514 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
[ June 26, 1884. 
follows :—“ I think the subject of the acclimatisation of the tree cannot 
be determined by the history of a few solitary specimens. The young 
trees should be planted in considerable numbers close—very close 
together—so as to shelter each other from the wind and cold. Some will 
die, but others will survive, just as they do in warmer countries like 
Spain and Portugal. I was in Spain this last winter and saw a con¬ 
siderable number of Eucalyptus trees killed by a severe frost, which I 
think occurred in November. Many of the trees, however, survived, and 
indeed the leaves did not show the slightest injury from the cold, and 
dead and living trees were seen standing side by side. Exactly the 
same thing occurred in some of the Olive plantations near Granada and 
Cordova. The frost had killed some, while others in exactly the same 
situations were little affected by it. Some Orange trees at Seville were 
in the same condition. It is obvious that trees of the same species have 
different constitutions, and it is only by experimenting that the hardy 
ones can be selected. The great mistake which has been committed in 
this country has been the planting of the Eucalyptus in too rich or too 
damp soils, by which mistake the tree grows too freely, and does not 
ripen its wood for the winter. The soil cannot be too poor or dry, 
especially for the young tree. It is a great error to think that the tree 
grows in swamps in its native country of Tasmania. Some of the finest 
trees I have seen grew on the bare rocky slopes of the mountains about 
Hobaitown, and when I saw them a few years ago they were covered 
with snow. The nature of the roots is that they shall be able to absorb 
moisture where only little is to be found, and not to live in damp 
places.” 
ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
The concluding monthly meeting of this Society for the present session 
was held on Wednesday evening, the 18th inst., at the Institution of Civil 
Engineers, Mr. R. H. Scott, F.R.S., President, in the chair. Dr. Benjamin A. 
Gould, Director of the Cordova Observatory, Argentine Republic, was elected 
an honorary member. 
The following papers were read :— 
1, “ The Equinoctial Gales—Do they Occur in the British Isles ?” By 
Mr. R. H. Scott, F.R.S. The period investigated was the fourteen years 
1870—84, and only those storms were selected which had attained force 9 of 
the Beaufort scale at more than two stations. The results show that the 
storms are all but exclusively confined to the winter half-year ; and also how, 
for a certain interval, the stream of storm depressions set over the British 
Isles, and then for a time takes another path, leaving this country at rest. 
In some years there are as many as four or five storms in a fortnight, and in 
others there are none or only one. It is further shown that there is no 
strongly marked maximum at either equinox. 
2, On the Physical Significance of Concave and Convex Barographic or 
Thermographic Traces.” by the Hon. R. Abercromby, F.R.Met.Soc. The 
author shows that a falling barogram is convex when the rate of the fall is 
increasing, concave when decreasing; and conversely, that a rising barogram 
is convex when the rate is decreasing, concave when increasing. As the rate 
of barometric change is proportional to the steepness of the gradients which 
are passing, and the wind also depends on the gradients, the author suggests 
the following rules for judging the coming force of a gale from the inspection 
of a barogram. A convex barogram is always bad with a falling ther¬ 
mometer, and good with a rising one, and a concave trace is sometimes a 
good sign with a falling barometer, and not always a bad indication with a 
rising one. The convexity or concavity of a thermogram is likewise shown 
to depend on the rate of thermal change. A method is given by which the 
distribution of diurnal isothermals over the globe can be deduced from the 
diurnal thermograms in different latitudes ; and it is shown that the shape of 
diurnal isotherms on a Mercator chart, for a limited number of degrees of 
latitude, is similar to the shape of the curve of diurnal temperature range, if 
we turn time into longitude and temperature into latitude on a suitable 
scale. 
3, “ Maritime Losses and Casualties for 1883 Considered in Connection 
with the Weather,” by Mr. C. Harding, F.R.Met.Soc. 
4, “ The Helm Wind,” by the Rev. J. Brunskill, F.R.Met.Soc. This is an 
account of a wind peculiar to the Crossfell range ; and its presence is 
indicated by a belt of clouds, denominated the “ helm barr,” which settles 
like a helmet over the top of the mountain. 
5, Climate of the Delta of Egypt in 1798 to 1802 during the French and 
British Campaigns,” by Surgeon-Major W. T. Black, F.R.Met.Soc. The 
author has collected and discussed the meteorological observations made in 
Egypt during the French and British campaigns at the beginning of the 
present century. 
EXHIBITING ROSES. 
Since I commenced taking your valuable Journal, nearly two years 
ago, I have derived much practical information from the columns of it, 
especially regarding that universal favourite the Rose. About a year ago 
I asked you for some information with regard to the budding of Roses, 
and you were kind enough at that time to publish a first-class article on 
the subject, accompanied by woodcuts. Pardon my again troubling you 
for some other information. As the exhibition season is once more at 
hand I would be glad if you could give me some hints as to the staging of 
Roses for exhibition. What is the proper method of doing so ? Here in 
Scotland the usual way is to add a lot of foliage to the blooms, which are 
set into zinc tubes resting on the boxes; consequently the blooms are 
lying flat on the board. I understand there is a much better method of 
staging than this, and that is to cover the boxes with nice moss, to support 
the blooms with wire clips, and with nothing but the foliage as cut from 
the tree. I have great difficulty in getting nice moss. Is there any way 
of dyeing this to make it greener? How are wire clipi made, or where 
can they he had ? 
Any information you can give me through the columns of your valuable 
paper will be acceptable by— Ayrshire Amateur. 
[From Canon Hole’s far-famed “ Book About Roses ” (Blackwood and 
Sons) we cite the following, that will be useful to many on the eve of the 
Rose season. 
“ At our first National Rose Show we commenced a reform in showing 
Roses by an act of uniformity as to size and shape of boxes. The amateur 
must therefore order his boxes, which any carpenter can make for him 
from three-quarter-inch deal, to be of the following dimensions: 
Length.. 
For 24 Hoses, 3 feet 9 inches. 
,, f8 it 2 „ 9 ,, 
it 12 „ 2 „ 
„ 6 „ 1 foot 3 inches. 
Breadth. 
1 foot 6 inches. 
Height. 
Back of box 7 inches, front 5. 
9) 
tt 
it it 
it »> 
it a 
The covers, being 8 inches in depth at the back and 6 inches in front, 
being 1| inch longer and wider than the boxes, and having a narrow 
beading within the four sides, half an inch from the bottom of the lid, 
overlap the boxes, leaving ample room for the Roses, and are secured for 
travelling by stout leather straps. Within the boxes some exhibitors have 
holes pierced at equal distances on a uniform surface of wood ; but as 
Roses differ in size, it is more convenient to have the facility of placing 
them where we please, and for this purpose it is desirable to have strong 
laths (three-fourths of an inch in depth and 1J inch in width) extending 
the length of the box. These laths should be six in number, and should be 
nailed on tw r o strong pieces of wood, crossing the box one at each end, 
2 inches below the surface. The upper and lower laths should be fixed 
one-eighth of an inch within the box, and the four remaining so arranged 
that there will be six interstices 1^ inch in width—three for the Roses 
and three merely to reduce the weight. There will be a space of Lj- inch 
between the laths and the upper edge of the box to be filled as follows : • 
Cover the laths with sheets of brown paper, two deep and cut to fit the 
box, and upon these place the best moss you can obtain. I get mine from 
trunks of trees in a neighbouring wood, have it carefully picked over and well 
watered the day before a show, and then, using the coarser portion for a 
substratum, make my upper surface as clean and green and level as I can. 
Fronds of Ferns, especially of Adiantum, are sometimes prettily intro¬ 
duced. 
“ It would, I think, repay the rosarian to grow moss specially for this 
purpose such as would thrive—Selaginella denticulata, for example—in 
rough boxes and waste places under stages or in vineries. Some years ago 
I placed a lining of zinc 3 inches deep at the top of one of my Rose boxes, 
filled it with earth, and soon obtained from it a charming surface of 
S. apoda. 
“ The Roses are placed in tubes of zinc 4J inches in length, 2 inches 
wide at the top, gradually tapering until they become 1 inch in width at 
the centre, the tops being moveable, as shown in fig. 120. This top is 
taken off, and the stalk of the flower being brought through until the 
Rose is held securely, it is replaced upon the tubes, previously filled with 
pure rain water. These tubes not only facilitate the arrangement of the 
flower, but they retain the water when rough railway porters forget their 
gradients. They may be had from the brazier and tinman everywhere, 
and the cost is 4.?. per dozen. 
“ The young knight will not be armed cap-a-pie until he has supplied 
himself with a couple of helmets. If the weather is showery or the sun 
scorches just before a show, many Roses may be advantageously shaded 
by having a zinc cap placed over them 8 inches in diameter, 5 inches in 
depth, ventilated, and having a socket attached, which may be moved up 
and down a stake fixed by the Rose tree until the cap is secured in its 
position by a wooden wedge inserted between the socket and the stake 
(fig. 121). Roses of a more delicate complexion than others —such as Madame 
Lacharme and Monsieur Noman—and some whose vivid colouring is 
quickly tarnished by fiery suns—such as the brilliant Baronne Bonstetten, 
Louis Van Houtte, Reynolds Hole, and Xavier Olibo—may be thus pre¬ 
served for exhibition. Fresh Cabbage leaves, renewed from time to time, 
may be advantageously placed on the caps, which, I may add, have a more 
pleasing appearance in the rosarium when painted a dark green colour. 
“ These caps should be in readiness, fixed upon their stakes in the 
Rose beds or near them, so that they may be quickly placed in position 
when there is peril from fire or water—when fierce suns come suddenly 
forth, or when those first large drops, which have been poetically termed 
‘ tears of the tempest weeping for the havoc to follow,’ give warning of 
