1879.] SCOTTISH HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 289 



observation, that no boiler had as yet been invented at once so powerful and 

 so economical as that well known as the horizontal flued saddle. A communi- 

 cation was read from Mr Arch. Fowler, Castle Kennedy, on the "Setting 

 of Grapes," giving his experience of some of the shy -setting varieties, and 

 recommending the shaking or tapping of the stems while the flowers were 

 expanded, with the view of scattering the pollen, so that each of the stigmas 

 might receive a sufficient quantity for fertilisation. Mr George M'Clure, The 

 Gardens, Trinity Grove, next read a paper on the " Cyclamen," in the culture 

 of which he had been remarkably successful. For soil, he recommended a mix- 

 ture of good loam and leaf -mould, enriched with well -decomposed manure, 

 with the addition of a sufficient quantity of sharp sand to render it porous. 

 During the growing season the plants should have a light airy situation, and 

 care should always be taken to give them an abundant supply of water. When 

 the leaves were decayed and the bulbs in a state of rest, less water was 

 necessary, but they should never be allowed to become completely dry. Mr 

 Alexander Macmillan, Broadmeadows, sent a communication on "Zonale Pelar- 

 goniums," in which he gave some details of his experience of them as winter- 

 blooming plants. His practice was to plant them out in a border of rich soil 

 in the greenhouse, where they flowered with the utmost profusion. Each of 

 the papers was freely criticised, and on the motion of the chairman, votes of 

 thanks were cordially awarded to the authors. 



On the recommendation of the Council, the meeting agreed to offer prizes of 

 £3, £2, and £1 to under-gardeners members of the Association, for the three best 

 herbariums of British plants collected between May 1879 and February 1880. 



Among the subjects tabled for exhibition we noted a collection of seedling 

 Alpine Auriculas, of very superior quality, from Mr M'Clure, one of which, 

 named "Colonel Wood," it was reported, had been awarded a first-class cer- 

 tificate by the new-flowers committee. Mr James Hunter, Lambton Castle, 

 sent a basket of Valeriana Phu-aurea, a hardy herbaceous plant used at 

 Lambton for spring bedding. It seems strange that this fine old golden-leaved 

 plant has been so long overlooked for this purpose. Mr Robertson Munro 

 had a small but very select lot of Alpine plants. Messrs Dicksons & Co. sent 

 a miscellaneous collection, including well -flowered specimens of Forsythia 

 Fortuneii, a hardy Japanese shrub covered with its golden blossoms ; Rhodo- 

 dendron Broughtmanii aurea, a yellow-flowered cross between a Rhododendron 

 and Azalea sinensis ; Valeriana Phu-aurea ; a number of fine-flowered seedlings 

 of Primula denticulata, with various shades of colour. These had been grown in 

 the open air, and when seen in the borders must have been very effective. Mr 

 Thomas J. Ware, Tottenham, London, sent a number of blooms of early forc- 

 ing Pinks, which were admired for their brilliant colours. Messrs Ireland & 

 Thomson had a number of very interesting and showy Amaryllis blooms ; 

 Messrs Downie & Laird, a stand of a superior strain of Mimulus ; and Mr 

 M'Leod, Royal Blind Asylum, blooms of Petunias. 



We would again urge upon the Council the importance of making some provi- 

 sion for inspecting the exhibits sent from month to month to the meeting. On 

 this occasion it was next to impossible for one-half of the members present to get 

 even a glance at a part of them, huddled together as they were on a table not 

 half large enough to show them to advantage, and many of them without 

 either labels or exhibitors' names attached. Could a separate room not be got 

 for this purpose, so that members and visitors might leisurely examine them ? 

 Certain we are that they are second to none of the matters of interest brought 

 before the Association. 



