U THE GARDENER. [Jan. 



Mr "Robertson Munro followed with, a paper on " Hardy Spring Flowers. " 

 These plants, he remarked, were unrivalled for beaut} T . He was happy to notice 

 that after a long period of comparative neglect they^were again coming to the 

 front ; more attention was being paid to their cultivation ; and that in some 

 gardens the flower-beds, which had hitherto stood empty for about six months 

 of the year, were rendered interesting, and even gay, from January to Ma}-, 

 and this at a trifling amount of trouble and expense. Among the plants suit- 

 able for the purpose he recommended the following, which generally came into 

 flower in the order named, and which could be transferred if necessary, at the 

 bedding-out season, to the reserve borders, and again arranged in the beds in 

 the beginning of winter : Helleborus nigra and nigra major, Snowdrops, 

 Cyclamen coum, "Winter Aconite, Scillas siberica and bifolia, Sisyrinchiuru 

 grandiflorum and grandiflorum album ; Hepaticas angulosaand triloba, with its 

 varieties; Anemones apennina, nemorosa, andfulgens; Myosotus dissitifiora ; 

 Crocus, various sorts; Daisies of sorts, the two showiest being the large flat- 

 petalled white and the dark-crimson Rob Roy ; Primulas of various sorts ; 

 Aubrietias purpurea and p. grandiflora ; Saxifragas oppositifolia and Bur- 

 seriana; Puschkinia scilloides, Tulips, Narcissus, Alpine and common Wall- 

 flowers, &c. 



Of the articles placed on the table for exhibition, the most interesting were 

 specimens of a new seedling kitchen Apple, named Earl of Moray, from Mr 

 Webster of Gordon Castle, which was stated to be an abundant bearer, and 

 was found to keep well. Messrs Dicksons and Co. had two stands of Chry- 

 santhemum blooms, including 63 varieties : the finest of these were rotundi- 

 florum, pearl white, incurved petals ; Elaine, large pure white ; La Belle 

 Blonde, blush, incurved ; Mrs George Parnell, white, incurved ; Mrs George 

 Ptundell, white, incurved; Cardinal Wiseman, bright reddish crimson, in- 

 curved ; Mrs Stewart, ruby; Prince of Wales, violet purple ; Duke of 

 Edinburgh, rosy lilac ; Emblem, rosy purple, incurved ; Gloria Mundi, 

 golden yellow ; George Glenny, light amber, incurved ; Abbe Passaglia, 

 amber, incurved. A specimen of Sibthorpia europea variegata, growing in a 

 shallow pan, and forming a dense cushion about twelve inches in diameter, 

 from Messrs Downie and Laird, was very much admired; and in response to a 

 call by the chairman, Mr Kerr, one of the foremen of the establishment, briefly 

 described the treatment it had received. He believed that much of the want of 

 success in its management was to be attributed to undue coddling. The soil 

 consisted of about equal parts of leaf-mould and crocks broken very small, 

 with a top-dressing of the smallest sea-gravel, through which the tender stem- 

 roots rambled freely and sought into the soil. The plant had never been 

 watered overhead, but was supplied with the necessary moisture by immers- 

 ing the pan up to the brim for a few hours about once a-month in tepid water. 

 The pan was placed in an ornamental vase, and had stood all the past season 

 on a grated shelf in a shady part of the greenhouse covered with a bell-glass 

 two or three inches larger in diameter than the vase, so that air was admitted 

 freely from below. 



It was intimated that at next meeting Mr John Sadler would read a paper 

 on the " Physiology of Plant Life." 



