December 23, 1669. ] 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTUJEIE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



503 



meeting of the season, and terminated the labours of the Committee 

 for 1S69. The Society may be congratulated on the success of the 

 Tuesflay meetings of the passing year, which have been so well 

 attended by its Fellows. These meetings have afforded them an 

 opportunity of seeing and examining a large number of new and 

 valuable plants and flowers : 430 certificates have been awarded to 

 specimens exhibited either as novelties or deserving of rewards for 

 superior cultivation : and when it is remembered that the Fruit and 

 Vegetable Committee have had equal success in the specimens sent to 

 them, we can bid adieu to the labours of 1809 with great satisfaction. 



The inclement weather, doubtless, was the cause of the few plants 

 sent to this meeting, and yet there were many of great interest. Mr. 

 Bater, Plumstead, sent a variegated -\ntirrhiuum, which variegation 

 has been often seen before. Messrs. Henderson, Wellington Road, 

 sent a very large collection of Ivies, which were awarded a special 

 certificate. Among them was Hedera rhonihoidea ouovata, with very 

 dark foliage, which received a first-rlass certificate. From the same 

 firm came a dwarf Heliotrope, called Jersey Beauty, and Pansy 

 Golden Beauty, very sweet-scented, and useful for bedding purposes. 



Messrs. Staailish brought fine specimens of their yellow Picotee, 

 very highly coloured and beautifully marked, a Begonia, and cut 

 specimens of six very pretty Bonvardias. Jlr J. Atkins, Pains- 

 wick. Gloucestershire, sent cut flowers of a hardy seedling Cyclamen 

 — hedenefolium girecum, which were highly commended. This plant 

 will be found very useful for rockwork. Messrs. Salter exhibited a 

 variegated form of the common Violet, beautifully variegated, with 

 few flowers ; it was requested it should be seut again. Mr. Edmonds, 

 Hayes, received a special certiiicate for a fine collection of Cycla- 

 mens. Mr. Welsh, Hillingdon, also received a special certificate for 

 a smaller collection of Cyclamens, with deep rose-coloured flowers. 



Mr. George, gardener to C. H. Marshall, Esq., Caveraham, was 

 awarded a special certificate for a well-grown specimen of Cahmthe 

 Veitchii. with a spike of beautiful rosy flowers. 



Messrs. Veitch received a first-class certificate for Hippeastrum 

 Leopoldii, the flower the King of the Belgians so much admired, and 

 was pleased to allow to be named after timaelf. This is one of the 

 finest Hippeastrnms yet seen, and perfectly distinct from any other. A 

 special certificate was awarded for Messrs. Veitch's group of Orchids, 

 which were very beautiful. Among them was Cypripediam insigne 

 splendens, which was said to be identical with Cypi-ipedium Maulei. 

 From the Society's gardens were two new Orchids, Polycycnis sp., and 

 Lycaste sp., from Costa Rica. 



Messrs. Lee, of Hammersmith, sent a very excellent group of shrubs ; 

 among them were fine specimens of variegated Hollies, well furnished 

 with bei-ries, and some fine specimens of the Golden Spruce Fir. A 

 .special certificate was awarded the collection. 



j tend to the improvement of cottage gardens, and considered suoli 

 efforts would do more to raise the character of the working classes than 

 legislation, though more pretentious. He would suggest two cards, one 

 for the cottagers in the country, the other for window gardeners. 



Mr. Bateman then brought under the notice oi the meeting an oil 

 painting and a number of other coloured representations of fruits and 

 llowers from Mr. Fernyhongh, who had just returned from the Mauri- 

 tius, and whose first act was alike grateful and graceful in presenting 

 to the Society a fruit of the "Cocodemer" (Lodoicea sechellarum), 

 as well as a portion of the fruiting stem of the Sago Palm. As re- 

 gards the first-named, the double Cocoa Nut, it was unnecessary for 

 him (Mr. Bateman) to remark upon it at any length, as a few months 

 ago he had made it the subject of a lecturet ; and as regards the 

 Sago Palm, it afforded some idea of the power of tropical vegetation. 

 The drawings of plants. on3 of which was said to resemble a Solaudra, 

 and of the Mangoes aud other fruits, were then commented on. 



The Orchids were next briefly noticed, especially Masdevallia 

 Veitchii, Calauthe Veitchii, and a white variety of the well-known 

 Lcelia anceps, which, having only just opened, was rather dingy, but 

 in three or four days it would be as white as the driven snow. A 

 curious plant, too, was the Polycycnis, which, if really new and distiact, 

 he intended to call Reichenbachli. 



The Chairman, after moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Fernyhough, 

 announced that the next meeting wonld be held January 19th, aud 

 that the meetings during the ensoing year would be all on Wednesday, 

 instead of Taesdav as heretofore. 



Gexee.cl Me2t:;:g. — W. Wilson Saunders, Esq., F.R.S., ia the 

 chair. Nine new Fellows having been elected, aud the Committee 

 awards announced, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley said he had taken some 

 pains to ascertain the real name of the beautiful species of Abies 

 shown by Messrs. Standish & Co. at the meeting of November 16th. 

 In the absence of the frnit it was utterly impossible to be cei-tain 

 what it was ; but on com|>arlng it with specimens at Kew, he found it 

 accorded in all points with Abies obovata of Ledebour. The forms 

 of Picea Pinsapo nest came under notice, aud it was remarked that 

 the acute-leaved form, loiown to many as P. cephalonica, appeared to 

 be the stei-ile state of P. Pinsapo, but that as soon as it assumes the 

 blunt.leaved condition it becomes fruitful. Mr. Berkeley then re. 

 marked that the collections of Crataegus and Pyrus at Chiswick were 

 always one of its attractions, and a quantity of the seed having been 

 saved, packets would be distributed to those Fellows who might desire 

 it instead of the collections of flower and vegetable seeds which ai-e 

 annually sent out. A report on tho varieties of Maize grown at Chis- 

 wick was then referred to, and it was stated that out of a number of 

 varieties seut by the Rev. T. C. Brehaut, of Guernsey, through Dr. 

 Hogg, the best Tvere a large bright-coloured Maize, and another with 

 large yellow cobs, which both ripened perfectly ; and of five sorts sent 

 by Dr. Hogg, the best was Bates' Early Bronze, which also ripened 

 perfectly. Mr. Barron, in his report, remarked that Maize had been 

 grown by Mr. Dancer, ol Little Sutton, and it bad ripened with him 

 perfectly ; also, that Mr. Scarvell, of Littlehamx ten. had gi-own it for 

 many years with unvarying success ; but it did not seem to him {Mr. 

 Berkeley), that Maize would ever bo cultivated in this country as a 

 vegetable. There was another report from Mr. Barron, on Williams' 

 Archimidean lawn-mower, which machine had been well tried at Chis- 

 wick, and was very much approved of ; but unfortunately, when the 

 Board came to try it, in consequence of coming in contact with a stone, 

 one of the parts, being of cast iron, was broken ; but this danger would 

 be obviated by employing wrought iron instead. 



The Chairman then said that Mr. Egerton Hubbard, jnn., of 

 Leonardslee, Horsham, had offered a prize of £o for the best essay 

 on the simple practical management of Cottage Gardens, to he printed 

 ©n cardboard, and to be sold by the hundred to the secretaiies of cot- 

 tage garden societies, with the view of encouraging a better system of 

 garden management among cottagers. He considered it was moat 

 important that the Society should encourage the improvement of 

 cottage gardens, and requested Mr. Bateman to ask Mr, Hubbard who 

 was to award the prize, and when. 



Mr. Bateman most heartily sympathised with everything that would 



"WELLINGTON I A GIGANTEA. 



I HAVE to thank ilr. Eidgway and others for their information 

 respecting the Wellingtouia ; and a3 so many report an unin- 

 terrupted course of success in the growth and appearance of 

 their trees, I am in the hope that the few cases of a contrary 

 kind, one of which has occurred here (Linton Park), may ba 

 traced to some local cause. Be this as it may, I am sorry to 

 state that the tree here, that I reported upon some time ago as 

 going wrong, has certainly become worse ; and as it had 

 flourished with the vigour common to the Wellingtonia up to 

 the commeccement of the hot weather of 1868, I was unwilling 

 to believe that anything beyond suffering from want of mois- 

 ture was the cause of its bad appearance during the memorable 

 hot weather of the July of that year. A copious watering, 

 however, did not restore it, nor even the ample rainfall of last 

 winter. A steady decline in health, with the dying-ofi of the 

 lower branches, indicate that something serious is the matter. 

 Now, as the tree was between 21 and 25 feet high at the end of 

 1867, and is only 2u feet high now, its loss raises the question, 

 la the Wellingtonia likely to be a long-lived plant or not ? The 

 specimen referred to was growing in a favoured situation, there 

 being at a very short distauce from it aThujaLobbii 28 feet high, 

 and Picea Pinsapo 6 or 8 feet higher, so that I am at a loss to 

 understand the cause of the Wellingtonia going off so onac- 

 countably. We have a great many younger trees of the same 

 species, varying from upwards of 23 feet high down to some of 

 small size, all seemingly most healthy, and oue tree, about 

 20 feet high, has a number of cones upon it. As the Welling- 

 tonias are placed in various situations, the loss of the largest 

 one is by no means explained. 



I am glad to be able to endorse what Mr. Eidgway says of 

 the capability of the Wellingtonia to withstand wind, for our 

 finest tree is planted in the open park, and in one of the most 

 windy positions in it, and I believe it is the more robust in 

 consequence. A hexagon fence, with sides of !) feet, surrounded 

 the tree, and the branches had found their way through four 

 out of the six sides, so that we have been obhged to afford it 

 more room. 



I find that, as in the case of the Cedar of Lebanon, there is 

 considerable variation in the appearance of different specimens 

 ol this tree, but somehow its detractors are a more numerous 

 body than might be expected. Although I, for one, would be 

 sorry to disparage it as a tree, yet if asked whether it or the 

 Cedar of Lebanon were the more bedtting plant for an avenue 

 or a memorial specimen, I would have no hesitation in pro- 

 nouncing in favour of the latter ; but this is a question which 

 can hardly be answered by any of the present generation.— 



J. EOBSON. 



PORTRAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, and FRUITS. 



Ef.ia VESTiTi (Furred Eria). Nat. ord., Orchidaceje. Linn., 

 Gynandria Monandria. — Native of Singapore and Manilla. The 

 plant ia clothed with soft hair.s. Flowers orange, scarlet, and 

 pale yellow.— (£of. Mar;., t. 6807.) 



AxDKOs.iCE PCBESCEXS (DowHy Audrosace). Wat. ord., Primu- 

 Iace;ei Linn., Pentandria Monogjnia. — Native of Pyrenees and 



