April 13, 1882.] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
297 
to an even one of about 60°, and this may be continued 
for about two months, or till the foliage is all ripe and 
fallen. 
When once the fruit is ripe I think our northern 
friends have the advantage of us, as they are not sub¬ 
ject to such great fluctuations of temperature in autumn 
and winter. It is a common occurrence to us in the 
southern counties to have frost in the evening and to 
find an outside temperature of 55° in the morning, 
with the condensed moisture almost streaming down our 
walls; so that in autumn, at least so long as the foliage 
and the fruit are hanging on our Vines, it is not gene¬ 
rally safe to have them in a lower temperature than 
60°. I should very much prefer a temperature of 40° 
if we could keep down to that, but it is better to have 
it a little higher than to have great fluctuations sudden 
and frequent.—W. Taylor. 
(To be continued.) 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The following announcement has been issued by the Council 
to the Fellows of the Royal Horticultural Society : — “ The 
Council think it right to communicate with the Fellows at the 
earliest opportunity on the effect of the recent decision of the 
Court of Appeal on the position of the Society. Apart from any 
alteration of the views of the Commissioners, the effect of that deci¬ 
sion may be stated to be the placing of the Society in the same 
position it would have occupied three years ago if the debenture- 
holders had not then compelled it to defend the action of eject¬ 
ment brought by the Commissioners against the Society, and had 
released the Commissioners and the Society from all claims in 
respect of the £49,700 secured by their debentures. As was ex¬ 
plained to the Fellows in the annual reports for the years 1879 
and 1880 and at the general meetings in those years, the Society 
was forced to defend the action, not only by its duty of protecting 
to the utmost the interests of the debenture-holders, whose only 
security for the repayment of the interest on the large sum above 
named was the continuance of the Society’s tenure of the South 
Kensington Gardens, but also by the certainty that if this duty was 
neglected the debenture-holders would take proceedings to make it 
responsible for such neglect. These proceedings would necessarily 
have resulted in costly litigation, which, if successful, would have 
rendered the whole property of the Society liable for the destruc¬ 
tion of the debenture-holders’ security. The Council believe that 
the effect of the decision of the Court of Appeal is to extinguish 
all rights of the debenture-holders as against the Society and the 
Commissioners. The action taken by the Council in defending 
these rights was, as above stated, a duty and a necessity, recognised 
and approved by the Fellows in general meeting ; but, that duty 
performed, and the defence having failed, it is obvious that the 
result is in some respects to the advantage of both the Society and 
the Commissioners, and ought to facilitate the formation of arrange¬ 
ments for the future between the two Corporations. The Council, 
believing that an arrangement is possible which would be in strict 
accordance with the trusts on which the Commissioners hold their 
property, mutually advantageous to the Commissioners and the 
Society, and beneficial to the public, are endeavouring with this 
object to enter into negotiations with the Commissioners, the result 
of which will be communicated to the Fellows at the earliest pos¬ 
sible time. In the meantime the Fellows may safely assume that 
no part of the programme for this season will be interfered with.” 
PLANTING POTATOES. 
On page 236 “ W. J. M., Clonmel ,” asks for information 
concerning planting Potatoes with manure upon or beneath the 
sets in the trenches. Having tried both ways I can safely say 
that there is no appreciable difference, but neither plan do I con¬ 
sider good. A much better one would be to mix the manure with 
the soil after the same plan as for Turnips when carrying out 
field-planting. To all our garden crops I give a good dressing of 
manure in the autumn, rough-digging or trenching for the winter 
ready for spring-planting Potatoes, &c. If I were compelled to 
carry out the plan of placing manure immediately over or under 
the sets I should certainly place it on the top, as the principal 
roots proceed from the shoots made from the crown of the tuber. 
—S. Taylor, Acacia , Apperlcy. 
PACKING FLOWERS. 
Your reply to a correspondent on page 247 with regard to pack¬ 
ing flowers reminds me of a plan which I practised with success a 
few years ago. Fig. 58 is a tray which may be made to fit into any 
box that may be of a suitable size. If a box is to be made for the 
purpose a useful size would be 18 inches long, 9 inches or 12 inches 
wide, and 12 inches deep. The trays should be made of half-inch 
(bottoms), and sides quarter-inch board, the latter to be 2 inches 
high, and nailed on to the sides and ends of the bottom, thus form¬ 
ing a tray 1^ inch deep. Into each corner of the tray is then fixed 
a piece of wood inches long and 1 inch square, rounding off the 
corner which projects into the tray. In packing the flowers a thin 
layer of damp moss is placed on the bottom of the tray. A little 
more moss is then placed pillow-fashion at one end. On this 
the first layer of flowers is laid, with their stems resting along 
the bottom on the damp moss. On these place a layer of 
moss, and by means of a small packing needle pass some small 
twine (fixed at one end) through 
the most convenient holes, 
formed by a small gimlet half 
an inch above the bottom, pass 
it across the top of the flower 
stems just behind the buds and 
through a hole in the opposite 
side ; pull it tight, and place a 
small peg in the hole to secure 
the twine till another row of 
flowers and moss are ready to 
be secured in the same way by 
bringing the twine back again 
the opposite way. 
Flowers that grow in trusses 
and have short stems, such as 
Stephanotis, can be made quite 
Tig. 59 - secure by separating one “ pip ” 
and passing the twine behind it as each truss is placed in the row, 
mixing a little moss as the work goes on. When the tray is full the 
twine is secured at the end, and it is ready to be placed in the box 
(as is shown at fig. 59) one on the top of the other, the lid holding 
the whole firm. Flowers packed thus travel well a long distance, 
and come out fresh.— R. Inglis. 
PRUNING AND MANURING ROSES. 
“ Single-handed ” has written most intelligently on many 
horticultural subjects in the Journal, and in some instances his 
radical measures or reforms have set gardeners a-thinking. All 
that he bas written I have carefully read and digested, much to 
my benefit; and now he strikes upon a new lode, and undermines 
and explodes the foundations of Rose culture as laid down by 
Canon Hole, Messrs. Thos. Rivers, J. Cranston, Wm. Paul, and a 
host of other true and most experienced rosarians. 
I am not inclined to dispute generally all that “ Single- 
handed” has written on page 257 of the Journal, but I will 
notice in detail a few of his remarks or assertions. He lays it 
