Jantiary 22, 1891. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
67 
Events op the Week.—T o-day (Thursday) the Eoyal Society 
meets at 4.30 p.m , and the National Chrysanthemum Society’s 
General Committee at 7 p.m., in Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street. 
The Royal Botanic Society meets at 3.45 p.m., Saturday, January 24th. 
On Wednesday, January 28th, the Society of Arts meets at 8 p.m. 
The Weather in the London District continued severe 
for several days after our last record, and on Sunday morning 20° of 
frost was registered. Monday was a clear, bright, sunny, and frosty 
day ; but towards evening the wind changed to south-west with a rise 
in temperature, and on Tuesday morning the thermometer stood at 39°, 
the highest reading at 8 A.M. for some weeks. A rapid thaw continued 
throughout the day, completely dispersing the snow ; but at night the 
temperature fell rapidly, and on Wednesday morning the thermometer 
reading was 27°, i.e., 5° of frost. The River Thames is still full of ice, 
presenting quite an arctic scene. 
-At the Royal Botanic Society’s Gardens, Regent’s 
Park, a complete and careful series of meteorological observations is 
kept, and as Mr. W. Sowerby has courteously afforded us an opportunity 
of inspecting the records we are enabled to give the lowest readings 
of the thermometer during the past six weeks. It may be men¬ 
tioned that the gardens have an altitude of 125 feet, and the 
observations are taken at 9 A.M., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m., but we have 
only given the minimum readings for 9 A.M., as these give the 
night, and therefore the lowest readings. The records are as follows :— 
December 10th, 27-7° ; 11th, 23'.5° ; ■12th, 23-5°; 13th, 23°; 14th, 17°; 
15th, 18° ; 16th, 22° ; 17th, 27° ; 18th, 23° ; 19th, 25° ; 20th, 15° ; 
21st, 30°; 22nd, 17°; 23rd, 23°; 24th, 28°; 25th, 24-3°; 26th, 26°; 
27th, 29-5° ; 28th, 28° ; 29th, 27° ; 30th, 24° ; 31st, 19-5°. January 1st, 
32° ; 2nd, 25°; 3rd, 25° ; 4th, 32° ; 5th, 28-5° ; 6th, 24° ; 7th, 23° ; 
8th, 23-3°; 9th, 27°; 10th, 17-7°; 11th, 16'5° ; 12th, 19° ; 13th, 39° ; 
14th, 34°; 15th, 29°; 16th, 31°; 17th, 22°; 18th, 20°; 19th, 21-5°; 
20th, 26°; and 21st, 31'5° The ice on the lake has permitted skating 
during thirty days, and when measured recently it was 9^ inches thick. 
- The Weather in the North.—J anuary 12th-19th.—The 
first two days of the week indicated were fine, with thermometer stand¬ 
ing above 40°. Four days of pleasant weather followed, clear and 
generally bright, with frosts of from 2° to 6° On the night of the 17th 
12° of frost were registered. Sunday was dull with bitter east wind, 
and during the night a slight frost with a little snow returned. This 
morning the thermometer is at 32°.—B. D., S. Perthshire, 
-The December Temperature at Liverpool for the 
PAST TEN YEARS.— A correspondent sends us the lowest readings of the 
thermometer taken six miles from Liverpool for every day in December 
during the past ten years, from which we gather that the averages for 
the month each year were as follows :—1881, 33 0° ; 1882, 31-8° ; 1883, 
34'0°; 1884, 32-4°; 1885,30-9°; 1886, 29 0°; 1887, 28 9°; 1888, 30'6° ; 
1889, 32-1° ; and 1890, 24-8°. The lowest temperature recorded in each 
month was—1881, 24° ; 1882, 17°; 1883, 22° ; 1884, 22° ; 1885, 16° ; 
1886, 14° ; 1887, 20° ; 1888, 18° ; 1889, 21° ; 1890, 3°. The thermometer 
(Chadburn & Sons) was 2 feet 6 inches from the ground. Thus the 
severest frost was during last month, the last figure 3° on the scale 
representing 29° of frost. 
- Weather at Greenwich. — At the Royal Observatory, 
Greenwich, the mean reading of the barometer last week was 
30-29 inches ; the highest reading was 30-53 inches on Sunday morning ; 
and the lowest 29 90 inches on Friday morning. The mean temperature 
of the air was 30 9°, and 7-4° below the average in the corresponding 
weeks of the twenty j ears ending 1888. The mean was below the 
average on every day of the week except Tuesday, the deficiency 
amounting to 15-0° on Sunday and 14-3° on Saturday. The general 
direction of the wind was northerly, and the horizontal movement of 
the air averaged 11-2 miles per hour, which was 2-3 miles below the 
average in the corresponding weeks of sixteen years. Rain or melted 
snow was measured on four days of the week, to the aggregate amount 
of 0-14 of an inch. The duration of registered bright sunshine in the 
week was 5-4 hours, against 7-4 hours at Glynde Place, Lewes. 
- The Weather in Yorkshire. —On Sunday morning last, 
January 18th, we registered 34° of frost, or 2° below zero. During the 
day the highest temperature in the shade was 25°, though the sun shone 
brilliantly all day. By 3 p.m. the glass had fallen to 14°, at 9 p.m. 1°, 
and during the night fell to 1° below zero, or 33° of frost. On Monday, 
18 th, the wind veered round westward, and during the night got into 
the S.W., when rain commenced falling, accompanied by a stiff breeze. 
We have done nothing out of doors since December 15th. I am afraid 
the Broccoli are killed. Autumn sown Onions and Spinach have the 
appearance of having been boiled. Laurels are very much cut. The above 
is the most severe frost in the recollection of the “ oldest inhabitant ” in 
Ripley, a man over eighty, and who has been a keen amateur gardener 
up to the last few years.—J. Tunnington, Ripley Castle Gardens, 
- Frost in Essex. —Just as preparing for press we receive from 
Mr. J. Perkins, The Gardens, Thornham Hall, a record of frost registered 
there during fifty-five days of the present winter, from October 25th to 
January 20th inclusive. We can only say now that on November 30th 
23° of frost were recorded; on December 22nd and 23rd 24°, and on 
January 11th and 18th the same, but on the 10th of the month 26° are 
recorded. Mr. Perkins states the frost was 12° sharper at Thornham 
on December 25th, 1860, and 9° sharper on January 8th, 1861, than 
during the present winter. 
- Frost and Vegetables. —From Calderstone, near Liverpool, 
Mr. W. Tunnington writes—“ We had 22° of frost here on Sunday the 
18th inst. I think most vegetables are killed. Those who planted 
them thickly this year will learn a lesson. Even Carter’s Late Broccoli, 
which in my opinion is one of the hardiest, planted at 2 feet 6 inches 
each way, seem crippled, as though half of the plants would not be of 
much service.” 
- Frost in Belgium.—M r. Charles Van Geert writes from 
Antwerp as follows We have here now (19th inst.) a very severe 
winter, one of the longest I ever witnessed in my life, and the end of 
which is not yet to be perceived. The frost set in on the evening of 
25th November with — 2° Reaumur (4^° Fahr.), and on the 27th we had 
— 12 R. (27° Fahr.) Since then the thermometer oscillated between 
— 2 R. and — 8 R., with short intervals of thaw and snow, keeping our 
gardeners on the alarm, between fear, hope, and disappointment. I 
believe a great number of plants and shrubs will be killed.” 
- Messrs. Watkins & Simpson have sent us a collection of 
seeds for “ producing ornamental seed pods and berries for drying for 
winter,” but we shall have to wait for some time before seedlings of all 
the kinds produce flowers and fruit, as some are rather slow in maturing, 
but not all. 
- East Anglian Horticultural Club.—T he action of the 
above Club at their recent monthly meeting at the City Arms, Norwich, 
in resolving to hold a Show of Dahlias, &;c., towards the autumn, 
establishes beyond a doubt that this youthful Society is very fittingly 
ambitious. The idea was proposed by Mr. Geo. Daniels, and seconded by 
Mr. Green of Dereham, being ably supported by the Chairman 
(Mr. Morris) and the whole of the members unanimously. Many new 
members were proposed. 
- The annual general meeting of the Kent County Chrys¬ 
anthemum Society will be held in the class room at the Rink, 
Blackheath, on Tuesday evening, January 27th, 1891, at eight o’clock, 
to receive and pass the report of the Committee and Auditors, to elect 
the officers for the ensuing year, and to transact such other business 
as may be brought before the meeting in accordance with the rules. 
- We understand that the Richmond Horticultural Society 
will not hold a spring Show this year, but have decided to concentrate 
their strength upon the summer Show, to be held in the Old Deer Park 
on Wednesday, June 24th. This is a wise resolution, for the Richmond 
Show has long been the best of its kind round London. 
- Ligustrum ovalifolium. —I have never known this shrub 
to be so greatly injured by frost as it is this winter about Birmingham. 
Walking through the Victoria Park, I noticed that a great number of 
large, bushy specimens had the appearance of being scorched, and in the 
gardens in the neighbourhood the same appearance was general. In one 
of the nurseries I noticed a large number of the variegated variety 
scarcely injured. We cannot yet tell the extent of damage done generally* 
but it will be a longish record.—D. S. H. 
