THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 9, 1858. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Weather near London in 1857. 
| 
D 
D 
MARCH 9—15, 1858. 
Rain in 
Sun 
Sun 
Moon 
Moon’s 
Clock 
Day of j 
M 
W 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Inches. 
Rises. 
Sets. 
R.andS. 
Age. 
afterSun 
Year. 
9 
Tu 
Baurea rubra. 
29.992—29.715 
44—27 
N. 
.03 
30 af 6 
51 af 5 
4af 7 
24 
10 
45 
68 
10 
W 
Boronia pinnata. 
30.005—29.932 
40—30 
S.W. 
.01 
28 
53 
4 46 
25 
10 
29 
69 j 
11 
Th 
Bossiaea ovata. 
29.989—29.875 
40—25 
s.w. 
— 
26 
55 
5 14 
26 
10 
13 
70 I 
12 
F 
Bossicea rotundifolia. 
30.002—29.990 
45—28 
S.W. 
— 
23 
57 
5 36 
27 
9 
57 
71 
13 
S 
Bossisea cordifolia. 
29.806—29.519 
45—33 
s. 
— 
21 
58 
5 51 
28 
9 
41 
72 
14 
Sun 
4th, or Midlent Sunday. 
30.096—29.051 
57—40 
s.w. 
.01 
19 
VI. 
6 4 
29 
9 
24 
73 I 
15 
|_ 
M 
Camellias. 
29.805—29.311 
58—27 
s.w. 
17 
2 
sets 
© 
9 
7 
74 
1 
Meteorology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during: the last thirty-one years, the average highest and lowest 
| temperatures of these days are 50.7® and 31.8®, respectively. The greatest heat, 68®, occurred on the 9th, in 1829 ; and thelowest cold, 7°, ! 
| on the 10th, in 1847. During the period 136 days were fine, and on 81 rain fell. 
MEETING OF THE HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY.— Makch 2. 
The weather is bewitched for the Horticultural 
Society. Were it not that the Prince Consort was to 
be elected President, and that Dr. Lindley had thrown 
up his premiership and his pension, and was to be 
elected to his old post again, without pay, I would 
sooner stop at home, and roast potatoes all day, 
than venture out in such weather. But the same 
causes operated so widely, that we had barely standing 
room for all the Fellows, their wives and relatives, who 
attended. Nurserymen by the score, and lots of gar¬ 
deners. Also, some of the great spirits of the age— 
as Sir W. Hooker, Mr. and Mrs. Bentham, and so- 
forth. The first grand opportunity for seeing the 
effect of the circulation of fresh blood into the new 
arteries of the Society, in the shape of “forced 
flowers,” could not be expected on such a day. Who 
could venture plants out of doors in face of the lion 
of March ? March came in like a lion this time, sure 
enough. But the British lion felt the impulse of the 
new order of things among the fruits and flowers, more 
keenly than frost and snow, and the upshot of it was, 
a better, far better, show of flowers than the old Hor¬ 
ticultural had ever seen in March, or yet in April. 
“ What a pity the unreformed Horticultural had not 
been off the stocks ten years back! ” Nothing of the 
sort. It is much better as it is. Who knows but the 
“ new blood ” might not run as slow and as muddy 
after a while, and more particularly so, as it has to 
run in the old system of the body ? 
Ten years back there was no appearance of an effec¬ 
tive opposition, such as that now at Sydenham, where 
the “ higher branches ” are taught without “school¬ 
ing,” or scolding ; or, of a practical application of the 
entire experience of the country, anent fruit, in the 
shape of aPomological Society ; and without an effec¬ 
tive, fair, and straightforward opposition, it would 
seem as impossible to do the right thing, by means of 
a Society, as to propagate plants by grafting the 
wrong end of the stock. 
This time two years Earl Grey, with his parlia¬ 
mentary experience of men and things, took up the 
notions and the cudgels of the old Horticultural, and 
argued most conclusively, at one of our Meetings, 
that we should get rid of the Chiswick Garden, open 
a shop in London, and sell “tracts” on vegetable 
physiology, as applied to gardening. It must be im¬ 
mensely cheaper and more easy to garden in the air, 
than in a common garden like ours, with no money to 
buy seed for it, and no credit to go to market with. 
Now, if you had seen, as I did, the effect that turn 
in the tide had on young England, you would not be 
the least surprised at Lord Palmerston, for throwing 
up the game of politics. I wonder if he also threw 
up his salary P or if 'his society is rich enough to pay 
without work P Either way, we must be better off, 
and better to seiwe than politicians, for our work is 
willingly accepted, with or without pay, and it would 
be extreme folly, on our part, not to cut according to 
our cloth, and so we did, by electing our old premier. 
To keep ahead of intruders, we now offer good prizes 
for forced flowers, and, judging from a fair beginning, 
we are likely to beat the world in that direction. 
To keep the Pomological Society on its manners, we 
have instituted a “Pomological Committee,” to whose 
skill and judgment every new fruit will be referred in 
Regent Street. Therefore, we take no account of the 
merits of any kind, or sample, of new fruit, at our or¬ 
dinary Meetings in future. Indeed, the new field of 
spring flowers, and forced and retarded flowers, has 
been thus so indefinitely extended, that we are com¬ 
pelled to hold our April Meeting on the 21st and 
22nd, in the largest room in London, St. James’s Hall, 
Piccadilly and Regent Street; that is, behind Swan 
and Edgar’s, and close on the Police Station, in Vine 
Street. A very convenient arrangement, as the Hall 
will be lighted at night, and open until ten o’clock, 
for young gardeners to bring their sweethearts to see 
the flowers. 
We are also going to take the bread out of the 
mouths of the East End dons next November, by 
adding a grand Chrysanthemum Show, with Ferns 
and fine-leaved plants, to the monster meeting of fruit 
in Willis’s Rooms. All in St. James’s Hall, and all so 
near to the Police Station, that we shall have no diffi¬ 
culty in “handing over” such of the Judges and 
reporters as may, even, grumble at a hard day’s work. 
But, let us glance at our present success, in the 
midst of the frost and snow. Twelve collections of 
Hyacinths—some had eighteen to the dozen, some 
twelve, and some six, and not a badly-forced flower 
among them. Messrs. Cutbush and Son, of the High- 
f ate Nursery, took the premier prize; Mr. Turner, of 
lough, the next; and the Messrs. Jackson, of Kings¬ 
ton, the next—all in the eighteens. Mr. Davis, gar¬ 
dener to E. Rosher, Esq., took the first prize for the 
twelve collections ; and Mr. Ingram the next, for Her 
Majesty. Two grand collections of double Chinese 
Primroses, six plants in each, the Messrs. Jackson 
were first in these ; and Mr. Glendinning, of the Chis¬ 
wick Nursery, after them. A collection of forced 
flowers, with the pots hid in moss, from Mr. Cutbush, 
of Highgate, was much praised, but I did not catch 
the prize. This collection consisted of a row in front 
of the beautiful blue Scillaprcecox, all in pots ; then 
single and double Tulips, Hyacinths, Narcissuses (the 
yellow Solid d' Or), Ghent, and other Azaleas, Deutzia 
gracilis, and others, with some forced Rhododendrons. 
A large collection of very beautiful Cineraria seed¬ 
lings, from Mr. Smith, nurseryman, Dulwich; my 
own favourite of them is called Mrs. Livingston, the 
“Ma Robert” of Dr. Livingston’s book. The next, 
Dr. Livingston, himself a new very deep-edged crimson 
purple, with a small white centre, but Mrs. Livingston 
is in the older state, a large white centre ; and crimson- 
No. 493. Vol. XIX. 
