October 6, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



393 



quence to retire from all active participation in the 

 work of the firm. Subsequently, about eighteen 

 months since, however, Mr. Dickson's health seemed 

 so far improved, that he took in hand the direction 

 of the nursery department and the supervision of 

 the business generally ; but, finding that increased 

 exertion brought on a relapse of his old malady, and 

 acting under medical advice, he retired completely 

 from active work in the affairs of the concern, 

 and took up his residence at West Kirby. 

 But during the last few months the hidden 

 germs of disease of a cancerous nature, from 

 which the deceased gentleman suffered, made 

 themselves very manifest, and he gradually 

 grew worse during the last few weeks of his 

 life, enduring intense suffering. 



Mr. F. A. Dickson, as we have already in timated, 

 was a prominent member of the newly amalgamated 

 firm of "Dicksons, Limited," and his family will retain 

 his share in|the business, their interests beingleft in the 

 hands of his executors ; be also was a strong supporter 

 of the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution. He 

 leaves a widow and five sons and four daughters to 

 mourn their loss. He was in the sixty-second year of 

 his age. The Union Jack at the Chester Town Hall 

 was hoisted half-mast as soon as the death of the 

 respected alderman became known on Thursday 

 morning. 



DAVID WOOSTER.— At Bayswater, after an ill- 

 ness of over three years, David Wooster, in the sixty- 

 fourth year of his age. Comparatively few, we 

 expect, will recognise in this announcement the loss 

 of one who formerly was a very active worker in and 

 for horticulture. In early life he was in the employ of 

 Loudon, and aided that laborious man in the editing 

 and compilation of many of his careful and useful pub- 

 lications. To the end of his life Mr. Wooster revered 

 the memory of his old employer, and he showed his 

 reverence by planting a memorial tree in Hyde Park, 

 nearly opposite the street where Loudon worked. 

 It was to his initiative and to his exertions mainly 

 that the portrait of Loudon by Linnell was secured 

 for the Linnean Society of London. Linnell had 

 been a friend and neighbour of Loudon's, whose 

 portrait he had painted in byegone years, and on 

 learning the purpose for which the portrait 

 was required the artist disposed of it for an 

 amount very much below what so good a portrait 

 by so famous an artist would have obtained 

 in the ordinary way. It was, however, characteristic 

 of the painter that he declined to receive a cheque 

 for the amount, and that even the offer of bank 

 notes by Mr. Wooster in person was objected to, and 

 solid coin of the realm alone was considered ade- 

 quate. Wooster subsequently became associated — in 

 what precise capacity we do not know — with the late 

 Sir Walter Trevelyan, a man of much learning and 

 varied tastes, with a strong bias towards natural 

 history and art. In such circumstances Wooster was 

 in his element ; the library, the gardens, the woods at 

 Wallington all furnished him with materials for 

 observation and study. Apart, however, from the 

 work he did for Loudon, Wooster did not publish 

 mnch beyond a work on Alpine plants, to the coloured 

 illustrations of which he contributed the text. Mr. 

 Wooster took great interest in the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society, and up to the time of his illness 

 watched its progress with anxious heed. He was 

 also an occasional contributor to the columns of this 

 journal, while his extensive knowledge and gentle 

 manners make one feel that we could have better 

 spared a greater man. 



The Weather. 



THE PAST WEEK. 



The following inmmary record of the weather for 

 the week ending Oct. 1, is furnished from the 

 Meteorological Office : — 



" The weather was generally fair and dry during the 

 earlier part of the period, but subsequently became 

 unsettled, with occasional falls of rain. At many of 

 our northern stations sleet or snow showers 

 occurred towards the end of the week. 



" The temperature has been below the mean in all 

 districts. Over Ireland and ^the south and south- 

 west of England the deficit has been slight, but 

 over Scotland and the northern parts of England a 

 deficit of 4° — 6° is shown. The highest of the 

 maxima were generally recorded ou the 27th, when 

 the thermometer rose to between 58° and 64° in 

 Scotland, 65° and 6'J 3 in Ireland, and 62° and 70° 

 in England. The lowest of the miuima. which were 

 registered on the last day of the period, ranged from 

 26° in ' Scotland, N.,' and 28° in ' Scotland, E.,' and 

 the ' Midland Counties,' to 35° in ' Ireland, S.,' and 

 39° in the ' Channel Islands.' At all the more 

 central stations sharp ground frost was experienced. 



" The rainfall has been less than the mean in all 

 districts excepting the ' Channel Islands.' 



"Bright sunshine has been less prevalent than of 

 late, especially in the north-eastern parts of the 

 kingdom. The percentage of the possible amount of 

 duration ranged from 11 in ' Scotland, E.,' and 13 

 in ' England, N.E.,' to 30 in ' Scotland, N.,' and the 

 ' Midland Counties,' to 34 in ' England, N.W.,' and 

 to 40 in ' England, E.' " 



MEAN TEMPERATURE OBSERVED AT CHISWICK DUR- 

 ING THE WEEK ENDING OCT. 13. (AVERAGE OF 

 FORTY-FOUR YEARS.) 



[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. 









» • 



a • 





Above or 



g 



g 



©^ 



24 



Districts. 



below the 













Mean for 







a a . 



S3 1 . 





the week 



z& 



h 



7 = * 





Oct. 1. 



■< 



«■" 



di- 

 ll 



if" 



Principal Wheat pro- 





Day- 



Day- 



Day- 



Day- 



ducing Districts. 





deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



deg. 



0. Scotland, N. „. 



6 below 



31 



13 



— 242 



+ 213 



l. Scotland, E. ... 



o below 



31 



8 



— 460 



+ 164 



2. England, N.E. ... 



4 below 



43 







— 503 



+ 73 



3. England, E. 



3 below 



61 







— 375 



+ 154 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



3 below 



54 







— 480 



+ 148 



5. England, S. 



1 below 



85 







— 472 



+ 204 



Principal Grazing, &c, 













Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



4 below 



41 







— 365 



+ 107 



7. England, N.W.... 



4 below 



50 







— 387 



+ 117 



8. England, S.W.... 



1 below 



84 







— 470 



4- 253 



9. Ireland, N. 



2 below 



57 







— 294 



+ 67 



10. Ireland, S. 



1 below 



76 







— 292 



+ 113 



— Channel Islands 



1 below 



99 







— 334 



+ 154 





Rainfall 





Bright 



Sunshine. 



Districts. 



- o 



1 



On 



111 

 Z 



•1 



- = .? 



IK 





Principal Wheat-pro- 

 ducing Districts. 



Tenths of 

 Inch. 





m, 







0. Scotland, N. ... 



2 less 



173 



27.7 



30 



29 



1, Scotland, E. ... 



2 less 



151 



21.4 



11 



31 



2. England. N.E. ... 



2 less 



141 



20.2 



13 



26 



3. England, E. ... 



5 less 



146 



19.1 



40 



30 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



6 less 



132 



18.8 



30 



28 



5 England, S. 



2 less 



134 



19.9 



31 



29 



Principal Grazing, arc. , 

 Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



7 less 



143 



29.9 



24 



32 



7. England, N.W.... 



5 less 



144 



31.1 



34 



29 



8. England, S.W.... 



4 less 



147 



25.0 



24 



35 



9. Ireland, N. 



3 less 



151 



26.7 



19 



28 



10. Ireland. S. 



4 less 



134 



26.4 



20 



33 



— Channel Islands 



2 more 



162 



21.8 



22 



40 



Oct. 7 ... 



... 53°.4 



Oct. 11 



.. 52°.l 



.. 8 ... 



... 52°.6 



„ 12 



.. 51-.7 



„ 9 ... 



., 10 ... 



... 52°.S 

 ... 53°.3 



„ 13 



Mean for the week 



.. 51°. 4 

 .. bJ".3 



Notices to Correspondents. 



Acorns in Water : E. C. C. D. The best way is 

 to gather fresh Acorns, germinate them in damp 

 sand, afterwards washing off carefully all sand 

 from the roots ; then fasten wire through or 

 round the Acorn, and suspend it just above the 

 water in a long glass jar. Some means should be 

 adopted to keep dust and dirt out of the water, 

 and the jar should be placed in a light airy spot 

 clear of frost. When the Acorn is not first ger- 

 minated, but simply suspended close to the water, 

 it often remains months without starting, and 

 sometimes rots awav. 



Books : E. A. K. The Carnation and Picotee, by 

 E. S. Dodwell. London : Groombridge & Sons, 

 Paternoster Row, price &d. — Cincinnatus. Epitome 

 of Gardening (Black & Son). 



Digitalis fehruginea : G. S. Many thanks. The 

 central axis of the flower, instead of producing 

 pistils and seed-vessels, is prolonged into a short 

 stalk, surmounted by an abortive flower. 



Eccharis : T. H. Your flower with ten segments 

 and ten stamens is due to the blending at a very 

 early stage of two flowers into one, as may be 

 seen by examining the flower-stalk by the aid of 

 the microscope. The condition is not uncommon, 

 but it is a pure accident. 



Fungus : M. Y. The fungus sent is one of the 

 Starry PufTballs (Geaster Bryantii), You will see 

 it described and illustrated in the Gardeners' Chro- 

 nicle for 1873, p. 504. All the British Starry Puff- 

 balls are figured in the 1873 volume. 



Geranium Leaves : H. T. The Pelargonium leaves 

 you send have been either frost-bitten or burnt 

 by the sun shining through drops of water. 



Covent Garden Measures : Cincinnatus. Of Tur- 

 nips and Carrots, twelve and upwards, according 

 to size, make a bunch. Of Leeks, six or more. 

 A roll of Celery contains six, eight, to twelve 

 heads. A list of various measures in use in 

 Covent Garden will be found on our Almanac 

 issued with the number for January 7 this year. 



Names of Fruit : H. Taylor. 1, Worcester Pear- 

 main ; 2, Brabant Bellefleur; 4, Cellini. — W. Ber- 

 wick. 1, Marechal de la Cour ; 2, Bergamotte 

 d'Esperen ; 3, Gilogil ? 4, not known ; 5, Bishop's 

 Thumb ; 6, Fondante d'Automne. — G. Franks. 1, 

 Clapp's Favourite ; 2 and 5, Williams' Bon Chre- 

 tien ; 3, BeurrS d'Amanlis ; 4, Hacon's Incom- 

 parable ; 6, Comte de Flandres. — M. L. Not 

 known: worthless. — John Prince. 1, Lord Derby ; 



2, Alfriston ; 3, Royal Russet; 4, Lord Grosvenor. 

 — W. H. K. Your Grape is Madresfield Court. 



Names of Plants : T. C. Diplacus glntinosus. — 

 W. A. S. Platanus acerifolia. — Sceptic. Spiranthes 

 autumnalis, alias Neottia. — J. F. Cotoneaster fri- 

 gida — W. O. C. Melilotus officinalis.—^. L. 1, 

 Physostegia imbricata ; 2, Veronica spicata ; 3, 

 V. incana ; 4, Scabiosa columbaria ; 5, Galega offici- 

 nalis ; 6, Campanula rapunculoides. — L. C. H. 1, 

 Asplenium trichomanes ; 2, Polypodium vulgare ; 



3, P. Billardieri ; 4, no specimen ; 5, Vaccinium 

 myrtillus. — E. C. C. D. Digitalis ferruginea. — 

 Mary C. Scirpus prolifer. — Doubtful. 1 and 2, 

 Centaurea Tournefortii ; 3, C. calocephala, var. ; 



4, Sedum rnpestre ; 5, Saxifraga'Aizoon ;6, Semper- 

 vivum, we cannot name without flowers. — C. Wolley 

 Dod. Clematis^erecta. A. B. D. Next week. 

 — Bresee. Sisymbrium Sophia. — Ifo name (some 

 tickets loose). 1, Crocosma aurea ; 2, Pteris argy- 

 rea; 3, Anthericum.lineare variegatum; 4, Pas- 

 siflora racemosa, princeps of gardens; 5, Selagi- 

 nella Mertensi ; 6, Begonia metallica; Nephro- 

 dium moLle cristatum ; Cypripedium Spicerianum. 



Raspberries for Field Culture : J. H. B. Of 

 older varieties, Baumforth's Seedling, Northum- 

 berland Fillbasket, and Fastolf, reds; and the 

 Yellow Antwerp. Merveille des Quatre Saisons, or 

 October Red, and the October Yellow, are good 



