102 



THE GAR BE NEBS' CHRONICLE. 



[Joly 28, 1838. 



and in any manner, contribute to the well-being 

 of their fellows and the prosperity of the 

 country. 



The Royal Horticultural Society.— The 



meeting on Tuesday last, of which we give a full re- 

 port elsewhere, was, as has become customary of late, 

 a remarkable one. Apart from the specialty of the 

 day — the exhibition of the Carnation Society — par- 

 ticular mention should be made of the magnificent 

 collection of Ferns shown by Messrs. W. & J. Bir- 

 kenhead, who had the enterprise to send from Sale, 

 near Manchester, a collection which for variety and 

 extent, we venture to think, has never been sur- 

 passed or even equalled in any London show. The 

 herbaceous plants of Messrs. Paul & Son, Ware, and 

 Veitch, were of excellent quality, while Mr. Taller- 

 man's exhibit of a method of preserving Strawberries 

 in a fresh state and of packing them for transport, 

 attracted universal attention. 



Council Meeting. — At a meeting held on July 24, 

 a report was read, from the Chiswick Committee, 

 concerning the National Apple and Pear Conference 

 to be held at Chiswick Gardens, from October 11 

 to 18, and a schedule (which may be obtained of Mr. 

 Barron, Eoyal Horticultural Society's Gardens, 

 Chiswick), was drawn up and agreed to. It was re- 

 solved that the Secretary have a proof of the new 

 bye-laws printed and circulated amongst the Members 

 of Council and of the Fellows' Committee, and that 

 a meeting of the committee be called by its Hon. 

 Sec. (Mr. Deal), for Tuesday, August 14, to consider 

 the corrections and alterations. 



Colonial Fellows of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural SOCIETY. — We have so frequently advo- 

 cated the appointment of local secretaries and the 

 formation of branches of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, not only in each county of Great Britain, 

 but in each colony of Greater Britain, on the plan of 

 the British Medical Association, that we insert the fol- 

 lowing letter with great satisfaction. The tie would be 

 of the lightest, so far as any restriction is concerned, 

 but the benefits would be mutual. Baron Sir Ferdi- 

 nand von Mueller, who is an Honorary Member 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society, has been most 

 assiduous and successful in obtaining Colonial Fel- 

 lows for the Society. In a recent letter received from 

 him he offers such practical and sensible suggestions 

 that they are well worth while being placed on record 

 for the consideration of Colonial Botanists and Horti- 

 culturists who maybe desirous of joining the Society 

 and thus give an impetus to the best interests of 

 Horticultural Science. Sir Ferdinand writes : — 



" I beg to express my great pleasure that my sug- 

 gestion to obtain. Colonial members for the Royal 

 Horticultural Society has met with the approbation 

 of the Council. If only a few of the leading horti- 

 culturists in each of Her Majesty's Colonies had the 

 honour of joining the great home Society it would 

 add several hundred members to your roll, and 

 would, irrespective of the financial support, give the 

 Society greater strength from aboad. It seems to 

 me if, in each of the Colonies, some prominent hor- 

 ticulturist were asked by you to propose such of his 

 amateur or professional friends as he deemed worthy 

 of the honour, a good representation of the colonial 

 horticulturists at your Society would be speedily 

 gained, and that with all the desirable decorum and 

 dignity. In Victoria I will gladly take charge of 

 this duty." 



Steps are being taken to organise a representation 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society in each of our 

 Colonies. In the meantime, colonial botanists and 

 horticulturists desirous of joining the Society may 

 obtain forms of nomination and a list of privileges 

 of Fellows on application to the Secretary, Royal 

 Horticultural Society, 111, Victoria Street, S.W. 



THE " KEW BULLETIN.'— The July number con- 

 tains an account of Bhabur grass (Ischiemum an- 

 gustifolium), largely used for making ropes, and 



which might be used for paper-making if it it were 

 cultivated. Mi-. Fawcett's short but interesting 

 account of the Cayman Islands, makes us hope we 

 shall eventually get a fuller report from his pen. The 

 disease in the Cocoa-nuts which he was specially 

 commissioned to inquire into, Mr. Fawcett attributes 

 to a bacterium. With reference to Valonia (Quercus 

 icgilops), Mr. Thiselton Dyer recommends its cul- 

 ture in Cyprus. Professor MacOwan's remarks on 

 the means of extirpating the Opuntias, Prickly Pear 

 (which renders the land where it grows practically 

 useless), or of turning them to advantage, are given 

 at length. Other valuable information is given re- 

 garding the Opuntias, of much value to colonists. 



Gardeners' Orphan Fund.— We are requested 



to give insertion to the following letter : — " At the 

 conclusion of the first year of our work it is a source 

 of gratification to me to review the success which 

 has attended our efforts, and which is due to the 

 hearty co-operation of all concerned. I take this 

 opportunity of returning my personal thanks to all 

 associated with me in this matter, and also to the 

 many gentlemen who have undertaken the office of 

 local secretary, and worked so zealously in the cause. 

 The dinner, as is now well known, was also a great 

 success. Thanks to the numerous kind contributions 

 of fruit, plants, and flowers, the room and tables 

 presented an appearance which called forth unquali- 

 fied expressions of admiration from the most compe- 

 tent and impartial critics. It now affords me no 

 small degree of pleasure to be able to state that we 

 are commencing the second year equally well. I am 

 empowered to announce that Mr. Sherwood (Messrs. 

 Hurst & Son), in token of the interest he takes in 

 this movement, has generously offered to place an 

 orphan upon the fund at his own cost, in accordance 

 with Rule 12, thus increasing the number of reci- 

 pients from ten to eleven. The name and particulars 

 of this aunuitant will be announced in due course. 

 It would afford me, and I may add, the committee, 

 much pleasure if many more gentlemen were to 

 emulate this noble example. I can only say that 

 there are plenty of deserving applicants to whom 

 such generosity would be of the utmost benefit. 

 George Deal (Chairman)." 



STATUE TO PLANCHON — We learn from the 

 pages of the Revue Horticolc that it is proposed to 

 erect a statue in bronze at Ganges (Herault), as a 

 tribute to the great services of this eminent botanist. 

 The first to recognise the nature of the Phylloxera, 

 and one of the first, if not the first, to counsel the 

 use of the American resisting stocks whereon to graft 

 the finer French varieties, Planchon indeed deserved 

 well of his country. 



"REICHENBACHIA.'' — The second volume of Mr. 

 Sander's sumptuous publication contains coloured 

 figures of various Orchids, artistically yet faithfully 

 drawn, without straining after effect, while the 

 analyses in wood engraving supply the necessary 

 data for the botanist. These woodcuts, however, 

 are rather roughly executed, and not on a par with 

 the general "get-up'' of the work. The text con- 

 tains botanical descriptions by Professor Reichen- 

 bach, and cultural details by Mr. Sander, and is 

 written in English, German, and French, while the 

 strictly technical details are in Latin, so that the 

 requirements of all parties are provided for. The 

 following are the plants illustrated in the present 

 number : — 



Odontoglossam Harryanum, t. 49. — A magnificent 

 species, discovered in New Granada by Rodriguez 

 Pantocha. The broad sepals are rich brown, 

 pencilled with yellow lines, The petals are also 

 brown with a narrow yellow margin, the lip, large, 

 heart-shaped, oblong, with a central yellow keel from 

 which radiate purplish stripes. Mr. Sander recom- 

 mends a cool, moist treatment in summer, keeping 

 the plants somewhat drier after flowering, and 

 repotting them when the new growths appear. 

 In October the plants should be removed to a 

 slightly warmer house, and there remain till April, 



giving the same winter temperature as for O. 

 vexillarium, viz., from 57° to 60° Fahrenheit. 



Dendrobium LeechianumX , t. 50. — A hybrid raised 

 by Mr. W. Swan out of D. nobile by D. aureum. Five 

 years elapsed before the seedling produced flowers. 

 The flowers of this fine variety are remarkable for 

 their undulated sepals and petals and for their large 

 size (5J- inches across), " while the rich claret-purple 

 of the labellum is intensified by the purity of the 

 white margin.'' It is best grown in baskets, at a 

 temperature in summer of 70° — 80°, removing the 

 plants into a cooler house when their growth is 

 completed. 



Phalenojisis speciosa impera/rix, t. 51. — A native of 

 the Andaman Islands, where it was discovered by 

 General Berkeley. The flowers are of a deep rose- 

 purple, with no white markings whatever, and the 

 lip is adorned with bright yellow blotches on the 

 side lobes. It is best grown in baskets suspended 

 from the roof, and, while in growth, requires con- 

 siderable heat and moisture, and free exposure to 

 light, taking care, however, to shade the foliage from 

 the direct rays of the sun. During the winter season 

 the temperature should not exceed 70° — 75°. The 

 plant flowers in August. 



Lcelia, Schilleriana, t. 52. — The sepals and petals 

 are of a white or light rose colour, while the label- 

 lum is exquisitely pencilled with purple lines and 

 adorned with a heavy blotch of the richest purple- 

 crimson. Mr. Sander recommends it be grown in 

 a shaded position in the Cattleya-honse, with abun- 

 dance of water at the roots during growth, but with 

 much less during the dormant period. It should 

 be repotted after flowering in early summer. 



RINGING THE Vine.— M. Gustave Riviere in the 

 Revue Horticole recommends the practice of removing 

 a thin band of the rind from a shoot some days 

 before or during or immediately after flowering. 

 The consequences are said to be the increase of the 

 size of the berries, the hastening of the ripening pro- 

 cess by twelve days, and the promotion of fertilisation. 

 The ring should be taken off about 1 inch below the 

 bunch — never above it. The decortication ensures 

 a marked increase in the amount of sugar in the 

 juice, as shown by the analytical tables given. 



American Blight on Apples. — The last 



number of the Revue Horticole contains an excellent 

 article, accompanied by a coloured plate illustrative 

 of the woolly aphis (Schizoneura lanuginosa). A 

 successful insecticide is the following : — Pyrolig- 

 neous acid, 1000 parts ; salicylic acid, 2 do. ; red 

 oxide of mercury, 1 do. ; fuehsine, 0'25. One portion 

 of this solution to thirty of water is requisite when 

 the tree is in leaf ; in winter it may be applied 

 undiluted to the bark by means of a syringe. 



SUTHERLANDlA FRUTESCENS.— With reference 

 to the supposed use of Sutherlandia frutescens Pro- 

 fessor MacOwan sends us an extract from the Cape 

 Times: — "I have had brought to me recognisable 

 specimens of the plant now preconised as a remedy 

 for cancer. It is Sutherlandia frutescens, a 

 leguminous shrub, with showy scarlet flowers and 

 large swollen membranous pods. Many will know 

 the plant from remembering how children make 

 playthings of these pods, plucking them with a piece 

 of the footstalk adhering, and setting them upside 

 down to float on water for toy ' ducks.' The outline 

 of the pod thus treated is not unlike that of a water 

 bird afloat. The plant is figured tolerably well in 

 the Botanical Magazine, pi. 181, under the older 

 name of Colutea frutescens. It is certainly a surprise 

 to find any medical virtue ascribed to the Suther- 

 landia, and as many remedies for cancer have been 

 pushed into notice, tried, and found wanting, that 

 it would be well if our Medical Board would, by expe- 

 riment settle once for all the reputed value of the 

 application. From microscopic investigation of 

 degenerated cancer tissue I entertain little hope of a 

 successful result, but it is something to ascertain the 

 unknown even when the equation works out x = 0. 

 The plant used by the natives and by them pointed 

 out to the old Dutch colonists as a remedy or pal- 



