May 20, 1809. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTIODLTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



311 



'^ariotiea, snch aa tho Ash-loaveJ Kidnoy. Tho canso of this wn.s 

 attributed to tho coldncHs of the Boil around tho yonnK shoots whon 

 they were beKiuulng to push iix March, which, as will bo rocoUectud, 

 was extremely nnpropitiou3. 



Floral Committke. — -Rev. .foshna Dix in the chair. 



Messrs. Vt-itch sent a large collection of plautH, some of thorn of 

 mach interest. The following received lirat-class ccrtiliciitoa — viz., 

 Vriesia Glazonlana, Maitine-:ia Lindeniaua, A^avo Ver^ifhiitl'cltii, Mil- 

 tonia virgiuuli^, Xitulia purpurata alba. Sticond-class cL-rtiiieatos wore 

 awarded to a uew dwarf spccioa of Sarracenia, and Odontoj^lossuni 

 Reicheuheimii. In tho collection were several new plants— Gloxinia 

 Rachel, an upright ilower, pale lavender, Pandanus furcatus, Nidu- 

 larinm pictum, N. splcndena, and N. marmoratam. Da^monorops me- 

 lanochates. and several othera. 



Messrs. Standish iV Co. received a second-class cortificato for a very 

 beautiful seedling Rhododendron Beauty, the flower well formed, of 

 delicate Apple-blossom tint. The foliage was anything but good ; 

 probably when stronger this may improvo. 



Mr. Purncll, Plumstead, sent Sacrolabium cnrvifolium, a very nice 

 specimen, aud a secijpd-class certitirato was awarded. Mi. George, 

 Putney Heath, sent a Nosegay Pelargonium called Miss Rose. G. F. 

 "Wilson, Esq.. exhibited a very neat aud pretty yellow Lily, Lilium 

 Szowitsianum. not unlike colchicum, but paler. 



Messrs. A. Henderson, Pine Apple Place, sent Pteris eerrnlata 

 variety, Lastrca Sieholdii variegata, and Begonia hybrida Dnchartrei, 

 a hybrid between B. Pearcci and subpeltata ; the flowers were not open. 



Mr. T. Bunnry, gardener to the Rev. F. Beadon, was awarded a 

 special cortilicate for a very fine specimen of Cattleya Mo.ssiie. Messrs. 

 Carter had a special certiticato for a very fine collection of Tricolor 

 2onal Pelargoniums. Tliere were some exceedingly promising seed- 

 lings among them. No award was made, as tho Committee had decided 

 that as there was a special Zonal exhibition on the i!2nd, no certificate 

 should be given till that day. Messrs. Carter also sent Colons Beauty 

 of Widmore, the same sport as Messrs. Downie, Laird, it Laing exhi- 

 bited at the previous meeting: also Golden Tom Thumb Wallflower, 

 which, although very strikiug, must bo proved to be constant in its 

 ■colour. 



Mr. J. Koblo, Sunningdale, sent three seedling Clematis. Lady 

 Loudesborough, a pale lilac variety, received a first-class certificate ; 

 the others were Duke of Bucclcucli and Estelle Russell, not suffi- 

 ciently distinct from those exhibited at the last meeting. A special 

 certificate was awarded for three baskets of Rhododendrons — The 

 Queen, a very delicate pale whitish pink, and Duke of Cambridge, 

 a bright rosy carmine with spotted petals, two very nice flowers, which 

 have been before the public for some time. 



J. L. Wynne, Esq., sent cut flowers of Rhododendrons ; Mr. Tnmer, 

 Slough, two new Azaleas — viz., Miss Tnnier and Reine Marie Hen- 

 riette, not equal to many others; and ilr. Melville, Dalmeny Park, 

 Edinburgh, some hybrid seedling bedding Pansies from Viola lutea, 

 also a poor specimen of a seedling Tropaiolum. 



A very pretty collection of the beautiful Coleus, from Chiswick, was 

 much admired. A specimen plant of Anthurium Scherzerianum from 

 the gardens, was awarded a special certificate. 



Messrs. Leo, Hammersmith, 3eut two specimens of their beautiful 

 golden Oak, (*uercus Concordia, and two double Zonal Pelargoniums, 

 which had been exhibited before. 



Mr. Green, gardener to W. W. Saunders, Ee<(., exhibited a small 

 collection of Orchids aud other plants, perhaps more curious than 

 beautiful. A fine specimen of an Aciueta, su])posed to be a new 

 species, from New Grenada, was awarded a first-class certificate. Mr. 

 Morgan, nursei^man, Torquay, seat Coleus Morgani, not equal to 

 many others. Mr. Harman sent three plants of a seedling hybrid Ivy- 

 ieaved Pelargonium, which it was requested should be sent to the Show 

 aext Saturday. Hiss Maling, Woolston, Southampton, sent several 

 flowers of her veiy beautiful Pansies, which must take a high position 

 among the French Pansies, and become great favourites. 



The Scientific Committee met to-day under the presidency of 

 Mr. WUson Saunders, F.R.S. A plant of Liliura album, from Mr. 

 Earley, was laid before them, iu which desiccation of the leaves in 

 patches, not the result of burning, seemed to have ensued from some 

 ■disease of the stem. The Rev. M.J. Berkeley observed that it was not 

 caused by fungus of any kind. Some small Pears were submitted for 

 examination, infested by minute grubs ; every Pear on the tree seemed 

 to be in the same state. These came from the garden of Mr. Webb, 

 whose fruit trees have suffered much for several years from the same 

 cause. The grub was the larva of a Dipterous insect, and it was 

 referred to Professor Westwood for examination, with tho view of 

 identifying the species. Mr. BerkeL^y brought before the meeting 

 several young branches of the Apricot, the leaves of which were 

 marked by brown patches, succeeded by an outer yellow ring, which is 

 more desiccated than the central dark patch, and which he considered 

 was produced by the chilling effects of di-ops of water ; he had wit- 

 nessed the same effects on the Portugal Laurel. An Elruge Nectarine 

 tree was similarly affected. Some paper had been sent to Mr. Ber- 

 keley with small dark dendritic spots, which had been supposed to be 

 a fungus, and was figured by Lingby under the name of Conferva 

 dendritica, and also in the " Fauna Danica " forty years ago. It was 

 presumed to be crystallisation of the mangane.se used iu the manu- 

 facture of the paper, as microscopic examination could detect no 

 vegetable structure. Dr. J. H. Gilbert, F.R.S., undertook to examine 



it chemically, iu order to verify this conclusion. Dr. Masters read a 

 communication from Mr. Van lloutto on tho grafted Abutilon Thomp- 

 sonii, which had been submitted for inspection at a former meeting of 

 the Committee. In this example the leaves wore variegated below as 

 well as above the graft. Mr. Van Houtto states that when the graft 

 was removed, tho leaves aubsequeutly formed below the graft became 

 green, or that the variegated loaves returned to their normal green 

 state. It was not clearly comprehended from his letter which was 

 meant. 



The progress of the growth of the Grapes now being experimented 

 on at Chiswick was laid before the meeting. Mr. Wilson Saunders 

 made some observations, accompanied by sketches, on the wild Pear 

 and Apple trees found growing abundantly in the Weald of Kent ; they 

 extend over many hundred acres and seem to be quite wild, and many 

 of them are fifty or sixty years old. Ho had noted three varieties. 

 The first variety bears a yellow greeu freckled Pear, very juicy, but 

 intensely astringent, the eye but little sunk, with short fruit;italk. 

 The second, when ripe, is sweet, rough, and astringent, and the shape 

 entirely altered, and altogether different from the first. The third is of 

 a uniform greenish yellow colour, aud of excellent flavour when stewed- 

 There were no orchards near from which these trees could have origi- 

 nated. Mr. Berkeley thought tlie wood of these trees was more used 

 for furniture formerly, ami ho had seen an excellent table in tho pos- 

 session of his father made from the Service tree, and he was inclined 

 to view these trees as being a natural improvemeut on tho Crab. Mr. 

 Saunders brought a Cucumber with a leaf growiug out of the side. 

 There was a distinct ridge continued from .the footstalk to the leaf, 

 along one side of the Cucumber. 



General Meetixg. — W. Wilson Saunders, Esq., F.R.S. , in the 

 chair. On this occasion fourteen new Fellows were elected, and after 

 the routine business, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, in addressing the meet- 

 ing, remarked with reference to the largo Mushroom sent by Mr, 

 Barnard, that Agaricus arvensis sometimes attains double the size of 

 the specimen exhibited, but that when of so bright a yellow it did not 

 seem to bo particularly wholesome. Formerly the species was not 

 much eaten in this country, but on going through Covent Garden, 

 several times lately he had found it almost the only kind outside, whilst 

 in the central arcade tho Mushrooms were the true bed Mushroom. 

 \Vith regard to the specimens of Potato referred to in the Fruit Com- 

 mittee report, it had been this year very general that Potatoes had 

 either thrown up no green shoot at all, or only a very small one, 

 probably owing to the starch being too firmly set in the cells of the 

 tuber from over-ripening, hence the production of small tubers from 

 the original one. This, however, was only a supposition which he had. 

 hazarded. Some specimens of diseased Peach and Nectarine shoots 

 from Mr. "Woodford, the gardener at Eastwell Park, who had sent 

 others on two former occasions, were then noticed, and Mr. Berkeley 

 remarked he had seen the same, or a very similar disease, in a large 

 house where one particular tree beneath an aperture for ventilation 

 was always affected, but none of the other trees iu the house, and both 

 he and the gardener came to the conclusion that there was the cause 

 Mr. Berkeley then read a communication relative to the cultivation of 

 Maize, which is to appear in the Society's Journal, and recommended 

 those who were desirous to experiment with it'in this couuti-y, to raise 

 the plants in a frame .n.ud plant them out. 



Mr. Berkeley, referring to the variegated Maple shown by Messrs. 

 Standish at a previous meeting, saii he had compared it with the 

 specimens of Siebold and Zuccarini at Kew, and found it was not 

 Acer japonicnm, but a variety of another species. He then announced 

 that Lady Dorothy Nevill had, with her accustomed liberality, offered 

 a second prize for Narcissus. Among the Rhododendrons from Mr. 

 Lloyd Wynne, of Coed Coch, was a specimen of R. Falconeri, grown 

 in tho open air. Rhododendrons were stated to flourish there on the 

 slate formation ; but three miles off, on the monntiiiu limestone, it 

 was hardly possible to get them to grow. Mr. Standish informed him 

 he had tried to hybridi:^o other Rhododendrons with 11. Falconeri, but 

 without success, and tlie reason appeared to be that the pollen tubes 

 are too large to penetrate to the ovules of the k-iuds used as female 

 parents. He might also mention that totally different results had 

 been obtained by using pollen from short stamens, as comi)ared with 

 that from long stamens, and he believed the same thing had been 

 observed with Pelargoniums. Mr. Berkeley next pointed out tho 

 golden-leaved Oak, from Messrs. Lee, as likely to prove a gi'eat acquisi- 

 tion, especially for mixing with dark foliage ; also a peculiar condjition, 

 in a Hydraagea, in the leaves of which there was a layer of white 

 cells overlying tho green ones. 



Mr. "WUson Spunders asked the meeting to pass a vote of thanks to 

 Mr. Batemau, for his liberality in presenting the Society with a largo 

 number of cool-house Orchids, for stocking a new Orchid house at the 

 western entrance 



Mr. Bateman, after returning thanks for the vote, which was carried 

 by acclamation, expressed his confidence in the success which would 

 attend these Orchids in the climate of Loudon, so much more favour- 

 able than that of North Staffordshire, and paid a well-merited tribute 

 to the skill with which Mr. Eyles manages these plants. Mr. Bate- 

 man next pointed out the most remarkable of the Orchids shown, and 

 explained that there were fewer than usual, owing to Messrs. Veiteh 

 and others having contributed a number to the International Exhibition 

 at St. Petersburg. In connection with this, Mr. Batemau took occasion 



