December 17, 1885.] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
535 
open air or in a cold frame. I have known the pots to be stacked up on 
each other in a large heap with the plants outwards, but except making 
them more convenient for covering this plan possesses no advantage over 
ours. One thing is certain, as long as the soil is moderately dry there is 
no danger of the plants being injured by frost, and no one need keep them 
m a high temperature during frost under the impression that they would be 
injured if left under its influence.—A Kitchen Gardener. 
LOGWOOD (HiEMATOXYLON CAMPECHIANUM). 
This evergreen stove plant, which attains to a moderately sized tree 
in South America, furnishes the logwood of commerce, and from the 
colour of which its name is derived—“ haima,” blood, and “xylon,” 
wood. It belongs to the order of Leguminous plants, and has agreeable 
foliage and slender racemes of yellow flowers. It is of easy cultivation 
and may be readily increased from seeds, which, however, germinate more 
Fig. 79.—Logwood (Hsematoxylon campochiauum). 
freely if steeped in warm water for some hours before sowing. Cuttings 
of partially ripened young shoots also strike freely in sand under a bell- 
glass. A compost of loam, peat, and sand is suited to the requirements 
of this plant, with a temperature in summer of 70° to 85°, and in 
winter 50° to 55°. 
It is a native of Campeachy, the shores of Honduras Bay, and other 
parts of tropical America; but it has been introduced into Jamaica, 
where it has become naturalised. The flowers are fragrant, and give out 
an agreeable odour said to resemble that of the Jonquil. The wood is 
hard, compact, and heavy, with a specific gravity higher than that of 
water ; has a fine grain, and is susceptible of a fine polish. It is chiefly 
emp’oyed by the calico printer to give cotton a black or a brown colour ; 
if it be dyed with an alum mordaunt in a decoction of logwood it becomes 
black. It was first cultivated in Jamaica in 1715, from seeds brought 
from the Bay of Campeachy, and was introduced into English gardens in 
1724. Its colouring properties depend on a peculiar principle called 
hematoxylin or hematin. 
THE PEAR CONFERENCE. 
[Interim report of the Executive Committee of the National Pear Conference, held in 
the Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens, Chiswick, October 21st to November 4th, 
1885.] 
We have received from the Secretary of the Royal Horticultural 
Society the following abridged statement taken from the full report of the 
Pear Conference recently held at Chiswick, and which iB not yet suffi¬ 
ciently advanced for publication. This extract will, however, serve the 
purpose of disseminating useful information to intending planters during 
the present season, and it is with this object that the Council have 
decided upon giving it the earliest possible publicity. The report has 
been skilfully prepared by Mr. A. F. BarrOD, and we Bhall look forward 
with interest to the full report whenever it is ready. 
The selection of the present season for the holding of a great Exhi¬ 
bition and Conference on Pears in succession to that on the Apples in 
1883 proved to be especially propitious, the crops of Pears throughout 
the country bemg in general very abundant and good. The cold dry 
summer was not specially favourable for the growth and development 
of Pears, and in many instances the fruit was much smaller than usual, 
especially of the earlier varieties. The later varieties benefited greatly 
by the autumnal rains, and proved in general of a fair average character. 
The response to the invitation issued by the Council proved of the 
most satisfactory charcter, the number of Pears sent in for exhibition 
far exceeding the most sanguine expectations of the Committee, the 
Exhibition being not only great in extent, but in all respect a truly re¬ 
presentative exhibition of nearly all the varieties of Pears grown or 
cultivated in this country. The total number of exhibitors taking part in 
the Conference numbered 166, contributions being received from thirty- 
five of the English counties, also from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and the 
Channel Islands, the total number of dishes or different lots of Pears 
staged numbering 6350. In addition several large and meritorious 
collections were received from France, which proved of great interest. 
Counties. 
No. of 
Exhi¬ 
bitors. 
No. of 
Dishes. 
Counties. 
No. of 
Exhi¬ 
bitors. 
No. of 
Dishes. 
Bedfordshire 
1 
63 
Nottinghamshire. 
4 
173 
Berkshire 
4 
66 
Oxfordshire. 
1 
41 
Buckinghamshire. 
4 
213 
Rutlandshire 
1 
28 
Cambridgeshire . 
1 
13 
Shropshire . 
1 
63 
Cheshire 
2 
82 
J Somersetshire 
1 
69 
Cumberland. 
2 
2 
Staffordshire 
2 
58 
Derbyshire . 
2 
26 
Suffolkshire 
2 
36 
Devonshire . 
5 
311 
Surrey . 
17 
622 
Essex . . 
5 
294 
Sussex . 
8 
338 
Gloucestershire . 
2 
157 
Warwickshire 
2 
42 
Hampshire . 
2 
111 
Wiltshire 
6 
176 
Herefordshire 
7 
310 
Worcestershire . 
5 
234 
Hertfordshire 
5 
451 
Yorkshire . 
2 
69 
Huntingdonshire . 
1 
39 
Kent 
11 
486 
Scotland 
16 
415 
Lancashire . 
2 
83 
Wales . 
6 
103 
Leicestershire 
1 
53 
Ireland 
2 
30 
Lincolnshire. 
4 
121 
Guernsey 
2 
33 
Middlesex 
19 
618 
Jersey . 
1 
74 
Monmouthshire . 
1 
58 
Norfolkshire 
4 
98 
Total . 
166 
6351 
Northamptonshire 
2 
72 
France. 
2 
262 
The total number of reputedly distinct varieties of Pears exhibited 
subsequent to the corrections made by the Committee amounts to 650. 
An audit taken of the whole of the varieties exhibited gives the 
following result as to the most favoured or popular varieties, Beurre 
Diel, although only a second-rate Pear, standing at the top of the list, 
having been exhibited 194 times ; Marie Louise being placed Becond, 155 
dishes of which were shown ; and Louise Bonne of Jersey third, 132. 
List of the Fifty Pears Exhibited the Greatest Number of Times. 
No. of No. of 
Dishes. Dishes. 
Beurre Diel . 
194 
Comte de Lamy . 
73 
Marie Louise. 
155 
Knight’s Monarch. 
73 
Louise Bonne of Jersey 
132 
Ne plus Meuris . 
73 
Duchesse d’AngouIeme 
121 
Beurre d’Amanlis . 
72 
Winter Nelis. 
121 
Beurre Superfin . 
70 
Passe Colmar. 
118 
Pitmaston Duchess. 
69 
Josephine de Malines 
113 
Uvedale’s St. Germain 
68 
B<Agamotte Esperen 
112 
General Todtleben ... 
67 
Beurre Ranee. 
108 
Conseiller de la Cour 
61 
Catillac . 
108 
Beurrb Bose. 
57 
Beurrd Clairgeau 
106 
Thompson’s. 
56 
D oyennb du Comice 
103 
Napoleon . 
55 
Beurre Capiaumont... 
86 
Marie Louise d’Uccle 
53 
Beurri d’Aremberg ... 
80 
Glou Morjeau . 
53 
Vicar of Winkfield ... 
78 
Van Mons Lion Leclerc 
51 
Chaumontel. 
77 
Huyshe’s Victoria. 
50 
Beurrb Hardy. 
74 
Gansel’s Bersamot. 
60 
Beurre Bachelier 
74 
Baronne de Mello . 
50 
In regard to nomenclature, each 
of the collections exhibited was 
sidered requisite. Errors of judgment may in some cases have occurred, 
due to the altered appearance the same fruits often assume uno’er different 
conditions, tea. Some others may have been overlooked, or their proper 
labels have got misplaced. Every endeavour was, however, made to 
secure the most correct nomenclature possible. The corrections made by 
