338 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[September 22, 1888. 



logical specimens. In the evening, after the trans- 

 action of the business of the Society, the noble Pre- 

 sident gave an interesting and suggestive address 

 on the " Cryptogamic Flora " to the members and 

 a large assemblage of the public, after which various 

 papers of interest were submitted. After an ex- 

 cursion on the 13th the annual dinner concluded 

 the conference. 



Many of the trees in the Castle park attracted 

 special attention. The following measurements of 

 trunks will serve to indicate their age and beauty : — 

 Scotch Fir, at 2 feet from the ground, 15 feet, and 

 at 4 feet, 13 feet 8 inches in circumference ; Silver 

 Fir, at 2£ feet from the ground, 15 feet in circum- 

 ference ; Spanish Chestnut, at 3 feet from the 

 ground, 20 feet 6 inches, and at 5 feet, 19 feet 

 8 inches in circumference, the height of the trunk to 

 the first branches being 15 feet. In the garden, 

 which was kindly shown by Mr. George Taylor, there 

 is a specimen of Arbor-vitre which covers an area of 

 225 feet in circumference. Its age is unknown, but 

 it must have been among the first specimens intro- 

 duced into Britain. 



The warmest thanks of the members are due to 

 the Duke of Argyll for the great kindness with 

 which he received the Society. The next annual 

 conference will be held at Crieff, Perthshire. J. 



Law Notes, 



AN INTEKESTING SEED DISPUTE. 



In the City of London Court on Friday, September 

 14 last, before Mr. E. T. E. Besley, Deputy Judge, the 

 case of Witherdon v. Allen was heard, which raised a 

 question of importance to gardeners, &c. 



The action was brought by the plaintiff, Mr. 

 Isaac Witherdon, of Old Corn Exchange, E.C., to 

 recover the sum of £6 5s. 6d., the price of seed 

 supplied to the defendant, Mr. Eobert Allen, of 

 Ruxley, Footscray, Kent. Mr. Passmore appeared 

 for the plaintiff, and Mr. Vennell for the defendant. 

 A counterclaim for £50 for damage was set up. 

 The defendant did not dispute the fact that the seed 

 was delivered, and he practically admitted the claim 

 subject to the counterclaim. The seed was supplied 

 in August and September, 1884, and in February, 

 1885, six months afterwards the defendant wrote 

 and complained of the seed, and said he was dis- 

 satisfied with the crop it had yielded. The counter- 

 claim now raised was for the damage the defendant 

 had sustained in consequence. The Deputy Judge 

 interposed by remarking that the counterclaim could 

 not be substantiated. He never heard of a person sell- 

 ing seed and guaranteeing the quantity which should 

 be yielded. Mr. Vennell said the plaintiff had not 

 given a specific guarantee, but he contended that 

 there was an implied warranty that the seed 

 would produce an ordinary and fair crop if properly 

 used and properly sown. The crop was so dispro- 

 portionate and out of all character that the only con- 

 clusion the defendant could come to was that the 

 seed was bad. 



The Deputy Judge said it was impossible to go 

 into it. There were numerous reasons for it being 

 bad. He declined to go into the atmospherical 

 influences of 1884. Unless the defendant examined 

 the seed before it was put into the ground and found 

 it was dead seed, the counterclaim could not be 

 allowed. He must find against the defendant. 

 Judgment was given for the plaintiff on the claim ; 

 the counterclaim was dismissed, and the plaintiff 

 allowed his costs. 



Mr. COURT. — We regret to have to record the 

 death of Mr. Court, the talented propagator at 

 Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons' Chelsea nursery, which 

 took place almost suddenly on Monday afternoon, 

 September 17. Mr. Court was only forty-five years 

 of age, and had been ailing for some time past. He 

 was at one time in the employment of Messrs. 

 Lucombe & Pince, Exeter, and left them to enter 

 the Exeter branch of the Veitchian establishment 

 about twenty-five years ago. He was an excellent 

 propagator and plantsman, and a genial clever man 

 of business. His name will be associated with the 

 hybridisation of Nepenthes, one of which is named 

 after him. 



The Weather. 



[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 is 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.] 







Temperature. 







Accumulated. 









8 a 



" a 







Above or 



g 



g 



§1^ 



v£ 





DISTRICTS. 



below the 



**& 



£3 



"irr 



a §„; 







the week 

 ending 



s£ 



fit 



o* H°° 



o d2 



6* 







Sept. 17. 



£5 



■4 



M* 1 





























<a 



R£ 



Principal Wheat pro- 





Day- 



Day- 



Day- 



Day- 





ducing Districts. 





deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



0. 



Scotland, N. ... 



1 above 



76 







— 234 



+ 201 



1. 



Scotland, E. ... 



1 above 



77 







— 425 



+ 157 



2 



England, N.E. ... 



1 below 



81 







— 451 



+ 73 



3. 



Enoland, E. 



1 below 



96 







— 366 



+ 154 



1. 



Midland Cos. ... 



2 below 



88 







— 136 



+ 149 



5. 



England, S. 



1 below 



102 







— 470 



+ 204 



Principal Grazing, &c, 















Districts. 













6 



SCOTLAND, W. ... 



(aver.) 



82 







— 320 



+ 107 



7 



England, N.W.... 



1 below 



90 







— 350 



+ 117 



8 



England, S.W.... 



1 below 



92 







— 456 



+ 254 



9 



Ireland, N. 



(aver.) 



91 







— 272 



+ 67 



10 



Ireland, S. 



2 below 



87 







— 268 



+ 113 





Channel Islands 



1 below 



111 







— 338 



+ 151 





Rainfall. 



Bright 

 Sunshine. 



Districts. 



ill 



1* 



fira 



« »3 

 S3 



■Sod 

 Eh™ 



-gl-3 



IP 



ftgcS 

 & '3 



Principal Wheat-pro- 

 ducing Districts. 



Tenths of 

 Inch. 





Ins. 







0. Scotland, N. ... 



3 less 



168 



27.0 



26 



29 



1. Scotland, E. ... 



6 less 



147 



20.8 



47 



30 



2. England, N.E. ... 



6 less 



137 



19.7 



46 



26 



3. England, E. ... 



6 less 



J 41 



18.7 



48 



29 



1. Midland Cos. ... 



7 less 



127 



18.3 



45 



28 



5 England, S. 



7 less 



129 



19.1 



53 



29 



Principal Grazing, &c. , 

 Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



8 less 



140 



29.6 



40 



■ 2 



7. England, N.W.... 



8 less 



140 



20.7 



42 



29 



8. England, S.W.... 



11 less 



142 



24.3 



58 



35 



9. Ireland, N. 



6 less 



146 



26.0 



40 



28 



10. Ireland, S. 



7 less 



131 



25.9 



48 



34 



— Channel Islands 



8 less 



154 



20.7 



73 



40 



THE PAST WEEK. 



The following summary record of the weather for 

 the week ending Sept. 17, is furnished from the 

 Meteorological Office : — 



" The weather has been finer and in a more settled 

 condition generally than that experienced for many 

 weeks past. 



" The temperature has not differed materially from 

 the mean, being 1° above it in the north and east of 

 Scotland and the same amount below it in most other 

 parts of the kingdom. During the daytime the 

 thermometer was generally high, readings of 70° and 

 above being at times recorded ; the nights, however, 

 were in most instances cold, and the lowest of the 

 minima ranged from 34° in ' Scotland, E.' to 39° in 

 ' England, N.E.' and ' Scotland, W.,' and [to 44° in 

 the- ' Channel Islands.' 



" The rainfall has been less than the mean in all 

 districts ; over England the fall has been scarcely 

 apprec iable. 



" Bright sunshine shows a decided increase. The 

 percentage of the possible amount of duration, which 

 ranged from 26 in ' Scotland, N.,' to 53 in ' England, 

 S.,' 58 in England, S.W.,' and 73 in the * Channel 

 Islands,' has not been so high over the kingdom 

 generally since the week ending May 28." 



MEAN TEMPERATURE OBSERVED AT CHISWICK DUR- 

 ING THE WEEK ENDING SEPT. 29. (AVERAGE OF 

 FORTY-FOUR YEARS.) 



Sept. 23 



... 56°.3 



Sept. 27 ... 



.. 55°.5 



„ 24 



... 56°.l 



„ 28 



.. 65°.4 



„ 25 



„ 26 



... 55°.9 

 ... 55°.7 



„ 29 



Mean for the week 



.. 55°.2 

 .. 55".7 



Enquiries. 



" He that qitestioneih much shall learn much."— Baoon. 



DriNG-OFP Branches of Beech. — Can any of 

 your readers offer any explanation of the cause of 

 the sudden death of some young branches of a Beech 

 tree growing on the lawn ? They have made good' 

 growth this season until now, when the leaves shrivel 

 and the bark dies. X. [See p. 335.] 



Notices to Correspondents. 



Books : W. A. Smith. The best book on the subject 

 is Domestic Floriculture by F. W. Burbidge (Black- 

 wood & Sons). We do not know the price. 



Camellia Boeder : G. B. The soil sent was full of the 

 spawn of some speeies of fungus — probably spread 

 from decaying roots or pieces of wood in the soil. 

 Clear out the old soil now, and replant the trees 

 in fresh materials — failing that being done the 

 plants will perish. 



Centatjrea aurea : C. W. B. The Port Juvenal 

 plant seems on the authority of specimens from 

 that locality, as well as others from the Horticul- 

 tural Society's Gardens at Chiswick, in the Kew 

 herbarium, to be the C. fuscata of Desfontaines, 

 which rejoices in the following aliases : — C. nicoe- 

 ensis, C. sicula, C. marginata, C. aurea of Des- 

 fontaines, Cat. Hort. Par., ed. 3, 1829 (teste, Gay 

 in herb., Kew). C. aurea of Aiton, Hort. Kew, and 

 figured in the Bot. Mag., t.421, is quite a different 

 plant, a representative of which is in the Kew 

 herbarium from Roumelia, but to which no name 

 is attached. 



Chrysanthemum : X. Y. Z. The stems are infested 

 by a kind of sclerotium, or fungus growth, of which 

 several kinds infest the stems, bulbs, and tubers of 

 plants. No remedy can be suggested except burn- 

 ing all infested plants so as to stop its spreading. 

 Attempts will be made to ascertain its further 

 history by cultivation, as nothing definite can be 

 determined in its present sterile form. M. O. C. 



Corrections. — In our report of the plants awarded 

 Certificates at the last meeting of the National 

 Chrysanthemum Society (p. 307), for "Mr. Ben- 

 nett " read Mrs. Hawkins. — In report of Fruit 

 Growers' Conference at the Crystal Palace (p. 292), 

 Mr. A. Bath's address should have been Seven- 

 oaks, not Foot's Cray. 



Dahlias : H. C. 8r S. The blooms of the decorative 

 varieties which you forward are in the majority of 

 cases very pleasingly coloured. Prince of Wales 

 is large and bright red ; and of a pleasing pale 

 tint is the Yellow Juarezi. W. F. Abery is a 

 pretty single flower, the rich crimson margins of 

 the white petals making a very striking combina- 

 tion. Prince Albert Victor and Annie Harvey are 

 fine deep reds, and the crimson-lilac tips to Charm- 

 ing Bride render it distinct. Others are pretty in 

 their way, probably, but we prefer the foregoing. 



Deformed Pears : J. H. The injury is caused by 

 Helminthosporium pyrorum. There is no known 

 remedy. You might burn foliage and affected 

 fruit, but in the case of these microfungi it is. 

 doubtful if such measures cause any lessening of 

 the evil. You might try diluted Gishurst soap as. 

 a summer wash, taking care to wash it off, in half 

 an hour with clean water. 



Dianthus Leaves Diseased : C. W. B. The plants 

 are affected with some obscure species of Proto- 

 myces, not well matured — one of the lowest forms. 

 C. M. C. 



