February 26, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
145 
soon, for had the mild weather lasted much longer the fruit trees would 
soon have been dangerously forward. The earliest Pears, notably 
Jargonelle, were well on the move, the fruit buds being quite white; 
while the Apricots also were giving signs of bud movement. Had the 
fine weather lasted, many probably would have been tempted to 
commence seed sowing in good earnest, and might have erred greatly in 
so doing. Frost and snow will have effectually checked seed sowing, 
and it is to be hoped the fruit trees will flower all the more strongly and 
set better crops for the temporary check given to the sap.—W. I. 
- The Weather in Scotland. —February 15th to 22nd was a 
week of decidedly wintry weather. Snow fell heavily in the earlier part 
of the week over nearly the whole country, 6 to 10 inches undrifted 
being reported. In South Perthshire but little more fell than suflicient 
to whiten the ground till Saturday afternoon, when heavy showers 
began. Nearly 6 inches fell on the 22nd, but a partial thaw set in in 
the evening and still continue. Frost of from 7° to 24° on the morning 
of the 19th occurred.—B. D. 
- On February 15 th we had heavy snow showers. A second 
fall took place through the night, and on the morning of the 16th 
it was about 6 inches deep. The temperature since the 13th had 
been gradually sinking, and on the morning of the 17th the ther¬ 
mometer stood at 19°, on the 18th at 12°, and on the 19th at 2° below 
zero, which is the lowest temperature we have experienced since 
December, 1860. The thermometer hangs in a sheltered place, so that 
in exposed places the temperatures will be lower.—W. T. 
- Williams’ Matchless Celery. — This is an excellent 
variety, though one not often favoured by even a passing notice. I saw 
it exhibited at an autumn cottagers’ show in the year 1890, and I was 
so struck with the handsome shape of the stalks, as well as the colour, 
that I resolved to give the variety a trial during the season following. 
I did so, and can speak in the highest terms both of its quality and 
hardiness. It is a red, of medium size, quite large enough for table use, 
but perhaps scarcely so for exhibition purposes.—W. S. 
- Besides being a handsome deciduous tree. Magnolia con- 
SPICUA is also well adapted for covering high walls and buildings. In 
such positions its highly fragrant white and purple flowers, being in a 
great measure sheltered from the weather, develop in their true form, 
and are much more attractive than those cut from trees in more exposed 
positions. Every flowering shoot and bud can be easily distinguished 
now. Non-flowering shoots should, therefore, now be pruned to a bud 
near the base, so that when growth begins good shoots may be formed 
for next year’s flowering at a reasonable distance from the wall. 
-Wolverhampton Floral Fete.—T he schedule of prizes 
for 1892 is on a most liberal scale, and as fruit and Roses have extended 
encouragement a grand display of both may safely be expected. The 
sum of £67 is devoted to Rose prizes in the ten open classes, and a goodly 
sum to fruit; prizes of £7 lOs., £5, £3, and £1 10s. for a collection. Stove 
and greenhouse and other plants are well provided for, and the sums of 
£20, £15, and £10 are offered for sixteen stove, greenhouse, and 
ornamental plants. Several classes are reserved to gentlemen’s gardeners, 
open to Staffordshire and three adjacent counties, with good prizes 
for fruit, plants, cut flowers, and vegetables. The amateurs who reside 
within ten miles of Wolverhampton have several classes devoted to 
them with liberal prizes throughout, and thirty classes are devoted to 
cottagers. 
-The National Auricula and Carnation Societies 
(Southern Section). —The fifteenth annual Reports of the National 
Auricula and Primula Society, also the National Carnation and Picotee 
Society, are before us. The year’s expenditure of the former Society 
slightly exceeded the income, but there still remains a balance of nearly 
£9 on the right side of the account. It is, however, not the less desirable 
that each year’s income should cover the expenses, and a moderate 
increase in the number of members would enable this to be done. The 
financial statement of the Carnation, &c.. Society, shows a balance on 
the credit side of nearly £22, the result mainly of the unfavourable 
weather limiting the competition at the last year’s Show and consequent 
retention of prize money, and also as is acknowledged by the generous 
subscriptions of Lord Rothschild and Mr. Martin R. Smith. To both 
the above mentioned reports are appended select and reliable lists of the 
best varieties of flowers in the several sections arranged in order of 
merit as represented by the number of votes of expert florists. The next 
Exhibition of the Auricula Society will be held on April 19th, and the 
Carnation Society on July 26th, in the Drill Hall, Westminster. 
- Garden Appointments. —-Mr. William Pettigrew, gardener 
for the last four years to — Wilson, Esq., Rigmaden Park, Kirkby 
Lonsdale, has been appointed gardener to Lord Windsor, Hewell Grange, 
Worcestershire. 
- The death is announced of Mr. Montgomery Henderson 
who for some years was in charge of Cole Orton Hall Gardens, Ashby- 
de-la-Zouch, Leicester. Mr. Henderson was born at Swanston, near 
Edinburgh, in 1808, and commenced his gardening experience at four¬ 
teen years of age, when he entered one of the Edinburgh market 
gardens. After some nursery experience he served at Salton Hall 
Gardens and Melville Castle. In 1832 he took charge of the gardens 
at Warmwell House, Dorchester ; two years later he had a similar 
charge at Gopsall Hall, Leicestershire, and proceeded thence, after four 
years, to Mr. Knight’s, Chelsea Nursery, whence shortly afterwards he 
went to superintend the Cole Orton Gardens. There he remained until 
about ten years ago, when he retired, having gained considerable fame 
as a Grape grower. Mr. Henderson died on February 14th, in his 
eighty-fourth year. 
- The death of the well-known botanical collector, B. BalANSA, 
is recorded in the French journals. He died in the military hospital of 
Hanoi, Tongking, to which country he went on a second botanical ex¬ 
pedition, Balansa was not merely a collector of plants ; he was also a 
botanist, though he never published much, his principal contributions to 
botanical literature being on the Grasses of New Caledonia and of Cochin 
China. He also published a botanical account of his ascent of Mount 
Humboldt in New Caledonia. But as a botanical collector Mr. Balansa 
contributed to nearly all of the principal herbaria of Europe, having 
spent many years of his life collecting in Algeria, Morocco, Asia Minor, 
New Caledonia, Paraguay, Tongking, and other parts of the world. On 
Sir Joseph Hooker’s recommendation he was attached as botanist to the 
Commission appointed in 1873 by the Paraguayan Government for the 
scientific exploration of its territory; and he spent three years and a 
half traversing the country in various directions for this purpose. He 
made very large botanical collections, but these, as well as his New 
Caledonian plants, have only been partially worked out, Kew pur¬ 
chased a set of about 2000 species.— (^Nature.') 
- Death of Mr. H. W. Bates, F.R.S. —We have to record the 
death of Mr. Henry Walter Bates, F.R.S., the distinguished naturalist 
and traveller, and for the last twenty-seven years Secretary of the Royal 
Geographical Society. From his many years’ sojourn in the Amazons 
Mr. Bates returned with an enfeebled constitution. A fortnight ago he 
was attacked by influenza, and against that and its complications his 
enfeebled constitution was unable to struggle. Mr. Bates was torn at 
Leicester, February 8th, 1825. He was the son of a manufacturer, 
and it was intended that he should follow a manufacturing career* 
But at an early age he evinced an intense love for natural 
history, and while yet a youth threw himself into the study of 
botany and geology. From the first Mr, Bates was a practical 
naturalist, and scoured the country around Leicester to make 
collections and study nature at the fountain head. Entomology in 
the end was the department of science to which he mainly devoted 
himself, and in 1848, with his friend Mr. R. A. Wallace, he went off to 
the Amazons to explore its tropical riches, which he did for eleven 
years, proceeding leisurely from station to station, studying the 
geography, the people, the fauna, and the flora of one of the richest 
regions on the face of the earth from the naturalist’s point of view. 
Bates was far more than a ’ mere collector. As is shown in his few 
publications, he was a man of deep philosophical insight. He was 
appointed Assistant-Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society in 1864, 
and there is no doubt that he has done more than any other one man to 
maintain the high reputation of the Society. 
- Osiers Failing. —Referring to the note on page 123, “ W. T.” 
writes:—“Although Willows are at home by watercourses they do not 
thrive well in a bog. If they are expected to thrive in a swampy place 
the ground should be thrown well up in broad ridges or ‘ lazy beds,’ 
and the water kept running. Willows and their roots in many cases 
decay rapidly after growth is stopped, fungi spread rapidly, and attack 
the tissues of the living roots of the adjoining healthy plants, and in a 
short time a large area in a plantation becomes affected. To grow 
Willows successfully the ground should be thoroughly prepared for 
them, and thoroughly freed from all decaying roots ; and when a stool 
dies it should be grubbed out, leaving no vestige of any detached root 
and the pit filled with fresh soil. When the soil is unfavourable for 
growing Willows they should be abandoned, and something else grown.’’ 
