532 Proceedings of the London Horticultural Society. 



vktcYa maritima, a pretty half-hardy kind of tree mallow, inhabiting the south 

 of Europe, and apparently lost to the gardens of this country until reintro- 

 duced by Mrs. Marryat, although cultivated in the year 1597 by Gerarde. 

 From Mr. Joseph Kirke, F.H.S., specimens of the Washington plum, one of 

 the finest varieties of this fruit ; and the Duchess of Oldenburgh apple, a 

 handsome autumnal variety, covered, like a plum, with a white bloom. From 

 the garden of the Society, specimens of various flowers and fruit, among which 

 were Philibertfa grandiflora ; Catasetum citrinum, a new orchidaceous plant, 

 introduced by the Society from Mexico ; and Amphicome arguta, a beautiful 

 half-hardy herbaceous plant, with long tubular pink flowers, introduced from 

 the Himalaya Mountains by Professor Royle. Among the fruits were the 

 Acton Scot peach; the late duke cherry, a most valuable late variety, with 

 the quality of the May duke; the nectarine plum, an excellent bearer, its only 

 fault being that of easily losing the bloom off the fruit ; and the summer St. 

 Germain and English Caillot Rosat pears, both good bearers, ripening at a 

 time when good pears are not plentiful. 



September 18. 1838. — Ordinary Meetings Read, extracts from a letter, ad- 

 dressed to the Vice- Secretary, by Dr. Hugh Falconer, Superintendant of the 

 Botanical Garden of Saharunpur, and dated Cashmeer, January 24. 1838. 



" I have been gratified to find that the Himalayan seeds, sent by me, suc- 

 ceeded so well with the Horticultural Society. 



" As the result seems to have interested you, I may mention the mode in 

 which the collection and package were managed. The seeds are collected 

 generally on a march along an extensive tract of country'; as a general rule, 

 the pericarps are not detached, but the fruit and seed immediately packed up 

 in paper ; the closed paper packets, especially those containing baccate or 

 juicy fruits, are daily exposed freely to the sun ; and, to increase the heating 

 effect of the solar rays, the packets are spread out on a black blanket, and kept 

 so till the paper of the packets feels dry, a man being employed in turning them 

 occasionally : the paper imbibes moisture during the night, and the process is 

 repeated till all moisture is thoroughly dissipated. In the rains, which em- 

 brace about half the seed season in the Himalayas, the sun is not available, 

 and the packets are daily dried before a gentle fire, till the same effect is pro- 

 duced ; but the result is much more uncertain as regards subsequent germi- 

 nation. In packing up the packages for transmission to Europe, the little 

 packets are folded up loosely in a couple of envelopes of paper ; and an inva- 

 riable caution is given along with them, never to let the packages get into a box 

 or trunk, much less into the ship's hold ; but to suspend them loosely from an 

 airy corner of the cabin, free from the risk of moisture and spray. 



" On a march, where you move daily under canvass from place to place, the 

 amount or duration of shade required for drying seeds, or their fleshy cover- 

 ings, is not available, or I should certainly never torrefy the packets in the sun ; 

 all that can be said of the method is, that it speedily dries the seeds without 

 killing them. The management on board ship appears to me to be every 

 thing ; loose wrappers, free exposure to the air in shade, and exemption from 

 boxes, trunks, or the hold. 



" The exposure to the sun, with the augmented heating effect produced by 

 radiation on a black blanket, is perhaps interesting with reference to the con- 

 ditions mentioned by you at p. 304. of your Introduction to Botany, 2d edition ; 

 but the effect is probably merely a heating one, as the opacity of the paper, 

 and the reflecting quality of the light colour, must prevent the luminous rays 

 being transmitted to the seeds. I should certainly expect a different result in 

 the end, with reference to germination, if the seeds were directly exposed. 



" On one occasion, I received from England a large investment of garden 

 vegetable seeds from a London seedsman. They were packed in the thick 

 dark brown paper which is generally used by grocers and seedsmen, and which, 

 for the facility of folding, is usually in a somewhat damp state. The packages 

 were nailed up in a large wooden box, with numerous folds of this paper, and 

 the box then hermetically sealed in a tin case; it then found its way into the 

 /ship's hold. The damp paper, which, in the temperature of England, say at 



