PROCEEDINGS. 



xxiii 



Mr. Roberts, of Eastcheap, sent specimens of what he has 

 recently registered as " ventilating flower-pots." They had 

 a hole in the side near the base, instead of in the bottom, 

 like other pots, and were furnished inside with a moveable per- 

 forated drainage tile or stage placed so as to leave a cavity 

 between it and the bottom of the pots. Mr. Roberts stated 

 that the intention of the contrivance was, first, to give perfect 

 drainage to the plants and air to the roots ; and secondly, to 

 enable such liquid manure to be placed in the bottom of the 

 pot as might be required. He is of opinion that whatever 

 decaying substance is placed in the bottom in a liquid state 

 will enter into slow combustion ; and that carbonic acid 

 gas will be generated, which, being the principal food of all 

 plants, will be taken up by capillary attraction w r ith the 

 moisture, and that the plants will thereby always be nourished 

 w ithout the risk of excess, provided the liquid is put into the 

 holes instead of over the soil, which can readily be done by 

 means of a small watering-pot, with a spout 

 suitably bent for the purpose. The value of 

 the invention, however, like all such plans, 

 remains to be proved. A cast-iron socket 

 for placing poles in, of which the accom- 

 panying woodcut will give some idea, was 

 exhibited by W. Everett, Esq., of Enfield. 

 "I have," said Mr. Everett, "sent for in- 

 spection a cast-iron socket for poles for roses 

 and other climbers. I have a very long 

 avenue of roses, and find the poles constantly 

 rotting off just above the ground, and have 

 hitherto found no mode of preventing it. I 

 think these sockets may answer the purpose. 

 I mean to fasten the pole into them by 

 pitch, or some other substance that will pre- 

 serve them dry. Their price in London 

 will be about 3s. a-piece. They weigh 

 14 lbs. each, and will last for ever." 



Novelties from the Society's Garden. Boronia tetrandra, 

 a promising kind, something in the way of B. pinnata ; 

 and Siphocampylus Manettiseflorus, a handsome species, 

 with glossy, deep green, myrtle-like leaves, and long red 

 tubular blossoms, tipped with yellow. 



Books presented. 



Eighteenth Annual Report of the Royal Horticultural Society of Cornwall. From 

 the Society. 



The Athenaeum for February. From the Editor. 



