December 14, 1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 553 
Among the double Zonal Pelargoniums the following were very notable : 
—General Campinon, very dark scarlet; Lord Mayor, bright pink; 
Gambetta, rich scarlet; La Quintinie, white ; and Henri Cannell, 
purplish crimson. The best of the single varieties were W. B. Miller, 
deep scarlet; Eureka, white ; Eurydice, purple-pink, white centre ; 
Guinea, very brilliant scarlet; Dr. Orton, intensely dark scarlet; 
Kate Earmer, salmon scarlet, very large ; Constance, pale pink ; and 
K. Greenaway, good pink, white centre. The Salvias included the 
brilliant blue S. Pitcheri, the scarlet S. splendens Bruantii, the mauve 
S. leucantha,the purple S. Bethelli, and the scarlet and white-striped 
S. Mons. Issanchou. A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. James 
Waddell, Shenley House, Stony Stratford, for two plants of a sweet- 
scented variety of Odontoglossum Alexandras. 
Mr. B. S. Williams, Upper Holloway, was awarded a silver medal for 
extepsive groups of Primulas and Cyclamens, representing his special 
strains. Red and white Primulas, with white, rose, purple, and crim¬ 
son Cyclamens, were shown in very satisfactory condition ; the 
plants healthy, the flowers large, and the colours bright and clear. 
A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Todman, gardener to G. Con¬ 
nell, Esq., Bushy Down, Tooting Common, fora collection of seedling 
Pelargonium flowers and two hybrid Azaleas. Of the latter, one 
named Mrs. Tom Corbett had white flowers, larger than th? amoena 
type, but smaller than the indica varieties, the President Goodheart 
having flowers of similar form and size, but bright red in colour. As 
early-flowering varieties requiring very little forcing these are very 
useful. 
First-class certificates were awarded to the following plants :— 
Chrysanthemum Duchess of Albany (Jackson & Son).—A Japanese 
variety, with narrow irregularly cut florets, bronzy yellow, blooms 
full and of great size. 
Chrysanthemum Ceres (Jackson & Son).—Also a Japanese variety, 
with white florets something like Elaine, but much larger and the 
bloom looser. 
Acroclinium roseum fore-pleno (J. C. Schmidt, Erfurt).—A double 
form of this well-known plant, of a most delicate soft rosy hue. 
Acroclinium album flore-pleno (Schmidt).—Similar to the above, but 
the blooms are pure white. 
Pescatorea Vervaetii (Ycrvaet & Co., Ghent).—An unattractive Or¬ 
chid, with flowers of moderate size, the sepals and petals white, 
tipped with purple ; the lip of a similar purple colour. 
Cosmos bipinnatus var. parviflorus (Royal Horticultural Society).— 
The flowers individually are not so attractive as the species, being of 
a rosy purple tint; but the chief merit of the plant consists in its 
floriferousness, which renders it useful for decorative purposes. The 
plants were shown in pots, and a second-class certificate was awarded 
for it. 
Scientific Committee. —Sir J. D. Hooker, K.C.S.I., in the chair. 
Some discussion took place with reference to the reports on losses 
of plants during severe winters, compiled by the Secretary. Much 
regret was felt at the reply from the Council that the Society is 
unable to publish it, as great disappointment has been expressed 
by many of those who, at considerable trouble and pains, had con¬ 
tributed to the reports. 
Fasciation. —Dr. Masters exhibited a specimen of fasciated flower 
heads of Helichrysum, or “ Everlastings.” He also exhibited from 
Mi - . Yeitch a flowering stem of Eucharis provided with a leafy bract— 
a very unusual condition. This being the last meeting of the year a 
vote of thanks was offered by Mr. Maclachlan, and seconded by Mr. 
Grote, to the Chairman, which was responded to by Sir J. D. Hooker. 
Lecture. —The Rev. G. Henslow illustrated by several examples 
the power of plants to render themselves attractive with bright 
colours independently of, or in addition to, the corolla. This was 
principally attained by means of the bracts. A beautiful series of 
Salvias, exhibited by Mr. Cannell, showed how the bracts and calyx, 
both being unusually green in flowers, could become brilliantly 
coloured, and so intensify the beauty of the spray. An Acroclinium, 
a kind of “Everlasting” from West Australia, showed how the bracts 
of the involucre surrounding the florets could mimic a true flower. 
In this plant the chaffy scales interspersed amongst the florets con¬ 
tributed to that same effect. Bracts might thus either enhance the 
general colouring of an inflorescence, or actually assume the appear¬ 
ance of a flower. Mr. Henslow further illustrated this by dried 
specimens and drawings of Poinsettia, Leycesteria, Epiphyllum on 
the one hand, while Bupleurum, Cornus, Darwinia, and Euphorbia 
jacquinisefolia were exact imitations of true flowers on the other. 
CELERY IN WINTER AND SPRING. 
Where a regular and good supply of vegetables has to be 
maintained throughout the winter Celery must be grown in quan¬ 
tity for daily use, and during the next three or four months it 
will require some attention to keep it in a sound fresh state. 
It is a well-known fact that there are innumerable rows of Celery 
destroyed every winter through damp and frost, but the chief 
cause of this is having the plants too forward. In many instances 
the seed is sown in April and May, the plants are turned out in 
June and July. By October they are fully grown, then decay 
commences with the first wet or frost. I have nothing, however, 
to say against having Celery ready in autumn, but it is through 
expecting the autumn stock to keep up the supply throughout 
the winter and spring that the mistake is made. Winter and 
spring crops should be grown specially for those seasons. The 
seed for these should not be sown early, as if good plants are 
placed in the trenches in August that is quite early enough. 
Earthing up those late crops should never be done until the plants 
have made considerable progress, as one of the chief sources of 
decay in winter Celery is earthing up too much, and at this season 
it is much better to use sand or ashes for this purpose than the 
soil. 
Apart from growing winter and spring Celery in trenches, 
equally good and sounder heads may be secured by planting out 
on the level ground and never disturbing the earth around them, 
but blanch the stems by placing refuse ashes between them. One 
of the finest pieces of winter Celery I have seen was treated in 
this way, and the blanching material was chiefly shavings and 
mortar rubbish. The shavings protected the plants from the 
frost, and there was not one in fifty decayed. When anything 
of this kind is used for blanching, or even sand and ashes, it is 
rarely necessary to add any other protection in severe weather ; 
and this is an advantage well worth attention, as there is nothing 
more liable to cause the centres of tender blanched Celery to 
decay than having the tops covered with straw or fern. Our 
Celery for autumn use was earthed up finally early in October; 
that for using in the new year has just had the last application 
of ashes placed round it; and the latest spring plantation has had 
nothing round it yet, but the growth is robust, and so hardy that 
severe weather will do it little or no harm. About one month 
before it is wanted some blanching material will be put about it, 
and it will then turn out much sounder and better flavoured than 
if earthed in autumn. Red Celery has always proved better able 
to resist the weather, and not so liable to become spongy in the 
stems as the white varieties, and I recommend red Celeries alone 
for midwinter and spring use.—A Kitchen Gardener. 
CUNNINGHAMIA SINENSIS. 
Similarly to the Araucarias recently noted, Cunninghamia 
sinensis may be considered as a living memento of the earlier 
ages of the world, and the striking resemblance borne by this 
Conifer to one species of Araucaria, A. brasiliensis, has given rise 
to some confusion which may be easily removed. First as to 
the names with which this Cunninghamia has been doubtfully 
honoured, and the history of its introduction. Under the cog¬ 
nomen Pinus lanceolata we find some of the earliest references to 
it, one of the most noteworthy being in Aiton’s “ Hortus Kew- 
ensis,” where it is recorded that the plant was first received at 
Kevv in 1801 from China, having been introduced by the Direc¬ 
tors of the East India Company through Mr. William Kerr. Belis 
jaculifolia, Cunninghamia lanceolata, and Araucaria lanceolata 
are some of the other titles which it has received at the hands of 
different writers, the first generic name being rejected as too 
much like Beilis, and the last name is of garden origin. The 
accepted generic name was given to “ Commemorate the merits 
of James Cunningham, an excellent observer in his time, by 
whom this plant was discovered, and in. honour of Mr. Allan 
Cunningham, the very deserving botanist who accompanied Mr. 
Oxley in his first expedition into the interior of New South Wales, 
and Captain King in all his voyages of survey of the coasts of 
New Holland.” The specific name formerly adopted (lanceolata) 
referred to the shape of the leaves, while that now accepted 
(sinensis) denotes the native country of the tree. 
As already stated, in habit this Cunninghamia closely resembles 
Araucaria brasiliensis. The leaves are tapering and 2 or 3 inches 
long, but they are less rigid than those of the Araucaria. The 
cones, too, are quite distinct, those of the Cunninghamia being of 
a reddish tint, the scales regularly and deeply serrated. It is 
rather curious that when these were first observed they were con¬ 
sidered to be excrescences or galls caused by the attacks of insects. 
The tree attains a height of 30 to 40 feet in China and Japan, but 
it is seldom seen so large as that in England ; indeed, for many 
years it was grown under glass, as too tender to endure exposure 
in the open air. According to Loudon, however, “ in 1816 a plant 
was turned out into a sheltered part of the pleasure ground at 
Claremont, where it continued to live without protection, and, 
though injured more or less by severe winters, it was in 1837 
18 feet high, the diameter of the trunk 7 inches, and of the head 
16 feet. This height it had not exceeded in 1841 in consequence 
of the top being frequently broken by heavy falls of snow.” In 
1828 there were plants of this Cunninghamia at Dropmore, then 
about 10 feet high, having been introduced in 1823 and only 
slightly protected, as was also Araucaria imbricata, which, though 
believed to be hardy, had not been trusted out of doors without 
