10 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
supply of such the young fruit on trees and Vines may remain green, until 
blackened by frost. I should remark, that neither extra heat nor sunshine 
has much influence on the unripe wood of Vines after the proper time of 
their growth is past. Hence the inutility of placing Vines in pots out of 
doors in the full sunshine, after the crop is over, with the view of ripening the 
wood. Instead of this, the leaves are scorched, and thus all chance of then 
influence on the wood is gone, and on the condition of this the success of 
the next season’s crop greatly depends. 
Cossey Park . J. Wigiiton. 
NOTES AT THE FLORAL AND FRUIT COMMITTEES. 
December 4:th .—These winter meetings, held during the cold, dull days, 
are about the most enjoyable of all the meetings of the Committee. Of all 
wretched-looking places during the depth of winter, what can be more so 
than a great city like London, with its bare trees, soot-coloured buildings, 
and fog ? and how pleasant to pass in from these to a large room bright 
and glowing with flowers of apparently greater beauty than usual, because 
so welcome. Just such a delightful experience as this occurred at the above 
meeting. Those glorious Orchids from Mr. Anderson, of Meadow Bank, 
Glasgow, were quite horticultural sensations for the moment. What a 
marvellous example of the costly and rare Odontoglossum Alexandra, 
about which Mr. Bateman said that not only were the flowers “ the finest 
that had ever been shown in this country, but that no such beauty as they 
exhibited had ever been approached even in the countries of which it is a 
native.” Mr. Anderson also exhibited a spike of Cymbidium giganteum, 
with eleven expanded flowers, blossoms of Cattleya marginata, and some 
beautiful varieties of Lycaste Skinneri, including a white one, which re¬ 
ceived a first-class certificate. A white variety was also shown by Mr. W. 
Marshall, of Enfield, and had the same award. In each case the flowers 
had a lemon throat; but the white in Mr. Marshall’s variety was purer and 
more chaste, but then the throat of Mr. Anderson’s variety had more lemon. 
At any rate they are both valuable acquisitions. Messrs. Veitch & Sons 
exhibited a splendid new Saccolabium, which they had imported from India 
during the spring, under the name of S. giganteum, but which proved to 
be a new species, and has been named S. densiflorum. It is a great im¬ 
provement on S. violaceum, and it is evidently a free grower and an abun¬ 
dant flowerer, besides being most delightfully scented. The credit of its 
introduction is due to Colonel Benson, of the Indian army. It was awarded 
a first-class certificate. 
Mr. Standish, of Ascot, also had some good things. Foremost was a 
seedling Aucuba japonica, a perfect hermaphrodite, having the organs of 
both sexes combined in the flowers. This is a very happy result, as it will 
prevent the necessity of artificial fertilisation, provided the peculiarity can 
be perpetuated. Mr. Standish also had a new variety of Taxus adpressa, 
named stricta. It is a free-growing plant, with a better habit than the old 
variety, and throws a good leader. It was awarded a first-class certificate, 
and a similar award was made to Saxifraga tricolor, also from Mr. Standish. 
It is a very dwarf, close-growing kind, with leaves which have a green 
blotch in the centre, broadly margined with creamy white, and edged with 
pink, the under side of the leaves being of the same colour. It came from 
Japan, had been grown by Mr. Standish on a shelf in a cool house, and 
was planted in very poor peat. The foliage is very handsome. 
