September 4th.
A PAPER by Mr. Lindley was read upon the new hardy plants which had flowered in the Society’s garden; among them a number of new shrubs were mentioned, which appeared likely to prove acquisitions to the public. A thermometer was exhibited by Mr. Bregazzi, of Derby, for ascertaining the temperature of bark-beds. It consisted of a thermometer enclosed in a shaft of copper with a wooden handle, and a door in its side, by which the temperature can be ascertained with precision. It is needless to point out the superiority of this plan, over the common mode of determining this very essential point, by feeling of a stick previously stuck in the bed; the sensation of heat when the stick is grasped in the hand will obviously depend in a great degree upon the temperature of the hand itself. As usual, there was an extensive display of all the choicest flowers and fruit of the season. One hundred and seventy-two subjects of this description were placed upon the table. Among the flowers, the most remarkable was a new hardy climber from Mexico, with deep purple blossoms studded [p426] with glittering green glands, called Maurandya Barclaiana; among the fruit was a fine specimen, from Lord Grantham’s garden, of the Papaw, a tropical fruit never ripened in England before.
September 18th.
The exhibitions of this day were chiefly confined to a display of Dahlias, which for magnificence exceeded any thing of the kind we ever witnessed before. The large meeting-room was filled with masses of the richest and most lively colours. In the whole, eight hundred and fifty-one varieties were shown, among which the finest were from the garden of William Wells, Esq., of Redleaf; but where all are so excellent, it is almost invidious to particularize. The time will be remembered by many of our readers when gardens in the autumn contained little besides marigolds, sun-flowers, and sweet-peas; by the aid of dahlias and chrysanthemums the autumn has now become the liveliest season of the year, and the beauty of the flower-garden is only destroyed by the severest of the winter frosts. Among the grapes upon the table was a remarkably excellent yellow-berried kind, from Portugal, from the garden of Mr. Holford, of Hampstead, which was quite new to this country. Apples, nectarines, peaches, and pine-apples abounded.
October 2nd.
Among the flowers was a fine bunch of ranunculuses, from Mr. Groom, of Walworth, a rare sight in October; they were obtained by having been planted in July and carefully protected by tulip-shades when coming into flower. The season for softer fruits being nearly over, pears and apples formed the chief display; of these a vast number, upwards of one hundred and eighty of the latter, were upon the table: the Blenheim orange, or Woodstock pippin, pomme gris, scarlet nonpareil, courtpendu plat, golden reinette, and packhorse apples; and Chapman’s, Marie Louise, and brown beurré pears, appeared to us to excel all their rivals. The famous gloux morceau and beurré d’Aremberg pears were also exhibited, but were not ripe. [p427]
October 16th.
The first number of a new periodical work, called the Pomological Magazine, consisting of coloured figures of the fruits cultivated in Great Britain, was placed upon the table. Among the apples were specimens of a variety sent from England to Connecticut, in the year 1636, and reimported from America within a few years. It proved to be a kind not known at the present day in this country, but still cultivated in France. In the gardening books of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it is mentioned under the name of the haute bonté. The specimens exhibited served to disprove the opinion that many of the American apples are European kinds altered by climate; these, although the produce of trees which have been growing in America for nearly two hundred years, differed in no respect from French samples exhibited at a subsequent meeting of the Society.
November 6th.
An excellent paper was read upon the method of cultivating horse radish, in Denmark. The roots are cut into slips, and planted horizontally, the lower end inclining a little upwards, and the crown of the plant hanging over the alleys, by which the beds are separated. From time to time the roots are uncovered, and all the lateral fibres are carefully removed, by which the size and length of the roots are much increased. The place hitherto occupied by dahlias, was now taken by Chinese chrysanthemums, of which a large number, consisting of twenty-two different varieties, was exhibited at the bottom of the room.