December 14, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS- MAGAZINE. 



965 



HORTICULTURAL SHOW ADVERTISE- 

 MENTS ar« in^rted in thie oolumn at Six- 

 piDO# per lin«. the minimam uharg-e being Two Shil- 

 iiBg-^ en^ Sixpence. Oflac€s, 148 and 149, Aldere^ate 

 ^tr^t. London, E.G. 



EXHIBITIONS AND 



MEETINGS- 



Royal Horticultural Society. 



SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE.— December 3. 



Present : Mr. E. A, Bowles, M.A., F.L.S., 

 F.E.S. (in the chair); Sir Harry Veitch, 

 Messrs. A. Worsley, G. Wilson, J. O'Brien, 



J. Eraser, J. T, Bennett-Poe, C. E. Shea, 

 A. W. Subton, W. Hales, J. Odell, R. H. 

 Pearson, and F. J. Chittenden (hon. secre- 

 tary) , 



PRUNUS MIQUELIANA.- 



Mr. G. Wilson 



drew attention to this beautiful shrub which 



flowers in the open in December in Sussex 

 and elsewhere. (See Gardenees' Magazine, 



7, 1912.) Its appearance suggests 

 origin, for the flowers are semi- 



IN 



BOTTLE. 



of 



Mr. J. Eraser 



fern 



Cystopteris 

 which it 



December 

 a garden 



doulble. 

 FERN 



sh owe d a sp ecim en oi a 

 f ragi 1 is, grow ing in a b ot t le , 

 was found in a garden. Though this fern 

 usually loses its leaves in July, the present 

 specimen was still green. 



ORANGE-FRUITT^D HOLLY.— Mr. E. A. 

 Bowles showed orange fruits from a holly 

 in his garden. The tree is probably identical 

 with that referred to in Dallimore's ** Holly ^ 

 Yew, and Box,*' under the name Ilex aqui- 

 foUum fructa-auraniviaoo. It is there sug- 

 ted that this is a seedling from the yel- 

 ,ow-fruited variety, and the tree in Mr. 

 Bowles's garden is apparently of similar 

 origin. 



L.ELIA PUMILA x L^LIO-CATTLEYA 

 OPHIR (L^LIA XANTHINA x CATT- 

 LEYA AUREA).— Mr. G. Wilson said this 



hybrid with cream-white sepals and petals 

 and purple labellum was raised by Mr. R. 

 G. Thwaites, of Streatham Hill , and was 

 >liown by him in support of his hypothesis 

 that white flowers are produced by a mix- 

 ture of red, blue, and yeUow, 



The committee will not meet on December 

 17^ there being no show on that day. 



National Dahlia Society. 



The annual general meeting of this so- 

 ciety was held in an "upper room" at the 

 Hotel Windsor, Westminster, S.W., at four 

 o'clock on Tuesday, Deicember 10. The 

 President, Mr. George Gordon, V.M.H., oc- 

 cupied the chair, and there were less than 

 a ecore of members, chiefly officers and com- 

 mittee, present. 



After the reading of minutes, etc., the 

 Report of the Committee for 1912 was pre- 

 f^ented as follows: 



The Societj'- held one large exhibition at 

 the Crystal Palace on Tuesday and Wednes- 

 ^^7. September 17 and 18, 1912, and this 

 proved to be successful, a large number 

 of amateur exhibitors being present than in 

 the^ previous year. 



Your Conimitte? offered a gold, a silver- 

 gfilt, and a silver medal for competition at 

 the Royal International Horticultural Ex- 

 hibition held at Chelsea, in Mav, 1912. 

 Inprr* were two competitors, and Messrs. J. 

 ■-tredwick and Son secured the gold medal. 

 ^ Three joint committee meetings, consist- 

 of members of the Royal Horticultural 

 ^lety and the National Dahlia Society, 

 J^ere held at the Royal Horticultural Hall, 

 tor the purpose of making awards to new 

 ^oedhiior dahlias. A large number of varie- 



tic^s were presented, and several certificate?; 

 granted. 



Continuing the policy adopted last season, 

 a Conference on Dahlias was held at Carr's 

 ^staurant, 264, Strand, on March 8, 1912, 

 ^nen papers were read by Mr. Georg^e 

 Davidson on "The Cultivation of Cactus 



Dahlias in a Town Garden," and by Mr. 

 J. B. Riding on ''Collarette, Paeony-flowered, 

 and Decorative Dahlias.'* The conference 

 was well attended, and a useful discussion 

 followed tlie papers. 



Your Commiittee , believi ng the Society 

 should continue to give attention to all 

 tjrpes of the dahlia, and especially to dah- 

 lias suitable for garden decoration, recom- 

 mend an exhibition, a conference, joint 

 meetings of the R.H.S. and the Dahlia 

 Society to consider new varieties, and a Year 

 Book for the entsuing year. 



It is with deep regret tliat we have to 

 record the early demis.e of Mr. F. W. Seal, 

 who has been for many j-ears an ardent sup- 

 porter of the Society, and wlio was well 

 known as an exhibitor and raiser of new 

 varieties. 



The thanks of the Society are largely due 

 to the Crystal Palace Company, the readers 

 of papers at the conference, to the judges, 

 and all others who have so kindly assisted 

 in the work, and to the horticultural press 

 for its willing and ready assistance. 



C-VSH Af'CDrNT. 11*12 



To Bala net' S (J 7 



Sii1\scriptions, 3!*ll Ui <) 



Subscriptiomis. 1!M2 5!» 34 (i 



.. SuhsoriptionB* 1U13 O 10 <i 



(j7 1 0 



.. Afflliatioii F€«6 l 1 (i 



Donatiom'^ aoid ^^pecial I'rizffc 5 i\ 4» 



„ C'ry»st4iJ l*alac<' Grant 25 0 0 



.. Advertist'inents 13 14 1) 



.. Purcha^t' of 3IctlaU 0 18 0 



ClK^qu-e recro<]-it<Hl 1 1 0 



i*121 1 7 



Ck. £ 



Bv Prizt^s 101*2 63 16 0 



.\U-da.,U. li»12 13 1 t> 



Printing Schcnlule CI* 17 <i 



Printing" Xotiotvs <'tc li *i 



13 8 0 



Show Expein6<is 4 17 6 



,, Hire of Kooui.s 2 12 0 



,. Post«$j<», otc. "i 16 0 



HonoTariuin to Sorrrtary H 0 ii 



C'lu-que ixitUTJiiHl 1 1 0 



Bank ch'arg-t^s <' 0 4 



Balanc-^ S !* 3 



.1121 1 7 



The Pre.-ide?it moved the adoption of ti^e 

 report and financial statement (the latt-.-r 

 subject to audit), said the society had 

 not made the progress it should have* dune, 

 and he hoped that every officer and member 

 would wake up and recognise their respon- 

 sibilities, so that the memberi^hip might in- 

 crease largely in the future. He advocated 

 the claims of dahlias suitable for garden de_ 

 coration becaucse, while he had a great love 

 for all exhibition flowers, he felt that un]e>^ 

 thc^ dahlia held a high position in the gardi-ii 

 it failed in its usefulness. The society shoii]',l 

 appeal to all tastes in respetst to dahlias, 

 and so enlarge its membership, and abo its 

 usefulness; but to tie itself down to any 

 particular type, or confine its attention to 

 exhibition flowers only, would be fatal. He 

 urged that the i^egular issue of a Year Book 

 was not only expedient, but necessary^ a- 

 hL^illg ^ome return for membership iutheca.^e 

 ot non-exhibiting members. He referred to 

 the offer of a 75-guinea challenge cup by Mr. 

 E. Cory, for a display of dahlias for garden 

 decoration by traders, and a possible 25- 

 guinea cup for amateur exhibits on r^imilar 

 lines, aiul he hoped that the society would 

 be able to so arrange matters as to accept 

 this generous offer. ^Ir. Wyatt seconded the 

 proposal formally, ami expressed a hope for 

 ])etter times for the society. 



Mr. J. S. Brunton moved thanks to officers 

 and committee. Mr. George Gordon, V.M.H., 

 was re-elected president, Mr. Joseph Cheal 

 was re-elected chairman of committee; Mr. 

 John Green as treasurer; Mr. J. S. Brunton 

 was added to the list of vice-presidents; and 

 Mr. J, B. Eiding was unanimously elected 

 hon. secretary in place of Mr. Hawes, Avho 

 h;is bern felt compelled to resign owing to 

 pr(^>,-ure of business; and Mr. J. Harrison 

 Dick was elcc*^cd auditor of accoinils. X.^w 

 members of cninmittee elected \v(m\' : M(>>-i ^. 

 J. S. Brunton. If. Slioesniith. A. 11. Farmer, 

 E. F. Hawes, Va^^v. \V. (1. Valentine. Mr. 

 Caselton was appointed show superintendent 

 at the Crystal Palace. 



It was decided that in future the society's 

 accounts be closed each year on October 

 The meeting closed with thanks to the pre- 

 sident. 



Scottish Horticultural Associa 



tion. 



Tile montlily meeting of tliih association 

 was held in the Goold Hall, 5, St. Andrew 

 Square, Kdinhurgh, on the Jird inst. Mr. 

 Massie, tlic president, was in the chair, and 



there wa-s an attendance of ^> members. 



TJie meeting wats an "open" one. and wa*i 

 devoted to a diMiU>,s!on on the following ques- 

 tions: (1) 1« galvanist^d wire and wire netting 

 injuriouN to Iruit trees? (2) In judging leeks 

 " as grown for mai ket," in what <»rder >hould 

 their relative merits be tx)nsidercd: {'^) What 

 are the advantagi»s <^f sterilising soil? (4) 

 Has the grass herbage any iniluence in in- 

 tensifying the colour of the fruit in orchard- 

 grown apples? (5) What causes luminosity 

 when a light is applied to the inHorest'cnce 

 of Dictaninus iraxinella? (G) How ics multi- 

 plicity in the flower spike^ in the bulbs of 



varieties of hvacinth brought about? 

 (7) Wliat is the English " elm? and (8) What 

 is a spray? 



No one had observed any injury to fruit 

 trees from the use of galvanised wire or wire 

 netting. It wa^ pointed out that market 

 leeks could not be judged from the same 

 standpoint as those produced by the ])rivate 

 grower. The primary cjonsiderat ion should 

 be weight, but freshness should be con- 

 sidered. The question of blancliing did not 

 count, as it would not pay the growers to 

 put so much labour on ^he crop. Tiu^ third 

 question gave rise to considerable discussion, 

 but beyond statements of t he facts wliich 

 have been published regarding sterilisation 

 no new paints were brought out. The influ- 

 ence of grass herbage on the heightening of 

 the colour of orchard-grown fruit also gave 

 rise to some discussion, but no definite con- 

 clusion was arrived at. The possibility of 

 the formation of dew being facilitated by the 

 grass covering, and of this having some effect 

 on the fruit was suggested, as was also the 

 fact that in a moist climate like that of Ire- 

 land apples coloured well, and that the 

 moisture might have something to do witli 

 it. Their earlier ripening on grass land was 

 attributed to the drier condition of the soil 

 at the roots of the trees. It was agreed, 

 however^ that, from all points ot view, it 

 was inadvisable to have a grass covering over 

 the roots of fruit trees. A note wag read 

 detailing some experiments by Sir Kdw^ard 

 Thorpe in connection witli the luminosity 

 ]>roduced from Diotaninn>. traxiuvlla, Irom 

 which it appeared that the glands with which 

 the inflorescence is covered are really exceed- 

 ingly brittle ducts, which are filled with an 

 essential oil, and that when, for example, 

 a burning match is l)rought into contact Avith 

 t hem th ey take fi re ; the essen t ial oil is 

 ejected, and the flame is enlarged and made 

 more luminous by its combustion. >s'o s;i* i-- 

 factory explanation could be given as to tli*- 

 production of more than one flower spike 

 (which had been fairly common last season 

 in such varieties as Gertrude, Grand ^laitre^ 

 and Maximus, in hyacinths, but the opinion 

 was expre-sed that the previous season had 

 probably something to do with it. It was 

 pointed' out tliat besides the true English 

 elm (Ulmus canii^c^tris) there was anotheT 

 small-leaved sjx cies, largely imported from 

 Germany, which was being distributed 

 through British and American nurserymen as 

 the small-leaved elm, and that this had led 

 to some confusion, the true English elm 

 also beinsr called the "small-leaved" elm in 



nur>erie-. Much diversity ot opinion w^as 

 expressed as to the correct detiuition of the 

 term " spray (as used in show schedules), 

 but no satisfactory solution was arrived at. 



It w:is stated that the profits on the recent 

 chry>anthrinum show was approximately 



and it was agreed to hold a three-days* 

 -how in 1913, the dates to be November 12, 

 Ki, and 14. Mr. David King was nominated 

 as president for 1913. 



The annual business meeting will be h?ld 

 on January 14, 1913. 



