132 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. r February ie m 
pits, in which most vegetables grow well, does not produce Potatoes 
if planted occasionally with them nearly so good as the former. The 
tubers from the first-named are better in quality, and suffer much less 
from disease.—F. J. 
SAGE CULTURE. 
It is not by any means unusual to find in gardens the person 
responsible for its management depending for a constant sup¬ 
ply of this indispensable herb on a few old plants, growing 
possibly in some corner. It would be rather a difficult matter to 
say how many thousands of plants have been lost during the 
past two or three severe winters under this system of culture. 
What is more provoking or more likely to disturb a gardener’s 
equanimity than a peremptory order from the kitchen for a good 
supply of something of which he happens to be entirely without, 
or, it may be, has a quantity not half sufficient for the purpose ? 
It frequently happens that when we have almost “run out'’ of 
anything special, the demand for it has an unpleasant way of in¬ 
creasing, then come the vexation and disappointment. There is 
no reason, however, that Sage should be scarce, and the sooner 
those who rely for a supply on a few old plants resort to a 
different practice the better it will be. Unquestionably the best 
plan is that of sowing seed in heat early in the year, the young 
plants obtained to be pricked-out in boxes when large enough, 
and after being duly hardened-off plant out in beds or borders 
from 12 to 15 inches apart each way early in April. To obtain 
the best results plenty of manure is essential, and there is nothing 
better than half-decayed horse droppings, dig in a dressing of 
about 2 inches, and on light porous soil tread it down moderately 
firm previous to planting, supplying water when necessary. 
Destroy all weeds, and in due course the crop will be all that can 
be desired—that is to say, sufficient to justify a repetition of the 
same system of culture. In August the crop should be cut and 
dried in the sun, afterwards stored away in some dry place, 
where it may remain and be used as required. By adopting the 
above plan a good plant is always obtainable by August, and if 
grown on a large scale for market or otherwise, the crop will be 
such as to call into requisition the scythe or the sickle for 
harvesting.—E t C^etera. 
At the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Hokticultueal 
Society, held on Tuesday last, the Right Hon. Lord Aberdare in 
the chair, the following candidates were elected Fellows of the 
Society—viz., Matthew Baines, M.D., Mrs. Bateman, Mrs. F. A. 
Bosanquet, Major-General Lord Chelmsford, Armar Corry, Mrs. 
Armar Corry, Charles Corser, Ralph Disraeli, Mrs. Nugent-Dunbar, 
R. A. Egerton, Frank A. Fawkes, George Fellows, Mrs. Edmund 
S. Hett, Charles A. James, Rev. Edward H. Kittoe, George Charles 
Knight, Rev. H. W. Sneyd Kvnnersley, Mrs. Langenbacb, Mrs. 
Little, Miss Julia Maxwell, Mrs. F. Montgomerie, Mark Morton, 
Thomas Phelps, Capt. Rogers, Mrs. L. R. Roupell, Thomas A. 
Dorien-Smith, Miss Frances P. Somers Cocks, William Hardinge 
Tylor, M. Maurice Vilmorin, Lieut.-General E. Wray, C.B. 
- Last Tuesday in one of the florists’ shops in the Central 
of flannel and immerse in the boiling water. In from twenty 
minutes to half an hour it will be seen what portion of the seed 
is good by the small white thread-like roots growing and protrud¬ 
ing. If at the rate of 75 to 90 per cent, shows such the seed is 
good, and will indicate to those who have to sow how thick it may 
be placed in the drills.” This method is very simple, and may be 
very readily tested by anyone. 
- We regret to announce the death of Mr. William 
Huest, the principal of the great seed house of Hurst & Son of 
Houndsditch, London, on the 11th inst., at 16, Kensington Gore, 
S.W., at the age of fifty-one. Mr. Hurst was the elder and 
surviving son of the late Mr. William Hurst, who founded the 
house aloDg with the late Mr. McMullen, so long known under 
the style of Hurst & McMullen. Mr. William Hurst, jun., was a 
clever man of business, and was a strenuous supporter of the 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution, of which he was for 
many years a Trustee. 
- We have also to record the death of M. J. Decaisne, 
Director of the Musdum d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. M. Decaisne, 
who, we believe, was a Belgian, is said to have entered the 
Jardin des Plantes at Paris as a young man at the age of 
eighteen, and by industry and good intellectual attainments to 
have raised himself to the highest post in the establishment. As 
a botanist M. Decaisne has done much good work, and he has 
also contributed very extensively to the science and practice of 
horticulture. As a pomologist M. Decaisne also distinguished 
himself by the manner in which he produced that splendid work 
“ Le Jardin Fruitier du Museum.” M. Decaisne died unmarried, 
but he has, nevertheless, left many attached friends behind him 
to moum his loss. 
- One of the houses in the Royal Horticultural Society’s 
Gardens at Chiswick now contains some very promising ClNE- 
eaeias, dwarf and compact in habit, with large healthy leaves 
and abundance of flowers showing. Some of these are already 
expanded, and indicate a strain of seed of considerable merit 
which we understand has been obtained from one of the conti 
nental seedsmen. There is a little looseness in a few, which, per 
haps, is objectionable, but the colours are rich, the outline good 
and the florets of good substance. The seifs are particularly note 
worthy for the depth of their colours and symmetrical form. 
- Labge specimen Orchids are now in much request among 
many growers of these plants, especially for exhibition, and some 
of extraordinary size are occasionally seen at shows. One, how¬ 
ever, of more than usual dimensions was recently sold at Mr. 
Stevens’s auction rooms, Covent Garden Market—namely, an ex¬ 
ample of Ccelogyne CBISTATA, exceeding a yard in diameter, 
and comprising a very large number of pseudo-bulbs. The ap¬ 
pearance of such a specimen when bearing its beautiful flowers 
can readily be imagined. 
- At the next meeting of the Meteoeological Society, 
Avenue, Covent Garden Market, we noticed some remarkably 
handsome floeal valentines, very attractive novelties. Neat 
boxes lined with satin, each contained an elegant bouquet of 
choice flowers, including Rose buds, Violets, Lilies of the Valley, 
Orchids, especially Ccelogyne cristata, and others very tastefully 
arranged. The ends were secured in a diminutive basket at the 
lower part of each box, but we doubt if such would travel 
through the post very safely. 
- A coeeespondent sends the following relative to test¬ 
to be held at 25, Great George Street, Westminster, on Wednesday, 
the 15th inst., at 7 P.M., the following papers will be read— 
“Notes on Experiments on the Distribution of Pressure upon Flat 
Surfaces Perpendicularly Exposed to the Wind,” by C. E. Burton, 
B.A., F.B.A.S., and R. H. Curtis, F.M.S. “The Principle of New 
Zealand Weather Forecasts,” by Commander R. A. Edwin, R.N., 
F.M.S. The electrical thermometer, lent by Messrs. Siemens Bros., 
for observing the temperature of the air at the summit of Boston 
church tower, will also be exhibited. 
- “Wiltshire Rector” writes:— “As to having many 
ing Onion Seed —“Have a small saucepan of water boiling, then 
take a pinch of seed from the sample to be sown, tie it in a piece 
Varieties of Apples, a large nurseryman in the neighbouring 
city of Bath told me last autumn he intended to get rid of all but 
