40 



PUUtKKDINC.S OF TliK 



Aug. 7, 1838. 



ORDINARY MKI^TING. 



'l lu' follow iiii,^ were I'lectcil Fellows of the Society ; 

 lIowi'U (iwMi, lvs(j., of Hayliiii mar Neath, 

 (ieor^c llcneaico, Ksc; , ot llainton, Lincolnshire. 

 Sir llowland llill, Jiart. iM. 1* , of litiwkstone Park, Shrop- 

 shire. 



\\ illiain ( liarlos Smith, Esq., of Shortgrove Hall, Essex. 



Tlie ChairiDaii announced, that the President, His Grace the 

 Duke of Devonshire, had had the honour of an audience with 

 Hkk M.\jksty, who had been graciously pleased to inscribe her 

 name in the oblicjiition liook as Patron of the Society. 



A pa])cr by Mr. 'i'honias Sellers was read " upon the cultiva- 

 tion of Comhrctum purpnreum.'' 



The author of this communication stated, that in the year 

 IHSi, tlierc existed, at Mostyn Hall near Holywell, a plant of 

 this species, which occupied 308 superficial feet of the trellis on 

 the back w;Ul of a hothouse. Its shoots were trained upon wires 

 at the distance of from 7 to 8 inches, and produced in one 

 season 5.57 panicles of crimson flowers, all expanded at the same 

 time, namely, in the month of July ; from which period it con- 

 tinued to flower till late in the autumn, although not so abun- 

 dantly as at first. 



'J'he author ascribed the healthy and vigorous state of this 

 specimen to the manner in which it was grown. It was described 

 as occupying with its roots a chamber about 3 feet deep, and 

 1 8 inches square, formed in the corner of a Pine Pit, from which 

 it was separated by a 4 inch wall, pigeon-holed at the bottom j 

 within the chamber, as high as the last of the pigeon-holes, 

 stones and brickbats were deposited, so as to ensure a perfect 

 drainage. The soil consisted of strong loam, mixed with ^ of 

 rotten dung, and -^^ of river sand, and left in a heap some time 

 previous to using. Great importance was assigned to the 

 drainage. 



The trellis, upon which the plant was trained, had been gra- 

 dually covered, by successively stopping the leading shoots, so 

 that the result was a uniform distribution of branches. In the 

 first instance a leading shoot was conducted up the trellis, over 

 the walk which separated the bark-bed from the back wall of 

 the house, at such a height as to leave room to pass under it. It 

 was first stopped at the third wire on the back wall j of the vigo- 

 rous side shoots subsequently produced, 3 were selected to cover 

 the 3 first wires, and the remainder were pinched off close to 



