December 9, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
525 
F. G. Tautz, Esq., Studley House, Hammersmith (gardener, Mr. J. C. 
Cowley), showed a plant of Spatboglottis augustorum and three variet'es 
of Anthurium, one named Tautzianum being very highly coloured, for 
which a vote of thanks was awarded. C. J. Partington, Esq., Heaton House, 
Cheshunt (gardener, Mr. B. Searing) was adjudged a cultural commenda¬ 
tion for a plant of Odontoglossum crispum with a large six-branched panicle 
of flowers. 
Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, exhibited a stand of handsome 
Zonal Pelargonium blooms, for which a cultural commendation was awarded. 
The flowers were large and d stiDguished by their brilliant clear colours. 
The best were Queen of the Belgians, white ; Mary Caswell, delicate pale 
pink ; Lady Reed, white with a salmon centre ; Kate Greenaway, bright 
pink ; Cato, rich scarlet; Olivier, salmon ; Swanley Gem, scarlet, white 
centre ; and Lord Chesterfield, cerise. Flowers of single Primulas were also 
sent. Mr. J. King, Rowsham, Aylesbury, exhibited several pretty Primulas 
and a seedling Richardia named Chameleon with leaveshaving a slight me¬ 
tallic lustre. Votes of thanks were awarded. Messrs. Hoop-r & Co., 
Covent Garden, had a basket of Carnations, very noticeable being the free- 
flowering rose-coloured Irma. Mdlle. Carle was a good white, and Cheva¬ 
lier, yellow, with a few crimson streaks. Mr. E. Peters, 2, Somerset 
Terrace, Guernsey, showed a fine Nerine, a cross between coruscans and 
flexuosa, large and brightly coloured. 
CERTIFICATED PLANTS. 
Cypripedium callosum (William Bull, Chelsea).—A species introduced 
from Cochin China, and apparently intermediate between C. Lawrencianum 
and C. barbatum. The dorsal sepal is broad, white at the margin, and re¬ 
gularly streaked with purple, just like C. Lawrencianum. The lip is Bmall, 
purplish, the petals greenish at the base, with a few scattered black hairs 
on the margin and a purple tint at the tips. The leaves are marbled with 
dark and light green. 
Laslia anceps virginalis (Mr. H. Heims, gardener to F. A. Philbrick, Esq., 
Q.C., Oldfield, Bickley).—A handsome white variety, the petals If inch in 
diameter, the flower 5 inches across, the lip broad with a yellow throat. 
Chrysanthemum Carew Underwood (G. Stevens).—A Japanese variety, 
with long, flat, twisted florets, yellow, bronze and pink. Very distinct in 
colour and appearance. 
Narcissus monophyllus (T. S. Ware).—A pure white-flowered Hoop Petti¬ 
coat Narciss, the perianth segments narrow and tapering, the crown broad, 
expanded, and undulated at the margin. The leaves are dark green and 
grass-like. 
Chrysanthemum Mrs. Norman Davis (Mr. E. Mizen, Mitcham).—A bright 
yellow sport from Piincess Teck, of good shape and substance. It will be 
valuable as a late variety. 
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE. 
Present : Dr. M. T. Mastirs in the chair, Mr. W. G. Smith, Mr. G. Maw 
(visitor), Prof. Church, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Michael, Mr. G. F. 
Wilson, Mr. McLnchlan, Hon. and Rev. T. Boscawen, and Rev. G. Henslow. 
Veronica salicifolia. —Mr. Wilson exhibited sprays from this New 
Zealand species grown at Wisbey, which had perf -ctly withstood a tempera¬ 
ture of 15° in exposed situations. He described it as seeding itself very 
freely. Choisya ternata was, however, cut by the same degree of cold. 
Jasminum odoratissimum. —A yellow species, exhibited by Mr. O’Brien, is 
said to be a native of Madeira ; but being of an Indian type, it was suggested 
by him and corroborated by Mr. Maw that it had been intioduced there. 
He also exhibited flowers of Coryanthes speciosus, var., from Major Lendy; 
Maxillaria cucullata, a Pleurothallis, suggested by Mr. Ridley to be near 
P. ophicephala. 
Masdevallia with larvce. —He also exhibited specimens of a species of 
this Orchid attached by some Noctua. 
Xiphion reticdatum, diseased. —Mr. Maw showed specimens which were 
referred to Mr. Murray for examination and report. 
Narcissus, Photographs of. —He exhibited pnotographs of several species 
or varieties now believed to be scarce or extinct, taken in the Riviere fifteen 
years ago from wild plants. They were all of the Tazetta group. He also 
exhibited specimens of the following species :—N. viridiflorus, very abun¬ 
dant south of Tangiers; S. elegans from the African side, and S. serotinus 
from the Europ an side of the Strait; natural hybrids, Ike forms between 
N. elegans and N. viridiflorus, showing all gradations betwe m the two; 
Pancratium humile, abundant south; of Tangiers, with a i emarkably elon¬ 
gated scape when fruiting; Gladiolus grandD, from near Gizon in the 
Asturias ; and Tapiranthes sp. from Morocco. 
Parmelia esculenta. —Mr. Maw also showed specimens of this so-called 
“ Manna,” an edible Lichen obtained from the country about 100 miles 
south of Algiers. 
Araucaria excelsa. —Mr. Maw exhibited leaves attacked by a form of 
mealy bug, which first appeared in consequence of the heat and moisture 
on board ship on reaching Bombay. 
A vote of thanks was given to Mr. Maw for his interesting commu¬ 
nications. 
Early linen paper. —Professor Church exhibited specimens of the earliest 
known linen paper made in Europe. It was a portion of an episcopal 
register of 1273, from Auvergne; another, dated 1289, consisted of entries 
of revenues, in which some of the original rag could be detected. It con¬ 
sisted of six strands of warp and six of woof. The size used was entirely 
starch, which appeared to be from Wheat. The earliest authentic linen 
paper hitherto known is from a memorandum of the fourteenth century, 
now in the British Museum. The Moors are said to have made linen paper 
in the thirteenth century, all earlier paper being made of cotton. 
Variegated foliage. —Professor Church described some analyses he had 
made of Oak foliage, taken from a tree at Kew Gardens, which bore one 
albino branch, about 20 feet from the ground. A full account will be found 
in the December number of the “ Journal of the Chemical Society,” 1886 
The following is the analysis :— 
Albino foliage. Green foliage. 
Water. 73 68 
Organic matter. 24 40 
Ash. 27 . 1-6 
Potash. 60 29 
Albino foliage. Green foliage. 
Iron. 0 82 . 1‘2 
Phosphoric acid (same in both) 
Lime . 825 . 24'5 
Manganese . 2T . 2’36 
He found starch, but no dextrine in the green spots on the variegated 
leaves ; but erythro dextrine in the white parts, probably derived from the 
green by migration. 
Seakale with Sclerotia. —Mr. W. G. Smith exhibited specimens in which 
large oval black bodies were altached to the stems. The fungus to which 
they belonged could not be determined from them in that condition. 
Prehistoric Wheat .—He also read a communication upon and exhibited 
several specimens of carbonised Wheat from Salisbury and elsewhere, to 
show the comparative sizes of these ancient Grasses and of average English 
Wheat; while those regarded as Romano-BritiBh appeared to be somewhat 
smaller, others were quite equal in size to living kinds, as also are those 
derived from the tombs of Thebesin Egypt. 
Fuchsia with petaliferous sepals. —Mr. Henslow exhibited a specimen of 
a semi-double Fuchsia remarkable for its thick red sepals bearing small 
dark purple petals at their very apex. He suggested as an interpretation 
of this unusu '1 occurrence, that the fibro-vascular cord of the petals had 
become fused with the midrib of the sepal, so that instead of the pttal 
being produced at the normal position it had become carried up, somewhat 
as are the anthers in Primroses, the filaments of which, or rather their 
vascular cords, are combined with those of the petals to which they adhere, 
and are superposed. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS ON WALLS—PROTECTED. 
Early-flowering Varieties. —We are now nearly at the end of 
the first week in December, and in the south of Ireland only once has the 
temperature fallen below the “ freezing point,” and that not sufficient to 
injure the blooms, not to say the foliage, of outdoor Chrysanthemums. 
The result has been for more than three months I, and 1 presume numbers 
of others, have been able to cut outdoor Chrysanthemums for various 
decorative purposes. I grew almost all the early bloomers, and by that I 
mean those that flower before mid-October. Out of sixty or so of those 
a large number are so small as to be only worth growing as curiosities 
or for variety, where at that particular time large quantities of cut flowers 
are desired. Another large group are semi-double, and are not generally 
appreciated, and of the remainder some have their colours so dead or 
undefined that most growers still further sift them. After the above dis¬ 
crimination and sifting of early sorts that no collection should be without, 
I would include—premising I am merely giving my own experience— 
of whites La Petite Marie, Mdlle. Lacroix, La Vierge, Madame C. Des- 
granges, and Soeur Melanie. A friend has spoken highly of three hybrid 
(white) Pompons, St. Mary, Mrs. Cullingford, and Virginia, but, except 
to say I shall have them next year, I cannot personally speak. Of yellows 
I reject all but the lemon yellow sport from Madame Desgranges, G. 
Wermig, and a very useful, tall, and free-growing Japanese, M. 
Pynaert Van Geert, together with a local and very floriferous hybrid 
Pompon to be seen here in all the villa gardens, that very much resembles 
Flora, but I think larger, to which Mr. Owen recently drew attention. 
If I were to include any other yellow it would be Prdoocitd. Of red, rose, 
and blush colours there should be President, Salter’s Early Blush, and Davis’s 
Blushing Bride, Madame Jolivart and Isidore Ferral ; to this might be 
added Alex. Dufour, rich rose purple, generally in bloom by mid-October. 
I will merely add three rich crimsons, Japanese Henri Jacotot, Simon 
Delaux, and Roi des Prficoces. This would make about a score, and cer¬ 
tainly skims the cream of the early bloomers, not including singles or 
those you recently figured, of which I cannot yet speak. The Japanese I 
have named will do best by a wall—a south wall best ripens and matures 
the wood, and this is the secret of fine foliage and fiae blooms—especially 
if there is any overhanging protection to ward off rain ; but it must be dis¬ 
tinctly understood outdoor Chrysanthemum blooms never damp or decay like 
those in the confined moist night atmosphere of a plant house, ventila¬ 
tion at night being unusual. I have a wall some 200 feet long covered 
with blooms even now on which a single bloom has not damped off, and 
on a leaf of any plant there has not appeared a particle of mildew. Many 
of your readers have seen them, and with this letter I am cutting a box 
of blooms which you will no doubt consider small as compared with those 
I might have sent you a month ago from the first crown or terminal buds. 
Besides having no damp and no mildew, wall Chrysanthemums give 
little trouble in proportion to the vast quantities of cut flowers produced 
by them, and still more as compared with those grown for exhibition. 
But I would not for a moment be understood as in any way decrying the 
great merit due to those who produce the large, massive, deep, and finely 
shaped exhibition flowers, and I am proud to say a local gentleman 
carried away first prize in all sections in Dublin against all comers. But 
I would ask, Why should not all who have walls not otherwise utilised 
have them brilliant during the dull months of October, November, and 
December P I am satisfied if you and your contemporaries draw atten¬ 
tion to the matter, and poiut out what can be done, and how it can te 
done, those months in the British isles, outdoors as well as indoors, will not 
be the gloomiest of the year. Glass is cheap, I may be told, but I am now 
alludiDg to walla where glass or greenhouses cannot be erected for one 
reason or auother, but that might, nevertheless, be brilliant with Chrys¬ 
anthemum blooms. There are numbers of such in all the universities, 
colleges, and public schools, the making bright and gay of which would 
itself be an educational process ; gentlemen have courtyards and the 
outside of garden walls often unused. Then humbler folk might be 
thought of in asylums, industrial and reformatory schools, barrack-yards, 
v orkhouses, cemetery walls, not to mention the unused walls of villa and 
