138 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 17,1887. 
THE NURSERY AND SEED TRADE ASSOCIATION 
(LIMITED). 
The annual meeting of this Association was held at the offices of the 
Association, No. 25, Old Jewry, on the 7th inst., Mr. N. N. Sherwood, the 
President, in the chair. From the Report of the Committee of Management, 
which was read and adopted, it appeared that there had been collected in 
respect of debts which had been treated by the members as bad and handed 
to the Association for collection £2419, as against £1276 in 1885, and that 
the number of applications made by the members for information as to the 
status of intending customers had considerably increased. In addition to 
this it was also stated that several failures in the trades which had occurred 
during the year had been investigated by the Secretary on behalf of such 
members as were creditors and their interests protec.ed. The balance 
sheet compared favourably with that of the previous year, and showed a 
marked inciease in the receipts. The number of members has steadily 
increased, and the interest in the Assocation has grown proportionately. 
At the suggestion of the President a committee was appointed for the pur¬ 
pose of considering any questions wlrch might arise affecting nurserymen 
and seedsmen, with a view to taking combined action thereon, and the 
members were invited to communicate with the Secretary whenever any 
euch questions arose. 
In the evening the annual dinner took place at the Guildhall Tavern, 
when the President again presided, and in responding to the toast of 
“ Success to the Nursery and Seed Trade Association,” said that, although 
the report that day adopted was the tenth annual report, he was responsible 
only for t.vo, and of those the second showed that the operations of the 
Association had during the past year increased twofold over those of the 
first, an indication that the Association was recognised by its members to 
be of use to them, and he believed that when its advantages became more 
widely known many more members would join it. Mr. Johnson, in pro¬ 
posing the health of the officers and committee, said that from personal 
experience he could say that nurserymen and seedsmen in the country were 
only waiting to see if the affairs of the Association continued as they 
had begun to prosper before becoming members of it, and he thought that 
the report showed that the Association had during the past year made 
rapid strides. Mr. Yeitch (J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea), Mr. Laing (Laing <fc Son, 
Forett Hill), Mr. C. A. Hooper (Hooper & Co., Limited, Covent Garden,) 
Mr. Watkins (Watkins & Simpson, Exeter Street, Strand), Mr. Manning 
(Messrs. J. Veitch <fc Sons), and several other prominent members of the 
trades were present, and took part in the proceedings. 
NATIONAL CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 
February 14th. 
A meeting of the General Committee of this Society was held on 
Monday evening last at the Old Four Swans, Biehopsgate Street, the Vice- 
President, Mr. R. Ballantme, in the chair. There was a large attendance 
of members, the business of the evening being to elect the Floral Com¬ 
mittee, appoint stewards for the exhibition, and to consider the sub-eom- 
mittee’s recommendations respecting the schedule and the three shows to be 
held in September, November, and January. 
The Royal Cornwall Society was added to the list of affiliated societies, 
and after several new members being elected, nominations were received for 
the Floral Committee. It was proposed that the number should be increased 
to twenty, but it was decided by a large majority that the number should 
remain as before—namely, sixteen, exclusive of the officers of the Society. 
Twenty-six were nominated, and the following were elected :— 
Floral Committee. —Messrs. T. Bevan. H. Cannell, Lewis Castle, 
R. Dean, N. Davis, G. Gilbey, G. Gordon, C. Gibson, E. Kemp, J. P. Kendall, 
G. Langdon, H. Mardlin, R. Owen, G. Stevens, R. Swift, and J; Wright 
(Temple). 
Mr. Holmes expressed his thanks for the assistance rendered him at the 
past shows by the stewards, and the following were nominated for the 
present year :—Messrs. Drain, Addison, Boyce, Crane, Bevan, Ballantine, 
Langdon, Figgures, R. Payne, Kemp, Blake, and Dean. It was resolved to 
publish in the National Society’s schedules the dates of the affiliated 
societies’ shows, also to give the names of all winners of the National 
Society’s medals. It was determined that the fees to the judges at the 
November show be one guinea, and at the other shows half a guinea. The 
date fixed for the respective shows a r e as follows :—September 14th and 
15th; November 9th and 10th; and January 11th and 12th. Floral Com¬ 
mittee meetings to take place on the following dates:—September 14th; 
October 12th and 26th; November 23rd; and Dec mber 7th at 1.30 P.M., 
and on November 9th at 12 noon. Some slight alterations in the rules were 
then announced, and it was decided that the Society’s catalogue should be 
considered the guide as to varieties and their elassificat'on. The November 
schedule was ltad, the principal additions to which were the Veitch 
Memorial medals and prizes in six classes (nurserymen excluded). Messrs. 
Davis and Jones’s silver cup or five guineas for the best six blooms of 
Chrysanthemum Mrs. Norman Davis, and Messrs. Cannell ife Sons’ prizes 
of £T0, £5, £3, and £2 for twelve new Japanese varieties, the members of 
the Floral Committee to make the award in the latter class. 
In connection with one of the classes it was proposed to insert the 
words that “ an amateur be one who does not employ one or more perma¬ 
nent girdeners,” and in respect to this considerable discussion ensued, 
several delegates from affiliated societies pressing as an amendment what 
they considered a more exact definition—namely, that “ an amateur be one 
who does not employ any skilled labour or derive any pecuniary benefit 
from the cultivation of plants.” The matter was argued at some length, 
and the amendment was finally carried, but when put as a resolution 
an amendment was moved and adopted to the effect that it should not 
apply to the Nat’onal Society, being merely given as a guide to affiliated 
Societies. The schedules of the September and January Shows were read 
and adopted with little discussion, the following Judges being appointed 
September Shows—Dahlias aud Gladioli, Messrs. Kirtland and Henshaw, 
with a reserve of Mr. Tranter; Chrysanthemums, Messrs. Gordon and 
Dean. November Show—Plants, Messrs. Donald and Prickett, with a 
reserve of Mr. Ward; Japanese blooms, Messrs. Mardlin and Molyneux, 
reserve Mr. Beckett; Incurved blooms, Messrs. Wright (Fleet Street) and 
Gordon, reserve Mr. George; fruit and vegetables, Messrs. Barron and 
Douglas. January Show—Messrs. Gordon and Dean. The Superintendent 
of the Shows in all cases to act as Referee. The meeting concluded with 
votes of thanks to the Chairman and officers. 
SERICOGrRAPHIS GHIESBREGHTIANA. 
Most useful is this plant for affording a supply of sprays for vase 
and other modes of indoor decoration during the dull months of autumn 
and winter. Equally useful also are the plants for conservatory and 
dinner-table decoration during the same period of the year. It is 
seldom that this plant is found cultivated in large numbers after the 
manner of Poinsettias, but it is well worthy of being so grown for its 
glossy leaves, and the lightness and brightness of its feathery spikes 
render it an admirable associate of plants of rigid habit and stately 
form. The soft scarlet of its flowers is a colour which is pleasing, and 
well-grown plants are worthy objects of admiration. 
The cultivation of this plant calls for no special skill, it being as 
easy to grow as a Pelargonium and as certain to flower when its season 
arrives in October, when it continues in beauty for three or four 
months. Cuttings inserted at the present time or a little later, and the 
plants grown on the shelf of a stove until May, potting and stopping 
them as required, and placing them in frames in June to make their 
summer growth, will be attractive plants in the autumn, when they 
should be arranged in a warm conservatory. 
After the flowering season is over water should be withheld to 
facilitate the ripening of the shoots, when the plants may be cut do wn 
the soil be shaken from the roots, and be treated precisely as are show 
Pelargoniums, with a little warmer temperature and moister atmo¬ 
sphere. Plants are thus prodxced 3 feet high and through, huge globes 
of scarlet sprays. 
A suitable compost for the plants is a mixture of loam, peat, and leaf 
mould in their early stages of growth, finally potting them in richer soil 
