JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
441 
November 22, i8»3. J 
chromo-lithography. They are from the works of Messrs. Meissner and 
Buck, chromo-lithographic printers of Leipsig, and most of them are 
equal, if not superior, to the most artistic productions by hand. They 
consist chiefly of flowers, and we are sure will commend themselves to 
dbe great mass of our readers. 
- - Mr. T. Parker writes :—“ In your report of my Apple, 
Tiler’s Kernel, which gained a first-class certificate at the Committee 
meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, you gave my address as 
Moreton Cove ; it should be More ton Court.” 
- The “Journal des Roses” gives a coloured plate of Rose 
Secretaire J. Nicholas, a Hybrid Perpetual raised by M. J. Swartz 
of Lyons, and sent out at the commencement of the present month. It 
has a full, well-formed, and apparently substantial bloom of a very dark 
crimson-scarlet colour, and the variety is described as very vigorous and 
free. 
-“A Young Grower” writes:—“WehaveRose, Chrysanthemum, 
and Apple elections, why should there not be an election of Carna¬ 
tions and Picotees ? I am sure if one of the great growers, say Mr. 
Dodwell, Mr. Turner, Mr. Douglas, or Mr. Rudd, were to take it up all 
.growers would be pleased to give their assistance and send in lists of the 
best varieties. If each elector sent in a list of the best twenty-four 
'Carnations and the best twenty-four Picotees, the result could be 
published in the Journal, and with the co-operation of the exhibitors 
•of these popular flowers I think it would be a decided success.” 
-The forty-fourth ordinary meeting of the Essex Field Club 
will be held at the head quarters, 3, St. John’s Terrace, Buckhurst Hill 
(opposite the church), on Saturday, November 21th, 1883, at seven o’clock 
■p.m. The following papers will be read 1, “ On the use of the Hygro- 
Spectroscope in Meteorology, and the Observation of the * Rain-band ’ 
Spectrum as a Weather Prognostic,” by F. W. Cory, M.R.C.S., 
F.R.Met.Soc., &c. 2, “ A Note on the Occurrence of the Beech Marten 
(Martes foina, L.) in Epping Forest,” by James English. 3, “On a 
Proposed Catalogue of the Pre-historic Remains in Essex,” by R. Meldola, 
F.C.S., F.R.A.S., &c., Vice-President. The rooms will be open at six 
■© clock for the exchange of books, and for the convenience of exhibitors 
•at the meeting and conversazione. During the winter session the library 
will be open on Thursday evenings from seven to nine o’clock. The 
Secretary, Mr. W. Cole, will be glad to have notice of any communica- 
■tions intended to be brought before the Club during the winter session. 
- The American Journal of Forestry records an instance of 
handsome Profits on Tree-planting received for ten acres purchased 
ten years ago in Logan Valley in Nebraska, and planted with Black 
Walnuts, by Col. Van. He gave 1 dollar 25 cents per acre for the land, 
and after it was handsomely covered with a dense growth of thrifty 
Black Walnuts ten years old, he sold ten acres for 3000 dollars. The 
time will certainly come when all this timber will be wanted at an 
advanced and handsome price, and there is nothing for which there will 
be a more extensive demand than the best, large, second-growth selected 
timber.” 
- At the first meeting of the Manchester Horticultural Mutual 
Improvement Society recently, Mr. Leo H. Grindon delivered an 
interesting lecture on Poisonous and Medicinal Plants. He also 
-iexhibited two curiosities, one a specimen of a Japanese Chrysanthemum, 
n which, intermingled with the bracts forming the involucrum, were 
developed a number of leafy branches, so that the flower was enclosed, 
as it were, in a little arbour of green foliage. The object, he remarked, 
-was a monstrosity, and one might have to wait many years before 
meeting with anything like it. He had received from the Isle of Wight 
a specimen, the first he had seen in Manchester, of the fruit of the 
Benthamia fragifera, from the far East. The tree from which the 
branch was taken was sent to the Isle of Wight some twenty or thirty 
years ago. Proceeding with his lecture, he said that botanists had 
ascertained through the medium of living specimens in the country, and 
more particularly through the medium of dry specimens brought from 
foreign countries, that there are no fewer than about 100,000 different 
flower-bearing plants. At a liberal estimate the number of plants which 
could be said to be of direct service to mankind would not amount to 
more than 10,000. There would be 500 different kinds of fruit trees, 
then all sorts of vegetables, trees supplying timber, and plants which 
give material for the manufacture of clothing—cotton, hemp, flax, and so 
on. The greater portion of the remainder of the plants were simply 
ornamental, but to his mind every bit as useful as the economic ones. 
As nearly as he could estimate there might be some 5000 plants which 
were more or less poisonous and hurtful, some of them very much and 
others only moderately so. The most important fact of all was that a 
large proportion of the deadly plants with which we are acquainted are 
admirable medicines in the hands of a clever physician who knows how 
to administer them in proper quantities and at proper times. We may, 
therefore, look upon poisonous plants and accept them as the good gifts 
of Providence intended to be applied to certain purposes. 
GARDENERS' ROYAL BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. 
The attention of the Committee of this Institution has been drawn to 
a letter in your Journal of the 8th inst., signed by Mr. W. H. Divers, of 
Burghley Gardens, Stamford, stating “ that a friend of his had paid ten 
guineas to the fund of the Society, thinking thereby to provide for a 
rainy day ; that he became seventy years of age and unable to pursue 
his calling any longer, and that upon applying to be placed on the 
pension list was told that he had paid the ten guineas as a donation, and 
consequently was not eligible for the pension.” 
As this statement is so extraordinary and one calculated to inspire a 
want of confidence in the management of the Institution, I am instructed 
by the Committee to request that Mr. Divers will kindly favour me with 
the name and address of the subscriber in question, and if possible with 
the date of his application to be placed on the pension list, and the name 
of the person who told him he was not eligible. Upon receiving these 
particulars the Committee will cause the subject to be investigated.— 
Edtv. R. Cutler. 
I did not intend entering into any of the discussions which have taken 
place in our Journal in relation to this Institution, for I agree with others 
who have written that the Secretary is the proper person to give any 
information that may be sought. If tendered privately, as appears to be 
the whim of the “ Royal,” it benefits only the person who makes the 
inquiry, but when given publicly it imparts information to others who 
are interested besides the inquirer. I cannot tolerate this “ stand off ” 
principle, and think the questions asked in the first instance were only 
reasonable, and should have been as freely and willingly replied to. In 
reference to the letter from Mr. Divers respecting life subscribers, I fail 
to find the rules satisfactory on this point. Before I became a life 
subscriber I asked a similar question, and the answer received must have 
been satisfactory. I have again written, and I will give extracts that 
bear upon the point from the letter received. “Any person subscribing 
the sum of £10 10f. to this Institution becomes a life subscriber of it and 
is free from all further payment, and as such is entitled to vote at all 
elections of pensioners.” “ Should such a subscriber be a gardener, or 
other coming under rule No. 3, when he has been on the books fifteen 
years and upwards he would (should he be in need and in every way 
complying with the rules), in the event of an addition to the pension list, 
be placed upon it without any election in preference to all others who 
may not have subscribed so long or not at all. This rule also applies to 
the widows of such person. It is the fundamental rule of the Institution 
and has never been departed from. At the present time we have one 
pensioner who subscribed £10 10s. in the year 1846. In the year 1879 
he fell into distress and applied for the pension, and in January, 1880, he 
was placed on the list without any election. Should he at his death 
leave a widow, she, upon showing her credentials, would be placed on the 
list in his place without election.” “ Life subscriptions are not treated 
as incomer a portion of them being invested yearly in Government 
securities.” 
If this information prove of any service to any of your many readers, 
then I shall be abundantly repaid in obtaining it and forwarding it to 
you. I am afraid we are too apt to look upon what we contribute from 
a selfish standpoint. I sincerely hope I shall never need the assistance 
of the Institution, and am gratified to think that the mite I have 
subscribed may be the means with others of helping those who may be 
so unfortunate to need assistance.—W m. Bardney. 
BOUVARDIAS IN AVINTER. 
Bouvardias are amongst the most beautiful and useful of all our winter- 
blooming plants. When propagated from cuttings in spring they may be 
grown into bushy plants by the end of September, and they will begin 
flowering then and continue until the winter is nearly over. Most useful 
plants may be grown in 6-inch pots, and for general purposes these are to 
be recommended. Some growers turn their plants out into the open 
borders in summer and lift and pot them in the autumn ; but this I never 
do, as some years ago I proved to my satisfaction that plants grown wholly 
in pots were the best during the winter. The lovely flowers of the 
Bouvardias are acceptable at all times, but they are most pleasing during 
the winter, and it is no difficult matter to grow the plants so as to make 
them bloom profusely now. A cold frame suits them well throughout the 
summer, and here the leading shoots t-hould be frequently stopped to cause 
the production of side shoots and make the plants dwarf and bushy. By 
September they should be a mass of healthy young shoots, and these, 
when introduced to a temperature of 65° or so, will produce a fine cluster 
of bloom. As soon as these are open they should be cut off, and this will 
induce more young growths to come. These will flower in their turn and 
