272 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTTmE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



r April 10, 



s])«ctr>na, for whicli lie njcfiTpd a fipcciol cortilicate ; ami Mewirs. Haag ■ 

 ami Schmidt. Krfurt.tvro Kvi'dUof^ Myosotis, uot iu condition. SoTem 

 plinits from the .Society's ^'iirdcn were placed on th»- tuLle. and amon;^ 

 thuui were Ficus Cooperi. and Jlr. Weir's Odoutot'los^iim .Xlexandrie. 

 _ Fbi-it Cojimittee.— ti. F. Wilson. Esq., F.R.S.. in the chair. 

 From Messrs. Ivery* A: Son, of Dorkinp. came a seedlin;; .\pple raised 

 by Mr. Buh-hin. of that {dace. It was rather Ixdow the medium size, 

 YfUow. streaked and dotted \rith red next the stin. It was awarded a 

 tirnt-class certificate as a pood late .\pjile. Mr. -T. Standish sent a 

 wcU-prowu I'iue .^pple ; and Mr. Feun. i,'ardcuer to the Rev. G. W. 

 St. .Tohn, Woodstock, several bottles of British wines, made from 

 Royal Muscadine and Esperiono Grapes, as described in the papes of 

 this Joarnal ; also, Gooseberry wine, Rhnbarb wine, mead, and mead 

 vinegar. 



SciEXTiric Mektixo. — G. F. 'U'ilson, Esq., in the chair. The 

 awards of the Committees having been annonuced. the Rev. M. J. 

 Berkeley said the first plant to which he would direct attention was a 

 Bpceies of Anprucnm, from Madagascar, shown by Messrs. Vcileh and 

 Sous, which was sometbinp in the way of A. pertusum, but in all pro- 

 bability pi'rfectly distinct. The genus .\ngr.xcum, it was remarked, 

 was almost entirely African, and its representatives were particnlarlv 

 nbunilant in Madagascar. Bouatea speciosa. sent by Mr. Wilson 

 Saunders, then came under notice ; it was one of llie Cape Orchids, 

 among which there were many beautiful species, such as Disa <^andi. 

 flora, bat on account of the diihculty experienced iu their cultivation, 

 they were less generally grown than they deserved to be. With re- 

 spect to the varie,i.'afed Cynosurns cristatus, Mr. Berkeley said there 

 was auother varie^^atcd variety, but with a great deal more* green in it. 

 It was worthy of remark, that in some districts almost every plant be- 

 came variegated, and as an instance, the neighbourhood of Hounslow 

 was mentioned. At Hatton. near that place, the Lord Chief Baron 

 had in hi.s garden an excellent collection of variegated plants wliich 

 had been found in the distritt. The flowers of Lysincsia floribnndum 

 were next refen-ed to as forming pretty objects under the microscope ; 

 and the extremely fragrant white-flowered Rhododendron Griftiihii. 

 from Mr. Standish. was slated to be a Bhotan species, of which 

 E. Aucklandii was by some considered to be only a form. 'With re- 

 ference to Camellia L'Insubria, Mr. Berkeley remarked that lusubria 

 ■was the ancient name of Lombaidy, whence, and from other parts of 

 Italy, so many varieties of the Camellia had been obtained. The 

 mention of Italy recalled to his mind a circumstance in connection 

 with that kingdom and the Camellia. Some years ago a gentleman 

 sent to him a Camellia leaf, attacked by a peculiar fungus, and he 

 (Mr. Berkeley) wrote ask-ing whether the plant came from Italy, for 

 lie had seen the same fungus on Orange trees from that country, and 

 the answer was in the aflirmative. This happened four or live" years 

 ago, but be had heard no more of the fungus, and he hoped he should 

 not, for its effects were very disastrous. Ficus Cooperi. which had 

 been exhibited at a previous meeting, was now produced with ripe 

 fruit on it ; but on tasting them they had been found absolutely in- 

 sipid. In connection witli Figs, he might mention that a curious dis- 

 cussion had arisen as to whether it was not possible to ripen Figs on 

 standards out of doors in the midland counties. He kniew in one of 

 these a Fig ordmrd wliich had been planted a great number of years, 

 but the trees had never rijiencd fruit more than once in forty years, 

 and that only in an exceptionally hot season. He, therefore, "could 

 not recommend any one to make the attempt. .\t Hastings. M.irgatc, 

 and other places on the south coast. Figs would ripen abundantly and 

 well ; and near -Margate, he had seen them lying beneath tlio trees 

 a« thicldy as Mulberries, ripe, and of line flavour. Before concluding 

 his remarks. Mr. Berkeley observed, that amongst other experiments 

 instituted at the Chiswick garden, was one commenced the day licfore. 

 It was an attempt to cnltivntc the Truffle, and though considerable 

 difficulty had been experienced in obtaining Tmliles for the experi- 

 ment, a basketful had at length been procured, and the bed for their 

 reception was to bo at once prepared. Many similar attempts had 

 been made, but all had turned ont unsuccessfully, still it was to bo 

 hoped that thongh late in the sea,son, some result'might be obtained. 

 if not this year, then in the next. Mr. Berkeley then instanced 

 several attempts which had been made to grow Tmttles, such as that 

 of Comtc Xoc. a French emigrant during the revolution, who. being 

 one of the few who were fortunate enough to recover their estates, on 

 his return to France, fenced in part of a forest, and watered it with 

 water in whi<h Traflles had been steeped. What is wanted, however, 

 is to grow Traflles in the same way as Mushrooms — by spawn, and if 

 this could be made (o ran the result would be ver\- reniuncrativo. 

 Some years ago a treatise was published bv Bomliorz, and the plan 

 recommended seemed to be very good, but the book was probably onlv 

 a booksellers sjieculation, and not the result of actual experience ; at 

 any rate all attempts to carry ont the plan recommended terminated 

 ■without success. Still later, a Mr. Disney made some experiments in 

 Trnflle-gTowing in Essex, but on going down to see what the results 

 ■were. Mr. Berkeley said he was not surprised to find thev amounted to 

 nothing, when he was informed that the Tniflles used in the experi- 

 ment were the sweepings of Fortnum it Mason s drawers. A few years 

 ago another stated he had succeeded in getting the spawn to ran", and 

 in making spawn bricks ; but this, too, came to notliing. In Poiton, 

 ■whence a large portion of the supply of the Parisian mirkets is de- 

 riTed, and where the Traflles tire of a different species from ours, being 



black, a ]dot of ground is fence<l in from the downs, oown with acorns 

 and in ten years a crop of TrafHes is obtained. They hi.st for uboat 

 twintr-ono years, after which the old grounds cease to bo pro- 

 ductive, and new ones have to be pn-pared. An impresnion. said Mr. 

 Berkeley, prevails in this country, that Traflles will only grow nnder 

 Beech treeji, hut he had seen them under Sjiriue Firs, and he thought 

 the kinil of tree did not matter, so long a.^ tli*- soil was ca.lcarcous. 

 One joint, in psirticuhu, with regard to Traflles. was. that tluy do not 

 like to be disturbed, accordingly they are hunted bv dogs trained for 

 the parjinse. and these indicate where the TralHis are to be found. Aa 

 nil example of the evil resoltn arising from disturbing the ground, he 

 instanced the case of a gentleman wlio ]iad a sjiot of ground from 

 which, in three or four hours, ;; or 4 lbs. of Traflles could be collacted ; 

 the gentleman had it dug over and not a single Traflle had been seen 

 since, .\lthougli the experiment at Chiswick had been commenced 

 rather late iu the year, he hoiied. if it led to nothing else, that aome- 

 thing might be learnt of the nature of the sjiawn. 



Thirteen new members were elected, and the Maidstone Horlicnl- 

 toral Society was admitted into union. 



Weekly Sbow, J^,r// 'l?i. — Prizes were offered at this meeting for 

 a collection of twelve bnlbs in flower, of which the first was taken by 

 Mr. Young, gardener to R. Barclay. Ewj.. Ilighgate. and the second by 

 Mr. Bartlett, of Sh.aftesbnry Terrace, Ilammen^mitb ; also for the 

 best six greenhouse jdants in flower, the first being taken by Mr. 

 Beasley, gardener to Mrs. Wood, Tivyford Abbey, .\cton. and the 

 second by Mr. Young. For the best twelve cut blooms of Camellias, 

 the first pri/.e was awarded to Mr. Tras..iler, gardener to D.J. Kay, 

 Esq., Hoddirsden. and the second to Mr. Young. Extra pri/.es were 

 awarded to Mr. Yonng for a collection of Hyacinths, and to Mr. Bart- 

 lett for a collection of bnlbs and a collection of plants. Mr. Rivers, of 

 Sawbridgeworth, sent a collection of Apples and Pears in a beautiful 

 state of preser\-ation at this late season. The former consisted of 

 Norfolk Bearer, Ne-.vtown Pippin. Rhi)de Inland tireeniug. Lodgemore 

 Nonpareil, Mela Carla, Stamford Pippin. Reiuettc Diel. Lamb Abbey 

 Pearmain, CalviUe de Cliavy, Baiter s Pearmain. Scarlet Nonpareil, 

 Belle d'.\ngers, Dominiska, Pearson's Plate, Baldwin, Forge, Betty 

 Geeson. and Cockle Pippin. The -Pears were Bezi Mai, Colmar Van 

 Mous. Easter Beunx-, Beurre Perreau, Beurre Bret*'>nneau, Morel, Ma- 

 dame Millet, and Bellissime d'Hiver. These received a iir^t prize, 

 and the second prize was awarded to Mr. Tonkin, gardener to G. T. 

 Kakewich, Esq., of Exeter, for a very handsome Smooth Cayenne Pine- 



THE ROY.VL BOTAXIC SOCIETY'S SECOND 

 SPRING SIIO^V.— ArRii. 7. 



This took place on Saturday last, and as Azaleas constituted the 

 principal feature, the Exhibition tent presented quite a gay appear- 

 ance, notwithstanding the mther gloomy character of the day. From 

 Mr. Turner, of Siongh, came half a dozen pyramidal plants staijding 

 about .*) feet high, pots included, and covered with bloom. The va- 

 rieties were Criterion ; Due de Nassau, with large rosy juirple flowers; 

 Perryana ; Magnifica, white ; Prince .lerome : and Variegata sui)erba 

 and Etoilo de Gand constituting one ])lant called Union. Messrs. 

 Lane & Son, of Great Berkhampstcjld, contributed well-bloomed 

 examples of Magnificent, Chelsoni, Couspicua purj>urea, Heine des 

 Blanches, very large, pure white : Petunitfloni. and Eulalie Van 

 Geert. a large richly-spotted sort. Messrs. Lane likewise furnished a 

 numerous collection of smaller plant.s, among which were Madame 

 Ambroise Verschaffelt, a very pleasing rose, bordered with white, and 

 conspicuously sjiotted in the upper petals with dark crimson ; Leo- 

 pold I., very large, rose : Perfection, bright rosy crimson ; President 

 Claeys. salmon, edged with wliite : Sir H. Havelock : Ele'^'antissima, 

 white, occasionally flaked with red; and Duke of Cambridge. Of 

 Azaleas sent oat in 18()2, 1S63, and 18li-I, Me.s-srs. Lane exhibited 

 Souvenir dn Prince .-Vlbert, semi-double, rose, broadly edged with 

 white, very showy ; Advance, in the way of Perfection, but larger and 

 deeper in colour; and Secretaire Clans, ven,- large, blush, spotted 

 with crimson. From Messrs. Ivery ,t Sou, Dorking, came F'lag of 

 Truce, white ; Madame Dominique Ver^-aene. delicate rose, spotted in 

 the upper petals with crimson ; and Madame de Cannacrt d'Hamale^ 

 lai^c and very tine, white, occasionally striped with crimson. Mr. 

 Turner had BeUe Gnntoisc, pink, edged with white, boldly spotted in 

 the upper petals with crimson ; Sir J. Outram. onuige scarlet, very 

 free-flowering; and Louise Von Baden, a very tine white, of good sub- 

 stance. Of absolutely new kinds. Messrs. F. it A. Smith contributed 

 several, one of which. Magnum Bonum, received a second-class eertifi 

 cate. It is an orange. red, slightly spotted iu the upper petals with 

 crimson. Mr. Bull exhibited Azalea punclulata in its different forms ; 

 President Humanu. rose. s]>otted with crimson ; and President Victor 

 Van den Heckc. white, striped with deep rose. 



Awards: — For six (amateurs); first. Mr. Wheeler, gardener to Sir 

 F. Goldsmidt, Bart.. Regent's Park. For six (nurseiynien) : first, Mr. 

 Tnrner; second, Messrs. Lane. For three varieties sent out in 1862^ 

 IHUS, and 1S64 : first, Messrs. Lane ; second, Messrs. Ivery ; third, Mr. 

 Ttimer. 



Collections of ornamental-leaved Begonias from Mr. Wheeler, Mr. 

 Young, gardener to R. Barclay, Esq., and Mr. Marcham, gardener to 



