121 



JOUllNAli OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ February 6, 1873. 



Bransion. 

 The following figures show the amount of rain (lat. 53° N., 

 Ion. 0° 31' W., 130 feet above level of sea), which fell at Bran- 

 ston during the year 1872 : — 



Inches. 



Januai? 2.5U 



February 2.77 



March 1.75 



April 3.87 



May 1.10 



June 3.21 



July 1.07 



locheB. 



August 2.76 



September 2.83 



October 3.75 



November 3.39 



December 3.31 



Total 



35.40 



Total fall, aud wet ilays in previous years 



1871 .... 2.3.38 148 



1870 .... 33.05 147 



Hottest day of year July 2Gth, 91° in shade ; coldest uight 

 January 10th, 23". 



1809 



18S8 



.. 23.78 1G3 



.. 20.68 115 



Oaboen, KiEKCDDnRiaHrsHiBK, 80 feet above sea level. 



Inches. 



January 1(I.U2 



February 



March 



April 



May 



Juno . . f 



July 



11.76 

 3.90 

 1.13 

 3.51 

 5.91 

 4.31 



August . . , 

 September 

 October . . . 

 November 

 December 



InchG.s. 

 . 3.37 

 . 5.63 

 . 5.13 

 . . 5.30 

 , . 8.56 



Tot.al 63.50 



Mean rainfall of last twelve years, 11.10 inches. 



Ireland. 



Autdra (Agliadee) . . 

 Carlowl Brown's Hill 

 Cloumcl (Gleuox'm) . 



1H71. 



Infl. 



30.18 



33.10 



, 46.78 



1S72. 

 Ins. 

 47.09 

 47.29 

 , 59.18 



1S71. 

 Ins 



1S72. 

 Ins. 



Cork (Formoy) 35.50 . . 46.60 



Dublin (Balbriggan) 31.51 .. 43.36 



[The above, and many other records of the rainfall in various 

 parts of the British Islands, demonstrate that ia 1872 it was 

 greatly in excess, in some cases double, that of the average of 

 previous years ; but there is one portion of Cumberland where 

 tlie rainfall is annually so large as scarcely to admit of in- 

 crease. Mr. Isaac Fletcher, M.P. for Cockermouth, who has for 

 several years kept rain gauges at various stations among the 

 Ciimbsrlaud mountain.'^, has published in the Carlisle Journal 

 the records of each month during the year 1872. His gauge at 

 Seathwaite, at the head of Borrowdale, has been established for 

 nearly thirty years, and the returns of the past year show that 

 in the heart of the lake district the rainfall of 1872 has not 

 been exceeded in any year during that period. 



Seathwaite is 122 feet above the level of the sea ; in 1872 the 

 amount of rain there was 18(i.2.5 inches, aud the number of 

 wet days 228. At the Stye, 1077 feet above the sea's level, 

 221.73 inches fell, and Mr. Fletcher justly remarks : — " The 

 amount registered on the Stye — nearly 25 inches — is marvel- 

 lous, aud is in excess of any previous record. In 1866, 224. .56 

 inches were recorded. So far as has yet been ascertained the 

 Stye is the wettest spot in Europe, and, except in tropical 

 countries, the iiuautities I have quoted represent the two 

 greatest annual falls of rain that have ever been recorded. 

 The fall in January, 1872, is, however, more wonderful still — 

 viz., 50.05 inches, about double the average annual fall in 

 Carlisle. January, 1873, bids fair to rival its predecessor." 



We think the returns wo have already published are suffi- 

 cient to demonstrate the extraordinary amount of rainfall in 

 the past year ; and as its local distribution wiU be carefully 

 tabulated by Mr. Symons, our space in th* meanwhile will be 

 more profitably occupied with other subjects. — Eds.] 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



The reply to the N.ational Herbaria Memorial to Mr. Glad- 

 stone, signed by so many eminent botanists, is as follows : — 

 "Treasury Chambers, Januai-y 23rd, 1873. 



" StB, — The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury 

 have had before them your letter of the 3rd inst., and the Me- 

 morial enclosed iu it from various gentlemen engaged in tlio 

 pursuit of botany or iu instruction therein, with respect to the 

 transfer, to the branch of the British Museum about to be con- 

 structed at South Kensington, of the scientific collections aud 

 library now existing at the Koyal Gardens at Kew. 



" Their lordships desire me to request that j'ou will inform 

 the memorialists that Her Majesty's Government have not 

 formed the intention of removing the coUectisn to South Kens- 

 ington, aud that should anything lead them hereafter to enter- 

 tain the idea, they will take care that ample notice shall bo 



given, and that the judgment of the persons most accomplished 

 in botany shall be fairly weighed in the first instance. 



" I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 



" William La'w. 

 " The Eev. M. J. Berkeley, Sibbertoft, 

 " Market Harborough." 



Messrs. Sutton & Sons have recently very much en- 

 larged and beautified their premises at Beading. A full descrip- 

 tion, and an engraving showing the frontage in the Market 

 Place, are in the Builder, published on the 25th of January. 



M.'.'.'Y readers will be surprised to learn the extent to 



which the .■!mil.ilx is cultivated in North America. There are 

 in New York aud Boston probably twenty greenhouses, having 

 an area of 20,000 feet, used exclusively for the growing of 

 Smilax. Besides this, thousands are grown as window plants 

 by private individuals. No plant is better fitted for house cul- 

 ture, as it grows in any temperature, from 50° to 75°, aud does 

 well in comparative shade. It took three years for the New 

 York llorists to find out that their contemporaries in Boston 

 were far ahead of them iu the cultivation of Smilax and Eose 

 buds ; and even to-day, Boston Eose buds bring ten per cent, 

 more iu New Y'ork than home-grown, for no other reason than 

 that they come from Boston. It is probable that 10,000 dols. 

 have been expended the past season in the vicinity of New 

 York, in erecting greenhouses for the growing of these two 

 articles alone. — {American Horticulturist.) 



We understand that the business of hot-water engineers 



hitherto carried on by Mr. T. S. Tkdss, Friar Street, S.E., 

 has been converted into a company called " The Patent Pipe 

 and Boiler Foundry Company (Limited)." 



One of the prettiest winter-flowering shrubs is Erica 



CODONODES, a species very rarely to be met with. We have it 

 now in full bloom growing iu the open air of the Weald of 

 Sussex, where it is perfectly hardy. We procured it from Mr. 

 W. Knight, of Hailsham, in whose nursery we have observed 

 a good stock of it. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN OAHDEN. 



In aU situations, and under all circumstances, it is highly rc- 

 commendable to keep a cropping table and note the time of 

 sowing, planting, aud gathering, wuth remarks on each descrij)- 

 tiou of vegetable. This table would be of great value in point- 

 ing out the time of sowing in that particular locality, so as to 

 have the crops come in at the time required. A sowing nf 

 Marshall's ProUfic or Early Mazagau Beans should now be made 

 iu the open ground where the soil is sufBciently dry to work 

 well. Cauliflou'ers in frames and under hand-lights should 

 be divested of decayed leaves and litter ; give them abundance 

 of air iu mild weather. Sow Seymour's Superb White Celerij in 

 boxes for the main early crop. This is a superior variety, it 

 grows large aud is not so liable to run as other sorts. This is 

 a good time to prepare for the principal crops of Curumhcrs. In 

 making dung beds some brushwood or faggots should be laid 

 at the bottom to draiu oU superfluous water. A narrow layer o 

 the same material should also be built up with the bed under 

 each ratter, to reach from front to back; this will allow the heat 

 from the linings to circulate freely, aud at the same time will 

 be a saving of dung. As soon as the seed leaves of the young 

 plants are fully developed I30t off, using the soil before recom- 

 mended. Eemove decayed leaves and rubbish from Lrltucea 

 iu frames. Give plenty of air. As soon as the young plants in 

 boxes are an inch or two high prick them out on a warm border 

 next mouth, when they will be found to be nearly as early as 

 the autumu-sown plants. After the beds for Mushrooms have 

 been made a few days, the heat of them should be examined 

 every morning, so that it may be ascertained if the temperature 

 is increasing or decreasing. A thermometer may be thrust a 

 few inches beneath the surface of the bed, aud if after two or 

 three examinations it does not exceed !i(>', the bed may be 

 spawned. A sowing of Earlj' Frame Radislics may be made on 

 a sheltered warm border. Remove the covering from that por- 

 tion of Sca-kalc which was forced early ; cut the stem short, so 

 as to keep them within the compass of a pot or box. Slinllots 

 and Garlic should now be planted if not done iu the autumn. 



FRUIT G.ABDEN. 



If any transplanting of fruit trees has yet to be done this sea- 

 son, it should bo seen to at once; also see to getting ground 

 intended to be i)lautcd with young trees prepared, and spare no 

 pains or expense to have this properly done. Make sure of 

 thorough drainage, and when the subsoil is unkind this should 

 be removed, replacing it with some good fresh loam. Pruning 

 aud nailiug should be persevered iu whenever the weather is 

 favourable. Any tree intended to be grafted in spring may be 

 headed- down, but leave the branches sufficiently long to allow 



