424 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 8, 1888. 
■the interests of horticulture, both by gathering together in social inter 
‘Course those who are interested in the pursuit, but also in the dissemi¬ 
nation of knowledge by the papers which have been read at the 
meetings, and afterwards published in the gardening papers. The 
Committee have recently come to arrangements with the “ Hotel 
Windsor” Company, Victoria Street, Westminster, and the Club has 
-entered upon the occupancy of its new quarters there. The situation is 
central, close to the offices of the Royal Horticultural Society, and 
within three minutes’ walk of the St. James’ Park Station of the Dis¬ 
trict Railway, and omnibuses to all parts pass the door every two or 
three minutes. The hotel is well known as one of the best in London, 
has excellent- smoking and billiard rooms, swimming bath, &c., and 
special arrangements have been made with the proprietors for the 
accommodation of members at a reduced rate. The Committee think, 
therefore, that a better support ought to be given to the Club, and 
would urge upon its members the necessity of enlisting new candidates 
for membership. Subscription, two guineas per annum, no entrance 
fee. Any inquiries addressed to the Secretary as above will be imme¬ 
diately attended to.” 
- Cabbages. —At one time Ellam’s Early was my favourite 
spring Cabbage, but it had to give way to Mein’s No. 1, which for spring 
and summer use is the only Cabbage I now grow. It hearts early and 
grows to a great size, and therefore remains for a long time in fit condi¬ 
tion for use. In 1886 I sowed the seed on the 5th July, in 1887 on 
the 3rd, and this year on the 5th of the same month. It showed no 
'tendency to bolt, and, were it necessary, I would sow earlier. Were 
I to grow only one variety it would be Mein’s No. 1, and I could 
cut it every day all the year round. For spring I plant 1 foot apart, 
pull for use every alternate plant, and then every other row. I think 
it would be the Cabbage for the grower for market.— J. B. H. 
- Me. Thos. Smith, Henbury Hill, Bristol, writes :—“ My ex 
«perience of Beauty of Hebeon and Reading Russet Potatoes 
during the past season agrees with that of Mr. J. Palmer, and I do not 
intend to grow either of them again. Of about a dozen sorts grown, 
Satisfaction and Best of All were all that could be desired for quantity) 
•comparative freedom from disease, and excellence of quality when 
cooked. Sutton’s Prizetaker,"though rather badly diseased, gave such a 
lieavy crop of tubers of first quality that it was far from being unprofit¬ 
able.” 
- A correspondent sends the following paragraph on Ophio- 
POGONS :—“ It is to be feared these are not so much known by cultiva¬ 
tors as they should be, seeing how useful they are for decorative pur¬ 
poses. Recently, when looking over a large garden at Bagshot, my 
attention was drawn to a large plant of the Golden variegated Ophio- 
■ pogon, growing in a 10-inch pot. It had from forty to fifty spikes of 
blue flowers. When seen in this state, the spikes rising above the 
long grass-like golden leaves, render it a most beautiful object. This 
plant was from 2 to 3 feet across, and the foliage covered the pot, adapt¬ 
ing the plant for vases. I was informed that it had stood in the cold 
•bouse when the frost was severe enough to freeze the pot to the 
ground. This proves the plant to be very hardy. The Ophiopogons 
are strong rooting plants, needing good holding soil and an open situation 
Ao secure bright, clean foliage.” 
- Lilium auratum Degenerating. —Five or six years ago 
■we bought 100 bulbs of this Lilium. Some were potted and grown 
for conservatory decoration, others were planted out in the bed of a 
greenhouse while others were planted in various parts in the open 
.ground, and in almost every instance the bulbs have degenerated. I 
fear that their disposition to degenerate is very general. I have it on 
good authority that the sale of this Lily exceeds all others. They are 
bought largely as imported, and many more are purchased when seen 
.in bloom in nurseries, so that of all Lilies this should be the most 
common and the best, but it is neither ; and although I would not 
•advocate its limited purchase or culture, yet no one need buy it under 
bhe impression that good bulbs will become better in their hands, or 
that once bought a grand annual display will be the result. — M. M. 
- In the report of the Superintendent of the Adelaide Botanic 
•Garden for the past year it is stated that .the Insect-powder Plant 
•■(Pyrethrum cinerariasfolium, TrevirJ), roseum, and carneum, Bihrst.'), 
and the Cheesemaker (Withania coagulans, Bun.'), which were introduced 
into the Garden a few years ago, have found a congenial climate there, 
and have prospered wherever they were planted in the colony. Eland’s 
Boontges (Elephantorrhiza Burchelli, Bentli.), which has also been 
recently introduced, does fairly well. In winter nothing remains of 
this plant but the roots, which contain tannic acid. A number of 
cuttings from the Daira Grape, a valuable species which comes from 
Almeria, have thriven wonderfully in the garden. There are now in the 
Palm house 180 species and varieties of Palms. The Museum of 
Economic Botany attached to the Garden has been enriched during the 
past year by 1795 articles, amongst the most remarkable of which was 
a collection sent by the Sultan of Jahore, one of the specimens being 
a sample of sugar prepared from the Cocoa-nut. 
- Mr. Mallender sends the following Summary of Meteor¬ 
ological Observations at Hodsock Priory, Worksop, Notts, 
for October. —Mean temperature of month, 45 - 3°. Maximum on 
the 26th, 65-2°; minimum on the 33rd, 24'2°. Maximum in the 
sun on the 7th, 106-2°; minimum on grass on the 6th, 18’2°. 
Mean temperature of' air at 9 A.M., 45-4°. Mean temperature 
of soil, 1 foot deep, 46-9°. Number of nights below 32°, in shade 
ten, on grass twenty-one. Total duration of sunshine in month 99 hours, 
or 31 per cent, of possible duration. We had eight sunless days. 
Total rainfall, 0‘64 inch ; maximum fall in twenty-four hours on the 
1st, 0'25 inch. Rain fell on ten days. Average velocity of wind, 
7'6 mile3 per hour. Velocity exceeded 400 miles on three days, and 
fell short of 100 miles on thirteen days. A fine dry month, with 
very cold nights. The rainfall and mean minimum are both lower 
than any of the last twelve years. The last few days were very 
warm, and on the 28th the minimum was only 60°. 
- The Wakefield Paxton Society. —At the last meeting of 
this Society, held in their rooms, Mr. W. Hudson of Sandal read a very 
interesting paper on “ Fungi and Fairy Rings.” In the course of his 
remarks Mr. Hudson pointed out how restricted and unsafe were the 
popular conceptions in regard to the nature and qualities of the members 
of this lowly but ubiquitious section of the vegetable kingdom. Outside 
of the economical aspect of the subject they presented to the student a 
multitudinous array of forms and habits which could not but prove 
attractive to the inquiring mind. In the case of the aggregation of 
fungi, familiarly known as fairy rings, they had, up to very recent 
times, been surrounded with a halo of superstition, legend, and poetry. 
Mr. Hudson, however, traced out its life history in a manner which 
proved that in this, as in all cases where poetical and supernatural attri¬ 
butes were investigated, it had had to yield to the modern spirit of 
inquiry. There was a short discussion, and in conclusion a hearty vote 
of thanks was accorded to the essayist on the motion of Messrs. Bott, 
Bennett, and Garnett, who referred in eulogistic terms to Mr. Hudson’s 
treatment of the subject. There was a good attendance of the members, 
over whom the President (Councillor Milnes) presided. 
- In a recent issue of Nature an interesting account of the 
Flora of the Kermadec Islands is given, derived from the investi¬ 
gation of Mr. T. F. Cheeseman, Auckland, New Zealand : —“ There are 
four islands lying at great distances apart, between 29° 10' and 31° 30* 
S. lat., and stretching in a south-west and a north-east direction, like New 
Zealand itself, the nearest point of which is between 500 and 600 miles 
distant. Raoul or Sunday Island is the largest and the farthest from 
New Zealand, being twenty miles in circumference, and about 640 miles 
from Auckland, and a little less than that distance from Tonga. 
Macaulay, the next in size, is sixty-eight miles to the south-west of 
Sunday Island ; and Curtis and L’Esperance, still farther to the south¬ 
west, are little more than rocks. The expedition failed to land on the 
last-named island, and the visit to Curtis Island was of very brief 
duration, hence the botany relates almost exclusively to Sunday and 
Macaulay Islands. The group is of volcanic origin, and the greatest 
elevation in Sunday Island is 1720 feet, while Macaulay nowhere reaches 
quite half that height. Altogether Mr. Cheeseman collected 115 indi¬ 
genous vascular plants, eighty-four being phanerogams and thirty-one 
cryptogams, and only five of them were regarded as endemic. In 
addition to the foregoing, twenty-six species of naturalised plants, 
chiefly European weeds, were observed or collected. Of the 115 indigenous 
species, no fewer than eighty-five are also found in New Zealand, though 
only fourteen of these are absolutely confined to the two localities. 
Forty-four species are found in Norfolk Island, forty of which also 
occur in New Zealand, and only two are apparently confined to Norfolk 
Island and the Kermadecs. Forty species extend to Lord Howe’s Island, 
but thirty-four of these are also in New Zealand, and none of the 
peculiar plants of Lord Howe’s Island reach the Kermadecs. Seventy- 
six of the species are common to Australia, sixty-three of them being 
also in New Zealand, and none of them otherwise peculiar to Australia, 
Lastly, forty-seven are found in Polynesia, and thirty-one of these also 
occur in New Zealand.” 
