dsXVi PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
self-fertilisation, unless it be proved that the pollen is self¬ 
impotent in Dahlias. 
Potato Decayed. —Samples were received from Mr. Veitcli 
having peculiar outgrowths, and being much decayed within, 
probably from the attacks of Peronospora. They were forwarded 
to Professor William G. Smith for further investigation. Mr. 
Yeitch described the presence of the disease as follows :—“ It 
was first detected early in August, before we had much hot 
weather; and this is the only garden in the neighbourhood so 
affected.” 
Ctcre for the Lily Disease.— Mr. Horace Byatt, of the 
Grammar School, Midhurst, Sussex, writes to say that he has 
found flowers-of-sulphur to be an excellent remedy for this 
troublesome fungus. “ In the autumn of 1896 I removed some 
sets of bulbs from the ground, and when they were somewhat 
dry I put them, a few at a time, into a large brown-paper bag, 
in which was a supply of flowers-of-sulphur. They were then 
well shaken until the powder got thoroughly into the crevices, 
after which they were planted. Last season they showed a 
marked improvement in the blossom-heads, which were weakly, 
though almost free from disease ; and now I have the pleasure of 
seeing them perfectly healthy, with fine green stems and leaves, 
promising good blossoms, while the rest of the sets have not a 
single blossom.” 
Colours of Flowers and Drought. —Rev. W. Wilks made the 
following observations on the colouration of flowers of the pre¬ 
sent season. Similar changes were recorded in Nature last year 
by Mr.Hughes-Gibbs,of Tarrant Gunville, Dorset:—“ All through 
the exceptionally hot weather of the end of July and August all 
scarlet flowers had a tinge of dull-brown in them, pink had a 
shade of orange, yellow was very yellow, white was creamy. 
This was very marked— e.g. in Dahlias. Thus, Fire King and 
Sunset, two ordinarily bright, clear, scarlet flowers, had a dis¬ 
tinct dull-brown tint overlying and spoiling utterly the usual 
scarlet, so much so that, having been away from home the first 
three weeks of the heat, I thought on my return that the 
Dahlias must have somehow got wrongly named. But now the 
weather is cooler the bright scarlet has come back, and the dull 
brown tint has gone, and all is as usual. The only colours 
the heat seemed (to me) to suit were the salmons, and they have 
