410 



JOUENAL OF HOBTIOULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAUDENER. 



[ Juno 36, 



Iho foregoinR operations, and to dotermine the forecast after a 

 limple iuspectiou of the list of wcathei-retums. No notes or 

 •alculations upon paper are made. The operation occupies 

 «bont half an hour, and is conducted mentally." 



In Appendix, page xx., are certain maxims, which it appears 

 »rc employed by the department in forecasting weather. " Some 

 cf them," Bays the Report, " rank among the long-established 

 truths of meteorological science, while others arc clearly open 

 to eonsiderable doubt." 



The Committee next compared thcdaily forecasts mth facts, 

 and with each other. They report, " though it is under the 

 eiienmstances impossible to make an exact comparison of 

 iorecnsta with facts, it is possible to make an exact com- 

 parison of the forecasts with each other — i.e., to compare the 

 forecast for Tlnirsday made on the Tuesday with the fore- 

 east for Thursday made on the Wednesday. •••«.. The 

 Jorecasts made on two succeeding days for the third day 

 differ from one another in every possible way." Your readers 

 will not, I believe, after such a statement be siirprised at the 

 leport of the Committee, upon the utility or inutility of daily 

 forecasts (page 23|. " As regards the utility of tlie daily fore- 

 easts, we have to observe in the first f\a.co', that if there is no 

 sound basis on which they are founded, and no evidence that 

 ihey have been correct in point of fact, they are wanting in 

 •verything which can render them practically useful. But even 

 independently of this, we doubt whether intimations of ordi- 

 naipr coming weather so vague as these forecasts must ueces- 

 garily be, can be of any real value. If it were possible to tell 

 the sailor in a particular part that the wind for, say, twenty- 

 four or forty-eight hours would be westerly, or to tell the 

 Jarmer in a given district that he would have rain within that 

 time, or to tell the gardener that his crops would need pro- 

 tection from frost or hail, or to tell the traveller that the 

 Treather would be propitious for his journey — these predictions 

 if correct would be useful. But nothing of the kind is attempted. 

 The forecasts indicate, as the department has repeatedly staled, 

 merely the opinion of the department concerning a probability. 

 They extend to large districts without attempting to describe 

 the varied particulars of weather in different parts of those dis- 

 tricts, and they thus fail to give that information which alone 

 eould make such predictions of practical value." Very soon 

 after occurs this important passage : " And we may add that 

 wecan find no evidence that any competent meteorologist 

 believes the science to be at present in such a state as to enable 

 an observer to indicate day by day the weather to be ex- 

 perienced for the next forty-eight hours throughout a wide 

 legion of the earth'* surface." 



Next as to the storm-signals. Storm-warnings seem to have 

 leen more satisfactory, though there is considerable room for 

 improvement. How these warnings have been appreciated may 

 be gathered from the abstract of opinions concerning the value 

 attached to them at the present time (see Appendix, page 

 xxxvii.)— opinions certainly most favourable. The Committee 

 themselves say (page 34)— '• There woidd be gi-eat regret if 

 they were discontinued." And further on (page -12)—" The 

 system of weather telegraphy, and of foretelling weather, is 

 not in a satisfactory state. It is not carried on by precise 

 rules, and has not been estabhshed by a sufficient induction 

 from facts. The storm-warnings have, however, been to a 

 certain degree successful, and are highly prized." 



In conclusion, the Committee pay a tribute to the energy 

 and devotedness of the late Admiral Fitzroy. " To his zeal 

 and perseverance is due the credit of establis"hing a system of 

 8torm-warnings, which is already highly prized by the seafaring 

 class. And if a more scientific method should hereafter succeed 

 in placing the practice of foretelling weather on a clear and 

 certain basis, it will not be forgotten that it was Admiral 

 Ktzroy who gave the first impulse to this branch of the in- 

 qnuy, who induced men of science and the ])ublic to take 

 interest in it, and who sacrificed his life to the cause."— 

 X., Surrey. 



BinMiNOHAM EosE Show.— Friday, the 29th inst., is the last 

 day on which entries can be made to exhibit at the forthcoming 

 Bose Show, to be held in the Town Hall, Birmingham, on 

 Thm-sday and Friday, the 5th and (ith of July next. It the 

 copious rains which have recently fallen are followed by such 

 warm sunny days as we may reasonably expect, there can be 

 BO doubt about the quality of the Roses which will be staged. 

 Indeed, in that event we may venture to anticipate that the 

 days fixed for the Show will prove most fortunate for catching 



the Roses at their very best. Manufacturers of whatever is of 

 interest to the amateur or profeesional gardener, either to use 

 as an implement or otherwise, or as ornaments in the garden 

 or greenhouse, have every inducement offered to send their 

 goods to this Exhibition. Wo hope there will be, as osoal, a 

 good and varied display. 



A PEEP AT THE WOODS IN ODD PLACES.— No. 8. 



TUE MISSISSIPPI. 



" And a hall four !" sings out a Insty voice, and immediately 

 afterwards another voice, which I recognise as that of the 

 captain, exclaims "Stop her!" and I at once feel that the 

 engines are stopped, and then I hear a shout of " Stand by 

 the anchor I" and then, " I-et go !" on which follows a heaTy 

 sjdash, and then a tremendous rattling, which shakes the 

 vessel from stem to stern. I quickly tumble out of my berth, 

 and dressing, go on dec!:, where I find already assembled a 

 large number of passengers, all anxious to know what is the 

 matter. " Nothing, my dear friends, nothing ; we have only 

 arrived off the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi, and have 

 come to an anchor to wait until such time as the pUot thinks 

 he can drive her over, as there is here a slight rise in the tide ; 

 but we draw some inches more water than there is on the bar, 

 and another large American steamer has stuck in attempting 

 to cross, and lies in the deepest place, so you may rest quietly, 

 and m the aftei'noon or early to-morrow morning we shall en- 

 deavour to get over and steam up the stream to New Orleans. 

 It is not far, only a Uttlo more than a hundred mUes, and we 

 shall soou be there." 



"Go a-head!" exclaims the pilot, and we are once more 

 under steam aud steering for the bar. We cross it safely and 

 without sticking, although we have had a hard push through 

 the mud, and now we are in fourteen fathoms of water, with no 

 fear of grounding, unless we run on the banks or some spit ; 

 but of that there is no fear, as our pilot is well acquainted 

 with the river, and it is deep enough and wide enough for any 

 craft that can possibly enter. So, now being safe, let ns take a 

 look around that we may know in what sort of country we are. 



On both sides we see long, low, flat banks— that is, we fancy 

 we see them, for in reality we do nothing of the kind, since 

 that which meets the ev-e, and appears like ii-rra tirma, is com- 

 posed of a continuous bed of reeds growing on the silt, dibris, 

 rotting trees, aud general rubbish, which has been carried down 

 generation after generation by the mighty " Father of Waters," 

 that being the interpretation of the Indian name Mississippi. 

 Eeeds, reeds, nothing but reeds, except where diversified here 

 aud there by a dead tree, brought down by the current and 

 sto])ped on the edge of sotne mud bank to assist in forming 

 an islet, which will be joined on in course of time to the main- 

 land ; nothing but reeds till we reach Pilot Town. All this 

 stream, although so close to the sea, is fresh water, or at least 

 quite diinkable, aud these reeds are exactly similar to those we 

 find at home in the ponds aud pools of old England. 



Soon after passing Pilot Town the banks on one side begin 

 to rise a little, and stunted specimens of trees, or rather bushes, 

 begin to show themselves, the first to be noticed being Willows ; 

 and it has a vci-y strange appearance that, whilst the banks of 

 the river have a green margin, all the back portion of the 

 countiT presents on one side an undulating surface of greyish 

 brown from these reeds, whilst on the other we are divided 

 from what is absolutely salt water by a very narrow neck of 

 land. The, bed too. of this fresh- water river will be at least from 

 5 to 7 fathoms below that of the sea dirided from it by a strip 

 of land, in many places not exceeding lUO \Tirds in width. 

 Proceeding fiirther up the stream vegetation begins to be a 

 little more varied ; the Willow bushes are of larger size, and 

 the Cedar begins to show itself — small, miserable, and stunted 

 at first, though of a much finer growth as we proceed ; and 

 here again, in place of cormorants, pelicans, cranes, and canvaa- 

 back ducks, we begin to meet with small laud birds, kingfishers, 

 turkey -buzzards, and crows. Speaking of cranes and turkey- 

 buzzards, I cannot help mentioning a curious little scene pre- 

 sented to us going up, which would have made a really pretty 

 vignette. Passing along the bank within a distance of a very 

 few yards we came suddenly upon a nook, the edge overhung 

 and shaded with reeds. Willows, and Cedars, whilst the mud 

 from the bed of the river ran quite up to them, forming a bank 

 uncovered by water. Upon this lay, dosing in a half torpid 

 state, for it was now far on in November, a large alligator, 

 about 12 feet long, whilst washed up in one angle of the nook 



