70 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July *8, 1897. 
upon the payment of a very small subscription, or without any payment 
at all. 
On the whole it does not seem to me desirable to make any dis¬ 
tinction, as regards subscriptions, between provincial and metropolitan 
Fellows. We ought to make it worth the while of horticulturists in the 
provinces to join the Society, but leave it to each one to determine for 
himself or herself what subscription he or she shall pay. 
If we obtained a new charter, it might be worth while to discuss the 
question whether it would be desirable to make a distinction between 
Fellows and Members, reserving the former title for those who served 
on the General Committee. 
V. Accommodation. 
According to the above scheme we should want :— 
1, Offices, with Secretary’s room, &e., &c. 
2, A room large enough for the fortnightly shows, with power, 
if possible, to use the room between the fortnightly 
shows. 
3, Committee rooms, at least three, one large enough to be used 
for meetings of Fellows. 
4, Library and reading rooms, with arrangements for the 
housing of the records of the Society, Drawings, 
Herbarium, &c. 
5, Conversation and refreshment rooms. 
This accommodation, in my opinion, had much better, in the first in- 
itince, be of a temporary nature ; we should then have time to find out 
what we really wanted. 
Such, dear Sir Trevor, is a brief sketch of my notions of what we 
want and what we ought to aim at.—Yours truly, M. Foster. 
Shelford, Cambs , July 6th, 1SS7. 
LILIUM HARRISI. 
Given certain treatment, this fine Lily is perhaps the most 
useful to either amateurs or growers in quantity of cut flowers in 
the whole genus ; certainly it is the best by far of the long-flowered 
or trumpet section to which it belongs. Some two or three years 
since when this Lily first made its appearance, I, for one, opposed 
it as a genuine introduction, or what will be more strictly correct, 
I refused to recognise, in the specimens shown me, anything distinct 
from L. longiflorum eximium. But the true L. Harrisi is very 
distinct, and I have since grown it in quantity. The bulb itself is 
inclined to be somewhat long and conical, the scales narrower and 
less imbricate, and in these respects more nearly allied to that well- 
marked form of L. longiflorum known as Wilsoni; indeed I believe 
L. Harrisi is but a selection from this, for its length of trumpet, its 
height, and general aspect all agree with Wilsoni. But the great 
distinction with Harrisi is that two or three successional flowerings 
may be had from it in one year, the which cannot be said of another 
of this family. I flowered plants early in the present year, and the 
same are flowering again without potting (in fact they flower best 
when root-bound) or without any special culture more than supplies 
of weak liquid manure and soot water combined occasionally. Later 
plants which only recently flowered are now pushing new growths 
from the base to produce flowers. 
As a hardy plant for the border this Lily is never likely to 
become popular, for many districts at least. For the south coast of 
France or the favoured parts of Devon it may do to a certain 
extent, but generally it will not succeed much in this way under 
the usual treatment for this section out of doors. I have beds of 
it side by side with typical longiflorum and the variety eximium, all 
of which were planted the same time and given the same treatment 
exactly, the soil being a fine fibrous loam and plenty of it over- 
lying gravel. In an almost incredibly short time L. Harrisi 
appeared above ground, sooner, in fact, than I wanted it, for as the 
whole of these were planted in autumn, I did not expect to see 
them pushing through the soil till the bad weather had passed. 
L. Harrisi, however, could not content itself below, and ere frost 
arrived it was about 2 inches through the soil. It battled very 
bravely with the long-continued and severe frost of last winter, and 
with the protection of a few boughs I fancied it was all right; but 
it has done no good, and only one or two made any attempt to 
flower, while the remaining two, which never appeared till frost 
had gone, are now finely in flower and bud. If I remember rightly, 
your correspondent, Mr. Murphy, Clonmel, some time since sought 
information as to the hardiness of L. Harrisi for border culture, 
and he may, if this meets his eye, get the required information. 
No doubt the failure of my plants was due to premature growth, 
and this just on the eve of winter. But it must be remembered 
that permanently planted bulbs are open to similar evils, and as 
this Lily commences its new growth when the flowers are expand¬ 
ing, it is not unlikely that these, in our climate at least, would soon 
feel the effects of frost and cold, as the growth would be more 
advanced. These checks, however, do not appear to stop the 
increase of the bulbs, which goes on at a brisk pace below, since a 
batch which I had last year in the open produced a number of small 
and medium-sized bulbs, most of which will develope into flowering 
bulbs this season. Apropos of its ever-growing capabilities, I may 
mention a parcel of injured bulbs (imported ones) which had made 
new growth in transit. These came to hand in all sorts of con¬ 
torted ways, so much so that it would be impossible to plant them 
without breaking them, so taking its free growth into consideration, 
I cut them all off to within 2 inches of the apex of the bulb. They 
soon made a new side growth, and I expect all will flower, though 
somewhat later than usual.—J. H. E. 
CAULIFLOWERS. 
Having seen your note anent the trials of Cauliflowers at Chiswick,. 
I send you a brace of Dean’s Snowball Cauliflower, which are a fair 
sample of what we have been cutting since 20th June. They were- 
sown in the greenhouse on the 24th of February last. I find better 
results by so doing than if they were subjected to a higher temperature-.. 
Those sent are not quite so good as I have had them in previous years.. 
Our soil being shallow, light, and very poor, they were never watered, but 
were well supplied with wood ashes at the roots. As I described last 
year in an article in your Journal, in 1885 I sowed on 24th February, 
and cut the first heads on 16 th June; the stems were about 6 inches 
long, the heads appearing to lie on a bed of leaves.— John Swan, 
Gardener, Kilmalcolm. 
[The Cauliflowers are very close, white, solid, and altogether good.. 
We have seen few equal to them in the south during the present very 
hot and dry season.] 
PACKING FRUIT. 
Many thanks to Mr. W. Bardney for his excellent paper on the- 
above subject. I have read it with the greatest interest, and though I 
have not much to add or alter, I would like to have a few lines. I 
have tried many ways of packing Grapes for travelling long distances, 
by rail and also parcels post, but the latter is a failure. I was glad to 
see that Mr. Bardney advises that paper be used instead of wadding.. 
This is required in some cases perhaps at the bottom and the top, but in 
no case should wadding touch the Grapes. In my opinion packing 
mixed hampers or boxes is a mistake, yet necessary sometimes on the- 
score of convenience or carriage charges. If put in a box or basket, 
the Grapes being securely tied, they should travel well. Generally, 
however, these large packages are sent by goods train, then it is folly- 
to expect either Grapes or any other fruit to arrive in good condition;. 
It is not always the fault of railway servants at either end in loading- 
or unloading, but it is the shunting. You have only to watch this 
operation from time to time, and the wonder is, not that the goods- 
reach their destination, but that they travel so well. I have looked 
into a composite goods truck on arrival, and see packages labelled “ This 
side up, with care,” the label side unfortunately being at the bottom! 
instead of the top. No packer can meet this. Having, when packing 
for market, to pack in small quantities to oblige the salesmen, I well 
know there is no safer mode of sending than doing on my plan, small 
handed baskets in which from 2 to 12 lbs. can be packed. Special 
Grapes are packed in flats, and these flats are slipped into hampers'- 
Whatever plan is adopted, a good under packing is required for the 
Grapes to lie on. Then every bunch must be tied, to prevent moving, 
and a sheet of white cap or tea paper, is the best protection for the 
top. 
My packing, after delivery, allows of each bunch being so dished 
that in nine cases out of ten I would defy any ordinary observer to know 
the difference between them and Grapes cut direct from the Vines- 
Again, a friend of mine, on the score of economy in boxes and carriage, 
stages his Grapes for exhibition from these handled baskets, setting them 
up on portable boards. After, however, we have done our best in pack¬ 
ing, and they are delivered right, we are simply at the mercy of those 
who can make or mar the effects, not only of the packer, but the grower 
also. The steward, housekeeper, cook, or whoever unpacks and dishes- 
the Grapes is, after all, either our best friend or enemy, as the case may¬ 
be. I have in competition sent in both kinds of baskets, and though 
the handled one took first prize the third day after leaving my hands,! 
thought the Grapes in one quite as perfect as those in the other, and! 
Buckland Sweetwater was packed in the flat.— Stephen Castle,, 
West Lynn. 
A GARDEN PEST. 
We are nearly at our wit’s end ; the enemy that spoiled our bulbs 
is now spoiling our Chrysanthemums, fine healthy plants all at once 
without the slightest warning flag right down. On searching we can 
find the soil full of little thread-like worms from an eighth of an inch 
long to an inch. They are also doing the same by our Souvenir de la 
Malmaison Carnations. What to do with them I cannot imagine. We 
are trying lime water to-day ; gas water of sufficient strength to kill 
the insects we find also kills the plants. It seems to me there is 
nothing they will not destroy ; the list at present is Liliums, Hyacinths, 
Crocus, Geraniums, Amaryllis, Chrysanthemums, and Carnatiops. I 
never felt so completely done in my life. Will you please mention 
