JANUARY. 
1 o 
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13th, to consider the amended bye-laws, with 
a view to their adoption, W. Wilson Saunders, 
Esq., in the chair. Mr. Harry Chester, in 
moving their adoption, pointed out the prin¬ 
cipal differences between the old and the new 
bye-laws. The latter only required persons 
desirous of becoming Fellows to be recom¬ 
mended by two instead of three Fellows as 
formerly, and provided for their more speedy 
election; took away the power of the Council 
to readmit, without election, Fellows who 
have resigned; and left the Society unfettered 
as to the number of honorary members which 
it might elect. The hour of the annual 
meeting was changed to eleven o’clock in the 
forenoon, or such other hour as the Council 
might decide, and the manner of electing the 
latter was altered. B alio ting-lists, distin¬ 
guishing the cause of any vacancies in the 
Council, and the persons who are recom¬ 
mended to fill them, and a similar list of the 
President, Treasurer, and other officers of the 
Society, were to be prepared before the 15th of 
January in each year, and circulated among 
the Fellows, and the latter must, within seven 
days afterwards, give notice of any proposed 
deviation from the Council’s list. Members 
of Council were to be incapable of taking any 
prize at exhibitions ; a Committee for the con¬ 
sideration of measures to improve the educa¬ 
tion of young gardeners was to be appointed, 
and a report from the auditors of the accounts 
was in future to be made. Mr. S. H. Godson 
moved an adjournment for a month, opposed 
the new bye-laws as giving the Council too 
much power, and complained that due notice 
of the meeting had not been given. After a 
long discussion the new bye-laws were adopted 
with some alterations, and a resolution was 
passed requesting the Council to take steps to 
procure a new Charter, which was carried 
with but one dissentient. 
The Birmingham Fruit and Chrysanthe¬ 
mum Show, which was held in the Town Hall 
dining the Cattle Show, was well attended by 
visitors. The plants were tastefully arranged, 
and the effect was very good, especially when 
the Flail was lighted up at night—in fact the 
Chrysanthemum seems even more effective by 
gas light than by day. Many of the speci¬ 
men plants, both large-flowering and Pompons, 
were very creditable; the cut blooms, how¬ 
ever, were, as a whole, inferior, many of them 
having been taken from plants not grown and 
thinned for the purpose. Of Apples and 
Pears fine examples, of foreign growth were 
shown by Mr. C. J. Perry, Mr. Pluck, and 
others, and good collections from the district 
of fifteen miles round Birmingham. 
Abutilon vexillarium. — “ La Belgique 
Horticole” for October last contains a coloured 
plate of a very ornamental Malvaceous plant, 
introduced from South America, in 1863, by 
M. Beaufays. It is a branching shrub of tall 
growth, with lanceolate leaves, cordate at the 
base, and sometimes inclining to be three or 
five-lobed, toothed at the edge. The flowers are 
produced singly at the axils of the leaves, are 
pendant, and borne on slender peduncles about 
an inch in length. The calyx is tubular and 
almost pentagonal, about three-quarters of an 
inch in length, of a vermilion colour; the 
corolla short trumpet-shaped, and composed 
of five petals, yellow tinged with orange; 
the stamens dark reddish brown, extending 
beyond the corolla about four-tenths of an 
inch. The plant may be grown in any hot¬ 
house or greenhouse, and is tolerably hardy, 
having withstood 7° of frost (25 Fahr.). It 
likes moisture, and is readily increased by 
seeds and cuttings. Its specific name, vexilla¬ 
rium, is derived from vexillarius, or standard- 
bearer, from the flowers presenting the three 
colours of the Belgian flag. 
Hew Pomologicae Association. —An Asso¬ 
ciation of all the instructors in fruit-tree cul¬ 
ture has been established in Belgium, under 
the presidency of M. Yanclen Hecke de Lem- 
beke. Its objects are to establish uniformity 
in the nomenclature of fruits, and the mode 
of teaching their culture, as well as a closer 
study of the varieties. The Association will 
likewise publish a journal devoted to these 
subjects. 
Hollyhock Flowers as a Dye Stuff.— 
Hear Huremberg, a variety with almost black 
flowers is cultivated for the sake of the colour¬ 
ing matter, which is employed in colouring 
wines and dyeing cotton stuff. It is largely 
exported to England. A profit of as much as 
£32 per acre is said to have been realised. 
Eogiera gratissima. — The Hovember 
Humber of the “ Flore des Serres” contains 
a coloured plate of this very ornamental rosy- 
flowered shrub, which was shown last autumn 
by M. Linden, of Brussels, at South Kensing¬ 
ton and the Crystal Palace. It was discovered 
by M. Ghiesbreght in the mountains of 
Chiapas, on the frontiers of Mexico and Gua¬ 
temala, and the altitude at which it was 
growing renders it probable that the plant 
will flower in the open air if afforded the pro¬ 
tection of a greenhouse in winter. 
Messrs. Lee’s Hursery at Hammersmith. 
—We publish with pleasure the following- 
letter which we have received from Messrs. 
Lee, relative to a notice in our Hovember 
Humber, and which appears to have been mis¬ 
understood by some of our readers :—• 
“Our attention has been called to a para¬ 
graph about our Hursery, in your Humber 
for the month of Hovember, which is likely 
to mislead our friends and correspondents, as 
it may readily be inferred from the statement 
that we are leaving Hammersmith altogether, 
and removing to Ealing and Feltham, where 
we have established Nurseries. Permit us, 
therefore, to say that our business will still 
be carried on as usual at the Vineyard, Ham¬ 
mersmith, where we have been located up- 
