November 26, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
955 
Horticultural Club. 
The Preservation of Wild Plants, Etc. 
At thei monthly dinner of the Horticultural Club', held at the 
Hotel Windsor on Tuesday, the 15th inst., Mr. Charles E. 
Pearsion taking the chair in the unavoidable absence of Sir 
John D. T. Llewellyn and Mr. Harry J. Veitch, Professor 
Boulger gave an extremely interesting address relating to Gil¬ 
bert White’s “ Natural History of Selbome” and the Selbome 
Society, which has been founded for the preservation! of wild 
plants and animals in honour of that renowned naturalist, and 
in sympathy with his: pursuits. Although inevitably the light 
of later knowledge has revealed many errors in Gilbert White’s 
assumptions, and the field in which he worked was: extremely 
limited, his history still remains and ever* will 
remain one of our most prized classics and figures 
in every library worthy of the name. 
He has been described as “ a lens exquisite in de¬ 
finition. but of small field,” and every Nature lower 
knoavs bow valuable is such an instrument and how 
much more capable it is of investigating Nature’s 
secrets and marvels than one of wide but super¬ 
ficial range. It is due to: this minuteness of record 
and unbiassed adherence to facts that his book has 
been handed down, in about ninety editions from 
generation to generation a.s a model, and is now 
obtainable in so many forms grading from editions 
de luxe to sixpenny ones. The secret of success in 
liis case: may be epitomised in the rule “ to> use 
one’s: eyes and never despise the smallest trifle. ’ 
No small merit indeed must a man have possessed 
for his area of experience—the little and 1 remote 
village of Selbome, five miles from a railway to 
remain after two centuries the bourne of innumer¬ 
able pilgrimages of Nature lovers all the world 
over. 
The: Selbome Society, founded by G. Musgra.ve, 
and of which Professor Boulger is the spokesman 
as editor of “ Nature Notes,” is doing invaluable 
work in the line it has selected in fostering laws 
and regulations' for the protection of wild plants:, 
etc., from the extermination which threatens: them, 
and by providing a recognised record of natural¬ 
istic observation as far as possible: on White’s own 
lines:. 
In the discussion which followed the address, a.nd 
in which Messrs. Pearson, Druery, Bilney, Moly- 
neux and others took part, many suggestions: w ere 
made as to the best means of checking that van¬ 
dalism to> which is due 1 the imminent extirpation of 
many of our plants', not merely rarities, but also 
normally abundant ones, such as the Primrose and 
many of our Perns. The crux of the whole: matted 
appears to be a lamentable tendency to regard 
these treasures asi merely so many sources: of pounds, shillings, 
and pence. Oases were cited of persons who were professional 
naturalists: staying for weeks together by the habitats of ra.re 
plants and butterflies: and collecting them ruthlessly to: the 
point of extinction in order to sell them to: sta.y-aGboniei col¬ 
lectors for their herbaria, etc. Some even were criminal 
enough to destroy what they did not need in order to> enhance 
their rarity, and so> increase their selling value. 
Mr. Druery strongly advocated the refusal by the horticul¬ 
tural Press of all advertisements tending to encourage the root¬ 
ing up of Ferns, etc., by rural villagers, who deplete the: ferny 
lanes' for miles: around in order to' make money by the sales 
effected by such advertisements. The holiday-making Fern 
collector was also: mentioned as a vandal in most cases, denud¬ 
ing ferny habitats 1 ruthlessly only to dump the: spoil into un¬ 
suitable places: and thus to. practically destroy them. 
Mr. Molyneux mentioned a practical method of counteract¬ 
ing the evil by collecting the: seed of remaining rarities and 
scattering it freely about the natural habitats. Campanula 
rotundifolia he succeeded in re-establishing on one of our 
London commons in this way after finding but two or three 
survivors where: it was once recorded a.s abundant. 
A hearty vote of thanks to Professor Boulger completed a 
seance at once instructive and fraught with practical sugges¬ 
tion. 
Some Hardy Heaths. 
In. Erica carnea we have one of the prettiest of the hardy 
section, and decidedly one of the most useful. A dwarf, com¬ 
pact plant only a few inches in height, and as hardy as any of 
our native: specie®. Although introduced into this country as 
far back as 1763, it is by no means so frequently grown as it 
deserve®. 
Its: flowers are produced on distinct axillary peduncles, which 
in the: typical species are pink or flesh-coloured and maintain 
a perfect glow of colour for many weeks at a time v lion hardy 
flowers are: very scarce from January to March. 
It. may be planted with excellent effect as an edging to' beds 
of such things as Kalmias, Ledums, Rhododendrons, etc.; also 
as a groundwork to some of the: taller Heaths i.e., E. lusi- 
tanica and E. arborea. It is generally considered that this 
Heath has. less objection to soils of a chalky nature than, the 
majority of the genus. 
Erica carnea is a native of Southern Germany and Switzer¬ 
land. There is: a. white-flowered form known as E. carnea alba, 
also 1 known, in the trade as E. herbaceai. 
E. mediterranea is a native of the Mediterranean and Por¬ 
tugal, and was first brought into' this country in 1648. This 
Heath was, according to Loudon, first found in a wild state in 
Chrysanthemum Mme. pe la Vertenville. (Seep. 953.) 
