Fobruai7 5, 1874. ] 



joubnaij op hobticultore and cottage gardener. 



121 



inability to a(3opt a more desirable shape I shall not dwell on 

 them, but will give outlines of those forms mostly adopted, 

 and which the amateur will find can be easily applied to his 

 limited scope. 



Fiit- 1 represents a square with the walls at right angles, the 

 four cardinal points of the compass being indicated, as in the 

 ■other figures, by the letters N, s, E, w. Beyond the northern 

 aspect, which is the least important, there are three other 

 direct and most important aspects — viz., south, east, and west, 

 of equal lengths. Now, as the sun travels from east to west, 

 and the north wall faces due south, this will be exposed to the 

 •full force of the sun at mid-day, and the sun will play on the 

 east aspect up to that time, and afterwards on the west. 

 Before leaving /!<7. 1 I may say it is sometimes better to alter 

 the aspect a little according to the climate of the locality ; for 

 in 1860, when I had access to Thompson's " Gardener's Assist- 

 ant," I made two or three extracts from it, which I will quote. 

 In reference to this he says, " In tho warm parts of Britain 

 the wall on the north side should face the sun at 11 a.m., and 

 the walls on the east and west sides should run parallel to 

 each other and proceed at right angles from the wall on the 

 north side. Where the climate is not quite so good the wall on 

 the north side may face direct south, with east and west walls 

 «t right angles to it." If the garden is made of an oblong shape. 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2. 



as shown in Jig. 2, the southern aspect is considerably increased, 

 and the east and west walls reduced. Gardens of such a shape 

 are convenient, and often more suitable than any other. In 

 colder localities such aa addition to the southern aspect is 

 very desirable. 



I come now to fin. 3, which gives, besides a north and west 

 wall, one that faces the sun an hour or two before mid-day. 

 The chief object iu this is not only to vary the southern aspect, 

 but its position allows the sun to shine on the opposite side 

 of the wall — that is, the north-west side, for an hour or two 

 before it sets ; but it is not a form that would commend itself 

 for any other reason, and in squaring-off the quarters and 

 horders there is a little waste of ground, as well as two or three 

 triangular pieces, which are always awkward to cross. 



Fig. 3. 



Considering the various points iu favour of gardens of dif- 

 ferent forms, there appear to be none which would meet with 

 such favour as a square or an oblong ; for besides affording tha 

 most desirable aspects, there is economy in their construction 

 and arrangement as well as iu the after-management, and by 

 very little contrivance they can be made to appear as ornamental 

 as any other fancy form that can be devised with due regard 

 to the necessary aspects for the cultivation of fruits. I there- 

 fore think I shall not be wrong in choosing the four figures I 

 have given for my future remarks ; and whatever may be 

 omitted or not understood in this paper will, I trust, be brought 

 out more plainly in subsequent articles. — Thomas Becobd. 



Fig. 4. 



Fig. 4 is the same b.s Jig. 2, only running direct north and 

 •south. Here the north and south walls or aspects are much 

 reduced, and the east and west aspects of considerable extent. 

 Gardens belonging to villa residences near towns are often of 

 this shape, perhaps from the fact that they are easily formed, 

 and there is no waste of space in laying out the ground. 

 Narrow slips like these, if favourably situated, are about the 

 best that could be chosen ; but when a large piece of ground is 

 enclosed in this way, the only means of increasing the southern 

 aspect is to carry a wall across the centre from east to west ; 

 hut for small plots it would not be a wise plan to do so, as the 

 wall would take up room and shade the ground on its north 

 side. 



ROYAL HOETICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



LoED Alfred Chdkchill has sent for publication the fol- 

 lowing reply to the letter from Mr. W. A. Lindsay on the proxy 

 question, which appeared in our last issue : — 



" 16, Kutland Gate, S.W., Jannarj 27, 1874. 



"Sra,— In his letter, published in your impression of the 

 29th ult., Mr. W. A. Lindsay stigmatises as untrue the three fol- 

 lowing statements iu the circular letter recently issued by Mr. 

 Bateman, myself, and others. 



"(1.) That the Council of the Society have set the body of the 

 Fellows at defiance in the question of voting by proxy. 



"(2.) That the same Council represent only the interests of 

 the Fellows residing in the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 Gardens. 



" (3.) That the same Council neglected to call the special 

 general meeting of the Society for the purpose of considering 

 the question of proxy-voting until after the time when it ought 

 legally to have been called. 



" The first of these statements may perhaps be considered a 

 matter of opinion. A meeting of the Fellows was specially held 

 for the purpose of considering a proposition to extend the power 

 of voting by proxy to all Fellows of the Society. The meeting 

 afiirmed this proposition by an overwhelming majority. The 

 Chairman then announced that the Council were not legally 

 bound to carry out the desire of the Fellows, that they would 

 take such steps as they might think proper, and would commu- 

 nicate them to the Fellows when tbey chose. 



" In fear, apparently, of another resolution being brought 

 forward in consequence of his announcement, the Chairman 

 abruptly dissolved the meeting without even waiting for the 

 customary vote of thanks. The Council have since taken no 

 step to carry out the wishes of the Fellows. Whether they can 

 be said to have set the Fellows at defiance is a matter of opinion. 



" As regards the second of the statements objected to by Mr. 

 Lindsay, it is a matter of public notoriety ; and if Mr. Lindsay 

 and his colleagues think otherwise, the sooner they are unde- 

 ceived the better. Everyone in the Society knows that the old 

 Council of the Society were disgusted into quitting their office 

 last March by a vote of want of confidence, sprung upon them 

 by a faction of the Fellows residing near the Gardens, who were 

 dissatisfied because the old Council refused to make the interests 

 of horticulture subservient to the wishes of that faction. 



"The third statement objected to by Mr. Lindsay is fortunately 

 a matter of arithmetic, anil can be easily disposed of. 



"By bye law 50 of the Society, the Council are bound to 

 summon a general meeting within twenty-one days from the 

 receipt of a requisition signed by twelve Fellows. The neces- 

 sary notice was posted on December 2 ; the latest day, therefore, 

 for which the Council should have summoned the meeting was 

 December 21. The Council delayed the meeting until the 8th 

 instant. " I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



"Alfred S. Chdbchlll." 



The Royal Horticultural Society as it is and as it might he. 

 In some letters, hg G. P. Wilson, F. U.S.— This is a reprint of 

 various letters Mr. Wilson has written on the lamentable state 

 of the Society, and. which had previously appeared in various 

 horticultural periodicals. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S MEETINGS. 



The first meeting of the year was held at Burlington House 

 on the 5th January, Professor Westwood, President, in the chair. 

 Mr. Meldola exhibited a series of photographs of highly magm- 

 fied insects taken by the microscope and camera obscura, and 

 the President stated that a work had been some years ago 

 published in Austria, in which the beautifully variegated wings 

 of the Tephrites were represented of an enlarged size in the 

 same manner. Mr. McLachlan called attention to a paper con- 

 tained in the last part of the French Entomological Society's 

 Annals, by Messrs. Bar & Laboalbene, on a South American 

 species of Moth (Palustra Laboulbenei) closely allied to our 

 Satin Moth, but of very extraordinary habits, the larva being 

 aquatic, living in the canals of the Sugar plantations in Cayenne 



