rapidly quieted down. The financial question was grappled with, Bentham suggested that £4,000 to £5,000 should be raised on 5 per cent. bonds by the Council, and put down £2,000 himself The coal merchant, who threatened execution, was paid off, as were other trouble. some creditors, and the bondholders, realising the altered conditions, ceased to clamour for their money, and conciliatory words brought back many withdrawing members. Ladies were admitted to fellowship, and reduction in the staff, both at the garden and in the London office, became possible, when it did not look like compulsion by pecuniary distress. Bentham drew up a new set of bye-laws, which were discussed; finding that two members were resolved to object to everything, Bentham resolved on strategy; he brought forward a few verbal points of no practical importance to be hotly discussed, on which, after long talk, Bentham gave way, which satisfied the objectors, and the important parts passed unchallenged. By these means harmony was restored, but Bentham found that the Honorary Secretaryship was no sinecure."

"The horticultural fête in June was a success, 5,362 visitors being present. It was the custom for all tickets to be signed by Bentham as Secre tary, which entailed many hours of mechanical labour. No fewer than 3,800 attended the Chiswick jete on the 7th July."

Another extract of great interest may here be given :-

“On 12th February, 1846, he was 'engaged the greats: part of the morning at the Horticultural Society about a proposal made by the Secretary of the Treasury for our taking the Kew collection on certain conditions.' Elsewhere he wrote that this note came with an intimation that if refused they would be offered to the Botanic Society of Regent's Park. We both felt that this breaking up of the Kew collections would be a disgrace to the nation, and that if it were desirable to prevent it there was no time to be lost.'"

"Lord Melbourne" (we are told) "put a stop to it immediately after having seen the Duke of Devonshire, and that the offer never was made to the Regent's Park Society." (Gardeners' Chronicle, N.S., v. 1876, p. 400. John Smith's account of the transaction will be found in the same volume at p. 364.) "The state of the gardens had been under consideration for some years previous, and Dr. Lindley, with Messrs. Paston and Wilson, had inspected the Royal Gardens and reported in February, 1838, to a Treasury Committee."

In 1841 Bentham resigned his post as Secretary to the Horticultural Society. During his tenure of office, in addition to his official work, he contributed very largely to the determination and description of the numerous plants sent home by Douglas, Hartweg, and other collectors.

In the same year, 1841, the Gardeners' Chronicle was established by Lindley and others, and Bentham at once became one of its most valued contributors. Many of his articles are unsigned, others marked with initials only. They comprise descriptions of new plants, a translation of Rè's Treatise on Vegetable Pathology (1849-50), and numerous accounts of foreign botanic and other gardens visited by him in the course of his prolonged autumnal holidays, when he came in contact with, and indeed became intimate with, most of the botanists of the day. Bentham continued to be an occasional contributor for many years, and the present Editor, like his predecessor, has reason to hold him in grateful recollection.

"In October, 1855, the Benthams came back to London, after a round of visits extending over two months. No sooner was Bentham

back in town than he joined in discussing the plans of the Horticultural Society; it was proposed to give up Chiswick, which the Society could no longer support: 'painful as it is thus to break up a Society in which one has taken so much interest.' But the Society was not doomed then to this fate; not only was the catastrophe averted on this occasion, but it over. came a much more threatening, overwhelming one some years later."

"On 29th January, the collections of dried plants belonging to the Horticultural Society were sold by auction: Brown for the British Museum, and Planchon for the Paris Museum, and Delessert were the principal bidders, and paid very high prices for some lots. Pamplin also bought a good deal ... and I bought several collections for Agardh and some for de Candolle."

Our notice has extended to a greater length than we intended, but it is indeed difficult to know where to stop. As it is, we have not alluded to Mr. Bentham's resignation, under painful circumstances, after many years of devoted and distinguished service, of the Presidency of the Linnean Society. It was ultimately decided by high legal authority that Bentham, whose conduct at a certain juncture had been impugned, had been strictly correct in his decision. Nor can we do more than allude to the wretched insolence of an ignorant Minister of State towards Sir Joseph Hooker, a matter which caused a great commotion at the time, and one in which Bentham was naturally greatly concerned.

Mr. Jackson has done his task well. He has evidently been hampered by wealth of material and by difficulty of selection. He has here and there inserted details of minor general interest, but we do not find that he has omitted any important particular. He may be cordially congratulated on having produced a work which will be consulted by the future historian of the botany of the nineteenth century along with the classical life and letters of Asa Gray and the masterly summary by Sir Joseph Hooker of the life and labours of his father, Sir William. It is the fashion now to speak of these men, as well as of Robert Brown, the Decaisnes, the Martius, the de Candolles, and others, as botanists of the old school; and in a sense this is, of course, true, but it must be long, indeed, before the new school can be in a position to show such a record as that achieved by their predecessors.

Mr. Jackson has greatly facilitated the researches of the reader by the excellent tables of contents and elaborate index which he has provided.

was

OUR SUPPLEMENTARY ILLUSTRATION shows a handsome plant of Cordyline indivisa growing in the Earl of ANNESLEY's garden at Castlewellan, concerning which his lordship's gardener, Mr. T. RYAN, writes as follows:-"The plant raised from seed sown in these gardens. In the spring of 1897, the late Mr. BURBidge, of Trinity College Gardens, Dublin, had seeds sent to him from New Zealand, and he sent some to the Earl of ANNESLEY. Eighteen plants were raised from the seeds received, some of which were sent to Mr. BURBIDGE, as his own seed failed to germinate, and some to Kew and Glasnevin Gardens. We found them most difficult to keep alive through the winter during the first few years. We lost several plants, and it is probable that we should have lost them all had we persisted in growing them in pots during the winter. Instead, we turned them

out of the pots and planted them in the border of a cool orchard house, and covered up the roots with leaf-soil. After that we had no more trouble. When planting them out in the nursery border the following spring the balls' were a mass of young roots. We treated them in a similar way the following winter, and they increased to such an extent that it took a couple of men to lift them on their removal to a permanent place They have been in the pleasure grounds at Castlewellan for seven years, and during that time they have received no protection, and have not been in the least injured by frost or snow. This magnificent plant requires shelter from prevailing winds to prevent the leaves being broken. The plant photographed is 8 feet in height, with a circumference of 27 feet; the leaves are 5 feet in length and 7 inches in width; dark-green above the mid-rib, and the secondary nerves of orange colour; the under surface is glaucous with orange-coloured nerves. In a letter 1 received from Mr. BURBIDGE at the time, he said it was the first time Cordyline indivisa had been grown from seed in Europe since LEE, of Hammersmith, raised a few seedlings in 1857." An illustration of C. Banksii growing at Castlewellan will be found on reference to p. 211.

ROYAL HORTicultural SoCIETY.-The next meeting of the committees will be held on Tuesday, October 9, in the Society's Hall, Vincent Square, S.W. A lecture on the "Origin and Peculiarities of Climbing Plants," illustrated by lantern slides, will be given by the Rev. Prof. G. HENSLOW, V.M.H., at 3 o'clock.

44

The thirteenth annual show of British-grown fruit will be held in the Society's hall, Vincent Square, Westminster, on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 16 and 17. Fellows of the Society will, on showing their tickets, be admitted at 1 p.m. on October 16, and at 10 o'clock on October 17. The public will be admitted at 2 o'clock on October 16 on payment of 2s. 6d., and at 10 o'clock on the 17th on payment of 1s. The show will close at 6 p.m. on both days. On the first day a lecture on the Food Values of Fruit" will be given by Dr. JOSIAH OLDFIELD. The judges will assemble in the entrance hall at 10.45 a.m. on October 16. The Fruit Committee will meet at 11. The other committees will not meet, and only exhibits of fruit will be staged. Exhibitors can commence staging on Monday, October 15, at 1 p.m., or at 6 a.m. on the 16th. Exhibits can be removed at 6 pm. on the 17th. We are requested to state that the Society will unpack and stage exhibits if notified three days previously of the owner's inability to do so, but in no case can the Society undertake to repack or return any exhibits. Copies of the schedule can be obtained on application to the Royal Horticultural Society, Vincent Square, Westminster. Entries close on Tuesday, October 9.

BRITISH GARDENERS' ASSOCIATION.-We are informed that at the last meeting of the executive council of this association, held in the Horticultural Hall, Westminster, Mr. W. H. DIVERS, from Belvoir Castle Gardens, presiding, eighteen new members were elected, bringing the total up to 943. Four applications for membership were declined. The question of forming a junior branch of the association for the admitting of apprentices was discussed, and a scheme will be formulated for consideration at the next meeting. An application having been received to hold a meeting of the association at Bournemouth, it was decided that arrangements be made accordingly. The executive council wish it to be known that a delegate will be sent to address meetings in any part of the country where a reasonable number of gardeners can be got together. Applications from anyone interested in such meetings are invited, and should be addressed to the honorary secretary, Talbot Villa, Isleworth.

ODONTOGLOSSUM NAEVIUM, tab. 8,097.-This Colombian species was originally figured and described by Dr. LINDLEY, in 1850, from a plant which was exhibited at one of the spring meetings of the Horticultural Society. The plant dropped out of cultivation, and after many years was reintroduced from the mountains near Santa Martha. The flowers are white, with numerous dark purple blotches, and a bright yellow disc to the lip; sepals spreading, narrowly lanceolate, very acuminate, incurved undulate, about one inch and a half in length, the petals being very similar, but of rather shorter length. The plant now figured flowered in a temperate Orchid house at Kew in February last. The present description is by Mr. R. A. ROLFE.

ABIES MARIESII, tab. 8,098.-This handsome Japanese silver Fir, allied to A. Webbiana, was first figured and described in Gardeners' Chronicle, December 20, 1879, p. 788, fig. 129. The present figure and description by Dr. M. T. MASTERS have been prepared from a tree growing on the estate of the Earl of ELGIN, Dumphail, near Nairn, and it is believed to be the first occasion on which this species has produced cones in this country. The species was originally discovered in the mountains of Northern Japan by the late Mr. CHARLES MARIES, who introduced it to the Coombe Wood Nurseries of MessIS. JAMES VEITCH & SONS. It differs from A. Webbiana in the hairy shoots, denser, shorter, less horizontally spreading leaves, and in the shorter, cask-shaped

cones.

BLAKEA GRACILIS, tab. 8,099.-Mr. S. A. SHAW describes this species from a plant purchased in 1904 from Messrs. LEMOINE & SONS, of Nancy, which flowered in a greenhouse at Kew in February last. It is a glabrous, muchbranched shrub, 9 to 13 inches in height, or sometimes a small tree. The leaves are obo. vate-elliptic or elliptic, 2 to 4 inches in length, and about 1 inch in breadth. The flowers are axillary, solitary or rarely geminate, about 1 inch across; white, slightly tinted with pale rose colour. The plant was first described by HEMSLEY from material collected by ENDRES for Messrs. JAMES VEITCH & SONS. B. trinervis, tab. 451, is the only other species in cultivation.

CHLOREA VIRESCENS, tab. 8,100.-This species originally appeared in cultivation in the Birmingham Botanic Garden in 1845, when it was exhibited at a meeting of the Horticultural Society, and figured in the Botanical Register, but was soon lost sight of. It was recently re-introduced by Mr. H. J. ELWES, of Colesbourne. He found the plant growing on sandy flats near Coronel, Chili, in December, 1901, and sent plants to Kew, which flowered in a green. house in April, 1903, and on subsequent occasions. The flowers are of large size, yellow in colour, varied with green. They are borne on racemes measuring 4 to 6 inches in length. The present description is by Mr. R. A. ROLFE.

PASSIFLORA PUNCTATA, tab. 8,101.-Mr. T. A. SPRAGUE describes this South American species from a plant which was received in 1904 from the State Botanical Gardens, Brussels, under the name of P. maculata, which flowered at Kew in the autumn of 1905. The plant has variegated leaves, being marked with purple, between the veins, on both surfaces. flowers are yellow.

The

THE LATE CHARLES WILLES WILSHERE.— The death of Mr. WILSHERE, of The Frythe, Welwyn, is announced at the age of 92 years. Deceased was much interested in horticulture, and was an occasional correspondent to these pages.

WINTER-FLOWERING CARNATION Society. -The first show of the Winter-Flowering Carnation Society will be held on December 4, in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park. The schedule of prizes to be competed for may be had on making application to the Hon. Secretary. The competition is open to members only. All interested in this class of Carnations, and not yet members of the society, are asked to communicate with the Hon. Secretary, Mr. HAYWARD MATHIAS, Rodown, Medstead, Hants.

EVENTS IN 1907.-The secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society writes us as follows: The council of the Society have fixed the following dates for the exhibitions of the Society in 1907:January 8, 22; February 12 (annual meeting); March 5, 19; April 2, 16, 30; May 14, 28 to 30 (probably in the Temple Gardens): June 11, 13, 14 (colonial grown fruit and vegetable show), 25; July 9, 10 (Holland House), 23; August 6, 20; September 3, 17; October 1, 15, 17, 18 (British grown fruit), 29; November 12, 26, 28, 29 (colonial grown fruits and vegetables); December 10, 31. There will be no colonial fruit and vegetable show in March as the governments of the South African colonies, in whose interests the show has been held, have combined and hired the Royal Horticultural Hall for a great exhibition of products in February and March, 1907. Negotiations are also in progress for the autumn Rose show, the Sweet Pea show, and the exhibitions of the other kindred societies to be held at the Hall as usual. The Sherwood Cup will be awarded at the Holland House show on July 9 for the best collection of herbaceous and bulbous plants shown in pots or tubs on a space not exceeding 400 square feet.

BURBANK AS A PLANT BREEDER.-We take the following extract from the pages of Nature: "The review of Mr. LUTHER BURBANK's work, written by Prof. H. DE VRIES in the Biologisches Centralblatt, September 1, gives the opinion of the foremost scientific plant-breeder on the work of one of the most successful practical plant-breeders. While fully recognising the remarkable acumen of BURBANK'S judgment, and the practical value of his work, Prof. DE VRIES finds a marked contrast between the aims and methods of the two types of worker. Careful experiment in the cultivation of crossing on a limited scale of pure types with definite characters is the task of the scientific investigator; the hope of the nurseryman lies in the chance possibilities arising out of the production and selection from a vast number of variations; for instance, Mr. BURBANK selected his Plums from 300,000 hybrids. One of the most important features of Mr. BURBANK'S work has been the cultivation of remote species with possibilities that have escaped the consideration of less [? more] conventional cultivators. The stoneless Plum was obtained from crossing some plants, Prunes Sans Noyau,' at one time cultivated in France. An intuitive genius for selection of promising varieties is the key to Mr. BURBANK's success.

THE NATURE OF FERTILISATION.-The discussion at the British Association (conjointly with Section K.) on the nature of fertilisation was initiated by Dr. V. H. BLACKMAN, who gave a brief account of the recent work on which the present views of fertilisation are based, dealing specially with the role of the chromosomes, and taking as a starting point the theory put forward by MONTGOMERY (1901), that in synapsis the maternal and paternal chromosomes unite in pairs, and are later separated by the reduction division, which thus divides the somatic chromosomes into two groups. Fertilisation appears to be incapable of exact definition, for apogamy and parthenogenesis link it on to vegetative reproduction, and, indeed, nuclear fusions and reductions occur in plants apart from reproduction, e.g., in graft hybrids of Mespilus and Crataegus there is evidence that the fusing of vegetative cells has led to the mixing of characters. Nature.

WILLIAM MITTEN.-The Journal of Botany for October contains a photograph and appreciative notice by Mr. HEMSLEY, of WILLIAM MITTEN, the accomplished bryologist, who died on July 27 last in his 87th year. By profession he was a pharmaceutical chemist, but at the commencement of his career developed an affection for the study of botany. Encouraged by BORRER and Sir WILLIAM HOOKER, he paid special attention to mosses and liverworts generally, and soon became one of the leading authorities on these plants. He made many contributions to the literature on such plants, some of which were published in separate volumes by the Linnean and other societies. His greatest work was the Musci Austro-Americani published in 1869, which occupies the whole of the 12th volume (upwards of 650 pages) of the Journal of the Linnean Society. The basis of this was the very fine collection made by RICHARD SPRUCE; about 1750 species belonging to 127 genera are described. Mittenia Lindberg was founded on Minopsis Plumula, the name Minopsis being already in use. DR. FRANZ SCHUTT, Director of the Royal Botanical Garden and Museum at Griefswald, on the occasion of the 450th year's festival of the establishment of the University, was made the recipient of the Red Eagle Order of the IV Class.

THE PHYLLOXERA IN SWITZERLAND.- This pest of the Vine has appeared at Sitten, in Valais, the finest wine district in the country; a patch of about a hundred Vines-being attacked. The district of Valais had remained uninfected hitherto, and the authorities have not failed in taking every precaution to prevent an extension of the plague, the importation of Vines, cutings and table Grapes being strictly forbidden. There is an insurance fund against the Phylloxera danger, and every vineyard proprietor has to pay into it annually 5 rappen for every 100 francs' value of his Vines: and the fund has at the present time at its disposal the sum of Fr. 93,000.

PENTAS CARNEA VAR. ALBA AND SANCHEZIA NOBILIS.-We remark in Die Gartenwelt for September 15 an illustration consisting of three plants of l'entas carnea var. alba, shown by Herr RECKLEBEN, gardener at Cassel, at the recent horticultural show at that town. The plant exhibits much decorative value, the flowers being very abundant, of the shape of the longer-tubed Bouvardia, as B. candidissima, or B. Humboldtii, and coming in loose terminal, erect panicles. We would recommend this plant to florists and gardeners for decorative uses in warm houses and apartments, and for its graceful habit, pure white flowers and abundant foliage. Three illustrations in the same journal of Sanchezia nobilis, shown by the same gardener, indicated the usefulness of this old inhabitant of our stoves as a table plant. Apparently they stood about 11 feet high, the foliage was large with the colouring well brought out and almost hiding the pots from view.

THE POISONOUS PROPERTIES OF PRIMULA OBCONICA AND P. SINENSIS.-An account of the researches made by Herrn. K. WEYDAHL is given in the Gartenflora for September this year as to the causes of the irritation and inflammation of the skin produced in some persons when handling these two species of Primula. The actual work was carried out under the direction of Herrn. Dr. HANSTEEN, at the Botanical Institute of the Agricultural High School of Norway. Herrn. WEYDAHL says that the hairs found on the leaves, and chiefly on the upper surface of the leaves, are alike in both species. KAMIENSKI, who, in 1875, carried out an anatomical examination, says of the hairiness of P. sinensis that the epidermis carries two sorts of hairs with globular heads or ends. These hairs consist each of two cells, a cylin

the plants were more free from the irritating poison when grown in moist warmth, and that in dry heat or under cool conditions it increased. These facts may account for the infrequent com. plaints made by commercial cultivators who grow their plants quickly, as compared with private gardeners who have not the same reasons for developing rapid growth in their plants. The article from which we quote is of considerable length, and it is illustrated in a very instructive manner with figures of the poisonous and non-poisonous hairs.

MR. F. JORDAN.-We are pleased to hear that Mr. F. JORDAN, late gardener at Impney Hall, Droitwich, and writer of our weekly calendar last year on the cultivation of "Fruits Under Glass," has been appointed Gardener to Lord NUNBURNHOLME at Water Priory, York. Our readers will remember that on many occasions Mr. JORDAN exhibited fruit from Impney and met with gratifying success.

ANOTHER NEW TOMATO.-The Fruit and Vegetable Committee, on September 25, recommended another Award of Merit to a Tomato of the Duke of York type. It was named Lye's Early Gem, but as the fruits were, contrary to custom, removed from the hall early in the day, we were not able to describe them in our last issue. NEW PEST ON BLACK CURRANT LEAVES.The Black Currant, one might have supposed, was already sufficiently preyed upon by the destructive bud-mite (Phytoptus ribis), but according to our correspondent, M. C. C., a new pest has attacked the leaves of the plant. He writes as follows:"During September the leaves of Black Currant bushes in a garden at Haslemere have been attacked with the uredo and teleutospores of a fungus Cronartium ribicolum. As far as we know it is the first time of its appearance in Britain, although it has been known on the Continent, perhaps, for a century. It is affirmed by some authors that the Ecidium form is produced on the Weymouth Pine. The species of Cronartium exhibit a peculiar form of teleutospore-sori; another species is found on leaves of Pæony."

Publications Received.-A Concise Handbook of Garden Shrubs, by B. M. Gwyn Lewis, published by Methuen & Co., price 3s. 6d.

DASYLIRION GLAUCOPHYLLUM.

THE Dasylirions are very ornamental plants by reason of their beautiful linear, drooping foliage, which forms a crowded tuft, as will be seen on reference to fig. 101. They are very suitable plants for sub-tropical gardening, or for decoration of the conservatory.

They are all, with one exception, natives of Mexico, and belong to the same natural order of plants as the Yuccas, namely, Liliacea, which plants they somewhat superficially resemble. One of the commonest species met with in gardens is D. glaucophyllum, but it is not often that the plant develops its tall inflorescence. The specimen shown at fig. 101 was flowered in the gardens of Lady Theodore Guest, at Inwood, Templecombe. Her ladyship writes: "I enclose a photograph of Dasylirion glaucophyllum in flower. Mr. Watson, of Kew, informs me this species flowered in the Royal Gardens, Kew, two years ago. The rapidity with which the inflorescence grew is astonishing. On Monday, June 11, the beginning of a flower stalk was first noticed; in a fortnight, on June 26, it had grown fully 16 feet, and we had fears it would grow through the glass roof of the conservatory. However, the flower buds around the stalks began to thicken quickly, when the growth of the latter became less rapid. By July 1 it had completed its full height of 18 feet 10 inches. The circumference of the stalk at the lowest point was only 6 inches, but at the thickest part, where it was closely covered with flower buds, it measured 16 inche; in circumference. The