342 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ April sg, isss. 
of plants, and very rarely flowered, is now in bloom at Highfield, 
the residence of H. Wardle, Esq., Burton-on-Trent. One cluster 
of seven large blooms is now open, and another prominent truss 
to open. Lovers of rare plants and Rhododendrons would be 
delighted with a sight of it, and such would be welcome by the 
owner.’ 
- The Colnbrook and District Horticultural So¬ 
ciety will hold an Exhibition of flowers, fruits, and vegetables 
in Ditton Park, Windsor, the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, on 
Wednesday, July 25th. 
- Mr. Bain, for the last twenty-three years gardener to 
Sir Chas. R. Boughton, Bart., Downton Hall, Ludlow, has taken 
the Brereton Nurseries, Staffordshire, and is succeeded by Mr. 
Bohill, foreman from Whittingham, East Lothian. 
- A correspondent writes’:—“The quickest grown and 
the finest specimens of the semi-double Zonal Pelargonium 
Guillon Mangilli I have yet seen, are in the houses erected 
by an enthusiastic Frome amateur. Some of these plants are 
about ten months, and others twelve months old, and on the 
average are 42 inches high, exclusive of pots, and of good pro¬ 
portions. They were struck in heat and gradually shifted into 
10-inch pots, in which they are flowered. The soil consists prin¬ 
cipally of loam and a little decayed manure and road grit or sand. 
During the summer the plants were stood in an open sunny spot 
and were housed before severe frosts were anticipated. Through¬ 
out the winter they were principally grown in an ordinary plant 
stove, this being a very light structure, and the temperature, 
light, room, and good attendance, supplemented with an occa¬ 
sional supply of Standen’s manure, exactly met the requirements 
of this invaluable winter-flowering Pelargonium. At any time 
during the winter the pillar-like plants in question yielded abun¬ 
dance of fine trusses of blooms. At the present time they are 
crowded with trusses, and present a very gay appearance. The 
variety is erect-growing and branching, consequently but little 
stopping is necessary after the foundation is laid. Mr. Wm. 
Taylor has done much to bring this Pelargonium into prominence, 
and no doubt is well pleased to see others in this and other 
matters so ready to follow his lead.” 
- The usual monthly meeting of the METEOROLOGICAL 
Society was held on Wednesday evening the 18th instant, Mr. 
J. K. Laughton, M.A., F.R.A.S., President, in the chair. T. G. 
Bowick, E. C. Clifton, H. Gulley, Dr. W. Doberck, A. N. Pearson, 
Prof. H. Robinson, and J. E. Worth were balloted for and 
elected Fellows of the Society. The following papers were read : 
— 1, “On Cirrus and Cirro-Cumulus,” by the Hon. F. A. Rollo 
Russell, M.A., F.M.S. The author pointed out that next to frequent 
readings of the barometer and a knowledge of the distribution 
of the atmospheric pressure, observation of the character of 
clouds, especially of cirrus, is of the greatest use in attempting 
to forecast coming weather. Observation of cirrus can plainly 
be made use of in a telegraphic system of weather forecasts as 
easily as observation of the barometer, and the employment of a 
number of scattered cirrus-observers largely increases the pro¬ 
bability of this form of cloud being noted. 2, “ Some Notes on 
Waterspouts ; their Occurrence and Formation,” by George 
Attwood, F.G.S. 3, “ Records of Bright Sunshine,” by W. W. 
Rundell, F.M.S. This is a discussion of the sunshine records 
made in the United Kingdom during the years 1881 and 1882, 
from which it appears that there is more bright sunshine upon 
the coast than there is inland. 4, “ Note on Wind, Cloudiness 
and Halos ; also on Results from a Redier’s Barograph,” by E. T. 
Dowson, F.M.S. 
-At the same meeting a paper “ On the Cold Weather of 
March, 1883,” was read by W. Marriott, F.M.S., who remarked 
—“ The weather of this month will long be remembered for its 
very cold, dry, and windy character. The winter had been 
very mild, dull, and wet, and continued so to the beginning 
of March. A sudden change took place, however, on the 6th. 
A severe northerly gale set in on that day, accompanied with 
snow showers and a keen biting wind. This gale was most 
violent in the North Sea, and caused sad havoc among the 
fishing fleet on the east coast, no less than 382 men and 
boys being drowned. The temperature fell considerably, the 
maximum being below 40° almost all over the country, and 
in the north of England only a trifle above the freezing point. 
The same conditions prevailed for the next two or three days, the 
temperature, however, falling still lower, and on the 10th the 
minimum occurred in the central and northern districts. The 
most remarkable weather of the month took pl.vce from the 21st 
to the 24th. Owing to a brisk fall of the barometer over France 
an easterly gale was experienced over this country, and as the 
temperature was low and the air very dry the wind was exceed¬ 
ingly bitter and keen, and its effect upon the human frame was 
most distressing.” 
ANTHURIUM SPLENDIDUM. 
Anthuriums rank amongst the most noble and beautiful of 
ornamental-foliaged stove plants. All the forms are handsome, 
and no one seeing the finest examples of such as A. crystallinum, 
A. Veitchii, A. Warocqueanum, A. Thibautianum, and others 
can fail to admire them. All those named are quite dissimilar, 
and the one now figured differs widely from them all. It is 
one of Mr. Bull’s introductions, and placed by him in commerce 
for the first time this season, with the following description :— 
“ A strikingly beautiful stove Aroid, imported from South America. 
It is quite distinct from anything yet in cultivation, and a plant 
which cannot fail to become universally admired, the surface of 
the leaves being remarkably peculiar. It has a short thick caudex, 
from which spring up the cordate leaves, which have an open sinus, 
the lobes meeting behind. The course of the nerves is marked 
by a broadish band of deep lustrous velvety green, the intervening 
spaces of about equal width being in striking contrast of a pale 
yellowish green. The leaf surface is scabrous, and the portions 
between the ribs strongly bullate as if raised in papillose blisters. 
The veins on the under surface are angular, with tooth-like pro¬ 
jections at intervals, while the whole under surface is punctate 
with small pallid dots.” That is a very accurate description of 
a plant which promises to be a valuable addition to the fine genus 
to which it belongs. As the plants increase in size the foliage will 
in all probability be still more imposing. Even in a compara¬ 
tively small state it is striking by the lustrous sheen of its 
peculiar surface, and the appearance of the plant is certainly not 
overdrawn in the illustration. 
CLEMATIS INDIVISA LOBATA. 
This has been the prettiest and most useful plant with us for 
more than eight weeks past. It was planted in quite a small state 
in the early autumn of 1881, so that it is scarcely two years old, 
and yet it has covered more than two-thirds of a span-roofed 
greenhouse. The centre bed of the house in which it is growing 
was carefully made, after being well drained, with whole 
turves of loam, and a sprinkling of charcoal on each layer of turf 
to keep the whole sweet and porous. A little fine soil was used 
for planting with, and the plant started away without a check. 
By the middle of January it had made about 20 feet of growth, 
when it showed about a couple of dozen flower buds, the whole of 
which expanded beautifully, just as it were to let us see its worth. 
It was greatly admired and praised by all who saw it. It kept on 
growing vigorously through the whole of last season until its 
allotted space was completely covered, when it had to be checked, 
or it would have made the house too dark. Often through the 
season were we compelled to cut away handfuls of growth so as 
to keep it in bounds, and yet it kept extending. 
Owing to an alteration being effected in the house last October 
we were necessitated to take the plant completely off the trellis 
at the expense of some fine shoots—for it is hardly possible to dis¬ 
entangle its growths without injury, as the leafstalks take such a 
firm hold upon the wires, its own shoots, or anything that may be 
convenient—and twine it in bundles round a post. We imagined 
this cruel treatment might affect its flowering, for it was entwined 
