166 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[August 11, 1888, 



distinction between the Tyrolese and the native 

 Larch, in a fine quarter of two year seedlings of 

 splendid growth. Growing side by side the dif- 

 ference was very remarkable, the foreign being much 

 less vigorous and darker in colour than the native. 



On leaving the Inverleith Nurseries the Warriston 

 Nurseries of Messrs. Methven & Sons were next 

 visited, and the valuable stock of ornamental shrubs 

 and trees inspected with interest. 



The Dinner and Presentation to Dr. Cleghorn. — The 

 annual dinner of the Society was held in the Water- 

 loo Hotel, in the evening, and advantage was taken 

 of the occasion to present Dr. Cleghorn with his 

 portrait, which had been subscribed for by his 

 numerous friends in appreciation of his eminent 

 services to arboriculture in this country and in 

 India. The chair was occupied by Professor Bayley- 

 Balfour, and Mr. Dunn, Dalkeieth, acted as croupier. 



THE SCOTTISH HORTICULTURAL 

 ASSOCIATION. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of this Association 

 was held on the 7th inst., in 5, St. Andrew Square, 

 Mr. McKinnon, The Gardens, Scone Palace, in the 

 chair. The Secretary. Mr. Robertson Munro, read 

 the petition to Parliament, agreed upon at the extra- 

 ordinary meeting of the Association, reported in our 

 is?ue of last week, against the proposed transference 

 of the Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, from the Crown 

 to the University authorities. 



The petition was unanimously approved of. 



Mr. W. Sutherland read a paper on " The Func- 

 tions of Horticultural Societies." Assuming that 

 the machinery for the working of horticultural 

 societies established by the leaders of horticultural 

 movements two or three generations back could not 

 be much improved upon, he yet thought it was pos- 

 sible and desirable to introduce more elastic methods 

 to widen the scope of usefulness of societies, so that 

 their work might meet the requirements of modern 

 conditions. Something was being done in this way 

 by such as the Scottish Horticultural Association 

 and others which had sprung up in various parts of 

 the country. They cultivated the literary side of 

 gardening, and encouraged the practical at the same 

 time, and might further extend their usefulness he 

 thought by some scheme of federation by which they 

 circulated their papers and other sources of information 

 among each other as was done with excellent results by 

 similar societies in Canada and the United States of 

 America. He urged that in the questions respecting 

 the cultivation of the land, its distribution and tenure 

 lay questions in which such societies might be help- 

 ful in bringing about a solution of the present de- 

 pression in agriculture. 



With regard to flower shows he held that as a 

 means of popularising gardening they were excellent 

 but thought that their power to educate gardeners 

 was over-rated, in so far as practical matters were 

 concerned. It was in the garden the exhibitor ac- 

 quired his skill as a cultivator not in the flower show. 

 He complained that schedules generally were unfairly 

 balanced as regards the distribution of the money 

 value of the prizes, vegetables being in many cases 

 all but ignored, and in almost every case having 

 smallest consideration given them. 



There were two exhibits of merit, one a numerous 

 collection of cut flowers of tuberous Begonias, seed- 

 lings of last year, from Mr. John Downie, Beechhill 

 Nursery, Edinburgh ; the other, a very superior 

 yellow, was named Mrs. John Downie. 



The other exhibit was from Messrs. Munro & Fer- 

 guson, Edinburgh, and was an improved form of 

 Matricaria inodora flore pleno named Snowflake. 



The Weather. 



THE PAST WEEK. 



The following summary record of the weather for 

 the week ending Aug. 6, is furnished from the 

 Meteorological Office : — 



" The weather has remained in a cool changeable 

 showery state, but the amount of cloud and rainfall 

 has been, as a rule, considerably less than that 

 recorded of late. Thunderstorms occurred in many 

 parts of the country during the early part of the 

 week. 



" The temperature has again been below the mean 

 in all districts, the deficit ranging from 4° in ' Scot- 

 land, N.,' ' Ireland, S.,' and the ' Channel Islands,' to 

 7° in ' England, E.' The highest temperatures were 



recorded on August 2 or 3, when the thermometer 

 over England rose to a little above 70° at the close 

 of the week ; however, the maximum readings were 

 below 65° in many parts of the kingdom. The 

 lowest temperatures were recorded during the early 

 part of the week at our northern stations, and towards 

 the close of the week at the southern stations, the 

 thermometer falling below 40° in all districts 

 excepting ' England, E.,' and ' England, S.' In ' Scot- 

 land, E.,' it fell to 34°, while in ' Scotland, W.,' a 

 minimum of 33° was registered. 



" The rainfall has varied greatly, not only in dif- 

 ferent parts of the United Kingdom, but in closely 

 adjacent localities. In some of the western districts 

 an excess is shown, owing to a somewhat heavy fall, 

 which occurred on August 4, while in the east and 

 south of England a similar result was brought about 

 by the torrential rains which visited some localities 

 on the night of the 1st. At Ingatestone the amount 

 measured on the morning of the 2nd was as much 

 as 3'20 inches. 



" Bright sunshine has been more prevalent than it 

 was last week ; the percentage of the possible amount 

 ranged from 25 in ' England, E.' to 40 in ' England, 

 S.W.,' and 46 in Scotland, W.' " 



[Accumulated temperature indicates the combined amount and 

 duration of the excess or defect of temperature above or 

 below 32° F. for the period named, and ia expressed in Day- 

 degree — a "Day-degree" signifying 1° continued for 

 twenty-four hours, or any other number of degrees for an 

 inversely proportional number of hours.] 



MEAN TEMPERATURE OBSERVED AT CHISWICK DUR- 

 ING THE WEEK ENDING AUGUST 18. (AVERAGE 

 OF FORTY-FOUR YEARS.) 





Temperature. 





Above or 

 below the 

 Mean for 

 the week 

 ending 

 Aug. 6. 



Accumulated. 



Districts. 





if 



1 a ' 

 II 



5^ 



1 1 



Principal Wheat pro- 

 ducing Districts. 





Day- 

 deg. 



Day- 

 deg. 



Day. 

 deg. 



Day- 

 deg. 



0. SCOTLAND, N. ... 



4 below 



59 







— 173 



+ 201 



1. Scotland, E. ... 



5 below 



71 







— 336 



4- 157 



2. England, N.E. ... 



6 below 



78 







— 375 



+ 73 



3. England, E. 



7 below 



94 







— 302 



+ 154 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



6 below 



89 







— 359 



+ 150 



5. England, S. 



5 below 



104 







— 385 



+ 204 



Principal Grazing, &c, 

 Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



5 below 



71 







— 249 



+ 107 



7. England, N.W.... 



6 below 



83 







— 286 



+ 117 



8. England, S.W.... 



5 below 



97 







— 350 



+ 254 



9. Ireland, N. 



5 below 



82 







— 232 



+ 67 



10. Ireland, S. 



4 below 



96 







— 217 



+ 113 



— Channel Islands 



4 below 



111 







— 287 



+ 154 





Rainfall. 



Bright 

 Sunshine. 



Districts. 



Hi 



3 











Principal Wheat-pro- 

 ducing Districts. 



Tenths of 

 Inch. 





Ins. 







0. Scotland, N. ... 



(aver). 



141 



21.7 



30 



30 



1. Scotland, E. ... 



4 less 



123 



18.3 



40 



31 



2. England, N.E. ... 



(aver.) 



116 



17.1 



29 



26 



3. England, E. ... 



8 more 



118 



16.0 



25 



28 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



3 more 



110 



15.4 



32 



26 



5 England, S. 



6 more 



112 



17.2 



31 



27 



Principal Grazing, &c, 

 Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



(aver.) 



115 



25.0 



46 



.'2 



7. England, N.W.... 



4 more 



118 



17.1 



40 



28 



8. England, S.W.... 



3 less 



121 



20.) 



41 



34 



9. Ireland, N. 



1 more 



121 



22.0 



34 



28 



10. Ireland, S. 



3 less 



112 



22.5 



37 



33 



— Channel Islands 



2 less 



135 



18.4 



? 



? 



12 ... 

 13... 

 14... 



62°.7 

 62°.6 

 62°.5 

 62°.4 



Aug. 16 ... 



... 62°.3 



„ 17 62°.l 



„ 18 62°.0 



Mean for the week ... 62° .4 



©fittttarg 



ALEXANDER Roger.— The horticultural com- 

 munity has lost a distinguished representative in the 

 person of Mr. Roger, who died on the 7th inst. after 

 a lingering illness. Mr. Roger was in his 63rd 

 year. After passing some years in the service of 

 Mr. Noble at Berry Hill, Taplow, Mr. Roger was 

 in 1871 entrusted with the superintendence of 

 Battersea Park. It was no slight undertaking to 

 follow such a man as Gibson, who had founded 

 Battersea, and made it a name of note in the horticul- 

 tural world ; but Roger proved equal to the task, and 

 well maintained the reputation of the Bark as a good 

 example of popular horticulture in various styles. 

 He retired from active service about the middle 

 of March this year, on the occasion of the transfer- 

 ence of the Bark from the Government to the 

 Metropolitan Board of Works. He leaves a widow 

 and family. 



Enquiries. 



"He that questioneth much shall learn much." — BACON. 



Rich and Boob Soil. — It was stated lately in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle that a rich soil will retard or 

 prevent Spinach running to seed. Seeds of Tropaso- 

 lum majus are also said to produce more flowers 

 when sown on poor soil than when on a rich one. 

 Is it considered generally true that plants growing 

 on a poor soil will produce more flower than plants 

 growing on a rich one ? Is not the object of manur- 

 ing usually to produce a contrary effect ? A. B. [A 

 soil which is rich, especially rich in nitrogenous 

 matter and water, undoubtedly tends to the produc- 

 tion of foliage, while a poorer, drier soil, one con- 

 taining relatively much mineral matter and little 

 nitrogenous matter, will tend to the production of 

 seed. But these are general statements, subject to 

 many modifications. If the rich manure be applied 

 at a particular time, just when the flower is com- 

 mencing its development, its size and colour will be 

 enhanced. Ed.] 



Notices to Correspondents. 



Ctpbipedioti selligeeum : E. P. We cannot tell 

 you why the bract at the base of the flower has 

 become unusually leafy. It is a sign of vigour 

 rather than otherwise, and is not to be discouraged. 



Geapes Diseased : fcr. B. A case of scalding gene- 

 rally supposed to be due to defective ventilation. 

 There is no fungus or insect. We confess we 

 doubt the explanation usually given, but we have 

 no other to offer. 



Geapes Spotted : Byburgh. The examples sent are 

 typical instances of " spotting," either accidental 

 or constitutional. Mr. Barron says : — " By some 

 cultivators the spot is believed to be caused by 

 sudden chills, such as having the house very close 

 and moist, and then suddenly, on some bright 

 morning, admitting the external cold air too pre- 

 cipitately and too abundantly." Spot is not con- 

 tagious, as your experience indicates. 



Names of Peutt : W. M. Cherry Belle d'Orleans. 

 — //. W. Strawberry Bresident. 



Names of Plants : K. 1, 2, 3, 4, all varieties of 

 Adiantum cuneatum ; 5, Gypsophila acutifolia. — 

 A. C. B. Campanula Tommasiniana, and C. apar- 

 inoides. — C. W. D, Achillea micrantha, Biel. — 

 Old Riga Subscriber. Seems to be Cytisus ratis- 

 bonensis, but we cannot be sure from such a scrap. 

 — G. O. B. Gongora galeata, alias Acropera Lod- 

 digesii. — O. P. Q. Sarcopodium Lobbi. — M. C. 

 Desfontainea spinosa. — W. F. 1, Lysimachia vul- 

 garis ; 2, Thalictrum flavum ; 3, Hieracium auran- 



