508 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December IS, 188S. 
mention were the stands of cut blooms of Chrysanthemums from Mr. E. 
Wills, gardener to Mrs. Pearse, Southampton ; the groups of plants from 
John Marshall, Esq.; cut flowers, 150 trusses of Pelargoniums, See., from 
G. Fownes Luttrell, Esq.; the Apples of Sir W. Trevelyan ; Pines, Grapes, 
and Cucumbers from W. Speke, Esq.; the beautifully luxuriant young Palms 
from E. E. J. Esdailes, Esq. ; the Cyclamens, Heaths, and hardy shrubs, 
and collection of Potatoes from the Taunton Nurseries (Mr. Poynter’s) ; 
and the prize fruits (collection) from C. L. Collard, Esq. Also the local 
exhibits of cut blooms and specimen plants of Chrysanthemums were 
of more than average merit, especially those of Lionel Patton, Esq., 
W. Marshall, Esq., F. Woodland, Esq., Mrs. Reynolds, Captain Adderley } 
all foreshowing, with equal good and energetic management, the esta¬ 
blishment of an autumn show second to none in the west of England. 
- A correspondent writes —“ For covering bare patches of 
ground under the shade of trees near frequented walks no plant excels 
the small North American Mitchella repens. It is a plant having a 
dense creeping habit, with small oval-shaped dark green leaves, which 
lie nearly flat on the ground, entirely covering it. The flowers, which are 
produced in August and September, rise about 2 inches, white or pinkish, 
and very fragrant. It is partial to peat or decayed leaves, but will also 
grow in ordinary soil. It is a good companion for Sibthorpia europrea.” 
-The cultivation of Sorghum saccharatum and the manufacture 
of sugar from its stems has of late occupied a large share of attention 
by the Government in America, reports on which have been issued at 
different times. The most recent of these is an “ Investigation of the 
Scientific and Economic Relations of the Sorghum Sugar Industry.” 
This is in the form of a report drawn up by the Committee of the 
National Academy of Sciences, in which the subject of the cultivation, 
production, and manufacture of the sugar is treated in considerable 
detail. The report is one of considerable value, especially to those 
interested in the progress of this industry. 
- Mr. G. F. Wilson writes to us as follows :—“ Allow me to add 
to your remarks on Sarracenia purpurea (page 499), that it was 
uninjured when growing on our * Wilson raft,’ though the ice was 
C inches thick on the water below it. If • E. L. B.’ plants it out I 
advise him placing it in the full sun. In the shade of our wood at Wesley ) 
though the plants flowered well, the pitchers were always green. I send 
by post with this a couple of pitchers cut to-day at the side of our 
Wesley pond to show the rich colour they get in the sun. Feeling one of 
the pitchers heavy I found it was full of ice.” [The specimens referred 
to are very fine, and extremely rich in colour ; we have never seen more 
satisfactory examples.] 
- The last meeting of the Royal Irish Academy was particularly 
interesting, as being made the occasion for presenting the Cunningham 
gold medal to Dr. Edward Perceval Wright, Professor of Botany, 
T.C.D., in recognition of his attainments and industry, not alone in his 
immediate department, but in almost every branch of natural science, as 
also for his personal research and discoveries in the Mediterranean, the 
Seychelle Islands, Sec., all of which were alluded to in eloquent terms by 
the President, Sir Samuel Ferguson, and endorsed in terms equally 
eloquent and emphatic by the Rev. Dr. Haughton, S.F.T.C.D., in 
proposing Dr. Wright as Dr. M‘A1 lister’s successor to the honorary 
secretaryship of the Academy, to which he was unanimously elected. 
- Mr. Joseph Mallender sends us the following record on the 
Weather op November at Hodsock Priory, Worksop :—“ The 
sunshine during the month was 59 2 hours, or 23 per cent, of possible 
duration. We had eight sunless days. Total rainfall 2-54 inches. 
Rain fell on twenty-one days. Wind principally from S.W., average 
velocity 11-5 miles per hour. Mean temperature of the month 42 2° ; 
maximum on the 28th 56-3°, minimum on the 12th 23 3° ; maximum in 
sun on the 11th 90 9°, minimum on the grass on the 12th 20 5°. The 
warmest day was the 25th, maximum temperature 48'7°. Coldest day 
was the 12th, mean temperature 34-3°. Mean temperature of air at 
9 A.M. 41 , 7°. Mean temperature of soil 1 foot deep 42-9°. The thermo¬ 
meter in the shade fell below 32° on six nights, and on the grass on 
nineteen nights. The highest reading of the barometer was on the 1st, 
30-318 ; lowest reading was on the 25th, 28 876. Altogether a fine 
mild month, closely resembling November, 1882.” 
- A Stamford correspondent who has read Mr. Robert MacKellar’s 
remarks on the Eucharis on page 445 with interest, would be much 
obliged if Mr. MacKellar would detail his mode of culture. Our corre¬ 
spondent also desires to know the most successful method of treating 
Pancratium caribaeum. 
- The following Gardening Appointment has been made 
through Mr. D. T. Fish, Hardwick House :—Mr. Philip Chinery, late of the 
propagating department at Kew, to be gardener to Mrs. Tyrwhitt. 
Drake, Shrimpling Thorne, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. 
- An interesting course of lectures on Farm Insects was* 
delivered by Miss E. A. Ormerod, Honorary Consulting Entomologist of 
the Royal Agricultural Society, at the South Kensington Museum, daily 
from December 3rd to 7th. The various families of insects were taken* 
and fully discussed, their leading characters explained, the injury they 
do, and the best mode of destroying them described. The lectures were 
illustrated by accurate coloured drawings, representing the more destruc¬ 
tive species, greatly enlarged, and in their several stages of growth. 
- At the meeting of the Sale Botanical Society held last week 
“ Poisonous Plants and their Uses ” was the subject of a lecture before the- 
members and their friends, Mr. F. J. Broome presiding. Dr. Armstrong,, 
the lecturer, said he intended his remarks to be not of a botanical, but of 
a practical nature. A poison was defined as a substance, not heat or 
electricity, which either destroyed some portion of the human body or so- 
altered the functions of its important constituents as to render life 
impossible. It was stated that out of sixty natural orders of plants only 
about one-fourth were poisonous. Of these three were permanently 
poisonous—namely, Ranunculacese or the Buttercup tribe ; Papaveracese 
or Poppyworts, which consist of herbs or shrubs with milky or coloured 
juice, the order possessing well-marked narcotic properties; and? 
Solanacese (Nightshades), also of a herby or shrubby nature, mostly 
natives of tropical countries, and remarkable for their strong narcotic- 
poisonous qualities. A number of|the newest introductions of poisonous-- 
plants into medicine, includingl Lily of the Valley, Jessamine, and 
Lobelia, were alluded to. Specimens of the active poisonous principles 
of plants, such as morphia, aconitine, and salycilic acid (lent for the 
occasion by Mr. Roberts, chemist, Sale) were exhibited, advice being- 
given as to the best steps to take in cases of poisoning where immediate 
medical aid cannot be had. 
-At the next meeting of the Royal Meteorological Society,. 
to be held at 25, Great George Street, Westminster, on Wednesday, 
the 19th instant, at 7 p.m., the following papers will be read:— 
“ On the Explanation of Certain Weather Prognostics,” by the Hon- 
Ralph Abercromby, F.R.Met.Soc. ; “ Preliminary Inquiry into the 
Causes of the Variations in the Reading of Black-bulb Thermometers- 
in vacuo” by G. M. Whipple, B.Sc., F.R.Met.Soc., F.R.A.S.; “ Report 
on the Phenological Observations for 1883,” by the Rev. T. A. Preston,. 
M.A., F.R.Met.Soc. The meeting will be adjourned at 8 p.m. in order 
that a special general meeting may be held to consider certain alter¬ 
ations in the bye-laws. As the draft list of officers and Council for the- 
year 1884 will be prepared at the next Counoil meeting, it is requested 
that those Fellows who wish to suggest names for the new Council will 
send them in before the 19th instant. 
- From Dr. King’s annual report of the Royal Botanic Garden,. 
Calcutta, for the year 1882-3, and Mr. J. F. Duthie’s report of the 
Government Botanical Gardens at Saharunpurand Mussoorie for the year- 
ending March 31, 1883, we learn something of the progress of botany at 
these botanical centres in India. It is satisfactory to note that at 
Calcutta considerable improvements have been effected during the year,, 
not only in the general arrangements of the garden itself, but also in the 
scientific department. As usual at Calcutta considerable attention has 
been given to various economic plants, notably those which produce the- 
valuable article indiarubber, and which have occupied so much attention, 
of late. Dr. King says the cultivation of the Soy Bean of Japan (Glycine- 
soja) has of late been pressed on the people of India, and “ more in 
obedience to the loudness of this clamour than from a belief in its 
soundness ” he has arranged for a supply of the Beans from Japan,, 
which he proposes to distribute extensively for trial. Much consideration 
has also been given to the utilisation of the various fibrous plants. In 
the Lloyd Botanic Garden, Darjeeling, much damage continued to be 
done by the cockchafer grubs until pretty nearly every plant in the 
garden was killed. “ The whole of the grass in the garden and all 
herbaceous plants rapidly succumbed to its ravages, as did many of the 
flowering shrub 3 , only the deeper-rooting shrubs and trees being spared- 
Even the plants in the conservatories did not altogether escape ; eggs of 
