332 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



April 27, 1912. 



the subject for d'scussion will be Horticul- 

 tural Education. The speakers will be 

 Professor L. H. Bailey, Cornell University, 

 U.S. A. J w^ho will deal with the question of 



Horticultural Education in America 

 Herr K. Weinhausen, of Berlin, who will 

 speak on " Horticultural Education in Ger- 

 many " ; and AV. Hales, Esq., of Chelsea 

 Physic Garden, wdio will give an address 

 on ''The Education of a Gardener." The 

 second conference is arranged for May 

 24^ and will commence at 9.80 a.m. Ihe 

 subject will be "Legislation in Connection 

 with Plant Diseases and Pests/' and the 

 speakers will be Profesor Ritzema Bos, of 

 Holland, who will give an address on The 

 Value of Importation Regulations as a 

 means of Preventing the Introduction of 

 Plant Pests from Abroad " j A. G. L. 

 Rogers, Esq., of the Board of Agriculture, 

 w^ho will deal with " The Aims of Legisla- 

 tion in Great Britain " ; H. Maxwell 

 Lefroy, Esq., M.A., F.Z.S., F.E.S., of the 

 Indian Department of Agriculture, who will 

 speak on ''Legislation in Connection with 

 Insect Pests"; and H. J. Gussow, Esq., 

 F.R.M.S., Botanist to the Canadian 

 Government, who will give an address on 



" Legislation in Connection with Fungus 

 Diseases." The several addresses at each 



conference will be followed by a discussion. 



Rose Ccnf erence and Dinner. 



— The National Ho.se Society will hold a 

 Rose Conference at the Holborn Restau- 

 rant on May 20, at five p.m., when the 

 president, Rev. J. H. Pemberton, will de- 

 liA-er a lecture on "The Modern Develop- 

 ment of the Rose." The lecture will be fol- 

 lowed by a discussion. There will be no 

 charge for admission. At seven p.m. the 

 same day the members of the society will 

 dine together, and to the dinner some of 

 the leading foreign rosarians, w^ho will be 

 over for the International Horticultural 

 Exhibition, have been invited as guests of 

 the society. The charge for dinner will be 

 5s. , exclusive of wine and coffee. Mr. 

 Edward Mawley, V.M.H., Berkhamstead, 

 hon. secretary, should be applied to for 

 tickets. 



Ra.infall of the Winter, 1911-12. 



^-In 



wint-er rainfall than in 1911-12, when from 

 April to September there fell only S.llin. 

 of rain^ and from October to March 23.53in. 

 The summer rainfall was 35 per cent, below 

 the summer average ^ the winter rainfall 

 G2 per cent, above the winter avenige. The 

 summer half-year of 1893 was a little drier, 

 with 7.82in., or a deficiency of 39 per cent. ; 

 but no other winter since the comparison 

 became possible in 1883-84 was so wet. The 

 nearest approach was the winter six 

 months of 1903-04 with 19.83in., an excels 

 of 35 per cent. ; but, instead of being pre- 

 ceded by one of the driest summers, that 

 winter had been preceded by the very 

 wettest summer in the record. The six 

 months' winter rainfall of 1911-12 w^as 

 greater than the whole rainfall of seven out 

 of the 29 years under consideration, viz., 

 1887-8, 22.20in.; 1890-1, 21.65in. ; 1893-4, 

 22.41in.; 1897-8, 21.79in. ; 1901-2, 22.32ir. ; 

 lJ)04-5, 22.08:n. ; 1906-7, 22.87in. 



Royal Botanic Society and 

 the international Extiibition — 



We learn that the Royal Botanic Society 

 have offered a plant of the giant water-lily 

 —Victoria regia— for exh bition at the 



forthcoming Royal International Horticul- 

 tural Exhibition at Chelsea, and have also 

 offered two large gold and two silver medals 

 for roses and carnations. 



Gooseberry. — Mr. 



Worthington G. Smith, of Dunstable, re- 

 cently sent drawings to the R.H.S. Scien- 

 tific Committee, illustrating flowers and 

 fruit of a racemose form of gooseberry, 

 which had been referred to previously as 

 a hybrid between the gooseberry and the 

 black currant on account of the thickly- 

 produced clusters of very dark berries and 

 their flavour, which w^as said to be inter- 

 mediate between the gooseberry and black 

 currant. On careful examination of the 

 flowers and fruit he had, however, been 

 unable to find any trace of black currant. 

 The plant appeared to be wholly goose- 



with flow^ers and fruit borne 



berry 

 racemes 



of from two to five. 



m 



He could 



an 

 in the 

 l(j, on 

 months, 

 taking 



neriod 



interesting lettei 



Times " of 

 the rainfall 



which appeared 

 Tuesday^ April 



of the 



past six 

 Dr. H. R. Mill states that, 

 the average rainfall for that 



100. that of the winter 



detect no black currant flavour, although 

 the taste was delicious and strong. No oil 

 ghuids are present on any part of this new 

 form^ and the fruits are perfectly glabrous. 

 The pollen is exactly that of the garden 



It flowers three weeks in ad- 



gooseberry 

 vance of the black currant. 



The merit of 



as 



1911-12 



in Scotland was 

 in England and AVales 



111 



half-year 



in Ireland 136^ _ 

 141, and in the British Isles as a whole 

 131, the excels over all being very nearly 

 equal to two montLs' rainfall. It places 

 the excessive rainfall of the six months in 

 a striking light when it is recognised that 

 as much w^ater was deposited on the sur- 

 face of the British Isles in that time as 

 during the whole year 1887. Dr. Mill 

 expresses the opinion that it is not 

 as a rule, safe to pay much attention to 

 extreme readings at individual stations, 

 as there is always the possibility that an 

 error of observation or transcription may 

 infect them; but the general rainfall of 

 large areas can be accepted as free from 

 such risk. He gives particulars of the 

 general rainfall of the Thames Valley 

 above Teddington, an area of about 3,800 

 square m les for a period of 29 years. 

 The average rainfall of this large region 

 for the year has been estimated as about 

 27in., of which 12.50in. fall in the sum- 

 mer six months, and 14.;j0in. in the win- 

 ter six montlis. Considering the year 

 broken as near the equinoxes as the end 

 of the months allows, and composed ot 



the summer six months with the next fol- 



found 



lowing 

 that there 



winter six months, 

 has not been 



an 



it was 



instance of 



greater disparity betw^een the summer and 



the plant lies in its great fruit-producing 

 properties, as on a given length of branch 

 it produces more fruit in weight than, pro- 

 bably, any other bush extant. The colour 

 of the fruit when ripe is deep, almost black, 

 maroon or dark mahogany, becoming black. 

 The cuttings strike freely in any soil, many 

 of last year s shoots being nearly a yard in 

 length. Seeds planted by Mr. Smith did 

 not germinate. The plant origifiated as a 

 seedling in a market-grower's garden in the 

 South of England, where it was regarded as 

 a variety more curious than useful. Mr. 

 R. H. NichoUs, of Dunstable, has acquired 



the stock. 



Relative Popularity of Show 



Auriculas. — In an interesting contribu- 

 tion to the report of the Southern Section 

 of the National Auricula Society Mr. J. L. 

 Gibson gives a list of the show varieties 

 exhibite<l not less than ten times during 

 ih4- years 1902-11. The names of the varie- 



and the number of times staged are 

 follows: Acme 141; Mrs. Henwood, 

 101; Heather Bell, 93; Ruby, 91; Mrs. 

 Potts, 88 ; George Lightbody, 84 ; George 

 Rudd 80; Abraham Barker, 78; Rev. 

 F d' Horner, 75; Shirley Hibberd, 71; 

 Abbe Liszt, 65; Rachel, 58; Richd. Head- 

 ley 57; Favourite, 44; Mrs. Phdlips, 40 ; 

 Mi^ Barnett, 36; Black Bess, 35; Gerald, 



kado, 32; Olympus, 31; Lanca- 

 shire Hero, 30; Cleopatra, 30; Conserva- 



tive, 28 ; Heroine, 26 ; Col. Champneys, 26; 

 Wm. Brockbank, 24; Harrison Weir, 22; 

 Marmion, 21; Dr. Hardy, 20; Dinha ^ 

 18; Mrs. Dodwell, 18; Jas. Hannafcrd, 

 16 ; Miss Ethel, 13 ; Prince Charming, 11 ; 

 Perseverance, 11 ; Brunette, 11 ; Gladiator^ 

 11; Eucharis, 10; Frank, 10; Beauty, 10. 

 With reference to the relative positions of 

 the varieties, Mr. Gibson observes : " Some 

 old-time favourites owe a relatively high 

 position only to past glories; while some 

 of the younger competitors, like Harrison 

 Weir Mikado, and Favourite, would have 

 been 'higher but for their youth. Favour- 

 ite, for instance, has largely supplanted 

 Mrs. Potts, and BLack Bess, constantly ex- 

 hibited up till 1906, is now never seen; 

 while Mikado, gaining its credentials in 

 that year, has steadily come to the front, 

 and is now recognised as one of the finest 

 selfs." 



Monsieur Jules Vacherot.— A 



portrait of this distinguished French land- 

 scape gardener appears in the last issue 

 of our contemporary Jardinage;" His 

 work in laying out the grounds of the great 

 Paris International Exhibitions of 1889 and 

 1900 is well known, and appreciated. He 

 also designs the spring and autumn shows 

 of the National Horticultural Society. He 

 laid out the French Section at the Franco- 

 British Exhibition at Shepherds Bush, has 

 remodelled the King of the Belgians^ gar- 

 dens at Laeken, and done much other 

 useful work. 



Frnnt Garden Competition at 



For many years the autho- 

 rities at Kingston-on-Thames have inter- 

 ested themselves in the improvement of 

 flower gardening, especially in connec- 

 tion with front gardens attached to the 

 dwellings of artisans. This has led to a 

 considerable improvement in the appear- 

 ance of the town. This year the Mayor of 

 Kingston, Councillor G. E. J. Street, is 

 offer:ng a silver challenge cup for the best- 

 kept front garden in the borough. King- 

 ston's example might well be followed by 

 other towns. 



Horticultural Conference at 



Newcastle.^-l'nder the auspices ot the 

 North of England Horticultural Society, a 

 conference will be held at Armstrong Col- 

 lege Newcastle, on Saturday, May 4. J^^ari 

 Grey will preside, and P^^^^^^^ings com- 

 mence at three o^clock, when Sir Thomas 

 H. Ell-ott, permanent secretary ot tn^ 

 Board of Agriculture, will lecture on 



-Horticulture in Secondary Schools and 



New Farm Institutes." 

 Chapman, of Oakwood Gardens, \Nyiam 

 will follow with an address on ' 

 national Horticultural Exhibition ot lyi^- 



Kingston 



the 



The Inter- 



menta 



The new 



experi 



ten-minutes 



ti< 

 as 



32; 



for Lancashire — ^..^ -. - 



mental garden at the Lancashire Coun ) 

 Council's farm near Preston is nearly com 

 pleted, and should prove an importa 

 factor in the horticultural education tW^ 

 is being carried on in the r""" ^ 

 garden is situate within a 

 walk of Button and Howick ra Iway s-at.on, 

 and wa^ established in the latter p< ' t . 

 last year. The ground, which pr^^ . • 

 formid part of a pasture f^r^"'.^;"^ % 

 of four acres of good loam "verlajing 

 be<l of marly clay. The garden has b ^_ 

 established for educational and «^P^' ; 

 tal purposes, and not as a source or l 

 but the work will be so arranged as w 

 a commercial value. Botanical hetis ^ 

 been provided for the use of stutlentj.^^^^^ 

 for the information of market grow t^^^^^^^.^, 

 ous fruits and vegetables will oe ^ ^^^^^ 

 and their value for market tested, 

 interest of fruit growers experiment 

 been arranged to demonstrate tiie 



■ 



