66 



JOUBNAIi OP HOETICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. f fanuory 24, 1867. 



as will be seen when the i?now is gone. During the Christmas 

 of 1860, the thermometer registered 44° of frost here. — Henry 

 Mat, Hope Nurseries. 



PoYKTON, NEAB Stockport. — I beg to enolose the readings of 

 a self-registering thermometer, 4 feet from the ground, and in 

 the shade :— 



Max. Mir. 



Jannury 9th 32^ .... 12" 



„ 6th «' .... 28' 



„ 7th 60° .... 88' 



„ 8th 50^ .... 41J" 



„ 9th 46- .... 87= 



„ 10th 44" .... 85' 



„ nth 86" .... 28° 



„ 12th 28° 18° 



— FiLIX-lUS. 



Kii.LALOE, Co. Clare, iRELiVD. — The thermometer here is 

 a self-registering one, and is placed about 5 feet from the 

 ground, in a stand, such as was described some years ago in your 

 Journal. The scale is, of course, Falirenheit's. We generally 

 suffer little here from hard frosts, and still less from snow, and 

 the fall here this year has been trifling. 



January 8rd 16= 



„ 4th 20= 



„ ISth 22= 



15th 16= 



\ Mai. 



1 January 13th 254° 



' „ 14th 22" 



„ 15th 28° 



„ 16th SOi" 



„ 17th 80l' 



„ 18th sr 



„ 19th 84" 



Min. 

 , 18= 

 , lu' 

 10" 

 23i" 

 , 20" 

 , 14J = 

 , 21" 



January 16th 

 17th 

 18th 



18° 

 14" 



The lowest temperatures previously registered were as follow : 

 —1850, January 17th, 1.5^°; 1856, January 13th, 18°; 1859, 

 December 20th, 18°— W. H. Mayne. 



GAEDENEKS' EXA^MINATION FOR HONOURS. 



" A Subscriber " would be glad to know where he can find 

 the rules and regulations for the examination of gardener lads, 

 as he is of opinion that by encouraging the education of young 

 gardeners an essential improvement would be effected in all 

 branches of horticulture. His attention was called to the 

 subject by the report of the " Gardeners' Examination for 

 Honours " in this Journal. He would suggest that with these 

 reports a list of the questions at the examination should be 

 published (not the answers). The advantage of this to future 

 candidates would be to give them a notion of the subjects on 

 which they would have to prepare themselves for examination 

 [We do not think it would be beneficial if the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society were to publish the exact questions that are- 

 put in the examination papers of gardeners for honours, but 

 there can be no objection to publishing a syllabus of the sub- 

 jects upon which the examinations are founded. We have, 

 therefore, inserted below that which is published by the Society 

 of Arts, and which is for all purposes the same as that on 

 which the examinations of the Royal Horticultural Society are 

 based. 



" Floriculture. — Improvement of races in plants, by what means 

 it can be commenced and carried forward. Hybridisation, objects of. 

 Conditions necessai"y to ensure fertility in flowers. 



" Wanning and ventilation of houses for plant culture. Influence 

 of ventilation on plants confined iu forciup;-houses. Limits of tempe- 

 rature endurable by plants, and bo\7 to tuni this to advantage in prac- 

 tical floriculture. Bottom heat, value of in plant culture. 



" Watering, the rationaJe of, iu the culture of pot plants. Liquid 

 manures, special recommendations of. Food of plants, how and whence 

 derived, and in what form received. 



. /'Propagation, the various modes of, and theii- special adaptations. 

 Vitality of seeds, duration of, and how best preserved. Budding, 

 Grafting, and Inarching, how performed, and to what subjects best 

 adapted. Increase by cuttings and by layers. Leaf -cuttings, how is it 

 that they can organise buds ? Composts for various classes of plants. 



** Acclimatisation. Is it possible to increase the hardiness of any 

 race of plants, and what are the most Hiely means ? 



" The leading flowers of the different seasons, indicating those to be 

 obtained naturally, and those by artificial means. 



" Special Culture— Ferns, Orchids, Succulents, Heaths, Hardy 

 Annuals, Bedding Plants. 



" Text Books : — ' Lindley's Theoiy and Practice of Horticnlture ' 

 (Longmans). ' M'Intosh's Book of the Garden ' (Blackwood & Sons). 

 ' Thompson's Gardener's Assistant ' (Blackie & Son). 



" The Examiner, in his remarks on the work done by the candidates 

 on the last occasion, says they ' tail most especially, as a rule, in con- 

 veying clearly and concisely the purport of their own replies, and lose 

 force of expression by multiplying words. They are strongly recom- 

 mended, as a part of their studies, to practise the writing out of short 

 pithy remarks on each of the subjects set down in the programme, 

 comparing their own remarks with the statements in the text books, 

 and repeating this from time to time, cutting out all superfluous words, 

 so that they may get the essential partienlars well impressed on the 

 memory.' 



' Fruit-tree Culture.— Kinds of fruits adapted for variona soils 

 and exposures. The Propagation, Pruning, and Training of Frnit 

 "Trees. The Structure and Functions of the Organs of Trees, con- 

 sidered in their relation to growth and reprodnction. The Forcing 

 of Frnit Trees, and their cultivation under glass, both in and ont of 

 pots. The Theory of Ripening, and the principles that ought to regu- 

 late the preservation of fruits after they are ripe, or their subsequent 

 maturation. The Packing of Fruit for transmission to great distances. 



" Veoetadle Culture.— The kinds and quantities of vegetable 

 seeds and roots required for cropping gardens of given dimensions. 

 The most approved mode of culture of the different k-inds of vegetables 

 and salads. The preparation of fermenting materials for artificial 

 heating. The forcing of vegetables and salads. 



" General Suhjei-ts. — Soils, Water, Atmospheric Air, Light, and 

 Heat in their relation to the successful cultivation of fruit and vege- 

 tables. JVIanures and their application. The Diseases and Insects to 

 which fruit trees and vegetables are subject, and their remedies. The 

 erection, heating, and ventilation of garden structures. 



"Text Books: — 'Lindley's Theory and Practice of Horticulture' 

 (Longmans). 'The Cottage Gardener's Dictionary' (Bell & Daldy). 

 Hogg's ■ Frnit Manual,' Third Edition (171, Fleet Street). Rivera's 

 ' Miniature Fruit Garden ' (Longmans). Brehaut's ' Modem Peach 

 Pruner' (171, Fleet Street). 



" The Examiner, in his remarks on the papers worked on the last 

 occasion, says; — 'I am pleased to see the rising generation of gar- 

 deners devoting themselves to a study of the theory of gardening — to a 

 study of those principles which ought to regulate every gardening 

 operation, and without a perfect knowledge of which there can be no 

 perfect practice , Practice without a knowledge of the principles by 

 which it is governed is an insecure and baseless foundation ou which 

 to rest when natural conditions are disturbed or unexpected difficulties 

 arise. I therefore urge ou gardeners most strongly the necessity of 

 studying the principles which regulate vegetation ; but at the same 

 time I desire also to see the fruits of that study exemplified in the 

 practice, for a knowledge of the theory without the practice ia 

 worthless.' "] 



ROYiUj HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



J.VNB.ARY 15TU. 



Floral Committee. — There was a large attendance of the members 



of the Committee, but nothing for them to do. A single plant, from 



Mr. Howes, Seven Sisters Road, of a variegated Primula, was the 



only specimen sent. This was not worthy of notice, several plants of 



the same character having been known. The Committee seemed to be 



of one mind in lamenting the .great losses many of them had sustained 



from the severe weather, the Roses and some of the Conifers having 



, been entirely killed. The subject of the tobacco duty was again dia- 



t cussed, and as soon as Parliament meets some steps will be taken to 



i obtain tobacco for fumigating plants at a low rate and on the same 



j terms as that used for washing sheep and the Hop plant, when infested 



I with vermin. 



Feuit Committee. — Mr. Whiting, gardener to Mi-s. Hope, The 

 Deepdene, near Dorking, contributed nine sorts of Apples, for which 

 he received a special certificate. Messrs. Slater & Sous, Malton, like- 

 J wise sent a number of .\pples, chiefly for the determination of the 

 names ; and from W. Wentworth Bnller, Esq., Strete Raleigh, came 

 several dishes of Court of Wick, intended, we believe, for distribution 

 among the members attending the meeting. The only other subject 

 worthy of notice was a bunch of Mrs. Pince's Black Muscat Grape, 

 exhibited by Messrs. Lncombe, Pince, & Co., of Exeter, to show the 

 extraordinary length of time for which it may be preserved. With 

 reference to this propei-ty. as well as to the merits of the variety gene- 

 rally, remarks have ali-eady appeoi-ed at page 11. 



General Meeting. — G. F. Wilson, Esq., F.R.S., in the chair. 

 The business was entirely of a formal character. Sixteen new Fellows 

 were elected, and the St. Ann's (Nottingham) Amateur Floral and 

 Horticultural Society was admitted into union- On the table were 

 placed a few subjects, not refen-ed to as being brought before the 

 Floral Committee. These were : — a variety of Sophronitis grandiflora 

 called AlexandiTua, and having purplish crimson flowers, from Messrs. 

 E. G. Henderson ; cut spikes of Barkeria Skinneri and a Ljelia, from 

 Mr. Hodges, gardener to E. Wright. Esq., Gravelly Hill, Birmingham ; 

 Zonale Pelargonium Mimas, a promising variety, which received a 

 secoud-cla,ss certificate last September, from Mr. Mann, of Brentwood ; 

 and from Messrs. Backhouse, of York, cut spikes of an Oncidium 

 allied to O. serratum, with brownish green flowers having a small lip, 

 and Brassavola cuspidata. 



FINE CONIFERS. 

 I SEND the dimensions of seven trees of WelUngtonia gi- 

 gantea, which are in the pinetum here. No 1 is 23 feet 4 inches 

 high ; its circumference of stem is 6 feet 2 inches, and it 

 measures 18 feet 4 inches through the branches. No. 2 ia 

 30 feet 6 inches in height ; No. 3, 17 feet in height ; No. 4, 



