. 
Their issue for 1900 is now to hand. In the opening 
pages of the publication the newer and rarer plants 
are arranged. Some of the finer of these are Aster 
Novae-Angliae Mrs. J. F. Rayner, A. Porteri, Cam¬ 
panula mirabilis, Incarvillea Delavayi, Lupinus 
arboreus Snow Queen, Ostrowskia magnifica, Poly¬ 
gonum baldschuanicum, and others which ought to 
be searched for in the lists given in the catalogue. 
Devon and Exeter Gardeners’Association—On 
March 14th, Mr. T. Slade, gardener to Lord Polti- 
more, of Poltimore, Exeter, read a paper on “ The 
Treatment of Amaryllis ” before the members of the 
Devon and Exeter Gardeners' Asssociation. He 
referred to Dean Herbert having tried to hybridise 
the African and American species without success, 
when the American species, formerly called 
Amaryllis, were then more fully considered, with the 
result they were distinguished from the African 
Amaryllis Belladonna, and designated with the 
generic title of Hippeastrum. Numerous fine 
hybrids and crosses have come from the Hippeas- 
trnms since florists gave them attention. Messrs. 
Veitch and Sons, of Chelsea, have done great service 
in this respect. In 1867, having introduced the 
species Leopoldi and others from Peru, they com¬ 
menced hybridising, the results of which are so 
manifest to-day. Referring to their culture, Mr. 
Slade uses § fibrous loam, ^ cow manure, and a 
liberal portion of silver sand. Old Mushroom bed 
manure was usually employed. January is the best 
time to pot up. Coming to the after flowering 
period, Mr. Slade advised the plants to be placed in 
a warmer house with a slight shading overhead. 
When growth is finishing water should be gradually 
withheld and shade lessened by degrees. They 
should be kept dry till they grow again. A Peach 
house from which the fruits have been gathered is a 
suitable place to ripen them. 
Orchids [at the Sale Rooms.—There was a large 
assemblage of buyers and others interested in the 
sales of Orchids at the rooms of Messrs. Protheroe 
6 Morris, Cheapside, on the 16th inst., when in 
addition to the ordinary consignments there were 
Orchids from the collections of M. Ch. Maron, 
France, and T. B. Haywood, Esq. (gardener, Mr. C. 
J. Salter), Woodhatch Lodge, Reigate. The large 
consignment of hybrid Dendrobiums from the latter 
place had been well grown by Mr. Salter, the stems 
being 2 ft. to 2J ft. high. They were chiefly hybrids 
between D. nobile and D. aureum and varieties of 
them, and far excelled the original D. Ainsworthii. 
D. Virgil (D. nobile roseum x Ainsworthii) was put 
up in some quantity, and fetched from 30s. to 4$ gs. 
apiece, most of them fetching much more than the 
lower price mentioned. Then came a number of 
choice and valuable varieties, including D. schnei- 
derianum, which brought 3J gs.; D. nobile Amesiae. 
8 gs.; D. n. nobilius, £2 12s. 6d. and 4J gs.; D. n, 
sanderianum, £3 5s.; D. ballianum, in bud, brought 
7 gs. and 7J gs., and Laeliocattleya Haywoodi, 
£2 10s. A fine piece of D. nobile virginale, with 
white flowers, was run up to 75 gs., but was not sold. 
Later on it was rumoured that it changed hands. A 
large number of hvbrids between D. nobile, D. 
Ainsworthii, and others of that breed were then 
placed on the table, and found buyers at prices 
ranging from 10s. to £1 15s., according to the size 
and beauty of the flowers. The appearance of these 
garden-raised plants was very fine indeed. A large 
piece of D nobile only fetched 6s., while two large 
pieces of the original D. Ainsworthii only com¬ 
manded gs. and 12s. The Woodhatch variety of D_. 
Ainsworthii, that received an Award of Merit from 
the R.H.S. some time ago, brought 35s. Another 
fine variety, but a very small piece, brought 4 gs. 
This should indicate the vast improvement that has 
been made upon the original D. Amsworthii. D. 
Venus brought from 15s. to £2 4s. each. The 
beautiful D. Cooksoni went for 5s. 
Scotch Potatos for Connaught —The Congested 
Districts’ Board for Ireland has taken for trial from 
Mr. A. Findlay, of Markincb, Fife, one ton each of 
his new Potatos, " Scotia ” and Hibernia,” besides 
half a ton of " Findlay's Gifts.” 
St. James’s Park, London.—In the earliest days 
of the opening spring, St. James' Park is perhaps as 
pretty and as refreshing to the Londoner as at any 
other part of spring, summer, or autumn. The 
water-fowls on the tree-margined lake splutter and 
squeak out their flat notes when an occasional bright 
hour adorns the circle of the daytime twelve; and 
the bright green grass below the weeping Birches, 
the flame-like Poplars, or the pinky starred Almond 
trees, one and all seem more truly beautiful; and in 
their singleness are more perfectly appreciable than 
when the whole wealth of a summer richness is on 
view. 
Gardeners’ Charity Guild Concert, March 14 th.— 
This excellent Guild has the satisfaction of adding 
another to the past annual concerts whose outcome 
has been highly successful, and from whose source 
money has been gathered and handed over to one or 
Other of the deserving gardening charities. Last 
year a sum of over £32 accrued from the G.C.G. 
concert; what resulted this year will be heard later 
on. The meeting, under the chairmanship of N. N. 
Sherwood, Esq., V.M.H. (Hurst & Son), was 
attended by about 700 persons, including all the 
prominent horticulturists or others connected with 
its ramifications and institutions around London. 
The Great Hall at Cannon Street Hotel, E C , had 
been chartered, and this was comfortably filled. A 
very long and varied programme was gone through, 
the artists one and all conducting their items to the 
highest satisfaction of the listeners. With very few 
hitches, and those of a minor character, the entire 
stage arrangements were ably managed by Mr. F. A. 
Cobbold and Mr. William Logan. Mr. W. Amies 
King deserves sincerest thanks for his able services 
as accompanist, and it is not saying too much to add 
that no finer accompaniments could have been 
desired. The Misses Beard in their business-like 
dispersion of confectionery, with the attention paid 
to visitors in the supply of programmes, &c., by 
Miss Cobbold and Miss Howe, were agents by which 
much money was collected, and which they have the 
satisfaction of knowing has gone to swell the fund of 
the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution, toward 
which the proceeds go. Mr. Sherwood, in a neat 
and summary speech upon the aims of the Charity 
Guild and the gardening charities in common, 
expressed the hope that many would be induced be¬ 
fore another year passed to become members of the 
Guild, and otherwise to support it. The work which 
the committee had done, under the leadership of Mr. 
Jones, of Lewisham, and Mr. Cobbold, of The 
Gardening World, was highly to be praised. Mr. 
Thomas Swales, the hon. sec., was specially men¬ 
tioned as having had an enormous amount of work 
in connection with the concert, work which he had 
carried through to such a successful issue as was 
obvious to all. The Hall was beautifully decorated 
with plants and flowers, which were kindly supplied 
by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., Messrs. W. Cut- 
bush & Son, Mr. H. J. Jones, Mr. D. A. Ingamells, 
and Mr. Geo. Tiffen. Ariston ” gold-tipped 
cigarettes were generously supplied by Messrs. B. 
Muratti, Sons & Co., Ltd,; the confectionery pre¬ 
sented by Messrs. Callard & Bowser. 
-- 
ORCHID NOTES & GLEANINGS. 
By the Editor. 
Dendrobium wardianum Lowii.—Some fine 
trusses of this beautiful Dendrobe have reached us 
from Mr. David May, gardener to A. Cochrane, Esq , 
Abbotshill, Galashiels, N.B. They were taken from 
an imported piece that was added to the fine collec¬ 
tion at Abbotshill last year, and which made two 
growths, one of which is over a yard in length. It 
is evidently a piece of the Burmese type of the 
species, which bears larger flowers on longer stems 
than the original importation from Assam. The 
flowers are of large size, the sepals being white, 
slightly shaded with purple on the back, and tipped 
with rich purple. The petals, on the contrary, are 
pure white, with a large area of purple at the 
apex, of a deeper hue than that of the sepals. 
The lip is of the usual arrangement of colours. The 
variety does not appear to differ from that known in 
gardens as D. w. Lowii, which is characterised by 
the rich colouring at the tips of the segments, being, 
therefore, richer in the markings than the original 
importations from Burmah possessed. 
— «- - 
CUCUMBERS. 
Now that most gardeners are thinking about a crop 
of Cucumbers for the summer, a few words will not 
be out of place. If, instead of sowing the seeds all 
together in pots, or shallow boxes, as is most oiten 
the case, and then potting on, they are sown singly 
in 48-size pots, half filled with soil, and then top- 
dressed when in the first rough leaf, much better 
plants can be obtained. It is a safer and quicker 
method, as the roots are never once disturbed, a 
point most essential to the Cucumber plant. I 
wonder how many gardeners there are who know 
how to make the most of a crop of Cucumbers, or 
have any idea of a system of stopping, and training 
them ? By far the majority just let the plants grow 
on, stopping the points, or laterals occasionally, 
as they happen to get out of bounds. Result, plenty 
of growth, leaves in abundance, fruit scarce, or at 
least, nothing like what ought to be. A much better 
result is obtained simply by stopping the leading 
shoot when about 3 ft. or 4 ft. long, then all the first 
laterals at the second leaf, and all sub-laterals at the 
first leaf afterwards. The plant then is well under 
control, and experience would prove it much the 
tetter way than rambling at will, or even stopping 
the first leaf beyond the fruit. Another point is to 
keep all fruit off the main stem.— H. A Coleman, 3 , 
Meadow View, Newbridge, Wolverhampton. 
ACACIA DEALBATA. 
Even in the beautiful climate of Devon the above is 
not often seen as a bush standing in the open ; but 
at Budleigh Salterton, which has so recently been 
opened up by the South Western Company as a 
select seaside resort at all seasons, is to be found a 
bush of the above fully 15 ft. high and 10 ft. through, 
one mass of flower. I had often heard of this tree, 
though I had not been that way much, but happened 
accidentally, too, to be near on the 10th ult., so had 
the pleasure of witnessing a sight that I had never 
before met with outdoors. I learnt that it has stood 
there a number of years quite unprotected. We 
have one that has been out two years, but as yet 
shows no signs of flower. Last autumn I planted 
one against a south wall, which I hope will be a suc¬ 
cess, and as a companion the Plumbago capensis, 
whose colours would blend most harmoniously, if 
only they could be got to flower together ; but I fear 
the former will be long passed out of flower ere the 
latter has made much growth. The bush first 
spoken of stands about 20 ft. away from the cottage, 
and the position faces east, and would be about 
100 ft. above sea level, I should say. Does any 
reader know of another plant thriving as this one ? 
— J. M. B. 
- . 1 . —=> 
SENECIO AURICULATISSIMUS. 
Though a straggling grower and by some critics 
denoted as weedy in appearance, this newly intro¬ 
duced plant has two points of merit worthy of 
attention. The first is that the flowers (which 
resemble the Star Cinerarias) are bright canary- 
yellow. The plant was at first named Cineraria 
kilimandscharica by the Kew authorities to whom 
seeds were sent by an ex-Kewite from Mount Kili¬ 
manjaro, B C.A. Upon closer inspection of the 
plant and its flowers, it is now classified as a Senecio, 
though between the genus Senecio and the genus 
Cineraria the differences are slight. It may be the 
means of introducing a new colour or section of 
colours among our types of greenhouse Cineraria. 
The stems of S. auriculatissimus (ear-shaped, in 
reference to the foliage) become woody, so that it 
may be described as a shrubby greenhouse perennial. 
It can be raised from seeds, but so far it has not 
flowered within the year. Cuttings will probably be 
another means of increase. The second point of 
merit is in the manner the inflorescence branches to 
form large spreading cymes. A plant in an 3 -in. pot, 
when trained around a number of stakes acd kept 
tied-in, produces a massive surface of flowers. The 
foliage is deep green, smooth, pliable, varies greatly 
