

78 



THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 



[February 3, 1912. 



GLASGOW FRUIT TRADE 



BENEVOLENT. 



January 17. — The annual general meeting of 

 the Glasgow Fruit Trade Benevolent Society 

 was held on this date, the president, Mr. Mal- 

 colm Campbell, occupying the chair. The 

 treasurer's statement showed that the society 

 had accumulated a capital fund of over £800, 

 and that the membership was 112. In moving 

 the adoption of the report, the Chairman said 

 that the members were to be congratulated upon 

 the result of the first year's working. The 

 directors were glad to report that they had not 

 been called upon to make any payments for the 

 relief of members. The annual dinner took place 

 on the same evening at the Grand Hotel, the 

 president again presiding. 



LINNEAN SOCIETY. 



January 18. — Dr. A. Anstruther Lawson gave 

 a lantern lecture entitled " Some Features of the 

 Marine Flora at St. Andrews," showing the 

 wealth of algal vegetation at that part of the 

 coast, and its special characteristics, including 

 the habit of the plants when growing in their 

 natural position under water. Illustrations of 

 the gigantic Brown Algae of the Pacific Coast 

 were also shown for comparison. 



The general secretary read a letter from Dr. 

 George Henderson, accompanying a quantity of 

 seeds of Nannorrhops Ritchieana (see fig. 32) 

 which the sender wished should be tried in 

 cultivation in the south of England by as many 

 persons as possible. He stated that these seeds 

 were of last summer's growth, and came from 

 the Khyber Pass, where snow sometimes covered 

 these Palms in winter, whilst the summer is 

 very hot. He further suggested that heat might 

 be requisite to cause the seeds to germinate 

 freely. The seeds were distributed amongst 

 those present at the meeting. 



BRIGHTON HORTICULTURAL. 



January 18. — The annual meeting of the 

 Brighton, Hove, and Sussex Horticultural and 

 Mutual Improvement Society was held at the 

 Pavilion on this date. Mr. William Balchin 

 (treasurer) was in the chair. 



The report showed that the net loss on the 

 Rose and Sweet Pea show was £95 lis. 3d. To 

 meet the desire for economy, expressed by mem- 

 bers at the last annual meeting, this show was 

 held in the Dome and Corn Exchange, the lawns 

 and promenade being dispensed with, but the 

 exceptional heat proved the futility of the ex- 

 periment, and the committee acknowledged this 

 to be unsuccessful. The Chrysanthemum show 

 was held at a net loss of £51 9s. Id. This 

 show was acknowledged to be a successful 

 achievement otherwise than financially. The 

 loss on the year's working amounted to 

 £43 2s. 4d., compared with £51 15s. 3d. in 1910, 

 £76 19s. lid. in 1909, and £64 18s. 3d. in 1908. 

 The report continued: "With regard to the 

 financial aspect of the society, your committee 

 view it with feelings of extreme gravity, and at 

 first they were prepared to advise the * winding- 

 up 9 of the affairs of the society. However, our 

 president kindly consented to receive a deputa- 

 tion, which acquainted him with the serious state 

 of affairs. As the committee could hold out r.o 

 reasonable hopes of carrying on the business of 

 the society with assured success, the president 

 suggested the formation of a guarantee fund of 

 about £50, as an experiment for next year, him- 

 self offering £10, and promising to appeal to his 

 friends who were interested in horticulture. In 

 addition, he suggested the election of a smaller 

 committee willing to become guarantors for £2 



individually." 



The following motion was adopted : 



Rule 2. — " That the officers shall consist of a 

 president and vice-presidents, and the business 

 of the society shall be conducted by a chairman, 

 vice-chairman, treasurer and secretary, and a 

 committee of nine, to be elected annually. The 

 chairman, vice-chairman, treasurer and the com- 

 mittee to become guarantors for £2 individu- 

 ally." 



The officers were then elected as follow: — 

 President, Alderman Colman, J. P. ; chairman, 

 Mr. Balchin; treasurer, Mr. George Miles; vice- 

 chairman, Mr. Frank Woollard ; secretary, Mr. 

 A. J. Gaston. 



Mr. George Miles thanked the society for the 

 honour they had conferred upon him by allow- 

 ing him to hold the position of chairman for so 

 long. It was his jubilee in connection with the 

 society, and he had without exception had some- 

 thing to do with the shows for 50 years. 



HORTICULTURAL CLUB. 



" BIRDS' EGGS: SOME REMARKS ON THE 



EVOLUTION OF COLOUR. 



)y 



January 23.— This club held its usual 

 monthly dinner at the Hotel Windsor on the 

 above date, Mr. Harry J. Veitch occupying 

 the chair, and a good number of members and 

 guests being present. After the dinner Mr. 

 Chas. E. Pearson gave an interesting lecture on 

 Birds' Eggs, illustrating his remarks with a 

 large number of lantern slides, depicting the 

 nests of many rare birds and also clutches 

 of eggs which had been laid among stones 

 and in conditions where their peculiar colours 

 render them all but indistinguishable from 

 their surroundings. Mr. Pearson advanced 

 the theory that all birds' eggs were primarily 

 white as are those of the lizard and other reptiles, 

 from which undoubtedly the birds' have been 

 evolved. In course of time, what may be 

 termed accidental variation led to natural selec- 

 tion of types which happened to be protective, 

 and eventually in this way a great variety of 

 colouration was brought about. Cases of such 

 examples were exhibited both by the lecturer 

 and Mr. Percy Bunyard. These eggs, only 

 relating to two species of marine birds, 

 the guillemot* and the herring gull, repre- 

 sented the best of many hundreds of eggs 

 collected from many sources, every one differ- 

 ing in marking, and most of them so brilliantly 

 and variedly pigmented as to fully justify 

 the enthusiastic admiration of everyone. The 

 question of the protective character of this 

 colouration seems to be an open one, though 

 the fact that the eggs of birds of prey, which lay 

 their eggs in inaccessible places, usually have 

 white eggs, appears to point to a protective value 

 in colour, which is further indicated by the eggs 

 laid amongst water-worn stones that they so 

 closely imitated as to be discovered only with 

 great difficulty. It was stated in the course 

 of the discussion which followed the lecture, par- 

 ticipated in by Messrs. Percy Bunyard, E. A 

 Bunyard, H. R. Darlington and others, that 

 old birds are prone to lay eggs less well coloured 

 than younger birds, as with the age the birds 

 lose the power of pigmentation to a greater or 

 less degree. Apart from the variation in the 

 eggs themselves, the different modes of con 

 struction and situation of the nests, as 

 depicted on the screen, evoked considerable in- 

 terest, as did numerous interpolated anecdotes of 

 bird and egg-collecting, and photographing ex- 

 periences at home and abroad. 



The next meeting, on February 20, will be 

 the annual meeting and social evening, this latter 

 following on the dinner which will take place at 

 6 p.m. There will not be any lecture on that 

 occasion. 



HASLEMERE DISTRICT CHRYSAN- 



THEMUM. 



January 26. 



-The annual meeting of this 

 society was held on the above date. Sir Robert 

 Hunter, K.C.B., presided. The report stated 

 that the annual show was not such a success 

 financially as usual, owing to the unsuitable hall ; 

 but that a more commodious building was avail- 

 able for the exhibition this year. On the 

 motion of the chairman, both the report 

 and balance-sheet were adopted. In returning 

 thanks for his election as president, Col. J. C 

 Humphreys said that, in the event of a suitable 

 hall not being forthcoming, he would be pleased 

 to place his gardens at Red Court, Haslemere, at 

 the disposal of the society. The hon. secretary, 

 Mr. F. A. Edwards, Lower Grayswood Gardens, 

 Haslemere, and the hon. treasurer, N. K. 

 Cherrill, Esq., were re-elected, as were the com- 

 mittee, with one alteration. November 7 was 

 suggested as the date of the 12th annual show, 

 but it was decided to leave this and all other 

 details concerned with the exhibition to the com- 

 mittee. 



LIVERPOOL HORTICULTURAL. 



January 27. — The 23rd annual general meet- 

 ing of the above association was held in the 

 Common Hall, Hackins Hey, on this date; Mr. 

 W. Mercer presided. The secretary in submit- 

 ting the report stated that the shows throughout 

 the year had been fully up to the average, and 

 that the Rose and Sweet Pea Show was a dis- 

 tinct improvement. According to the balance- 

 sheet, the amount received in subscriptions was 

 £273 6s. 6d., being a decrease of about £20. 

 There w T as a balance to the credit of the society 

 of £152 9s. 9d. The committee announced that 

 the Spring Rose and Sweet Pea Show and the 

 Autumn Exhibition would b« held in the Corn 

 Exchange. The Earl of Derby, Lord Mayor of 

 Liverpool, was elected President. The follow- 

 ing officials were all re-elected : — Hon. treasurer, 

 Mr. W. F. Rogers; assistant-treasurer, Mr. G. 

 Blackmore ; and secretary, Mr. Harold Sadler, 

 31, North John Street, Liverpool. 



BRITISH GARDENERS' ASSOCIATION. 



January 25. — A special general meeting of the 

 members of this association was held at Carr's 

 Restaurant, Strand, on this date. The chair was 

 occupied by Mr. R. J. Frogbrook, and amongst 

 others present were Messrs. E. F. Hawes, 

 T. Winter, W. Watson, George Gordon, 

 T. Bevan, J. Collier, John Weathers, C. P. 

 Raffill, R, Johnson, W. H. North, J. Wood, J. 

 Harrison Dick, W. H. Jenkins (Altrincham), W. 

 Auton (Penrith), R. Ground well (Leeds), H. 

 Eavis and T. Smith (Haslemere), Cyril Harding 

 and J. Dyfri Jones (Birmingham), W. Hall 

 (Sunderland), T. Knight (Carlisle), S. Andrews, 

 W. H. Aggett, and A. E. Cresswell. 



After the notice convening the meeting was 

 read, the Chairman stated that the first business 

 on the agenda was the proposed alteration of 

 the rules. The sub-committee appointed by the 

 xecutive council had considered very carefully 

 the general administration of the associa- 

 tion. They came to the conclusion that the 

 time had arrived when alterations must take 

 place in the interests of the association in any 

 shape or form. All agree that Mr. Weathers 

 has performed excellent work for the association, 

 and he deserves the greatest credit and praise for 

 his work in past years. But the executive coun- 

 cil considers that the time has come when it is 

 impossible for one man, unless he gives his whole 

 time, to carry out the work of general secretary. 

 The executive council have no one in view for 

 the post of permanent secretary. In the event of 

 the report being adopted, the advertisement for 

 a secretary should be inserted not only in the 

 society's Journal, but also in the horticultural 

 Press. The executive council feel that there is 

 no need to appoint a man to the post who is not 

 a member. 



It was decided to consider the report before 

 the proposed alteration of rules. 



It was suggested by members that the sum of 

 £104 per annum was an insufficient salary for a 

 permanent secretarv. 



Mr. Harding (Birmingham) said that, although 

 £104 per annum is not an extravagant salary to 

 pay a man for the work which he will have to 

 undertake, there is nothing in the report which 

 suggests that the sum should be a permanent 

 salary. The work of editing the Journal will 

 not devolve upon the Secretary at all, for the 

 post of the Editor of the Journal is to be entirely 

 distinct from that of secretary. , 



Mr. W. Watson referred to the valuable worK 

 done bv Mr. Weathers in the interests of the 

 association. The appointment of a permanent 

 official in the capacity of secretary had his (Mr- 

 Watson's) hearty support. He was not quiw 

 satisfied that the various proposals made by the 

 sub-committee would meet the requirements oi 



the situation, and proposed that the executive 

 be put in the Jotirnal, say in March, so tha 



council should prepare a scheme which shou. 



• every member of the association would ha^ 

 plenty of time to consider the scheme an( * * 

 criticise and forward his criticisms to 

 Editor. Mr. Wm. Hall seconded. , e 



Mr. Watson's proposition was put, after 

 Chairman had spoken, but it was lost, and _ 

 report as printed was adopted. Both the p 

 posed alterations in the rules were adop 

 unanimously. 



