Haroh 7,1895. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
205 
_ Rbadino Hoeticultueal Society.—A s is announced by 
advertisement, an exhibition of bulbous plants and other flowers will 
be held in the Queen’s Hall, Reading, on Tuesday, 15th inst. Mr, 
Wm. Walker, Dunollie, Reading, is the Secretary of the Society, 
—— Prizes POE Photogeaphs. —With the view to obtaining the 
best pictorial representations of their specialties in flowers and vege¬ 
tables, Messrs. James Carter & Co. are offering a series of cash prizes, 
particulars of which can be obtained from their establishment in High 
Holborn. 
- Veitch’s Self-peotecting Beoccoli.—H aving grown this 
valuable Broccoli for several years I can recommend it as one of the 
best varieties in cultivation. At the end of December last I cut several 
heads, beautifully white, solid, and compact, which, after being divested 
of their outer leaves, weighed from 11 to 13 lbs. each. The plants were 
grown between the rows of Potatoes without any extra attention what¬ 
ever.—H. Masok, Bisbrooh Hall, ZTppingham. 
- The Hessle Gardeners’ Mhttjal Improvement Society. 
—At a meeting of the above Society held on February 26th a paper 
was read by Mr. Crofts, The Gardens, Tranby Croft, on “ The Cultivation 
of Tuberous Begonias.” Begonias, he said, are unsurpassed as summer 
bedding plants, and at the same time cheap to purchase, also so easy to 
raise and preserve, that all should grow them for bedding plants. But 
to see them at their best inside culture is to be recommended.—P. L. T. 
- Febehaby Weather.— The weather during the past month 
has been the severest I recollect. The mornings of the 6th, 7th, 8th, 
9th, and 10th were the sharpest. On each occasion the thermometer 
was down at zero on the snow line, whilst on the morning of the 8th the 
mercury was 3° below zero. Roses and tender shrubs have suffered 
badly, and the whole of the Broccoli are destroyed. The month on the 
whole has been very dry ; only 0’47 of rain and snow was registered, 
against 1'71 of 1894.—E. Wallis, The Gardens, Hamels Park, 
Bmtingford, Herts. 
-Febbhaey Weather in South Wales.—T he following is 
a summary of the weather here for the past month. The sun shone 
on twenty-three days. Total amount 104^ hours; maximum, 8{ 
hours on the 16th; minimum, quarter hour on the 19th. The 
rainfall was the lowest on record, being 010, against 5'68 inches, 
for the same period last year. A very cold month, with brilliant sun¬ 
shine most of the time, but with sharp frosts every night. The snow 
has not disappeared from the ground since the 29th of December. The 
wind has been from the east for fourteen days, and from the south-east 
twelve days. —W, Mabbott, Gwernllwyn House, Doiolais, Glam. 
-Meteorological Observations at Hodsock Priory, Work¬ 
sop, Notts, foe February.— Mean temperature of month, 281°. 
Maximum on the 23rd, 47°; minimum on the 8th,— 4 0°, Maximum in the 
■sun on the 27th, 103'8° ; minimum on the grass on the 8th, — 8 9°. Mean 
temperature of the air at 9 A.M , 26-5°. Mean temperature of the soil 
at 1 foot deep, 33°. Nights below 32° in shade, twenty-four ; on grass, 
twenty-eight. Total sunshine, seventy-four hours, or 27 per cent, of 
possible duration ; seven sunless days. Total rainfall, 013 inch ; rain 
fell on eight days. Approximate averages for February :—Mean tem¬ 
perature, 39 5°; sunshine, flfty-six hours; rainfall, 1'58 inch. The 
coldest month for at least twenty years, and the driest with the single 
exception of February, 1891. We have twice had a lower minimum 
temperature in the shade—viz., in December, 1879, and January, 1894, 
when it fell to — 6'8° and — 4'4° respectively. The only other month 
with a mean temperature below 30° was January, 1881, when it was 
28‘4°. — J. Mallender. 
- Germinating Power of Seeds.—D r. A. Peter gives, in the 
Nachrichten von der Konigliohen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu 
Gottingen, the results of a second series of cultural experiments with 
dormant seeds, taken from various depths in the soil of woodlands or 
forest. The forest in question of the present day is the site of villages 
and cultivation that disappeared several centuries ago ; and some of the 
samples were taken from dense forest, 100 to 150 years old, under the 
shade of which there has been no surface vegetation for years. The 
principal point to investigate was the probable existence of seeds of 
cornfield weeds still possessing the power of germinating and developing 
into reproductive plants. Dr, Peters succeeded in raising a large number 
of plants belonging to about fifty different species, including some that 
are essentially weeds of cultivation; and he believes he has good 
grounds for supposing that the buried seeds of many pasture plants and 
cornfield weeds retain the vitality much more than half a century ; that 
is, under the conditions he describes. 
- Primula Blooms. —Just as we are going to press a few 
specimen Primula blooms reached us from Messrs. B, S. William* and 
Son, Upper Holloway, London. These were evidently fine when 
dispatched, but arrived in a shrivelled condition, which deprived them 
of much of their beauty. 
- Sulphur for Onions, —For the benefit of persons who are 
unable to raise a good crop of Onions on account of the grub, I can 
offer a very good recipe, and it is as follows :—When the Onion bed is 
prepared and the drills made ready for sowing sprinkle a good pinch of 
flowers of sulphur in each drill from end to end, or if it is desirable to 
sow the Onions broadcast, sow the sulphur the same way, and dig it in 
This will produce a sure crop of Onions, and no grub will trouble them. 
—T. F. 
- Colonial Fruits. —Up to the close of last week three steam¬ 
ships had arrived here from the Cape, fruit-laden, and in a short time 
the first fruits of the colonial supply were dispersed, a large quantity 
finding its way to the stalls of the hucksters. This latter fact indicates 
either an over-supply or inferior quality; unfortunately, both facts 
are required in explanation, and we regret, says a contemporary, to think 
that fruit shippers at the Cape have again learnt che lesson that not 
anything or everything will find profitable customers in London at this 
time of year. 
- Scarcity of Parsley.—T he most suitable places I have 
found for growing it to stand the winter has been odd corners under 
trees or hedge bottoms. Last season, having lost nearly all that was 
I not in boxes and covered, more from damp than frost, I was obliged 
with a supply by a cottager, who had a fine lot growing under a Yew 
tree. Having cut about 6 feet of rough Yew hedge, planted on a mound 
of very rough material, and full of roots, I grubbed the surface, and 
gave it some potting-shed refuse, then sowed half with Parsley, and 
planted the other half. It did not grow very much and had to struggle 
amongst the weeds. The Parsley has, however, stood the winter all 
j right, and there are several small leaves now, and with a change to genial 
weather there will soon be abundance for gathering. In many gardens 
there are corners where Parsley might be grown in out of the way 
places.—M. J. 
I -The Weather in February. — The first eighteen days of 
February were cold, and the eighth day of the month remarkably so, 
the minimum temperature on a Glaisher’s screen read — 3° (three below 
zero), and on the grass — 8°. This was worse than occurred during the 
winter of 1860 61, when the minimum temperatures here were — 1° on the 
stand, and — 5° on the grass on December 25th. Fortunately the ground 
I was covered with 4 inches of snow during the severest frosts this year, 
and many low growing plants have escaped serious injury. The frost 
penetrated the ground 8 inches, and a heap of soil 18 inches ; the ice on 
i the lake was 8^ inches in thickness. The wind was in a northerly 
I direction eighteen days. Total rainfall 0 31 inch, which fell on seven 
I days, the greatest daily fall being 014 inch on 24th. Barometer— 
highest 30 324 at 9 P.M. on the 16th ; lowest 29 460 at 9 P.M. on 26th. 
Thermometer—highest in shade 45° on 28th ; lowest — 3° on 8lh. Mean 
of daily maxima, 34 53°; mean of daily minima, 20 00°. Mean 
temperature of the month, 27'20° ; lowest on grass — 8° on 8th ; highest 
in sun, 99° on the 27th. Mean temperature of the earth at 3 feet deep, 
3517°. Total sunshine, 106 hours twenty minutes. There were six 
sunless days.—W. H. 'DvfE.v.B, Belvoir Castle Gardens, Grantham. 
- Spraying Plants —Spraying plants with clear water is of 
such benefit to them, that it is strange people in general do not practise 
it more. There are several kinds of implements to use for the purpose, 
any of which will do the work well. The value of spraying cannot be 
over-estimated; it tempers the atmosphere around the plants and 
washes the dust from them, leaving the breathing pores free to act, 
and prevents the ravages of red spider. Some years ago, when I had 
no sprinkler and had never heard of one, I used a whisk broom dipped 
in water to sprinkle my plants, and it answered the purpose very well. 
Some plants do not like water on their leaves, and they can be moved 
out of reach of it. None of them like it when the sun is shining hot 
on the foliage, but in the early morning or evening they enjoy it. The 
value of moisture around Chinese Primroses, says a writer in an 
American contemporary, is seldom fully understood. They dislike it 
on their foliage, but when the pots are sunk into wet sand the moisture 
causes them to grow rank and healthy, and they never have that dried- 
up forsaken look that we see when moisture is lacking. To sum it all 
up, the rule to follow in spraying is to spray as often as you think the 
plants need it, and then, to he sure they have enough moisture, spray a 
' little more. 
