MARCH. 
65 
a cool greenhouse. The same award was made to Mr. Earley, gardener to 
F. Pryor, Esq., Digswell, Welwyn, for an Indian species of Bryonia, an 
evergreen hothouse creeper, with fringed white blossoms like those of 
Trichosanthes, and emitting an agreeable fragrance; flowering at the dull 
season of the year, it was found to be invaluable for bouquets. It is re¬ 
ported to produce berries, but the blossoms on this plant were all males. 
A magnificent group of Amayllis (Hippeastrum) , seedlings from aulica 
and vittata, was shown by Messrs. Garaway & Co., of Durdham Down, 
Bristol; and first-class certificates were awarded for— Olivia, rich scarlet 
and crimson-shaded, pure light throat; Cleopatra, bright orange scarlet, 
shaded and veined with glossy crimson, coloured to the base ; H. Gibbs, car¬ 
mine crimson, the spine of the segments pure white, and with a marginal 
feather of the same; and Helena, orange scarlet, with slight shading of 
crimson, dwarf habit, and of fine spreading form; while a second-class cer¬ 
tificate was granted for Juliet, bright orange scarlet, shaded with purplish 
crimson, having a clear throat, but rather smaller than the rest; and a 
special certificate for six plants of Ackermanni pulcherrima, very richly 
coloured. 
Mr. Sherratt, gardener to James Bateman, Esq., Biddulph Grange, 
Congleton, gained a special certificate for fruiting sprigs of the Kum-quat 
(Citrus japonica), which had been ripened in a warm greenhouse. It is said 
to be hardier than the common Orange. The plants form bushes of from 
3 to 4 feet in height, and are loaded with fruit at this season of the year. 
Mr. Fortune thinks it may prove hardy in the south of England. 
Messrs. Yeitch & Sons sent a handsome half-standard plant of Aucuba 
japonica vera, with a good quantity of its brilliant berries, and extremely 
well grown ; also a fine group of Bycaste Skinneri, sent in mournful compli¬ 
ment to the late Mr. Skinner; the valuable winter-flowering cool-house 
Cattleya Warscewiczii, in beautiful and almost endless variety, came from 
Mr. Wilson, gardener to W. Marshall, Esq., Enfield; and a group of Cycla¬ 
mens from Messrs. E. G. Henderson & Son comprised fine well-grown varie¬ 
ties of persicum, Atkinsii, and coum. The foregoing all gained special 
certificates. 
Before the Fruit Committee came a hybrid Brussels Sprout of no merit 
from Mr. Ivery, of Dorking; and heads of selected Fearnought Cabbage, a 
hybrid between the Dwarf Scotch Cabbage and the Hearting Kale, remark¬ 
ably hardy, very dwarf-growing, and deliciously tender when cooked, from 
Mr. R. Dean, of Ealing. -p* 
OUR MONTHLY CHRONICLE. 
OBITUARY. 
Me. G. Ure Skinner, F.L.S., was second 
son of the Very Rev. John Skinner, M.A. 
Dean of Dunkeld and Dunhlane, and was horn 
March 18th, 1804. In early youth he was 
bent on entering the navy, but, in deference 
to his father’s wishes, became a clerk in the 
banking house of Barclay, Bevan, & Co., of 
London. Subsequently he embarked in the 
general business of a merchant in Leeds; and 
in 1831, on a prospect opening up of establish¬ 
ing a trade with the Republic of Guatemala, 
he at once set sail for that little-known country, 
destined to be the scene of the chief events 
and labours of his life. Here he entered into 
partnership with Mr. McKlee, for many years 
charge d'affaires for Hanover and Prussia— 
and thus arose the well-known mercantile 
house of Klee, Skinner & Co., of Guate¬ 
mala. 
From a child Mr. Skinner was an ardent 
lover of nature, but it was not until he landed 
in the New World that it showed itself in all 
its strength. Guatemala was at that time 
an unwrought mine in natural history—its 
Fauna and Flora being alike unknown. Mr. 
Skinner took to shooting the birds, and catch¬ 
ing the insects of his adopted country, and 
