March 18, 1899. 
THK GARDENING WORLD. 
461 
comparing them. Mr. Hudson continues as 
treasurer. 
An official emblem of membership has now been 
adopted by the society after the design of Miss Lilian 
Hudson, now Mrs. Harvey, and several of these 
were displayed at the meeting. The illustration 
which we place before our readers is a reduced 
facsimile of the larger one taken from a photograph. 
The wreath of Clematis, Dog Roses, Barberries, 
Daffodils, and Cherries, enclosing the name and 
address of the member is both elegant and pretty. 
The size of the real emblem is 13 in. in depth by 
10 in. in width, and its price to members will be 
is. 6d. 
The rest of the business consisted almost entirely 
of votes of thanks, and the committee, treasurer, 
secretary, trustees, the horticultural Press, and the 
chairman were all accorded the customary tribute 
for service rendered. 
CUT IVY LIVING. 
As predicted, the observations are continued and 
extended. “ W. B. G.,” on p. 412, seems inclined 
for a little good humoured banter. However, the 
question is not about a straight or curly pig’s tail, 
although these in the market are quite easily classi¬ 
fied. It is rather, can the pig live after its tail is cut 
off? I maintain it can, conditionally, having some¬ 
thing to eat; if not, well, “ W. B. G.” will find 
great similarity to Patsy, the porker, who remarked, 
“ Begorra ! What a pity it should die just when be¬ 
ginning to live without food." " W. B. G.," I am 
sure, will agree that the only possible development 
in plants and animals is by diet and natural sur¬ 
roundings. 
No plant can live wholly without roots—nobody 
in the world disputed this—neither can any plant 
live, having roots but without nourishment. Whilst 
refuge is taken in stems cut from the ground, roots, 
traversely fixed upon suitable walls and buildings are 
ignored. The roots then are not wholly severed, the 
walls indirectly acting as foster mothers. 
Of course, in doubtful cases, as semi-detached by 
a process of natural grafting and interlacing, Nature 
would operate and determine growth, balance or 
death. 
" W. B. G.’s” remarks, "Cut Ivy, living, being 
contrary to general experience," are certainly 
quite true, for the following simple reason :—For 
every thousand and one modern built walls, &c., are 
chiefly of brick and coursed ashler stone, cemented 
together, all the stones being bedded and placed on 
the wall as it lay in the quarry. Non-aqueous 
stones are unfavourable to life after severance, 
whilst few are damp and capable of supplying mois¬ 
ture. Such have to be found in our old ruins and 
rubbled walls, which, as is well known by every 
capable builder, become convex, because of the 
greater number of joints at every conceivable aogle, 
and require buttressing. Therefore, it should not 
be considered an outrage of Nature for the former 
not to sanction it. 
Possibly, like Saul, my slaying of Ivies might 
not have been as large as “W. B. G.’s,” with his 
hundreds, but since the incident spoken of, I have 
always been on the outlook for natural corroboration 
when visiting ivied buildings, and have seldom been 
unrewarded. 
In 1875 I was in Carnarvonshire, North Wales, 
and the Ivies growing there are not surpassed, if 
equalled, in the kingdom, particularly in the vicinity 
of Conway. The old walls there were conspicuous, 
with sheets, big and little, wholly detached, isolated, 
and in the best possible health. Indeed, there, as 
elsewhere, ruins weighted by time have little drops 
of water, falling with a thud upon them. They do, 
though they "hadn’t oughter," manufacture mud, 
which gives as good facilities for the roots above to 
revel in, as iron waterspouts and gutters. Nay, we 
seem to be fed too much on names, instead of 
things, and appear quite happy in the delusion. 
In conclusion, the word "contrariety ” has been 
bandied about pretty freely. I am not surprised at 
this—inconsistency on a wrong road is inevitable ; 
were it not so, society would perish, nay, the 
world itself would have perished, long ere gardeners 
came on the scene.— B. Lockwood. 
The Ivy Controversy. 
The remarks of your various correspondents anect 
the Ivy after the main stem has been severed at the 
base, have been interesting if not instructive, and 
with this end in view I would like to add a few words 
to the already lengthy articles which have appeared 
in your columns during the past few weeks, concern¬ 
ing this, at times, useful creeper, but more often a 
real pest to gardener and forester alike. 
Having a large amount of shrubbery and wood¬ 
land under my charge, I have superintended the 
destruction of this self-supporting plant on hundreds 
of trees, and in no single instance has it defied the 
pruner.when a clean cut has been practised. That 
the Ivy is detrimental to the majority of trees, 
especially Coniferae, few will deny; but as regards 
the Ivy on walls and old buildings, this opens up 
another entirely different question, for as "B. L.” 
says in your last issue, “ the plant will survive any 
amount of close pruning or clipping with the hand 
shears, and would probably exist for years with 
only its hair-like roots in close contact with the old 
mortar, even if cut through at the base.’’ 
Some years ago a long and animated discussion 
took place in one of your contemporaries as to 
whether walls of buildings and houses were kept 
drier or damper when clad with this creeper, and if 
my memory serves me right, the majority of writers 
concluded that walls so covered retained rather than 
dispelled the moisture.— J. Mayne, Bicton. 
GARDENING flf ISCELLAMY, 
POTATO SETS. 
Is it necessary that decay or decomposition should 
take place in a Potato tuber before the young grow¬ 
ing shoot can use the stored up food ? If so, does a 
rapid decay of the tuber assist in stimulating the 
growing plant and cause a better crop ? I observe in 
a contemporary a statement to this effect .—A P. 
POTATO EARLY PURITAN. 
I see it stated in a contemporary that Puritan 
scarcely differs from Beauty of Hebron. I do not 
know if there are two Potatos under this name, but 
the one I am acquainted with is a short-topped, 
small-tubered variety, and quite distinct from the 
white Beauty of Hebron. A gardener in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Preston has for the past few years 
exhibited a dish of it at the Preston spring show, 
which is held the third week in March, and he pre¬ 
fers it to any other as a cropper. When giving me 
a few sets he named it Sutton’s Early Puriian. I 
have had it fit for use on the above date, and both in 
pots and heated pits it has been earlier than the 
Ashleaf and other kidneys, and the weight of the 
produce nearly double, but the flavour is not so 
good. I do not know what success others have with 
kidneys at the above date. I must confess that 
sometimes I have not got the weight of the sets.— W. 
P. R., Preston. 
DRYOPTERIS NOVEBORACENSIS WITHOUT 
INDUSIA. 
Mr. B. D. Gilbert, in the current number of The 
Fern Bulletin, makes some interesting remarks con¬ 
cerning a curious specimen of the above Fern that 
he has in his possession. On one of the fronds of 
this plant there are plenty of sori, " but not one of 
them is indusiate,” says Mr. Gilbert; " they are as 
naked as the sori of Phegopteris, and if the frond 
were detached from the parent plant it would be 
perfectly proper to place it in that genus." The 
heavy crop of sori has also contracted the segments, 
causing the edges to turn inward a little as in D. 
Thelypteris, although not in so pronounced a fashion. 
It is pointed out that this is a strong argument 
against relying upon the indusium as a generic 
distinction in Aspidiae. 
SOCIETIES. 
RONDELETIA CORDATA. 
This handsome Rubiaceous plant is, perhaps, better 
known under its old name of Rogiera cordata under 
which it is usually to be seen. It does not seem to be 
very commonly known amongst gardeners, and it is 
only now and again that we see a plant. That it is a 
highly decorative subject when well grown, was 
proved by the group of it staged at the meeting of 
the Royal Horticultural Society, on January 31st, by 
Messrs. Cripps & Son, of Tunbridge Wells. Their 
plants were exceptionally well flowered ; the large 
terminal cymes being particularly well developed, 
and the peculiar fragrance was also strong. The 
flowers vary somewhat in colour, according to the 
locality, the kind of season, and the time at which 
they expand ; but they are usually of a bright pink, 
or pink-white, and not unlike those of Viburnum 
Tinus. The leaves are not, as the specific name 
suggests, "cordate," but are rather broadly-ovate, the 
characteristic lobes of the cordate leaf, at the base of 
the blade, being always lacking. The colour is bright 
green, and they are very leathery in texture. Judging 
from appearances the Messrs. Cripps grow their 
plants in a fairly high temperature, for the internodes 
were very long, and the plants were rather more 
straggling in habit that we have seen them, although 
their beauty was not impaired on that account. An 
intermediate stove suits the Rogiera well. 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL. —March 14 th. 
The exhibits at the meeting in the Drill Hall on 
Tuesday last were very extensive, but the dense fog 
which prevailed made it difficult to see the proper 
colours of the plants. There were very large 
exhibits of Orchids, Amaryllis, forced Azaleas, 
Clematis, Daffodils, Ferns, and other subjects. 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., staged an interest¬ 
ing and varied collection of Orchids, including a 
little group of the hybrid, Epidendrum elegantulum, 
in a great variety of colours. A fine plant of 
Phalaenopsis Aphrodite raised at their Langley 
nursery, from the type crossed with the pollen of 
P. rosea, was exceedingly interesting from the fact 
that the pollen parent had no effect upon it. There 
were also fine pieces of Dendrobium Edithae, D. 
euosmum, D. e. leucopterum, D. Wiganiae, D. splen- 
didissimum grandiflorum, Epiphronitis Veitchi, and 
many others. (Silver Flora Medal.) 
Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (grower, Mr. W. H. 
White), Burford Lodge, Dorking, set up a large and 
tastefully-arranged group of Orchids, He had a fine 
basket of Brassocattleya lindleyana, Dendrobium 
burfordiense, D. micans, D. nobile Burford var., 
D. n. Rolfae, Phaius Cooksonii, Odontoglossum 
crispum maculosum, a handsomely-blotched var., 
and the distinct and handsome Dendrobium 
Wiganiae xanthochilum. (Silver Gilt Flora Medal.) 
A group of Orchids was also set up by Messrs. B. 
S. Williams & Son, Upper Holloway, London, N. 
Conspicuous amongst them were Coelogyne cristata 
alba, Dendrobium wardianum giganteum, D. w. can- 
didum, Lycastes, Cypripediums, Odontoglossums, 
Oncidiums, and others, set up with Palms, Ferns, 
and Richardia elliottiana. (Silver Banksian Medal.) 
Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans, exhibited 
large-flowered varieties of Dendrobium wardianum, 
Phaius traceyanum, Cattleya Tranaei, and others. 
Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Bush Hill Park, 
Enfield, staged a large group of Cattleya Trianaei in 
variety, mixed with Cypripedium insigne Sanderae, 
C. i. eyermanianum, C. macropterum, C. winnianum, 
Brassovola glauca, Cochlioda noetzliana, Laelia 
harpophylla, various Dendrobiums, &c. (Silver 
Banksian Medal) 
Messrs. Charlesworth & Co., Heaton, Bradford, 
staged a large and very fine group of Orchids, in¬ 
cluding little groups of Phaius Norman, and P. N. 
rosea. Lycaste Skinneri, Cattleya Trianaei, Odon¬ 
toglossum crispum, O. Edouardi, Cypripedium 
lowianum, Dendrobium infundibulum, and other 
subjects were also very conspicuous in the collec¬ 
tion. (Silver Gilt Flora Medal.) 
Amongst the new plants, Messrs. J. Veitch and 
Sons exhibited Phalaenopsis Hermione, P. Cass¬ 
andra, and Sophrolaelia laeta superba. Baron 
Schroder (gardener, Mr. H. Ballantine), The Dell, 
Egbam, exhibited a small group of cut flowers of 
Odontoglossum Pescatorei veitchianum, &c. De B. 
Crawshay, Esq. (gardener, Mr. S. Cooke), exhibited 
Odontoglossum ruckerianium crawshayanum, O. 
andersonium pulvereum, O. a. bogaerdianum and O. 
excellens crawshayanum, all very excellent of their 
kind. W. P. Burkinshaw, Esq., West Hill, Hessle, 
near Hull, staged Dendrobium splendidissimum 
grandiflorum, D. s. flavescens, D. hesslense, and 
other fine things. M. Ch. Maron, Brunoy, France, 
exhibited Laeliocattleya Ernesti, and the magnificent 
Laeliocattleya imperatrice de Russie. 
J. F. Ebner, Esq. (gardener, Mr. A. Waite), 
Woodlands, Southend Road, Beckenham, exhibited 
