February 16, 1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 129 
T wo modes of increasing the plant i can be adopted, one by removing 
the offsets when lifting or repotting the corms, and the other by seeds, 
which some of the varieties produce very freely. The former is the 
quicker method, as the seedlings are three years in attaining a 
flowering size. The offsets should he placed in pans or boxes until 
large enough to pot singly, as they will be the second year. The 
seeds are best sown in pans placed in gentle heat, almost any time 
being suitable for the sowing. The young plants so obtained must 
be carefully transplanted as they advance, finally giving them similar 
treatment to that accorded the older plants. 
The culture of the Babianas has been described at some length 
because similar treatment with few exceptions will suit several of 
their allies, which will be referred to on another occasion, such, for 
instance, as the NVatsonias, Ixias, and others. 
Babiana rubbo-cyanea. —This is one of the most handsome of 
the genus. It is of moderate height, usually 6 to 8 inches, with 
broad plaited leaves, downy on the under surface; the flowers 
2 inches or more in diameter, with ovate divisions, the upper half 
of a most brilliant blue, and the lower part rich crimson, forming a 
central zone in striking contrast to the outermost ring. The form of 
the flowers is well shown in the woodcut (fig. 27). This species 
usually flowers in Mayor June, but occasionally as late as July. It 
was first received in England in 1796, having been imported from 
the Cape to Holland, and thence to this country. 
B. villosa.— One of the numerous plants which first appeared in 
this country in the Royal Gardens, Kew, where it was introduced 
rather more than a century ago by Dr. Russell. It has smaller 
flowers than the preceding, with narrower divisions, rather more 
widely spreading; yet it is scarcely less attractive in appearance, for 
the colour is a most brilliant crimson, a shade that is excelled by few 
plants in richness. The anthers are violet-blue, and the outer surface 
of the perianth purplish—additional recommendations. 
B stricta. —This is considered by some recent authorities on the 
subject as a typical species, including several forms that older writers 
have considered as distinct species. It is an elegant plant, with neat 
flowers of moderate size, net nearly so bright as the two preceding, 
yet very pretty. The perianth divisions are narrow and acute, the 
outer three being white, and the inner three lilac blue, with a dark 
blotch rear the base of each. This difference in the colour of the 
petals imparts a very distinctive appearance to the flowers. It is one 
of the oldest of the forms known in cultivation, having first reached 
England in 1757, hut, like some other old plants, it is not abundant 
even now. Fig. 29 (p. 137) pourtrays a scape of flowers and leaves. 
Of several other noteworthy forms the most beautiful are the 
following — B. august 1 )folia, of dwarf habit, with bright blue fragrant 
flowers, slightly pink in the tube; B. plicata, flowers pale violet- 
blue, the anthers being also blue, and the stigmas yellow, very 
fragrant, resembling the Clove Carnation; B. suljjhurca , flowers 
cream-coloured, with anthers and stigmas the same colour as the 
preceding; B. disticha, flowers pale blue, with narrow divisions 
undulated or crisped on the margins, and possessing a well-marked 
Hyacinth-like fragrance ; B. ringens, very handsome, with scarlet 
flowers irregular in form, one division being longer than the others 
— it is the oldest of the species known in England, having been intro¬ 
duced in 1701 ; B. sambucina , purple flowers, with a fragrance 
suggestive of Elder flowers; B. tubata and B. tubiflora, which are 
verv much alike, having flowers with long gaping tubes blotched 
with red. 
It is worthy of mention that the corms of this genus in the Cape 
district are said to be eaten by the Hottentots, and are a favourite 
diet with monkeys, from which circumstance the Dutch settlers 
named them Babianer, and from that we have the latinised Babiana. 
The sub.-tance of the corms is floury, and when roasted they are said 
to resemble Chestnu’s.—L. Castle. 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The Annual General Meeting of this Society was held in the 
Council-room, South Kensington, at 3 P.M., on Tuesday the 11th 
inst., the President, Lord Aberdare, in the chair ; and the following 
members of the Council were present—Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., 
M.P., Colonel R. Trevor Clarke, Major Mason, G. F. Wilson, Esq., 
Rev. Harpur Crewe, G. T. Clarke, Esq., and Dr. Robert Hogg 
(Secretary). There was a small attendance of Fellows, and the pro¬ 
ceedings were of short duration. 
Dr. Hogg first read the announcement calling the meeting, the 
minutes of the last general meeting, and the names of thirty appli¬ 
cants to be admitted as Fellows. These were duly elected. Dr. 
Masters and Mr. John Lee being appointed the scrutineers of the 
ballot for the election of officers and members of the Council, to 
supply the vacancies caused by the death of Dr. J. Denny, and the 
retirement of Arthur Grote, Esq., and Sir Chas. W. Strickland, Bart. 
Lord Aberdare, in commencing a few remarks upon the present 
position and prosperity of the Society, said that he felt sure he was 
acting in accordance with the wishes of the meeting in considering 
the Report, which had already been circulated amongst the Fellows, 
as formally read, and he would, therefore, proceed to make some 
brief comments upon the Society’s condition. It was, he said, com¬ 
monly observed that in the time of prosperity a man's friends are 
very abundant, but they usually became scarce in a period^ of ad¬ 
versity. This he was happy to see was not the case with the Society, 
for when their affairs were unsatisfactory and their difficulties 
great, the attendance at the general meetings was very much larger 
than it is now, when the Society is gaining a more substantial 
position. He regretted to have to notice that reference to the death 
of Dr. Denny was omitted from the Report. They had lost a useful 
and indefatigable friend, one who was deeply interested in horticul¬ 
ture, and who spared no efforts to advance its interests. His lord- 
ship congratulated the members upon the increase in the number of 
Fellows, which he considered a very satisfactory sign of the Society’s 
progress. It was true that there was a decrease in the number of 
life fellowships, but this was no loss in a financial point of view. 
The four-guinea Fellows had, however, increased from 435 last year 
to 449 this, and the two-guinea Fellows had increased in similar pro¬ 
portions. He made some observations upon the comparative finan¬ 
cial position of the Society in previous years, and referred to the 
adverse weather which prevailed during the exhibitions of the past 
year, and which caused the results to be less favourable than they 
would otherwise have been. The litigation undertaken with the 
Commissioners on behalf of the debenture holders had resulted in a 
judgment from Mr. Justice Fry in favour of the Society; but the 
Commissioners having appealed against the decision, the case had 
been transferred to another Court, and was expected to come on for 
hearing on the day of the meeting, which had occasioned the absence 
of the Treasurer, Mr. W. Haughton. 
During the past year two important exhibitions had been held m 
the Society’s gardens—namely, the Medical and Sanitary Exhibition 
and the Smoke Abatement Exhibition. Neither of these, but especially 
the latter, had added much to the Society’s funds, but there was the 
satisfaction that they had assisted in biinging two very important 
subjects prominently before the public. In conclusion his lordship 
called the attention of the Fellows to the admirable manner in which 
