Xlvi PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



He said that they had not much ground for complaint at Eew 

 until the winter of 1887-88. The fog proved injurious in two 

 ways. First, in forming an oily deposit of dirt, which was left 

 on all the glass houses. This was so thick and of so intractable 

 a character that every pane had to be washed by hand. The 

 houses looked as if they had slate roofs instead of being glazed. 

 The same result occurred in the winter of 1888-89. Secondly, 

 with regard to the injury to plants, it seemed out of all pro- 

 portion to the nature of the fog. especially so on orchids. Thus. 

 e.g., when a fog comes on, the inflorescence of species of Phalam- 

 opsis breaks up, and the flowers, disarticulating, fall off. Mam- 

 plants suffer more or less, and especially such as have a more 

 tender foliage. Mr. Dyer remarked that the young foliage of a 

 Carpenteria growing on a south wall did not suffer, while another 

 plant under glass, with possibly tenderer foliage, was severely 

 injured. The fogs extended even as far as Dorking, for Sir 

 Trevor Lawrence lost a large number of flowers in a few horns. 

 Mr. Veitch remarked that he found injurious effects to follow 

 the two kinds of fogs, those caused by London smoke, arid the 

 ordinary country white fogs. In the dull weather accompanying 

 the latter, flowers would not expand properly, as, e.g., was par- 

 ticularly the case with early varieties of Laelia anceps. The 

 yellow fogs of London had been getting steadily worse for the last 

 twenty years. Camellias frequently lost their buds, especially 

 certain kinds, as double whites. A peculiar feature observed by 

 Mr. Yeitch was that the fog seemed to gum up the buds at a 

 certain stage of development. Either before or after that 

 particular period of growth the buds were unaffected by the fog. 

 lie mentions that 1.000 flowers of Cattleyas were lost in three 

 weeks. 



Galanthus Elwesi diseased. — A letter was received from Mr. 

 Barr, who had forwarded the diseased bulbs on which Professor 

 M. Ward reported at the last meeting. He attributed the 

 presence of the parasitic fungus as indirectly due to cultivation 

 and to too rich a soil, from the following facts. In the garden 

 whence the diseased plants had come Mr. Ban- found that they 

 had all disappeared except from places overgrown with grass and 

 in a wild natural condition. There they were healthy and 

 strong. His impression is that snowdrops cannot stand too 

 much cultivation. Whether it be the manure or the soft spongy 



