May I4» 



1898. 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



307 



" \7 oreviously converted into ammoniacal salts or nitrates ; those of 



without bemg p ^ ^ taken up by ^ p , ant# Amines unite with 



invt molecular & r<»^j nn Ki a ammonia. 



form salts and give a strong alkaline reaction like ammonia 



tC1 ' I Mongolia.— Mr. and Mrs. Littledale have made another adventurous 

 Flora Of * *^ ^ Central Asia . this time to North-western Mongolia, 

 journney in 0 ^ ^ Litt i e dale made an excellent collection ot dried plants, 

 ^ wa y ot ^ ^ presente d to Kew ; this comprises between two and three hundred 

 Whi - Although there are probably few, if any new species, the specimens are 

 5pCC - e n valuable on account of the admirable care with which Mrs. Littledale 

 specially In all cases where it was possible the entire plant, including 



?T 7& procured. Few professional collectors, state the authorities at Kew, 

 £e aTmuch pains as Mrs. Littledale has done. 

 The Record of the Weather for the first quarter of the year is of ex- 

 ional interest. According to the observations made at the Royal Observatory, 

 Geenwich, the mean reading of the barometer was 29*875 inches, being -ioo 

 . ^ above' the average reading in the first quarters of fifty-seven years ; the mean 

 reading was -384 inch above the average in January, '041 inch below in February, 

 Ind -042 in March. The mean temperature of the air was 41*5 degrees, or 2 6 

 degrees above the average in the first quarters of one hundred and twenty-seven 

 years ; it was 6 '9 degrees above the average in January, and 2 -4 degrees above in 

 February, but was I '4 degrees below the average in March. In January the 

 weather was generally dry, mild, and dull ; in February it was still mild and dull, 

 but with frequent rain ; in March, with the exception of a few warm days in the 

 middle of the month, it was cold. At Greenwich, March was the coldest and 

 January was the warmest month in the quarter, the mean temperature in January 

 hiving been 2*4 degrees higher than in February, and 3*8 degrees higher than 

 it in March. At twenty-seven other stations of observation the mean tempera 



mTT r > w diSeaSe " The «>™P^ies making the concessions are the 

 Midland Great Western, Belfast and Northern Counties, and the Great Northern 

 Railway Company of Ireland. 



Messrs 



Works 



buildings 



scale 



severely damaged by fire on the night of May 11 



factory, and engineering works suffered, it is estim^u, ,u u>c C xi C m 01 * 25,000 

 It is presumed that the fire broke out in the boiler room ; it spread rapidly, and 

 was with difficulty confined to the establishment of Messrs. Mackenzie and 

 Moncur. 



Artificial Manures in Germany are used on a MJ 



both horticulturists and agriculturists ; indeed, it is stated on good authority that 

 four times the amount of these are used in Germany than in France. The result 

 of this use and high methods of culture in other directions is that it now seems 

 practically impossible to raise the fertility of the soil any higher. 



Rev. H. H. D'ombrain's Birthday.— There was an exceptionally large 

 gathering at the monthly dinner of the Horticultural Club on Tuesday, for so high 

 is the estimation in which the Rev. II. II. D'ombrain is held that the whole of the 

 members, with the exception of a few who were prevented by illness or were from 

 home, were present to take part in the celebration of his 80th birthday. Sir John 

 T. D. Llewellyn, Bart., M.P., presided, and in proposing Mr. D'ombrain's 

 health spoke at some length of the eminent services he had in the course of his 

 long and active life rendered to horticulture. Sir John said that as the founder 

 and the honorary secretary of the Horticultural Club Mr. D'ombrain had rendered 

 services of special value and had endeared himself to all the members as proved to 

 demonstration by the large attendance, and by the unanimity with which the sug- 

 gestion that the members should mark their appreciation of his services by present- 

 tureoVthe air during the quarter ranged from 387 degrees at Llangammarch ing bim with a birthday gift had been acted upon. It was, not as Sir John 

 Wells, 39*3 degrees at Wolverhampton, and 39*5 degrees at Halifax, to 437 Llewllyn said, possible to recognise such services by a presentation of money, but 

 degrees at Ventnor and at Llandudno, 44-9 degrees at Truro, and 45*1 degrees in such presentation was evidence of esteem, and the whole of the members had 

 Guernsey. The amount of rain measured during the quarter at the Royal Obser- united in contributing an equal share to the purse which he had great pleasure of 

 vitory was 3*24 inches, which is 171 inches below the average in the first quarters of presenting to Mr. D'ombrain as a birthday gift. They had no lady members 

 of eighty-three years. The amount was i'20 inches below the average in January, 

 0*35 inch below in February, and 0'i6 inch below in March. At twenty-seven 

 other stations of observation the rainfall during the quarter ranged from 2^48 



inches at Oxford, 2-53 inches at Hereford, and 2'66 inches at Coventry, to 6*28 the toast was received with great heartiness follows as a matter of course, nor is 



— - ' »■"-- ■ — — - ■ . ~ . it surprising that Mr. D'ombrain should have been visibly affected by the hearty 



and therefore the ladies had not been able to contribute to the contents of the 

 purse ; but the purse itself had been contributed by a lady who was especially 

 anxious to share in the pleasure they all had in making the presentation. That 



w _ o Wells, 



hurst. The duration of bright sunshine recorded at the Royal Observatory was 

 156*9 hours, being 17*3 per cent, of the total hours during which the sun was 

 above the horizon, against a mean proportion of 18*5 per cent, in the twenty pre- 

 ceding first quarters. The duration of bright sunshine was 9*9 per cent, below the 

 average in January, and i8'2 percent, in March, while in February it was 21 # i 

 per cent, above the average. 



demonstration. In acknowledging the expression of kindness on the part of the 

 members of the club, he said he regarded with pardonable pride the remarkable 

 gathering. Many of those before him he had known for upwards of thirty years, 

 others were more recent friends, and he was immensely gratified to find that the 

 places many of his old friends, now gone to their rest, had occupied in the world 

 of horticulture and in his heart, were filled by their sons. I Ic could not anticipate 



# an indefinite future, but he hoped he might have the pleasure of meeting the 



Visitors to Kew During 1897 numbered 1,239,683, or a falling off of members Qn future occasions . Mr. G. Munro, who had acted as treasurer, 



157,192 from the total of 1896, and of 191,982 from the average attendance for ^ b referrcd ^ ^ promptitude witn which every member had replied 



1887.96. Sunday visitors numbered 485>544- The maximum attendance for one ^ his communications, the formal proceedings were concluded, and the remainder 



day was 84,431, on June 7 ; and the lowest, 57, on March 18. The monthly rf ^ eyeni was ' t in soc i a l intercourse. There was a large attendance at 



returns for 1897 are January, 12,961 ; February, 36,124 ; March, 50,438 ; April, mee ting of the committee of the National Rose Society in the afternoon, and 



169,090; May, 165,036; June, 218,184; July, 187,622; August, 219,650; a i so Mr. D'ombrain received the heartiest congratulations. 

 September, 95,729; October, 55,160; November, 19,254; December, 10,435. 



Old Kewites will be interested to hear that Mr. Robert Pantling has been 



appointed deputy superintendent of the Cinchona Plantations, Sikkim, in 



succession to Mr. J. A. Gammie, now retired. Mr. J. H. Holland, formerly 



assistant-curator of the Old Calabar Botanic Station, has been appointed by the 



Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to succeed the late Mr. Horace Billington as 

 curator there. 



Gambia Botanic 



West Coast of Africa. 



Coffea stenopbylla at Trinidad.— The Highland Coffee of Sierra 



become 



to 



The Old Poplar iree ai wniawita m»t — — - — 



travellers along the Chiswick High Road, by reason of its enormous size sue 

 cumbed to the gale of Thursday, the nth inst., and in its fall damaged Blandford 

 Lodge, a private residence on the opposite side of Marlborough Road to which 

 the tree stood. This tree is well known to be over two hundred years old, and is 



flvpmip that extended 



te for Foreign Affairs to succeed the late Mr. Horace Billington as the tree stood. This tree is wen Know n » uc uv„ - « - , 



Mr. Walter Haydon, who for four years has been curator at the supposed to have been one of a series that formed a fine avenue that extended 

 - - ' - " - - ~ •- • ' t0 the river-side in the days when Turnham Green was a broad, open common. 



_ . r\«_A — tlf XT. 



Leone (Copa stenophylla) has been widely distributed to tropical countries from CU rrent issue of the R.H.S. journal. 



a f'U' Kit ~ _ _T I 1 1 . a rr* .'11 * ^ s- « f f ! 4 A 



Packing Tomatos for Sending Long Distances.-Mr. W. Neild 



gives some useful advice on packing tomatos for sending long distances, m the 

 gives some , _ • th course of ms observations 



Kew by means of seeds and plants. At Trinidad, at only a few feet above sea 

 level, it has recently fruited, and Mr. J. II . Hart, F.L.S., superintendent of the 

 Botanic Gardens of that colony, has made the following interesting report, which 

 appears in the current Kew Bulletin : Some four years ago we received a new 

 kind of coffee from Kew. This has now fruited for the first time, four years from 

 "«<1- The trees are in robust health, and have given for a first yield a very fair 



i'h™' ThiS °° ffee ' S quite distinct from anything hitherto grown in the West 

 ndies, and appears likely to develop into a valuable minor product. The berries, 

 instead of being red when ripe, as in the Arabian varieties, are a dark purple, and 

 the bean is small and attractive looking. When dried and cleaned it has much 

 . a PP ea ™nce of the finest Mocha. The flavour when made into a cup of coffee 



uexcellent, being fully equal to the finest Arabian, from which there is little to 1111CU mui , . 



Anguish it in appearance when prepared in the same way. The trees are much ^not be laid upon the absolute necessity 



that large quantities ot mm are by bad packing In many instances 



that large quan ^ ^ ^ rcsu|t 



the fruit 1S placed lot « y jm« d ^ inalion P in a bruised and damaged condition. 



^ K T S \Z 0 Sing % Pi- the fruit in a single layer in shallow boles 

 The best system of packing ^ ^ holding(rom len toflftecn poundseach ; and 



n n,v ,s 10 uc ~- , A of 1,0X65 Sh " Ul(I ^ phCC<i ° n 



when a larger ^ togelher with strong cord. A little soft hay 



the top of each ^ lje pIaced in the bottom of the box, and 



dry sphagnum moss, or wood woo ^ fruit r shouM be p«ked closely 



on this a covering ^ ^ ^ „ Ml or the requurite quantity 



together, stalk end do«wa£. ^ ^ ^ ^ 



put in, the frui should >e ^ ^ m ^ 



filled with the packing materu bdor t P P ^ 



Ind^ d gorous than Arabian coffee ; the y have a small » dark » shin y leaf » but the 



• branches are -..mewhat smaller than those of Arabian, and very much 



robust than Coffea liberica. Our trees are now eight feet in height, and 



damaged 



grass 



would 



1 appear to be willing to go higher if we would let them. So far as our injures the quality of the fruit. 



it moving about as it wou uic 7 ^ ^ . ( ^ y ^ { th 



damp material should : U tt ** ^ l rm ^ tloa takes place, which materially 

 boxes for several hou s, ne t ^ fc . ourney 



«Penence has gone with Coffea stenophylla there is good reason to hope that it 

 prove a valuable introduction. 



^cland ^ U |* Ure * n Inland. — Several of the leading railway companies in 

 spread 0 j re h makin £ con cessions with a view to assisting farmers in checking the 

 Potato-s C ' P ° tat0 disease * The concessions are free carriage, at owner's risk, of 

 Messrs S &2 ^ ^° W( ^ er anc ^ s P ra ying machines during the present season. The 

 the ch' V raWson, wel1 known as makers of fungicides and insecticides, hav 



have been 



means of inducing the companies to make these efforts towards the 



injures the quality of the frult - f » j ^ in that sU te ttiey would 



£ advisable to gather ^Z^\tL2 however, be remembered 

 reach their destination . * be«w deteriorates more quic kly than the tomato 

 that probably there no r y fc ^ ^ home . n 



after it is removed from tn ^ ^ ^ ^ When tomatoJ h 



tomatos are so mcon, P arab y ^ subsequentl 



attained their full size, and «e c ^ • ^ between Mch 



^m^MS on the plan, 



