Ja3C 12, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTIGDLTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



473 



Ulmns montana glabra, V. m. vulgaris, U. m. rugosa, U. m. 

 nigra, U. campestris, U. c. sarniensis, U. c. concav.tfolia, U. c. 

 cornubiensis or stricta, and one called U. glabra major, or the 

 Canterbury Elm, which appeared to us to be a variety of 

 montana, a noble fast-growing tree. 



At a distance of 500 yards or thereabouts from the entrance 

 we come to another gateway, which has a small arch on either 

 side spanning the footpaths. These are surmounted with 

 sedate-looking sphinxes, as a contrast to the playful lions at 

 the entrance ; and about 100 yards farther on we come to a 

 third gateway, which is the entrance proper, and in front of 

 which, just inside the park, is the memorial obelisk shown in 

 our engraving, and which bears on its base a large medallion 

 portrait of Her present Majesty, and the following inscription 

 occupying the three sides: — "The inhabitants and visitors 

 of Bath to the Princess Victoria on the Attainment of her 

 Majority. '2-lth May, 1837." "Completed October, 1837, in 

 the first year of the reign of Queen Victoria. Vivat Regina." 

 "Victoria." "Her Maje.sty Queen Victoria, married to His 

 Royal Highness Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, 

 February 10th, 1840." 



Beyond the obelisk the trees in the avenue become more 

 varied. Though still consisting mainly of Horse Chestnuts 

 and Elms, we see here and there the decided tone of the Purple 

 Beech asserting itself, the light foliage of the Ailantus, the 

 golden tassels of the Laburnum, and the gorgeous splendour of 

 the single and double scarlet Thorns, here and there varied with 

 the double white. .Just beyond the obelisk on the right is a 

 group of Hollies, and a little beyond are groups of large Yews 

 kept in a somewhat pyramidal form interspersed with Ever- 

 green Oaks, Laurustinus, and Portugal Laurels. A little farther 

 on there is a pond on the right with waterfowl, and on its 

 banks some venerable Weeping Willows. As we approach the 

 part where Park Lane unites with Weston Road we come to a 

 pretty undulating corner, nicely varied with mounds, glades, 

 and serpentine walks. This appears to have been formed by 

 considerable excavations of soil or stone, and the effect pro- 

 duced has been a great gain to the park. Mr. Ayrton might 

 do worse than take a hint from this for the improvement of 

 Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. With the views of eco- 

 nomy held by the present Government, we recommend Mr. 

 Ayrton to dig for gravel in the public parks, and instead of 

 offering these excavations as a "free shoot" for enterprising 

 builders to deposit their superfluous rubbish, let him entrust 

 them to Mr. Gibson or the other superintendents to deal with 

 them in such a way as to contribute towards the embelhshment 

 of the parks by breaking the monotony of the surface, which is 

 so characteristic of the parks on the north side of the Thames, 

 and thereby introduce landscape effects. These dells are 

 planted with great taste, and contain many excellent specimens 

 of Conifers and other evergreens, all of which are carefully 

 and correctly named. And just by way of finish there is a 

 great Jack- in-the-green with his head surmounting an Ivy bush ; 

 but whether the head represents that of King Bladud, Jupiter 

 Tonans, or the first mayor we cannot tell by the portrait. 



The preparations for the meeting of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society in the Park have made good progress. The framework 

 of the Exhibition tent has been for some time completed, and 

 the turf banks on which the plants are to be staged are already 

 firm and well clad with verdure. The day on which we visited 

 the spot we were pleased to see a man mowing the surface ; 

 and this is a great improvement on what we have had to regret 

 on some former occasions, when, during the whole time of the 

 Exhibition, the turf never looked otherwise than uncomfort- 

 able. The site of the Exhibition could not have been better 

 chosen ; it is commodious and picturesque. The design of the 

 Exhibition ground enclosed in the tent is admirable ; and if 

 the weather favour the Society, we prognosticate one of the 

 best and most successful meetings the Society has ever held 

 will be that which opens at Bath on the 24th of this month. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



Mb. Geobge, the skilful gardener at Rood Ashton, in Wilts, 

 informs us that he can keep the Wasps from every Grape in 

 the houses, except Madresfield Court, and that he cannot save 

 from their ravages. They fairly beat him in the struggle. 



If the meeting of the Royal Hoeticulturaij Society 



AT Bath is not a success it will not be the fault of the Local 

 Committee; tor every town, village, and railway station in the 

 west is placarded with bills of attractive dimensions and 

 colours, enough to excite the population of the whole country. 



We understand that at the forthcoming Exhibition of 



the Royal Horticultural Society at Bath, the Mayor of that 

 city (Mr. Alderman Blaine) will give a gi'and banquet, after 

 the inaugural ceremony, to the Council of the Society and its 

 officers. 



It is reported that Hemp, when the blossoms are just 



opened, is an infallible presers'ative of textile fabrics against the 

 attacks of moths. The stalk, with leaves and flowers, is cut when 

 blooming (about July), and dried in the shade. It is said to 

 preserve its properties for several years. — (English Meehanic.) 



Dk. J. E. Gkay says that the Wild Biids' Protection 



Act is having an effect contrary to what was intended. The 

 fruit-growers of Kent and other parts, it appears, employ boys 

 to go about destroying the eggs in the nests of all kinds of 

 birds indiscriminately. Insect-eating birds, especially star- 

 lings, are the victims of this system, as well as those that 

 really do a "balance" of harm. — (KiipUsli Mecliaiiic.) 



Dr. a. Kep.ner reprints from the Proceedings of the 



Scientific Society of Innsbriick an interesting paper on the 

 means of Protection of the Pollen of Plants against pre- 

 mature displacement or damp. As the vitality of pollen is 

 immediately destroyed by exposure to the action of either rain 

 or dew, he finds in nature a variety of contrivances to protect 

 it against these injurious influences during the interval be- 

 tween its escape from the anther and its being carried away by 

 insects, these contrivances beiug generally absent iu those 

 plants where fertilisation is affected by the poUen being con- 

 veyed at once to the stigma by the wind. In plants with 

 coherent poUen, fertilised by insect agency, where some of the 

 anthers are so placed as to be necessarily exposed to the weather, 

 these are generally found to be barren, or destitute of pollen, 

 and where they would interfere with the entrance of insects 

 into the flower, they are altogether abortive or rudimentaiy. 

 Plants with coherent pollen, which require insect agency for 

 their fertilisation. Dr. Kerner behoves to be of more recent 

 geological occurrence than those with powdery pollen, which 

 requu:e only the wind to convey it to the stigma. — {Nature.) 



NEW BOOK. 



The Dhtribiitlon of liahi over the British Isles during 1872. 

 By G. J. Symons, F.M.S., &c. London : E. Stanford. 

 The name of the author of this little volume is a guarantee 

 of its accm-acy, and we commend it to our readers, not merely 

 because it contains the observations recorded at 1700 stations 

 during last year, but because it contains also full du-ections 

 for securing accurate results by those who keep registers of 

 the rainfall. One extract will indicate the nature of the 

 work's pi-incipal contents. 



Mean Ratio of Rainfall during the six years 1860-65 to that 

 of the ten years 1860-69 (taken as 100) for England, Scotland, 

 and Ireland, and for the whole of the British Isles. 



England 97.9 I Ireland 98.6 



Scotland 99.8 | British Isles 98.8 



" These results are remarkably accordant, for it will be found 

 that out of seventy-four stations, 



16 do not differ more than 1 per cent. 



30 „ 



44 „ „ 



54 



58 ,, t) 



73 



and only 1 differs by more than 

 — viz., Cromarty Lighthouse, at which the fall during the six 

 years, 1860-65, was 7.2 per cent, above that during the ten years, 

 1860-09. . 



" Moreover, it will be found that tliere is a general agreement 

 between adjacent stations, which testifies to the accuracy of 

 the observations upon which this table is based. The widest 

 differences are in the north midland counties, and are, perhaps, 

 due to the remarkably heavy local rains which have occurred 

 at isolated stations several times during the last few years, or 

 there may have been some alteration iu the position of one of 

 the gauges. Raising or lowering the orifice of any of the gauges 

 2 or :3 feet would produce quite as great a discordance as is here 

 noticed ; which, by-the-by, incidentally shows how carefully the 

 observations must be taken to render such a change the most 

 glaring feature iu the inquiry." 



SHAPE YOUR TREES FOR THE WIND. 

 While few objects in the landscape are more beautiful to 

 the eye than a tine-formed evergreen or ornamental tree, so 

 none is more offensive to the true horticulturist and lover of 



