April 6, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



253 



of zinc and 10 parts of lead. These are said to be very cheap and 

 durable. A basket of a dark Mnd of Polyanthus called Early Ad- 

 mirable came from Mr. Porter, gardener to E. Benham, Esq., Isle- 

 worth. It appears to be free-flowering. Mr. Record sent berries of 

 Aralia japonica from the gardens at Hatfield House ; and G. F. Wil- 

 son, Esq., Weybridge, a plant of Eritillaria imperialis grown by Mr. 

 Turner, nurseryman, Walton-on-Thames, showing fasciation of the 

 flower stem to a remarlrable extent. 



Messrs. Eollissou ifc Sons had a first-class certificate for Torenia 

 auriculffifolia, a pretty little plant with light blue, white, and orange 

 flowers. A similar award was made to Mr. James Atkins, of Pains- 

 wick, for Saxifraga valdensis, a pretty, very dwarf, almost Moss-like 

 species, with white flowers ; also for Cotyledon spinosnm, forming a 

 beautiful, very regular rosette, and the plant is perfectly hardy. 



Mr. B. S. Williams, of Holloway, sent a variegated form of Deutzia 

 gracilis ; also Amaryllis Prince Henry, a variety of good form, cream 

 white, feathered with purplish crimson. To this a tirat-class certificate 

 wag given, and a similar award was made to Messrs. Paul & Son for 

 Climbing Victor Verdier Rose. A number of seedling Cinerarias 

 were shown by Mr. George Smith, Messrs. F. & A. Smith, and cut 

 flowers by Mr. Marcham, gardener to E. Gates, Esq., Iver, Bucks. 

 No awards, however, were made. Mr. Jones, gardener, Bucldiurst 

 Hill, exhibited several new golden and other Coleuses ; and Mr. Lee, 

 Arundel, forcing Pink Princess Louise, a showy red variety. 



General Meeting. — J. Bateman, Esq., F.K.S., in the chair. On 

 this occasion no less than fifty-three new Fellows were elected. The 

 Rev. M. J. Berkeley having read the Committee awards, called atten- 

 tion to a cut specimen of the Jonesia Asoca of " Paxton's Flower 

 Garden," to which Saraca indica is given as a synonym, and to that 

 name of Linnceus he believed Bentham and Hooker had gone back. 

 The plant figured in the " Flore des Serres " appeared to have more the 

 habit of a Brownea, to which Jonesia is nearly allied, but there were 

 'five or sis kinds of Saraca in Java, and probably the plant of the^ 

 "Flore des Serres" was one of these. Thfr gentleman who had the 

 finest collection of Browneas in the kingdom was Mr. Crawford, of 

 Lakelands, Co. Cork. Mr. Berkeley then produced specimens of the 

 Wellingtonia from the Marquis of Huntley's, at Orton, near Peter- 

 borough, showing that the tree was undoubtedly monoecious, the male 

 and female flowers being found on the same individual. Mr. Lee, of 

 Clevedon, had sent, but too late for the Fruit Committee, a box of 

 Morels in beautiful condition, and it was remarked, of those sold in 

 the shops a great many came from Cashmere. A Chinese Primula, 

 with all the petals green and leaf-like, and metamorphosed in almost 

 every conceivable manner, and a Calla ffithiopica brought by Mr. 

 Reeves, with the leaf assuming the colour and character of a spathe, 

 were next i^ointed out as morphological curiosities. 



Mr. Berkeley remarked, with reference to Mrs. Lloyd Wynne's prize 

 for Narcissus, that it had been given this year to a collection of varie- 

 ties of N. Tazotta, which was not her intention, as her object was to 

 bring together species, not mere varieties. She had again offered the 

 same prize, but for species, and as these could not be all shown at one 

 meeting, it was proposed to commence at the next one and to continue 

 the competition to the first April meeting next year, cut specimens to 

 he admissible. 



Major R. Trevor Clarke expressed a hope that in the future a prize 

 given for a special scientific object, would not be given to bulbs to be 

 found in every seedsman's window. 



Mr. Bateman congratulated the meeting on M. Linden, of Bnussels, 

 having sent Orchids for exhibition, and trusted that Belgian horticul- 

 turists would follow tho initiative. M. Linden's plants had come too 

 late for the previous meeting, and, with the exception of Odontoglossum 

 Hallii, had not improved ; of it, however, the specimen was the finest 

 he had ever seen. There had lately been soma controversy as to how 

 Odontoglossums should be grown. A writer had recently stated that 

 they were always found growing in moss, and he had no difficulty in 

 lassoing them from the trees, whilst with other Orchids it was fre- 

 quently necessary to cut off the limb, and sometimes to cut do^vn the 

 tree. His own conclugions were — 1st, that they should be kept gene- 

 rally cool ; 2nd, that it did not do to put them on blocks, but that they 

 should be potted and covered with moss ; and 3rd, with regard to heat, 

 that experience alone must decide, a few degrees making all the dif- 

 ference between healthy and unhealthy growth, between life and 

 death ; and he instanced a case in which during the late wiuter out of 

 a collection of Orchids half a dozen were killed. These came from 

 Costa Rica, whereas they had been supposed to be from Peru. 



With regard to Vanilla, referred to at the last meeting, he had 

 hoped to have been able to glean more information than he could 

 offer in answer to Mr. Hanbury's letter. He had found that the best 

 Vanilla had long and comparatively thin pods, and there was an in- 

 ferior kind with pods like Bananas. He remembered that in this 

 country J. Dillwyn Llewelyn, Esq., of Penllergare, used to grow 

 Vanilla to great perfection. There were other plants, however, which 

 yield scents similar to the Vanilla; for instance, a species of Cypri- 

 pedium from Chiriqui had pods more fragrant than the true Vanilla, 

 and instead of scrambling over a house, would yield when only half a 

 yard high. 



Mr. Berkeley remarked that nowhere had he seen Vanilla so success- 

 fully grown as at Lord Fitzwilliam's, where it was superior even to 

 ihat of foreign production. He mentioned also in connection with the 



subject of sweet-scented plants, that lately he had seen children in the 

 woods picking Violets not with the stalk, but merely the heads, and on 

 inquiry he found that these were for sale to the chemists and druggists. 



Major Clarke, having been asked for his experience on Vanilla, said, 

 though accustomed to crossing plants, he never could get it to set. 

 He believed there were bad-setting varieties, for he had set V. plani- 

 folia year after year without result. 



The proceedings closed with the announcement that the next meet- 

 ing would be held on the 19th inst., when there would also be a bazaar 

 in aid of the French relief fund. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S MEETING. 



The Mavch Meeting of this Society was held at Burlington House, 

 the chair being taken by Mr. A. E. Wallace, the President. The 

 Baron Selys-Longchamps was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of 

 the Society. 



Mr. J. Jenner Weir exhibited a small collection of Butterflies from 

 Madagascar. It did not contain any new siieoies. Mr. Butler, with 

 reference to the question as to the effect of mountains in limiting the 

 range of species of insects or their varieties, exhibited distinct varietiea 

 of the Butterfly Cajnonympha Satyrion, which he had taken on the 

 opposite sides of the Gemmi Pass in Switzerland, at Lenk and Kau- 

 dersteg. 



Mr. ¥. Smith exhibited some small branches of young Ash trees 

 communicated by the Kev. Mr. Hellins, from which the bark had been 

 stripped in various parts by Hornets. He stated that the paper of 

 which Hornets' nests are composed varies in its strength, being some- 

 times quite tough, but that it is always made of decayed tinder-like 

 wood. Eeaumur had observed the same fact, and had considered that 

 the bark was removed, not for building purposes, but to enable the 

 insect to get a supply of sap for food. 



Mr. Dunning exhibited species of tho bird Louse which infests the 

 peacock, and which he now finds is named Goniodes falcicornis, al- 

 though Linn:eus had more correctly applied to it the name of Pedicnlus 

 Pavouis. 



Mr. Lewis exhibited some monstrosities occurring in Lepidopterona 

 insects, in which the autennse differed in size in the fjame insect ; also 

 a Noctua satellitia, in which the right antenna was entirely wanting. 

 Mr. F. Smith communicated a statement he had met with in a work 

 of travels affirmative of the luminosity of Fulgora, recorded in the 

 " Eeveu Zoologique " for 1344. Dr. Sharp sent some notes on British 

 species of Oxypoda, a genus of Kove Beetles ; and Mr. A. Miiller an 

 account of some galls made by a species of Cecidomyia upon the leaves 

 of Campanula rotundifolia received from Glasgow. 



Mr. Lowne read a paper " On Immature Sexuality in Insects," 

 which he had written in consequence of having observed in the Holy 

 Land wingless specimens of a Grasshopper, which he considered as 

 productive iarvie. Hence he was induced to think that species origin- 

 ated occasionally from the maturity of the sexual organs before the 

 acquirement of the adult characters, in consequence of the early develop- 

 ment of these organs in the embryo and larva. He further stated that 

 in his opinion the larva and pupa were states of development which 

 had been acquired during a long series of ages, and added, in the dis- 

 cussion which took place, that possibly ten millions of years ago insecta^ 

 were developed in their perfect state ! — a proof that in the mind of Bar- 

 winian naturalists development is not always identical with progress. 



Mr. Briggs detailed experiments which he had made upon Liparis 

 dispar and B. Cratfegi, with the view of determining whether the 

 numerical proportion of the sexes, and even the sex itself, were depen- 

 dent upon the alimentary treatment of the caterpillar. Such suppo- 

 sitions were, however, completely negatived by his observations. 



Death of Baeon Hugel. — This gentleman's name is associated 

 with so many plants, that it will be familiar to many of our readers. 

 Ho was founder of the Imperial Society of Horticulture at Vienna, and 

 was Austrian Ambassador to the Court of Belgium. His death has 

 recently been announced. 



ORMSON'S PATENT SYSTEM OF HOTHOUSE 

 VENTILATION. 

 What a triumph it is for British horticultnrists to bring 

 under artificial culture in an unfavourable climate the denizens 

 of the sunny south to greater perfection than they attain in 

 their natives climates — to make them yield flowers finer and 

 more abundantly, fruits larger and richer in flavour, than in 

 their native lands ! The Vine bears freely in the Open air in 

 France and Germany ; Spain, Portugal, and Italy are highly 

 favjurable to it, but who ever saw Spanish, or Portuguese, or 

 Italian Grapes equal to, or even approaching, those from Combe 

 Abbey, Garston, Dalkeith, or Castle Kennedy ? Who ever saw 

 West Indian Pine Apples equal either in size or flavour to those 

 grown in many an English and Scottish garden ? And yet all 

 this, and much more, is done despite the rigours of frost and 

 the gardener's still more dreaded enemy damp. It is possible 



