284 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  5,  1900. 
however,  some  trade  complications  which  prevented  this.  I  was  not 
WTong  in  the  estimate  I  formed  of  Mare^hal  Niel,  and  although  I 
think  it  must  he  mainly  considered  as  a  Rose  for  the  house,  yet  it  is 
perfectly  hardy,  and  unquestionably  one  of  the  most  popular  Roses 
that  we  have. 
I  attended  several  Rose  exhibitions  in  France,  but  have  been 
utterly  disappointed  with  them.  One  great  mistake  they  make  is  t  ■ 
attempt  to  get  together  too  large  a  number  of  flowers;  prizes  for  250 
are  frequently  offered,  and  when  these  are  brought  to  the  exhibitiorj 
they  are  so  arranged  as  by  no  mears  to  show  forth  t  eir  beauty. 
Again,  let  me  say  that  one  never  sees  at  a  French  R  )se  show  flowers 
that  can  at  afl  compete  with  those  that  carry  off  the  premier  prizes  at 
our  national  shows.  I  think  that  this  is,  in  a  great  measure,  due  to 
the  wish  not  to  incur  expense,  and  to  the  entire  absence  of  amateurs, 
for  amateurs,  like  some  of  our  largest  growers,  are  entirely  wanting  in 
France. 
Another  visit  which  is  strongly  marked  in  my  memory  is  one  that 
took  place  a  good  many  years  ago,  how  many  may  be  gathered  from 
the  fact  that  it  occurred  when  Mr.  Bowles  was  manager  at  the  Crystal 
Palace.  There  was  to  be  an  exhibition  of  bouquets,  and  he  was 
anxious  that  it  should  be  an  international  one.  We  heard  a  great 
deal  of  the  artistic  arrangements  of  hand  bouquets  wtdeh  prevailed 
amongst  the  houquetieres  of  Paris,  and  he  was  anxious  that  the  British 
public  should  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  what  they  could  do.  He 
there'^ore  asked  me  if  I  would  try  and  arrange  it  for  him.  I  did  so, 
and  with  a  great  deal  of  trouble  errried  it  out.  I  went  to  Chevet  in 
the  Palais  Royale,  to  another  florist  in  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens,  and 
another  in  the  Boulevard  Poissonier.  They  were  not  limited  as  to 
price.  I  bad  a  good  deal  of  trouble  to  get  them  to  my  hotel  in  time, 
and  starting  by  the  night  mail,  we  arrived  at  the  Crystal  Palace  in 
time.  The  w’hole  thing  was  unfortunately  a  disappointment,  and 
forced  upon  us  all  the  conclusion  that  our  English  florists  were  no  way 
behind  their  French  compeers  ;  in  fact  a  good  many  illusions  of  this 
kind  have  been  dispelled  by  our  better  know. edge  of  France  and  its 
ways. 
Many  English  people  will  have  an  opportunity  this  year  of  visiting 
the  French  capital ;  they  will  be  able  to  learn  much  of  French  horti¬ 
culture  around  Paris.  Let  them,  however,  avoid  two  errors  :  First 
of  all  not  to  think  everything  French  must  be  good;  and  secondly, 
not  to  think  that  we  have  a  superiority  in  everything.  There  can  be 
nothing  more  offensive  than  the  contemptuous  manner  with  which 
many  English  tourists  regard  everything  French.  Of  course  my 
travelling  days  are  now  over,  but  I  shall  always  look  back  upon  my 
visits  to  France  as  times  when  I  learned  a  great  deal  in  horticulture 
and  enjoyed  myself  much.  I  suppose  that  my  French  extraction  had 
something  to  say  to  the  pleasure  I  experienced,  for  whenever  I  told 
people  about  ic  the  welcome  I  received  was  still  more  cordial. 
But  my  visits  abroad  were  not  confined  to  France.  I  went  several 
times  to  Belgium  ;  I  visited  M.  Linden  at  Brussels,  and  Verschaffelt, 
\an  Geert,  and  others  at  Ghent.  This  is  a  wonderful  city  for  horti¬ 
culture,  but  I  was  never  able  to  be  there  at  any  of  their  quinquennial 
shows,  for,  unfortunately  they  always  began  on  Sunday.  In  many 
of  these  Azaleas,  Camellias,  and  foliage  plants  were  cultivated  with 
great  success,  and  it  was  wonderful  how  cheaply  these  plants  were 
produced  and  how  hundreds  and  thousands  of  them  were  turned  out 
exactly  like  one  another.  We  see  the  same  now  amongst  our  market 
gardeners  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London;  Fuchsias,  “Geraniums,” 
and  other  plants  are  turned  out  as  if  from  a  mould.  There  were, 
however,  no  such  attractions  for  me  in  Belgium  as  were  afforded  by  the 
Roses  and  Gladiolus  in  France,  although  in  the  case  of  the  latter  flower 
the  large  number  of  the  beautiful  varieties  raised  by  Souchet  and  his 
successors  owe  their  origin  to  Gandavensis,  which,  as  I  said,  was  (as 
its  name  implies)  raised  in  Ghent. — D.,  Deal. 
- 
Tlie  I(oyal  Ilorticnltural  Society. 
Scientific  Committee,  March  27th. 
Present  ;  Dr.  M.  T.  Masters  (in  the  chair)  ;  Mr.  E.  F.  Im  Thurn, 
Mr.  Michaels,  Mr.  Hudson,  Dr.  Russell,  Mr.  A.  Sutton,  and  Rev.  W. 
Wilks. 
Fringed  Cyclamen. — Dr.  Masters  exhibited  from  the  collection  of 
Cyclamens  brought  by  the  St.  George’s  Nursery  Co.,  Hanwell,  to  the 
Drill  Hall,  a  leaf  of  their  fringed  Cyclamen,  in  which  not  only  the 
flowers  were  fringed  but  the  leaves  were  deeply  lobed,  and  the  lobes 
themselves  were  lobnlate  and  bilobulate,  the  ultimate  lobules  being 
irregular  in  size,  and,  in  some  instances,  shortly  stalked,  thus  present¬ 
ing  an  appearance  similar  to  that  of  curled  Parsley  or  of  some  of  the 
varieties  of  Scolopendriums.  It  was  stated  by  the  raisers  that  the  sub¬ 
division  of  the  leaves  was  observed  originally  on  plants  bearing  flowers'- 
of  the  ordinary  character,  and  subsequently  on  those  which  had  fringed 
flowers.  Continuous  selection  through  some  seven  or  eight  years  had, 
at  length,  resulted  in  the  production  of  plants  in  which  the  foliage  and 
the  corolla  were  equally  deeply  fringed. 
Bose  leaves. — Some  Rose  leaves  were  sent  for  an  opinion.  They  had 
been  grown  under  glass,  and  presented  no  appearance  of  insect  or 
fungus ;  but  were  thin  in  substance  and  partially  destitute  of  chlorophyll, 
showing  that  the  nutrition  of  the  plants  was  impaired,  but  from  what 
cause  could  not  be  ascertained. 
Vine  leaves,  dts.  used.— -With  reference  to  the  samples  sent  to  the  • 
last  meeting  from  Gunnersbury,  it  was  stated  that  in  the  opinion  of 
Mr.  Massee  the  apiearances  were  consistent  with  the  attacks  of  red 
spider  or  punctures  of  aphides;  but  reference  to  Viala’s  Maladies  de  la 
Vigne  and  Mr.  Massee’s  Text-Book  of  Plant  Diseases  showed  that  the 
spots  were  probably  an  early  condition  of  Grape-rot  (Glaaosporium). 
The  leaf-buds  were  observed  by  Mr.  Massee  to  be  infested  with  mites. 
Viburnum  with  hypertrophied  branches. — A  specimen  was  sent  by 
Mr.  Richard  Dean,  who  stated  that  the  whole  tree  was  covered,  at- . 
intervals  of  a  few  inches,  with  globose,  nodulated,  somewhat  fleshy 
excrescences,  the  size  of  a  large  Cherry  and  upwards.  It  was  referred 
to  Dr.  William  G.  Smith  for  examination. 
Growing  Cockscombs. 
Celosia  cristata,  the  Cockscomb,  is  a  very  old  favourite  annual. 
In  offering  a  few  remarks  on  the  culture  of  these  plants,  let  it  he 
understood  that  the  production  of  really  good  specimens  depends  more 
on  the  care  and  enthusiasm  of  the  cultivator  than  any  instructions  he 
may  receive. 
Sow  the  seeds  at  once  in  pots,  pans,  or  shallow  boxes ;  place  at  the 
bottom  a  layer  of  potsherds,  and  the  rougher  portion  of  the  compost 
over  the  drainage,  which  should  consist  of  equal  parts  of  loam  and  leaf 
soil,  with  a  little  silver  sand.  The  s;eds  should  be  sown  as  evenly  as 
possible,  but  not  too  thickly,  covering  with  about  one-sixth  of  an 
inch  depth  of  the  same  soil  finely  sifted,  plunge  them  into  a  hotbed, 
and  give  a  little  tepid  water  ;  place  a  square  of  glass  over  the  pans  or 
pots,  and  it  should  not  be  removed  until  the  young  seedlings  touch  it, 
and  at  no  time  allow  them  to  suffer  by  want  of  water.  As  soon  as 
they  are  large  enough  to  handle  transfer  them  singly  to  small  pots, 
employing  well-enriched  soil— namely,  light  turfy  loam,  leaf  soil,  and 
well-decayed  manure  in  equal  parts,  with  sufficient  sand  to  make  the 
whole  porous  — and  plunge  them  in  a  hotbed  close  to  the  glass,  and 
shade  from  bright  sunshine  for  a  few  days,  at  all  times  choosing  a 
gentle  warm  day  for  potting,  taking  care  that  they  do  not  receive  a 
check  from  cold. 
The  plants  will  gr^w  freely,  and  before  becoming  root-bound 
transfer  them  to  5-inch  pots,  employing  the  same  compost  as  be'^ore, 
but  adding  a  few  finely  broken  oyster  shells.  Return  them  again 
to  the  hotbed  and  plupge  them  near  to  the  glass  for  a  tim'\  Shad© 
during  the  hottest  part  of  the  day,  and  close  the  frame  or  structure 
early  in  the  afternoon.  Be  careful  never  to  a'low  the  soil  to  become 
too  dry,  or  failure  will  result.  It  is  the  chief  esuse  of  stunted  plants 
and  loss  of  foliage,  and  nothing  shows  defective  cultivation  so  much 
as  1  lants  with  long  stems  devoid  of  foliage. 
Cockscombs  must  be  encouraged  to  grow  uninterruptedly.  Imme¬ 
diately  the  5-inch  pots  are  filled  with  roots,  shift  the  plants  into  pots 
9  or  10  inches  in  diameter.  Be  very  careful  about  the  drainage, 
especially  those  for  late  blooming,  as  in  the  dull  days  of  autumn  they 
are  apt  to  decay  at  the  neck  if  not  well  drained.  Place  a  thin  layer 
of  moss  over  the  drainage,  with  a  sprinkling  of  soot  to  prevent  worms 
entering  the  pots.  Again  assign  them  to  the  hotbed;  plunge  them 
near  the  glass,  shading  in  sunny  weather  for  an  hour  or  twm  during 
the  heat  of  the  day,  for  if  exposed  to  a  scorching  sun  immediately 
after  potting,  the  plants  will  lose  their  lower  leaves. 
When  the  flower-heads  are  showing,  liquid  manure  may  be 
supplied.  About  a  handful  of  guano  to  a  can  of  4  gallons  of  water 
is  an  excellent  stimulant  :  but  it  is  not  advisable  to  supply  it  too 
freely,  as  the  premature  decav  which  is  attributed  to  damp  is  more  often 
the  result  of  overfeeding  with  liquid  manure.  When  fully  grown  the 
plants  may  be  gradually  hardened  and  placed  in  a  light  well-ventilated 
structure,  as  a  dry  atmosphere  is  neces.-'ary ;  syringe  occasionally  to 
prevent  the  attacks  of  red  spider.  At  this  stage  of  their  culture  the 
greatest  care  must  be  taken  to  guard  against  excessive  watering. 
If  that  is  kept  in  view  they  will  continue  to  be  attractive  for  two  or 
three  mouths,  and  there  are  few  brighter  plants  than  well-grown 
Cockscombs.  I  have  seen  superb  specimens,  measuring  from  2  to 
3  feet  from  tip  to  tip  of  the  comb,  and  as  dwarf  and  compact  as  could  be 
desired. — M.  W. 
