1886.] SOCIETIES. 581 



SCOTTISH HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



THE ninth meeting of the session of the Scottish Horticultural 

 Association was lield on Tuesday, 1st December, at 5 St. 

 Andrew Square, Edinburgh — Mr. Alex. ]\lilne, nursery and seeds- 

 man, in the chair. The evening was occupied by tlie reading of 

 a paper prepared by Mr. F. W. Burbidge, F.L.S., curator of Trinity 

 College Botanic Gardens, Dublin, on " Orchids Abroad and at Home." 

 The paper gave a most interesting and detailed account of the 

 native growth of the orchid, as the writer had seen it in the forests 

 of the island of Borneo. There the orchids grow wild on the 

 tops of the forest trees, and one can walk for miles without seeing 

 the sun, which necessitates the use of a compass for the purpose 

 of finding one's way, the same as on board a vessel at sea. He 

 described the peculiar character of the light there, and stated that 

 the ground everywhere was covered with steel-grey ferns and 

 mosses, while the marshy places were covered with aeroids. Re- 

 ferring next to the cultivation of orchids in this country, he incul- 

 cated the necessity of growing orchids under as nearly the same 

 conditions as in their native wilds. While air, moisture, and 

 feeding could be imitated to a great extent, the principal difficulty, 

 lie said, was with regard to light, for while they could shade when 

 there was too much of it, there was no way of getting more light 

 when there was too little. Speaking of the favour in which orchid- 

 growing was held in this country, he said that some of them realized 

 from £100 to £200 each, and merchant princes paid these prices 

 with the same alacrity as the Dutch burghers many years ago paid 

 1300 florins for a single tulip bulb. The paper was illustrated by 

 a sketch map of the world, drawn by Mr. Burbidge for the recent 

 Orchid Conference in London, showing in light and deep red tlie 

 latitudes in which orchids were grown more or less, with temperature, 

 altitude, and other details. Mr. Alexander M'Millan, Edgehill, 

 Dean, showed a chrysanthemum, and Mr. David Redmond, Belfast 

 ]i5anking Company, Antrim, a collection of dried hardy plants, which 

 lie gathered in the north of Ireland. 



