72 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 25, 1894. 
- Cauliflowers. —I have no doubt many readers will be able 
to endorse the remarks of “ D.” (page 50) on this subject. We bad, 
doubtless, many complaints to make against the past season, but in this 
particular respect it has favoured most of us. The wonderful beads of 
Autumn Giant seen quite recently in the London markets would almost 
make us forget many of our troubles in respect to the weather. 1 saw a 
fine bed utterly destroyed by the severe frost the first week in the 
present month near Dover. A little trouble taken in lifting and hanging 
them in a shed would have saved many. A cottager told me he 
had had a dish of Autumn Giant for his dinner on January 13th by 
lifting them and laying them in by the heels in a frame, which he 
covered during the severe frost.—R. 
- Snowdrops. —“B. C.,” The Willows, Windsor, writes:—“I 
never remember seeing the Snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis, in flower so 
early here. It is quite three weeks earlier than usual. Had it not been 
for the severe frost we had at the new year the flowers would have been 
out a week or ten days earlier than they are now. Since the frost 
they have come on rapidly, and now (20th inst.) all under the trees 
on the lawn is a mass of pure white. I am of opinion that the Snow¬ 
drop is not planted so extensively as it ought to be under spreading 
trees on lawns, where grass grows sparsely, and sometimes not at all. 
In such a position the Snowdrop is quite at home, and has a beautiful 
effect. Many acres of the grounds at Dunrobin Castle have been 
planted by Mr. Melville, who has made the cultivation of the Snowdrop 
a speciality, and with excellent results. When I had the pleasure of 
seeing them in flower some years ago they were all that could be 
desired. The flowers were very large, and the effect of acres of the 
beautiful white carpet under the sombre trees as seen from a distance 
was very flne.” 
- Plants at Nottingham Natural History Museum.— 
Professor Carr informs “Nature’’that a very extensive and valuable 
collection of British and foreign plants has been presented to the 
Nottingham Natural History Museum by Mr. H. Fisher, late of Newark. 
Some idea of the nature and extent of the collection may he gathered 
from the following enumeration of the more important series included 
in it. 1, A practically complete herbarium of British plants, com¬ 
prising about 2000 species and varieties, and about 10,000 specimens. 
2, A European collection, comprising many thousand species from 
France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Roumania, Russia, Norway, 
and Sweden. 3, Several thousand species from North America. 4, A 
very fine collection from the Bombay Presidency. 5, About 1500 species 
from Natal, the Transvaal, and other plants of South Africa. 6, A 
small collection from Australia. Of the above collection that from 
Russia is of quite exceptional value and interest. It comprises species 
from all parts of the Russian Empire—from St. Petersburg, Lapland, 
and the Crimea, through Siberia to Kamskatka and Turkestan, also from 
the Trans-Caucasus and the Caspian region. The Spanish collection is 
an extremely fine and valuable one — probably one of the best in 
existence. In order to hand over the collection to the town in as com¬ 
plete and accessible a form as possible, Mr. Fisher is himself arranging 
and labelling the collection. 
•-Bournemouth Gardeners’ Association.—T his Society has 
now entered on the sixth year of its existence. The first meeting of the 
session being held on Monday 15th inst., a lecture on “ Soils and 
Manures” was given by Professor F. M. H. Munro of Downton College. 
Unfortunately a very wet night limited the attendance. The lecturer 
gave a most interesting and initructive discourse, making special 
reference to Bournemouth soil, a sample of which had been sent to 
him for analysis. The sample was taken from the Common, or what is 
now termed the Meyrick Park, now being laid out by the Corporation, 
and which had not been under cultivation in the memory of anyone. At 
the close of the lecture. Professor Munro received a hearty vote of 
thanks, and the same was accorded to the Chairman, T. J. Hankinson 
Esq., J.P. This lecture was arranged by the Director of Technical 
Instruction of the Hants County Council. A glance at the soil 
constituents suggests that if profitable crops can be wrested out of such 
soil, the Bournemouth gardeners must be most excellent cultivators. 
The medium is almost entirely composed of gravel and sand with mere 
traces of clay and vegetable matter, while the chemical analysis reveals 
scarcely anything that is good. We are glad to see by the financial 
statement that the Society is prosperous, and judging from the following 
programme for the present year intends to be useful: January 29th, 
“Artificial Manures—Their Use and Application,” Professor F. M. H* 
Munro ; February 6th, “ Tomatoes for Profit,” Mr. S. Castle, Ashford 
Vineries, Fordingbridge; February 20th, “ Some Interesting Facts 
Concerning Plant Life”—Illustrated, Mr. W. Jones ; March 6th, “ The 
Improvement of the Position of Gardeners,” Mr. H. Elliott, Stourfield 
Nursery, Christchurch ; March 20th, “ Can a Garden be Made Effective 
with Hardy Plants and Annuals,” Mr. J. Crook, Forde Abbey, Chard ; 
April 3rd, “ The Cultivation of Asparagus,” Mr. Skinner, The Gardens, 
Highcliffe Castle; April 17th, “The Cultivation of Amaryllis,” Mr. J, 
Spong ; May Ist, “History of the Cross-Fertilization of Plants,” Miss 
Roper ; May 15th, “ A Few Hints on Orchid Growing,” Mr. W. H. Jones ; 
June 12ih, “ Some Varietiesiof Aphis,” Mr. J, Kettlee. 
- An East End Horticultural Society. —The new Horti¬ 
cultural Society at the People’s Palace, Mile End Road, London, over 
which the Duke of Fife is to preside, will probably have, a daily paper 
says, a large membership. It will be essentially an amateur’s Society, 
the subscription for exhibiting members being only Is. per annum. 
For this modest sum it is proposed to grant the privileges of entry for 
the special prizes offered to working-men horticulturists, of free admission 
to the two or three shows held in the course of the year, with other 
privileges. In case the gate money taken at the shows and the 
members’ subscriptions should not sufldce to make the concern financially 
sound, a large number of gentlemen and ladies interested in East 
London will be asked to become associates and vice-presidents. 
-WooLTON Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Society,— 
The fifth annual meeting of members of the above Society was held in 
the Mechanics’ Institute, and was largely attended ; Mr. D. H. Johns 
presiding. Besides acknowledging valuable papers read by local 
gardeners, the series of lectures delivered by R. J. Harvey Gibson, Esq, 
M.A., F.L.S., on “ The History of Botany and Agriculture,” were highly 
appreciated. The floral concert gave unqualified pleasure, the result 
being that the sum of £10 10s. was sent to the Gardeners’ Royal 
Benevolent Institution. The library is much frequented, and shows a 
great increase on the number of books circulated. Those added during 
the current year were “ The Orchidaceous Manual ” (two vols.), kindly 
presented by Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, and by purchase, “ The Fruit 
Growers’ Guide,” by John Wright, and Williams’ “Stove and Green¬ 
house Plants.” The account shows a substantial balance. The Secretary, 
Treasurer, and Librarian were unanimously re-elected, and half of the 
Committee retiring the following were elected for two years :—Messrs- 
J. Stoney, G. Cliffe, W. Ellis, G. Mainwaring, W. Barber, J. Blakey, 
F. Clarke, T. Sumner, and T. Leadbetter.—R. P. R. 
H^MANTHUS LINDENI. 
This is one of the most beautiful species of the Hmmanthus in 
cultivation. It was discovered by M. Auguste Linden, after whom it 
has been named, in the Congo region, and was introduced a few years 
ago. In October last MM. Linden, Brussels, staged a fine plant of it, 
amongst other novelties, at the Drill Hall, James Street, S.W,, and for 
which the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society 
awarded a first-class certificate. The plant in question bore three large 
scapes of bloom, one of these being represented in the illustration 
(fig. 11). The flowers are soft rosy red, each one being distinct, and are 
produced in large heads. 
FRUITS AT DUFFUS HOUSE. 
Mr. Archibald H. Dunbar sends us lists of fruits grown in the 
gardens at Duff us House, near Elgin, and grown well too, as we know 
by the specimens we have received. The lists have been reprinted 
from the “Moray and Nairn Express,” with the following prefatory 
remarks:— 
“■ Moray has long been called the ‘ Garden of Scotland,’ though by 
what authority we are not in a position to state. There are one or two 
other places which contest the claim ; but there is this to be said, that if 
there were any possibility of putting it to the test, the climate of Moray 
will be hard to beat in this far north Scotland of ours. Probably one of 
the best tests that could be applied is in the production of fruits grown 
in the open air. In this connection we have pleasure in drawing the 
special attention of readers to a complete list of the various kinds of 
fruit which many years’ experience has proved can be grown with 
success in the gardens at Duffus House. 
“ There are many good gardens in the province of Moray, but 
probably none surpass those at Duffus House, the residence of Sir 
Archibald Dunbar. These lists of fruits grown there have been 
carefully drawn up by Sir Archibald’s eldest son. The value of the 
knowledge they impart is easily understood if we reflect that as it takes 
some years for a fruit tree to come into bearing, much time is lost in 
ascertaining the comparative merits of the different sorts. A study of 
these lists will thus save fruit growers years of disappointment, and we 
should advise the preservation of them for future reference. 
