116 



JOUKlxAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ Febraarj- 16, 1S71. 



of the Peach. Hunt's Tavmy is the earliest, and the last to 

 ripen are Victoria and Prince of Wales. 



The best time to repot the trees, and still make sure of a 

 crop in the following year, is as soon as the fruit is gathered. 

 I reduce the ball of roots sufficiently to repot again in the 

 same size of pot, by keeping ttie house close and syringing the 

 trees, the foliage does not suffer, and in less than a week the 

 young roots will be pushing into the fresh material. All the 

 trees are either repotted or surface-dressed by the middle of 

 October, and turned out of doors. The trees here have been 

 treated in this way for many years, and are still healthy and 

 fruitful. 



I haye been taken to task both by Mr. Elvers and Mr. Pear- 

 son for placing the trees out of doors. In the thirteenth volume 

 of this Journal, page 329, Mr. J. E. Pearson says, referriag 

 to Peaches in pots — '• If left out during winter I should not 

 expect them to retain their buds, and if we had a cold winter 

 I should expect some to be killed outright." He is quite mis- 

 taken ; the trees do not drop any buas, and during the severest 

 frost of the present severe winter not one tree was injured. 

 Now, let us again turn to The Jouesai. of Hokticuliuee, 

 vol. svi., page 420, Mr. J. K. Pearson says, referring to his own 

 orchard-house Peaches, "They are nearly a total failure." 

 " Nearly all the fruit had fallen off," &o. Now, what was the 

 reason of this ? He tells us " that it was a total absence of 

 sun when the trees were in bloom." My four rows of hot-water 

 pipes came in useful just at that time, and I had a splendid 

 crop. I showed thirteen varieties of Peaches and Nectarines 

 at South Kensington ; the first prize was awarded to the col- 

 lection ; also one dish of Eoyal George, which had the first 

 prize, and was said to be the best-flavoured Peach in the room. 

 At the same time I was gathering several dozens every day at 

 home for my employer and his Mends, and both Mr. Barron, 

 of Chiswick, and Mr. Eivers'a foreman, Mr. Perry, told me 

 they were the truest orchard-house Peaches and Nectarines 

 they had ever seen. It looks egotistical to write like this, but 

 when you are called to order by such men as Mr. Eivers and 

 Mr. Pearson, it is only right that you should state the result of 

 the method of cultivation you advise others to practise. 



My reason for removing the trees out of doors is that the 

 entire house may be devoted to Chrysanthemums, and I advise 

 sU who possess an orchard house to fill it with them in the 

 autumn. Some of the Chrysanthemums are grown for quality 

 of flower ; for this purpose two or three plants are potted in 

 a 10 or 12-inch pot, they are trained to a single stem, and only 

 three flowers are allowed to each. These plants can be placed 

 -closely together to form a centre or background as may be 

 desired ; if the house is a lean-to they are arranged to form a 

 background, and in a span-roofed house they are placed in the 

 centre bed, with, in front of them, specimen plants of the large- 

 flowering, Japanese, and Pompon varieties, which will furnish 

 a succession of beautiful flowers until the end'of the year, and 

 now, by the aid of the Japanese and some other late-flowering 

 sorts, the bloom is extended far into January. — J. Douglas. 



curious to know the reason of its not flowering, and find, after 

 careful examination, the presence of a parasitic fcmgus, which 

 not only prevents its flowering, but, I think, must be the 

 cause of its variegation also. During the summer months 

 this Grass regains its green condition tiU, during the winter, 

 the spores of the fungus become again active. 



I have raised thousands of seedling plants from variegated 

 Grasses, but they all come up green, with the exception of 

 Lolinm perenne, and not more than one per cent, of this. 

 Some of these Grasses make a nice variety in the mixed her- 

 baceous border, others are good for edgings, and it has been 

 suggested that the dwarfer-growing kinds might be planted for 

 making simple figures on lawns, to be mown as usual — for in- 

 stance, Poa trivialis argentea. 



In a future note I shall say something about otir English 

 wild Geraniums, thinking them proper subjects to come under 

 the hands of the fiorist, and I hope that others besides my- 

 self will give a helping hand towards introducing these native 

 wayside beauties into our garden?, for there is no knowing 

 what may be obtained by a thorough investigation of these 

 humble members of the vegetable world. — W. E., Gardener, 

 Cromicell House. 



OENAIIENTAL VARIETIES OF OUR NATIVE 

 ■ GRASSES. 



Not till I had seen the beautiful Daotyiis elegantissima at 

 Kew did I think that the British Grasses could be made so 

 useful for garden decoration. Since then I have turned my 

 attention to them, and, to a certain extent, think I have been 

 successful, having found eight or nine varieties of Grasses 

 with variegated foliage. The first variegated Grass I ever 

 found was in Kent — a wee seedling plant, not an inch in height, 

 of Holous lanatus, Timothy Grass. The same season I found 

 Alopecurus pratensis. Meadow Fox-tail Grass, in a meadow. 

 These were both distributed by one of our most enterprising 

 nurserymen. 



I have since found Phleum pratense albo-marginatum, which 

 was sent out by the same firm. I have now Phleum pratense 

 anreo-variegatnm, a fine Grass ; a Poa, an Agrostis, Triticum 

 repens, Lolium perenne, a new Dactylia glomerala, and several 

 others that have not yet flowered. One in particular is a wood 

 Grass, with a remarkably bold snow-white variegation. 



I find that most of our British Grasses may be found in a 

 variegated state by looking carefully over them where they 

 abound, chiefly in sandy soUs. My experience proves that 

 they are only found in very small^ortions, being mostly sports. 



JSiy DActylis glomerala is a curious plant, that never flowers, 

 a Bteonger variety than the usual variegated variety. I was 



THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ANNUAL GENEEAL MEETING. 



Febeuaey liXH. 



The Annnal General Meeting of the Eoyal BforticTilttiial Society 



■n-as lield on Tuesday afternoon in the Cooncil-room of the Societr, 



Sonih Kensington. The chair was taken by His Serene Highness 



Prince Teck, in the absence of the President, the Dnke of Buccleach. 



The Scrntineers appointed for the ballot were Dr. Masters and 

 W. Beattie Booth, Esq. On the Meeting proceeding to ballot for 

 memhers of Council, Office-bearers, and Expenses Committeemen for 

 the ensuing year, 



His Sere>-e Higb:>"ES3 said : — Ladies and Gentlemen, the work 

 which those members of Council and office-bearers nndertook last 

 year, and the manner in which they performed their task, is so folly 

 set forth in the Eeport which wiU be read to you, that I will not 

 intrude upon your time by referring to the subject. I cannot, however, 

 refrain from expressing my gratification at prasiding for the first time 

 at one of your meetings, especially whsn I can see that the future of 

 the Society wiU he tindoubtedly bright [applause]. Yonr finances 

 are increasing, and there has been, and is, a continuous progress in 

 that work which is the special mission of the Society. This year, 

 besides, biings you into one of those international contests which lead, 

 not to the destruction of the precious life of man, but to the nurture 

 -and protection of that life which is bestowed upon fruits and flowers 

 for the sustenance, the delight, and the enjoyment of all [cheers]. I 

 will now call upon the Assistant Secretary to read the Eeport, and in 

 the meantime I will ask yon to fill up the vacancies for the year. 



Mr. EicHiP.DS, the Assistant Secretary, was about to read the 

 Eeport, which will be found aj)pended, when 



Mr. S. H. Godson- remarked, that one of the gentlemen to be 

 elected on the Expenses Committee was not now on the Council. It 

 was ii-regular, he thought, to have the ballot for the Conncil made be- 

 fore that for the Expenses Committee. 



Lord Heset Len-xox. — It is only a matter of form whicli can be 

 explained in a few minutes. 



Mr. EicHAEDS then read the Eeport. 



Colonel Challon-ee said it was not with a view to find fadt that he 

 rose, because he considered that on the whole the Eeport was satis- 

 factory, but he did so because they really knew nothing about the 

 finances of the Eoyal Horticultural Society. They ought to know a 

 little more about them. Of course upon any iinauce question he should 

 address himself more particularly to those gentlemen who had charge 

 of the finance department ; and he ventured to put this question to 

 them — 'Whether the balance of 1869 was £1331 ; that was a balance 

 against them, whilst at the present moment they had nearly the same 

 amount of liability ? And he should also ask this question, " Does the 

 account from January to December include all the ordinary expendi- 

 ture of the Society? 



Colonel SooiT, Secretary, said the account showed the absolute ex- 

 penditure during the year." At the foot of the account the item of 

 £1592 for liabilities on current account would be seen. That showed 

 the liabilities at the present moment. 



Colonel CnALLOKEE observed that he should have been glad if he 

 had had a more siitisfactory answer when he asked the same question 

 two or three years ago. He should like to see the finances of the 

 Society make the same appearance as their banker's book — assets on 

 one side, and so much liability on the other. He certainly did not 

 wish to have what he would not call " cooked " accotmts. 



Colonel Scott. — But the account, sir, shows everything fully as 

 far as any account can show it. 



Colonel Chjullon-er. — Am I to understand that the expenses of the 

 Eoyal Horticultural Society, including those of Chiswick garden, 

 amounted to £12,189 ? 

 Colonel Scott. — That is quite correct. 



