February 9, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
113 
- The Sale of Fruit. —It is stated that Sir William Hart 
Dyke intends to introduce a bill into the House of Commons relative to 
the regulation of the sale of foreign and colonial fruits. 
- London County Council Appointment.—W e are informed 
that Mr. G. Gensel, Assistant in Kensington Gardena and Hyde 
Park, has been appointed landscape draughtsman in the Parks Depart¬ 
ment of the London County Council. 
- Botanic Garden Appointment. — Mr. Robert Harrow, 
formerly of Cambridge and late of Kew, has been appointed recently 
from the latter establishment to the foremanship of the houses in the 
Royal Botanic Garden at Edinburgh. 
- The Judas Tree. —As yet no gardener hag, it appears, 
answered my query (page 49) about the presumed poisonous quality of 
the honey of the Judas Tree. Perhaps it is a statement that seems too 
absurd to call for a reply, especially as it comes from across the Atlantic. 
—J. R. S. Clifford. 
- Rainfall in Sussex. —The total rainfall at Abbot’s Leigh, 
Haywards Heath, Sussex, was 2-04 inches, being 0'20 inch below the 
average of mid-Sussex. The heaviest fall was 0 67 inch on the 9th. Rain 
fell on fourteen days. The maximum temperature was 51° on the Slst^ 
the minimum 15° on the 4th and 5th. Mean maximum 39‘1°, mean 
minimum 30°. Mean temperature 34‘6° ; slightly below the average.— 
R. 1. 
- The Weather Last Month.—J anuary was a changeable 
month with very little sunshine ; we had nine bright days, one of which 
was clear. The wind was in a westerly direction for twenty-one days. 
Barometer, highest 30 39 at 9 P.M. on the 4th ; lowest, 29 57 at 9 p.m. 
on 16th. Total rainfall 1'45 inches, which fell on twenty days; the 
greatest daily fall being 0’28 inch on the 26th. The total is 0 48 
inch below the average for the month. Highest shade temperature, 
52° on 30th and 31st ; lowest, 5° on the 5th ; lowest on grass, 3° on the 
5th. Mean of daily maximum, 40’03° ; mean of daily minimum, 28‘77°. 
Mean temperature of the month, 34-30°. The garden spring ran 
24 gallons per minute on the 3l8t,—W. H. Divers, Ketton Hall Gardens, 
Stamford. 
- Summary of Meteorological Observations at Hodsock 
Priory, Worksop, Notts. —January, 1893.—Mean temperature of the 
month, 35 5° ; maximum on the 31st, 54 7° ; minimum on the 
5th, 8-5°. Maximum in the sun on the 31st, 93-4° ; minimum on 
grass on the 5th, 6-1°. Mean temperature of air at 9 a.m., 34-7°; 
mean temperature of the soil 1 foot deep, 34-3°. Nights below 32°, 
in shade seventeen, on the grass twenty-five. Total duration of sunshine 
thirty-four hours, or 14 per cent, of possible duration; we had 
sixteen sunless days. Total rainfall, 1-37 inches ; rain fell on 
seventeen days. Average velocity of wind, 9-8 miles per hour. 
Velocity exceeded 400 miles on three days, and fell short of 
100 miles on two days. Approximate averages for January :—Mean 
temperature, 37-1° ; sunshine, 35 ; rainfall, 1-69. The first week was 
very cold, after which it turned rather milder ; but the thaw was a 
glow one, and the frost was not out of the ground until the 22nd. The 
rest of the month was mild. Mean temperature about 1° higher than 
the last two Januarys. Snow on the ground for the first twelve days.— 
J. Mallender. 
- Lily of the Valley. —Having been rather successful with 
the culture of Lily of the Valley this season, a few details of the treat¬ 
ment we have given them may perhaps be interesting to readers of the 
Journal of Horticulture. In the first place it is absolutely necBssary to 
obtain good crowns. Having secured these, place them in 5-inch pots, 
using a mixture of loam, leaf mould, or some old peat. From fifteen to 
eighteen crowns will be found sufficient for one pot. Great care must 
be taken to ram the soil firm. After potting they should be stood 
outside, and the crowns well exposed to the frost for a few weeks. 
Introduce as required, and stand them in shallow zinc tanks over 
the pipes in the forcing house, keeping them dark, and taking care to 
maintain a moist atmosphere. A little moss placed over the crowns 
will assist in keeping the soil moist, which is most essential. After 
they have started and began to show the fiower spikes remove to a 
close frame inside the forcing house, gradually introducing them to the 
light. When the flower spikes are well advanced they may be brought 
out and gradually hardened for the purposes they are required. We 
have had them in flower twenty-one days from the time they were 
taken in, with strong spikes, making a grand display under the above 
treatment.— Bramley. 
- Mealy Bug on Vines.—T he following is one of the best 
mixtures I have seen used to remove mealy bug from Vines:—3 pints of 
sweet oil to 1 pint of petroleum, thoroughly mixed, and put on with 
a brush.— George Taber, Rivenliall, Essex. 
- Golden Wedding of Dr. and Mrs. Patterson.—M any 
readers will join us in our congratulations to Dr. and Mrs. Patterson, of 
Bridge of Allan, who celebrated their golden wedding on the 25th ult. 
- Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution.—W e have 
great pleasure in announcing that Baron Schroder has kindly consented 
to preside at the fifty-fourth annual Festival Dinner at the Hotel 
M^tropole, on the 22nd of June next, in aid of the funds of the 
above Institution. 
- English Grapes in New York.—A few weeks since it was 
announced that English Black Hamburgh Grapes were selling freely in 
America at remunerative prices, Now, according to the “ Garden and 
Forest,” Gros Colman Grapes imported from England are realising 8i. 
per lb. in New York. 
- Report of Weather during January, 1893.—The past 
month has again shown us how very fickle is our climate. January 
began with exceptional severe frost; on the morning of the 5th 25° were 
registered on the ground, whilst the month ended with weather of a 
very mild character. Rain and snow fell upon seventeen days during 
the month. Maximum in any twenty-four hours was 0-39 on the 28th ; 
minimum in any twenty-four hours was 0 01 on the 24th, Total during 
the whole month, 1-67, against 0-64 of 1892.—E. WALLIS, The Gardens, 
Hamels Park, Buntingford, Herts. 
- Agave rigida. —At the meeting of the Royal Botanic Society 
on Saturday, 28th ult., Mr. Granville R. Ryder in the chair, there was 
shown from the Society’s Gardens a plant of the Sisal Hemp, Agave rigida, 
now extensively grown in the Bahamas and Central America for its 
fibre. The Secretary said that until lately, with the exception of two or 
three fibre plants, as Hemp and Cotton, commerce depended upon wild 
plants for its supplies ; but so great was the demand now for fibres for 
papermaking and other uses, that it had been found necessary to grow 
them specially. He believed that the plants producing the Bowstring 
Hemps, or Sanseveiras, would be found also well adapted, owing to their 
manner of growth from rhizomes spreading along the ground, making 
them easy of propagation and cultivation. 
- Margaret Carnations. —Calling to-day at the Sparkhill 
Nurseries I found Mr. Herbert cutting down his seedling Margaret 
Carnations preparatory to their breaking for cuttings, and 1 enclose you 
two very small lateral blooms of one of them to give you an idea of 
the strong Clove perfume they have. They are from a plant which has 
been in bloom since August from seed sown in February last. You will 
see at once that even this variety is a great improvement on the ordinary 
Margaret Pink, and is, as 1 have said in previous communications 
through the Journal, the result of a cross between a Margaret Pink and 
a crimson bizarre Carnation, Robert Houlgrave.— W. Dean, Birming¬ 
ham. [The blooms sent show a great advance on any Margaret Pinks 
we have seen. The colour is deep crimson, petals broad, only slightly 
serrated, and the perfume delicious ; an acquisition worthy of a good 
name.) 
- Narcissi from the Scilly Isles. —Three years ago the 
farmers in Scilly were beginning to appreciate the necessity for getting 
their Narcissus flowers on the market as early in the year as possible, 
and to endeavour to secure that end by forcing. The first attempts 
were rude and experimental; but the farmers have been apt pupils, 
and the forcing process has now developed into something like a fine 
art. In the old days the half-opened blooms were plucked, and then 
plunged into hot water, or into the family oven, to open. The next 
development was the introduction of tanks, where the flowers were 
forced by steam. Now, however, these clumsy contrivances have given 
place to forcing houses of glass. The bulbs are placed in boxes, and at 
a certain stage are put into the forcing house, where, under the influence 
of a constant and carefully graduated heat, the buds come up and open 
with surprising quickness. Everyone who can afford it builds a forcing 
house, and the ambition of those who have one is to speculate in more. 
The bulbs do not retain their strength under this treatment, and are 
usually unfit for use a second year; but a few thousand bulbs, more 
or less, are of little consequence nowadays. The present season has 
opened well, and large consignments are being despatched every week 
to the London and midland markets. 
