382 THE GARDENER. [Aug. 



Always attend to shifting as the plants require it ; but this must not 

 be overdone, or the leaves will be apt to lose their fine variegation. 

 If nice bushy plants are wanted, pinching must be attended to; but 

 cuttings struck in February or March, and grown on without stop- 

 ping, make nice table plants by September. Grower. 



SCOTTISH HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



The monthly meeting was held in the Hall, 5 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, 

 on Tuesday evening, the 1st ult., Mr Dunn, President, in the chair. Thirteen 

 new members having been admitted, seven others were nominated for admission 

 at next meeting. Mr James Grieve, Pilrig Nurseries, read a paper on the genus 

 "Dianthus," in which he gave an interesting account of the improvements 

 effected upon the various species by florists and hybridisers during the past 

 200 years. 360 distinct varieties were enumerated by the then celebrated 

 Rea, so early as the year 1676. In treating of these plants, he strongly ad- 

 vised beginners to procure the commoner and more hardy sorts on which to try 

 their " 'prentice hand." They would thus gain a knowledge of their require- 

 ments, and gradually qualify themselves for dealing with the rare and more 

 tender kinds, now regarded by florists of the Glenny school as the finest for 

 show purposes. Carnations, Pinks, and Sweet - Williams, were prominent 

 members of the tribe, and these all required for their full devolopment very 

 similar treatment; and that, in a general way, must be liberal. Well-manured, 

 deeply - cultivated soil, was in all cases indispensable. It was also of the 

 greatest importance that all should be planted out at an early period of the sea- 

 son, and that the utmost care should be exercised to protect them against the 

 ravages of wire-worm, for which he knew no better plan than trapping with 

 Potatoes or Carrots placed in the soil near the plants. Two modes were 

 available for the propagation of named varieties, — first, by cuttings, which he 

 recommended should be put in hand glasses, early in September; and second, 

 by layering, which should be done so early as young shoots could be had. 

 Coddling, under any circumstances, was to be avoided ; and while it was 

 necessary to keep the young plants under glass during winter, they should 

 always have a free current of air, even in the severest weather. 



Mr A. M'Kinnon, Melville Castle Gardens, followed with a short paper on 

 the "Cultivation of the Strawberry," the leading features of which he de- 

 scribed as being, deep trenching, plenty of manure, mulching in the fruiting 

 season with clean straw, keeping the ground free of weeds, and the absence of 

 crops between the rows, so as to permit the full development of the foliage and 

 free access to sun and air. He considered James Veitch to be the best variety 

 for open air cultivation in this part of the country. 



Mr Robert Lindsay, Royal Botanic Gardens, read a paper on "Filmy 

 Ferns." These he remarked were widely distributed over tne temperate parts 

 of the world. Three species, namely, Trichomanes radicans, Hymerophyllum 

 Tunbridgense, and H. Wilsonii, were indigenous to Britain. Many admirers of 

 these beautiful plants were deterred from attempting their cultivation from a 

 fancied difficulty in providing the necessary requirements, He had found, 

 however, that they were as easily managed as their congeners. A house with 

 a southern aspect, shaded so as to shut out the rays of the sun, but not so 



