HEPOET OF THE CHISWICK BOARD OF DIRECTION. 35 
Great pains have been taken to get together a collection of such in- 
teresting hardy Herbaceous plants as may be worthy of general cul- 
tivation. It is not within the province of the Society to attempt any- 
thing like a Botanical collection ; but within certain limits the Board 
are anxious to do something towards restoring a general taste for 
beautiful forms other than those gorgeous masses of colour which 
have become so prevalent, and which at one time, except for the 
concomitant attraction of Perns, bade fair to exclude from gardens 
everything except a few favoured bedding plants, which were re- 
peated universally, with scarcely any variation. 
It is desired during the coming season to get together more 
especially a collection of all the cultivated Asters which can be met 
with, with a view to a revision of the nomenclature, which appears 
to be in a very confused state. Any contributions from Fellows for 
this object will be thankfully received by the Gardener-in- Chief. 
The re-establishment of the system of meteorological observa- 
tions has not been effected without difficulty. The fine set of new 
instruments purchased by the Society from Messrs. T^egretti and 
Zambra were personally conveyed to the Kew Observatory by 
Prof. Thiselton Dyer. Having been satisfactorily tested, they have 
been fixed in their proper positions at Chiswick, and the observations 
have been regularly taken with them since the beginning of July. 
The thermometer-stand, however, which was made at considerable 
expense at the recommendation of Mr. Glaisher, does not prove 
wholly satisfactory, and it may ultimately prove necessary to 
abandon it for some other arrangement. 
It will be seen from the following figures that the rainfall at 
Chiswick of the last six months of 1872 was equal to about two- 
thirds of the average rainfall of the whole year (23 5 in.) : — 
Number of 
ATerage 
Days on which 
Rainfall, 
Rainfall 
Rain fell in 
1872. 
of 
1872. 
U years. 
July 
14 
1-94 
2-32 
August 
13 
1-88 
2-41 
September . . 
11 
ri9 
2-50 
October 
24 
4-65 
2-63 
November . . 
22 
3-25 
2-iO 
December . . 
22 
3-94 
1'53 
106 
16-85 
13-49 
In the period 1826 — 1869 the whole rainfall of the driest year 
(1858) was 15-8 in. ; in 1864 the whole rainfall was only 16-9 in. 
Prof. Thiselton Dyer has commenced some evening lectures on 
the Scientific Principles of Horticulture to the persons employed in 
the garden. These lectures are still in course of delivery. 
D 2 
