THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 7 



The address was not issued in vain, for at the meeting on the 1st of December 

 last, no fewer than 108 new fellows were elected, including five ladies, sixteen 

 persons of title, a general, four captains, four reverends, sixty-six private gen- 

 tlemen, three nurserymen, namely, Mr. Waterer, of Bagshot ; Mr. Toogood, of 

 Arundel, Sussex ; and Mr. J. Watts, of Old Kent-road ; and three gardeners, 

 namely, Mr. Broome, of the Temple Gardens ; Mr. Francis, of Adelaide, New 

 South Wales; and Mr. Barnes, of Bicton. On the 15th, another batch was 

 passed, and the Society will begin the new year with an extensive fellowship 

 to support it. 



At the meeting of the Linnaean Society, held November 19, Lady Smith 

 presented theAvhole of the scientific correspondence of the late Sir J. E. Smith, 

 arranged in eighteen volumes. Mr. John Hogg read a paper on " Four 

 Varieties of British Plants;" they consisted of a white -flowered variety of the 

 common corn poppy (Papaver rhtes), a luxuriant form of Astragalus Hypo- 

 glottis, a curious monstrosity of the major plantain, in which the lower flowers 

 were converted into spikelets, forming a pyramidal infloresence, and some 

 variations of the common arbutus. Such things are, however, by no means 

 uncommon. We have seen wayside thistles covered with semi-foliated bulbs 

 all along the stems ; cabbages very commonly produce buds, and even small 

 complete hearts, on the midribs of the large leaves ; double cucumbers are 

 common, and last season we had on a common pumpkin, of unusual luxuriance, 

 as many as eight complete fruits, all consolidated together into an enormous 

 clump, and uuited at their bases. Last summer a plant of the bride Fuchsia 

 presented us with numbers of flowers, with six and seven sepals each, and a 

 Kingsbury Pet geranium came quite double on one truss. Nature is more 

 given to such freaks than most of us are aware of, because we do not observe 

 sufficiently, but the observation of them is the key to many a valuable addition 

 to our list of ornamental and useful plants. 



The Pomological Society increases in usefulness and activity. At a meeting 

 held at St. Martin's Hall, on the 3rd of December, a list of sixteen prizes was 

 determined on, including three for seedling grapes, and one for the "best seed- 

 ling grape, to ripen in the open air, and which shall be superior to those already 

 in cultivation." Mr. Bohn gave 21. for the best seedling late strawberry, not 

 in general commerce ; Mr. Kivers 21. for the best seedling early peach ; Robert 

 Hanbury, Esq., 21. for the best seedling early apricot, and a like sum for the best 

 late apricot ; and the editors of the Cottage Gardener 21. for the best seedling 

 late peach. The sixteen prizes amount altogether to 28Z. Those to be awarded 

 for dessert pears— namely, one of 21., by A. Scrutton, Esq., for the best six 

 varieties, and one of 1/., by R. Hanbury, Esq., for the best early pear — will be 

 determined at a meeting to be held on the 4th of February next. Two addi- 

 tional prizes have since been offered, viz., 11. for the best six of the Salway 

 Peach : and 10s. for the best ten of Cox's Orange Pippin, both by Mr. C. Turner, 

 of Slough. 

 ' Among the fruits exhibited were some seedling pears from Mr. Stephens, 

 Chingford, Essex; one of them resembling the Baronne de Mello, was highly 

 eommended as being much superior to that variety. Mr. Matthews, of Clap- 

 ham, exhibited a seedling pear, called Matthews' Eliza, one of the Easter 

 Beurre class, a large, handsome, desirable fruit, of a lively, piquant flavour. 

 Having ripened well on a standard, it is an undoubted acquisition. Mr. Laxton, 

 the enthusiastic cultivator of Stamford, sent his fine apple, known as the 

 Stamford Pippin, a golden, glossy, richly flavoured, and juicy fruit, which has 

 now proved itself, having been exhibited before, as a valuable addition to this 

 class of apples. Mr. Rivers sent several little known varieties of pears, among 

 them Princess Charlotte, one of the Passe Colmar race ; Beurre grit rThiver 

 nouveau, a large melting pear, of high flavour and rich aroma; and Vicar of 

 Winhfiekl, a sort which figured largely at Willis's Rooms, and was now in fine 

 condition as to sweetness and aroma, a result only to be obtained with this sort 

 in such a summer as the past. 



