168 
JOURKXL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Ftbraary 26, 1891. 
- Croydox Gardeners and Amateurs. —There was a plea¬ 
sant gathering at Croydon on the 18th inst, the three gardening 
societies there—the Croydon Horticultural, the Croydon Chrysanthe¬ 
mum, and the Croydon Amateurs’ and Mutual Improvement—combining 
for a dinner and social evening. The affair was presided over by the 
Mayor, Mr. Frederick Edridge, and there were also present Sir Thomas 
Edridge, J.P., the Hon. Sidney Herbert, M.P., the Rev. W. Wilks 
(Secretary of the R.H.S.), Messrs. Philip Crowley, E. W. Grimwade, 
F. Cooper, P. A. Peacock, J. A. and J. H. Laing (who had decorated 
the room in a very beautiful manner), J. Cheal, Wickham done.", 
S. Baxter, and a great number of gardeners and amateurs. The 
speeches were above the average order. That of Mr. Wilks, in 
which he made an eloquent appeal for support to the R.H.S., was 
perhaps the best, and Mr. Herbert (member for the borough) also 
spoke admirably. His remarks on the trials and troubles of amateur 
gardeners, learned from experience, were highly entertaining, and 
something of a pathetic chord was touched by his description of a visit 
to an East End slum loaded with Roses, and of the manner in which 
the tenements poured forth eager throngs to share in the distribution 
of the flowers. Mr. Wilks briefly epitomised the history of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, referring to its valuable work in the days of its 
intrepid collectors Douglas and Fortune, touching upon its departure 
from its recognised horticultural standpoint — a departure that was 
strenuously opposed by Dr. Hogg—after the Prince Consort’s death, 
and enlarging upon the efforts now being made to revivify it. It was a 
fine speech, and its reception must have been very gratifying to the 
popular Secretary. Mr. Baxter, the Secretary of the Amateur Society, 
was very warmly received on rising to respond on its behalf, his recep¬ 
tion proving the enthusiasm of the Croydon amateurs, and their appre¬ 
ciation of his services. Messrs. Grimwade, Wickham Jones, G. W. 
Cummins, Roffey, T. W. Sanders, and others were among the speakers. 
The gathering was a great success. 
- A New Remedy for Mildew and Black Spot.— In look¬ 
ing up the nature of the “sulphur and lime mixture” which has lung 
been used as a remedy and preventive of mildew in greenhouse culture 
of plants, after consulting every source of information I could in the 
various encyclopedias within my reach, and finding only brief mention 
of it, I went to the diuggist with my query, and he kindly loaned me 
the “ United States Dispensatory.” In it I found a formula for making 
the sulphur and lime mixture, very similar to that given in Henderson’s 
“ Practical Floriculture,” and a description of its use in medicine. 
The remark that it contained hyposulphite of lime as the active 
element led me to look up other hyposulphites, and I found under 
“Hyposulphite of soda” the following Hyposulphite of soda is a 
very powerful poison to fungi and other low organic forms.” It then 
went on to speak of its use in medicine in the treatment of fungoid 
diseases. This seemed to be just the information I wanted. I purchased 
a quarter of a pound to try it. This wms in October last, just when 
mildew and black spot was appearing on the Chrysanthemums and 
Carnations. I have used the sulphur and lime mixture successfully for 
many years against mildew. The objection to it is it is not readily 
obtained. Druggists do not keep it, and it is troublesome to prepare 
with the appliances usually at the command of the florist. I had a 
small quantity of it. I began using this on half the greenhouse and 
the hyposulphite on the other half, dissolving half an ounce to a gallon 
of water, and applying with a spraying pump. Both remedies seemed 
equally efficient. I applied once a week until colder weather required 
constant firing and the “ mildew season ” w’as over. I do not remember 
seeing this salt recommended for mildew anywhere. It is worth trying 
for all the various forms of fungus which destroy plant growth of every 
sort. It has these advantages : First, it is easily obtainable, every 
druggist keeps it ; second, it is cheap, as it is used in large quantities in 
the arts ; third, it is not poisonous ; fourth, it makes a clear solution, 
and leaves little or no stain when it dries off. As I grow Carnations 
chiefly I have no opportunity to test its value on other plants. I hope 
that others may try it on Roses and Violets, on Grape Vines, Plum 
trees. Potatoes, Gooseberries, and all plants infested with fungoid 
diseases.— Sewall Fisher, Framingham, Mass, (in American Florist'). 
Royal Meteorological Society. — The usual monthly 
meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday the 18th inst., 
at the Institution of Civil Engineers, 25, Great George Street, 
Westminster, Dr. C. T. Williams, M.A., Vice-President, in the chair. 
Mr. C. L. Brook, Mr. C. E. Da Ranee, F.G.S , Assoc.Inst.C.E., Mr. 
J. Eden, Assoc.M.Inst.C.E., Mr. J. C. Mundell, and Mr. J. Side- 
bottom, J.P., were elected Fellows of the Society. The following 
papers were read:—1, “The Great Frost of 1890-01 ;” by Mr. C. 
Harding, F.R.Met Soc. This paper dealt with the whole period of 
the frost from November 25th to January 22ad, and it was shown 
that over nearly the whole of the south-east of England the mean 
temperature for the fifty-nine days was more than 2° below the 
freezing point, whilst at seaside stations on the coast of Kent, Stssix, 
and Plampshire the mean was only 32°. In the.extreme north of 
Scotland, as well as in the west of Ireland, the mean was 10° warmer 
than in the south-east of England. In the southern Midlands, and in 
parts of the south of England, the mean temperature for the fifty- 
nine days was inore than 10° below the average, but in the north 
of England the deficiency did not amount to 5°, and in the extreme 
north of Scotland it was less than 1°. The lowest authentic reading 
in the screen was 0 0° at Stokesay in Shropshire, but almost equally 
low temperatures occurred at other periods of the frost. At many 
places in the south and south-west of England, as well as in parts 
of Scotland and Ireland, the greatest cold throughout the period 
occurred at the end of November, and at Waddon, in Surrey, the 
thermometer in the screen fell to 1°, a reading quite unprecedented 
at the close of the autumn. At Addington Hills, near Croydon, the 
shade thermometer was below the freezing point each night with one 
exception, and there were only two exceptions at Cambridge and 
Reading, whilst in the Shetlands there were only nine nights with 
frost, although at Biarritz frost occurred on thirty-one nights, and at 
Rome on six nights. At many places in England the frost was con¬ 
tinuous night and day for twenty-five days, but at coast stations in 
the north of Scotland it in no case lasted throughout the twenty-four 
hours. On the coast of Sussex the temperature of the sea was about 
14° warmer than the air throughout December, but on the Yorkshire 
coast it was only G° warmer, and in the Shetlands and on parts of the 
Irish coast it was only 3° warmer. The Thames water off Dept¬ 
ford, at 2 feet below the surface, was continuously below 34° from 
December 23rd to January 23rJ, a period of tbirty-two days, whilst 
the river w'as blocked with ice during the greater part of this time, 
la Regent’s Park, where skating continued uninterruptedly for forty- 
three days, the ice attained the thickness of over 9 inches. The frost 
did not penetrate to the depth of 2 feet below the surface of the ground 
in any part of England ; but in many places, especially in the south 
and cast, the ground was frozen for several days at the depth of 1 foot, 
and at G inches it was frozen for upwards of a month. In the neigh¬ 
bourhood of London the cold was more prolonged than in any previous 
frost during the last 100 years, the next longest spell being fifty-two 
days in the winter of 1794-5, whilst in 1838 frost lasted for fifty days, 
and in 1788-9 for forty-nine days. 2, “ The Problem of Probable Error 
as applied to Meteorology ; ” by Mr. T. W. Backhouse. 
A JOURNEY TO BURMA. 
[A papjr by Mr. A. Wikkler WILLS, read at a meeting of the Birmingham Gardeners’ 
Association. J 
(^Concluded from jiage 130.) 
I MUST, if I have not exhausted your patience, now tell you of 
a delightful excursion which we made, accompanied by my 
daughter and her husband, to Mandalay, the ancient capital of 
Burma and of King Theebaw, now the seat of Government of our 
newly acquired province of Upper Burma, to which city the rail¬ 
way is now extended, and takes the traveller in twelve hours from 
Toungoo. The distance is 200 miles only, but then trains, like 
other things, move deliberately in these parts, and stop for all 
meals at certain stations, not only long enough for the traveller to 
eat his food, but to enjoy his cigar afterwards, and have ample time 
to take stock of the strange cosmopolitan crowd with which he 
finds himself surrounded ; pure Burmese in their neat and deli¬ 
cately tinted dress ; native labourers from India, with no dress at 
all save a waistcloth ; well-to-do Indian traders in their robes ; the 
universally present Chinaman, with his pack of wares ; Shans in 
baggy blue trousers, loose jackets, and huge flapping straw hats 
from the mountains ; Karens, and perchance here and there a 
Paleung or Padoung from more distant country, to whom the train 
is as yet an unaccustomed spectacle, although, like all Orientals, they 
betray no expression of surprise. 
For fifty miles north of Toungoo you run through dense 
forests, w'here the trees are thick with Dendrobes, and here and 
there high up Vanda teres climbs over their topmost branches like 
Ivy, and expands its glorious blooms in the blazing sun, although 
for four or five months it has not tasted a spot of rain, nor will it 
do so for three months more. Large tufts of a Platycerium, 
closely resembling P. grande, cling to the tree trunks, their fronds 
