198 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
31, 1893, 
-Death of Mb. Thomas Dobson.—I t is with regret that I 
haye to announce the death of Mr. Thomas Dobson, which took place 
on 22nd inst. He was for over thirty years head gardener to Sir 
Hedworth Williamson, Bait., at Whitburn, near Sunderland, and was 
deservedly and highly respected amongst his brother gardeners. He 
had lately been pensioned off by Sir Hedworth, and but recently, during 
the inspection of a neighbouring gentleman’s greenhouse, he fell and 
injured his head, from which effects he never recovered, and there is 
no doubt the sad occurrence hastened his death. He was interred 
Thursday last at Harton. Amongst the mourners were Sir Hedworth 
Williamson and the principal servants of his estate.— Bebnaed 
Cowan, F.R.H.S. 
- Field Voles. — I have been much interested from time to 
time in watching the doings of the Board of Agriculture in respect to 
diminishing the plague of voles in Scotland, and quite agree with the 
remarks on page 138 as to the use of owls, kestrels, and weasels as useful 
destroyers of these pests, from what I have observed. Owls and kestrels 
ought to be not only encouraged instead of destroyed, but to have homes 
placed in convenient places to breed and roost in, and so accumulate. I 
have had both in my homes placed in the trees in the fields. Voles are 
fond of fruits and vegetables. I catch them with baited traps with 
Apple, but this would involve too much expense to carry out on a large 
scale probably. Still, when it comes to a matter of reducing the value 
of land to such an extent, the best and cheapest way to restore its value 
is the consideration.— J. Hiam. 
- NemesiA Stedmosa Suttoni.—“ R. P. R.” writes “ This 
annual, sent out by Messrs. Sutton & Sons, bids fair to become a popular 
plant. Although not one of the best of seasons in which to try a new 
introduction, this charming plant has stood the test well. There is a 
strange.fascination about the flowers which is rather diflScult to describe, 
some I have seen being of a rich orange, pale yellow, beautiful shades 
of ochre, the throat being quaintly blotched with black and yellow. If 
seed is sown about the middle of March in gentle heat, and the seed¬ 
lings transplanted when the danger from spring frost is over, the plants 
will branch out freely. This last season being so dry the plants have 
reached a little more than a foot in height, and I should fancy 18 inches 
would be the limit. Dwarfer plants may be produced by pinching 
out the leading point of the plants when well established after trans¬ 
planting.” 
- Feuit in NoethumbeelAND. —A northern daily contemporary 
remarks that a very boisterous south-west wind made havoc amongst 
the fruit trees in the orchards and market gardens in the Hexham 
district last week. The mischief was worst amongst those trees which 
bear fruit of the largest size. Some Apple trees which bear only a 
limited number of fruit, but of a large and superior size, were almost 
stripped, while trees bearing a smaller class of fruit only lost, compara¬ 
tively speaking, a small percentage of their yield. Pears, particularly 
of the Hessle variety, were an abundant crop. One tree, growing on the 
bank of the Hextol stream, had to have its branches propped up, so 
heavily were they laden. The wind stripped the Pear trees of a good 
percentage of their fruit. The Plum trees did not suffer anything like 
so severely, the trees being smaller, and not so much exposed to the 
violence of the wind. 
- The Weathek and the Ceops. —Mr. P. Davison, The 
Gardens, Iwerne House, Blandford, observes :—The summer of 1893 
will long be remembered in the annals of horticulture for its excessive 
drought and heat. The spring months, with few exceptions, were mild, 
and brought forth an early and abundant show of fruit blossom of all 
kinds. During its expansion and setting we had three frosty nights in 
succession, varying in intensity from 9° to 12°, which left its indelible 
marks on the embryo fruit, and is now apparent in blotches, blister, and 
deformed Apples and Pears. Still, we have abundant crops of the two 
latter, and also all kinds of fruit, including Strawberries and bush fruit. 
The latter were small, and wanting in juice and flavour. The drought 
was most severely felt in the months of April, May, and nearly all June. 
Lawns and pasture'fields were brown and bare. It was only by dint of 
mulching and incessant waterings that we could keep our young plants 
alive in the kitchen garden and in the flower beds. Vegetables suffered 
severely — Peas nearly a failure, while Lettuce and Spinach ran to seed, 
and Turnips were dry and stringy and bitter in taste. Rain came 
moderately at the end of June, and in July a large quantity fell and 
gave vegetation a new life. We are now having a plentiful supply of 
vegetables, such as Autumn Giant Cauliflower, Vegetable Marrows, 
Beans, dwarf and running. Cabbages have been terribly infested by 
the caterpillars. The temperature during the present month has been 
exceedingly high. At noon, on the 16th and 17th inst., the thermometes 
indicated 95° in the open. Late Peas, such as British Queen, Egyptian. 
Marrow, &c, are eaten up by mildew. Wasps, and all insect pests, have 
been unusually numerous and troublesome this year. Potatoes are a 
splendid crop of good medium size and excellent flavour, and so far are 
nearly free from disease. 
- A Fuchsia Show. —A western contemporary remarks that 
at Bristol the grounds presented an exceptionally attractive appearance 
at the Zoological Society, Bristol, when the Fuchsia Show was held 
recently. The plants were attractively set out in a large marquee erected 
on the lawn, the effectiveness of the display being enhanced by the 
judicious use of Palms and Ferns. There were altogether 160 Fuchsia 
plants exhibited, and Mr. Harris, the Society’s head gardener, may well 
be proud of the fine show they made. Possibly owing to the fierce 
heat experienced of late, the collection would have looked a little better 
a month ago, but the sight of the Fuchsias, over-fruitful in their rich 
clusters of pendulous bloom, was one not to be missed by admirers of 
flowers. Altogether 109 distinct varieties were represented. Seedlings 
looked extremely well, and formed an important feature of the 
Exhibition. 
- Dahlias at Rowledge. —That Mr. Mortimer should, in the 
first London competition for Show Dahlias, have exhibited such beautiful 
blooms as he did at Earl’s Court, winning the prize easily from older 
competitors, is all the more remarkable when it is remembered that the 
soil in which his Dahlias are growing was but a few years ago a piece 
of poor, starved shallow heath or common; so poor, indeed, that it 
would have seemed dear at lOs. per acre. Even now, close by, there is 
land that wears just the same starved hungry appearance, and which no 
one would for one moment think could hardly grow a Potato, much lest 
a Dahlia. The result, as seen with the Dahlias, shows what can be done 
in converting a barren heath into living productive soil. Here it is as 
dissimilar from what is found at Slough, Salisbury, and Thame, as chalk 
is from cheese. It is therefore all the more to the credit of Mr. Mortimer 
that in such a dry season as the present has been he should have done 
so well. 
- CuEious Judgments. —If we did not know that Mr. Petti¬ 
grew did not pose as a wag, we might have imagined that he had been, 
joking over the oddities of the judges at Cardiff, whose acts he criticises. 
How on earth was it possible for judges to read the term “ exotic ” as 
they did ? If they will turn to their dictionaries they will find the 
term signifies “foreign”—that is to say, any plant introduced here 
from other countries is an exotic, or, in other words, is not indigenous 
to Great Britain. Mr. Pettigrew intimates that the term exotic, without 
any explanatory prefix, was employed. Then, of course, every imported 
plant was inadmissible. Why will committees make such errors in com¬ 
piling their schedules, and judges do such odd things ? The placing of 
Roses and Hydrangeas amongst hardy herbaceous perennials is indeed 
another oddity. How Mr. W. Marshall would have revelled in the 
consequent disqualification.—D. 
- Flowebs in a Cemeteby. —South Shields possesses parks, 
the beauties of which are greatly admired; but it can also boast of 
another floral display of a most attractive kind. The latter, however, 
is not in a pleasure ground, but in a cemetery. In connection with 
their new place, near Harton, the South Shields and Westoe Burial 
Board have adopted a policy from the first of making it as cheerful and 
pleasant-looking as possible. Mr. Bernard Cowan, F.R.H.S., the Super¬ 
intendent, during the present summer has been most successful in this 
respect, and the ground under his control will well repay a visit from 
all admirers of fair Flora. The cemetery, says the “ Newcastle Daily 
Journal,” has been laid out so as to hide the graves from public view as 
much as possible, and on first entering the place it is diflScult to imagine 
that it possesses any sombre aspect at all. On the other hand it has 
all the characteristics of a fine ornamental garden. Some skilfully 
worked-out designs in carpet bedding attract attention at the entrance, 
while further on the borders of the main roads are simply charming. 
Some of these are arranged in circular and oblong flower beds cut out 
of the green turf, and present a most tasteful arrangement of colours. 
Others, fully occupied with herbaceous plants, are ablaze with bloom of 
great variety of colour and form, while yet another has a magnificent 
display of Carnations in full flower. The trees and shrubs which 
surround the grave spaces have grown rapidly, and their thick foliage 
sets off splendidly the floral display. Altogether, the cemetery presents 
a most charming appearance, and reflects high credit on its Super¬ 
intendent. 
