92 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 31, 1895. 
Weather ih London. —The weather during the past week has 
been most unfavourable for gardening, frost and snow having been 
prevalent the whole time. On Sunday evening and Monday morning 
about 2 inches of snow fell. There has been from 12° to 15° of frost 
nightly, and considerably more in some of the suburbs. Snow fell on 
\\ ednesday morning. Last week we referred to the peculiar nature 
of the weather on the day prior to publication. One of the daily papers 
summarised the matter as follows 9.30 A.M., raining; 9.35, intense 
darkness; 9.40, thunder and lightning; 9.50, terrific hailstorm ; 
10.0, heavy snowstorm ; 10.30, sunshine. 
- Weather in the North.—O n Friday and Saturday last 
another severe snowstorm blocked railways and roads in the North of 
Scotland. Slight falls occurred in the middle of the country on Satur¬ 
day night and Tuesday morning, when fully an inch lay on the low 
grounds. The frost has been almost continuous for a week, from 3° 
on the 24th to 18° on Monday. There was an appearance of more snow 
on Tuesday morning with 9° of frost recorded.—B. D., S. Perthshire. 
The Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. —The usual monthly 
meeting of the Committee took place at the Horticultural Club on the 
25th inst, Mr. William Marshall presiding. The following special sub¬ 
scriptions were announced by Mr. Barron :—Mr. M. Todd, seedsman, 
Edinburgh, sale of flowers, £13 10s. ; Mr. H. J. Jones, nurseryman] 
Lewisham, boxes in his Chrysanthemum houses, £9 ; the Midland 
Carnation and Picotee Society, per Mr. E. Sydenham, £5 ; Mr. J. Kip¬ 
ling, The Gardens, Knebworth, for skating on Knebworth lake, £2 ; 
Mr. H. Herbst, Richmond Road, Kew, £1 Is. ; and Mr. W. H. Divers] 
The Gardens, Belvoir Castle, 8s. 4d. From boxes the following sums 
Mr. William Marshall, Auchinraith, Bexley, £1 7s. lOd. ; Mr. J. Hughes, 
Harborne, Birmingham, £1 38. 3d. ; Mr. George Fry, Lewisham] 
£1 Is. lOd. ; Mr. H. Perkins, The Gardens, Green Lanes, Henley-on- 
Thames, 10s. ; and a number of smaller sums from boxes, all of which 
were most acceptable. The Secretary submitted a draft report and 
balance-sheet, both of which were approved and adopted, for presenta¬ 
tion at the annual general meeting at the Cannon Street Hotel on 
February 8th, 
- Making Wreaths.— The article by “H. D.” (page 65) would 
be welcome to a large number of readers, as the subject of wreath¬ 
making is not often written about; nevertheless, it is often a part of a 
gardener’s duty. “ H. D.” only recommends two rings being used for 
wreaths of 3 feet or upwards in diameter. I have always found it 
better to have two even in small wreaths of 1 foot or 18 inches in 
diameter, as when only one is used there is a danger of the material of 
which the wreath is made slipping round. It cannot do this when two 
are used, and a much firmer base may be made. For beginners and 
those who only have this kind of work to do occasionally, the latter, I 
think, will be found the better way.—J. S. Upex. 
Herbaceous Calceolarias. —I bad the pleasure of seeing a 
very fine collection of these plants the other day, many of them 
already in flower. The seeds may be sown at intervals from June to 
August, and care should be taken to sow as evenly as possible, but it is 
not advisable to cover them with soil. When the plants are large 
enough to handle, prick out about 2 inches asunder in pans or boxes, still 
keeping them in a close shaded situation. As they attain size 'they 
must be placed singly in 3-iEch pots, keeping them as near the glass 
as possible. When necessary they can be shifted into 6-inch pots, in 
which they may be wintered—a frost-proof pit or shelf in the green¬ 
house are the best positions—just allowing enough water to prevent 
the plants flagging. Remove all dead leaves, and immediately green 
fly appears fumigate mildly two evenings in succession. By the end 
of January the plants will require another move into 7 or 8-inch pots, 
with abundance of drainage, and a compost consisting of two parts 
light fibrous loam, one of sheep’s droppings sifted, and one of leaf soil 
with a good dash of sand. At the middle of April the plants will com¬ 
mence flowering, and will continue for a couple of months, providing 
air and water are given when necessary. The flower stems should be 
supported with a neat stick, and for seed purposes the best blooms only 
ought to be fertilised.—G. Burrows, Warwich. 
-Gardening Appointments. — Mr. J. W. Sigee has been 
appointed head gardener to Capt. Drummond, Enderby Hall, Leicester. 
Mr. E. C. Cook, formerly under Mr. Fyfe, at Lockinge Gardens, as 
head gardener to the Rev. H. A. Berners, Harkstead Rectory, Ipswich. 
-Tadcaster Paxton Society.—A t a meeting of this Society 
on January 17th, a paper was read by Mr. John Snell of The Gardens, 
Grimston Park, on Begonias and Gloxinias. It was highly appreciated, 
and an interesting discussion followed. A vote of thanks to the essayist 
closed the meeting. 
- I shall be greatly obliged if any readers of the Journal of 
Horticulture can inform me how I may properly cure pods of 
Vanilla. Through information given in the Journal of April 6th, 
1888, I fertilised a few flowers; the pods resulting are now 8 and 
9 inches long. I want to know when to cut them, and how to treat 
them afterwards.—J. Crispin, F.R.H.S. 
- Exeter Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Society.— 
A meeting of this Society was held on the 23rd inst., when Mr. Edwards, 
gardener to Mr. James Hare of Honeylands, Whipton, read a paper 
on “Melons and Cucumbers, and their Culture.” The essay was in 
every way a praiseworthy one, all the salient points in the culture 
of these plants receiving attentionj and thus much practical information 
was conveyed. 
- Mr. Blackmore’s Fruit. —Our correspondent “ H.” writes 
again on this subject, stating that the prices Mr. Blackmore obtained, 
and these alone, prevented his undertaking being profitable. Our corre¬ 
spondent, we are sorry to say, informs us that Mr. Blackmore is very 
ill, and therefore we refrain from inserting any more controversial 
matter on the subject that has been under discussion—at least for the 
present. ' We think, however, our correspondent can say something on 
the disposal of fruit generally that would be useful if he has time to 
devote attention to the subject. 
- American Butternuts. —Now that a growing interest is 
manifest in the subject of Nut culture. Dr, Hoskins observes that too 
little is said about the Butternut, especially for growing in the cold 
north. In quality the Butternut is rich, and, to some people, it is more 
agreeable than that of the English Walnut, but its rough outside is not 
attractive and its shell is hard. We have never heard, says the “ Garden 
and Forest,” of any attempt at growing select varieties, although the wild 
trees differ very much in the quality of their nuts. Perhaps some 
varieties of value could be secured by crossing our native Butternuts with 
the foreign species, and a seedling Butternut will bear when it is quite 
young. Dr, Hoskins planted a few Butternuts in rows sixteen years ago, 
and the trees from this seed have been bearing good nuts for several 
years, and he finds that the best varieties can readily be grafted on 
trees bearing inferior nuts. 
- Raising Peas under Glass.— Whilst some gardeners prefer 
to have Peas sown thinly in pots to plant outdoors later, and others 
employ strips of inverted turf, not many, I think, use long, narrow 
wooden troughs for the purpose. These may be made 2 feet long, 
3 inches wide inside, and 4 inches deep. One side and the bottom 
should be nailed to the ends, whilst the other side should be merely kept 
in place by ties of stout string or flexible wire. Filled two-thirds 
with good soil, the seeds sown thinly, then covered nearly to the top 
with fine soil, well watered, and stood in a frame or house in gentle 
warmth, growth soon ensues. From twenty to thirty of these troughs 
sown in this way will give a good early planting, and will under glass 
occupy a very limited space. When the plants are a few inches in 
height and hardened they may be easily transplanted in bulk into deep 
drills by merely removing the loose sides of the troughs.—A. D. 
- Florida Oranges. —The latest news from Florida shows that 
the Orange crop will not be a total loss in some of the groves in the 
central part of the State and along the south-western coast. Although 
heavy frosts prevailed in these parts and the thermometer fell to 28°, 
there was no long-continued cold, as throughout other sections, where 
the freezing weather lasted for three days, and the Oranges were frozen 
solid on the trees. Later on these Oranges dropped, and the ground 
was thickly covered with useless fruit, and in many instances the leaves 
also fell, while the bark burst the entire length of the trunks. Besides 
the supplies of Mediterranean fruit under way to supply the deficiency, 
the New York market is, says a transatlantic contemporary, ready to 
take the supply from Jamaica, Porto Rico, and Cuba, so that, although 
there will not be as many Oranges of the first quality as was expected, 
there will be no scarcity of fairly good fruit at rea.Qn.»ble prices. 
