132 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 14, 1895. 
Weather in London. —Severe wintry weather still prevails in the 
Metropolis, though there have been no further falls of snow during 
(he past week. This morning (Wednesday) the thermometer in the 
sontliern suburbs registered 16° of frost. On Saturday last a thick fog 
hung over the Metropolis, and at time of going to press a raw, dull 
atmosphere prevails. 
- Weather in the North. — Intensely severe weather has 
marked the past week. On the 5th inst. another snowstorm raged 
furiously along the east coast, and blocked the northern railway lines 
for the third time. The frost of 6° on that day increased to 27° on the 
10th, 26° and 22° being recorded on Monday and Tuesday mornings, but 
from various paits of the country readings below zero are reported. The 
days have been brilliantly clear and bright, and no change was indicated 
on Tuesday.—B. D., S. Perthshire. 
- Extraordinary Frost.—M r. David Thomson sends us from 
Drumlanrig the following readings from a meteorological society’s ther¬ 
mometer in a sparred box 4 feet from the ground :— 
February 8th .8° below zero. 
» 9th .9° 
„ 10th .12° „ 
„ 11th . 
At twelve o’clock at noon, with bright sun, the instrument registered 
22° below freezing. Mr. Thomson states that the lowest previous 
reading was 5° below zero in 1860, and further observes he has never 
seen on four successive nights such low readings as those quoted, and 
doubts if such have occurred in the century. We have received many 
notes of the weather, but as we have to prepare for press sooner 
than usual this week they arrived too late for insertion. At Aldin 
Grange, Durham, Mr. W. A. Jenkins mentions 6° below zero as the 
lowest reading there on the morning of the 8th inst. Messrs. Fell & Co,, 
Hexham, registered 2° below zero last Friday and Saturday. Mr. 
A. Bartley, Eshwood Hall Gardens, Durham, has registered 3°, 7°, and 8° 
below zero. Mr. Forbes mentions 2° and 3° below zero as low readings 
at Hawick; and Mr. A. Keith, gardener to Sir G. 0. Trevelyan, 10° below 
zero at Wallington, Northumberland. 
-England in the Antipodes.—T he suburbs of Christchurch, 
New Zealand, are English villages, the streets are English lanes, the 
paddocks English meadows, the parks and gardens are likewise English. 
The river that flows through the city is the Avon. It runs bright and 
clear. Willows overhanging the banks, and English trout glide up and 
down the stream. How green and beautiful are the English trees that 
grow there—Oaks, Elms, Larches and Beeches, Willows, Poplars, and 
Elders. The town is surrounded with rich meadows, divided by Briar 
and Hawthorn hedges, all adding their share to the truly .English 
character of this far-oS country, 
- Eoyal Caledonian Horticultural Society and the 
LATE Mr. William Thomson. —Mr. Charles Stewart, W.S., 4, Albyn 
Place, Edinburgh, writes :—“At the last meeting of members of the above 
Society, held in Edinburgh, it was agreed that a fund should be instituted 
and the interest thereof applied in providing prizes in memory of the late 
Mr. William Thomson, Clovenfords, such prizes to take the form of 
medals and sums of money to be awarded for exhibits at various shows 
in the United Kingdom in the same manner as the Memorial prizes 
already in existence, and Mr. Thomson’s family have expressed their 
approval of the proposal. To carry out this scheme it is proposed that 
a General Committee should be formed to collect subscriptions, and 
circulars are being sent out inviting gentlemen to join such Committee. 
When this Committee is formed the members will send out circulars and 
collect subscriptions from their various districts, but as no doubt there 
may be many who would be willing to subscribe and who may be over¬ 
looked by the Committee, or not known to them, and who can only be 
reached by public announcements in the Press, it has been suggested 
that the gardening papers should be asked to insert a paragraph 
relating to the proposed object. I have been appointed interim Secretary 
for the Committee, and shall be glad to receive subscriptions or 
intimations.” 
- National Vegetable Show.—A t a meeting at the Eoyal 
Aquarium on Tuesday last the following resolution was proposed by Mr, 
E. Dean, seconded by Mr. Cummins, “ That as the prospect of holding 
a National Vegetable Show at the Eoyal Aquarium in September next 
is by no means of an assuring character, the holding of such an ex¬ 
hibition be postponed to another year,” 
- Chinese Plants. —China has yet many charming ornamental 
plants in store for us, as was evident from an exhibition of dried speci¬ 
mens at the Linnsean Society cn Thursday last by Mr. W. B. Hemsley,. 
on behalf of the Director of Kew Gardens. A new Jasminum in the 
way of J. nudiflorum, but having flowers nearly three times as large^ 
was much admired, and would certainly be a great acquisition to our 
gardens. It was collected in the western province of Yunnan by Mr» 
W. Hancock, but too early in the season to secure seed. A new species 
of Brandisia from the same region is a highly ornamental rambling 
shrub with crimson flowers, reminding one of the Mexican genus 
Lamourouxia, belonging to the same natural order — namely, the 
Scrophulariacese. 
- Eucharis Blooms Frozen in Water.—M any people are- 
under the impression that if delicate flowers are exposed to the cold 
they will immediately perish. That such is not the case can be 
proved in the fact that recently a quantity of Eucharis blooms were 
gathered and placed in a shallow dish of water and placed on a fruit- 
room shelf. During the night a severe frost set in, and the next 
morning the flowers were frozen stiff in the water. No steps were 
taken to extricate them, nor were they touched in any way, but the 
dish was left until the water thawed slowly. The blooms were then 
taken out and used, apparently none the worse for their starving. It 
would be interesting to learn, by experiment, how long such flowers 
would remain fresh in a frozen condition.—G. 
- Glasgow Fruit Trade. — At the first annual soiree of the 
Glasgow and District Fruit Merchants’ Association, held recently in 
the City Hall, the Chairman, Bailie James Ferguson, remarked that the 
fruit trade of the city has been one of tremendous growth. Not so 
many years ago the quantity of Grapes brought into the city consisted 
of some 500 barrels, which supplied the city and surrounding districts. 
Last year one broker sold alone 104,000 barrels. This growth in Grapes 
also applies to every other kind of fruit. The trade has grown to 
such an extent that the bulk of the business is conducted outside the 
bazaar altogether, and he thought the time had now come when the 
Council should increase the accommodation they required. As regards 
the brokers they were a smart class of men ; but he considered that 
the conduct of the business was in many respects more favourable to 
them than to the merchants, 
-Vanilla Pods. — In reply to Mr. J. Crispin, F.E.H.S., 
January 31st (page 92), I may say that the Vanilla pods of commerce— 
not the V. aromatica as long believed, but shown by the investigations 
of Morren and Schiede in Mexico to be those of Vanilla planifolia—are 
gathered as soon as they become yellow, and are carefully dried by 
exposure to the sun’s rays until they are made warm, in which state 
they are wrapped in woollen cloths, to promote evaporation and absorb 
the vapours. By this process the Vanilla acquires a black hue, often 
silvered over with glistening white prisms. The slender pods, 8 to 
12 inches in length, are seldom of good quality when grown in this 
country, and dried in the ordinary way by exposure to natural or 
artificial warmth, but when prepared in the manner described they 
are considered in some respects better than the commercial article. 
—G. A, 
_ The Horticultural Club.—T he twentieth anniversary of 
the Horticultural Club was held at the Hotel Windsor, Victoria Street, 
London, on the evening of Tuesday, the 12th inst. The chair was taken 
by Sir J. D. Llewelyn, Bart. There was present a very large propor¬ 
tion of members considering the inclement state of the weather. The 
table was beautifully decorated with flowers and fruit generously 
provided by Messrs. Harry Veitch, T. Francis Eivers, and George Paul. 
Some half a dozen toasts were given, including that of the Horti¬ 
cultural Society, and in the course of the evening kindly reference was 
made to the presence of the Eev. W. Wilks, now convalescent, and to 
the long and excellent services of the Eev. H. H, D’Ombrain, the 
Secretary of the Horticultural Club, The evening was most agreeably 
diversified by a musical programme executed by the Maidstone 
Quartette, under the direction of Mr. George Bunyard, and two delightful 
solos on the English concertina were performed by Mr. Harry Turner. 
