March 5, 1674. 1 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICOLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



199 



somewhat chalky character, as wo have Been it in such a posi- 

 iion struggUng snecessfuUy to maintain itself amongst the grass 

 and other herbage under trees. If grown in the mixed flower 

 border a stout stick or other low mark should indicate where 

 it is, as during a great portion of the year the bulbs are dor- 

 mant and there is no foliage. The edges of rockwork also 

 afford a favourable position, likewise the margins of shrubberies, 

 and similar places. Early iu February, when it shows itself 

 along with the Snowdrop and Primrose, no plant is more gene- 

 rally welcomed ; and whether growing at the base of a palatial 

 residence, or as a patch by the pathway to a rural cottage, it is 

 equally at home. 



Although I have advised sowing the seed where the plant is 

 •wanted, the Winter Aconite bears transplanting tolerably well 

 when it has just started to grow, and iu such a condition it 

 may be removed without much injury from the seed bed; and 

 as this is often more convenient than the other modes of 

 obtaining a quantity, I may remark that it answers very well. 

 In some soils that suit the plant it is extremely accommodat- 

 ing, and I have seen it overcome grass and other herbage that 

 usurped its place iu the autumn ; therefore those anxious to 

 have it in abundance need not be apprehensive of its want of 

 constitutional vigour, provided the soil is of the right kind. 

 Its greatest enemies are the spade or digging-fork, and in some 

 cases the scythe ; in other respects the Winter Aconite is better 

 able to take care of itself than many other plants, and, as I 

 have already remarked, few are more worthy of notice, coming 

 into bloom amongst the very earliest of the early flowers, and 

 presenting us with the same glittering tint of yellow which 

 renders the Crocus so acceptable, while it is some weeks before 

 it, and altogether of a different character. — J. Roeson. 



EOYAL HOETICULTUBAL SOCIETY. 



Mabch 4th. 



Fruit Committee. — A. Smee, Esq., F.R.S., in the chair. 

 Apple Annie Elizabeth, a kitchen variety which was certificated 

 by the Committee in 1863, was sent by Messrs. Harrison & Sons, 

 Xisicester. The fruit were iu good condition, juicy, and solid. 

 The same firm also sent fruits of Duke of Rutland Apple taken 

 ■from the seedling tree, but they had been badly kept, aud were 

 of inferior quality. Pots of Dwarf Kiduey Beans were sent by 

 Mr. W. Rapley, gardenerto R. Hudson, Esq., Claphani Common. 



Flokal Committee. — Mr. J. Fraser in the chair. Messrs. J. 

 Veitch & Sons, Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, sent fifty-three 

 pots of Roses, comprising the best of the Hybrid Perpetuals aud 

 Teas. The flowers were not quite so large as they are at the 

 later exhibitions, but the fohage was very beautiful, and the 

 blooms quite as brilliant in colour as they are to be had at any 

 season. Amongst the crimson shades the best was Mdlle. Marie 

 liady, followed by such sorts as Sir Richard Wallace, Duchesse 

 Ae Caylus, Madame Victor Verdier, and Fisher Holmes. Of 

 rose shades Lyonnaise, EHe Morel, Madame Marie Cirodde, 

 Mons. Noman, Paul Nuron, and Anna Alexieff were the most 

 noteworthy ; aud Bessie Johnson, a beautiful blush. Teas con- 

 sisted of Coquette de Lyon, Madame Falcot, Marcelin Roda, and 

 Madame Willermoz ; the first two are fine button-hole flowers. 

 The same firm sent a collection of well-grown plants of early- 

 flowering Clematis, nice healthy plants furnished with a score 

 of flowers on each. Lucy Lemoine, an exceedingly fine variety 

 of the Fortuuei type, with pure white double flowers, had a first- 

 class certificate. Orchids and Amaryllis were sent liy the same 

 firm. Dendrobium thyrsiflorum was very beautiful. What a 

 pity it is that the flowers are of a fugacious character. Vanda 

 suavis, one of the best of the Vandas, was also shown, likewise 

 a handsome plant of Dendrochilum glumaceum. The following, 

 sent by Messrs. Veitch, also obtained first-class certificates. 

 Khododendron Duchess of Edinburgh, a garden hybrid resem- 

 bling R. Lobbii in the colour of the flowers, which are a glowing 

 vermilion scarlet — the small seedUug plant which was exhibited 

 shows it to be very floriferous; Rhododendron Early Gem, a 

 -very useful early-flowering variety, of which a basket was sent 

 lifted from the open ground — it has a profusion of bright Ulac- 

 coloured flowers. Iu addition baskets of Ligustrum japonicum 

 and L. japonicum lucidum, broad-leaved Privets, were sent by 

 Messrs. Veitch. 



Mr. Bull, of Chelsea, sent Encholirion corallina, Vith pale 

 yellow flowers and red bracts ; a cut specimen of MediniUa 

 amabilis, with lilac peach-coloured thyrses ; aud Cymbidium 

 Mastersii noticed in previous reports. 



Mr. Denning, gardener to Lord Londesborough, Norbiton, 

 sent Epidendrum imperator, with brilliant cinnabar flowers, 

 with a paler column and rose lip. This was awarded a first- 

 class certificate. 



A box of the charming early spring-flowering Iris reticulata 

 came from Messrs. Barr & Sugden, of Covent Garden. This 

 plant should be iu every garden, as it flowers out of doors^with 



the Crocus. But its delicious fragrance is most fully developed, 

 aud the intense purple colour shows up to the best advantage, 

 when the sun streams upon the plants through a glass screen. 



Mr. Barker, nurseryman, Littlehampton, Sussex, sent a seed- 

 ling Imantophyllum named Barkeri with striped leaves, good 

 both as a flowering and ornainental-foliaged plant, though the 

 flowers of the specimen exhibited were not so large as in I. miui- 

 atum, of which it appears to be merely a variegated form. From 

 Messrs. Standish & Co., Royal Nurseries, Ascot, came a group 

 of Hyacinths, Cinerarias, Spirtea japonica. Clematises, and 

 double-flowered Zonal Pelargoniums ; and from Messrs. E. G. 

 Henderson & Son, Wellington Nursery, St. John's Wood, a group 

 of seedling Cyclamens, and one of SoldaneUa alpina. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



The Teials of Flowers at Chiswick this season are the 

 following: — New Pelargoniums, for bedding purposes; Pelar- 

 goniums of the pink and rose-coloured sections, as pot plants ; 

 Fuchsias, as pot plants, grown to larger size than heretofore ; 

 Pentstemons, of which some very fine sorts bloomed late last 

 year ; and flowering Begonias of the boliviensis strain, now be- 

 coming so numerous. A collection of bedding Violas and Pansies 

 is also being got together. Those who possess novelties which 

 they desire to have tested, as well as those who are willing to 

 render aid in making up the collections of these flowers for the 

 general information of the floral world, are invited to send 

 their plants to Mr. Barron, the Gardener-in-Chief , at Chiswick, 

 as soon as they conveniently can. It may be mentioned, as an 

 inducement to raisers of novelties to send their own productions 

 direct to Chiswick, that it has recently been decided, on the 

 recommendation of the Board of Directors, to issue certificate 

 cards in the case of all subjects certificated at the gardens, and 

 which will of necessity be made out in the name of the donors. 

 This has not hitherto been done, as the announcement has 

 been reserved for the report ; but from the frequent delays which 

 occur in the issue of the latter, it has been thought desirable 

 to issue the certificates immediately after each of the Chiswick 

 meetings. 



Mrs. Mart Treat publishes in the " American Natu- 

 ralist" for December, 187-3, a remarkable contribution to our 

 knowledge of the sensitiveness of the leaves of the Sundew, 

 her experiments being chiefly made on the large American 

 species Drosera fiUformis, the leaves of which capture and kiU 

 moths and butterflies 2 inches across. Her observations are 

 in accordance with those already recorded on English species, 

 that the motion of the glands is excited only by organic sub- 

 stances, or if for a very short time by mineral substances, that 

 the excitement passes off almost immediately. The most 

 astonishing of her observations is, however, that when living 

 flies are pinned at a distance of half an inch from the apex of 

 the leaf, the leaf actually bends towards the insect until the 

 glands reach it and suck its juices. In the " Naturalist " for 

 January is an account of Roth's observations on the irritabihty 

 of the Sundew, made nearly a century ago. — (Nature.) 



KEEPING GBAPES IN WINTER. 



1. Thin the bunches more severely than if not intended for 

 keeping. 



2. Give them, especially when ripening, plenty of light, ajid 

 a circulation of dry warm air. 



3. Complete the ripening, if practicable, by the first week 

 iu October at the latest. 



4. Allow no stagnant water about the roots of the Vines. 



5. Keep all inside surfaces dry after the 1st of October. 



G. Avoid a low stagnant temperature ; keep inside of house 

 steadily above the external temperature. 



7. Keep the house close during foggy damp weather. Keep 

 the temperature at about 4.5°, with just a chink of air at top, and 

 this, if possible, so as not to allow the damp to tnler. 



8. Remove all faulty berries, cut-ofl' all laterals, and, if 

 necessary, remove a part of the foliage. 



liesidts. — Out of three hundred bunches kept in a low sunk 

 pit under the above conditions, not 2 lbs. were lost by decay 

 — (TItc Gardener.) 



DIG-UP THE POTATO BEFORE EIPE. 



The remedy which is recommended by Mr. Luckhurst is 

 certainly the best and most practicable for avoiding the disease. 

 As an amateur I have practised it for ten years, and can, there- 

 fore, fully corroborate all he says. I have grown Fox's Seed- 

 ling, Dalmahoy, Fluke, Paterson's Victoria, Lapstoue, Early 



