306 Transactions of the Horticultural Society. 



appear to me to retain their flavour more perfectly in Autumn 

 than the red." 



7. Directions for managing Tigridia Pavonia during the Winter 

 Months. In a Letter to the Secretary. By Mr. John Damper 

 Parks. Read December 7th, 1824. 



Instead of cutting down the stems and taking up the roots, 

 Mr. Parks takes up the roots with some mould attached to 

 them, and puts them in pots as small as their size will con- 

 veniently admit, without disturbing the bulbs. He then places 

 them in a cold pit, and finds them in the March following 

 more large and plump than roots deprived of the earth in 

 Autumn, and kept in a dry place ; a judicious practice, ap- 

 plicable to different other tender bulbs, such as Gladiolus 

 cardinalis. 



8. Notices of Communications to the Horticultural Society, between 

 Jan. 1. 1822. and Jan. 1. 1823 , of which separate Accounts have 

 not been published in the Transactions. Extracted from the 

 Minute Books and Papers of the Society. 



The Rev. G. Swayne, of Dyrham, near Bath, protects the branches of 

 fig-trees during Winter by old newspapers. He applies them in the month 

 of December, " by winding long stripes round the branches, in the manner 

 in which surgeons do their bandages, making the paper reach as far as pos- 

 sible, without leaving any part uncovered, and giving it a twist on the end, 

 to fix it. As soon as the branch has been prepared, it is attached to 

 the wall with shreds, in two places, one at the commencement of the 

 paper, and the other near the end. Towards the latter end of April, when 

 the young fruits are swelling, the covering is removed, taking care to do 

 so on a mild but cloudy day, that the change may not be too great from 

 their covered state to that of exposure. If the fig-trees have not been pre- 

 viously pruned, to save unnecessary labour such branches only as are in- 

 tended to be left for fruiting need be covered." Printed paper is preferred 

 to plain paper, because, having a considerable portion of its surface covered 

 with the oil of the ink, it does not readily imbibe moisture. 



The Rev. W. Phelps, of Mellifont Abbey, near Wells, Somersetshire, pro- 

 tects " wall-trees from the effects of frosts by constructing broad ladders, re- 

 sembling hurdles, of a length sufficient to reach to the top of the wall, when 

 placed obliquely against it, 5 feet distant at the bottom, and of a width not 

 exceeding 6 feet, in order that they may be more portable. The rounds 

 of the ladder, which are 18 inches apart, are wrapped with straw or hay- 

 bands, or with refuse flax, or hemp-dressings. The obliquity of the lad- 

 der brings the rounds into such a position, one above the other, that the 

 effects of frost, and of cutting winds, are completely guarded against, and 

 yet the sun's rays are admitted, and a free circulation of air allowed. The 

 ladders are placed in front of the trees, just before the blossoms begin to 

 expand, and continued there till the fruit is of a good size, when they 

 may be removed to a shed, to remain till next season. With common care 

 they will last several years, and the straw or hay-bands may be easily re- 

 newed. The experience of four years has fully confirmed Mr. P. in the 

 opinion of the utility of this kind of protection." 



Mr. James Dall, gardener to the Earl of Hardwicke, at Wimpole, in 

 Cambridgeshire, has raised and fruited pines, for five years and upwards, 

 in pits somewhat on Mr. M Phail's plan, but heated both within and from 

 without by leaves, instead of dung or fire-heat. 



