November 3, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
421 
-The Eoyal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.—A t the recent 
meeting of the Committee of the Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund, 
W. Marshall, Esq., in the chair, the following special receipts were 
announced :—Mr. W. Elphinstone, The Gardens, Shepley Hall, Derby, 
opening the gardens during the summer, £11 Is. 6d.; Mr. J. H. 
Vallance, local Secretary, Bristol, legacy, £3 Ss.; Mrs. Bowerman, 
Hackwood Park, sale of flowers, £1 6s. ; Mr. J. Plowman, Woodstock 
Gardens, Long Sutton, box, 10s. ; Mr. G. Tubb, Minley Manor, Farn- 
borough, box. £1 2s. 2d.; Miss Barron, Chiswick, box, £1 lls. ; Mr. F. A. 
Burbury, Highbury, Birmingham, box, £1 IGs.; Mr. J. B. Stevenson, 
Chine Cottage, Bournemouth, box, Gs. 5d. ; and Mr. C. Sutton, The 
Gardens, Chevening Park, Sevenoaks, Gs. 5d. The Secretary reported 
the receipt of £100 from Mr. N. Sherwood (Messrs. Hurst & Sons) as a 
jubilee celebration gift, and a hearty vote of thanks was passed to this 
generous supporter of the fund. The death of Mr. Hugh Low of Clapton, 
a member of the Committee, was alluded to, and a resolution of condolence 
with Mrs. Low on the great loss she and the Committee has sustained, 
was passed. 
- Gardening and Forestry Exhibition. — Among the 
awards made at the recent Gardening and Forestry Exhibition, Earl’s 
Court, for permanent exhibits, we noted the following names :—Garden¬ 
ing section.—Gold medal : Messrs. J. M. Bennett & Sons, Ardwick, 
Manchester. Silver-gilt medals : Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading ; 
Messrs. J. Cheal & Sons, Crawley, Sussex ; Messrs. Ransomes, Sims, and 
Jefferies (Limited), Orwell Works, Ipswich ; Messrs. Joseph Owen 
and Sons, 67, St. Anne Street, Liverpool; Messrs. Conway G. Warne 
(Limited), Weston-super-Mare ; Messrs. F. Rosher & Co., King’s Road, 
Chelsea; Mr. G. W. Riley, 81, Dnlwich Road, Herne Hill, S.E. ; Miss 
Sarah Sprules, Wallington, Surrey ; and Messrs. Chaffey Bros. (Limited) 
35, Queen Victoria Street, E.C. The forestry section included—silver 
medals : His Royal Highness Prince Christian, K.G. ; Mr. John Mickie, 
Her Majesty’s Forester; and Colonel Beddome, F.R.H.S. 
- The Winter Moth. —Mr, J. Hiam, The Wren’s Nest, Astwood 
Bank, near Eedditch, observes, “ This pest is making its appearance in 
strong force, as was to be expected after such an exceptionally favour¬ 
able season for developing, and if grease-banding is to be resorted to 
instead of Paris green spraying in the spring no time should be lost. It 
may be well to call to memory that it was after the dry season of 1887, 
that 1888 and 1889 were so disastrous from the ravages of these cater¬ 
pillars, and the orchards and plantations were stripped of truit and 
foliage. We have obtained much intimate knowledge since then of the 
habits of our common enemy, and we know that the female moths may 
be stopped if grease-banding is properly done. Egg-laying is chiefly 
carried out from the middle to the end of November, and if this month 
and December are mild a great increase in numbers next year will 
inevitably follow. We read in the summer that in Devonshire much 
damage was done from caterpillars, and it would be interesting to know 
if they were Cheimatobias or what kind ? ” 
- Open Spaces.—A t the monthly meeting of the Metropolitan 
Public Gardens Association, 83, Lancaster Gate, W., the Earl of Meath, 
the Chairman, presiding, it was announced by him, as reported in the 
Journal of Horticulture last week, page 400, that the Prince of Wales had 
consented to become the patron of the Association and had contributed 
ten guineas to its funds. The Secretary also mentioned that a donation 
of £50 had been received from a member for the erection of a handsome 
drinking fountain in St. Thomas’s Square Garden, Hackney ; that the 
necessary consents had been obtained for the daily opening to the public 
of the Tower Wharf, instead of twice a week ; that the Battersea Vestry 
had agreed to form a riverside recreation ground at a cost of over £2000, 
towards which the Association had offered to subscribe £1000 ; and that 
the laying out of Victoria Park Cemetery and the Pern Road Triangle 
was being satisfactorily carried on. It was agreed to offer to lay out the 
churchyards of St. Matthew and St. James’s, Bethnal Green and Ion 
Square, Hackney Road, if their maintenance were secured, and if 
money for the payment of wages to those in want of work were forth¬ 
coming, the Association providing the balance, about one-half, of the 
total cost. It was also decided to offer to lay out Albion Square^ 
Dalston, Bessborough Gardens, S.W., and Guy’s Hospital disused 
burial ground, S.E., if transferred to the local authorities for mainte¬ 
nance ; to offer trees for the Albert Embankment and other thorough¬ 
fares ; to once more endeavour to prevent the Physic Garden, Chelsea, 
from being sold for building purposes; to promote the acquisition of 
five acres of land once forming part of Wandsworth Common ; and to 
offer to bear the expenses of opening to the public a playground 
in Clerkenwell, when not used by the scholars. 
- Raspberries in October. —Mr. W. Gabbitas, Harrogate, 
writes :—“ I noticed several correspondents in the Journal of Horti¬ 
culture (page 399) mention gathering Raspberries and Strawberries in 
the south, but I have not heard of anyone securing a second crop so 
far north as Harrogate. It might, therefore, be of interest to some 
readers to know that 1 have to-day (November 4th) gathered several 
ripe Raspberries and more are about half matured. They are on the new 
canes of this summer’s growth. We have also been gathering Scarlet 
Runner Beans until a week since.” 
- The Total Rainfall for October at Abbots Leigh, 
Haywards Heath, Sussex, was 4 26 inches, being 0 31 inch above 
the average. The heaviest fall was 1'45 inch, on the 11th. Rain fell 
on nineteen days. The maximum temperature was 64°, on the 2l8t ; 
the minimum 27°, on the 31st. Mean maximum in the shade, 57 29° ; 
mean minimum, 42 26° ; mean temperature, 49 74°, about 4° above the 
average. The frost on the morning of the 31st is the first we have had 
to injure tender plants, and up till then Runner Beans and Dahlia 
blooms have been as fine as they have been this year. Some good Roses 
were gathered that morning, and Chrysanthemums on south front of 
house are still uninjured, showing their usefulness.—R. I. 
- The Weather Last Month. — Mr. W, H. Divers, Ketton 
Hall Gardens, Stamford, remarks:—“ October was changeable, but 
chiefly fine after the 7th with a fair amount of sunshine. We had seven¬ 
teen bright days, two of which were clear. The wind was in a westerly 
direction twenty-nine days. Total rainfall was 2-48 inches, which fell 
on fifteen days, the greatest daily fall being 0'69 inch on the 7th ; the 
total is 0'46 inch below the average for the month. Barometer—highest, 
30 45 at 9 P.M. on 23rd ; lowest, 2916 at 1 p.m. on 4th. Temperature 
milder than usual—highest in shade, 67° on 16th and 21st; lowest, 
29° on 31st; lowest on grass, 21° on 31st. Mean daily maximum, 58-54°; 
mean daily minimum, 42 54° ; mean temperature of the month, 50 58°. 
Tender flowers, such as Dahlias and Heliotrope were not killed by frost 
until the 3l8t. It has been a very fine autumn for Wheat sowing. The 
garden spring ran 8| gallons per minute on 31st.” 
- The Weather in Hertfordshire. —Mr. E. Wallis, The 
Gardens, Hamels Park, Buntingford, Herts, writes:—“The weather 
during the past month has been all that the horticulturist could possibly 
desire. There has been an abundance of rain, which has not in the least 
been a hindrance to outdoor work. The weather has also been of a 
very mild and open character. Taking the month all through, it has 
doubtless been one of the best Octobers ever known, and not until the 
morning of 31st was there sufficient frost to destroy such tender plants 
as Coleus and Iresine, when 7° were registered. Taking the year up to 
the present doubtless few gardeners have had such good all-round crops 
during any other season. Rainfall on fourteen days during the past 
month.—Maximum in any twenty-four hours was 1-06 on the 8th ; 
minimum, 0 02 on the 22nd. Total during the month, 3 06, against 3-90 
of 1892.” 
PE AES VERSUS PEACHES. 
In answer to Mr. Molyneuxonpage 373, the figures previously quoted 
were those affixed to the fruit in the shop windows, and I considered 
that the grower could not be so badly treated when such a price was 
asked by the fruiterer. I could mention several instances around me 
where small growers have realised handsome prices for Pears, owing to 
their taking their produce round to the villa residences and so doing 
away with the middleman. Was it altogether a question of money 
which “C.” had in his mind when he wrote the article on page 259 ? If 
so, I did not quite look at it in that light alone, but thought he referred 
to those persons who have private establishments. 
Even if the market grower only was to be studied, I maintain that 
a wall covered with cordon Pears, well selected, and liberally fed with 
manure water during the summer, the result being magnificent fruits, 
would eventually prove far more profitable than Peaches in many parts 
of Lancashire. It is useless to expect to realise the best prices for 
unthinned fruit. There can be no doubt that where Peaches are known 
not to succeed that they might wisely be done away with, planting 
Pears in their stead. “C.’s” article is so carefully worded, persuasive, 
and so full of sound reasoning, that very little exception can be taken 
to it. Referring to Marie Louise Pear, I may say that it does splendidly 
here, and we have no Pear which gives us such a succession of fruit. 
Beurrd Diel crops well also. From a wall we get large fruit and by no 
means badly flavoured. The worst flavoured fruit comes from the 
pyramids, at least so we find it here.—R. P. R. 
Peach Leaf Blister. 
I TAKE this opportunity of thanking Mr. Abhey (page 373) for 
giving us the benefit of his scientific studies of the diseases of plants. 
He has brought to light many things which have been hidden from our 
