4 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
was found on trial to be extremely luscious and excellent in flavour. From Mr. 
A. Parsons, of Danesbury Gardens, came a collection of Pears; and from Mr. 
Myatt, of Deptford, came a very good seedling Pear. 
Bee. 19 th .—This meeting was made exceedingly interesting and very at¬ 
tractive by the presence of a fine display of varieties of Lycaste Skinneri in 
great variety, the tips of some of the flowers being beautifully marked. There 
were as many as fifty-three specimens, and no two of them could be said to be 
exactly alike. Besides this group there were the following plants of Orchids 
in flower :—Barkeria Skinneri, Barkeria Skinneri atropurpurea, the latter being 
much deeper in colour, and Dendrobium Tattonianum. Also the following 
blooming plants:—Rhododendrons Princess Alexandra and Princess Helena, 
the latter pink, veined with carmine, the tubes of the flowers being bright car¬ 
mine ; a small plant of the curious Thibaudia macrantha, having seven flowers ; 
and TJrceolina aurea, called a yellow Eucharis, with foliage greatly resembling 
E. amazonica, but the flowers are of a different shape. They were of a clear 
yellow colour, and the plant itself was introduced by Mr. Veitch from Peru a 
year or two ago. There were also plants of Aucuba japonica vera with clusters 
of bright red berries of a large size; also A. japonica variegata, and A. longi- 
folia. A collection of plants also came from the gardens of the Society, and 
with them cut sprigs of Chimonanthus fragrans, and the variety grandiflorus, 
both extremely fragrant. This favourite wall plant seldom seeds, and the 
large-flowered variety appears to have been obtained from cuttings struck from 
C. fragrans. 
But little fruit was produced. From Mr. Rivers came some excellent Tan- 
gierine Oranges; and by G. F. Wilson, Esq., the Chairman of the Fruit Com¬ 
mittee, were produced some fine Chaumontel Pears from a tree in a pot, grown 
in an orchard-house, and moved outside to ripen the fruit. 
R. D. 
SCARLET PELARGONIUMS—BEATON’S RACE. 
The first instalment of the rich legacy left to the horticultural world by the 
late Mr. Beaton has now been placed fairly before the public, and the verdict 
is one of general approval. 
Donald Beaton, like others in life, had his detractors; but if an honest 
heart, uncommon industry, and more talent than he had tact to turn to account, 
entitle a man to the respectful remembrances of his fellows, then his friends 
need not trouble themselves about his fame. 
Some of his hybrid Pelargoniums, the result of many years’ thought and 
labour, he did not live to see bloom. Masses of selected ldnds were planted 
out in my nurseries at Waltham Cross about the end of May last, and have 
been seen there by many leading horticulturists, both amateur and profes¬ 
sional. They have also been grown in limited quantities at Battersea Park, at 
the Royal Gardens at Kew, at Chiswick, and at Kensington, and the managers of 
these establishments have given the best evidence of their opinion of them by 
intimating their intention of using them extensively in their arrangements for 
the forthcoming year. The criticisms ingenuously and sometimes, I fear, dis¬ 
ingenuously, put forward that the flowers are deficient in form (which by the 
way only applies to some of them), does not affect their value one jot. Who, 
when looking on the glorious masses produced by Stella, to which race these 
hybrids principally belong, would think of descending to the minute criticism 
of a single flower ? But it is the custom with some to depreciate what they 
do not possess, and I am obliged to hear that some of the loudest detractors, 
w ho were at the same time large buyers, having now raised a stock, are begin- 
