354 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Septembeb 11. 1860. 
travelled ; and I want tlie red-flowering variety of it to ' 
mix with my own reversion of Calystegia pubescens, the 
prettiest of them all. That the Chinese had originally 
converted that free and single form by their dwarfing 
system to the double, ragged, rapscallion form in which 
Fortune found it is now evident, and I was pleased to 
hear both Sir William and Dr. Hooker acquiesce in that 
view of the origin of Calystegia pubescens. 
Tasmannia aromatica is all but hardy at Kew, and 
seeding freely, the seedlings looking Arbutus-like. Skim- 
mia japonica hardy as a Spurge Laurel, and seeding freely 
enough ; the seedlings up in a fortnight when sown as soon 
as ripe, and 500 of them there to prove the fact. Clethra 
arhorea, old as the hills coming into bloom; and Itea 
virginiea, of equal date, in full bloom before it. Put all 
these together, and they make a respectable batch for 
blooming in the autumn in front of all our shrubberies. 
A large bed of white Moss Poses on their own roots, 
looking as healthy as young Perpetuals, is a sight one 
seldom sees ; but all the Poses are preferred there on 
their own roots on their light soil over a deep gravel bed, 
and large batches of all our Lilacs from seeds may prove 
the origin of some of them, and something else to the 
bargain. D. Beaton. 
MONSTEP FUCHSIA. 
I ENCLOSE a bloom of Fuchsia Duchess of Sutherland, which I 
think is a monster. It grew on a weak shoot at the bottom of a 
plant, four or five years old, about three feet high.—H eney 
Weight, Gardener, Herringswell House, Mildenhall. 
[This is a most remarkable instance of monstrosity, or mon¬ 
strous sport, which is of the class called cockscomb sports. The 
flower-stalk is flattened, and is over half an inch wide at the 
insertion of the berry. The berry is also flat, and three-quarters 
of an inch wide across the centre. The style is flat, and full 
half an inch wide, with a cockscomb stigma three-quarters of an 
inch wide. The tube is partially flattened, and of the usual 
length, but more than double the common size. The sepals are 
fifteen in number, and of the usual shape and size. The petals 
are also fifteen in number, but of the usual size; and to make 
room for them each petal is folded back on its edges. The 
stamens and anthers are of the usual form and size : the former 
are inserted immediately at the mouth of the tube, and are thirty- 
five in number. The pollen seems good, and it is to be regretted 
that the flower was not fertilised and got to seed. The next 
best chance in such cases would be to cut down the head of the 
plant at once to the branch which produced the sport, also any 
branch or branches below it, and to keep the plant under the 
same conditions as now for as great a length of time as possible, 
or at the least till next blooming time—that is, to keep it in the 
same pot, and not give it any stimulus during the whole time 
from this autumn till next May or June, but to have it half dry 
in a cool place all the winter; and when it begins to push again 
to keep it as cool as it will bear without hurt, but of course to 
keep it from frost. There is a reason for this deviation from the 
natural type if we did but know it. Nothing is produced in 
nature by chance. There must be some disturbance in the 
balances which hold the powers of reproduction in all organic 
life before a departure can take place from the normal condition ; 
and whatever the amount of the disarrangement of the powers of 
reproduction, or the cause of its origin, we may assume it to be 
capable, in some degree, of being retained in plants for a certain 
period by the manipulation of the gardener.] 
^Hoeticultueal Society.— -A special general Meeting 
of this Society was held at the Office, 8, St. Martin’s Place, 
Trafalgar Square, on the 4th inst. C. Wentworth Dilke, Esq., 
Yice-President- in the chair. The Meeting was convened for the 
purpose of electing a new Member of Council in the room of the 
late Rev. L. Yemon ITarcourt, and also for the election of various 
candidates who had been proposed as Fellows. The Right Rev. 
the Lord Bishop of Winchester, who had been recommended to 
the Fellows by the Council to fill up the vacancy, was balloted 
for and unanimously elected a Member of Council. The follow¬ 
ing candidates were afterwards balloted for and elected Fellows 
of the Society:—Mr. W. Baxter, Mrs. J. A. Beaumont, Mr. 
Thomas Castle, Rev. James Cook, Mr. James Cut-hill, the Lord 
John Manners, M.P., Mrs. Moffatt, the Lady Adeliza Norman, 
Charles Rickards, Esq., his Grace the Duke of Rutland, Charles 
Jasper Selwyn, Esq., M.P., Q.C., the Earl Somers, the Lady 
Louisa Wells. 
CHRONOLOGY OF STRAWBERRIES. 
In what year were the following Strawberries raised or sen 
out for the first time? Elton Pine (Knight), Eleanor (Myatt), 
British Queen (Myatt), Cole's Prolific, Bicton White Pine 
Grove End Scarlet, Queen Victoria (Myatt).—F. G. 
[Elton Pine was raised by Mr. Knight about 1819, and was 
distributed by the Horticultural Society. Eleanor was sent out 
by Mr. Myatt in 1847, and British Queen in 1841. Cole's Pro¬ 
lific was sent out by Mr. Cole, of Wellow, near Bath, in 1846. 
Grove End Scarlet was raised in 1820, by Mr. Atkinson, of Grove 
End, near London, and we believe distributed by the Horticul¬ 
tural Society. There is no Myatt’s Queen Victoria. The name 
is sometimes applied to British Queen. Mr. Wilmott, of Isle- 
worth, sent out a Queen Victoria which proved to be the same 
as Elton Pine. —Eds. C. G.] 
THE SCIENCE OF GARDENING. 
(Continued from page 342.) 
Despite all the contrivances for rendering more effectual the 
natural sources of temperature offered by our climate, these can 
never obtain during the twelvemonths, by night as well as by 
day, a heat sufficient for the successful cultivation of most tropical 
plants. Hence arises the necessity for employing hothouses and 
other shelters of that description. In these, fuel has to be em¬ 
ployed to elevate the temperature, and some transparent medium 
as a covering, to prevent the radiation of the heat thus obtained, 
as well as to shut out the colder atmosphere without excluding 
the light. But few words will suffice relative to the fuel em¬ 
ployed, this being so generally coal; yet there are some facts 
ascertained by the chemist which afford guides to the gardener 
in the selection of his fuel, as well as tests to enable him to judge 
whether he employs it economically. 
The heating quality of some of the different coals known in 
Great Britain are in the following proportions 
Scotch Cannel .... 
. 199 
Lancashire Wigan .... 
. . . 196 
Yorkshire Cancel . , 
. . . 188 
Newcastle (best Wallsend) 
. . 169 
Gloucestershire (Forest of Dean) 
. . . 108 
Welsh (common) .... 
. . . 25 
Hence, if the Scotch Cannel coal cost 19.?., when the Gloucester¬ 
shire could be had for 10s. per chaldron, the latter would be no 
cheaper ; for the heating power of the first is as 199 to 1C8 of 
the latter. In other words, 108 chaldrons of Scotch would afford 
as much heat as 199 chaldrons of Staffordshire. 
The following are the quantities of the fuels named, required 
to heat eight gallons of water from 52° to 212° :— 
lbs. 
Ibs. 
Caking coals . 
. 12 
Wood of Service . ; 
3 00 
Splint, or lisrd coal ) 
. 3T3 
99 
Cherry . . 
3-20 
Cannel coal . $ 
9 ) 
Fir 
3-52 
Cherry, or soft coal . 
. 1-5 
99 
Poplar . . 
3T0 
Wood of Lime 
. 3T0 
41 
Hornbeam 
3-37 
„ Beech 
. 3 16 
Peat (average, not com¬ 
„ Elm 
. 3-52 
pressed) . . , 
76 
„ Oak (chips) 
. 420 
Charcoal of wood . . 
1-52 
„ Ash 
. 350 
99 
pieat . 
3-28 
„ Maple 
. 3-00 
The specific heat of water being 1, and that of atmospheric air 
0 00035, or l-2850th, if the quantity of fuel which will heat a 
cubic foot of water 1° be multiplied by 0 00035, the product 
will be the quantity of fuel required to heat a cubic foot of air 1°, 
and twenty times that quantity will heat it 20°, thirty times will 
heat it 30°, and so on. Now 0 0075 lhs. of best coals will heat a 
cubic foot of water 1°; therefore, 0 000002625 lbs. of coal will 
heat a cubic foot of air 1°. 
It is essential to good and profitable fuel that it should be free 
from moisture; for unless it be dry, much of the heat which it 
generates is consumed in converting that moisture into vapour ; 
hence the superior value_of old, dense, dry wood, to that which 
