The succeeding papers to No. 54, have, as before observed, been noticed in their proper places, in the last edition of the Encyclopædia of Gardening.

54. On the Cultivation of the Yellow Rose, and of the tender Chinese Roses, by budding on the Musk Cluster Rose. In a letter to the Secretary. By John Williams, Esq. Corresponding Member of the Society. Read July 13. 1823.

The double Yellow Rose, which does not flower with Mr. Williams as a standard bush, flowered freely from buds inserted on strong shoots of a musk cluster rose, trained on the east front of a house. The buds were inserted ten feet from the ground; the same plan succeeded with the sweet scented and dark Chinese Roses; the blossoms of the latter were larger than usual, which Mr. Knight thinks is owing to "the distance the sap has to pass from the root before it reaches the flower-buds." At Cobham Hall, in Kent, the sweet scented Chinese rose is also found to do best on the musk species. In a note by the secretary, we are informed that in the garden of T. C. Palmer, Esq. of Bromley, in Kent, the double yellow rose will not live on its own roots, but budded on the common Chinese rose in April 1822, it grew so well as to produce upwards of thirty flower buds the following season. The bud put in in April had a little of the wood attached to it in the French or scollop manner of spring budding.

55. On the Cultivation of the Arachis Hypogea. In a letter to the Secretary. By Mr. John Newman, Gardener to the Hon. Robert Fulke Greville, F.H.S. at Castle Hall, near Milford, South Wales. Read Aug. 17. 1823.

The Arachis Hypogaa is a leguminous plant, a native of Africa, but now naturalized in most of the European settlements of America. It is cultivated for the seeds, or nuts, as they are commonly called, which are roasted and used as chocolate. In China they extract an oil from these seeds, which is used both for lamps and for the table. The plant is annual in duration, and has herbaceous procumbent stems, with pinnate leaves, and gold-coloured axillary flowers on long peduncles. As soon as the flower begins to decay, the germ of the seed-pod thrusts itself under ground, and is there grown and ripened. Hence the reason why the seeds are called ground, or earth nuts. In our stoves Mr. Newman directs the seeds to be sown singly in February, and the plants, when six inches high, to be turned into the tan-pit, just after

the pines have been shifted, a little below the surface of the tan, close to the curb of the pit. They will then form a beautiful edging without injuring the pines, as they seldom grow more than a foot in height. They should be taken up in the autumn, and the pods washed, and dried in the shade. One plant will produce from twenty to thirty pods.

56. On the Treatment of the Banyan Tree (Ficus Indica), in the Conservatory. In a letter to the Secretary. By Peter Rainier, Esq. Captain R.N. F. H.S. Read Jan. 20. 1824.

The Banyan Tree, in its native woods, sends down fibres from the under side of its horizontal branches, which reaching the earth increase in size, and ultimately become so many props, or additional stems to the tree. In captain Rainier's conservatory, these fibres damped off before they reached the soil; to prevent which he conducted them to it in rocket cases, filled with equal parts of white sand, and sifted loam. When the fibres had established themselves in the soil, the cases were removed, and the fibres soon increased to stems of the size of a quill, and were covered with bark the first year. In his conservatory at Southampton, Captain R. has now a Banyan tree with thirteen stems, the only one which he has seen in this country exhibiting its native character.

57. Further Notes on the Utility of the Grafting Wax, described in a former paper. In a letter to Charles Holford, Esq. F.H.S. By David Powell, Esq., communicated by Mr. Holford. Read Nov. 4. 1823.

This grafting wax is composed of 1lb. of pitch, 1lb. of resin, lb. of beeswax. lb. of hogslard, 4lb. of turpentine, melted and well mixed together. This composition is kept in a fluid state, by putting it in an earthen pan over boiling water; with a brush it is then spread evenly on sheets of moderately thin brown paper, which, when cold, is cut into slips about three quarters of an inch wide. The scion being fitted to the stock, take one of these slips; warm it by breathing on it, and bind it round the graft, when it will be found to serve the purpose both of matting and claying. The neatness and convenience of this method, Mr. Powell thinks, will recommend it to amateurs, and its cheapness and rapidity to practical gardeners.

The grafting wax was used in the comparatively infant state of horticulture, both in Britain and on the continent, but it is now every where giving way to grafting clay, as a substance

more congenial to vegetation; retaining a more equable temperature and degree of moisture in the graft, than is likely to be done by a thin coating of any description of resinous matter. So far Mr. Powell's practice may be considered retrograding; but to the amateur, who had rather his hands smelt of wax than were crusted with clay, it may possibly be considered as an improvement.

58. Some Remarks on the supposed Influence of the Pollen in Crossbreeding upon the Colour of the Seed-coats of Plants, and the Qualities of their Fruits. By Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. F.R.S. President. Read June 3. 1823.

This being a subject on which physiologists are far from being agreed, little advantage would result from discussing it here. Mr. Knight is of opinion "that neither the colour of the seed-coats, nor the form, taste or flavour of fruits are ever affected by the immediate influence of the pollen of a plant of another variety or species." A number of physiologists and gardeners, however, contend, that not only the colour of the seed-coats, but the size, taste, and flavour of fruits may be affected by the pollen of a variety of a different character. Cases of hybridized apples, melons, and other fruits, are said to be familiar to various cultivators. (See Encyc. of Gard. 823, 824.)

59. An Account of a New Variety of Plum, called the Downton Imperatrice. In a letter to the Secretary. By Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. F.R.S. &c. President. Read Dec. 2. 1823.

A hopeful fruit, originating from the white magnum bonum as the mother, and the blue imperatrice as the male parent. It is named by the Society the Downton Imperatrice; but as the specimens sent were the first fruit it had ever produced, it would rather be premature to say much as to character.

60. Observations upon the Effects of Age upon Fruit Trees of dif ferent Kinds; with an Account of some new Varieties of Nectarines. In a letter to the Secretary. By Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq.

F.R.S. &c. President. Read March 2. 1824.

Desultory remarks upon the question, whether each variety have its period of youth, of maturity, and of old age, and be formed for a limited period of duration only; or whether each be capable of eternal propagation, with undiminished health and vigour." This is a difficult subject, and it is to be regretted that the President has so few co-operators in

experimenting on it. His opinion is known to be in favor of the idea, that varieties are formed for a limited period of duration only; but he has brought forward nothing to disprove, that if a variety be renovated by frequent propagation, it may not last and retain all its properties for ever. For example, suppose the golden pippin to be at present in full perfection as a variety of apple; take healthy scions from a tree, and graft them on healthy stocks; the produce of these scions will be of the same quality as those of the parent tree; while this offspring tree is in full vigour, take scions from it, and graft them on healthy stocks as before; the same quality of fruit in an equal degree of perfection will be produced. Now, the question is, whether this process might not go on for an unlimited period, care always being taken to take off the scions for the purpose of renovation, before the tree they were taken from, became diseased or decayed? At the same time, it is an unquestionable fact, that the varieties of some species of fruit which have been long cultivated, are now degenerated; but whether this is the consequence of neglect of timely renovation, or whether it arises from the constitution of the variety, is very uncertain, and not likely to be soon determined from facts. That some varieties are constitutionally more apt to degenerate than others, is within the limits of every gardener's experience; and equally so the counteracting influence of frequent renovation. From the results of Mr. Knight's experience, he infers "that the debility and diseases of old varieties arise from the want of a properly prepared circulating fluid; and that when such is given by efficient foliage, the bark of the most debilitated variety possesses the power to occasion the necessary secretions to take place, and the alburnum is enabled to execute all its offices." The foliage could never be otherwise than efficient, or the bark than healthy under a system of frequent renovation; and therefore it is difficult to avoid concluding, that such a system would keep up any variety in perfection for ever. It certainly seems to do so with some varieties of plants commonly cultivated; as willows, poplars, vines, figs, &c., which are certainly not often re-originated from seed. But this subject can hardly be treated with advantage without considering together the whole that has been advanced on it; and we shall leave off, only observing, that even the conjectures of a philosopher who has studied the subject for so long a period as Mr. Knight, deserve the utmost respect. In this paper, these conjectures are much more consonant with common experience, than in several of the essays which appeared in the Philosophical Transactions.

The account of new varieties of nectarines, mentioned in the title to the paper, merely refers to a remark, that good varieties may be raised from seed, and that the president sent to the secretary in the last autumn, "many new varieties of nectarines, raised from seeds of the Elruge, and the pollen of the early violet nectarine. They were the produce of buds, inserted into the bearing branches of old peach and nectarine trees, growing upon my walls, the original seedling trees not having been retained in my garden." The practical gardener may observe the ingenuity of this mode, and the room and trouble saved by it: the first season of the growth of the seedling, a bud is taken from it, and inserted in the branch of any old tree, while the seedling itself is thrown away, and all the labour that would have been required to raise it to a bearing tree, wholly avoided. (See Encyc. of Gard. §12014.)

61. On a Hybrid Amaryllis produced between Amaryllis vittata, and Amaryllis Regina-vittata. In a letter to the Secretary. By James Robert Gowen, Esq. F.H.S. Read May 1. 1823.

The production alluded to, is a splendid hybrid, which is all we can say about it. Mr. Gowen thinks that the term hybrid should be limited to such productions from cross breeding as are sterile. When by the artificial union of two distinct species of the same genus, a progeny is raised capable of propagating itself by seed, he thinks the parent plants have not been originally distinct species, but the offspring of one species, which, being disseminated over extensive regions, differing in elevation, temperature, soil, and humidity, have assumed, in the course of ages, varied forms and colours of leaves and corolla, constituting distinctions so striking as to be rendered specific. He acknowledges however his doubt, as to the law which governs these artifical productions.

62. On the Cultivation of the Pine-Apple. In a letter to the Secretary. By Mr. Alexander Stewart, Gardener to Sir Robert Preston, Bart. at Valleyfield, near Culross, Perthshire. Read Dec. 2. 1823.

The culture of the pine-apple, is by no means so well understood in Scotland as in England; the plants are kept in too dry an atmosphere generally, and not allowed sufficient heat and moisture in the summer season. Early in 1820, Mr. Stewart felt very desirous to grow pines without the aid of tan, and with more steam than he had hitherto been able