56G 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 2P, 1892. 
a sunny border or bed is advised to grow it for the sake of its curious 
fruit. The roots creep and spread ; if the plants encroach too much on 
Other things they can be easily forked out. I have seen it encroach 
on a broad gravel path and left to grow, and everyone who saw it in 
the late autumn months admired it, and some would remark, “ What a 
curi ous plant.” To obtain the strongest and best stems it is advisable 
to replant every three or four years in fresh ground about the month of 
April, or when about an inch in height. 
It is useful for decoration purposes, harvest festivals, or for mixing 
with dried Lunaria (Honesty) and plumes of Pampas and other Grasses. 
I have now beside me a bunch of the Winter Cherry that was cut 
fourteen months ago, and still looks well.— A. Habding. 
Ouk Index.—T he insertion in the present issue of an index to 
the matter in the Journal of Horticulture during the past six 
months compels us to defer the publication of articles and letters of 
considerable interest. We desire to thank all our correspondents, and, 
at the same time, to assure them that promptitude or otherwise in 
publication in no sense indicates the measure of our appreciation of 
their communications. 
The Weather in London. — The present week opened 
bright and seasonable in the metropolis, a sharp frost having occurred 
on the Saturday night. In the suburbs the thermometer registered 14°, 
or 18 of frost. Monday and Tuesday were also frosty, though on the 
-noining of the latter day a thick fog prevailed. It cleared during the 
day, and froze hard at night : but on Wednesday it was very foggy 
with little frost. 
- Weather in the North. —4°, 11°, 20°, 22°, 24° of frost 
were recorded here on successive mornings since the 23rd inst. The 
dajs have been clear and fine. The 25th was a beautiful day through¬ 
out. The rime has been so dense that the whole country seems as if 
snow had fallen, and the cold is intense.-B. D., S. Perthshire. 
“ My Garden.” —There are in flower in Mr. A. H. Smee’s 
collection of Orchids at tbe above place a fair number of good things. 
Prominent amongst others I recently noticed a very fine piece of Lycaste 
cruenta and a very dark flowered form of Laelia anceps. The latter was 
exceedingly good indeed, the blooms being of a most beautiful dark 
colour, much resembling L. Goldiana, as staged by Messrs. Sander and 
Co. at the Drill Hall, Westminster, the other week.—E. H. R. 
- The Severe Weather —During the past few days the 
weather has been most severe in various parts of the country. On 
Saturday night the hard frost appears to have been general throughout 
Britain, as well as on the Continent. In this country the thermometer 
duly sheltered in the screen had fallen below 20° in many districts, the 
lowest readings of all being 15° at Loughborough, 16° at York, and 19° 
at Oxford. In London the shade minimum was only 25° (which means 
7 3 of frost), but on the surface of the grass the thermometer fell to 19°. 
In Scotland the weather had been even more severe than in England, a 
shade reading of 12° being recorded at Nairn, and a minimum of 20° at 
Wick and Leith. The morning readings on Christmas day were as low 
as 15° at Berlin and Munich, 17° at Brussels, and 20° at Paris. Early on 
Tuesday 18° of frost were registered at Grantham in Lincolnshire, and 
lo at Peterborough. At Hawick in Scotland,24° of frost were registered 
on the 26tb, and 19° on the 27th inst. 
- The Flower Girl’s Guild, which was established for the 
protection of flower sellers in the streets of London, ought to be a 
flourishing as well as a wealthy body, to judge from the number of 
distinguished ladies who take an active part in its organisation. The 
Marchioness of Bath, Lady Alington, and Lady Granby are just now 
busily engaged in getting up a Twelfth Night dance in aid of these well- 
looked-after flower girls, who also number among their “ Patronesses ” 
the Princess of Wales, the Duchess of Fife, and the Duchess of Teck. 
New Cannas.— One of the brightest coloured of the new 
Oannas!s Aiphonse Bouvier. The large flowers are so brilliant that 
even Madame Crozy looks dingy beside them, says an American con- 
TO ^f° r r ary :, Sarah Hill is another variety of a peculiar brilliant tint, 
hile Capitaine P. de Zuzzoni is an admirable yellow. 
- Market Vegetables. —Nearly the whole of the English 
vegetable produce is grown in the Thames Valley and the home counties, 
says an authority. Cornwall and Devon contribute Broccoli and early 
fruits, while Potatoes come from all parts of the kingdom. Middlesex, 
however, is the centre of the vegetable and fruit growing industry, 
which is annually extending. 
- Covent Garden Market.—F or more than 300 years, says a 
daily contemporary, fruit, vegetables, and flowers have been sold on the 
present site of Covent Garden Market. In 1661 King Charles the 
Second granted to William, Earl of Bedford, the right for ever to hold a 
market in the parish of St. Paul’s, Covent Garden. 
- “Mushrooms for the Million.” —Having followed out advice 
given in a book of the above title, we have been very successful with 
Mushrooms this season, whereas in previous years we have not had 
nearly so many. It would be well if any readers of the Journal who fail 
with them were to follow out the instruction given in the book referred to. 
I feel sure they would have cause to rejoice over abundant crops.— 
W. B. F. 
- Tillandsia Lindeni. —In Mr. A. H. Smee’s garden at Hack- 
bridge are to be seen, just opening, some grand flowers of Tillandsia 
Lindeni. The blooms of this beautiful Tillandsia are, as most readers 
of the Journal will know, a pure celestial blue colour, rendering the 
plant conspicuous in any collection. It should certainly be much more 
largely grown than it is, as it does not require any extraordinary 
measures to bring it to perfection.—R. H. R. 
- Exeter Gardeners’ Association. — The last meeting of 
the autumn session in connection with the Exeter and District 
Gardeners’ Improvement Society took place at the Guddhall recently. 
Mr. Weeks (gardener to Mr. E. A. Sanders) presided, and there was a 
large attendance. Mr. Mackay (manager at Messrs. Veitch’s Royal 
Nurseries) gave a resume of the papers delivered during the year. 
The points raised by the essayist caused a good deal of discussion, 
especially upon such questions as pruning and the general treatment of 
fruit trees. 
- Fruit in Country Markets. —Your correspondent “A. D.” 
(page 505) hits the nail on the head when he asks why growers do not 
pack their choice Plums properly and smartly and despatch them to 
good markets. The same applies with equal force to other fruit. The 
outlay to obtain suitable boxes and paper is comparatively small, and 
that it pays in the end is a well-known fact. A case in point might 
be cited. An amateur grower in Lincolnshire had an enormous crop 
of Plums two years ago, many more than he required for his home. 
He decided to sell a portion, and, acting on my advice, packed the best 
of the choicest varieties in a similar manner to that advised by “ A. D.’’ 
The result was very satisfactory. Even in the local markets he secured 
double the price of those sold in the usual manner, the gentry in the 
neighbourhood buying them eagerly for dessert purposes.— Lincoln. 
- Alexandra Palace and Park. —For some time past H. R. 
Williams, Esq., The Priory, Hornsey, has been making strenuous efforts 
to secure the Alexandra Palace and Park for the free use and recreation 
of the people in North London. A meeting to that effect was held in 
the National Hall, Hornsey, on Wednesday, December 7th, Mr. R. D. M. 
Littler, Q.C., C.B., occupying the chair. The park comprised 434 acres, 
and is the grandest of all the open spaces available for the free use of 
Londoners. The whole of it, with the palace, could be bought for 
£275,000, and the Chairman expressed the hope that the Middlesex 
County Council, the Corporation of London, great landowners, and the 
general public concerned would be prepared to do something. Mr. H. R. 
Williams moved the following resolution : “ That this meeting, recog¬ 
nising the importance of open spaces and their paramount necessity for 
the health and recreation of the growing masses of the population, 
believes that the alienation of the Alexandra Park for building purposes 
would be a lasting and irreparable injury to the northern suburbs, as 
well as to the metropolis generally, and is further of opinion that the 
time has come when more active measures should be taken to secure 
this unique park as an open space for ever for the free use and enjoy¬ 
ment of the people, and urges the County Councils of Middlesex and 
London to take such steps as they may think desirable for that purpose ; 
and it further urges that nothing in the meanwhile be allowed to 
interfere with the public rights which now attach to 135 acres of the 
said park.” Mr. Stephens, M.P., seconded, and the resolution was 
unanimously adopted. 
