March 22, 1877. ) 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



■219 



Chiswick and at Sonth Kensington, bat withont giving a vote 

 at the meetings of the Society. 



E. By payment of two guineas a-year, which entitles the 

 Fellow to one yearly Iransfcrable ticket, admitting the bearer 

 every day, and to all shows, K-tes, conversazioni, and prome- 

 nades both at Cbiswiok and South Kensington, enabling him 

 also to visit the shows at an earlier honr than the general 

 pnblic; entitling also the bearer with two friends to visit the 

 gardens on all ordinary days, to receive forty orders giving 

 free admission to promenades on all days eicept show and 

 special days, and to have the right of voting at all meetings, 

 besides other minor privileges. 



c. By payment of four gaineas a-year, which entitles the 

 Fellow to two yearly tickets, both of which arc tramferahlc, 

 and which give the bearers admission every day, and to all 

 shows, [ites, conversazioni, and promenades both at Chiswick 

 and South Kensington, to visit the shows at an earlier hour 

 than the general public, to receive forty orders giving free 

 admission to promenades and all days excepting show and 

 special day, the right of voting at all meetings, free admission 

 to the reading-room, besides many other minor privileges. 



D. Boyta ride head gardeners on payment of 10s. dd. per 

 annum are admitted as members with the same privileges aa 

 those amateurs who pay one guinea per annum. 



E. There is non- no entrance fee, and anyone subscribing 

 is in no way liable for any amount beyond the subscription for 

 the year. 



I am surely not too sanguine in expressing the hope that 

 thronghout Great Britain where the love of flowers is so uni- 

 versal, there are many who will be willing to come forward, 

 and at so small a cost to themselves, to assist in supporting a 

 Society which has done so much good in the past, and which I 

 feel confident must with efficient aid have a very brilliant 

 future. I venture to appeal on its behalf for such support, 

 and shall gladly receive the names of any who aro willing to 

 become members, and I shall also be happy to obtain the neces- 

 sary signatures to the nomination papers, so as to save as 

 much trouble as possible as regards election, &i, — Harby J 

 Veitch, Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, S.W. 



NEW BOOK. 

 Cultivated Plants, their Propaya-t ion and Improvement. By 



F. W. BUBBIDGE. 



This is a trustworthy volume, for the author is a practical 

 as well as scientific cultivator of plants. The first sentence in 

 the preface is : — 



"The late Dr. Lindley, when preparing the preface for his 

 father's ' Guide to the Orchard,' wrote the following : — ' There 

 are two great considerations to which it is above all things 

 necessary that the attention of the cultivator should be directed 

 — namely, amelioration and propagation ;' and with this object 

 in view the present haadbook has been prepared." 



And the object has been well kept in view. Two brief extracts 

 will enable our readers to judge of the contents of the work : — 



"The known cases where the immediate action of foreign 

 pollen on the fruit has been noted are so concisely given in 

 Professor Dyer's translation of Maximowicz's paper cited above, 

 that I gladly avail myself of the following quotation, which 

 summarises the whole matter — with references to the original 

 papers :— 



" ' The few instances may be found collected in Gaertner or 

 Darwin. Thns Manx asserts that he observed different kinds 

 of fruit on the Pear tree, of which a number of blossoms had 

 been castrated, and, as he supposed, fertilised afterwards by 

 neighbouring trees. 



" ' Pavis maintained that the frnit of Apples, Melons, and 

 Maize underwent alteration in form, colour, and special quali- 

 ties when they were planted near other kinds. Bradley even 

 says that he had seen an Apple which was sweet on one side 

 and sour on the other, and one half of which became soft when 

 boiled, while the other remained hard. But these are only 

 observations, and not experimental results. Wiegmann first 

 obtained the latter in Peas. Gaertner tested experimentally 

 man; of the Btitemeut^ which we have quoted, and made ex- 

 periments on other plants besides. He was only able, however, 

 to confirm Wiegmann's results to a certain extent. Ha is there- 

 fore disposed (and with much reason) to attribute the majority 

 of such cases to variation in the individual; he allows, how- 

 ever, as a rare exception, the possibility of change even in the 

 mother plant itself. Other observers (as, for example. Knight, 

 and recently even Nii^eli) deny even the possibiUty of such an 

 inflaence. 



"'More recently Darwin has again quoted cases where, by 

 crossing yellow and dark Maize, cobs were produced which con- 



tained both yellow and dark grains. Hildebrand confirms these 

 observations, and farther cites the instance of an Apple which 

 bore traces in its marking of the influence of another sort. But 

 whilst the question has been in these cases only a variation in 

 the colour, in the three which follow we find it affecting the 

 form. Hartsen has seen on Solanum edule [the weUknown 

 Egg plant) a fruit which in colour, size, and shape exactly 

 resembled a Tomato, and possessed only the greater dryness and 

 firmness of the flesh of the Egg fruit, besides the smooth border 

 of the seed, which in the Tomato is villous. Dr. Kanitz met 

 with a case of a hybrid fruit between Lycopersicum escalentum 

 and Capsicum aunnum. Fritz MiiUer fertilised Cattleya Leopold! 

 by Epidendrum cinnabarinum, and obtained seed^of the former 

 with the shape belonging to the latter. Meehan, lastly, observed 

 that the bough of a Pear tree, which bad always been altogether 

 unfruitful, projected into the boughs of a neighbouring Apple 

 tree. Fruits were produced which in skin, flesh, and other 

 respects were altogether Apples, and had only the seeds, oar- 

 pellary partitions, and stalk of the Pear.' " 



NOTES ON VILLA, and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



The present is a capital time for making new beds for Aspara- 

 gus, and the way to make them very much depends upon the 

 position and nature of the soil as well as the time the beds are 

 to remain, for, if the roots are to be taken-up in a few years for 

 forcing, less trouble in preparing the soil suffices than when 

 the beds are to remain till the plants are worn out. In conse- 

 quence of frosty nights it is not advisable to rake-down the old 

 beds too soon or too smoothly, but the surface may be loosened 

 with the hoe, and the dressing-down will afterwards be easier 

 done. The soil among growing crops should be loosened some- 

 what deeply, but not made very fine yet ; the slight frosts will 

 do the soil much good. 



Take care that seedlings of Cauliflower, Lettuce, and Cabbage 

 sown in frames are pricked-ont in good time, as by leaving them 

 too long they become leggy and are seldom afterwards so robust 

 as if better treated. Carrots in frames ought to be thinned-out 

 and plenty of air given to keep them dwarf. Those which are ap- 

 pearing outdoors should be protected from frost, and quicklime 

 laid round the bed will keep slugs away, which might otherwise 

 eat-off hundreds iu a night. Lettaoea which have been stauding- 

 out under the shelter of walls all the winter should be encou- 

 raged to grow by stirring the soil amongst them, and if they are 

 too thick let some bo taken away and planted in rich soil. 



Parsley is a necessary article in all gardens, and to have good 

 plants the seed should be sown early on a border ; and then, if a 

 piece of ground is prepared by deep digging and manuring, the 

 best and moat curled of the plants when large enough may be- 

 planted, and they get so well established during the autumn 

 that they stand the winter well with the aid of a little protec- 

 tion, such as a slight framework covered with mats on frosty 

 nights. Cauliflowers from hand-lights should be planted in 

 well-prepared ground, the plants being carefully lifted with a 

 trowel, with some earth attached to the roots. They should be 

 planted 2 feet apart. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



Calceolarias which have been wintered in frames should be^ 

 temporarily planted in some good soil, where they can be pro- 

 tected. The difficulty will soon be to find room for all the 

 flower-garden plants, and every available space will have to 

 be turned to good account. JIany plants may be propagated in 

 the spring, and the plants thus raised go on unchecked and 

 flower as well or better than the antiimn-struck plants. Old 

 plants of Alternantheras if placed in a Cacumber frame in 

 March soon begin growin^^', and as soon aa possible the cuttings 

 are taken off and inserted thickly in pots, and they strike- 

 readily in a well-heated frame. If another frame can be pre- 

 pared with a bod of leaves, and raised up to within a foot of the 

 glass, and having a few inches of good soil on the bed, the plants 

 pricked out in this and well attended to will grow in fine con- 

 dition for bedding-out in June. If no frame can be spared the 

 plants may be grown in boxes in a house, but are likely to b& 

 drawn up weakly. Cuttings may be taken from the old, also the 

 young plants, until sufficient plants are established. 



Lawns should be cleaned, rolled, and then mown as close as 

 possible so as to cut off the old tough grass. The edges next the 

 walks must now be cut, and all beds and borders be made neat 

 and clean. Run the hoe among Bpriof,'-flowering plants, such as. 

 beds of hardy annuals. All hardy edging plants may be put out 

 where they are intended to remain, and all newly-planted 

 shrubs should be mulched, and protected by being staked. 

 — TnoM4S Record. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST AND WORK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. ^' ^■*'^' 



For the last ten days we have had drying winds, and where 



