148 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 23, 1893. ^ 
position as is supposed ; but, on the other hand, it is probable 
that a step of this kind would meet with the general approval 
of the country members. Mr. Addison, however, withdrew his 
motion, and Mr. W. H. Fowler suggested that he would bring 
forward a substitute proposition, to be worded by himself, the 
Secretary, and Chairman of Committee at some future time. 
This will be to the effect that members in arrear shall be struck 
off the list, making no provision for the expulsion or removal of 
members otherwise. There is now, perhaps, no necessity for 
the severer clause, as the lessons of the past will serve as excellent 
warnings for the future. Meanwhile, the matter rests siih judice.^ 
and, notwithstanding the small balance and large indiscretions, the 
National Chrysanthemum Society starts hopefully on what 
promises to be a successful year. We have no other wish than to 
strengthen the Society, and our desire is to see it enjoy the con¬ 
fidence of the whole Chrysanthemum community. 
THE PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL FRUIT 
SHOW. 
It will be remembered that several meetings were held last 
year, under the presidency of Sir James Whitehead, Bart., M.P., 
with the object of organising a great Exhibition of fruit in London. 
It was proposed to hold this Show on a site near the Thames 
Embankment, and Her Majesty the Queen honoured the project 
with Royal Patronage. 
After a few meetings were held in furtherance of the move¬ 
ment, and the terms of the schedule arranged, political turmoil 
ensued and diverted the attention of the nation. It was, in conse¬ 
quence, decided to defer the consideration of the subject till early 
in the present year. 
At the first meeting that was held it was evident that the 
obstacles to erecting a building on the Thames Embankment were 
too formidable to be overlooked, and on the proposition of Mr. 
T. F. Rivers an endeavour was made to arrange with the 
authorities at South Kensington through Sir Somers Yine, Secretary, 
for holding the Show in the Imperial Institute, which is to be 
opened in May. The project was placed before Sir Somers Vine 
by Mr. Richard Dean, Secretary to the Fruit Exhibition Com¬ 
mittee, and appears to have been long under consideration, for it 
was not until Monday last that the reply from the Imperial 
Institute could be placed before a meeting at Anderton’s Hotel. 
Sir James Whitehead not arriving in time to take the chair, H. R. 
Williams, Esq., presided, and there were present Messrs. T. B. 
Haywood, Philip Crowley, J. Laing, G. Gordon, and J. Wright. 
After the correspondence was read, in which Sir Somers Yine 
announced the inability of the Commissioners to give a definite 
reply (with the view to arranging for the Show) till after the 
opening of the Imperial Institute in May, it was thought the time 
would then be quite inadequate to complete the necessary arrange¬ 
ments, even if the reply were favourable. Mr. J. Wright there¬ 
upon moved, on the grounds indicated, “ That it is inadvisable to 
proceed with the Exhibition this year.” This was seconded by 
Mr. T. B. Haywood and carried unanimously. Sir James 
Whitehead, who arrived immediately after the business was over, 
at once concurred in the prudence of the decision. 
It may be presumed that the plethora of shows announced 
to be held in London this year, was an element not without effect 
in influencing the Committee in the spontaneity of their action ; 
but be this as it may, the proposed Exhibition lapses at present and 
the project will no doubt be considered again at some future 
favourable opportunity. 
HARDY FLOWER NOTES. 
With February the outdoor garden begits to acquire a fresh 
interest. With these longer and brighter days the memory of 
black frosts and their paralysing effect on vegetation begins to sink 
into oblivion. Not that they are absolutely forgotten, for here 
and there some luckless plants show tokens, all too evident, of the 
fierce ordeal they have undergone. Here and there, too, we see 
plants which, in ordinary seasons, are much further advanced, but 
this year have failed to keep their wonted time. Wonderful is it, 
however, to see the rapid progress which some of these are making 
now that mild weather has come to urge their growth. 
First, of course, for notice are the Snowdrops—these “ Fair 
Maids of February,” which we have so eagerly longed for through 
the long frost. True, the Corfu Snowdrop, Ga]anthus corcyrensis. 
under the shelter of a bellglass, has been with us since the end of 
November, but it hung its head and drooped to the ground as if in 
supplication that more genial weather might attend her flowering 
time. Now, however, its congeners of many kinds are rushing into 
flower with eager haste, and had I not so recently written at length 
of this flower, many ■would call for special note. But a brief 
mention can be made, however, although as I write they are before 
me in various forms and sizes, from a single flower of some of the 
rarer kinds to the common G. nivalis, showing their white blossoms 
at the base of a hedge, on the rockeries, or in the borders. 
Contrary to expectation this species came into flower only some 
two or three days later than last year, but its simple beauty is 
eclipsed by the large and fine G. Imperati Atkinsi, with its long 
blooms and taller stems, and by some of the best forms of the 
Bithynian Galanthus, or by the exquisitely formed flowers of some 
of the better varieties of G. Fosteri, now in bloom, from imported 
bulbs. But, as Lord Tennyson in “ The Last Tournament ” 
makes the “ swarthy one ” say :— 
“ The Snowdrop only flowering thro’ the year. 
Would make the world as blank as winter-tide.” 
So other flowers claim our notice even at this early season. 
There, on the slope at the base of a tree sheltered by a wall 
from the rude north wind, Miss Jekyll’s Primrose Munstead Early 
White has been in flower well nigh all the last three months, and 
its pretty flowers have brightened an otherwise dull corner. Not 
that these flowers are of the highest order of merit from a florist’s 
point of view. They are “ pin-eyed,” and neither of the best form 
nor of the largest size. There are few Primroses, however, which 
have so prolonged a season of flower, or which in spring so cover 
themselves with blossoms. This is what some growers who have 
not grasped the merits of the flower fail to understand. Munstead 
Early White was introduced as a “ bedder ” and as a winter 
bloomer, and by its fulfilment of these qualities must stand or 
fall. It is, with me, admirably adapted for these purposes. 
On the rockery, with only the protection of a sheet of glass 
but open to the frost and wind, the delightfully pretty Saxifraga 
luteo-purpurea forms a dense mass of rigid foliage, which is 
ever attractive, and now is especially so when spangled with the 
pale but bright yellow buds now just opening. It grows readily on 
a rockery facing the south-west in a pocket filled with sandy peat 
and gritty gravel from the seashore containing a liberal proportion 
of broken shells. This gravel is also used for surfacing the soil for 
this Saxifrage and many other plants. It does not seem to be 
very generally known that the name of S. Frederic! August!, under 
which appellation this plant was first introduced, is a distinct plant, 
and as yet rare in cultivation. 
In another part of the rock garden S. Burseriana major, long 
delayed by the frost, is now bristling with buds, many of which 
are showing colour and will soon be in full flower. The whole 
appearance of these spring tufts, with their buds crimson when 
closed but crimson and white when half open, is very pleasing. 
Near by are many flowers of the charming little Cyclamen coum 
from imported bulbs, which are this year earlier in bloom than 
established corms. Whether for the rockery, alpine house, or 
cold frame, this little plant, with its kidney-shaped leaves and 
crimson-purple flowers, forms one of the most pleasing objects tf 
the garden. It is wonderful to see its recovery after the hard 
frost, when the leaves seemed to hang limp and lifeless and as if 
nothing could restore them to their natural beauty. Yet now 
these same leaves are bright and healthy looking again, and appa¬ 
rently none the worse for their season of trial. 
One cannot pass on either without a word of praise for the 
white Heath, Erica carnea alba, which has since November been a 
picture of beauty on the top of a rockery, where it has full 
exposure. It has stood unscathed, and is now in full beauty, with 
its bright green foliage and its neat white flowers more plentifully 
produced than usual. In another part of the garden the type 
E. carnea is covered with its flowers, which are now assuming the 
pink colour which, with their wax-like texture, makes them so 
bright and attractive. 
Another flower which came into bloom in the open in January, 
but which, through my carelessness in not protecting it with a zinc 
ring fell a victim to the raids of the slugs, which seem to find in 
it a toothsome morsel, is Colchicum crociflorum, which has pretty 
little white flowers lined with purple on the outside. Fortunately, 
however, the foliage does not seem so attractive, and another year 
one may hope to have better success. This Colchicum seems to 
increase very slowly. I have had mine for some seven years or so, 
and have as yet had no offsets. 
The late character of the end of 1892 has much affected the 
flowering of the later Meadow Saffrons, and when the frost came 
Colchicum pannonicum and C. latifolium were still in flower. A 
sheet of glass on wire supports was placed over these, and the 
