118 THE FLORIST. 



was asked, is " the same constitution ? " Peaches take on Plums, 

 although constitutionally unlike ; but what is very curious, French 

 Peaches, which take freely on the Pear Plum, dislike the IMuscle Plum, 

 and other examples of the same kind were brouglit forward. It was 

 stated to be far easier to say what was not the same in constitution. 

 The Cedar of Lebanon, for instance, would not long agree with a 

 Larch, nor the Medlar with the Whitethorn, or the purple Cytisus with 

 the Laburnum. In general the following conclusions might be drawn : 

 — 1. A scion will always form a perfect and permanent union with its 

 stock if both are from the same individual. 2. A scion will generally 

 form a perfect and permanent union with its stock if one is a mere 

 variety of the other. 3. A durable, but not permanent union may 

 be effected when one species of a genus is worked on another species. 

 4. No union either durable or permanent can be expected when stock 

 and scion are widely different. 5. Bad workmanship will render any 

 kind of grafting perishable. Grafted plants, then, are not necessarily 

 worse than seedlings ? A letter from a Fellow of the Society was read 

 to show that in the case of Rhododendrons at least they were. Exam- 

 ples in the shape of grafted Rhododendrons, apparently proving the 

 contrary, were, however, produced by Messrs. Standish and Noble. It 

 was, nevertheless, universally admitted that except the stock and scion 

 were identical in their natures plants thus increased were not so good as 

 seedlings. Both reason and experience therefore showed that every- 

 thing depended on the consanguinity of the stock and scion, and that 

 what is wanted is not to have new methods of grafting invented, but to 

 know more about consanguinity. 



Mr. Glendinning objected to the statement that evergreen Oaks did 

 not live long on deciduous ones, and pointed to the fact that in Devon- 

 shire the Lucombe Oak worked on Quercus Cerris had attained the size 

 and age of timber trees. 



The room was plentifully supplied with specimens of grafted plants 

 from Messrs. Standish and Noble of Bagshot, Veitch and Son of Chelsea 

 and Exeter, Masters of Canterbury, Osborn of Fulham, Rivers of 

 Sawbridgeworth, and from the garden of the Society. 



Another ordinary meeting of this Society was held on the 18th ult. 

 On this occasion Mr. Anderson, of Edinburgh, received a certificate of 

 merit for a singular hybrid Rhododendron, a cross between the hardy 

 R. dauricum and the tender R. formosum. Its flowers were of a pale 

 peach colour and larger than those of dauricum, while it was reported 

 to be quite as hardy as the last-named kind. It may, therefore, prove 

 a good addition to our flower-borders. Messrs. Lee showed Imato- 

 phyllum miniatum, a Clivia-like plant, with long dark-green Leek-like 

 leaves, from among which shot a short stout erect stem, surmounted by 

 a noble head of salmon-coloured blossoms. The same nurserymen also 

 sent several nice Camellias ; among which were Jubilee, a carnation- 

 striped kind, a rosy-pink sort called Normani, a bud of a very pretty 

 white variety, and Archduchess Augusta. Of these the last was, per- 

 haps, the most remarkable, inasmuch as it is new in colour, being 

 violet-purple with a stripe of white down the centre of each petal. 

 From Messrs. Veitch came a little tree, beautifully in bloom, of the 



