476 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 26, 1898. 
FRITILLARIES. 
Fritillaries rank amongst the most graceful and 
interesting of our Spring flowers, and are worthy a 
place in all choice borders and rockeries; in grass 
they are quite at home, especially where they can 
get a little shade. At present, in Messrs. Barr & 
Sons’ Nurseries, at Long Ditton, two very beautiful 
species are in bloom, one—the first to open this 
season—F. oranensis from Algeria, with very strik¬ 
ing, handsome bell-shaped flowers, of a rich maroon, 
with bright green midrib. This first opened its 
beautiful pendant flowers on February 8th. 
Next to it is Fritillaria pluriflora (see illustration, 
p. 475), a species recently introduced from California, 
and as yet little known. The flowers are of a beautiful 
soft rosy Lilac, and borne in the axils of the leaves, 
on stems 12 in. to 15 in. high. It appears to be quite 
hardy, and is being cut from the open at Messrs. 
Barr’s Nurseries. There are many other beautiful 
Fritillaries which have yet to open and charm our 
vision, to wit, the dainty F. armena, covering the 
ground with its quaint yellow flowers; F. aurea, 
with its large golden bell-flowers, which are beauti- 
' fully tesselated; F. persica from Mount Ararat, with 
handsome pyramidal spikes of dusky brown bell¬ 
flowers; and the rare and beautiful F. Walujewi, 
with flowers blood-red inside and silvery on the back 
of the petals. Then comes the well known Snakes- 
head Fritillaria (F. Meleagris), so-called from its 
tesselation resembling that of a snake. Perhaps the 
most beautiful of all is F. latifolia nobilis, introduced 
by Messrs. Barr a few years ago. It has the largest 
bells of all; the colour is a rich deep blood-red, and 
the segments are beautifully tesselated. 
Fritillaries can be strongly recommended to all 
who have shady nooks, and shady parts on their 
rockery and gardens, and they are most effective. 
When associated with such charming spring flowers 
as Chionodoxas, Muscaris, Anemone blanda, Nar¬ 
cissus minimus, the Hardy Cyclamen, and Winter 
Aconite. The best soil, however, for Fritillaries is 
equal parts of loam, peat, and sand, with a little 
mortar rubbish, well mixed with the whole, if at 
hand. If the bulbs are lifted after flowering, never 
allow them to get dry ; they should be kept in silver 
sand in a cold house free from frost until planted.— 
Hardy Plantsman. 
-►*.- 
THE NATIONAL CHRYSANTHEMUM 
SOCIETY. 
The adjourned annual meeting was held at 6 p.m. 
on the evening of Monday, the 21st inst., at 
Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street, E.C. The chair was 
again filled by Mr. T. W. Sanders, who had an 
onerous task in view of the stormy character of the 
meeting. 
The principal business on hand was the formal 
adoption of the report and balance sheet for 1897. 
Before this came on for consideration Mr B. Wynne 
said that as Mr. Gordon had spoken at the last 
meeting of medals having been awarded which had 
not been paid for, he felt constrained to return the 
one voted him by the society for service rendered. 
Mr. Gordon explained, however, and discriminated 
between the medals, of which Mr. Wynne’s was one, 
that had been paid for, and the gold medals, and 
illuminated addresses costing £22, which had not 
been paid for at that time Mr. Wynne accepted 
Mr. Gordon’s explanation. 
The minutes of the February meeting having been 
read and adopted, after an error in the figures given 
as the result of the voting upon the amendment to 
the report had been rectified (the exact figures were 
82 for the amendment and 6 against), the revised 
financial statement was brought out. Some further 
corrections were made in this. As it stands now it 
shows a totality of expenses amounting to £1,171 
5s. 2d., and receipts £1,123 9 s - rod. There is thus a 
deficit on the year's working of £47 15s. 4d. £50 
has been withdrawn from the reserve fund, as the 
bank will not allow a less sum than £50 to be drawn 
from deposit. The deficit of £47 15s. 4 d. has been 
made good out of this £50, and the balance 
£2 4s. 8d. has been transferred to the current 
account of the reserve fund, making this item £8 17s. 
8d., and the whole reserve fund £58 17s. 9d. 
The value of the prizes in money and medals 
given during the past year has been £533 16s., and 
the whole of the liabilities of the society, especially 
items of £42 8s. to Messrs. H. M. Pollett & Co., and 
£41 16s. to Mr. J. A. Restall have been cleared off, 
so that the society has now a clean sheet and a fresh 
start. Mr. Cholmeley asked why the financial 
statement did not bear the auditors’ signature, and 
it subsequently transpired that the auditors had 
refused to recognise the alteration, a written state¬ 
ment from them to this effect being read by the 
chairman, and this was supplemented by viva voce 
remarks from the gentlemen themselves, who it will 
be remembered are Messrs. H. J. Cutbush and A. 
E. Stubbs. 
Several items in the statement of accounts were 
explained by Mr. Dean, who also made answer to 
Mr. Gordon’s comparison of the show expenses of 
1897 with those of former years made at the last 
meeting. Mr. Dean denied most emphatically that 
they were heavier. They only appeared so because 
he had not followed the practice of his predecessor 
in splitting up the items under various heads. If 
they added the whole of the costs of cartage, hire of 
plants, and avowed “ show expenses ” they would 
find that in 1889 the total expenses for three shows 
were £53 is. iod.; and in 1891, for the same number 
of shows, £42 12s. 6d. ; whilst the Jubilee shows of 
last year, five in all, only cost £59 15s. 
Mr. Moorman passed strictures upon the extrava¬ 
gant items for priming and medals, and advocated 
the invitation of tenders for each. He deprecated 
the way in which they had gone to the world as a 
flourishing society, when in reality they were not so. 
He thought they ought to place the £50 for " stamps, 
telegrams, etc." under show expenses. This Mr. 
Dean made haste to refute, saying that the postal 
charges for various things were very heavy and made 
a big aggregate. Mr. Dean’s answer was satisfactory 
and to the point on this head. 
Mr. Starling again referred to the alleged balance 
of £10 10s. 8d. at the beginning of the year, which, he 
said, ought never to have been placed as a balance 
in hand. They ought to have a reserve fund of £300 
or £400, and instead of that they had only a paltry 
£50. 
Messrs. Newall, Spicer, Waterer, McKerchar, 
Willis, Mills, Rundle, Tagg, Gordon, and Bevan all 
joined in the discussion, which was exceedingly 
animated, and even incisive at times. Both Mr. 
Starling and Mr. Willis were emphatic in saying 
that, despite assertions to the contrary, the auditors 
must have known of the liabilities of the society, 
since the very bills that they were supposed to have 
scrutinised bore receipts for payments on account. 
Finally on the motion of the chairman, seconded 
by Mr. W. B. Beckett, the financial statement obtained 
the formal sanction of the meeting and it was decided 
that it should be printed and circulated among the 
members. 
Next came an estimate of the minimum receipts 
which the society might expect to have during the 
coming year, and the maximum expenditure for the 
same period. It was found that the total receipts 
would probably be £1,066 us., and the expenditure 
£1,115 Is - -d., or a balance of £48 10s. 6d. against 
the receipts. Proposals were mooted whereby the 
expenditure would be reduced to £1,044 3 s -. which 
would leave a balaoce in hand of receipts over 
expenses of £22 8s. This met with the approbation 
of the meeting. 
The report was the next item of contention. Mr. 
Wilkins drew attention to the incongruity of the 
report and financial statement, and Mr. Cholmeley 
ridiculed the "high falutin’’ phrases about the 
society’s undiminished prestige, and financial sound¬ 
ness. The report was, however, carried, with the 
exception of the paragraph referring to the special 
class for twelve vases of Chrysanthemums, which 
has been abandoned. The belated report did not 
reach its haven, however, until it had received a good 
deal of criticism from all parts of the room. 
The election of officers was the next item on the 
agenda. 
Mr. H. Cannell, senior, proposed, and Mr. Lang- 
don seconded that Sir E. Saunders should be re-elected 
president. This was carried unanimously, whilst a 
vote of thanks was subsequently passed to Sir Edwin 
for the support he had given the society. 
The committee recommended that Mr. J. R. Star¬ 
ling, the retiring treasurer, should be made an 
honorary fellow of the society, and should be pre¬ 
sented with a letter of thanks signed by the president, 
and a small gold medal. Mr. Beckett proposed this, 
Mr. Ballantine seconded it, and the whole con¬ 
course applauded. Mr. Starling replied in suitable 
terms. 
Mr. Moorman proposed, and Mr. Rundle seconded 
that they should have a paid secretary who should 
have no vote. This was carried with unanimity. 
There were two candidates for the treasurership, 
Messrs. Ballantine and Gordon, and two for the 
general secretaryship, Messrs. R. Dean and G. W. 
Cummins, also a goodly number of nominees for the 
committee. The ballot was resorted to in order to 
decide the question satisfactorily. 
The results were that Mr. Ballantine was chosen 
treasurer, and Mr. R. Dean general secretary, the 
latter by 63 votes to 43. The following gentlemen 
were asked to serve upon committee :—Messrs. T. 
Bevan, G. Langdon, A. Taylor, W. Howe, W. 
Wells, W. Higgs, J. P. Kendall, T. L. Turk, F. 
Gilks, J. T. Simpson, R. Fife, W. Daniels, and A. 
Outram—13 in all. 
Mr. T. W. Sanders takes the office of chairman, 
and Mr. P. Waterer that of vice-chairman of com¬ 
mittee for another year, whilst there was no mistak¬ 
ing the cordiality of the invitation extended by the 
assembly to Mr. C. Harman Payne to continue the 
duties of foreign corresponding secretary, which he 
has performed so well. 
Monsieur Ernst Calvat and Mr. J. R. Starling 
were admitted honorary fellows of the society on the 
proposal of Mr. C. H. Payne, seconded by Mr. D. 
B. Crane. 
The new rules were next brought under discussion, 
after the old ones, hitherto operative, had been 
formally rescinded. There was a good deal said, and 
some alterations were made. 
Mr. J. W. Moorman proposed that a sub-com¬ 
mittee of five members (exclusive of ex-officio mem¬ 
bers) be appointed to enquire— 
(a) . What places can be obtained for holding 
future exhibitions, either by a subsidy as now, or in 
reliance upon the society’s own resources. 
( b ) . To closely examine the whole question of 
minor shows with the object of ascertaining their 
advantage to the society or otherwise. 
(c) . To fully consider the question of selling the 
floor space, and to report the result of their investi¬ 
gations to the general committee, who are now re¬ 
quested to formulate such recommendations to a 
general meeting of members to be held on the first 
day of the November show, and that no further 
fixtures are to be made before that date. 
This was carried unanimously. 
A vote of thanks to Mr. Sanders (for his excellent 
performance of the arduous duties of chairman 
brought the meeting to a close not long before mid¬ 
night. 
»t« 
EALING GARDENERS’ MUTUAL 
IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY. 
The grand spring flower show, promoted by this 
society in aid of the Gardeners’ Royal Orphan Fund 
was held in the Victoria Hall, Ealing, on the 15th 
inst., the results being highly satisfactory. Lady 
Nelson, who was supported by the President, J. 
Harris, Esq., F.R.H.S., Mrs. Harris, W. Marshall, 
Esq., F.R.H.S. (Chairman of the Fund), Mr. A. F. 
Barron (Secretary), and others, made some sensible 
remarks concerning the object of the show, and 
alluded to the pleasing circumstance that all tbe 
exhibits were informal and honorary. Notwith¬ 
standing the fact that the weather, for a fortnight 
previous to the show, had been of a very retarding 
character, the colour and general effects were very 
fine. 
The central and most commanding group was 
furnished by Messrs, de Rothschild, Gunnersbury 
Park, Acton (gardener, Mr. Geo. Reynolds). The 
formation was a series of beautiful curves which, for 
want of a better name, may be described as a square 
without angles, the corners being extended and 
rounded off. The effect was unique. The centre¬ 
piece of this much-admired arrangement was a tall 
specimen Grevillea robusta, about 12 ft. high, 
surrounded by Palms, Dracaenas, Olivias, Richardias, 
etc., the so-called "corners’’ being set off with nice 
plants of Cocos weddeliana. These formed what 
may be termed sub-centres, round which were 
grouped such things as Azalea mollis, A. sinensis, 
Eulalia japonica variegata, Richardia elliotaiana, 
Amasoniana punicea, Narcissus in var., Dendrobium 
wardianum, Sophronitis grandiflora, and Lily of the 
Valley, the whole being edged with Isolepis gracilis. 
A prominent place was also accorded Lady Nelson, 
Hanger Hill House, Ealing (gardener, Mr. D. Cooper), 
