March 4, 1875. 1 



journal; OFjHOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENEK. 



177 



which last mode is very effective. I thank the raisers from 

 my heart. The Tea-scented Noisettes, a noble race, Mariiohal 

 Niel.Triomphe de Rsnues, Gloire de Dijon, and Celine Forestier 

 commence iu May and never cease till severe front stops them. 

 The throe last are the best, most abundant, and latest 

 bloomers. — W. F. Eadcltffe, Okeford Fitzpaine. 



KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



March 3bd. 

 PRniT Committee.— Henry Webb, Esq., in the chair. Mr. 

 Sherratt, nurseryman, Knypcrnley, sent a large branch of Knm- 

 quat bearing fift3'-9ix fruit. The tree from which this branch 

 was taken is said to be the only specirnen existing in this country. 

 It is the Citrus japonica. Henry Webb, Esq., exhibited a dish 

 of Mandarine Oranges grown at Cannes, the flavour of which 

 was very excellent, and for which a letter of thanks was 

 awarded. Charles Reily, Esq., The Priory, Toubridge Wells, 

 sent two fruit of Cayenne aud one Queen Piues, which were 

 considered very good fruit considering they were represented to 

 have been grown uuder disadvantageous circumstances. Mr. 

 A. Archer Moss, Cbadwell Heath, Essex, sent a seedling Apple, 

 which was not considered of suiiioient merit. Dr. Hooker sent 

 an enormous root of Batatas edulis, grown in Madeira, which 

 weighed 15J lbs., and for which a letter of thanks was awarded. 

 Mr. Pottle, gardener, Sudbourne Hall, Wiokham Market, sent a 

 vegetable called Cabbage Broccoli, which is used as a Cabbage 

 •during winter, aud in spring throws out a number of Broccoli 

 Sprouts. The Committee asked that it be exhibited again later 

 in the season when the sprouts are developed. Mr. Eausley 

 Tanton sent a seedling kidney Potato, called Premier, which 

 was recommended to be grown at Chiswick. He also exhibited 

 samples of tobacco paper and ground bones, both of which were 

 very good. 



Floral Committee. — E. B. Postans, Esq., iu the chair. W;e 

 have but very little to notice here, the only group of plants 

 with any pretensions to a show being the Spirnoas from Mr. 

 H. B. Smith of the EaUng Dean Nurseries. These comprised 

 two dozen forced plants of S. japonica from home-grown roots. 

 They wero healihv and good, and merited the vote of thanks 

 which was awarded. 



Mr. Green, Helmsdale Road, Reigate, exhibited a small plant 

 of Masdevallia melauopus. This is a new species discovered by 

 M. Roezl, and is diminutive, curious, and pretty. The plant is 

 aiot more than 3 inches high, aud has three spikes of bloom. 

 The flowers are whitish with dark purple spots and singular 

 yellow horns. This is a cool-house Orchid, the plant having 

 fceen subjected to a temperature of 4.5^, aud was in perfect 

 health. It is interesting, and received a bjtanical commendation. 



A nice well-bloomed plant of Cojlogvne couferta wan sent by 

 Mr. May, gardener to J. S. Bockett, Esq., Stamford Hill, and 

 a vote of thanks given. A fine spike of Dendrobium nobile was 

 sent by Mr. Stevens, gardener to G. Simpson, Esq., Wray Park, 

 Eeigate, and a vote of thanks awarded. 



A small plant of Primula sinensis was brought by Mr. C. Hart, 

 Beaufort House, Lee, having two distinct colours, both in leaf- 

 stalk aud flower. One half of the plant may be described as 

 led, and the other half white. A pip of pure white was striking 

 as being set in a truss of rosy pink blooms. The probability is 

 that the peculiarity will not be constant and perpetuated by 

 seed, as these plants are of a sportive character. It is not at all 

 unlikely, however, that the phmt as it grows larger will throw-up 

 trusses of white as well as of coloured blooms, and is worthy of 

 preservation. 



SEAKALE POTS. 



Can Seakale pots be dispensed with? They can, on condi- 

 tion that other appliances can be had. Twenty-five years 

 ago I found in use boxes in the room of Seakale pots ; they 

 were rough three-quarter-inch boards nailed firmly together, 

 10 inches square inside measure aud 1-5 inches deep; a square 

 piece of board or slate formed the lid. The boxes had two cover- 

 ings of gas tar, and were put away in a dry loft till wanted. 

 After being used they should be cleaned, and every two years 

 they should have a coat of tar, and then I cannot say how 

 long they will last. I found them more convenient than pots, 

 ■for, be as careful as we may, pots are broken. It may be said 

 that wood rots too, but I used them for thirteen years and left 

 them in good condition. I never knew what they cost, but 

 that would not be a very serious item, as the wood was home- 

 grown and the boxes home-made. 



With such appliances pots can be dispensed with, but I know 

 that all Seakale growers have not wood nor yet carpenters, 

 and it is not easy to conceive the makeshifts some of our 

 craft are driven to under pressing circumstances. Tea chests, 



firkins, bottomless boilers, and the like have been resorted 



to, to have Seakale in useable condition. I commenced my 

 career in a market garden where, iu the forcing of Seakale 

 aud Rhubarb, pots aud boxes were dispensed with, and I saw 

 as good Seakale grown then, which is forty years ago, with- 

 out those aids as I have seen since with them. Instead of 

 pots we used to procure sticks of the required length and 

 insert one end in the ground, bend it over the crowns, and 

 stick the other end in the ground. Five or six such sticks 

 give the idea of a bee hive. A little dry litter placed round 

 them before the fermenting material is applied keeps the Kale 

 clean, and furnishes us with a useful substitute for a Sea- 

 kale pot. — H. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Although we have abstained hitherto from expressing any 

 opinion upori the present state of the Royal Horticulturii 

 Society, we have not been passive observers of what has been 

 going on. The great difficulty we feel, in common with all 

 true friends of the Society, is in coming to a clear perception 

 of what ought to be done in the present crisis. The present 

 agitation is merely a repetition of what has often taken place 

 before, and is a contention between two parties — one the Non- 

 horticultural, and the other the Horticultural. The former are 

 the pleasure-seekers apart from horticulture, and the latter the 

 pleasure-seekers in connection with horticulture. 



It will naturally be supposed that those who derive pleasure 

 from the pursuit of horticulture have the best claim to be 

 heard in the councils of a horticultural society, and it is a 

 contention for the establishment of this claim which has 

 given rise to this as well as to former agitations. Those 

 gentlemen on the present Council who took part in displacing 

 the old Council, told the Fellows that the interests of the 

 Society had been sacrificed to the Royal Commissioners, that 

 its funds were diverted, and that by transferring the manage- 

 ment to them it could be shown that the income of the Society 

 was not only sufficient for all its requirements, but that a large 

 surplus ought to be secured. Those who know anything of 

 the present state of the Society know how fallacious these 

 statements have turned out to be. Here they are, at the end 

 of the second year of their management, with a new debt of 

 £5000 added to the old one of £50,000, and the prizes of last 

 year we believe still unpaid. We are willing to believe that 

 those who made those statements and who have administered 

 the affairs of the Society during that period were mistaken, 

 and that they regret the present state of affairs as much as 

 any of the Fellows can do. But we would ask how it was, 

 that knowing the low state of their finances, they permitted a 

 schedule to be issued only a couple of mouths before the annual 

 meeting, iu which inducements were held out to horticulturists 

 to exhibit at nine exhibitions during the present year, and 

 when they met the Fellows they announced their inability 

 through lack of funds to carry out their programme ? 



It is quite evident that this crisis is the most severe through 

 which it has been the ill fortune of tlio Society to pass. It 

 has survived many, and we trust it may yet survive this one; 

 but the conditions now are very different from all the others. 

 It has become apparent that the income is wholly inadequate 

 to the expenditure, and that expenditure, too, made with every 

 regard to economy. It would be impossible to carry on the 

 Society aud to furnish the necessary attractions with a dimin- 

 ished expenditure, for if they are curtailed the subscriptions 

 of the Fellows will naturally drop off. It is to be borne iu 

 mind that it is not from a spirit of loyalty to horticulture that 

 the large income of the Society is obtained. There are some 

 Fellows as exacting as Shylock, and they demand their rights 

 and privileges come what may of horticulture. 



It appears to us to be a question of some importance just at 

 present for the Council to consider what is to bo done. Of 

 whomsoever the Council is composed this one fact they will 

 have to face, and that is the insolvency of the Society. There 

 is no blinking the question. The lease is passing away, and 

 instead of the debenture debt being reduced, and the annual 

 expenditure of the Society thereby diminished, there it remains 

 iu all its original integrity with £5000 additional. For our 

 part we do not see how the Society can go on unless the Council 

 take immediate steps and apply to the Royal Commissioners 

 to relieve them : that ib the proper course to be taken, and the 

 sooner they take it the better. Meanwhile between this and 

 the adjourned meeting, which is to be held next Tuesday, let 

 the Fellows take these matters into their serious consideration 



