May 2, 1895. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
387 
admitting more light by moving away the shading. The seedlings must 
be grown robustly from the first, and are apt to damp if kept too wet or 
shaded. Directly they are large enough to handle prick them into other 
pots or pans containing similar soil. They will then be ready for placing 
in thumb pots, which operation should be performed so as to avoid 
any check to growth, and stand the pots on a shelf close to the glass and 
in full light. Turfy loam, leaf soil, peat, well-decayed manure from an 
old Melon bed, and sand in about equal parts is a good compost at this 
stage. I stand the pots in this stage in shallow trays. It is easy to 
have a little cocoa-nut fibre refuse in these, and it not only avoids 
any risk of sudden drought, but they are easily removed when needed. 
Always pot fairly firm and keep the corms or crowns a little above 
the soil. As they fill these pots shift them into their flowering size at 
once. If this stage is arrived at by intermediate shifts it is next to 
impossible to avoid serious injury to the leaves, and however handsome 
the flowers may be, they are of little value without good foliage. A 
little bonemeal mixed with the same compost as before will be suitable 
for the final potting. Place one good crock over the hole, and then with a 
few cinders sufficient drainage is secured for so porous a compost as this. 
Moisture, but absolutely fresh, is a great item with the Gloxinia. As 
they progress a warm, and finally an ordinary greenhouse temperature, 
will suit them well. Weak liquid manure is a great help, but it must 
be clean and applied with care. Any stain on the foliage is disfiguring, 
and it is very difficult indeed to remove. 
Now a word upon propagation in other ways. Select a few of the 
best of the seedlings—which will be in bloom from July to September— 
and remove a well-matured leaf from each. Cut through the midrib 
and chief lateral ribs of these in several spots, and then lay the leaf on 
a compost of sand and cocoa-nut fibre refuse, placing a little dry sand 
on the surface of each cut. Keep the fibre and sand only moderately 
moist, and young corms will soon appear at each severance. Generally 
the leaf decays away safely; if not, cut away the decaying part. 
After the whole of the leaf has ripened or decayed the corms may 
either be taken out of the fibre and put in sand, or left as they are until 
the next season. 1 choose the latter plan, and fill a pot with leaves 
from one plant and insert a small label with a brief description of the 
flower. Stand the dormant corms in a greenhouse temperature; any 
odd corner will do so long as they are kept sufficiently moist to avoid 
shrivelling. At the time when more seeds are sown let these corms be 
potted up into thumb pots and treated exactly as described for the 
seedlings in the same stage. They will afford an earlier supply than the 
latter of the same season, after which I would cast them on one side, 
except in the case of an extra good variety, which may be retained for 
leaf propagation again. They do not come so robust and free-growing 
after continued propagation as seedlings, and we can each season choose 
from the cream of the latter, while by this selection we are sure of some 
good kinds in the first supply.—CULTIVATOB. 
EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
April 23ed. 
Scientific Committee. —Present: Professor Michael Foster, F.R.S. 
(in the chair), the Rev. W. Wilks, Drs. Hugo Miiller, F.R.S., and 
M. T. Masters, F.R.S., with Messrs. McLachlan, F.R.S., Arthur Sutton, 
and G. F. Wilson, F.R.S. 
Fasciated Lily. —From Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller came a 
photograph of a fasciated specimen of Lilium auratum, which bore 
208, more or less, developed flowers. 
Superposed Bulb in Leucomm. — Dr. Lowe, Wimbledon, sent a 
specimen of Leucoium with one bulb superposed on another. The 
older of the two bulbs had produced a cylindrical stem or rootstock 
about 1 inch in length, which bore at its extremity the new bulb, so 
that the two bulbs resembled beads strung on a necklace. 
Cuscuta on Pelargonium. —Dr. Masters exhibited a plant of Pelar¬ 
gonium densely covered with a mass of long fine threads, which had 
been taken for aerial roots, but which were clearly the thread-like 
stems of a species of Dodder, probably introduced with the peat made 
use of in potting. 
Androgynous Willoii}, — The same gentleman showed specimens of 
Willow catkins, the lower portions of which bore female flowers, the 
upper male flowers. Between the two were several flowers in which 
one stamen was perfect, whilst its neighbour in the same flower was 
half anther, half carpel. In some cases three catkins, one terminal, two 
lateral, merged from the same node. The catkins and the branches in 
the vicinity in some, but not in all cases, were marked by irregular 
swellings. These, when cut open, were each found to contain the larva 
probably of some beetle. It is thus a matter for speculation whether 
the irritation set up by the puncture of the insect had anything to do 
with the morphological changes observed. 
Saintpaulia ionantlia. —Dr. Masters showed flowers received from 
Mr. Ernst Senary of Erfurt, showing a considerable range of variation 
in size and in colour. With reference to this matter, the proposal to 
refer this East African genus to the Chinese Petroxosmea was mentioned, 
and the opinion of Mr. C. B. Clarke, the monographer of the order, was 
cited to the effect that until the ripe fruit of Saintpaulia was examined, 
and the numerous new forms of this order lately introduced, carefully 
investigated, it was considered better to retain for the present the genus 
Saintpaulia—though, in all probability, it would eventually have to be 
merged into some other genus. 
Cattleya Lawrenceana. —Sir Trevor Lawrence, President Royal 
Horticultural Society, sent a raceme of thj^i species tearing six flowers, 
all of which presented the same peculiarity. The two lateral petals 
were joined at their inner edges, and adherent also to the back of the 
column. 
Bindley Library. —Mr. Arthur Sutton obligingly presented to the 
Lindley Library a fine copy of L. Plukenet’s “ Opera Omnia,” six volumes 
in two. Plukenet’s volumes have an historical interest, as they serve to- 
fix the date of introduction of many garden plants. Plukenet was 
botanist to Mary, Queen of William III., was Superintendent of the 
Gardens at Hampton Court, and at one time had a botanic garden of his 
own not far from the present site of the offices of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society. 
Late-flowering Chrysanthemums. 
These, for many purposes other than show, have a special value- 
For the table, conservatory, and Christmas decorations late Chrys¬ 
anthemums will always be in demand. M. D^laux is sending out two 
new varieties of this description, which he says begin to flower in 
December, and are fully out by January 1st. They are called Helio¬ 
trope andL’Hiver fleuri. He has some others under trial, and it is 
to be hoped that before putting them into commerce they will be- 
thoroughly proved. Another French grower, M. Sautel, promises some- 
similar additions from his seed bed. 
Hairy Chrysanthemums. 
Notwithstanding the “ boom ” a few years ago for hairy Chrysan¬ 
themums, there does not seem to have been sufficient encouragement 
offered to induce the raisers to produce new varieties in any great 
numbers. I notice, however, that the N.C.S. has a class for six 
varieties distinct, in which the following prizes are offered : Silver cup, 
presented by Mr, A. Pooley, for the first prize; silver medal, second 
prize, and a bronze medal third. Out of the novelties for this season 
the Americans do not offer any new seedlings of the hirsute section, and 
the French announce about eighteen. Most of the latter, however, are 
from an obscure grower, and will probably not reach this country at all- 
New Chrysanthemums for 1895. 
The number of new French seedlings announced for distribution 
this spring is simply bewildering, and what is a noticeable feature in 
connection with the subject, is the increasing number of new seedling- 
raisers. Tempted, perhaps, by the success of some of the older raisers, 
new ones are now coming forward every year to offer their productions 
to the Chrysanthemum importers and growers. I notice the names this 
year of seventeen different raisers, which is unusually large, and their 
contributions, consisting of early, late, hairy, and ordinary November 
flowering varieties, amount to 345 supposed new sorts. It is too tedious 
to calculate how much money is required to purchase the whole of 
these novelties, and I have no doubt it will not be attempted by any of 
the English trade, although we may expect to find the seedlings of such 
well-known growers as Messrs. Delaux, Cal vat, Boucharlat, De Reydellet,. 
and several others at the trade displays next autumn. 
The Americans do not seem to be quite so prolific. Eight distributors 
in America announced the more modest number of sixty-seven varieties 
between them, with about a score of others which are stated to have been 
introduced from Japan. Mr. Spaulding takes the lead with twenty-five,, 
but nearly all the other American raisers are content to put into com¬ 
merce only about half a dozen each.—C. 
The Chrysanthemum in Art. 
At the Centenary Conference of the N.C.S. which was held in 1890, 
Mr. Hait6, the well-known artist, read a paper under the above heading 
which will be found reported in extenso in the Journal for Dec. 4th 
of that year. Reviewing the various types of Chrysanthemums from an 
artistic standpoint, Mr. Hait4 specially draws attention to the Japanese- 
form, which, both in England and Japan, is regarded by art workers as- 
the kind of flower most suitable as a decorative subject. 
I think, however, that the Japanese artist can have but very few 
examples of the true incurved Chrysanthemum, as we know it, at hand,, 
because this type is essentially a European production. But even 
supposing they had, there is every probability they would not select it 
with the freedom with which they do the looser and less formal Japanese 
flowers. These certainly seem to appeal to the artistic temperament, 
and to the taste of the ladies much more forcibly than their stiff and 
formal rivals. 
Japanese pottery, fans, textile fabrics, pictures, metal work and 
carvings, almost without exception, depict only blooms of the Japanese 
type. Sometimes, but very rarely, an Anemone may be found, but in- 
any case where an incurving flower is represented the variety chosen is 
of the Comte de Germiny or Mrs. C. W. Wheeler build. 
During the past few years the European artists, ever ready to- 
seize new ideas, have borrowed very largely from their Japanese 
confrbres, and anyone interested in the flower whose walks have taken 
them in the West End, and other busy places in London, cannot have 
