i88i.] DUNDEE HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 279 



DUNDEE HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



The ordinary montlily meeting of this Association was held in the 

 Templar Hall, Reform Street, on Friday evening, the 6th ult. — the 

 President, Mr D. Doig, Rossie Priory, in the chair. There was a full 

 attendance of members. Mr J. D. Ker, Douglasfield, read an interest- 

 ing and exhaustive paper on " The Culture of the Stage Auricula." 

 He said the Auricula stood pre-eminently a working-man's flower, — it 

 required little room to grow an even extensive collection. As many 

 as from two to three hundred could be cultivated with success in a 

 garden of but a few square yards — the only requirements necessary 

 being a good dry frame and a little careful attention on the part of the 

 cultivator. Unlike many other flowers, the Auricula, provided it got a 

 fair amount of light and air, would thrive and bloom to perfection in 

 almost any atmosphere. Having described the sub-classes of the Stage 

 Auricula, Mr Ker said there were now practically two distinct races — 

 the Alpine Auricula, in which the centre part of the flower was more 

 or less green ; and the Stage Auricula, in which the centres were always 

 white. Some of the rarer sorts were very dijfficult to propagate, as 

 shown by the fact that some varieties which, fifty years ago, could be 

 bought for from 10s. to 15s., were not now procurable for double and 

 sometimes triple that sum. This did not result from the delicate nature 

 of the constitution of the plant, but because they were very shy in giv- 

 ing off lateral buds or branches. Mr Ker's remarks were illustrated 

 by a selection of choice plants of Auricula in splendid bloom, thereby 

 corroborating all he had said as to their culture. 



Mr John Stewart, Arbroath, then read an instructive paper — illus- 

 trated by drawings — on the " Relations of Bees to Flowers." In the 

 course of his remarks he said : " Orchard and garden fruit growers are 

 almost entirely dependent on bees to fertilise the blossoms so as to 

 ' set ' the fruit. The stigmas of Strawberries, Blackberries, Apples, 

 Pears, &c., come to maturity long before their anthers, hence bees are 

 necessary to convey the pollen from the old to the young bloom. In 

 Gooseberries the anthers are ripe long before the stigmas, so that self- 

 fertilisation is impossible ; and unless there are bees to transfer the 

 pollen from the young to the old bloom, the ovary always withers and 

 drops off along with the flower. The showy colour and sweet scent of 

 flowers attract bees. The variegated lines and spots guide them to 

 where the honey is situated. At the same time, when the visits of 

 insects are to benefit the flower the honey flows more freely. Thus 

 bees get their supply of food, and for this treat they fertilise the 

 flower. Bees, therefore, depend on flowers for their subsistence. In 

 return, the very existence of many flowers depends on bees." In 

 addition to the Auriculas exhibited by Mr Ker, a large branch of the 

 inflorescence of a splendid double rose-coloured Cineraria was exhibited 

 by Mr Joseph Robertson, gardener, Bayfield, West Ferry. Messrs 



