Febraary 7, 1895. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
117 
_ The Academy of Sciences. —Mons. Cornu, the Director of 
the Botanical Garden at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, has been elected 
a Vice-President of the Academy. 
- The Wolverhampton Schedule has just come to hand 
for the. next exhibition in July, and is a very generous one. For 
116 stove and greenhouse plants, £20, £15, and £10 are given. For 
groups, £20, £15, £10, and £5. Boses have liberal encouragement, and 
this year a new Rose class is added for “ the most decorative arrange¬ 
ment of Roses,” in a given space. Mr. Paul Lutz of Wolverhampton 
gives handsome prizes for “ the most tasteful arrangement of Pansies 
and Violas,” and the Society has greatly increased their fruit prizes for 
this year. It is altogether a very liberal schedule, and the Messrs. 
Green, senior and junior, who work so energetically, deserve the cordial 
support of all horticulturists. 
- SowiNGt Onions under Glass. —After reading the excellent 
remarks by R P. Brotherston in last week’s issue (page 90), I may say I 
thoroughly agree with all he says on this subject. For many years now 
the Onion maggot has almost run riot through different parts of the 
country, and various remedies have been propounded. In large gardens 
experiments may readily be made, but to those who have only a limited 
space they become almost dangerous; hence I hold that any remedy 
calculated to throw light on this question of the Onion maggot ought 
to be ungrudgingly given. If to some the system of sowing under glass 
does not commend itself entirely, they may at least give it a trial, how¬ 
ever small; and, with Mr. Brotherston, I can safely say that the 
results, either in combating the maggot or in insuring fine bulbs, will 
not be disappointing. The sorts we grew last season to very fine 
dimensions were Sutton’s A1 and Exhibition, Cranston’s Excelsior, Ailsa 
Craig, and Cocoa Nut—all fine keeping varieties.—R. P. R. 
- The Birmingham Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
Association. —On the 28th ult. the fortnightly meeting of this Society 
was held at the Athletic Institute, Birmingham, under the chairman¬ 
ship of Mr. W. B. Latham, when Mr. A. W. Wills, F.C.S. (the President) 
of Wyld Green, Erdingtos, delivered an interesting and instructive lecture 
on “Welcome and Unwelcome Guests.” Mr. Wills prefaced his subject 
by observing that on a former occasion he called attention to some of 
the mutual relations of plants and insects, pointing out how the per¬ 
petuation of most species of flowering plants depend on their effectual 
fertilisation, how this is accomplished by insects, and how Nature usually 
favours allogamy and discourages autogamy, or fecundation of the 
flower by its own pollen. He then proposed to draw attention to a 
kindred subject—namely, the manner in which the structure and dis¬ 
position of these parts of the plant are arranged for the protection of the 
flowers, and in which the structure of the flowers themselves conduces 
to the encouragement of the visits of insects whose access is 
desirable, and to the discouragement of those whose access is disadvan¬ 
tageous ; his remarks, as he himself desired to intimate, being chiefly 
based on a charming book by Dr. Kerner, Professor of Botany at 
Innsbruck, entitled “ Flowers and their Unbidden Guests.” We hope 
to publish a digest of Mr. Wills’ lecture in a future issue. 
- The Shrewsbury Schedule. —This is now being issued, and 
is truly a liberal one, the prizes being so heavy generally. In Class 1, 
for a group of plants, £62 is offered in four prizes, and £45 in Class 2 
for twenty stove and greenhouse plants, in two prizes. The display of 
floral arrangements, in a space 12 feet by 5| feet, has always been a great 
feature here, and in the new schedule the prizes are considerably augmented 
to £12 10s., £10, £7 10s.,and £5, a total of £35. The Society celebrates 
its coming of age this year, and a new class for fruit has been specially 
added in honour of the occasion. It is for a decorative arrangement of 
fruit, “ A collection of twenty-four varieties to be staged in a space 
10 feet by 4^ feet. Lycopodiums and other trailing plants. Ferns, and 
foliage may be used for effect; tasteful arrangement being considered by 
the judges in addition to the quality of the fruit.” First prize, £20 ; 
second prize, £15 ; third prize, £10 ; fourth prize, £6 ; a total of £51. 
Instructions to guide exhibitors in this class are given, and the Com¬ 
mittee hopes that this class may meet with the approbation of our 
leading fruit growers and lead to some good exhibits. In addition to 
this class there are two other classes for collections of fruits, besides the 
very liberal prizes for Grapes and other fruits as usual. Nearly £800 
are given in money and medals as prizes, and no wonder the Shrewsbury 
Executive deserve such grand displays, especially with two such expe¬ 
rienced Hon. Secretaries as Messrs. Adnitt and Naunton, to whom the 
work of the show days seems to be so easy, so excellent are their 
airangements. 
- Kingston Gardeners’ Association. —The members of this 
body met on January 30th for the purpose of taking part in a discussion 
arising out of a series of eight questions on flower gardening, to which 
Messrs. Pitcher and Plumb undertook to furnish replies. This course 
was thoughtf'desirable, as there seems to be much objection on the part 
of the members to the having too many papers and to the preparing of 
them. The above named members dealt with the questions so fully and 
furnished such complete replies, that with the discussion which ensued 
the evening was fully occupied. Mr. Morton, Maple Lodge Gardens, 
presided. At the next meeting, should no complete paper be furnished, 
a similar discussion arising from answers to questions will be promoted. 
- The Sale of Novelties. —A novelty in flowers, fruits, or 
vegetables may be a new species, or a new variety, or it may be an 
improved selection of an already popular sort, and in many cases it is 
something that was in cultivation long ago, but only in a limited way. 
By booming an “old” but little known plant as a novelty, says an 
American contemporary, is the only way to make it popular quickly ; if 
it is a good thing it will sell better the second year than it did the first, 
and still more of it will be sold the third year, and so on. It sometimes 
happens that the dealers themselves have to drop a sterling novelty 
simply because they cannot get up a stock of it quick enough or cheap 
enough to supply the demand created by advertising it prominently at 
paying rates. 
- Birkenhead Gardeners’ Improvement Society. — We 
are about to start a reading-room in connection with our newly 
inaugurated Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Association for Birken¬ 
head and district, the room to be open each evening (Sunday excepted), 
from 6 to 10 P.M. for the use of members only. A botany class is 
to be held one evening each week, and another evening will be set 
aside to coach any willing to study for the examinations of the Royal 
Horticultural Society for their certificates of efficiency. One of the 
primary objects of the association is to secure a library of good standard 
works on horticultural subjects. This, of course, will take time, though 
doubtless many of the gentry of the district who employ gardeners 
will be willing to assist when they are assured that the gardeners 
themselves are really in earnest, and are not above making some 
little efforts among themselves for their own mutual improvement.— 
T. D. Smith. 
- The Germination of Mummy Wheat. — In January 
“ Nature Notes,” Mr. W. Carruthers, F.R.S., has again confuted the 
ridiculous statement concerning the germination of seeds which have 
laid dormant for thousands of years—one that still appears in books 
and magazines, though its erroneousness has been pointed out. In 
some instances the notion has arisen from the germination of seeds 
which have been accidentally attached to mummies or mummy cases 
in transit. Other instances are explained by the roguery of natives, 
playing on English credulity. The absolute impossibility of it is 
proved by the fact that all seeds and fruits that are found in ancient 
coffins of Egypt appear to have passed through the fire. Besides 
careful experiments have been made upon seeds, and few retain their 
vitality more than two score or three score years. In one exceptional 
instance a seed of a Nelumbium germinated which had been kept for 
150 years in a museum, but this has a specially hard covering. 
THE CHARLES COLLINS’ FUND. 
We have great pleasure in announcing the following subscriptions 
received during the past week towards this very deserving case :— 
£ 
s. 
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Amount previously ac¬ 
0 
knowledged . 
27 
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10 
6 
Wm. Robinson . 
1 
1 
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W. L. F., Chelsea. 
0 
2 
6 
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1 
1 
0 
G. Bunyard. 
0 
10 
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B. Hooper Pearson 
1 
1 
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(“ Gardeners’ Chronicle”) 
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2 
G 
A Friend, per G. Gordon... 
W. J. Godfrey . 
3 
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E. Mawley. 
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ASjmpathiser 
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10 
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1 
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An Admirer . 
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A Member of N.A.G.A. ... 
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Miss L. 
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