August  24,  1899. 
• JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
163 
Rate  of  Growth  of  Firs. — The  rate  of  growth  in  the  case 
of  trees  varies  not  a  little,  and  is  very  largely  influenced  both  by  the 
climate  and  the  district  in  which  they  are  grown,  and  also  by  the  nature 
and  aspect  of  the  land.  It  has  been  found  that  on  an  average  Larch 
grows  at  the  rate  of  from  15  to  18  feet  in  about  a  dozen  years  ;  Spruce 
Fir  about  half  that  height.  As  against  this,  however,  we  have  known 
T.arch  trees,  grown  in  favourable  situations,  to  have  reached  a  height  of 
fiom  2o  to  30  feet  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years.  The  land  is  this  case, 
however,  was  rich  and  fairly  sheltered.— (‘‘Irish  Farmers’  Gazette.”) 
Peach  Goshawk. — Your  corresDondent,  ‘‘  Sexagenarian.”  asks 
on  page  104,  “  AA  ho  has  tried  Goshawk  (Peach)  on  the  open  wall  1  ’■> 
About  twenty  years  ago  I  had  two  trpe3  from  Messrs.  Rivers  &  Son 
which  were  planted  against  a  wall  facing  south,  and  they  horn  wpII  until 
the  wall  was  removed,  which  did  away  with  those  and  other  Peach 
trees.  I  then  had  two  trees  of  this  variety  from  Messrs.  Smith  &  Son, 
Worcester,  and  they  are  bearing  fairly’well,  and  my  employers  say  they 
are  of  good  flavour.  Like  the  other  Peach  trees  they  suffer  from  the 
winds,  which  blister  the  leaves  ;  but.  if  I  wpre  confined  to  only  one  variety 
that  one  would  certainly  be  Goshawk.  Why  was  the  question  asked  — is 
it  supposed  to  be  tender  ? — Somerset. 
■ -  Carnations  at  Horringer.  —  At  the  village  show  at 
Ilorringer,  Suffolk,  Mr.  F.  Carter,  an  amateur  grower,  set  up  some  really 
magnificent  flowers  of  Carnations.  His  Mr.  Nigel,  a  vellow  ground  with 
very  deep  flaking,  wa»  a  magnificent  flower,  and  the  somewhat  miffy 
Mrs.  Robert  Sydenham  he  also  staged  in  beautiful  condition.  The  pure 
white  Mrs.  Eric  Hambro  and  the  pretty  yellow  Gift  were  noted  as  excep¬ 
tionally  fine  ;  in  fact,  any  of  the  flowers  shown  would  have  stood  high  in 
the  very  best  competition.  A  look  through  Mr.  Carter’s  pretty  garden 
showed  that  all  other  flowers  he  takes  in  hand  are  equally  well  grown 
and  I  especially  noticed  some  of  the  newer  single  Gaillardias  that  were 
most  beautifully  grown  and  very  fine  varieties. — H.  R.  R. 
-  Ricinus  AND  Scabious. — In  a  large  circular  bed  we  have 
planted  Castor-oil  Plants  at  a  couple  of  yards  apart  all  over  the  bed, 
and  between  these  white  Scabious  plants  were  somewhat  thickly 
planted.  The  bronzv  leaves  of  the  Ricinus  and  the  white  flowers  of 
the  Scabious  do  not  sound  like  anything  elaborate,  but  it  is  very 
striking  and  pretty,  for  the  Ricinus  is  a  noble-looking  plant  when 
grown  in  the  full  sun  and  in  a  good  rich  soil.  The  Scabious  flowers 
are  only  peeping  out  here  and  there,  of  course,  for  the  large  leaves  of 
the  Castor-oil  Plant  keep  them  from  unduly  pressing  their  claims  to 
notice.  I  can  recommend  this  as  a  simple  but  effective  way  of  treating 
a  large  bed. — R. 
-  Prizes  and  Wins. — The  other  day  at  a  great  metropolitan 
show  I  noted  the  constant  recurrence  of  the  same  name,  one  or  two  men 
getting  all  the  best  prizes.  One  winner,  indeed,  told  me  that  he  had 
thirty-four  prizes.  That  is  not  quite  the  sort  of  thing  one  wishes  to  see 
at  flower  shows,  as  clean  sweeps  of  this  nature  are  so  disheartening  to 
the  mass  of  competitors.  A  very  different  result  was  seen  the  other  day 
at  Crauleigh,  where  in  bona  fide  cottagers’  classes  I  found  in  looking  over 
the  names  of  the  winners  of  the  first  prizes,  that  of  thirty  three  prizes  there 
were  seventeen  winners,  and  of  thirty-six  second  prizes,  a  few  firsts  not 
being  awarded,  there  were  twenty-three  winners.  No  one  competitor 
seems  to  have  taken  of  firsts  and  seconds  more  than  six  prizes.  Then  I 
found,  putting  the  firsts  and  seconds  together — a  total  of  sixty-nine— that 
these  were  shared  amongst  no  less  than  thirty-two  exhibitors.  Nothing 
could  well  be  more  satisfactory,  as  probably  every  exhibitor  in  the  classes 
got  something. — Observer. 
-  Exhibiting  Flowers— Gypsophila. — With  reference  to 
the  note  from  “Florist,”  which  anpears  in  the  Journal  for  August  17th, 
page  144,  on  the  use  of  Gypsophila  paniculata  with  herbaceous  flowers, 
I  should  like  to  ask  if  an  exhibitor  ought  to  be  disqualified  for  placing 
it  loosely  on  the  table  between  the  vases  holding  the  twelve  bunches. 
I  have  frequently  used  it  in  that  wav,  but  have  been  told  that  I  am  using 
a  thirteenth  variety  to  decorate  the  twelve,  and  am  liable  to  be  objected 
to.  I  agree  with  “Florist”  in  the  special  case  he  mentions  on  dis¬ 
qualifying  the  exhibitor  for  adding  Gypsophila  to  the  bunches  — R.  AY. 
[The  only  safe  way  to  avoid  disqualification  is  to  exhibit  in  exact 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  schedule,  neither  adding  nor  with¬ 
holding  anything.  Twelve  bunches  of  cut  flowers  should  need  no  such 
“decoration”  as  suggested.  The  Judges  might  ignore  the  addition 
or  disqualify  the  exhibit,  and  in  any  case  we  cannot  imagine ‘their 
thinking  more  highly  of  the  flowers  in  competition  because  of  the 
dressing.] 
-  Gold  Medal  Dahlias  at  Leicester.— I  notice  in  your 
report  of  the  Leicester  Show  a  statement  that  I  was  awarded  a  bronze 
medal  for  Dahlias.  I  should  like  to  say  that  I  was  the  only  exhibitor 
at  the  Show  who  took  a  gold  medal  for  Dahlias.  I  should  be  pleased  if 
you  could  make  the  necessary  correction  in  your  next  issue. — 
S.  Mortimer.  [We  readily  publish  the  note  of  our  correspondent,  and 
congratulate  him  on  his  success.] 
-  St.  James,  AVest  Malvern.  —  I  have  read  with  great 
regret  the  announcement  that  those  beautiful  gardens  known  as  St. 
James’s,  AVest  Malvern  are  to.be  offered  for  sale.  That  is  consequent  upon 
the  recent  death  of  the  late  owngr,  Lady  Howard  de  AValden,  who,  aided  by 
her  able  gardener,  Mr.  C.  Fielder,  formed  at  St.  James’s,  which  is  a  huge 
slope  on  the  western  side  of  the  great  Malvern  hills,  one  of  the  mo3t 
novel,  interesting,  and  beautiful  gardens  in  the  kingdom.  The  late  owner 
was  an  enthusiastic  gardener,  and,  being  very  wealthy,  obtained  every¬ 
thing  suitable  for  her  purpose  in  planting  these  remarkable  gardens,  and 
the  collection  of  various  hardy  stock  is  probably  unrivalled  in  the 
country.  The  gardens  consist  of  one  great  series  of  slopes  or  banks, 
with  grass  or  gravel  walks  on  the  level  ;  within  the  lower  grounds 
charming  ponds  containing  beautiful  aquatics.  Bamboos  have  been 
abundantly  planted.  It  will  be  indeed  a  misfortune  if  these  lovely 
gardens  be  broken  up  or  handed  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
builder. — A.  D. 
-  Moseleya. — In  a  recent  number  o?  Hooker’s  “  leones 
Plantarum,”  a  very  rare  plant,  which  was  originally  described  as 
Hornemannia  pinnata,  Benth.,  and  subsequently  reduced  by  the  same 
botanist  to  the  genus  Sibthorpia,  is  figured  (t.  251)2)  under  the  name  of 
Moseleya  pinnata,  Hemsl.  Excellent  specimens  received  from  China 
seemed  to  warrant  restoring  this  interesting  plant  to  generic  rank,  and  as 
the  name  Hornemannia  was  already  in  use,  the  genus  was  dedicated  to 
the  memory  of  the  late  Professor  II.  N.  Moseley.  Shortly  after  this 
publication,  Mr.  N.  E.  Brown  recognised  in  it  the  Ellisiophyllum  reptans, 
Maxim.,  founded  on  Japanese  specimens  in  1871,  and  described  by  the 
author  as  “  inter  Polemoniaceas  et  Hydrophyllaceas.”  So  few  specimens 
existed  in  herbaria  that  nobody  appears  to  have  identified  Maximowicz’s 
Japanese  plant  with  that  described  by  Bentham  from  India,  though  the 
late  Dr.  Baillon  (Bull.  Soc.  Linn.  Par.,  189 ),  p.  817)  referred  it  to  the 
Scronhulariacere,  and  the  vicinity  of  Littorella.  As  there  is  no  doubt  of 
the  identity,  Ellisiophyllum  is  the  name  to  retain,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  name  of  Moseley  may  yet  be  connected  with  a  plant  previously 
undescribed. — (“  Kew  Bulletin.”) 
-  Flower  Show  Marquees  Blown  Down.— AVe  gather  from 
the  “Aberdeen  Express”  that  after  a  few  weeks  of  calm  and  mild 
weather  a  sudden  change  took  place  in  the  north  of  Scotland  on  the 
evening  of  the  15th  inst.  The  gale  played  the  greatest  havoc  in  Duthie 
Park,  Aberdeen,  where  the  annual  exhibition  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  was  beiug  arranged.  Three  spacious  marquees  had  been  erected 
for  the  exhibits,  one  being  set  apart  for  cut  flowers  and  fruit,  another  for 
pot  plants,  and  another  for  vegetables.  About  half-past  eight  the  wind 
increased  to  such  an  extent  that  those  engaged  inside  became  alarmed  for 
their  safety,  and  a  general  exodus  was  the  result.  Unfortunately,  their 
fears  were  only  too  well  grounded.  A  sudden  gust  of  wind  snapped  the 
centre  poles  of  the  cut  flower  and  fruit  tent,  and,  in  a  twinkling,  the 
canvas  was  flapping  about  in  a  state  of  wild  disorder,  the  tables  with  the 
fruit  being  swept  bare.  The  marquee  for  pot  plants  was  the  next  to  go* 
the  canvas  collapsing  first  at  one  end  and  then  at  the  other.  To  add  to 
the  general  chaos,  clouds  of  cus,  from  the  walks  were  whirled  about 
obscuring  the  vision,  and  tending  greatly  to  the  discomfort  of  the 
bystanders.  Valuable  Palms  and  other  exotic  plants  were  tumbled 
indiscriminately  about  to  the  despair  of  many  exhibitors,  some  of  whom 
had  come  from  a  distance.  But  the  spectators  were  practically  powerless 
to  avert  further  disaster,  and,  in  quick  succession,  the  exhibition  tents  of 
Messrs.  AArm.  Smith  &  Sons  and  Messrs.  James  Cocker  k  Sons  were 
reduced  to  a  state  of  wreckage,  while  the  Secretary’s  tent  was  soon  a 
“thing  of  shreds  and  patches.”  An  exciting  scene  was  witnessed  in 
connection  with  the  fall  of  the  plant  marquee.  The  lamps  inside  had 
been  lighted,  and  when  the  crash  came  the  canvas  caught  fire  at  one  end. 
A  number  of  people  were  below  the  fallen  tent,  and  it  was  feared  that  the 
flames,  fanned  by  the  furious  wind,  would  spread  so  rapidly  that  it  might 
be  impossible  for  every  one  to  escape  in  safety.  No  sror.er  was  tho 
situation  apprehended,  however,  than  many  willing  workers  assisted  in 
rolling  up  the  canvas,  and  thus  smothering  the  flames,  with  the  result 
that  the  people  below  managed  to  crawl  out  uninjured.  The  loss  to 
exhibitors  was  of  necessity  considerable,  but  thanks  to  their  earnestness 
and  determination  a  good  show  is  said  to  have  been  held  the  next  day. 
