400 
INIaiich 4. 
THE COTTAGE GATDENER. 
I 
i 
' Gonsiiltatioiis nve as secret as those of the Congress 
^ siiiuiltaneously sitting at Paris. Not even a cleric was 
I admitted; and even officials engaged in an adjoining 
■ room were removed to a more distant office. ^\ e merely 
give utterance, therefore, to our own well considered 
.opinions, hut have the more confidence in their correct¬ 
ness because they are opinions entertained by some of 
the soundest heads among the gardening community. 
Those heads, also, all sanction the fervent hope thus 
expressed in a letter before us: “ INIay tlie Society, above 
all things, have a leading official with whom it will be a 
I pleasure to confer—one that will be ready' to give in- 
j formation—ready to oblige—ready to aid the wearer of 
{ a blue apron.” 
Since the foregoing remarks have been in type, we 
hear, from a reliable source, that the Committee are 
unanimous on the following points. On other points, 
at present, there are some slight differences of opinion. 
I. The Gardens to be continued. 
II. To have two this year; one in June and the 
other in July. 
III. Old subscribers, and all new ones at four guineas 
annually, and two guineas entrance, in addition to 
the usual privileges, to have an ivory season ticket, 
transferable to any member of their own family ; or, 
perhaps, transferable without limit; ,it is not quite 
settled which. 
IV. To create a new class of subscribers of two guineas 
annually, and one guinea entrance; those to have 
no privileges beyond tickets at a reduced pVice. 
V. Subscriptions to be paid at the time of election, 
instead of retrospectively as heretofore. 
JilEETING OF THE HOITJTCULTURAL SOCIETY. 
20th Februaev. 
There was a large meeting of the Fellows on this 
occasion; but a new regulation, for paying for admission, 
scared all the birds of sirange plumage, who used to 
hover about the skirts of the Society at the.se meetings; 
and practical gardeners seem to take high dudgeon at 
the council for their attempt to get rid of the garden, or 
else for cutting off the prizes, in future, at these meetings 
in London, which made them also stand aloof, so that 
we were not loaded with Cabbages, fruit, or “ common 
things;” but the nursery trade came out very strong 
and most handsomely. The innermost secrets of the 
propagating department were arrayed before us in more 
than one hundred forms. 
A special object w'as fixed on for a lecture at this 
meeting, and that object was Grafting, which was 
handled with tact and judgment in all its bearings, that 
is, historically, philosophically, physiologically, and 
practically. Judging from the looks of the meeting, 
the subject was, or seemed to be, of sufficient interest to 
rivet attention and curiosity for the time being. 
Before commencing the lecture, however, the lecturer 
drew our attention to several groups of choice plants in 
bloom, which were contributed from the following 
nurserymen:—The Messrs. Veitch, llollison,* Henderson 
of the Wellington Koad Nur.sery, Osborn, Masters of 
Canterbury, Stnndish and Noble, Cutbush, and also 
from Mr. Forsyth, gardener to Baron Botlischild; E. 
Crockfoi'd, Esq.; and E. Bosher, Escp, and others, with 
a fine group from the garden of the Society. 
Here I must malce ))articular meniion of one observa¬ 
tion which the lecturer made in reference to a host of | 
old Australian, Ca))e, and other old-fashioned greenliouse j 
plants, to which 1 heartily and most sincerely said, “ So 
be it,” but not so loud as to be heard, lleferring to a 
beautiffdly-grown siiecimen of the Jlalra aciciilaris in : 
full bloom, he said, that about a fortnight before the ! 
meeting this plant was so loaded with its snow-white . 
flowers as to rival any of the exhibition jtlants; and i 
then remarked, very pointedly, that if the same amount | 
of skill and judgment were brought to bear on many of ' 
that class of plants as were lavished on Chinese Azaleas, ' 
and on more ephemeral subjects, the result would be of t 
far more real advantage to gardening than the most ■ 
sanguine could conceive. Now, this admission, from that ! 
([uarter, was worth a first-class gold medal to your humble ; 
servant I never have ceased, and never shall cease, as : 
long as T have life, from declaring my firm conviction, that 
the great metropolitan shows at the Chiswick Gardens, ' 
the Regent’s Park, and at all such places, have just done ' 
as much harm to gardeners and gardening in general, 
as ever they promoted the interest of either. Of this I 
am quite certain. What has been exhibited in col¬ 
lections for the last dozen years, save a condensed mass 
of the very easiest plants in the country to grow ? The 
moment a plant was found to be the least difficult to J 
grow it was thrown aside, and a sounding name was 
given to the merest variety of the easiest ])lant to cul- i 
tivate to make up the show of numbers. Thus, gar- t 
deners were actually receiving gold and silver medals to ; 
encourage them to circumscribe one collection of plants, 
year by year. How very different our position would be, 
and might have been, at the present day, had the leaders 
of the Horticulturals taken a different course; if they 
had offered and awarded their offerings for “ that amount 
of skill and judgment,” &c., &e., &c., which we cannot 
now recal, but wiiich we must think about ere long if ; 
we want a leg to stand on. 
The next in the group, from the garden of the Society, 
was Thjirsacanthus Scliomhurghii, alias rutUans, and T. 
lilacinus; the first well known as the most elegant and 
most useful of stove plants, keeping in flower for three 
or four months in the dead of winter, and as easy to 
propagate as a Verbena, and no more difficult to grow 
than a Fuchsia. JAlucinus is just as useful, and as easy 
to grow, with long, upright spikes of pale lilac blossoms. 
Franciscea. macrophylla, as healthy as a mountain 
daisy, from being grown in a cool liouse, only a shade ] 
warmer than a greenhouse: heat is inimical to the ' 
health of all the family. Rhododendron lUacinnm, a fine i 
lilacy-blush kind from Sikkim, and most valuable for I 
coming in so early. Epacris densifiora, a line blush kind. . 
Muraltia xtipularis, nearly as old as the Holly tree, 
and as useful, when yon want something to make you | 
smart in the dull of winter. Azalea ohliisa, with dark 
red flowers. 'I’he large Forsythia riridissitna, which | 
they keep from the frost to save the flowers, though the | 
plant is luirdy ; and two varieties of Galanthiis plicatux, 
or Russian Snow'drops, very different from ours. This 
species w’as received, some years since, from Dr. Fischer, 
of St. Petersburgh, and a grayish-leaved variety of it 
from Col. Munro, who sent it last year from the Crimea, 
j w'bero it grows wild among their tents. 
Mr. Henderson, of the Wellington Road Nursery, 
sent a most lovely new bulb of the Pancratium section 
of Amaryllids, called Eucharis grandillora,\y\l\\ nodding 
flowers on a tall scape, as white as snow, and of ivory 
polish and substance. The scape is live-flowered, coming ; 
in succession. How I mourn that a share of that 
“amount of skill and judgment” has never been in¬ 
vited to develops the surpassing bendy of this race of 
i plants. 
