1880 .] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
15 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
HE Annual Meeting of the National 
Auricula and the National Car - 
nation and Picotee Societies (Sou - 
them Section) took place on the 16th nit., at South 
Kensington, G. F. Wilson, Esq., President of the 
N. 0. and P. Society in the chair. The Report of tho 
Committee referring to the success of last season’s 
work, and the accounts of the year, were submitted 
and adopted, and the energetic labours of the 
Honorary Secretaries were properly acknow¬ 
ledged. The accounts of the Auricula Society 
showed a balance in hand of £12 4s. 7d.; those 
of the Carnation and Picotee Society a balance 
in hand of £21 8s. lOd. The exhibitions of 1880 
were fixed to be held in the garden of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, on April 20, for the Auri¬ 
cula, and on July 27 for the Carnation and Pico¬ 
tee. The Schedules of last year were in the main 
adopted, some slight additions being made to the 
number of classes. A special fund for Seedling 
Prizes had been raised by those specially interested, 
and the manner in which this was proposed to be 
dispensed was set forth in the Schedules of the 
respective Societies, which were approved by 
the meeting. These Seedling Prizes will doubt¬ 
less add very much to the interest of the shows. 
With the view of extending the area covered by the 
earlier show, the Committee offer prizes for a collec¬ 
tion of 12 Hardy Primulas, to consist of species 
not included in other parts of the Schedule, six at 
least to be distinct species. Mr. G. Smith offers 
prizes for the best plants of his gold-laced Polyan¬ 
thus Duke of Wellington. The Report and Schedules 
will be printed forthwith, and may be had of 
the Honorary Secretaries,—Mr. E. S. Dodwell, 11 
Chatham Terrace, Larkhall Rise, Clapham, S.W.; or 
Mr. J. Douglas, Loxford Hall Gardens, Ilford, Essex. 
We may hope that these interesting exhibitions of 
two of the most notable of the older florists’ flowers 
will go on developing as they have hitherto done, 
thanks to an intelligent Secretariat, and eventually 
meet with that full measure of success which they 
honestly deserve. 
— 5£he Annual General Meeting of the 
National Rose Society was held on the 11th 
ult., at the Horticultural Club, Arundel Street, 
Strand, the Rev. J. M. Fuller in the chair. The pro¬ 
posal of the committee to hold the Metropolitan 
Show at the Crystal Palace on July 3, was adopted, 
and tho Secretary stated that an arrangement had 
been made by which members’ tickets (not transfer¬ 
able) should be admitted to a private view half-an- 
hour before the general public. After some discus¬ 
sion, the Provincial Show was fixed to take place at 
Manchester, on July 17. Tho balance-sheet showed the 
total receipts to have been £495 7s. 4d., including a 
subsidy of £105 from the Crystal Palace Company, 
and £100 from the Royal Botanical and Horticultural 
Society of. Manchester ; while the expenditure had 
been £438 8s. 3d., including £151 13s. for prizes in 
London, and £135 15s. for prizes in Manchester, 
leaving a balance in hand of £56 19s. Id. The 
meeting was well attended. 
— ®he Winter of 1879-80 lias commenced 
with unaccustomed severity, since we have 
already experienced more than a month of severe 
frost, itself making a noteworthy winter. As pointed 
out by Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., at a recent meeting 
of the Royal Botanic Society, there has not been a 
warm month for two years, every month since August, 
1878, having been colder than the average ; tho 
period had also been characterised until the end of 
September, 1879, by a most unusual deficiency of 
sunshine and excess of rain. The mean temperatures 
of December, 1878, and January, 1879, were re¬ 
markably low, and yet the winter of 1879-80 has 
begun witli lower temperature than its precursor. 
The actual minimum temperatures in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of London have been surpassed in inten¬ 
sity on some previous occasions; for instance, 
on Christmas Day, 1860, and again on January 
4, 1867, the temperature of the air at Cam¬ 
den Square fell to 6°.7, and on Christmas Day, 
1870, to 14°, while this year the lowest point 
was 16°.1 on the morning of December 7. The 
greatest severity of the late frost was, however, felt 
further north than London, and temperatures below 
zero— i.e., more than 32° below freezing—have been 
reported from accurate instruments in many parts 
of the country. 
— 2The monster bunches of Gros Guillaume 
Grapes shown at South Kensington on the 
16tli ult., by Mr. Roberts, gardener to the 
Countess of Charleville, at Charleville Forest, Tulla- 
more, were worth a journey to see. The famous vine 
at Charleville which produced the bunches in ques¬ 
tion has already borne one weighing 23 lb. 5 oz., and 
in four seasons has produced seven bunches of the 
aggregate weight of 126 lb. 11 oz. The two bunches 
shown on this occasion weighed 20 lb. and 22 lb. re¬ 
spectively—a very remarkable performance, though, 
as might have been expected, neither of them was 
well finished either as regards size or colour. They 
were, however, shown in exceedingly good condition, 
considering the risks incidental to travel by land and 
sea. Mr. Roberts well deserved the Cultural Com¬ 
mendation of the Committee and the Bronze Medal, 
which the Council of the Society was recommended 
to award to him. 
— ®HE Goniophlebium lachnopus, which 
lias been recently introduced to cultivation 
amongst orchids from North India, is a very 
elegant stove-fern, with narrow pinnate fronds of 
delicate texture, bearing abundant and conspicuous 
sori. It is of deciduous habit, losing its fronds 
in winter; but it makes a very pretty and useful 
basket Fern. The numerous fronds grow a foot 
long or more from a rather small and hairy rhizome. 
In the spring, when the young fronds first appear, 
it has a very interesting aspect. It was introduced 
about three years since to the gardens at Oakley, 
Fallowfield, Manchester. 
— 'll writer in the Gardeners’ Magazine , 
in search of the Best Late Pea, writes as 
follows :—“ Having to supply late peas during 
the month of October, I have given all the reputedly 
best sorts for late crops a fair trial, and now, after 
three years’ experience, a very old pea—Hairs’ 
Dwarf Mammoth—stands first on my list. I have 
never quite lost sight of this pea, but for several 
years I allowed some of the newer kinds to take its 
place, especially for late crops ; but the result was 
that they could not be depended upon. We gathered 
our last dish of this old pea on November 8, while 
Omega, the next best late pea, ceased to bear after 
the middle of October. These w r ere sown about the 
middle of June, both on the same day.” 
— 2The new Dahlia Juarezii was shown 
at one of the recent meetings of the Royal 
Horticultural Society by Mr. Cannell, under the 
