April 6, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
275 
- Testimonial to Mb. and Mrs. Dodwell.— Mr. and Mrs. 
Dodwell celebrate their golden wedding on the 20th of this month 
•(April), and it is proposed by some of his old friends who have long 
watched the work done by Mr. Dodwell in the development of the 
■Carnation, and who have very pleasing memories of the social meetings 
of the Carnation and Picotee Union at Oxford, to commemorate this 
auspicious event by the presentation of some suitable piece of plate, 
and it is felt that this object will have sympathy and support. It is 
proposed to limit individual subscriptions to 28. 6d. or 5s., which may 
be sent direct to Mr. R. Sydenham, 190, Bristol Road, Birmingham, 
Treasurer of the fund. 
- Easter Monday in London.— Londoners made the most of 
the magnificent weather which prevailed on Monday last, the first Bank 
Holiday of the year. The parks, commons, and other open spaces of the 
metropolis were thronged as though all working London had decided to 
spend the day outdoors. It is difficult to determine the actual numbers 
•who visited- each place, but the crowd on Hampstead Heath was 
•estimated at 150,000 ; 76,042 gained admission to the Crystal Palace; 
about 40,000 were at Kew Gardens ; 30,000 went to Hampton Court; 
nearly 9000 visited Windsor Castle ; 30,062 were admitted to the Zoo ; 
13,645 were at the South Kensington Museum ; and 10,348 entered the 
Tower of London. 
-Rhododendron Nobleanhm and its Varieties. — These 
Rhododendrons certainly deserve to be grown in far greater numbers 
than they are at present, for there is no hardy shrub in existence which 
produces such grand masses of showy flowers during February and 
March. At the time of writing (March 10th) we have half a dozen 
plants in full beauty, several trusses having begun to open their flowers 
three weeks ago, and although we have on several occasions since then 
experienced from 4° to 7'’ of frost the blooms have not been injured in 
the least. This is to a great extent accounted for by the fact that the 
plants occupy a very sheltered position, being protected by a very high 
wall on the north and east sides, and although they are 18 feet from the 
wall the great height of it gives them ample protection. I am con¬ 
fident, however, there are favourable situations in many gardens, where 
these useful spring flowers might be easily grown.—H. D. 
- Presentations to Horticulturists.— Some interesting 
presentations in recognition of services rendered to the old Brighton 
Chrysanthemum Society were made at the recent meeting of the 
Brighton and Sussex New Horticultural and Mutual Improvement 
Society. Mr. J. Bunney was presented with a silver watchguard, a 
silver cruet-stand, and an illuminated testimonial ; Mr. A. Fry with a 
silver cruet-stand and an illuminated testimonial ; Mr. Rupert Miller 
with a gold watchguard and an illuminated testimonial; Mr. W. 
Richardson, Mr. J. Spottiswood, and Mr. J. Turner, each with a marble 
timepiece and an illuminated testimonial; and Mr. T. Thwaites with 
an illuminated testimonial and a set of Charles Dickens’ works. Testi¬ 
monials, beautifully illuminated with Chrysanthemums, and suitably 
inscribed, were also presented to Messrs. F. Collis, A. E. Golding, 
J. Hills, G. House, Mark Longhurst, George Miles, A. Netley, A. Scutt, 
and George Wickham, members of the old Committee. 
- Early Flowers in Scotland.—A correspondent writes as 
follows to the Edinburgh Evening Despatch: —A walk through the 
Glen from Roslin to Polton on March 25th, showed the season to be an 
exceptionally early one in the matter of blossom. The catkins or 
“ lambs’ tails,” as the country folks call them, of the Hazel are fast 
being superseded by those of the Alder, and the conspicuous flowers of 
the Ash have already begun to take the place of the dingy-looking 
bloom of the Elm. Many of our small spring flowers, too, are already 
in full bloom, some of them in great profusion. Banks and sheltered 
hedgerows have been bright for some time with the yellow flowers of 
the Coltsfoot and Lesser Celandine. The show of Anemones lends at 
present a distinctive charm to the woodland, their white flowers 
offering such a pleasing contrast to the glossy green leaves. The 
delicate blossoms of the Strawberry-leaved Cinquefoil are here and there 
to be met with. In some places the woods are covered with an under¬ 
growth of Dog’s Mercury. Two interesting little plants are also in 
bloom, the Golden Saxifrage and the Moschatel, the flowers of which 
somewhat resemble each other, although belonging to quite different 
families. Before reaching Polton the Bluebell-like flowers of the 
Periwinkle were seen early in monopolising the shady banks. These 
plants are all exceptionally early this season, and to see them in flower 
was an additional pleasure as well as an unexpected reward for the 
walk through this lovely glen. 
- Plant Diseases and Botany in America.—A s announced 
in the Journal of Horticulture for the 23rd ult., there are now as many 
as thirty-two botanical stations in the United States carried on by the 
various State Governments. The subject which receives most attention 
at these stations is that of the fungus and bacterial diseases of culti¬ 
vated crops and fruit trees and their treatment and cure. A laboratory 
for the study of plant diseases has recently been fitted up in connection 
with the agricultural experiment station of the University of California 
at Berkeley. It has been arranged that a botanical survey of Nebraska 
shall be undertaken by the botanical seminar of the university of that 
State. The almost unknown flora of the north central portions of 
Idaho has recently been investigated by a commission acting under the 
auspices of the botanical division of the U.S. Department of Agri¬ 
culture. 
- Rainfall in Sussex. —The total rainfall for the past month 
at Abbots Leigh, Mid-Sussex, was 0 51 inch, being 1'57 inch below the 
average. The heaviest fall was 0‘24 inch on the 1st. Rain fell on five 
days. This is the driest March in a fourteen years’ record. The nearest 
approach to it was that of 1883, when the amount was 0'71 inch. The 
maximum temperature in the shade was 65° on 30th ; minimum, 23° on 
19th; mean maximum, 51’2°; mean minimum, 34'2°; mean tempera¬ 
ture, 42'7°. A month more remarkable for the amount of bright sun¬ 
shine than for the small amount of rain. Wild Cherries, Plums, Goose¬ 
berries, and Currants were in full bloom at the close of the month .—R. 1. 
- The Weather in March.—T he weather during the past 
month has been of an exceptional dry character. Bright sunny days 
with a total absence of east winds have prevailed, but the frosts at night 
have been of rather a severe nature. Rain fell upon six days during the 
whole month. Maximum mean any twenty-four hours was 0 17 on the 
1st; minimum mean any twenty-four hours. O'02 on the 6th ; total during 
the whole month, 0'47, against 1-43 of 1892. Notwithstanding the very 
dry month of March, I have registered more rainfall by end of March, 
1893, than I registered by the end of the three corresponding months of 
1892. By the end of March, 1892, I had registered 3 90 ; end of March, 
1893, I have registered 4'92.—B. WALLIS, The Gardens, Hamels Park, 
Buntingford, Herts. 
- The Weather— a Remarkable Month.— In the matter 
of weather the month that has just passed away has undoubtedly been 
one of the most highly favoured of recent times. In London the 
thermometer on the three last days of the month rose to between 67® 
and 68°. The latter reading has only been equalled once in the Marches 
of the past twenty years, while the mean of all the daily maxima 
observed in London during the month has had no parallel in any March 
of the same extended period. The sunshine totals for the entire month 
are not yet to hand, but from information already collected it is quite 
certain that in this respect also the March of 1893 will hold a very 
distinguished place. During the week ending Saturday last the bright 
sunshine registered over the United Kingdom generally amounted to 
66 per cent, of its possible duration. Over the eastern, central, and 
southern parts of England the per-centage varied from 75 to 77, and in 
the south-west of England it reached 81, while in the Channel Islands, 
the percentage was as high as 91. The remaining feature of interest 
in our recent weather has been the general and marked deficiency of 
rainfall. The total amount for the whole month was less than half 
an inch over a considerable part of England and Wales, as well as in 
the east of Ireland, and less than three-quarters of an inch in the east of 
Scotland. For the majority of our meteorological stations the rainfall 
records do not extend back for more than twenty-seven years, and in 
some cases for only twenty-two years. An examination of the available 
data shows that over a considerable portion of England last month was 
the driest March on record, and at Roche’s Point, where the total fall up 
to 8 A.M. yesterday, was only O'll inch, or smaller than at any other 
station from which returns are yet to hand. At Oxford, where rainfall 
has been recorded for a very long time past, the month was drier than 
any March for at least forty years past; and, as regards London, we 
must go back as far as the year 1854 to find a March with so small a 
rainfall. The London records for the past eighty years show that during 
this long period there have been only seven years with a March rainfall 
of less than half an inch. These were 1820, with a total of 0 33 inch, 
1830 with 0'30 inch, 1840 with 0'32 inch, 1850 with 0'21 inch, 1852 with 
0 26 inch, 1854 with 0'33 inch, and the present year with 0 39 inch. It 
is rather curious to observe that the first four cases of a very dry March 
followed each other at intervals of ten years. The only portion of the 
kingdom in which last month’s rainfall amounted to anything like the 
average was the extreme north of Scotland .—(^Daily News.') 
