August 10, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
125 
- The Total Rainfall fok July at Abbot's Leigh, 
Hayward’s Heath, Sussex, was 3 48 inches, being 0-82 inch above the 
average. The hiaviest fall was 0 59 inch on the 4th ; rain fell on sixteen 
■days. The highest temperature in the shade was 74° on 12th, the 
minimum 42° on 28th. Mean maximum 73°, mean minimum 58 28°, 
mean temperature 65-62°. Mean in the sun 83'6°. A very favourable 
month. Vegetables now make rapid progress.—E. I. 
- July Weather in Herts. —The past month here has main¬ 
tained its character of being one of the wettest months of the year. 
This season the rain was much needed, and vegetation has gone forward 
by leaps and bounds. The early part of the month was intensely hot. 
Rain fell upon seventeen days during the month. Maximum in any 
twenty-four hours, 0 72 on the 26th ; minimum in any twenty-four 
hours, 0 01 on the 13th. Total during the month, 3-06, against 4-02 of 
1892.—E. Wallis, The Gardens, Hamels Farh. 
- The Weather Last Month.—J uly was very changeable 
and showery, with only four really bright days. Barometer fluctuated 
very much. The highest reading was 30 30 at 9 a.m. on 28th ; lowest, 
29 54 at noon on 20th. Wind in a westerly direction eighteen days. 
Total rainfall, 2-41 inches, which fell on twenty days, the greatest daily 
fall bring 0-50 inch on the 2nd. The total is 0-31 inch below the 
average for the month. Temperature in shade : highest, 87° on 7th ; 
lowest, 40° on 28th; lowest on grass, 33° on 28th. Mean daily maxi¬ 
mum, 69’63°; mean daily minimum, 52 64°; mean temperature of the 
month, 62-27°. We had several thunderstorms. The garden spring 
ran 17 gallons per minute on 31st.— W. H. Divers, Ketton Hall 
Gardens, Stamford. 
- Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.— The monthly meeting of the 
Committee was held on the 28th ult. at the Horticultural Club, Hotel 
Windsor, W. Marshall, Esq., in the chair. Matters of interest connected 
with the administration of the Fund were discussed, and reserved for 
further consideration. The Hon. Secretary announced the following 
receipts :—From Mr. J. Lyne, local Secretary, The Gardens, Foxbury, 
Chislehurst, £16 Is.; Mr. G. W. Cummins, local Secretary, The Gardens, 
The Grange, Wallington, sale of flowers at Croydon Horticultural Show, 
£8 ,- collected at the Wimbledon Flower Show, £4 28. 6d. ; and box 
per Mr. J. Kneller, The Gardens, Studley Royal, Ripon, 9s. The next 
meeting of the Committee will be held on the last Friday in October. 
- Lincoln’s Inn Fields. — The Parliamentary Committee 
reported at the meeting of the London County Council, held on 
August 1st, that they had been advised by the solicitor and the Par¬ 
liamentary agent that the way in which the Council would be most 
likely to be successful in obtaining possession of Lincoln’s Inn Fields 
as an open space for the public would be by seeking compulsory 
powers of acquisition under the terms and provisions of the Lands 
Clauses Act. They recommended that they be instructed to prepare 
a Bill accordingly, and communicate with the Benchers of Lincoln’s 
Inn and the trustees of the garden concerning same, and inviting 
them to enter into a conditional contract for the sale of the area 
within the square. This was agreed to. 
- Presentation to Mr. Meehan. — On the 4th of July at 
Vernon Park, Philadelphia, the citizens of that city presented to Mr. 
Thomas Meehan a handsome silver plaque as a testimonial of their 
appreciation of his services in establishing small parks in various 
sections of the city. The plaque is of solid silver, 19 inches by 24 in 
size, and framed in carved mahogany, set in a polished mahogany 
shadow-box covered with plate glass. It is etched with oxidised 
shading to represent the original parchment granted to William Penn. 
In the central part of the top of the plaque is the following apt quota¬ 
tion from Penn’s letter to his Commissioners, dated September 30th, 
1681 —“ That it may be a green country tow-n and always wholesome.” 
We have more than once called attention to the singular value of Mr. 
Meehan’s work, and we are glad to know that he is one of the prophets 
who is not without honour in his own country. One of the speakers at 
the presentation called attention to the extraordinary spectacle of a 
man elected and re-elected to the City Council for a decade of years by the 
common consent, and, in fact, by the urgent desire of the leaders of all 
parties and all factions, simply because he has pursued steadily the work 
for which he was fitted by his own good judgment and training. It is 
rare indeed that any one man is able to do so much good in a civic 
position ; rare, too, that he can command the confidence of his fellow 
citizens so generally, and rarer still that they manifest such a grateful 
appreciation of unselfish work.—(“ Garden and Forest.”) 
- Extraordinary Fasciation in Anthemis. — We have 
received from the Rev. F. E. Ainger, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, an interest¬ 
ing specimen of the fasciation of Anthemis Cotula. The most ordinary 
example of the monstrous growth in plants known as fasciation is to be 
seen in the Cockscomb. There the stalks and petioles of the plant are 
all massed and confounded, while the flowers appear at the top in the 
curious scarlet crest which forms the attractive feature in its cultiva¬ 
tion. The Anthemis Cotula sent by Mr. Ainger exhibits a similar 
distortion. The stalks lie conglomerated together in a broad markedly 
ribbed band, not unlike the leaf of an Iris, of about a foot in length, 
and surmounted by a dull yellow crest similar to that of the Cocks¬ 
comb. All around the massed stalks appears a network resembling a 
parasite, but which is in reality an excess of the leaves, petioles, and 
flowers of the Anthemis remaining incorporated with the other solidified 
portions. At a superficial glance the whole looks like an Anthemis 
climbing. Dodder-wise, round a flag, but the terminal cristate growth 
upsets this theory. 
- Burnt Fruit at the World’s Fair.—T he only exhibitor’s 
fruits saved from the burning of the Cold Storage Building at the 
World’s Fair were, says an American exchange, about five barrels of 
winter Apples, belonging to New York, which were dug from the ruins 
three or four days after the fire. These Apples were put on exhibition, 
and they now occupy about 350 plates on the tables formerly used for 
the Lemon display of Riverside County, California. They are still in 
presentable condition, and include Baldwin, Roxbury Russet, English 
Russet, Golden Russet, and Campfield. California has received Oranges 
from the Pacific coast to supply her loss in the fire. 
- Mushrooms and Tomatoes.— Have you ever tried Mush¬ 
rooms and Tomatoes cooked together ? If not, says a writer in “ Truth,’’ 
you will thank me for this recipe :—Remove the peel and stalks from 
seven or eight good sized fresh Mushrooms ; lay them, the hollow part 
upward, on a buttered saut^-pan, put a small piece of butter on each, 
season with salt and pepper, cover with a lid and cook them in a hot 
oven for twenty minutes. Meanwhile prepare a similar number of 
round pieces of toast buttered on both sides. Fry an equal quantity of 
thick slices of ripe Tomatoes. Now place a slice of Tomato on each 
piece of toast, and finish with a Mushroom on the top. Dish on a white 
paper and serve very hot. 
- The Siberian Crab as an Ornamental Treb.—T he great 
utility of this tree as an ornament in the garden. It is evident that it 
is appreciated by A. W. Smee, Esq., The Grange, Hackbridge, as many 
trees are to be seen in his garden. At the present time the fruits are 
just ripening — a month earlier than is customary — and the sight 
presented is a very beautiful and at the same time a very unique one. 
Planted here and there on the borders the trees are universally admired. 
Apart from their beauty, it should be borne in mind that from the fruits 
a most toothsome and nourishing jelly can be made ; the tree, therefore, 
has two points at the least which render it desirable in every garden— 
it is pleasing to the eye and also to the palate.—H. W. 
-Clerodendron fallax. —"W. B.” writes:—Seedlings of 
this plant should not be allowed to become checked in small pots, or 
they will fail to do satisfactorily. To grow these plants well they 
should be potted directly they need more root room, when they will 
abundantly repay for the care bestowed upon them by the large scarlet 
trusses they are capable of producing. These plants in their early 
stages ought to be grown in heat, and afterwards in an intermediate 
temperature. They must be kept growing freely from the first to the 
time they show flower. When the plants are in full growth the points 
may be removed, and the plants induced to branch. It is useless 
pinching them after they show flower, especially if the plants have 
become woody through checking them. 
- Battersea Amateurs’ Horticultural Societf. —This 
Society held its first annual summer Show on Bank Holiday in a field 
kindly lent for the occasion by Percy Thornton, Esq., M.P. The number 
of exhibits was large, some good plants being shown by the amateurs o 
the district. A charming group of plants was arranged by Mr. W. Wels- 
ford, Binfield and Lansdowne Nurseries, South Lambeth, which included 
amongst others perennial Phloxes, Asters, Delphiniums, Hydrangeas, 
and stove and greenhouse plants in great variety. Mr. G. B. Fischer, 
florist, 30, High Street, Clapham, staged a highly creditable collection of 
stove and greenhouse foliage plants, as also did Mr. W. Charman, 
gardener to H. Russell, Esq., Beechwood, Clapham Common. A fine 
collection of Ferns was shown by Mr. Brown, gardener to H. Ravenhill, 
Esq. Clapham Common. 
