386 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[October 6, 1888. 



Now ready, in cloth, lis. 6d. 



J'SE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE, 

 Vol. III., Third Series, JAN. to JUNE, 1888. 

 W. RICHARDS, 41, Wellington Street. Strand, W.C. 



APPOINTMENTS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 



MONDAY, 

 TUESDAY, 

 WEDNESDAY, 



SHOWS. 



Oct. 11 — Crystal Palace Fruit (three days). 



MEETINGS. 



Oct. 8— Chambre Syndieale of Ghent. 



CtrT Q ( K °y al Horticultural Society : Fruit 

 ( and Floral Committees. 



WEDNESDAY, 



SATURDAY, 



SALES. 



' Dutch Bulbs, at Sterens' Rooms. 

 I DutchBulbs, at Protheroe & Morris' 

 oj Rooms. 

 } Greenhouse Plants, at Fraser's Nur- 

 I sery, Lea Bridge lload, by Pro- 

 (, theroe & Morris. 

 /Vertegans' Nurseries, Birmingham, 

 on the Premises, by Protheroe & 

 Morris, in conjunction -with 

 W. C. B. Cave. 

 Nursery Stock, at Tanslev Nur- 

 series, near Matlock, by Else & 

 Son (three days.) 

 Nursery Stock, at House's Nursery, 

 Peterborough, by Protheroe & 

 Morris. 

 Nursery Stock from sample, at Pro- 

 \ tlieroe & Morris' Rooms. 



.Dutch Bulbs, at Stevens' Rooms. 

 Collection of Orchids formed by M. 

 Rougier-Chauviere, at 152, Rue 

 de la Roquette, Paris, by MM. 

 Dulong & Godefroy-Lebeuf. 

 n ln J Nursery Stock, at North's Nursery, 

 "" '■ < \ Lee, by Protheroe & Morris. 



Miscellaneous Plants, at Protheroe 



& Morris' Rooms. 

 Nursery Stock, at the Nurseries, 

 Milford, Surrey, by Protheroe & 

 , Morris (four days.) 



(Collection of Orchids formed by R. 

 Warner, Esq., of Chelmsford, at 

 Stevens' Rooms. 

 Dutch Bulbs, at Protheroe & 

 Morris' Rooms. 

 Established Orchids and Greenhouse 

 Plants, at Castle Nursery, Lower 

 Norwood, by Protheroe & Blorris. 

 ("Imported and Established Orchids, 

 n , 9 ) at Protheroe & Morris' Rooms. 

 uci. ^"juursery stock, at The Nurseries, 

 ( Dorking, by Protheroe & Morris. 

 i Dutch Bulbs, at Stevens' Rooms. 

 Oct. 13-J Dutch Bulbs, at Protheroe & Morris' 

 ( Rooms. 



Decidedly the most successful 

 TheChiswick an( j ^e m03 -t; generally appre- 

 Conference. ciated of the Conferences that 



have been held of late years by 

 the Royal Horticultural Society was the Apple 

 Congress and Exhibition held in the old gardens 

 at Chiswick in 1883. The story has been told so 

 often that we advert to it now only for the 

 purpose of reminding our readers that a similar 

 Congress, but on a more limited scale, is to be 

 held in the same gardens on Tuesday, 16th inst., 

 and two following days. The exhibition of 

 Apples and Pears will be open to the general 

 public on the Tuesday after 1 p.m., and the 

 business of the Congress will be transacted on 

 "Wednesday and Thursday, beginning probably 

 at 1 p.m., in the great Conservatory. The papers 

 promised are, we believe, as to subject, of 

 singular importance, variety, and interest; and 

 from the known competence of the writers they 

 are likely to be well handled. 



The idea of holding this Conference at Chis- 

 wick is an excellent one. We earnestly hope 

 that the Council will see to it that this grand 

 opportunity is not thrown away, but that it may 

 be utilised not only for its specific purpose 

 but as one means of developing the garden, 

 and rendering it the centre of all the practical 

 work of the Society, while the library and 

 offices in Victoria Street may be available 

 as a " house of call," as also for business pur- 



poses, lectures, and smaller exhibitions of new or 

 interesting plants. The larger exhibitions could 

 then be held in various localities, as circum- 

 stances might suggest or dictate. But these are 

 matters for the future. 



The second Apple Congress is about to be 

 inaugurated, and although we cannot expect it 

 to be so, we may still hope that it will be as suc- 

 cessful as the former one. In the meantime we 

 do not see that any special means have been 

 taken as yet by the authorities to make the pro- 

 gramme generally known to the public, and not 

 much, if anything, has been done to apprise the 

 Fellows, other than those specially interested in 

 pomology. There is no time to lose. 



The dreary sunless summer was 

 T y e succeeded, at least, in the South, 



by a short spell of brilliant 

 weather which raised our hopes and cheered our 

 spirits. Realised visions of the Indian summer 

 charmed us in their splendour, while other visions 

 of " well ripened wood " and its consequences, 

 gave us promise for the future. The realisation 

 of this promise, however, seems destined to be 

 visionary indeed. Some weeks ago even frost 

 was experienced in many places, with disastrous 

 results to Beech and other trees, specimens of which 

 reached us without any intimation at the time 

 of the frost to which they had been subject. 

 Now, Mr. Webster, writing from Kent, says : — 



"In answer to several correspondents, I may 

 state that the injury caused to the young (and 

 old occasionally) shoots of the Beech proceeded 

 directly from the untimely frost to which we 

 were subjected some five weeks ago. In this dis- 

 trict it is pitiable to see the Beeches, the branch 

 tips of almost every tree being quite destroyed. No 

 cure, save by pruning — and that would entail much 

 labour and consequent expense — can be recommended. 

 Nature will set matters right next spring." 



This frost must have been local, but now a 

 general visitation has occurred, and a sudden 

 fall of temperature all over the country, but 

 especially in the North, has given us experience 

 in many places of " snow in harvest." Great is 

 the wail accordingly. A week or two more of 

 sun and drying wind would have been so accept- 

 able, but it was not to be. The night of Sunday, 

 September 30, was generally very cold through- 

 out the country. Around. London frost was 

 registered in several localities, 2° at Chiswick. 



On October 1, a correspondent writes from 

 Doncaster, there was a heavy fall of snow, fol- 

 lowed by 10° of frost. The havoc to the flower 

 garden may be conceived. Young Conifers, 

 Cherry Laurels, Yews, standard and dwarf Hoses, 

 had to be lightened of the weight of snow that 

 rested on them. At Grimston, in the same 

 county, 10° and even 14° of frost were registered 

 on the same night. All tender vegetation was 

 completely cut down, and Chrysanthemums were 

 blackened. 



On the night of October 2, in a garden near 

 London exposed to the North, the frost 

 must have been severe, though no actual 

 record is available. Nevertheless, sufficient indi- 

 cations are afforded; the appearance of Syca- 

 more leaves, as if they had been boiled ; the African 

 Marigolds reduced to the colour and substance of 

 boiled Spinach, the foliage of tuberous Begonias 

 looking as if they had had an attack of Potato 

 disease, Sunflowers drooping their heads as if 

 from very heartache at the cruel treatment to 

 which they were exposed ; Trop;eolums laid low, 

 their stems blanched like the vegetable remains 

 one sometimes sees thrown up on the sea-beach ; 

 white Japan Anemones reduced to the colour of 



dirty rags ; the beauty of Lilium auratum and 

 Tritoma destroyed, and even Chrysanthemums 

 much injured. The great severity, however, 

 seems to have been limited to a small area. 

 Within a few hundred yards, in a more sheltered 

 position and in a different aspect, the havoc was 

 not nearly so great. At Kew also, we learn that 

 in one part of the garden one degree of frost 

 only was registered, on the same night ; while in 

 another part six degrees were noted, with the re- 

 sult that Salvias were blackened (with the ex- 

 ception of S. Greggi and S. Grahami), and 

 Anemone japonica, Dahlias, and bedding plants 

 generally sadly cut. 



But why prolong the miserable catalogue ? 

 The end has come a little sooner than 

 was expected, that is all. The beds will be 

 cleared for the bulbs sooner than could other- 

 wise have been done, to the great advantage of 

 the bulbs, and the beautiful tint of the 

 evergreens, and especially of the young Conifers, 

 compel attention, particularly the Colorado 

 Spruce (Picea pungens glauca), whose lovely 

 shade of colour persists throughout all vicissi- 

 tudes of weather. It is worth while incidentally 

 to mention, that among the seedling forms of this 

 plant (better known under the erroneous name 

 of Parryana glauca) every gradation of tint is 

 observable ; but even the green-leaved plant — the 

 type, as it may be called — is a remarkably hand- 

 some Spruce. Those, however, who would know 

 the full beauty of this shrub, should visit a nur- 

 sery where large quantities are grown, as at 

 Knap Hill, for instance, and select individual 

 plants. Whether the plant will be handsome as it 

 becomes adult, or whether it will become scraggy 

 at the base, as so many Conifers, and especially 

 Spruces, do, remains to be seen. We allude to 

 the plant in this connection to remind any too 

 despondent reader that the beauty of a garden 

 need not by any means be destroyed because a 

 smart snap of frost happens to have cut off the 

 more tender occupants. 



Another matter suggested by the frost may 

 be mentioned. The Royal Horticultural So- 

 ciety has lately been reinforced by a large 

 number of new Fellows, who, as well as many 

 old ones, may like to be reminded that by far the 

 most elaborate report on the effects of frost on 

 particular plants in particular localities through- 

 out the British Isles is that published under the 

 auspices of the Scientific Committee by its Secre- 

 tary, the Rev. George Henslow. Those who 

 are interested in knowing what is likely to suc- 

 ceed and what is not in their respective 

 localities, should provide themselves with a 

 copy of this publication, which can be 

 had for a small sum on application to the 

 Assistant-Secretary of the Society, 111, Vic- 

 toria Street, London, S.W., and to which 

 some who were Fellows at the time of publication 

 are probably entitled, but of this latter point 

 we are not sure. At any rate, we know that 

 many grumblers at the irregular appearance of 

 the Society's publications do not avail themselves 

 of their privileges when they might do so, while 

 many are unaware of the value of what has been 

 published. 



The Public Garden, Funchal, Madeira 



(see Supplementary Sheet). — The public garden of 

 Funchal is of recent formation, and though it has 

 not yet had time for its full development, it has 

 greatly improved the appearance of the capital of 

 Madeira. Close by is the handsome little theatre 

 — another important improvement. The garden 

 is stocked with Palms, Dracaenas, Screw Pines, 

 Yuccas, Bamboos, Jacarandas, Astrapocas, and other 

 inhabitants of warm climates, all growing, be it re- 

 membered, without any protection. Intermixed are 



