THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
140 
coloured fruit of most delicious and picquaut flavour. 
In warm, light, loamy soils, it succeeds well on the Pear 
stock; but in such as are cold and heavy it should 
always be grown upon the Quince. Wo have seen it, in 
Cheshire and in Herefordshire, produce, from standards, 
abundant crops of highly-flavoured and handsome fruit 
on the Pear; and as far north as Edinburgh, we have 
seen it cultivated against walls, and produce, in such 
situations, fruit equal in size and flavour to any grown 
in the south. 
This very valuable Pear was raised at Avranches, 
about the year 1788, by M. Longueval, who, at first, 
named it simply “ Louise,” but, subsequently, added 
“ Bonne.” The original tree is still in existence in the 
garden where it was raised, now in the occupation of 
M. Leclerc, Rue St. Germain, at Avranches. The name 
by which it is known over the whole of the Continent 
is that which we have thought proper to retain in our 
present notice; but that by which it has passed in this 
country, and which is a misnomer, originated from the 
circumstance, that on the first introduction of the tree 
to the Horticultural Society from Jersey, it was received 
under the name of “ Louise Bonne,” and to distinguish 
it from the old Louise Bonne of Duharael and others, it 
was called “Louise Bonne of Jersey.” 
LONDON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S 
MEETING. 
November 20th, 1855. 
This was the first meeting, in Regent Street, after the 
long vacation, and since the public announcement of 
the money difficulties of the Society, and the sate of 
their Orchids; therefore, it may have been the spirit of 
curiosity, to see or bear how things went on, which 
prompted part of the visitors to meet that day; and 
others might have thought their presence would 
strengthen and encourage the Society, and so braved 
the weather. However that may be, this was the largest 
November meeting of the Society in my time, and the 
largest exhibition of flowers and fruits, particularly the 
latter, which the Society ever had in London in any 
month in the year. I had expected, as if I were still 
in Suffolk, to find the Society short of hands, from the 
rumours that some of the officials were dischai’ged to 
lessen the expenses; but nothing of that kind has yet 
been done, save the parting with the Orchids ; nor will 
anything further be attempted till next February or 
March, when a general meeting of the more influential 
of the country members, then in town, will be held, to 
consider on the best steps to be taken for the future 
movements of the body ; therefore, like the allied armies 
abroad, we have only to take care of ourselves this 
winter, at least, and wait the results of the next move¬ 
ment with patience and resignation. 
The Pomologioal Society seem to have made more 
stir and progress, already, than is at all pleasant or con¬ 
venient for the reporters; they of the Pomological have 
already raised such a spirit for prizes and competition 
1 in fruit all over the country, as bids fair to overwhelm 
the Horticultural and all such. Instead of dishes 
of fruits for the dessert, we had bushels to select from, 
both for kitchen and table ; instead of matcb-corners, 
tops and bottoms with Pine-apples and Grapes, we 
had them there by the whole dozens of Pines; and 
November 27. ! 
the numbers and variety of Grapes, Plums, Straw¬ 
berries, Raspberries, and Figs, were too much, and 
too many, for the size of my note-book, and for the 
strength of the official staff of the Society, so that 
nobody know how the prizes went, because no tickets 
could bo prepared in time to tell of the lucky winners; 
and were it not for a few drops from the lecture, one 
would not even know that the dessert table for this 
great party was turned “end for end:”—that is, the 
bottom of the table stands now where the top used to 
be; or else the contributors for either end changed places, 
which is the more likely of the two, but of which we 
shall not be altogether certain until the Society find 
time to publish the official accounts; therefore, if I 
should drop a guess, here or there, in this report, as to 
who had this or that prize, it must be taken as my 
owu hasty opinion at the time ; and such opinions are 
always liable to be at fault; but instead of putting the 
blame on my shoulders, lay it at the door of the Pomo¬ 
logical, who caused all this ovenehelmingness. 
The great attraction among the flowers w'as from the 
numbers, and variety, and extraordinary improvement 
in the Pompone Chrysanthemums. No one could have 
believed that such a stride could have been made in one 
twelvemonth; but the telegraph must have been at 
work lately, and told of the strength of the opposing 
parties, and the result was as curious as instructive. 
You recollect, that formerly the Society chose a wrong 
meeting-day for the Chrysanthemums—some day in the 
first week in November—and I had to open a cross fire 
against that arrangement, till the right day w'as ap¬ 
pointed; and this was the second return to the improved 
system of the Society, and that on the side of the com¬ 
petitors, who, from the electric disclosures of the last few 
weeks, left the field in a body, and gave up all chances 
of prize-money, ratber than undergo the humiliation of 
being beaten on their own ground by a set of new 
comers, who had been drilled for years on the outskirts 
of London, but could not enter the lists at the Horti¬ 
cultural until now, owing to the day of meeting; hence 
it was, that all the competitors in this class were new 
men this time. New brooms sweep clean; and there 
never was a sweep more cleanly done than with these 
very Pompones. No one can now resist the temptation 
of growing a select, and very select, assortment of them, 
bel)is means what they may. France is alive with new 
kinds of them. Mr. Turner, of Slough, who is the best 
judge of fancy flowers in the three kingdoms, told me, at 
this meeting, that he was over in France this autumn, 
attd knows of one grower there who has eighteen new 
kinds of Pompones, which are as early as Hcndersonii, 
that is, coming in for the autumn decoration of the 
flower-beds, as a change from Geraniums, and to fill up 
Heliotrope, and such other beds as may have been hurt 
by an early frost; also to make good such beds as happen 
to get out of bloom by the middle of September, because 
there is a good promise of a heavy bloom in ten days or 
a fortnight, no one will grudge a plain Pompone-planted 
bed for a while. Indeed, my owu bed of Hendersonii I 
alone looked much better at the middle of September 
than scores of beds I have seen in first-rate places; and at 
this very day, the 21st of November, I would not fear 
entering the lists against a Duke for out door Pompone 
Chysanthemums, alter thinning my stock considerably, 
to extend a taste for them among the great and good on 
each side of me. I have now proved forty-two kinds of 
them, and made up my mind to reduce tliis number to 
eighteen or twenty, and get in new ones. There were ! 
four kinds at this meeting, which I must have; and Mr. [ 
Turner has six or seven kinds of the earlier ones, which ^ 
I cannot do without; and I am going over to Mr. j 
Salter, at Hammersmith, in a day or two, to fix on the | 
best and newest kinds in his collection ; for the good of 
all parties, therefore, I shall defer my annual selection 
