Xl PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in favour of C. lanata, or else a cross with this species being the 

 source of the cultivated forms. 



Colouring of Flowers. — Dr. Eussell gave some details of a 

 preliminary experiment with white Hyacinths treated with 

 various salts to test the influence they might have upon the 

 colouring of the flowers. The only bulbs obtainable were, 

 unfortunately, very inferior in quality, as the experiment was 

 not proposed till too late in the season. On March 6 the bulbs 

 were treated with the following solutions, all being grown in 

 water : — Cobalt nitrate, copper sulphate, ferrous sulphate, man- 

 ganese nitrate, nickel nitrate, chromium acetate, zinc nitrate, 

 ammonium nitrate, urea, soluble Prussian blue, coli, and water 

 alone, distilled. All contained 13 grains to a pint of distilled 

 water. As the liquids evaporated they were made up with a 

 stronger solution of 30 grains to the pint. Two plants only 

 indicated any colour in the flowers. The one treated with nickel 

 nitrate on March 25 looked very bad, limp and yellow ; the bud, 

 which would naturally have been green, showed a distinctly pink 

 colour. The one treated with ferrous sulphate blossomed, and 

 had also a decidedly pink tinge. All the rest were either more 

 or less arrested in growth, sickly, or dead. As a preliminary 

 experiment, and that with unsatisfactory materials, the result, 

 so far as the above two were concerned, was interesting ; but it 

 was the general opinion that the solutions were too strong, and 

 that this would probably account for the injurious effects upon 

 the growth of the Hyacinths. It is proposed to try further 

 experiments with white Pelargoniums. 



Narcissus, Crosses. — Mr. Engleheart, in describing the various 

 results of his experience in crossing the Narcissus during the 

 last fifteen years, observed that the main cross was between the 

 Trumpet Narcissi (as pod bearers) and the Poeticus. This gave 

 rise to the Incomparabilis section ; but that among the seedlings 

 of the cross there would sometimes arise pure Poeticus ; the 

 male was always more or less prepotent, but sometimes the 

 offspring would show no trace of the female parent. Dr. 

 Masters observed that the same result sometimes occurred in 

 other plants. Dr. Zacharias alluded to the case of Strawberries 

 (" False Crosses," Gard. Chron., 1894, p. 568), and Mr.Henslow 

 mentioned that when the Rhododendron ' ' Monarch " (which 

 contained the species R. jasminiflorum twice, R. javanicum, R. 



