1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Scientific Committee, March 28, 1905. 



Dr. M. T. Masters, F.R.S.,in the Chair, with seventeen members present, 

 and Messrs. L. Sutton, A. Dean, and Foster, visitors. 



Diseased Amaryllis Bulbs. — The bulbs sent to the last meeting by 

 Mr. C. E. Baxter, F.R.H.S., had unhealthy roots marked at their base by 

 a deep red colour, which penetrated right through the root ; the red 

 colour in places stained the outer scales of the bulb, and was visible also 

 on the tips of the young leaves, which were hardly an inch in length. 

 Mr. Saunders, F.L.S., reported that no mites or other living creatures 

 were present on or in the bulbs. Dr. Cooke, V.M.H., wrote : — " The dark 

 blotch was caused by a fungus, Botrytis cinerea. apparently the same as 

 described by Professor Marshall Ward on the lily. The bulb has been 

 kept in a damp atmosphere for ten days 5 and has now a fine crop of the 

 mould. Nothing can save a bulb when once attacked." 



Galls on Spruce Fir. — Mr. Saunders reported as follows : — u The 

 shoots had been attacked by one of the aphides, Chermes abietis. The 

 female lays her eggs in the spring at the base of the' buds, which she 

 punctures with her proboscis and feeds on the juices ; the young Chermes 

 which are hatched from these eggs feed in the same manner. The continued 

 puncturing of the bud causes the leaves to grow in a quite abnormal 

 manner, the result of which is a gall which very much resembles a small 

 fir-cone. The young insects are gradually quite enclosed in the chambers 

 of the gall. Eventually the chambers open, and the Chermes, which 

 have by this time become winged, rly away. Though this insect is so 

 common, its life-history has not yet been completely made out. In the 

 early summer these galls should be cut off and burnt, so as to destroy 

 them before their tenants escape." 



Diseased Spanish Iris. — Plants of several varieties of Spanish iris 

 were sent to the last meeting, with the note that some had failed to start ; 

 some had germinated and grown to some extent, but had then gone off. 

 Dr. Cooke examined them and reported : — " After being kept in a damp 

 atmosphere for nearly a fortnight the bulbs exhibit no fungus pest. The 

 bulbs are rotting, and with plenty of the bulb-mite in them, to which 

 their failure must be due." Mr. Massee also writes : — " I can find nothing 

 else for it but to attribute the injury to the bulb-mite." 



Diseased Bichardia. — Mr. W. G. Soper, F.R.H.S., sent some diseased 

 Richardias. The plants grown in his garden had suffered more or less for 

 five years, and dusting the corms with nowers-of- sulphur and soaking 

 them in Bordeaux mixture had had no effect on the disease. Mr. Odell 

 kindly undertook to examine and to report upon them at the next 

 meeting. 



Bear Tiuigs Diseased. — These, from the National Fruit Growers' 

 Federation, exhibited the well-known signs of canker. 



Crinum Rattrayi. — Mr. Worsley drew attention to the plant exhibited 

 at the show to-day, and stated that it varied very little from Crinum 

 giganteum. Mr. Nicholson said he had no doubt it was a form of that 

 plant. 



Degeneration of Varieties Bropagated by Buds. — A discussion on this 



