126 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 14, 1884. 
their Hollies injured by salt gales observed that Ilex Hodginsii 
suffers much less than other varieties ? This was my experience of that 
beautiful Holly when residing near the sea.” 
- Mr. W. Bardney writes Rhododendron Early Gem 
has been rightly named, for it is indeed a gem for flowering at this 
season of the year, and should have a place in every garden where 
flowers are required during the winter months. The flowers are in the 
style of R. proecox, but slightly larger, and the plant is dwarf and very 
much more compact than that variety. At one time I considered the 
last named the best early-flowering Rhododendron, but it is superseded 
by Early Gem. To show the earliness of this variety it may be 
mentioned that it will flower freely at this season of the year in a cold 
house without being subject to forcing. Beautiful compact plants can 
be grown in 6-inch pots.” 
- Mr. Joseph Mallender, The Gardens, Hodsock Priory, 
Worksop, Notts, sends the following summary of meteorological 
observations IN January :— “ Total duration of sunshine in the 
month, 22 - 7 hours, or 9 per cent, of possible. We had sixteen sunless 
days. Total rainfall, 2-77 inches; rain fell on seventeen days; maxi¬ 
mum fell in twenty-four hours on the 23rd, 071. South-westerly winds 
prevailed most of the month, the average velocity 15 2 miles per hour. 
Mean temperature of month, 43 0° ; maximum on the 22nd, 5T5° ; mini¬ 
mum on the 26th, 32 0°; maximum in sun on the 27th, 84 3° ; minimum 
on grass on the 29th, 25-6°. Warmest day on the 10th ; mean tem¬ 
perature, 50 4°. Coldest day on the 2nd ; mean temperature, 35 6°. 
Mean temperature of air at 9 A.M., 419°; mean temperature of soil 
1 foot deep, 41T° Number of nights below 32° in shade, 0 ; on grass, 
12. Highest reading of barometer on the 16th, 30 - 632 ; lowest on 26th, 
6 p.m., 28-293. The month has been remarkable for the mild tempera¬ 
ture, especially at nights, for the severe gales of the last week, and for 
the low barometer on the 26th. From December 9th to February 2nd 
inclusive, or for eight consecutive weeks, the shaded thermometer 
never fell below 32°. The first few days were wet, then came a fort¬ 
night of dry weather, and the last ten days were very wet. The gale 
on the 23rd was very severe, and many trees were blown down. From 
10 to 11 p.m. the velocity of the wind was 6T5 miles per hour. Vege¬ 
tation is very forward.” 
- The interesting letter in a daily contemporary from Miss 
North, the celebrated lady artist whose wonderful gallery of pictures at 
Kew has attracted so much admiration, thus describes a portion of the 
Scenery in the Praslin Island, one of the Seychelles 
“ The next morning Dr. Hoad took me round to the valley of the Coco 
de Mer (Lodoicea seycbellarum), on the other side of the island, in his 
boat. We passed close along the shore, amidst beautiful salmon-coloured 
boulders, many of the little islands with waving Casuarina trees on their 
tops, and fine large-leaved trees shading the sandy shore all along, varied 
with patches of Cocoa-nut and Bread-fruit, and above the deep purple-red 
stony-topped hills, with forests between, the famous Coco de Mer trees 
dotted here and there among them like golden stars. It was so rough as 
we got to the south-east angle of the Praslin that we bad a few anxious 
moments in our little boat, and found that the breakers and low tide 
would not let us go the usual way, so we had to put out to sea, and go 
outside some other islands, among great rolling Atlantic kind of waves, 
and then sailed straight into the Coco de Mer valley—my great object* 
Fancy a valley as large as old Hastings quite full of the great yellow 
8tars ! It was almost too good to believe. They have a thick under 
growth, and we had started late, so I could only draw one tree in ful 
fruit, while Dr. Hoad had a nut cut down for me. The outside husk is 
shaped like a Mango or a painted egg ; it is the inner nut which is 
double. I ate some of the jelly from inside ; there must have been 
enough of it to fill an ordinary soup-tureen—of the purest white, and not 
bad. The male tree grows a good third higher than the fruit-bearing 
tree ; there are masses of imperfect fruits, like gigantic acorns, which 
never come to perfection. The trees grow fast to a certain point, but 
like the tortoises, very slowly after that.” 
- A correspondent sends the following note:—“ The annual 
meeting of the Ealing, Acton, and Hanwell Horticultural 
Society took place in the Girls’ School-room at Ealing on the 8th inst., 
and from the report of the Committee presented on that occasion it 
appears that there are nearly 400 subscribers to the Society, besides 
many local tradesmen who give special prizes in kind in the cottagers’ 
classes ; these include articles of dress for men and women, gardening 
tools, pictures, clocks, cakes, and other articles of food, all of good value 
and very acceptable. The income of the Society in 1883 was over 
£460, a large sum of money for a suburban society to raise, and this 
was made up of annual subscriptions, special prizes, entrance fees, &c. 
£326 15s. Gd. ; admissions to summer show, £113 17 s. id. ; to autumn 
show, £12 5$. 5d. It will, therefore, be seen that the Society is able to hold 
two exhibitions in a year, one during the second week in July, which is 
on an extensive scale. Something like 1250 entries were made on the 
occasion of the summer show in July last. The autumn show, which 
takes place in November, is made up of Chrysanthemums, fruits, and 
vegetables, and is very attractive. The Society is fortunate in being 
enabled each year to hold its summer show in the pleasant grounds of 
one of the residences in the immediate neighbourhood, and the show 
fixed for July the 9 th next will take place in the grounds of Manor 
House, Ealing, the residence of the Misses Perceval, daughters of the 
Right Hon. Spencer Perceval. Much of the Society’s success is due to 
the exertions of Mr. Richard Dean, the Hon. Secretary, who is entering 
on the ninth year of his service, assisted by a good working committee of 
amateurs and professional gardeners. 
- Mr. P. Connellan, Colmore, Thomastown, sends the following 
particulars of fine Conifers at Woodstock, Innistioge, Ireland: 
Araucaria imbricata—height, 52 feet; diameter of branches, 29 feet; 
girth of stem (3 feet up), 7 feet 1 inch. Cryptomeria Lobbii—height) 
44 feet; diameter of branches, 18 feet; girth of stem, 4 feet 2 inches. 
Cupressus macrocarpa—height, 58 feet; diameter of branches, 48 feet; 
girth of stem, 8 feet 6 inches. Picea cephalonica—height, 58 feet; 
diameter of branches, 44 feet; girth of stem, 8 feet. Pinus insignis— 
height, 66 feet; diameter of branches, 43 feet; girth of stem, 8 feet 
10 inches. Pinus strobus (Weymouth Pine) —height, 65 feet; stem, clear 
of branches, 57 feet; girth, 7 feet 7 inches. The largest common Silver 
Fir—height, 107 feet; diameter of branches, 59 feet; girth of stem at 
4 feet from the ground, 14 feet 9 inches.—( Irish Farmers' Gazette.) 
- The Museums of Economic Botany at Kew have during 
the past year been thoroughly re-arranged, owing in part to the additional 
apartment provided at the building facing the Palm house, the construc- 
sion of gallery in the Wood Museum, and the incorporation of the India 
collections from Kensington with those previously at Kew. Many 
objects of great interest have been added, and much further information 
with photographs of scenery have greatly increased the value of thes e 
wonderful collections. The first part of a new edition of the Official- 
Guide has been just issued, and is devoted to the Dicotyledons and 
Gymnosperms, being sold at the moderate price of 3 d. In this publica- 
the following historical information is given respecting 
- The Origin of the Museums :—The foundation and pro¬ 
gress of these collections, not only by far the most extensive in existence, 
but the first of their kind established, may be briefly traced since the 
conception of their plan by the late Director of the Royal Gardens, Sir 
W. J. Hooker. In 1847 the building now occupied by Museum No. II., 
which up to that year had been in use as a fruit store-house, &c., was 
added, by command of Her Majesty, to the botanic garden proper. Per¬ 
mission was immediately sought by the Director to have one room of 
this building fitted up with suitable cases for the exhibition of vegetable 
products—objects which neither the living plants of the garden nor the 
preserved specimens of the herbarium could show. Sir W. J. Hooker’s 
request was liberally met by the Chief Commissioner of Her Majesty’s 
Woods and Forests, and the museum was forthwith commenced, its 
nucleus consisting of the Director’s private collection, presented by him¬ 
self. No sooner was the establishment and aim of the museum gene¬ 
rally made known than contributions to it poured in from all quarters of 
the globe, until in a few years the ten rooms of the building, with its 
passages and corners, were absolutely crammed with specimens. Its 
appreciation by the public being thus demonstrated, application was 
made to Parliament for a grant to defray the expenses of an additional 
building for the proper accommodation of the objects, and the house 
occupied by Museum No. I, opened to the public in the spring of 1857, 
is the result. In 1881 the extension of Museum No. 1 on the west side, 
containing a new and commodious staircase, was erected at a cost of 
£2000, met by a grant from the India Office, in order to supply the 
additional accommodation required for the Indian collections mentioned 
below. From the Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, and from the Paris 
Exhibitions of 1855 and 1867, large additions were made to the museums, 
both by the presentation of specimens and also by their purchase, aided 
by grants from the Treasury and Board of Trade. Many eminent firms 
