61 



latter occasion no Club-business was transacted, and I have therefore 

 not thought it necessary to make any special mention of the pro- 

 ceedings of the day. " 



Botany. 



The following outline of the useful labours of Professor Buckman, 

 in his experimental garden at Cirencester, will be deemed of interest. 

 In the face of much discouragement, he has persevered in his attempts 

 to raise esculent plants from wild seed, and apparently with very 

 remarkable success — a success which appears to be mainly due to the 

 careful attention paid to the various cultivative processes, such as 

 " collecting seed, storing it at a special time and in a selected place, 

 " instead of at once from the wild plant in a wild locality," — 

 " selecting roots, storing these from which to grow seed, and so on." 



It will be in the recollection of the Club, that at our annual meeting 

 two years ago, I noticed the fact, announced by the Professor, of his 

 having succeeded in rearing from the wild " Pastinaca sativa," a new 

 variety of the esculent Parsnip, remarkable for its clean growth and 

 fine flavour. The experiments upon this variety have been since 

 continued with marked success by the Messrs. Sutton, of Reading, 

 in whose hands the new seedling has become an established favorite. 

 Professor Buckman has since extended his researches to other plants, 

 and is now engaged in raising esculent Beet from the wild " Beta 

 maritima," and Broccoli from the wild Cabbage of Llandudno, in both 

 cases with good prospects of success. Some of his more curious 

 experiments have reference to the following postulate : — " Seeds of a 

 " diseased and mal-formed plant produce a poor crop of a more 

 " diseased and mal-formed progeny." The facts, the Professor adds, 

 are not yet complete, but their results, so far, prove the necessity of 

 seed selection. 



He states : — " I am now investigating the causes of decay in Elm 

 " trees, to which end I spent much time this season in the London 

 " Parks. The result, so far, is to exonerate the * Scolytus" as the 

 •' cause of the mischief from which Town trees suffer." 



Zoology. 

 ' The following notes on the appearance in this district, during th(? 

 past season, of birds of rare or occasional occurrence, are derived from 

 trustworthy sources : — 



Honey Buzzard. — Pernis apivorus, — Killed at Tibberton, near 

 Gloucester. 



Parrot, Crossbill. — Loxia pityopsittacus. — One pair killed at Chel- 

 tenham, by N. Skelton, Bird-preserver, of that 

 place, Autumn, 1861. 



