July 21, 1392. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
55 
- Dr. Rebel’s Successor. —It is announced that the director¬ 
ship of the Imperial Botanic Garden at St. Petersburg, left vacant by 
the death of the late Dr. Von Regel, has been assumed by Dr. A. F. 
Bataline. 
- Death of Mr. J. Matthews. —We learn with regret of the 
death of Mr. J. Matthews, who, until about six years ago, was head of 
the well known potteries at Weston-super-Mare, now conducted by 
Mr. Conway G. Warne. He was in his sixty-seventh year, and was 
greatly respected by all who knew him. 
- Victorian Vineyards. —Victorian vineyards, says a daily 
contemporary, now cover nearly 16,000 acres, and turn out over 1,500,000 
gallons of wine per annum. No other colony approaches this. It is 
nearly three times the output of New South Wales. South Australia 
produces 510,000 gallons from 7,400 acres. 
- The Cause of Cold Summers. —Have your readers any 
notion of the cause of this wintry weather we are experiencing in 
Lanarkshire ? Is it due to warm weather in the far North melting the 
icebergs and the vapour floating here ? Just to show the state of matters 
our few Apples are no larger than Cherries yet, and many other things 
make no progress. The severe storms of wind we have had did much 
damage, and were unprecedented in the memory of the oldest man. 
—W. T. 
- A Record Rainfall.— Mr. W. Taylor writes from Bath 
“ I send you a cutting from a local paper showing that we have at la 9 t 
had some rain. I do not remember seeing such a downpour. Nearly all 
of it fell between 2.15 and 4 P.M. We shall be tolerably free from dust 
the next few days, for it is all washed away.” The cutting is as follows: 
—“ The amount of rain which fell on Saturday—that is, throughout the 
whole day—was, according to the reading at the Institution, 1-6S0 (or 
nearly If) inch ; quite a phenomenal amount for the time of year. 
The barometer was not much disturbed by the storm, and has since 
been rising.” 
- Edenbridge Gardening Society. —The usual meeting was 
held on Thursday evening, when there was a good attendance of mem¬ 
bers, the competition being for professionals, for the best dozen cut 
Roses, in six varieties. There were eight entries, the first prize being 
taken by Mr. M. Oliver, the second by Mr. Ware, the third by Mr. Dove, 
and extra third by Mr. G. Anscombe. The whole of the exhibits were 
of excellent merit, and made a good show. Mr. E. Boxall read an 
excellent paper upon the cultivation of Chrysanthemums, which pro¬ 
voked a considerable amount of discussion. Mr. G. Anscombe proposed, 
seconded by Mr. T. Smith, a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Boxall for his 
paper, which was acknowledged. 
-National Carnation and Picotee Society (Southern 
Section) —The sixteenth annual Exhibition of the above Society 
will be held in the Drill Hall of the London Scottish Rifle Volunteers 
James Street, Westminster, on Tuesday, July 26th. Seventy-four 
prizes are offered in sixteen classes. Special prizes are also offered 
for border Carnations by Martin R. Smith, Esq. The Exhibition 
will be open to visitors at 1 p.m. A luncheon will be provided at the 
Hotel Windsor adjoining the Hall at 1.30 P.M., for members and their 
friends. Tickets are 2s. 6d. each. The “ Carnation Manual,” which has 
been in preparation forborne time, is nearly ready, and will be published 
by Cassell & Company, Limited, about the first week in August.— James 
Douglas, Hon. Secretary. 
- Balsams at Chiswick.— The Paxton house in the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s garden at Chiswick is now very gay with 
Celosias and Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums, but the chief attraction is the 
Balsams, which are very fine. The plants have been grown from seed 
saved from the best plants grown last year from Barr’s Criterion 
strain. Seeds were sown this year very early in May, in heat, and 
as soon as possible the plants were potted singly into 60’s and kept 
in a temperature of 60° to 75° Fahr. When well rooted the plants 
were transferred to 48’s in a mixture of loam, leaf soil, horse droppings, 
and sand, and kept in heat near the glass until well established. They 
were then taken to a cooler house, and as soon as they were hardened 
they were ready for being finally potted into 24’s. With plenty of water 
(often given four or five times a day) and air they soon become fine 
healthy vigorous plants, and are now producing quantities of large and 
very double flowers, the colours ranging from white through pink to 
ruby and purple. Beyond a rich soil to grow in, these plants have 
received no stimulants of any kind, and are as fine a batch as one could 
wish to see.—C. K. 
•- ClSTUS PURPUREA. —On a newly-made rockery in the High 
Street, Winchester, I lately saw this Cistus, and thought what a grand 
rockery plant it is, growing so dwarf (1 foot) and bushy. The flowers 
are fully 3 inches in diameter, deep purple in colour, and freely pro¬ 
duced. It is one of the best of the genus.—E. M. 
- Celosias or Feathered Cockscombs. —These, as shown at 
the Bath Rose Show by Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, were worthy of 
special mention. There was quite a long row’ of very sturdy plants 
all having branching plumes of the brightest red and yellow shades 
The seed from which these plants were grown was sown late in 
January, and the plants grown rapidly in a light position and brisk 
heat. A certificate was awarded, a similar honour being also accorded 
to the beautiful Gloxinias Her Majesty and Duke of York. 
- Dwarf Cannas.—A conspicuous feature in the group of 
miscellaneous plants arranged at the Bath Rose Show, but not for com¬ 
petition, by Messrs. R. Veitch & Son, Exeter, were the dwarf flowering 
Cannas. For pot culture this race of Cannas are of the greatest value. 
They are of easy culture, very showy, and continue to flower for several 
months together. Some of the best, were Jules Chretien, very dwarf, 
flowers of a deep scarlet colour ; Little Jenny, orange, scarlet-edged, 
spotted with clear yellow, and very effective; Victor Hugo, bright 
scarlet; Antoine Chantine, orange scarlet, yellow centre ; and Alphonse 
Bouvrier, flowers and spike extra strong, colour deep scarlet.—I. 
-United Horticultural Benefit and Provident 
Society. —The quarterly meeting of this Society was held on Monday 
evening, July 11th, at the Caledonian Hotel, Mr. Joseph Wheeler in the 
chair. One new member was elected, making a total in the two 
quarters of thirty-seven. Sickness among the members has been light 
during the quarter, two only being on the funds at the present time. 
The annual dinner will take place the last week in September, due 
notice of which will be given. It is proposed to present the Treasurer 
(Mr. James Hudson) with a testimonial on the occasion for his valuable 
services during the past ten years. 
- The Reproduction of Ferns.—T he monthly meeting of 
the Sheffield, Haliamshire, and West Riding Chrysanthemum Society 
took place on July 13th, when an interesting display of foliage plants, 
for which prizes were awarded to professionals and amateurs, formed a 
feature of the meeting. A short paper by Mr. J. Eadon, on “ Reproduc¬ 
tion of Ferns,” was delivered, in which he traced the progress of 
knowledge on the subject from the year 1792 to the present time, and 
explained the best-known methods of obtaining new varieties by cross- 
fertilisation. An interesting discussion took place afterwards, and the 
meeting concluded with votes of thanks to the essayist and the Chair¬ 
man (Mr. J. G. Newsham, also a Fern grower), who added to the 
interest in the subject by some lucid explanations of difficult points. 
- The Prevention of Potato Disease.—A lthough a number 
of experiments were made in Great Britain and Ireland last year to test 
the value of the bouillie bordelaise as a preventive and cure of Potato 
disease, none of them were carried out in identically the same manner 
as the successful experiments by Dr. Aime Girard, the chemist to the 
French Government, and it has been pointed out more than once in 
“The Times” that to be of any real value this should be done. It is 
gratifying to learn that this will be the case in one important series of 
experiments this year. Messrs. James Carter & Co. have at Bromley, 
in Kent, a piece of Potatoes, about an acre in extent, in which ten 
varieties are planted in as many rows, each of which goes the full 
length of the acre. This they determined to give up for an experiment, 
and, in order that it should be carried out in M. Girard’s method, the 
whole experiment has been placed in the charge of our agricultural 
correspondent. The first dressing was given on Monday last, the 
mixture being applied at the rate of 29 lbs. of sulphate of copper (98 per 
cent, of purity), 29 lbs. of lime, and 100 gallons of water per acre. The 
land was divided into four parts of equal size, the first and third being 
dressed with the mixture and the second and fourth left undressed. 
The mixture was applied in a fine spray by means of the small knapsack 
distributor—the anti-pest—the working of which was superintended by 
the inventor, Mr. G. F. Strawson. The Potatoes, which were planted 
on April 8th, have at present no appearance of disease, but should any 
appear in the undressed portion of the field the mixture will be at once 
applied over a small portion in order to test its powers of checking the 
disease. The dressed plots will have another dressing later on, and at 
the time of lifting the results on both the dressed and undressed plots 
will be carefully noted.—(“ The Times.”) 
