742 



THE GABDENEBS' CHRONICLE. 



[Dbcemeee 22, 1888. 



England. It is a large shrub, 5—10 feet high, with 

 deep green shining evergreen leaves like those of Rho- 

 dodendron ponticum. Flowers bright red, in dense 

 terminal erect panicles 6 inches long, somewhat like 

 Habrothamnus elegans, blooming in autumn, and 

 followed by the beautiful fruits, consisting of a small 

 dry ovary, each one crowned with two enlarged 

 crimson calyx lobes, nearly an inch long, which are 

 persistent, and not unlike a miniature Poinsettia 

 pulcherrima. Through the winter it is a fine sight to 

 see this shrub, tipped with glowing fire, fringing the 

 edges of our flat-topped mountains. Planted out in 

 a rockery in a temperate house, or even in the open, 

 it ought to thrive well. It is figured in Harvey's 

 Thesaurus Capensis, t. 45, but no mention is made of 

 the striking appearance it presents when fruiting, 

 which is so different from the flowers that till lately 

 I thought the plant was dimorphous, E. W. Adlam, 

 Maritzhurg. 



TRADE MEMORANDA. 



A man about 5 feet 8 inches high, with darkish 

 complexion, with dark, long beard and moustache, 

 moderately stout, with something rather peculiar in 

 the look of his eyes, and who states he is gardener to a 

 gentleman at West Hampstead, is busy in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London and the suburbs, giving orders 

 for shruVs, plants, &c. His method is to call at a 

 nursery and select shrubs, and next morning to for- 

 ward a letter, professing to come from his employer, 

 stating that his gardener had not selected all the shrubs 

 that he, would require, and that he would send him 

 over again to-day ; and stating, moreover, how pleased 

 he was with the last lot of shrubs he received. The 

 man comes, selects more shrubs, and directs them to 

 be sent by a certain day ; but before the day arrives, 

 a telegram comes, requesting the shrubs not to be sent 

 that day, after which comes a second letter from the 

 mythical employer, in which he tells his gardener he 

 has made up his mind to have all the planting done by 

 the nurseryman ; but that all shrubs marked were to 

 be sent, after he had an interview, and explained 

 what he required done in the park and gardens, 

 making an appointment on a certain day and hour. 

 With this letter comes one from the said gardener, 

 telling a tale of grief and woe — how, when he got 

 home from the nursery he found a letter stating that 

 his wife's mother was dead, that she had no relatives, 

 and not a penny to bury her, and that he was in a 

 fearful fix. To help him would I lend him a certain 

 small sum ? it would be such a favour, for he did not 

 know what to do. The money was to be sent to 

 Epping. The writer sent a small erosssed cheque, 

 thinking it would be a little protection in case of 

 fraud, but the man was equal to the occasion, for 

 knowing I had a relative in the same line, he 

 doubled back from Epping to London, and got him 

 to cash the cheque, and gave him also a bogxs order. 

 The fellow gets well up in his part in every way, 

 knows the name of your late foreman (cor- 

 rectly), is well up in the names of plants, shrubs, 

 &c, and does not scruple to take anything he can 

 get. His order was, he told me, to take back six 

 best bunches of Grapes, and the same number of 

 bunches to be sent weekly. There is no such place 

 or gentleman of the name given at West Hampstead, 

 and the address of the second letter, viz., Grand 

 Hotel, Eastbourne, is also a fabrication, no such 

 person, I was informed, had ever stayed there. 

 A Victim. 



Another Roque. 

 It would be as well to caution nurserymen and 

 those connected with the trade to make inquiry 

 before executing any orders they may receive from 

 the neighbourhood of Bristol from unknown cus- 

 tomers, as a certain individual is giving large orders 

 for goods, while the chances of getting paid for them 

 are very doubtful, as I am informed to-day (December 

 14) by a nurseryman who paid a personal visit, having 

 received a good order, but, being suspicious, did not 

 send the goods ; and, I need not say, does not intend 

 doing so. A. 0. 



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.] 





Tempebatube. 





Above or 



below the 

 Mean for 



the week 

 ending 

 Dec. 17. 



Accumulated. 



DlSTBIOTS. 



I 1 



*! 



%* 



I.Iod 



11 



A 



Principal Wheat pro- 

 ducing Districts. 





Day- 

 -deg. 



Day- 

 deg. 



Day- 

 deg. 



Day- 

 deg. 



0. Scotland, N. ,.." 



"3. above . 



19 



11 



— 197 



+ 131 



1. Scotland, E. ... 



2 above 



4 



32 



— 403 



+ 43 



2. England, N.E. ... 



3 below 







42 



— 453 



+ 33 



3. England, E. ... 



5 below 







58 



— 320 



+ HI 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



6 below 







CI 



— 407 



+ 93 



5. England, S. 



4 below 







39 



— 387 



+ 138 



Principal Grazing, &c„ 

 Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



1 above 



7 



18 



— 306 



+ 17 



7. England, N.W.... 



2 below 



2 



30 



— 311 



+ 41 



8. England, S.W.... 



2 below 



10 



29 



— 425 



+ 219 



9. Ieeland, N. 



(aver.) 



11 



22 



— 219 



+ 42 



10. Ireland, S. 



1 above 



26 



14 



— 182 



+ 28 



— Channel Islands 



(aver.) 



23 



1 



— 221 



+ 132 





Rainfall. 



Bright 



Sunshine. 



Districts. 



a. 





■1 



■gi-s 



*s4 



I.I 





Principal Wheat-pro- 

 ducing Districts. 



Tenths of 

 Inch. 





Ins. 







0. Scotland, N. ... 



7 less 



231 



42.1 



2 



27 



1. Scotland, £. ... 



6 less 



200 



29.6 



15 



28 



2. England, N.E. ... 



7 less 



178 



25.0 



24 



26 



3. England, E. ... 



5 less 



179 



23.9 



28 



29 



4. Midland Cos. ... 



5 less 



168 



25.2 



12 



27 



b England, S. 



5 less 



175 



27.2 



22 



29 



Principal Grazing, &c, 

 Districts. 













6. Scotland, W. ... 



4 less 



190 



41.0 



6 



29 



7. England, N.W.... 



6 less 



190 



30.0 



7 



27 



8. England, S.W.... 



8 less 



197 



36.6 



25 



33 



9. Ireland, N. 



3 less 



205 



35.2 



15 



27 



10. Ireland, S. 



6 less 



186 



36.9 



25 



32 



— Channel Islands 



6 less 



316 



29.9 



47 



39 



MEAN TEMPERATURE OBSERVED AT CHISWICK DUR- 

 ING THE WEEK ENDING DEC. 29. (AVERAGE OF 

 FORTY-FOUR YEARS.) 



Dec. 23 ... 



... 38°.9 



Dec. 27 



.. 37°.8 



„ 24 ... 



... 38°.7 



„ 28 



.. 37°,6 



„ 25 ... 



„ 26 ... 



... 38°.4 

 ... 38°.0 



„ 29 



Mean for the week . 



.. 37°,5 

 . 38°.l 



THE PAST WEEK. 



The following summary record of the weather for 

 the week ending Dec. 17, is furnished from the 

 Meteorological Office : — 



" The weather bas been in a more quiet and settled 

 condition than for some time past. The sky has, 

 however, been very cloudy or overcaBt generally, and 

 over England and the Channel thick fogs or mists 

 have prevailed. 



" The temperatme has continued above the mean 



in Scotland and most parts of Ireland, but over 

 England it has been below ; over eastern, central, 

 and southern England the deficit has ranged from 

 4° to 6°. The highest of the maxima (which were 

 recorded on rather irregular dates) varied from 45° 

 in ' England, N.E.,' and the ' Midland Counties,' to 

 55° in ' Ireland, S.' Over the inland parts of 

 England the maxima on some occasions were but 

 little above 32°. The lowest of the minima were 

 registered in most places during the earlier days of 

 the period, when they ranged from 23° in many parts 

 of England and in the south of Ireland, to 27° in 

 'Scotland, N.,' and 36° in the 'Channel Islands.' 

 During the night of the 12th and 13th a thermometer 

 exposed on the grass in London fell to 14°. 



" The rainfall has been less than the mean in all 

 districts. Over the greater part of England no rain 

 has fallen, but at many stations measurable amounts 

 of water were deposited in the gauge by the wet fogs. 



" Bright smishine has been very deficient generally. 

 The percentage of the possible amount of duration 

 ranged from 2 to 15 in Scotand, from 15 to 25 in 

 Ireland, and from 7 to 28 in England." 



ARKETS. 



CO VENT GARDEN, December 20. 



Although Christmas is so near, business does not 

 improve, buyers holding back for the end of the 

 week. Supplies all round good. Heavy consign- 

 ments of Canadian and Nova Scotian Apples. James 

 Webber , Wholesale Apple Market. 



FBUIT.— AVEBAGE WHOLESALE PEICES. 



Lemons, per case ...12 0-21 

 Peaches, dozen ... 2 0-60 

 Pine-apples, Eng., lb. 16-20 

 — St. Michael, each 2 0- 8 



Apples, half-sieve... 2 0- 4 6 

 — Canada and Nova 



Scotia, perbarrellO 0- 18 

 Cobs, 100 1b. ...100 0-110 

 Grapes, per lb. ... 6-30 



Vegetables.— Aveeage Ketail Peices. 

 s. d. s. d. 

 Beet, red, per dozen 10-20 

 Carrots, per bunch... 6- ... 

 Cauliflowers, each ... 3- ... 

 Celery, per bundle... 16-20 



9- . 



4- , 



Cucumbers, each 



Endive, per dozen , 



Green Mint, bunch, 



Herbs, per bunch , 



Leeks, per bunch , 



Lettuce, per dozen... 1 6- 



Mushrooms, punnet 16- 



Potatos.— Beauty of Hebron, 70s. to 80s. ; Imperators, 65i 



75s. ; Dunbar Kegents, 110*. ; do. Magnums, 130*. ; 



Magnums, 80s. to 90s. per ton. 



Plants in Pots.— Aveeage Wholesale Pbices. 



Mustard and Cress, 



punnet 



Onions, per bunch ... 

 Paraley, per bunch... 

 Potatos, per cwt. ... 4 

 „ kidney, per cwt. 4 

 Shallots, per lb. ... 

 Spinach, per bushel... 4 

 Tomatos, per lb. ... 1 

 Turnips, per bunch, 

 new 



4- ..4 



0-5 

 0-5 



Aralia Sieboldi, doz. 6 

 Chrysanthems., doz. 4 



— large plants, each 2 

 Cyperus, per dozen . 4 

 Dracaena terminalis, 



per dozen 30 



— viridis, per doz.12 

 Epiphyllums, doz....l8 

 Erica hymalis, doz.. .12 



— caffra, dozen ... 6 



— gracilis, dozen,.. 8 

 Euonymus, in var., 



per dozen 6 



Evergreens, in var., 

 per dozen ... ... 6 



d. s.d. 



0-18 



0-9 



0-4 



0-12 



0-60 



0-24 



0-30 



0-24 



0-12 



0-12 



0-18 



0-24 



s.d. s.d. 

 Ferns, in var., doz. 4 0-18 

 Foliage plants, vari- 

 ous, each 2 0-10 



Ficus elastica. each .16-70 

 Hyacinths, Roman, 



dozenpots 10 0-12 



Lily-of-Val.,doz. pts.36 0-42 

 Marguerites, doz. ... 6 0-12 

 PalmB in var., each 2 6-21 

 Pelargoniums, scar- 

 let, per dozen ... 4 0- 9 

 Poinsettias, dozen ... 9 0-15 

 Primulas, per dozen 4 0-60 

 Solanuma, dozen ... 9 0-15 

 Tulips, dozen pots ... 8 0-10 



Cut Flowebs.— Average Wholesale Peices. 



s. d. s. d. 

 Abutillons, 12 bun.... 3 0-60 

 Azaleas, 12 sprays ... 9-10 

 Bouvardias, per bun. 9-16 

 Camellias, 12 blms. 3 0-60 

 Carnations, 12 blms. 2 0-30 

 Christmas Roses, 12 



blooms 0-6-16 



Chrysanthemums, 



12 blooms 6-30 



— dozen bunches... 4 0-12 

 Eucharis, per dozen 3 0-60 

 Gardenias. 12 blooms 6 0-12 

 Heliotropes, 12 spr. 6-10 

 Hyacinths, Roman, 



12 sprays 10-16 



Lapageria, 12 blooms 10-20 

 Lilac, white Fr., bun. 5 0-70 

 Lily-of-Val., 12 spr. 10-26 



Marguerites, 12 bun.' 3 0-60 

 Mignonette, 12 bun. 2 0-40 

 Narcis., paper-white, 



(French), 12 bun...' 3 0-60 

 Pelargoniums, 12 spr. 10-16 



— scarlet, 12 spr..,. 4 0-80 

 Poinsettias, doz. ... 4 0-90 

 Primulas. dbl.,^2sp. 10-16 

 Roses, Tea, per doz. 10-30 



— coloured, dozen. 2 0-40 



— red.perdozen ... 1 0- 2 



— Safrano, dozen, ., 2 0-30 

 Stephanotis, 12 spr. 6 0-80 

 Tuberoses. 12 blms.... 16-20 

 Violets, 12 bunches... 10-16 



— dark, Fr„ bunch 16-30 



— Panne. Fr., bun. 4 0-56 



Prices for Christmas week vary so much it is impossible to 

 quote certainly ; they are generally higher about Christmas 

 Day. Holly is well berried, and plentiful ; Mistleto in 

 quantity, but well-berried boughs are rather scarce. 



SEEDS. 



London : Dec. 19. — Messrs. John Shaw & Sons, 

 seed merchants, of 37, Mark Lane, E.C., write 

 that as might be expected, the seed market to-day 

 presented quite a holiday appearance. For all de* 



