540 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 16, 1886. 
the best date for holding it. I give that date from my notes of several 
years, as being nearest to the full bloom. I will undertake to send from 
thirty to fifty plants, not necessarily for competition.” 
-The Show of the Hull and East Riding Chrysanthemum 
Society for 1887 will be held on Thursday and Friday, 17th and 18th 
November. 
-“ D., Seal," writes as follows respecting Mr. Charles P. 
Wheatstone :— “ Although the subject of the present brief notice never 
took any prominent part in horticulture, yet as a good gardener and 
a genial companion he will be missed by very many, especially by the 
members of the Horticultural Club, at whose meetings he was a constant 
attendant. The son of Sir Charles Wheatstone, who has done so much to 
revolutionise the world by the discovery of the electric telegraph, he in¬ 
herited many of his qualities, but while heloved his garden the passion of 
his life was ‘ the gentle craftindeed it is, I think, not to be doubted 
that his intense interest in it and the exposure he underwent shortened his 
days. Apparently a strong man, he was taken at the early age of thirty- 
eight, and there are many of us who have been accustomed to meet him 
who will deplore his loss. I obtained some fishing for him more than 
once on the Duke of Edinburgh’s lake at Eastwell, and the manner in 
which he went to work showed that he was a thorough devotee. Many, 
I am confident, will sympathise with his wife and daugh’ers on their 
bereavement.” 
- Gardening Appointment.— Mr. John Copson (late gardener to 
Colonel Stratton Bates, Down Ampney House, Cricklade), has been 
appointed gardener to T. Tempest-Radford, Esq., Bevere Manor Gardens, 
Worcester. 
- The spring 'Show of the Botanical and Horticultural 
Society of Durham, Northumberland, and Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne, will be held in the Town Hall, Newcastle, on the 20.h and 21st 
April next. No summer Show is intended to be held, but a large autumn 
Show in the grounds of the Royal Jubilee Exhibition, to be held in New¬ 
castle next year, the dates of this Show being 30th and 31st August and 
1st September: this is in conjunction with anl will form part of the 
attractions of the Exhibition. 
- “Juvenis” writes—“ One of the sweetest little flowers at this 
season of the year, and which is deserving of more general cultivation, is 
the Roman Hyacinth. The cultivation is simple, and the clusters of 
beautiful white flowers with their delicate perfume amply repay all the 
expense and trouble incurred. The bulbs should be semred in August 
and brought on in succession. The soil should be light and rich, placing 
five bulbs in a G-inch pot. After being potted they must have a good 
watering, and be covered with a thick layer of sand or ashes in any 
cool place, a corner of a shed suiting them admirably. In this they 
can be left for about six weeks, at the end of which time the pots will be 
found to be full of roots and the shoots starting strongly. Having been 
kept shaded for a few days to allow the young shoots to get their 
natural colour, they must then, if desired as soon as possible, be re¬ 
moved to a house with a temperature ranging from 50° to 60°. With 
this treatment, at the end of six weeks from the time when they were 
removed from the sand they will be in bloom. If, however, they are 
not desired so soon, and this treatment is not convenient, they can be 
grown quite as well without artificial heat, a cold frame alone being 
necessary if the frost be excluded. With this treatment they will be a 
few weeks later, but sturdier accordingly.” 
- “ Rosa” wishes to know “ why Eucomis punctata is a 
sacred flower among the Egyptians. Egyptian sailors who were kindly 
treated at Alderney, where they were wrecked, gave some of the bulls 
o the farmer who housed them, whence her’s came ? ” 1 
- The Journal des Roses for December gives a coloured illus¬ 
tration of the new Tea Rose Madame Chauvry, which is described 
by M. Pierre Cochet as a seedling obtained by M. J. Bonnaire of Mont- 
plaisir-Lyon. It is said to have resulted from a cross between Madame 
Berard fertilised with William Allen Richardson, the seeds having been 
sown in 1883, and the first flowers were produced in 1884. The plant is 
strong and free-flowering, with large flowers of a nankin-yellow colour, 
tinged with coppery yellow as they expand, and they are usually about 
4^ inches in diameter. The buds are very beautifully formed, and will 
be useful for bouquets. The description does not state whether the 
variety is fragrant or not, but it is interesting, and judging from the 
plate should be a useful Rose. 
-The Edinburgh Chrysanthemum Show was held on the 
7th and 8th inst., when there was a moderate exhibition of blooms. The 
Lord Provost opened the Show about half-pa>-t twelve o’clock, in the 
presence of a considerable number of ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Alex¬ 
ander Milne, President of the Society, presided. After referring to the 
objects of the Society, the Lord Provost remarked that the present popu¬ 
larity of the Chrysanthemum had induced the Council of the Scottish 
Horticultural Association to hold this Exhibition for the purpose of still 
fur her improving the culture of thi3 favourite flower. Touching on the 
history of the Chrysanthemum— 11 the Golden Flower of the Greek,” he 
remarked that it was originally introduced from China in 1754, but was 
lost by some accident, and was re-introduced by way of Marseilles in 
1789, reaching London in 1795, It was not till the beginning of the 
present century that it attracted attention as a florist’s flower. The 
artists and. poets of China and Japan had lavished much of their finest 
and best thought and labour in representing this flower. In Japan there 
was an Imperial Order of the Chrysanthemum, which, it had been 
announced, was to be conferred on the Prince of Wales by a 
special envoy from the Emperor of Japan. In China a liquor was 
distilled from the flower. which was regarded as an elixir vites, and a 
powder made from it was prescribed as a cure for drunkenness. He 
wished they hid some of it in this country. The principal prizes were 
secured by Mr. J. M’Hattie, Newbattle Abbey ; Mr. J. Cowan, Dunedin 
House; Mr. J. Carruthers, Hillwood ; and Mr. R. Muirhead, Whitehouse 
Terrace. 
WATERTIGHT ASHPITS—HOT v. COLD WATER. 
Mr. Bardney has been kind enough to look up my notes on stoking, 
November 27th, 1884, and takes no exception to anything therein ; but, 
perhaps, I had better remind him that the question of draught is also 
hinted at. When that hint was thrown out vapour was not admitted 
accidentally, and I quite expected the subject to be taken up and enlarged 
upon much in the way it has been on this occasion. 
What I write is with a desire for progress, and if able correspondents 
refute my theories clearly I shall be only too pleased to drop mine and 
adopt theirs. It is true Mr. Bardney never said he adopted either the 
cold or hot water system, and his omission had not escaped my notice. 
In my first notes, October 14th, page 338, I wrote, “ I hope, however, 
others who may have the system in operation will very kindly favour us 
with their opinions.” On page 339 I wrote, “ Mr. Bardney haying 
doubtless tried his plan may be able to remove a little of my unbelief.” 
It will thus be plain to all that I only invited opinions from those who 
had the system in operation. I felt some doubts about Mr. Bardney on this 
point. Thanking him for the admission, I have faith that his opinions 
will change directly he gives both systems a trial, because I contend that 
if our bars remain sound over hot-water while Mr. Bardney’s expand and 
twist without water, I am still on the right side. If Mr. Bardney has 
consulted the history of inventions he must have noticed that more 
advancement in science has been maie through practice than by gleanings 
from volumes of theory. 
The opinions of your able correspondent, Mr. Riddell, that a certain 
degree of oxidation will go towards freeing the clinker from the bars has 
apparently assisted Mr. Bardney with a dash of finality against my 
theory, notwithstanding that Mr. Riddell goes far beyond my limits of 
vapour by suggesting the probable advantage of having a jet playing 
under the bars. We might have reasonably expected Mr. Bardney to seek 
some other authority for a confirmation in favour of an anti-vapour 
theory. I observe that Mr. Riddell has not said he has water in his 
ashpits. 
I had noted this particular point in Mr. Riddell’s article, but we may 
fairly consider that few would accept the benefits of combustion at the 
expense of destruction of the bars. It is contrary to the natural theory 
of metal oxidation, which does not take place with hot metal. If anyone 
will take two pieces of bright iron, or unpolished iron or steel, make one 
hot, let the other remain cold, dip both in water, returning the heated 
piece immediately to the full influence of the fire, and at the same time 
place the cold piece in a cool corner again, it will be proved that no 
oxidation will take p’ace upon the heated piece, but upon cold piece. 
May I ask, Did ever anybody see a rusted new horseshoe allowing, say, a 
few hours or days for use ? ant yet they are placed in water and removed 
often before cool. Those initiated in metallurgy will know that wrought 
and cast iron is mo t perishable when exposed to the action of the air in 
cold stale. The primary cause of rust is inaciivity. Mr. Riddell, I think, 
will agree that a boiler and bars set, but not in use, would not remain 
sound longer than one in regular use. Those with fire occasionally suffer 
by far tbe most, owing to the vio’ent changes that take p’ace. Our 
bars have been in use nearly four years and are equally as square, smooth, 
and sound as two spare bars laid over the boiler at that time; further 
than this, we are strongly of opinion that the clinker does not actually 
lie quite closely upon the bars, a kind of soft white a-h appearing to 
separate them, which acts probably as a nou-conductoriof heat. 
