THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, March 10, 1857. . 393 
From the garden of the Society were a lot of very 
useful plants, such as the new crossed Begonias, Epa- 
crises, Acacias, Conocliniums; the new large kind of 
Mignonette, Chinese Primroses, Polygalas; Eranthe- 
mum pulchellum ; the white and red-fruited Ardisia 
crenulata , which they call lentigiuosa; Oncidium bical¬ 
losum; Clivea nobilis, very fine ; and a welcome hanging- 
basket plant, with long, trailing, hang-down-at-will shoots, 
having middle-sized Achimenes-like leaves and indigo 
blue berries, which hold on all the winter, and might be 
taken for knots of flowers ; but the flowers are nothing. 
It seeds, and spring seedlings make full-grown plants 
for next winter, and far better plants than from cuttings; 
the name is Coccocypselum repens. It belongs to the 
Cinchonads, or Peruvian Bark tribe, but not like Ixoras, 
Gardenias, Bouvardias, and the like, in their gay flowers, 
but rather as dyeing plants with tinctoria qualities. 
This, for instance, would dye yellow stockings and white 
feathers as blue as a bonnet “ over the borders.” 
There was a cut branch of Pinus Brutia, with six green 
cones in a cluster, from the Hon. W. Eox Strang ways. 
A collection of dissected leaves and seed-pods, from John 
Howes, Esq., 7, Adelphi Terrace, in London, the most 
exquisitely beautiful things you ever saw. Nothing but 
the bleached network of veins and ribs was left; but 
the art is all but a mystery yet. 
Mr. Solomons sent a collection of vegetables and salads 
of continental growth as usual; but his French Beans 
were completely excelled by those from Queen Victoria, 
and it really was a comfort that we can more than match 
the French with their own Beans. The Windsor Aspa¬ 
ragus (100) was also as long, as white, and as big as you 
ever saw or heard of in Covent Garden; but I did not 
hear how long it took to boil them ! A large, flat basket 
of Mushrooms from Her Majesty were the most perfect 
specimens of good Mushroom growing which have yet 
been seen by the Horticultural Society. They were all 
of one size, a middle size, and all of them were still 
closed over the gills like button Mushrooms. Their stalks 
were fixed iu moss, and their light chestnut colour was 
one uniform tint over the flat surface. Now, my young 
sprig of a gardener, my legacy to you is this advice— 
never believe that you are fit to marry a sensible woman 
till you know how to dish Mushrooms after this fashion, 
instead of tumbling them “ head and heels” into a deep 
basket as if they were toadstools. To think of growing 
them like this is out of the question until you are settled 
in life. 
Mr. Tillyard, tlieF.H.S. that is to be, sent a collection 
of beautiful Pears, “ when other fruit rooms all over the 
country are empty.” Qlout Morceau, Ne Plus Meuris, 
Easter Beurre, and Beurre de Ranee, were the chief of 
them. John Alnutt, Esq., Clapham Common, sent a 
dish of large, flat Mushrooms, and a Camellia called 
Marchioness of Exeter, as unlike her ladyship as any 
flower I know. A pure Pseony-flowered, half white, and 
half red, in mottled stripes, is a very different thing 
from the handsome Marchioness of Exeter as first 
described in our books. There was a fine dish of Black 
Prince Strawberries from Mr. Fleming, and true early 
| Black Hamburgh Grapes, five bunches; also late Mus- 
| cats of Alexandria Grapes, three bunches; and two 
bunches of Black Barbarossa, all in the Trentham style. 
; The new Grapes had young, green leaves attached to 
the spurs, as all early Grapes ought to have for a 
public show; not but that gardeners can distinguish 
between old and young Grapes at any season of the year 
by merely cutting a slice from the end of the spur, or 
piece of wood on which the bunch had grown, to see if 
the wood is as ripe or riper than the fruit appears to be. 
At this stage was explained an error which the Society 
had published in the report of the February Meeting, 
of which I merely said “ that we were told ” such Grapes 
(Black St. Peters) were “ early Grapes;” but the “ ex¬ 
planation ” made some of the practicals blush back to 
the ears. What a contrast to the powers of science in 
describing the branched Pine Apples of Penang ! The 
truth seemed to be that “the latter rains” came too 
early last autumn to allow the late St. Peter’s to ripen 
iu time before the old year was fairly out; and that, 
having ripened four months later than in former years, 
aud so early in 1857, they ought to be considered early 
Grapes. Sir William Middleton got me once into a fix 
of this kind. I sent in early Potatoes for the Christmas 
dinner in 1842, and the worthy baronet laughed in my 
face, and said no one could have later Potatoes than on 
the last week of the old year. After that the 1st of 
January was my rule to send up the first dish of early 
Potatoes; and, to be on the safe side, let no one plant 
“ an early Vinery with St. Peter's Grapes ” on the 
authority of the Horticultural Society till we learn the 
practice and opinions of the new gardener at Chiswick. 
Mr. Butcher, of Stratford-on-Avon, sent a fine basket 
of Barbarossa Grapes. There were three or four Pine 
Apples, very useful sizes at home to cut for company, 
but not fit for a public exhibition, none of them being 
above 3 lbs. 
The Chairman explained a resolution of the Council 
not to charge the annual subscriptions on fresh-made 
members this spring till after the 1st of May, being the 
end of each year in this Society. No one, therefore, who 
desires to have F.H.S. added to his titles need hold back 
any longer; the ballot-box is ready for him. 
D. Beaton. 
WINDOW GARDENING FOR SPRING. 
( Continued, from page 379.) 
2nd. Cleanliness. —This is as essential to health in the 
vegetable as in the animal economy; perhaps, in some re¬ 
spects, even more so. I have met with some people who 
had a great dislike to bring their blooming cheeks into con¬ 
tact with water, and might fairly presume that other parts of 
the body were even greater strangers to the purifying liquid; 
but I never met with one who carried the daubing-up theory 
so far as to shut up his nostrils and his mouth too, and yet 
expect to live and be healtby. This, however, is pretty well 
done in the case of a plant when its leaves and green bark 
are covered with dust and impurities, as through these leaves 
functions somewhat analagous to respiration, perspiration, 
and digestion in the animal economy are carried on. 
Respiration .—So far as I am aware it is generally allowed 
that the decomposition of carbonic acid takes place only 
during the day, and that is most effectually done when the 
leaves are thoroughly clean. The cai’bon of the carbonic 
acid becomes thus assimilated to the plant, and the oxygen, 
its other component part, is set free to act as a stimulus to 
vital energy. Functions are then performed similar to 
respiration, digestion, and assimilation. You may thus have 
mere expansion by means of heat and moisture, but you will 
have little solid addition unless you have light acting on clean 
foliage. It would occupy too much space to tell of the many 
experiments by which it has been proved that plants exhale 
oxygen during the day. Even when placed in an inclosed 
atmosphere of carbonic acid they have been found to absorb 
and decompose it, and make the atmosphere around them 
healthy by the exhaling of oxygen. Some of these experi¬ 
ments led to the idea of growing plants in Wardian cases, 
without troubling the possessor with changing the atmo¬ 
sphere ; but though some plants will thus retain vitality for 
a long time, the changing of the atmosphere is now rightly 
reckoned a matter of importance. I have found small plants 
in confined places greatly stimulated to robust action by 
giving them air at night, and thus increasing the field whence - 
at that time they could absorb oxygen. 
Perspiration .—The cleanness of the leaves and stems will 
be seen to be still more important when we consider that, in 
addition to respiring, there is a constant system of perspira¬ 
tion going on, and that it reaches its maximum when the 
sunlight is the most powerful and the temperature at the 
