510 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 18, 1890. 
a date. Moreover, if it were so, a large store would be requited to 
meet an uninterrupted succession, and instances are not too 
common where the labour allowed in gardens provides sufficient 
margin for so early a start in the forcing of vegetables, more par¬ 
ticularly Asparagus. The man of small conveniences is strictly 
handicapped in public competition when he has to meet these 
unseasonable products in the first and second weeks of November. 
Some such restrictions as pertain to fruit collections where Pine 
Apples are excluded are needed in this case. These supply a 
chance to the fruit exhibitor very similar to that of Asparagus 
or Seakale to the vegetable competitor in early November, and 
a fair and equitable basis for fruit growers as supplied in the 
exclusion of specified species in the schedule stipulations of many 
societies should be meted out in a similar manner in vegetable 
contests. 
Everyone connected with gardening pursuits must agree that to 
produce creditable samples of the two kinds at the date I have 
pointed out requires energy and foresight on the part of the 
grower, and must necessarily bring with it high commendation ; 
but while admitting this, the fact remains the same, that only the 
man in possession of convenience and time can supply these edibles 
thus early, and abundant material from which to make a repre¬ 
sentative collection can be had without resort to these at autumn 
exhibitions or at the table. To supply an enforced demand for 
home use would in many cases meet with a reasonable objection ; 
unless, of course, the desirable convenience and time were freely 
provided, and even then there is some doubt of their being ready 
at such an early time with certainty, because the ripening of the 
foliage and crowns depend largely on the nature of the season. 
However, with due encouragement there are but few men who 
will not strive to meet all wishes in the matter of forced garden 
productions, especially for special events or festivities.—W. S. 
Wintery weather of a severe character has prevailed in the 
London district during the greater part of the past week. On Satur¬ 
day a dense fog pervaded the suburbs, and later in the evening 
this partially cleared, and a rapid fall in the temperature ensued, 
several records from low districts showing 20° below freezing point. 
On Sunday the trees and shrubs were loaded with a beautiful hoar 
frost, which lasted throughout the day, the temperature standing at 
about 16° until night, when it fell a few degrees lower. On Monday 
there was a rise in the temperature with snow, but frost continued 
both on Monday and Tuesday. In localities further south the frost 
appears to have been more severe. A gardener at Eelhill, Surrey, 
informs us that every morning for a week the thermometer registered 
20° of frost, and wonders if any other gardener can remember a week 
of greater severity. Mr. Molvneux, writing from Hampshire, says that 
Aucubas, Ligustrum japonicum,'and Myrtles look as if parboiled, but on 
the same wall as the Myrtles Coronilla glauca appears uninjured. We 
suspect this plant is more hardy than many persons suppose. 
- Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.—I beg that you will allow meJ 
through the columns of the Journal, to call the attention of gardeners 
in Chertsey and the surrounding district to a grand evening concert 
to be given in the Constitutional Hall, Chertsey, on January 22nd, in 
aid of the Gardeners’ Orphan Fund ? I should be glad of any help in 
the way of decorating the hall or in the sale of tickets, or making the 
concert known. The well-known singer to gardeners, Miss Mary Belval, 
and other popular vocalists in the district, have promised to assist. 
All that is wanted is the hearty co-operation of those interested in 
horticulture. May a good balance be secured for the Fund.—A. J. 
Brown, Hon. Local Sec., School of Handicraft , Chertsey, Surrey. 
- The following are the arrangements of the Royal Botanic 
Society for Shows and meetings at Regent’s Park in 1891 :—Spring 
Exhibitions : Wednesdays, March 18th and April 22nd. Summer 
Exhibitions : Wednesdays, May 13th and June 17th. Evening Fbte : 
Wednesday, July 8th, 8 to 12 p.m. Promenades : Wednesdays in May, 
June, and July, commencing May 6th ; Exhibition and Fhte days 
excepted. General Meetings, for election of new Fellows, scientific 
discussions, &c., Saturdays, at 3.43 P.M. January 10th, 24th; February 
7th, 21st ; March 7th, 21st ; April 11th, 25th; May 9th, 23rd ; June 
13th, 27th ; July 11th, 25th ; November 14tb, 28th ; December 12th. 
Anniversary, Monday, August 10th, at 1 p.m. 
- Horticultural Club. —There was a large attendance of 
members and their friends at the Club rooms, Hotel Windsor, Victoria 
Street, Westminster, on Tuesday evening. The chair was occupied by 
Mr. John Lee, and there were present the Rev. W. Wilks, the Rev. 
F. R. Burnside, Rev. F. H. Gall, Messrs. Girdlestone, H. J. Pearson, 
A. H. Pearson, George Mount, Wallis, Jefferies, H. Turner, E. B- 
Lindsell, Geo. Paul, G. Paul, jun., T. Francis Rivers, W. H. Williams, 
&c. In the evening a discussion took place on the subject of Rose 
Stocks, which was opened by Mr. T. W. Girdlestone with an exhaustive 
paper, in which he gave an account of some experiments he had made, 
and stated that he believed the Polvantha would be one of the most 
useful stocks of the future. An instructive discussion, in which Messrs. 
Rivers, G. Paul, and others took part, and a pleasant and profitable 
evening was brought to a close with a vote of thanks to Mr. Girdlestone 
for his excellent lecture. 
- A Dwarf Trop^olum. —The variety we grew here last year, 
and so favourably noticed by your correspondent in last issue of the 
Journal, was sent to me by a friend in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, 
who, I understood to say, selected it from some seedlings. From what 
these originated I am unable to say. It is indeed an exceptionally free 
flowering, dwarf variety ; the colour is a remarkably bright scarlet, 
which was intensified by the position in which our plants were growing 
last year in the garden, in front of a long row of a dwarf white 
Ageratum, and being in a sunny spot had all in its favour to produce 
splendid results. I know of no plant so dwarf that can produce such a 
mass of colour for so long a season as this Tropaeolum.—E. Molyneux. 
- French Lettuces. —In reply to an inquiry published in the 
Journal of Horticulture of the 27th ult., page 470, I beg to say that 
“ blonde gfiante ” is the French name for the Blond Blockhead Lettuce. 
That Lettuce is one of the best varieties introduced for many years ; 
its head is very large, a little depressed, firm, and a good keeper ; the 
outer leaves are large and ample, finely curled and undulated at the 
edges, spreading on the ground. In general appearance it resembles 
very much the well known Neapolitan Lettuce, but differs entirely 
from it by the colour, which is much lighter, and is a pleasing white 
instead of a very pale whitish green. It is, in fact, a fine and excellent 
summer Lettuce, which is very much in favour now with the Parisian 
market gardeners. We have had 12° Cent. (22° Fahr.) of frost on 
December 15th, and the Seine presents a very curious appearance with 
its floating ice. The steamboats do not run.—E. Schaettel, Paris. 
- The National Pink Society (Midland Section). —The 
following is the substance of a letter received from Mr. Chas. F. 
Thurstan, Hon Secretary p ro tern., Penn Fields, Wolverhampton :— 
“ Following the successful exhibitions of florists’ laced Pinks held this 
year at the Aquarium for the southern section, and the Botanical 
Gardens, Manchester, for the northern, it was suggested that a Midland 
Show should be held in connection with the Wolverhampton Floral 
Fete, July 14th, 15th, and 16th, 1891 ; and this having been taken up 
negotiations were opened with Mr. Green, the President of the Wolver¬ 
hampton Horticultural Committee, with the result that he has 
consented to find the necessary tent space for exhibiting the Pinks, and 
also to recommend his Committee to contribute towards the prize 
money,” 
- A correspondent in Florida writes as follows to the American 
Cultivator :—“ The Loquat (Photinia japonica or Eriobotrya japonica), 
a half-hardy evergreen tree, growing to a height of about 20 feet, 
and belonging to the Rose family, is cultivated in Florida and California 
to a considerable extent. The white fragrant blossoms are disposed in 
terminal corymbs, below which spread the thick, leathery, shining, 
lanceolate leaves. The subsequent fruit, growing in Grape-like clusters, 
is ovoid in shape, as large as a medium sized Plum with a thick skin of 
a dull pinkish colour. The flavour varies, in some instances being too 
acid to be eaten with any degree of pleasure, but is more often sub¬ 
acid, or sweet and agreeably palatable. The blossoms appear chiefly 
during November and December, and the fruit ripens from February 
until May. Most of the stock used for planting here is seedling, although 
some of the choicest stock has been budded on the “ Giant,” an imported 
variety. The tree has been cultivated for many years in the gardens 
of Southern cities, but the seed from which most of the stock in this 
