December 17, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
24?> 
CARTERS 5 
NEW 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS 
FOR 1888. . 
__ Each.— s. d. 
No. 1.—MRS. BUALih—Japanese (Carter 
& Co.) .>7 6 
Awarded First Class Certificate, Crystal Palace. 
We pronounce this to be the largest and purest 
white yet sent out. The petals are of immense 
size, many of the guard-petals measuring 1 in. in 
width. A really grand show flower. 
No. 2. — MRS. B’O’NNUoM'. — Japanese 
(Carter & Co.) ... ... .7 6 
An enormous flower of a rosy blush colour, the 
points of the petals quilled and prettily tipped 
with white. The petals are very long, somewhat 
narrow, and form an incurred, ball-like centre. 
Very distinct from anything in commerce. A 
magnificent exhibition variety. 
No. 3.—LADY LLWSSHAM.—Japanese 
(Carter & Co.) ... ... ... ... 5 0 
A splendid DoVelty; large flowers of a beautiful 
shade of lilac and rose ; petals long and drooping; 
immense depth of bloom. A first-rate variety for 
the show board. 
No. 4 —H0LBSR1T BHAYTY.—Japauese 
(Carter & Co.) ... .§ 0 
This charming novelty is in the way of Bend Or, 
but of a perfectly distinct and unique shade, the 
flowers being of a pretty bronze maize colour. 
The long petals are very spiral. Must be popular 
as an exhibition variety. 
No. 5.-0 HAR LIS SEAR MAS?.— I 
Japanese (Carter & Co.)... ... ... *7 6 
An immense show flower of a perfectly novel 
colour— i.c ., a deep rich magenta ; petals long, j 
very broad, and flat. A fine exhibition flower. 
No. 6.—NORTHERN LX&HY.—Japanese 
(Carter & Co.) ... ... ... ... 5 0 
A peculiar variety, with large, broad red petals 
tipped and flaked with rich golden yellow. A 
handsome decorative variety. 
The above Collection of 6 Vars., price 30s. 
Usual Discount to the Trade. 
Orders now being Booked for Plants to be supplied \ 
in March next. 
ROYAL SEEDSMEN BY SPECIAL COMMAND, 
23T&238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON/ 
Great 61earas.es Sale of 
BARR’S 
™ BULBS, 
At Greatly [Reduced Prices , 3 
ALL IN SPLENDID CONDITION. 
Price List free on application, 
BARR & SON, 
12 & 13, King Street, Covent Garden. 
SPECIAL CULTURE OP 
FRUIT TREES AND ROSES. 
A Large and Select Stock is now offered for Sale. 
The Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of Fruits 
Post Free. 
The Descriptive Catalogue of Roses Post Free. 
THOMAS RIVERS & SON, 
NURSERIES, SAWBRIDGEWORTH, HERTS. 
BEGONIAS A SPECIALITY. 
AWARDED FOUR GOLD f/IEDALS. 
LAING’S Double and Single collec¬ 
tion is the largest, finest, and the 
most complete in existence. New 
seed just harvested. 
Price Lists free on application. 
JOHN TWAINS & SONS, 
Nurseries, FOREST HILL, LONDON, S.E. 
Next Week’s Engagements. 
Monday, Dec. 19th.—Sale of Dutch Bulbs at Protheroe & 
Morris’s Rooms. 
Tuesday, Dec. 20th.—Sale of Shrubs, Roses, &c., at the City 
Auction Rooms, Gracechurch Street, by Protheroe & Morris. 
Wednesday, Dec. 21st.—Sale of Lily and other Bulbs at 
Protheroe & Morris's Rooms. Sale of Lily Bulbs, Roses, 
Fruit Trees, &c., at Stevens’ Rooms. 
Thursday, Dee. 22nd.—Sale of Dutch Bulbs at Protheroe & 
Morris’s Rooms. 
Friday, Dec. 23rd.—Sale of Imported and Flowering Orchids at 
Protheroe & Morris's Rooms. 
CONT 
'ENTS. 
PAGE 
PAGE 
Amateurs’ Garden. 
247 
Horticultural Societies.. . 
253 
Apple, history of the .... 
244 
Luculia gratissima. 
251 
Apples and Pears, on keep- 
Mitraria eoccinea . 
245 
ing, &c. 
249 
Nerine Mansellii. 
251 
Apprentices v. Journeymen 
251 
Orchids, a new 7 disease of. 
245 
Beet, black varieties of .. 
24S 
Oswald House. 
246 
Carnations, propagating .. 
251 
Palms & Chrysanthemums 251 
Chrysanthemum Emily Dale 250 
Pelargoniums, new . 
246 
Chrysanthemum Hans N ie- 
Phalsenopsis Stuartiana . 
252 
mand. 
251 
Plants, new. 
246 
Chrysanthemum Mrs. Beale 249 
Primula, the Chinese ... 
248 
Chrysanthemum Flower 
“ R. H. S.” . 
243 
Classes . 
244 
Scottish Gardening . 
215 
Epidendrum eoehleatum 
Selborne House . 
253 
ma jus. 
252 
Turnips, early. 
257 
Floriculture. 
252 
Vandas ..;. 
252 
Fruit and Fruit Trees .... 
248 
Vegetables, culture of ... 
244 
Fruit Trees, naming. 
247 
Viola Blue Bell . 
251 
Gardeners’ Calendar ...... 
252 
Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.” —Bacon. 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1887. 
The Royal Horticultural Society.— Tlie 
meeting of the Fellows of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society, held on Tuesday last, and from 
which so much was hoped, has unhappily 
resulted in next to nothing. The mountain 
laboured and brought forth a mouse. The 
position of the society, was made clear enough 
and its financial difficulties set forth ; hut the 
only results were a proposal to recoup the cost 
of Chiswick, to some extent, by making a charge 
for the subjects sent there for trial by horticul¬ 
turists, and the appointment of a few persons 
outside the Council to assist some three or four 
members of that body in doing something 
which the whole of the capacity of the fifteen 
members of the Council had been unable to 
accomplish. Of course, the proposal of a joint- 
committee is made in good faith and with the 
best of intentions ; but, somehow, good inten¬ 
tions seem to have been the bane of this 
unfortunate society, and to have landed it only 
deeper and deeper in the mire. 
'Whether it he due to absolute lack of busi¬ 
ness capacity amongst horticulturists, amateur 
and otherwise, or to some fatal habit of allow¬ 
ing things to slide ; certain it is, that not only 
has that lack of business capacity, or some 
other cause, landed the society in exceptional 
difficulties, but it or something else again seems 
incapable of devising a plan which can pu ll 
the society out of its difficulty. Very much 
stress has been laid upon the desirability of 
getting rid of the charter, which is the legal 
bond of the society; the opinion of an eminent 
firm of solicitors, read by Sir Trevor Lawrence, 
conclusively shows not only that the charter 
cannot so easily he got rid of, but that any 
attempt to alter or vary it, or to supplement it, 
would he costly, so much so, in fact, as well-nigh 
to repel all attempts at liberation in that direc¬ 
tion. The fact is, dissolve the society utterly, 
and every fragment of property it holds passes 
from horticulture at once, and no other body, 
however satisfactorily established, can step in 
and claim it. Practically, with the dissolution 
of the society Chiswick would disappear 
absolutely, and as it is the earnest desire of 
all to retain Chiswick, there remains no other 
course than to retain the present charter or get 
a new one. 
But after all it seems that the charter is 
not such a terrible bugbear as is commonly 
imagined. We thought, and almost everybody 
else thought, that the greatest evil in the 
society — the mode of selecting and electing the 
various members of the Council, was defined 
by the charter. Happily, such is not the case, 
for the president has been able to show, to the 
surprise, it would seem, of even some mem¬ 
bers of the Council, that the mode of election 
is quite within the power of the Council 
to alter or vary, and whilst the charter does fix 
the number at fifteen, and enacts that only 
three can go out of office yearly, it is yet open 
to the Council to make that election as demo¬ 
cratic as possible. But a great point, without 
doubt, has been gained, for the Fellows have 
nominally the power to elect to the vacant 
places who they like, although, practically, as 
the bye-laws as present stand, it is not easy 
to do so. 
Three gentlemen, for whom we entertain the 
highest respect, have resigned their seats on 
the question of remaining at South Kensington, 
and if next February three others should be 
retiring in rotation, there would be six seats on 
the Council vacant, which, properly filled, might 
entirely change the personnel of that body, and 
enable the horticultural Fellows to be fully 
represented. We think that Professor Foster 
was exceedingly inconsistent — though, perhaps, 
natural in the case of a non-business man— 
when he said that the removal of only three of 
the Council yearly was too few, and that the 
removal of five every year would be too many. 
In our opinion, if the method of partial 
election is to remain, it would be far better to 
have one-third of the Council going out of 
office every year, rather than one-fifth only. 
But then, so much as that is not possible 
under the charter, unless the members of the 
Council will meet the case by agreeing to ballot 
amongst themselves which two shall resign 
with the three who, in order, go out of office ; 
and thus a considerable change in the Council 
could be made annually. That seems the only 
solution of the difficulty which the charter 
creates. Of course, we say this in deference to 
the opinion generally held that the Council is 
to stay in office, and that it is not sufficiently 
representative. We have, however, little faith 
in any change in the personnel of the Council, 
unless it he backed by some well-defined policy 
set forth by the Fellows, which the new 
members of the Council shall he sent to carry 
out. Unhappily there was no such policy laid 
down on Tuesday, and, literally, all is yet chaos. 
As to the number of the Council it seems 
a matter of absolute indifference, whether it 
consists of fifteen or twenty members. We 
have rather more regard for quality than for 
numbers, and are assured that the smaller 
number of really able men, if truly repre¬ 
sentative, would in the long run prove to 
be a better ruling body than would be a 
larger one in which incompetence ruled. 
The special committee, which has been ap¬ 
pointed, seems to us to he a very weak 
product of the meeting. A few gentlemen 
outside the Council are expected to do what 
the Council era bloc could not accomplish. 
What earthly reason is there to assume that 
so much can he done. 
Special committees have been appointed 
before, and they have done nothing. They 
may appeal to the horticultural world for 
financial help, but without a policy or any 
quid pro quo to offer subscribers, what status 
have they in making such an appeal 1 Why, 
if the society he pulled out of its financial 
hog to-morrow, what prospect is there that 
it will not fall into the mire again in a year 
or two hence 1 We have no hope, but in a 
clear, unanimous and early declaration of future 
policy. That is the first thing to define, and 
the Fellows should be told so plainly. No 
effort, alas ! was made at the meeting to pro¬ 
mote a greater breadth of membership by 
introducing a lower scale of yearly subscriptions. 
