18G3. ] 
AMATEUR FLORAL SOCIETIES. 
213 
although they may never seem so laden with fruit at any one time, yet, 
through hearing continuously, produce an immense quantity during the 
course of the season. Of these the most prominent are perhaps, Brown 
Turkey or Lee’s Perpetual, and White Marseilles. 
Season of Ripening. —In order to keep up a rich and varied supply of the 
choicest fruits, the varieties must be selected according to their various 
seasons of ripening, so as to avoid a glut at one time, succeeded by a scarcity. 
When a house is devoted to the cultivation of the Fig in pots, and the 
collection is limited to, say, fifty plants, the following is my selection of 
varieties, and these will (supposing them to be started in March), keep up 
an almost continuous supply of ripe fruit from the end of June to Christmas. 
They are put into groups showing how they will give a supply of fruit for 
each month. July: White Marseilles, De la Madeleine, Gross Monstrueuse 
de Lipari, and Lee’s Perpetual. August: White Marseilles, Lee’s Perpetual, 
Versailles, De Lipari. September: White Ischia, Grosse Violette de Bour- 
deaux, Black Provence, Grosse Verte, Bourjassotte Grise, Col de Signora 
Blanca, De l’Archipel, and the second crop of White Marseilles and Lee’s 
Perpetual. October: White Ischia, Black Provence, Grosse Verte, Bour¬ 
jassotte Grise, Col de Signora Blanca, and Col de Signora Nera. November: 
White Ischia, Grosse Verte, Lee’s Perpetual, D’Agen. December: White 
Ischia and D’Agen, which is the latest of all. 
Chiswick. A. F. Barron. 
AMATEUR FLORAL SOCIETIES. 
QTRfAHEN properly conducted, floral societies act as a mainspring to the 
ct'joy science of floriculture. We have, it is true, monthly meetings in 
many of our suburban villages, held chiefly in beerhouses, where 
flowers, &c., are brought forward for small prizes. This I could 
appreciate if more regard were paid to the quality of the flowers 
produced, and those only were allowed prizes that really merited them, and 
were the bond fide productions of the exhibitor. Such flowers as the Auricula, 
Polyanthus, Gladiolus, Phlox, Antirrhinum, &c., should be exhibited in 
trusses or spikes, not as single pips. A discussion should be raised on 
the merits of the productions. Latterly these societies have in a great 
measure forgotten their intended purport, and are made a pretext for 
drinking—some, at least, that I have lately visited are of this character. 
I naturally expected to hear some discussion, or to glean some practical 
information on the merits or demerits of this or that flower, or this or that 
particular method of cultivation, but must confess I came away grievously 
disappointed. What benefit can amateurs derive from such meetings ? 
Some years ago our Falstaff Inn used every Saturday to be the general 
rendezvous for the florists and amateurs of the neighbourhood; and there 
