January S4, 1895. 
73 
JOURNAL OF HORTIGULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
- Death of Mr. John Morris op Birmingham.—T his well 
known horticulturist, who for nearly thirty years was the manager of 
Messrs. Pope & Sons’ Nurseries, King’s Norton, Birmingham, died on 
the 18th inst,, after a very brief illness. 
— ■ A Useful Plant Support. —We have received from the 
maker and patentee—Mr. W. C. Key, Walton-on-Thames—samples of a 
new form of dower stake. It has been made with a view pf obviating 
the damage to the roots of bulbs, and has two prongs, so shaped as to 
entirely avoid any interference with the roots of the plant or the 
bulb, whilst the wire support to which the dowers are tied is stronger 
and presents a neater appearance than a stick. The supports are made 
of tinned wire, do not rust, and are practically imperishable. We 
presume some are made longer than the samples before us. 
- Euphorbia jacquini^flora. —Mr. A. G. Hookings, The 
Gardens, Oldown House, Almondsbury, writes :—“ Seeing an article in 
the Jour)ial of Horticulture^ January 17th, page 59, by ‘ C. H. H.,’ I beg 
to enclose three racemes for your inspection. They are cut from plants 
grown in 48-8ize pots from cuttings rooted the drst week in May. I 
have cut some racemes 23 inches long as good as the enclosed. I grow 
about 100 plants.” [The specimens are as good both in foliage and 
doriferousness as we could desire to see, and represent excellent 
cultivation. Details of the methods adopted in their production could 
not fail being acceptable to many of our readers.] 
- Middlesbrough Park — Death of the Curator. — A 
correspondent informs us with regret of the death which occurred early 
on Sunday morning of Mr. Charles Anderson, Curator of the Albert 
Park, Middlesbrough. Mr. Anderson, who was appointed -to the 
Curatorship in 1888, was held in high esteem by the members of the 
Corporation, and by a large circle of friends. He managed the Park 
well, and kept its bedding arrangements up to date, though he worked 
under the disadvantages of smoke from the steel and chemical works, 
for which this town is famous. Mr. Anderson was an oldIDrumlanrig 
man, and leaves a wife and family to mourn his loss. ; 
- Summary of Meteorological Observations for the 
Year, 1894.—The year was remarkable for unusually bright and dry 
weather during March and April, a cool showery summer, and mild 
weather during November and December. The prevailing wind came 
from a westerly direction on 103 days. The totalrainfall was 27, 02 inches, 
which fell on 249 days, the greatest daily fall being 1 04, inch on 
August 10th. Barometer (after May Slst only) highest 30'41 at 10 P.M. 
December 27th, lowest 28 736 at 4.10 P.M. November 14th. Thermometer, 
highest in shade 84® on July 6th, lowest 10° on January 6th. Mean 
daily maximum 55'89° ; mean daily minimum 41'14°. Mean temperature 
of the year 48'6°. Lowest on the grass 0° on January 6tli ; highest in 
the sun 139° on June 29th. Mean temperature of the earth at 3 feet in 
depth 48‘55°. Total sunshine 1356 hours 41 minutes. There were thirty- 
seven sunless days. The rainfall is 1'36 inch above the average of forty 
years.—W. H. Divers, Belvoir Castle Gardens, Grantham, 
- The Virtues of Wood Ashes.—M r. J. M. Stahl, Illinois, 
has much to say in the “ American Agriculturist ” about the virtues of 
wood ashes. Speaking of them as a medicine for farm animals, he says 
he has found them of great value. He has raised swine rather extensively 
for more than twenty years without cholera or swine plague, and has 
not lost 1 per cent, of his hogs from disease. He keeps wood ashes and 
charcoal mixed with salt constantly before his swine in a large covered 
box with holes 2 by 6 inches near the bottom. The hogs will work the 
mixture out through these holes as fast as they want it. He selects 
ashes rich in charcoal, and mixes three parts of ashes to'one of salt. 
There is no danger of the swine eating too much of this mixture, or of 
pure salt, if it is kept constantly before them, and they hre provided 
with water. The beneficial effects of the mixture are quite marked, 
especially when the hogs are fattened on fresh Maize. A little wood 
ashes given to horses is also, he maintains, very beneficial. In thirty- 
seven years’ experience upon the farm he has lost but one horse, and 
this was overheated in the horse power of a threshing machine during 
his absence, and the only “ condition powder ” he has ever used has 
been clean wood ashes. The ashes may be given by putting an even 
teaspoonful on the Oats twice a week, but he prefers to keep the ashes 
and salt mixture constantly before the horses, and has made for it a 
little compartment in one corner of the feed box. His experience is 
that the best condition powder is a mixture of three parts wood ashes 
to one of salt ; and that when it is given regularly, and reasonable care 
and intelligence are used in handling the horse, no other medicines 
are necessary. Mr. Stahl has also great faith in the efficacy of wood 
ashes as a fertiliser. 
- Royal Meteorological Society. —The annual meeting of 
this Society was held on the 16th, Mr. R. Inwards, F.R.A.S., President, 
in the chair. The Council, in the report, reviewed the work done by 
the Society during the past year, and also stated that additional accom¬ 
modation had been provided to meet the growing needs of the library. 
Forty-five new Fellows had been elected during the year. Mr. Inwards, 
in his presidential address, dealt with the subject of “ Weather 
Fallacies,” which he treated under the heads of Saints’ day fallacies, 
sun and moon fallacies, and those concerning animals and plants. He 
also referred to the almanac makers, weather prophets and impostors 
who have from time to time furnished the world with fit materials for 
its credence or its ridicule. 
- Wind Velocity. —At the above meeting Mr. C. Harding read 
a paper on “ The Gale of December 2 l 9 t, 22nd, 1894, over the British 
Isles.” This storm, he said, was one of exceptional severity, especially 
over the northern portions of England and Ireland, and in the south of 
Scotland. It developed energy very quickly, and travelled with great 
rapidity. The self-recording anemometers show that the greatest 
violence of the wind occurred at Fleetwood, where the velocity was 
107 miles in the hour between 8.30 and 9.30 A M. on the 22nd, and for 
four consecutive hours the velocity exceeded 100 miles. This is the 
greatest force of wind ever recorded in the British Isles, and is 10 miles 
an hour in excess of the highest wind velocity in the great storm of 
November 16th—20tb, 1893. At Holyhead the wind in squalls attained 
the hourly velocity of 150 miles between 10 A.M. and noon on the 22nd. 
The strongest force was mostly from the north-westward. Much destruc¬ 
tion was wrought both on sea and land, and there was a heavy loss of life. 
- Anbury, or Finger and Toe. — The disease of anbury, or 
finger and toe, is met with wherever the Turnip crop is cultivated, but 
it is probably nowhere more destructive than in the north of England. 
An experiment bearing on the disease, briefly described in the Journal 
of the Royal Agricultural Society, by Professor W. Somerville, will there¬ 
fore interest all agriculturists. The experimenter emphasises the fact that 
the disease is extremely infectious, and may be easily induced by 
inoculating a soil perfectly sound with soil from a diseased field. Such 
diseased soil, however, may be easily disinfectei by lime, a fact which 
points to the pathological phenomena being due to an organism— 
presumably Plasmodiophora brassicse. This being so, too great care 
cannot be taken to prevent soil or diseased roots being conveyed from a 
field which is diseased to another which is sound. 
- Apple Scab in American Orchards. —The so-called Apple 
scab is one of the serious pests of American orchards, not only because 
it causes mis-shapen and undeveloped fruit, but because the affected 
trees suffer from defective foliage. When it is remembered that the 
fruit buds of one year are all started the year before, the necessity for 
healthy foliage every year is apparent, and it is plain that the fungus 
should be kept from trees on the off years as well as on the bearing 
years. We have often, says the “ Garden and Forest,” given accounts 
of the effectiveness of the Bordeaux mixture against this disease, but 
it is a matter which everyone ought to understand. Some late experi¬ 
ments made at the Agricultural College of Missouri seem to show that 
the weaker solutions were about as effective as the stronger ones, and 
that the first spraying should be given very early, and be followed by at 
least three others. The second crop of scab, which appears on late 
Apples seems in this case to have been entirely prevented by spraying. 
—— Birmingham Amateur Gardeners’ Association.— In their 
second annual report the Committee of the Birmingham and District 
Amateur Gardeners’ Association congratulate the members “ on the 
splendid progress the Association has made during the year.” There has 
been a large accession of new members—ninety-four having joined 
during the year. Several members have left from various causes, and 
the total membership (excluding sixty-nine whose subscriptions are not 
yet paid) is now 185, as against 152 in 1893 In addition to this eight 
have already been elected for 1895. The number of meetings held 
during the year was twenty-three, compared with seventeen in 1893 ; the 
average attendance being thirty-eight, compared with thirty-two. Should 
it be found practicable the Committee have in view the idea of organising 
a show in the autumn, to comprise Chrysanthemums and other flowering 
plants and vegetables ; but the achievement of this project must depend 
on the assistance which the members generally are prepared to give. 
The statement of accounts submitted with the report shows a balance 
in hand of £4 83 . 8 d. The Committee feel it is their imperative duty 
to record how greatly the interests of the Association have been 
promoted by tbe untiring energy and self-sacrifice of the Hon. 
Secretary (Mr. Griffin) and the Hon. Treasurer (Mr. Rees). 
