January 29, 1865. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
95 
for small vases, and what can be more charming for a front row 
for the conservatory when arranged alternately with fresh plants 
of Isolepis gracilis ? When larger plants are desired in a short 
time put four or five cuttings into a 4i-inch pot, and treat them 
in the same way, and they will make fine plants well furnished 
with bloom ten months from the time of potting. 
The plants must be rested for a few weeks after flowering. 
About the beginning of March they may be placed in a stove or 
vinery, and when they show signs of growth they should receive 
a shift, but not a large one, those in 6t)’s into 44, and the larger 
into 5 or 6-inch pots. Be sui-e the soil is moist at the time of 
potting, also the compost, and ram the soil round the roots as 
firmly as possible. Sprinkle slightly with the syringe, and 
withhold water at the roots for the first week or ten days, and 
water carefully until the roots are well through the fresh soil. 
When the pots are filled with roots we give liberal, though not 
too frequent waterings, giving them weak liquid manure once a 
week. As the days grow shorter less frequent waterings will be 
required, but they should by no means be allowed to become dry, 
and as the flower buds commence swelling the plants should have 
weak liquid manure each time they are watered. A tempera¬ 
ture of 60° to 55° is suitable; in a warmer house the flowers are 
not of such a brilliant colour, nor do they last so long. 
Epiphyllums can be grown to a good size in very small pots, 
which is of advantage in plants for furnishing vases or baskets. 
We have some plants put in as described above in the spring of 
1881, and they are now 2 feet 6 inches in diameter, and only in 
6-inch pots. To see plants of this size to advantage they must 
be suspended in baskets, and for furnishing these at this season 
there is nothing can equal them. 
In cultivating these on their own roots I think it wise to 
strike a few every year. Young plants are extremely useful, and 
young growing plants are far better than old ones. One point 
more, and I think it is not unimportant. We always keep them 
in two pots—that is, we drop the pot in which the plant is 
growing into one a size larger. This keeps the roots in a moist 
state with less frequent watering, and prevents the small pots 
falling over with the weight of the plants. They are extremely 
impatient of stagnant water at the roots, therefore an important 
point is to see that the drainage is at all times good.—R. Inglis. 
ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
The annual general meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday 
evening, the 21st inst., at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Mr. R. H. 
Scott, F.R.S., President, in the chair. The Secretary read the report of the 
Council, which showed the Society to be in a very satisfactory condition. 
The Council equipped a typical climatological station in the grounds of the 
International Health Exhibition, in order that persons desirous of organising 
a station might see one arranged in accordance with the regulations of the 
Society. A conference on meteorology in relation to health was arranged 
for by the Society, and held at the Health Exhibition on July 17th and 18th. 
The Council have appointed committees to investigate the subjects of the 
brilliant sunris°s and sunsets of 1883-4, and of the local phenomenon known 
as the Helm Wind of Cross Fell, Cumberland. The observing stations of 
the Society now number eighty-five, the results from which are printed in 
the “ Meteorological Record.” The whole of the stations in the south of 
England have been inspected during the year and found to be generally in 
a satisfactory state. The number of Fellows on the roll of the Society is 
552, of whom thirty-seven were elected in 1884. 
The President, Mr. R. H. Scott, then deliverel his address, in which he 
stated his intention to treat of the general state of the science of meteorology 
over the globe, as compared with the programme sketched out by Professor 
James Forbes in the Report of the British Association, 1840. He said there 
were now six meteorological societies publishing journals, and in addition 
six periodicals almost exclusively devoted to the science. He went on to 
say, “ With all this wealth of literature there is one particular in which, in 
this country at least, our science labours under a great disadvantage. So 
far as I am aware no instruction is given in it except at the Royal Naval 
College, Greenwich. In Germany, in the current half year, no less than 
eleven courses of lectures are announced at as many universities or high 
schools.” Mr. Scott exhibited a large map showing all the observing stations 
over the globe, and also the distribution of information as to ocean meteor¬ 
ology as contained in the Meteorological Office. He then alluded to the 
different classes of observations proposed by Professor Forbes for different 
classes of stations, and the degree to which his suggestions had been carried 
out. The next subject was the attempts which have been made by balloon 
ascents, mountain stations, &c., to gain a knowledge of the condition of the 
upper atmosphere, and Mr. Scott stated that on inquiry from the various 
foreign institutions which possessed affiliated mountain stations he had found 
that, except in the case of Mount Washington, none of the observations were 
practically much used in forecasting. No telegrams are received from Pike’s 
Peak. In one particular all authorities are agreed that no one has yet 
suggested any mode in which the barometrical readings could be used, owing 
mainly to the uncertainty about their reductions to sea level from great 
heights. Mr. Scott concluded his address with a notice of the important 
work by Padre Vines, S.J., of the Havannah, on the West Indian hurricanes 
of 1876 and 1877. 
The following gentlemen were elected the officers and Council for the 
ensuing year :— 
President—Robert Henry Scott, M.A , F.R S., F.G.S. Vice-Presidents — 
William Miorris Beaufort, F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S,; John Knox Laughton, M.A., 
F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S.; Edward Mawley, F.R.H.S.; Charles Theodore Williams, 
M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P. Treasurer—Henry Perigal, F.R.A.S. Trustees—Hon. 
Francis Albert Rollo Russell, M.A. ; Stephen William Silver, F.R.G.S, 
Secretaries—George James Symons, F.R.S.; John William Tripe, M.D., 
M.R.C.P.Ed. Foreign Secretary—George Mathews Whipple, B.Sc., F.R.A.S. 
Council — Edmund Douglas Archibald, M.A..; George Chatterton, M.A., 
M.Inst.C.E. ; John Sanford Dyason, F.R.G.S. ; Henry Storks Eaton, M.A.; 
William Ellis, F.R.A.S.; Charles Harding; Richard Inwards, F.R.A.S.; 
Baldwin Latham, M.Inst.C.E., F.G.S.; Robert John Lecky, F.R.A.S; 
William Marcet, M.D., F.R.S., F.C.S.; Cuthbert Edgar Peek, M.A., F.R.A.S., 
F.R.G.S.; Capt. Henry Toynbee, F.R.A.S. 
ACACIA LONGIFOLIA. 
Acacias are amongst the easiest grown and brightest of hardwooded 
spring and summer-flowering plants. They are well adapted for cultiva¬ 
tion in pots, where the plants flower profusely when in a small state, and 
they are equally suitable for planting out in conservatories where they 
form large bushes or trees, which in early summer are laden with golden 
flowers, rendering them both elegant and bright. 
The genus comprises an immense number of species, all of which are 
more or less desirable stove and greenhouse decorative plants. The 
greenhouse species are the most generally useful and the most commonly 
cultivated, as the plants in pot3 can be grown out of doors in the summer 
Pig. 17.—Acacia longifolia. 
months, where they require a minimum amount of care to preserve them 
in health, and when removed under glass they expand their thousands of 
flowers freely. For affording cut flowers Acacias are extremely useful, as, 
especially when planted out, the plants may be cut to almost any extent, 
and, in fact, are benefited by the operation. A plant of the above-named 
species planted in the bed of a conservatory has yielded me armfuls of 
golden sprays, which have been valued for their slender elegance and 
cheerful colour. It is by no means the most handsome of the genus, yet 
of its usefulness I have had many proofs. Others of the most attractive 
of this large family which are especially worthy of culture are armata, 
which flowers freely even when only a few inches high, and may be forced 
into flower in midwinter; floribunda, grandis, dealbata, spectabiiis, 
verticillata, Hugelii, falcata, and longissima. 
Plants are easily raised from cuttings, which mode is preferable if 
dwarf flowering plants are required, but seedlings grow more rapidly, and 
also flower freely, if the shoots are well matured by exposure to the 
summer’s sun. The plants grow freely in a mixture of loam and peat, 
and are seldom injured by insects.—J. W. B. 
COMMITTEES OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY FOR 1885. 
The following are the names of the mernbers of the three Committ'. es 
of the above Society nominated for the ensuing year. 
