291 
melting and juicy, sweet and riclily flavoured. 
Veitch stated, in a communication, that he has several 
standards of this variety in the open ground with 
several dozens of fruit on them, but not yet ripe. 
GRAPES. 
Mr. Paul, of Cheshunt, sent bunches of a variety 
of Sweetwater Grape, called Froc La Boulay, and 
which is recommended by the French as the best 
variety for out-door cultivation. These were grown 
in an ordinary greenhouse, and were very similar, if 
not identical, with a variety known as the Prolific 
Sweetwater. 
Mr. Lane, of Berkliampstead, sent a bunch of 
Wilmott’s Muscat Muscadine and of White Frontignan 
for comparison. The bunches and berries are exactly 
alike, and both have the same musky flavour ; but it 
was thought by some that Wilmott’s Muscadine was 
rather firmer in the flesh than the other. 
Mr. Wighton, of Cossey Hall, near Norwich, sent 
a bunch of a Seedling Black Grape, which was thought 
to possess considerable merit. It is supposed to be 
a seedling, between the Black Hamburgh and Blade 
Prince, and is considered by Mr. Wighton to be 
well adapted for a late-house vinery, as it is an excel¬ 
lent keeper, and not so thick-skinned as some other 
late sorts; the leaves die off red, and the plant has 
the peculiar habit of showing fruit at the fourth or 
fifth joints. It was the opinion of the Meeting that 
this is an excellent variety, and Mr. Wighton was re¬ 
quested to send it again about Christmas, so that the 
Society might judge of its keeping properties. 
Mr. W. Watt, gardener to Sir Thomas Whichcote, 
Bart., Answarby Park, near Polkingham, Lincolnshire, 
seiLt three varieties of Grapes, brought from the north 
of Spain twelve months ago. No. 1, said to be “one 
of the best Spanish dessert varieties, frequently met 
with at the tables of the great, and much esteemed for 
its musky flavour,” proved to be Grizzly Frontignan. 
No. 2 is a peculiar-looking variety. The stalk of the 
bunch and the berries are of a pale rose or flesh 
colour, and covered with a delicate bloom. The 
berries are about medium size, and round; the skin 
remarkably thin; the flesh firm, and, though very 
sweet, not highly or pleasantly flavoured; the flavour 
rather mawkish for want of acid. No. 3 is said to be 
a vineyard variety, highly esteemed, and, though not 
a large bunch, the plant is an abundant bearer. This 
was considered a much superior variety to No. 2. The 
berries are round, and of a greenish colour, and pos¬ 
sess very excellent flavour; the flesh is much more 
melting, and does not adhere so closely to the skin as 
in the other variety. If well grown this will prove 
an excellent Grape, rich in flavour, and perhaps, if, as 
is stated, it is an abundant bearer, will prove a valu¬ 
able variety for pot culture. 
PLUMS. 
Mr. Lane, of Berkampstead, exhibited in a pot a 
plant of Primus niyrobalana (the Myrobalan, or 
Cherry Plum), which was literally studded with fruit. 
It was a beautiful object, the bright cornelian fruit 
contrasting pleasingly with the dark green foliage,— 
a more ornamental plant could hardly be conceived. 
Mr. Rivers exhibited a dish of his Farly Prolific 
Plum, which was quite ripe. 
MELONS. 
Mr. Robert Elphinstone, of Flixton Hall, sent a 
specimen of his Hybrid, upon which the Society gave 
a high opinion last year; but the fruit on this occasion 
was not in condition. He also sent a new variety, 
raised from a cross between his Hybrid and Trentham 
Hybrid, but this also was not in condition. 
Mr. J. Pottle, of the Grove, Little Bealing, near 
Woodbridge, sent a specimen of a new variety of > 
Melon, raised by himself. It belongs to the round 
class, and is white and netted. The skin is remark¬ 
ably thin, the flesh very melting, and the flavour 
excellent. The Society considered it a variety of great 
excellence. 
MULBERRY. 
Mr. James Veitch, of Exeter, exhibited fruit of a ' 
new White Mulberry, with the following remark :— 
“ This is the first year of fruiting the Syrian Sweet 
White Mulberry, which is against an east wall. The 
foliage is very fine, and, as a standard, it makes a very 
ornamental tree, worth cultivation, even if it never 
bore fruit.” The fruit, as exhibited, is as large as the 
common Black Mulberry, but is pearly white, and the 
taste is perfectly sweet. If allowed to hang, this 
would dry and become a sweetmeat, as it does in 
Syria. 
apples. 
Mr. Turner, of Slough, brought some of Lord j 
Suffield Apple, a variety grown in the midland counties, ! 
and which is said to be an excellent bearer, and one of , 
the best culinary Apples. j 
Mr. Sclater, of Exeter, sent a Seedling Apple, very ! 
highly coloured, and covered with a beautiful bloom, 
which appears to be a good early kitchen Apple. 
Mr. Fivers brought specimens of Farly Harvest, 
the best of all the early dessert varieties. 
Mr. Wighton, of Cossey Hall, sent specimens of j 
two varieties found in the Norwich markets, under the | 
names of Margaret and Maid’s Legs. 
I 
CURRANTS. I 
Messrs. Milne, Arnott, and Co., of Vauxhall, ex¬ 
hibited excellent specimens of White Butch Currants, 
from plants, two years old, in the nursery quarters. 
INDIGOFEBA DOSUA. 
(New Flowering Shrub.) 
We have often remarked a disparity in the rate of progress, 
towards the goal of popular favour, between a new hardy 
flowering shrub and a new florists’ flower. True it is, and 
a little reflection is sufficient to explain the anomaly. Our 
Roses, Pelargoniums, and such plants are of a fashionable 
throng, and the moment a new member is obtained the 
graceful neophyte is paraded forth with gay, floating banners, 
amid the flourishing of trumpets and the noise of fame. 
The new flowering shrub, though possessed of the same in¬ 
trinsic excellence, is less favourably circumstanced. Natu¬ 
rally slow in its development, belonging to no gay coterie, it 
does not come thus prominently before the public. It 
moves slowly and silently into the pathway of fame, depend¬ 
ing on time and its own merits for patronage and position. | 
We have been led to these remarks through having re- ! 
cently met with a beautiful new hardy shrub at the Cheshunt I 
Nurseries. The proprietors, Messrs. Paul and Son, inform j 
us that it was received from the south of France, some two | 
years since, under the name of Indigofera dosua. This ! 
grows naturally in Upper Nepaul, at Suemba, where it is , 
called JDosi-swa by the natives, and hence it was named by 
Professor Don, dosua. 
The plant is growing in the natural soil of the Cheshunt \ 
Nurseries, which is a moderately light garden loam. That 
it is hardy cannot be doubted, for it has withstood the two 
last winters, wholly unprotected, out of doors. The plant is 
now about four feet high, and six yards in circumference, 
composed of numerous long pointed shoots, resembling a 
dwarf Willow in general outline. More than a thousand 
elegant spikes of purple pea-shaped blossoms, averaging 
three inches in length, adorn the bush at the present 
time ; and, judging from those still unexpanded, there would 
seem a line of succession long enough to continue the j 
blooming period from this time till November. The stems j 
continue growing during summer, and froip the axil of 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 10,1858. 
Mr. 
