SEPTEMBER. 
209 
pretty decorative plant. Pelargonium reticulatum, also from tlie same, 
received a label of commendation for the singular manner in which its 
leaves were veined with gold ; it will no doubt be used as a kind to breed 
from. A very good Pelargonium of the Gold and Bronze-zoned section, of 
a distinct character and remarkably good in habit, named Countess of 
Kellie, was shown by Messrs. Downie, Laird, & Laing, and received a first- 
class certificate. It is said to bed well, which is saying a great deal for it 
in such trying weather. Another, in the same style, named Kentish Hero, 
was not nearly so distinct or good. Mr. G. Smith, Hornsey Road, obtained 
a first-class certificate for Pelargonium Grand Duke, a bright orange scarlet, 
with large massive trusses ; and also for Eclat, a rosy crimson, showing a 
tint of blue. 
Fuchsia Blue Boy, a very dwarf-growing and free-blooming double variety, 
was shown by Mr. G. Fry, of Lee, and awarded a label of commendation as 
a market and decorative plant; the tube and sepals are red, the corolla 
rich bluish purple, the blossoms abundant, and the habit refined. Mr. 
G. F. Wilson, Weybridge, received a first-class certificate for a Japanese 
Lily, which is supposed to be a fine variety of L. Thunbergianum; the 
flowers were deep orange, with a yellow band down each segment, and 
spotted with black; it produces a large and very handsome cluster of 
flowers. Lobelia Blue Tom Thumb, from Mr. Richard Dean, Ealing, was. 
awarded a second-class certificate ; it is a very dwarf erect-growing kind, 
and blooms profuselv, the flowers being pale blue with white centre. 
R. D. 
OUR MONTHLY CHRONICLE. 
The Fruit Crop op 1867.—From a series 
of returns just published in the Gardeners' 
Chronicle, the following deductions may be 
drawn:—Apples are all but universally de¬ 
ficient, this result being due in most cases to 
the injury done to the blossoms or young 
fruits by spring frosts. Pears are generally 
below the average. Plums, with the excep¬ 
tion of Damsons, which are reported as un¬ 
usually abundant, are short in quantity. 
Strawberries have been on the whole good, 
though the blossoms suffered from May frosts 
in some localities. Cherries are about an 
average crop, but of comparatively indifferent 
quality. Peaches, Nectarines, and Apricots, the 
latter especially, are below the average. Figs 
are very scanty. Small Fruits, such as Cur¬ 
rants and Gooseberries, have been unusually 
abundant, while Raspberries have suffered 
from the frosts. Nuts afford an average crop. 
Walnuts are all but a complete failure. It is 
found that generally fruit3 are deficient in 
flavour, owing doubtless to cold nights and 
absence of sunshine. In addition to the 
effects of frosts, the leaves have in many 
cases, been much injured by easterly winds, 
whichhave caused them to blister, and induced 
attacks of green fly, black fly, &c. 
Conifers from Foreign Seeds. — Mr. 
Austin, of Glasgow gives the following as the 
result of his experience as to the value of 
foreign compared with home-grown seeds of 
Scotch Fir and Larch :—“ The plants from 
foreign seed push away ten days earlier than 
our ‘home seedlings,’ and are apt on that 
account to be destroyed by late spring frosts ; 
while they are a fortnight later in autumn in 
maturing their growth, and consequently 
suffer from the effects of autumn frosts. I 
have not the least hesitation in saying that 
every one that can handle the pen should write 
down the arrant nonsense about the benefits 
of foreign seed.” 
New Roses. —The Floral Committee has 
definitively adopted, for the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society, the very sensible and matter- 
of-fact rule that new Roses shall date from the 
year in which they are actually put in com¬ 
merce—a rule for which we have already 
contended, as the only one which does not 
admit of being misunderstood, and which is 
that a Rose sent out in 1867, even though it 
be in October, is to be regarded as a new Rose 
of 1867, and not of 1868, the year in which 
blooms may be first exhibited in England. 
We therefore counsel all other Societies, as 
well as the compilers of schedules throughout 
the country, to adhere in future to this com¬ 
mon sense resolution, which, once fairly 
established, will do away with many disputes. 
Lilium auratum. — Some very fine ex¬ 
amples of this superb Lily have been observed 
