April  30,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
SS7 
Pear,  Nouvelle  Fulvie. 
Late  Pears,  like  this  one,  are 
best  flavoured  and  keep  far  longer 
and  better  when  the  fruits  are  left 
on  the  trees  as  long  as  possible,  or 
.safe  to  do  so.  Plucked  before  they 
have  thoroughly  matured,  they  are 
ant  to  shrivel  or  decompose.  Nouvelle 
Fulvie  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  late 
long-keeping  Pears.  It  is  fit  for  use 
in  November,  and  lasts  till  January, 
later  or  sooner  by  a  fortnight  or  so, 
according  to  the  sea.son  or  locality 
or  soil.  Messrs.  Bunyard  describe  it 
as  a  “Large,  fine,  hard,  melting 
Pear ;  a  free  bearer,  of  rich,  delicious 
flavour,  rather  rough  in  appearance. 
It  deserves  a  wall.;  irregular  growth 
as  a  pyramid.  The  Quince  stock 
suits  it  best.”  In  December,  1900, 
the  Fruit  Committee  awarded  thi^« 
old  favourite  a  first-class  certificate. 
R.H.S.  Scifiitific  Committee, 
April  21st. 
Present;  Dr.  M.  T.  Masters  (in  the 
chair) ;  Messrs.  Odell,  Holmes,  Saun¬ 
ders,  Massee,  Chittenden;  Di'S.  Cooke 
and  Rendle  ;  Prof.  Boulger;  Revs. 
Wilks  and  Henslow,  hon.  sees. 
Aroids,  coloured  foliacje.  —  Sir  T. 
Lawrence  and  Mr.  Odell  exhibited 
examples  cf  yellow-spathed  Richardias  with  leaves  half-yellow.  As 
the  upper  half,  of  the  lei^f  was  spotted,  it  was  suggestive  of  a  possible 
dissociation  of  hybrid  characters,  Sir  Trevor  also  sent  a  specimen  of 
Anthurium  Scherzerianum  with  a  leaf  half  crimson  and  half  green. 
Argotti  Botanic  Gardens,  Malta. — Dr.  Debono  sent  an  account  of 
numerous  additions,  &e.,  to  these  gardens,  which  Avill  form  a  supple¬ 
ment  to  the  paper  upon  Malta  in  the  “  Journal  ”  of  the  Society. 
Pear,  Nouvelle  Fulvie. 
new  Rhubarb,  The  Sutton,  vhc ;  Mr.  F.  Snelgrove,  three  pots 
Narcissus,  special  vote  of  thanks;  Mr.  Bushell,  three  spring 
Cabbages,  vhc.  A  vote  of  thanks  to  the  chairman  closed  a  very 
interesting  evening.  The  next  lecture  will  be  “  The  De.struction 
of  Insect  Pests,”  by  Mr.  Bushell,  The  Gardens,  Rownhams  House, 
Shirley. — J.  M. 
Narcissus  tcith  second  corona.  —  Flowers  were  sent  to  the  last 
meeting  by  Mr.  R.  O.  Backhouse,  Sutton  Court,  near  Hereford,  upon 
which  Dr.  Masters  reported  as  follows  ;  “  The  flowers  shoAV  a  series  of 
outgroAvths  from  the  outer  surface  of  the  cup  or  corona.  They 
resemble  those  of  the  ‘frilled’  Daffodils;  but  in  this  case  the  supple- 
mentai-y  groAvths  are  at  the  base  only,  and  are  tubular  or  trumpet 
shaped,  the  mouth  of  the  trumpet  being  directed  outwards.  In  some 
cases  the  outgrowths  are  so  numerous  and  so  regular  that  they 
constitute  a  second  eoi’ona  on  the  outside  of  the  normal  cup,  thus 
lesembling  the  ‘  eata-eorolla  ’  of  some  Gloxinias.” 
Crane  tlij  grubs. — Grubs  were  sent  by  Mr.  Millburn  from  Bath,  also 
known  as  those  of  Daddy  long-legs.”  .  Mi’.  Saunders  observed  that 
they  are  sometimes  knoAvn  as  ‘leather-jackets,’  from  the  toughness 
of  the  skin,  which  prevents  insecticides  from  affecting  them.  A  strong 
solution  of  common  salt  or  nitrate  of  soda  is  distasteful  to  them,  and 
helps  the  plants  they  are  attacking.  These  gi'ubs  often  come  to  the 
surface  at  night,  and  subsequently  take  shelter  under  turf,  boards,  &c. 
If  slates  and  tiles  belaid  about,  they  should  be  turned  over  in  the 
morning.  Various  birds — e.g.,  rooks,  starlings,  plovers,  partridges,  and 
pheasants — devour  them.  Towards  autumn,  when  the  insects  are 
about,  rolling  the  grass  will  kill  numbers  of  the  flies.” 
4 
Shirley  (SonthamptoD)  Gardeners’. 
There  was  an  excellent  attendance  of  this  society  at  the  Parish 
Room  on  Monday  evening,  Mr.  B.  Ladhams,  F.R.H.S.,  presiding. 
A  useful  lecture  was  delivered  by  Mr.  John  Macdonald,  of  Bit- 
terne  Park  Gardens,  Ringwood,  on  “  Spring  Flowering  Bulbs,”  in 
the  course  of  which  he  treated  on  the  Hyacinth,  Polyanthus,  Nar¬ 
cissus,  Tulip,  Primrose,  Jonquil,  Crocus,  Iris,  Ranunculus,  Snow¬ 
drop,  Gladiolus,  Amaryllis,  Lilium,  Ac.  In  the  course  of  his. 
remarks  he  dealt  with  selection,  cultivation,  potting,  bedding, 
grouping,  watering,  forcing,  &c.,  in  a  manner  which  won  for  him 
at  the  close  the  hearty  applause  of  his  fellow  gardeners.  An 
interesting  discussion  followed,  opened  by  Mr.  Milcox,  who  said 
he  Avould  begin  by  publishing  his  failures  in  the  growth  of  Snow¬ 
drops  and  Anemones,  which  seemed  to  die  out  after  the  first  year, 
and  he  had  a  suspicion  it  was  duo  to  the  ammonia  in  the  coko 
ashes  with  which  he  covered  them.  The  secretai-j’  (Mr.  J.  Miles) 
asked  whether  it  was  not  rather  the  sulphur  than  the  ammonia 
in  the  ashes  that  caused  the  plants  to  go  off.  The  lecturer  said 
he  would  not  advise  anyone  to  use  anthracite  aHies  for  bulbs,  for 
having  tested  it  he  found  a  good  many  failures  result  Messrs. 
Jones,  Bushell,  Thorne,  and  Verdon  all  took  part  in  the  discus¬ 
sion.  Mr.  Ladhams  had  a  very  pretty  vase  of  Narcissus,  which 
was  awarded  a  certificate  of  merit;  Mr.  M  ilcox  three  sticks  ot 
[irmin^liam  Gardeners’^ 
The  last  general  meeting  of  the  spring  session  was  held  on  the 
20th  inst.  with  Mr.  W.  Spinks  (the  trea.surer)  presiding,  and  Mr. 
H.  Lohrmann,  florist,  of  the  “  City  Arcade,”  gave  a  verbal  di.sser- 
tation  on  the  cultivation  of  the  Persian  Cyclamen.  His  remarks 
were  based  on  his  practice  in  Germany,  a  system  materially  differ¬ 
ing  in  several  respects  from  the  ordinary  one  usually  recogni.sed 
in  England.  It  may  be  remarked  that  Mr.  Lohrmann  was  un¬ 
expectedly  requisitioned  to  attend  the  meeting,  and  gave  his 
recently  promised  essay  on  thei  culture  of  the  Cyclamen,  owing  to 
the  unavoidable  absence  of  the  programmed  essayist,  Mr.  A.  R. 
Brown,  of  Handsworth,  on  “The  Auricula.”  Mr.  Lohnnann  fully 
detailed  his  sy.stem  of  culture  in  a  most  graphic  and  lucid  manner, 
and  was  listened  to  with  absorbing  intere.st.  The  Cyclamen 
requires  a  very  nourishing  compo.st  throughout,  from  the  seed¬ 
ling  state  to  the  flowering  period,  the  pabulum  being  of 
thoroughly  decayed  hotbed  horse  manure  in  proportion  one 
third,  leaf  mould  two  thirds,  and  one  part  good  gritty  .sand.  The 
seeds  should  be  at  once  placed  on  a  hotbed  of  horse  manure  litter 
in  a  shallow  pit  or  frame,  germination  taking  place  in  the  course 
of  four  to  six  weeks.  A  very  light  process  of  transplanting  the 
seedlings  to  small  pots  was  particularly  insi.sted  upon,  merely 
thumping  the  pots  on  the  bench  without  further  pressure  of  the 
•soil,  and  not  even  pre.ssing  down  the  rootlets.  As  a  stimulant 
during  the  later  stages  of  growth,  diluted  liquid  horse  dung  was 
applied  twice  a  week.  Particular  regard  to  shading  the  plants 
during  bright  sunshine  must  be  observed,  so  as  to  preserve 
healthy  and  succulent  stemmed  foliage.  A  circulation  of  fresh 
air  should  be  maintained,  also  syringe  at  least  once  a  day,  prefcr- 
ablj'  early  in  the  morning,  from  a  fine  rosed  syringe.  During  tlie 
.summer  expo.S6  the  plants  to  warm  rains  and  night  dews,  and 
plunge  thei  plants  in  a  gentle  hotbed  during  the  early  pottings,  to 
preserve  at  all  times  a  generous  and  free  growth.  Tlie  Cyclamen 
likewise  being  required  chiefly  as  a  winter  flowering  .subject,  it 
was  deemed  advisable  to  pull  out  the  initial  flower  stalks  care¬ 
fully  from  the  conn  with  the  view  of  retaining  the  normal  con- 
.stitution  of  the  plant  for  a  vigorous  development  of  winter  flori- 
fication  later  on.  The  foregoing  are  a  few  of  the  more  salient 
points  of  the'  system  of  cultivation  inculcated,  and  which  may 
not  inaptly  be  de.signated  the  “  Express  ”  mode  of  growing  the 
Cyclamen  to  produce  leviathan  specimens  measuring  a  yard  in 
diameter,  and  producing  up  to  200  blooms. 
In  the  discussion  which  followed  Mr.  C.  H.  Herbert  (the  well- 
known  expert  grower  of  especially  Carnations  and  Cyclamens  to 
Messrs.  Thomson  and  Sons,  Sparkhill  Nurseries,  Birmingham) 
whilst  desiring  to  express  his  high  appreciation  of  Mr.  Lohrmann’s 
