112 



JOUENAL OF HOBTIODLTURB AND OOTTAGB GARDENER. 



[ Febraaiy 11, 1875. 



Paxtouiana, bright blue, with white eye, loose grower ; L. pn- 

 mila grandiflora, very dwarf and dense in habit. There are 

 also white, lilac, and crimson varieties very pretty, but not 

 mneh needed. 



Petunias. — The Petunia, although immensely Improved of 

 late years, does not receive from florists that degree of atten- 

 tion which it deserves. Our present strain appears to have 

 Bprnng originally from P. nyotaginiflora and P. integrifolia, or 

 Nierembergia phcenicea as it was first called. Like the allied 

 genus Salpiglossis, it is very variable, so much so that it is 

 hardly possible to propagate any given variety by seed. The 

 colours range through various shades of white, pink, rose, 

 crimson, violet, purple, and green. Could the colours yellow 

 and pure scarlet be imported into it there would be few more 

 showy flowers than the Petunia. 



Sow during the middle or end of February, and treat the 

 same as Lobelias. If potted instead of being put into boxes 

 it will be an advantage at planting-out time. As they are apt 

 to grow too gross, the beds they are intended to fill should 

 have little or no manure. For large beds sow the P. grandi- 

 flora, varieties kermesina, roseo-alba, and violacea ; for smaller 

 beds, atro-violacea and Countess of Ellesmere. 



Tagetes signata ruMiLA. — A most serviceable yellow bedding 

 plant on wasted gravelly soils, although it is rather looked 

 down upon. It is generally sown too late, the middle of Feb- 

 ruary being nothing too early to secure good, bushy, little 

 plants. Sow in heat, and when large enough to handle prick- 

 out the seedlings into a cold frame prepared with light loamy 

 soil. Stop and pinch as required to make stout stocky plants. 



Veeeena venosa.— An all but hardy Verbena with half-tuber- 

 ous roots, from which, when once a stock has been obtained, 

 it can be afterwards propagated with great facility. Seed 

 sown now will produce plants fit to bed-out, and though they 

 will be somewhat late in coming into bloom, they will make a 

 fine display during the autumn months. The trusses are 

 small, but very numerous, and of a beautiful purplish mauve 

 colour. It makes good back lines for ribbon borders, or for 

 filling the centres of large circular beds. The seed germinates 

 more freely when sown late in spring in a very mild heat than 

 it does in a strong heat at this season. 



GArLLAKDiA. — A half-hardy perennial possessed of great 

 blooming powers, not so much used for bedding as it once 

 was. The beginning of March is nothing too late to sow it, 

 pricking-out the seedlings into a cold frame or under hand- 

 glasses. The best known variety is G. picta, but the following 

 are better worth growing : — G. hybrida grandiflora, yellow and 

 scarlet ; G. speoiosa inaignis, crimson ; G. coccinea, scarlet ; 

 and G. Eichardsonii, crimson and orange. 



DUNTHUS SINENSIS. — This, well known as the Chinese Pink, 

 is in all its varieties a capital hardy bedding plant. Like its 

 homely relation the Sweet-William, the variety of gorgeous 

 colours which a bed of mixed sorts presents is something 

 wonderful. Sow early, and as every seed will grow, sow thin, 

 at no time allowing the seedlings to spindle-up for want of 

 room. When in bloom during summer they require some 

 attention in removing the seed pods, and even thinning the 

 flowers, which greatly prolong the season of their blooming. 



Perilla nankinensis. — This gloomy Nettle is, as an indi- 

 vidual plant, about as ugly as it is possible for a plant to be 

 yet few who have a flower garden to fill care to be without a little 

 of it. The seed germinates very slowly, and not always very 

 certainly, and should therefore be sown thickly. Transplant 

 the seedUngs into boxes, and protect from spring frosts, as it is 

 very tender. P. laciniatus has deeply-cut leaves, and is rather 

 more ornamental than the old sort. — Eoeert D. Taylor. 



EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



February 9th. 

 ANNU.VL GENEKAL MEETING. 

 The Annual General Meeting of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society was held last Tuesday in the Council-room, South Ken- 

 sington, under the presidency of Viscount Bury, the President. 

 The members of Council present were Sir Alfred Slade, Bart. ; 

 Sir Coutts Lindsay, Bart. ; Mr. Robert Warner, Mr. Little, Mr. 

 W. A. Lindsnv (Secretary), Mr. H. Webb, Mr. Kellock, &c. 

 Amongst the Fellows present were Col. Trevor Clarke, Mr. S. H. 

 Godson, Mr. G. F. Wilson, Mr. Robert Fortune, Mr. W. Paul, 

 Dr. Hogg, Dr. Denny, Mr. Veitch, Mr. B. S. Williams, Mr. 

 Hibberd, Mr. Charles Edmonds, Mr. Bull, Mr. Alfred Smee, 

 Rev. George Kemp, Mr. Quilter, Mr. G. T. Saul, Mr. John Lee, 

 Mr. H. Ormson, Mr. J. Bateman, Mr. Haughton, &c. 

 Sk. The Secretary, Mr. W. A. Lindsay, read the advertisement 



convening the meeting ; and also the minutes of the last meet- 

 ing, which were confirmed. 



Mr. Pinches and Mr. Fortune were appointed Scrutineers, and 

 the result of the voting was as follows : — In the place of the vacat- 

 ing members, J. A. Hardcastle, Alfred Smee, F.R.S.,and J. Her- 

 bert Tritton, the following were elected : — The Hon. and Rev. J. 

 T. Boscawen, Mr. William Longman, and Mr. J. D. Chambers. 

 The extraordinary vacancy caused by the retirement of Lieut.- 

 Gen. the Hon. Sir Alexander H. Gordon was filled by the elec- 

 tion of Mr. Frederick Campion. The officers were re-elected 

 as follows: — Viscount Bury, President; Mr. Bonamy Dobree, 

 Treasurer; Mr. W. A. Lindsay, Secretary; Sir Coutts Lindsay, 

 Bart., Sir Alfred Slade, Bart., and Mr. Bonamy Dobree as 

 Expenses Committeemen; Mr. P. M. Leonard, Mr. H. Liggins, 

 and Mr. Conrad H. Pinches as Auditors. 



The Report of the Council was taken as read. 



The Chaibm.in rose and said — Ladies and Gentlemen: The 

 question I have to submit to you, I am happy to say, will require 

 but a few words from me oa the present occasion — that is, upon 

 the Report which the Council think it their duty to submit to 

 you. There was a time when we had reason to believe that this 

 meeting might be somewhat of a stormy character, and that we, 

 the members of the Council, should, perhaps, have to battle 

 for our hves ; but I am happy to say that these sinister auguries 

 have been entirely dispersed, and that we find, far from being 

 called upon to encounter any direct or any covert hostility from 

 our landlords the Royal Commissioners, that we are likely to 

 receive from them all the support they can give consistently 

 with their high position [cheers]. It is only quite recently 

 that this happy state of affairs came into existence, or that I 

 sbould have been able to announce to you the realisation of this 

 happy state of affairs. It is as well to be perfectly candid in 

 this matter, and I wiU confess that we, the Council of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, have felt that we have been somewhat 

 hardly dealt with, and that the Commissioners did not appre- 

 ciate our real position. It is possible, as we felt the interests of 

 ourselves and of the Society have been trembling in the balance, 

 we should not have been so courteous or conciliatory as we 

 might have been under happier circumstances. There is no 

 doubt in the heat of argument we have both said to each other 

 hard things which we regret, and which we regard as better if 

 not said [hear, hear]. We put forward this frank expression of 

 opinion on our part — and I think I express the opinion of my 

 colleagues ; and I only hope it will be accepted as frankly as it 

 is given, and that the circumstances will be taken into consider- 

 ation under which the Report referring to the Commissioners 

 has been made. I must go back only for a moment to the time 

 when we first took office. Tbe Commissioners were placed in 

 relation with the Horticultural Society by a resolution the 

 terms of which were undefined, and which might be taken to 

 mean that both bodies would work in common for a common 

 end. But outside the Royal Commissioners — I had almost said 

 outside the Horticultural Society — there sprung up two bodies 

 who had great and substantial rights under the agreement made 

 with the Royal Commissioners — the Fellows on the one side, 

 and the debenture-holders on the other. At last the time came 

 when the Royal Commissioners, or rather when the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural .Society, acting on what they then believed to be not 

 altogether in their own interest, proposed to accept terms from 

 the Royal Commissioners which the outside Fellows of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society considered detrimental to the in- 

 terests of the Society. Under these circumstances what does an 

 Englishman do ? It is suggested that he has rights, and he thinks 

 his rights are invaded, and he accordingly takes constitutional 

 means of asserting them. He moves the rejection of the pro- 

 position submitted to him, and if he is successful he places 

 himself in the position of those who made the proposition, and 

 pursues the course of business in the best way he can for himself ; 

 indeed, he succeeded the late ministry, and became a minister in 

 power. When we did that we were in something like revolu- 

 tionary troubles [laughter], and we did the best we could to 

 make ourselves legal; and, accordiug to the best legal advice we 

 could obtain we succeeded in making ourselves a legal tribunal 

 — in making ourselves, the Council of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, your legal representatives, gentlemen [hear, hear]. 

 Bat I need not tell you that on all points the Royal Com- 

 missioners did not entertain that opinion of our legality which 

 we ourselves were advised to entertain. They disputed our 

 legality, and they would not deal with us as the Council of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society ; and from that time until now we 

 have been met with this difficulty — that the Commissioners 

 would not deal with us as frankly as they might have dealt, 

 simply because we were not legally constituted a Council. That, 

 frankly, was our position as regards the Commissioners. The 

 Commissioners knew it. I do not know whether they thinlc the 

 result of the election under your auspices can remove that taint 

 of illegality ; but I am strongly inclined to believe, and you may 

 take it as my own opinion and not au official one, that Her 

 Majesty's Commissioners will assume that after the election to- 

 day we are in a legal and proper position. In our position 



