December IS, 1888 ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
539 
- E regret to learn the somewhat sudden death on Monday 
last of Mr. Robert Castle of Merton, Surrey, at the age of seventy 
yeais. Mr. E. Castle was respected by all who knew him as an earnest 
well informed gardener of the old school. lie commenced his career 
about 18o0 with his father, who then had charge of Mr. Swainson’s 
garden at Cross Deep, Twickenham, an establishment noted at that time 
for its large collection of hardy plants and shrubs, and which is 
repeatedly mentioned in “ Loudon’s Magazine ” as “ The Twickenham 
Botanic Garden.” Since then Mr. R. Castle has had a varied and 
extensive practice in private gardens and nurseries in the South of 
England, his last charge being Orsett Hall, Romford, Essex, which he 
left at the death of the proprietor, four years ago. He had a wide 
practical knowledge of and a deep interest in horticulture ; he has also 
been a constant reader and an occasional contributor to this Journal, 
on the staff of which his son, Mr. Lewis Castle, has been for several 
years engaged. 
- A well attended and representative meeting of gardeners 
took place at the Lodge Hotel, Reading, on Thursday, December Oth, 
for the purpose of forming a Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
Association for Reading and District. Mr. Jas. Pound, jun., 
presided. Letters were read from Messrs. Coomhes, Tegg, Wildsmith, 
and others expressing sympathy with the movement, and their readi¬ 
ness to do all in their power to promote its prosperity. The following 
officers were elected:—Mr. W. Lees, Chairman ; Mr. Turton, Vice- 
Chairman ; Mr. Woolford, Treasurer ; Mr. Jas. Pound, jun.. Secretary ; 
and Messrs. Tegg, Coates, Stone, Balchin, Fry, Hawkins, Hall, Castle, 
House, Cloke, Bennett, Butcher, and Hinton. 
- Spring Flowers in December. —At a meeting of the Royal 
Botanic Society, held on Saturday, Mr. J. P. Gassiott, Vice-President, in 
the chair, there was shown specimens of twenty-four different kinds of 
spring flowering plants which had bloomed in the open air in the 
gardens of this Society, and gathered on December 8th. Mr. R. Dean 
sends us a number of flowers of coloured Primroses gathered from plants 
in the open ground on Friday last. They are as bright and fine as we 
usually see them in April. A G ravesend correspondent, whose name we 
cannot decipher, sends us a flower of the common field Poppy gathered 
on Sunday last. 
- Rainfall at Dorchester. —Mr. John Campbell, Mickleover 
Manor, Derby, writes :—“ Has not Mr. Chappie (vide page 517) made a 
mistake in his measurement of rainfall for November —viz., 10’2S ? 
The average would be about 3'00 according to the published report of 
G. J. Symons, Esq. Or has a waterspout fallen over the rain gauge 
at Cattistock Lodge from the heavens, : or by human aid ?” 
- Rainfall for November. —Mr. N. F. Fuller writes from 
Horndean :—I think it would be better if observers of rainfall would 
state diameter of rain guage when sending in reports. If Mr. A. 
Chappie’s guage is 8 inches in diameter, it would probably account for 
his measurement. We recorded 5-73 inches for November with a 5-inch 
guage. 
- Heavy Rainfall. —Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., of 62, Camden 
Square, N.W., writes:—“Your correspondent, Mr. Chappie, will pro¬ 
bably have to live a good while at Cattistock before he again records 
1028 inches of rain in November, the amount being .probably not far 
from double the fall usual there in that month. The rainfall varies so 
much in different parts of the country that to give the average fall for 
November accurately would take several pages of the Journal, and I am 
sure that the Editor would protest. Roughly, the average for November 
in England and Wales may be said to be between 2.1 and 4 inches at all 
places not in or among hill districts ; in such localities the average runs 
up 6 or 7, and at Seathwaite to nearly 12 inches. Mr. Chappie, and I 
hope some other of your readers, will be interested in the following 
totals for November ; all of them larger than his. (N.B.—I hope no 
one will try to get either very large or very small values ; we want the 
truth, and nothing but the truth, and have now very good opportunities 
for detecting any falsification or practical jokes). Nantgwillt, Rhayader, 
Radnor. 11-01; Arncliflfe, Skipton, Yorks, 11'05 ; Holne, Ashburton, 
Devon, 14 74 ; Seathwaite, Keswick, Cumberland, 22 87. May I add 
that I am on the point of issuing gratuitously blank forms to every 
observer known to me, and that I shall be very glad of a line from 
anyone who is keeping, or is about to keep, an accurate record, that I 
may help him (or her), and he (or she) may help me.” 
— — The “ Botanical Magazine ” for December contains coloured 
plates of the following plants :— BEGONIA Scharffi, a South Brazilian 
plant introduced by Messrs. Haage & Schmidt from the Peninsula of 
Destierro in the Island of St. Catherine, and was sent to Kew, where 
“ it flowered in September, 1887, producing female flowers, followed in 
October by male flowers and female buds, and in November by another 
crop of male flowers.” It is regarded as nearly related to Begoniastrum 
Schmidtiana, and is one of the finest members of the genus. The leaves 
are a foot or more in length, bright green on the upper surface and red¬ 
dish below; the flowers are large, freely produced, white, with a few 
rosy hairs on the outer surface, the peduncles being of a similar 
colour. 
- The plate of Iris Sutvarowi (T. 7029 in the same work) 
represents a curiously coloured species from Central Asia more distinct 
than beautiful. It was found by Dr. Albert Regcl in Turkestan in 1885, 
flowered at Baden Baden in 1886, and at Kew and Cambridge in May, 
1888. The standards and falls are veiued with dull reddish purple on 
a greenish ground, the falls have a lilac-blue beard. 
- In T. 7030 is given a figure of Pentapera sicula, a pretty 
Ericaceous shrub from Sicily, Cyprus, and Cyrenaica. In general habit, 
foliage and flowers the plant is very Heath-like, the small bell-like 
flowers being borne in drooping clusters at the point of the branches, 
white with a pink calyx. 
- The curious little Columbian Orchid, Hexisiabidentata(T,7031) 
is described in another column, but Primula Rusbyi (shown in T. 7032) 
meiits a note here. It is a species from New Mexico, one of the few 
species natives of North America, of which the following are named :— 
P. nivalis, P. cuneifolia, P. borealis, P. egaliksensis, P. mistassinica, 
P. farinosa, P. angustifolia, P. sufErutescens, and P. Parryi. P. Rusbyi 
wa3 found in the Mogollen Mountains of New Mexico by the traveller 
whose name it bears, and subsequently by Pringle. The leaves are long 
and narrow with a crenulated margin. The flowers are of moderate 
size, bright rosy purple, in loose but graceful heads. The colour is a 
particularly pleasing one. 
- A daily paper of December Gth gave the following on the Mild 
Weather that distinguished the past week:—“A strong and broad, 
current of air continues to sweep across our islands from the equatorial 
regions of the Atlantic, and unusually mild weather is reported over the 
entire kingdom. On the continent, however, where light breezes 
descend from a large anticyclonic system lying over Central Europe, 
conditions are more seasonable, and as a result some curious contrasts 
have recently been observed between the weather over England and the 
state of things prevailing in localities which bear a reputation for sunny 
geniality. On Tuesday morning, for example, London was 5° warmer than 
Naples, 7° warmer than Monaco, 9° warmer than Laghouat, in Central 
Algeria, 11° degrees warmer than Constantinople, 12° warmer than 
Bordeaux, 14° warmer than Marseilles, 16° warmer than Rome, 17° 
warmer than Madrid, and 19° warmer than Paris. Yesterday morning 
very similar contrasts were observed, the weather in the metropolis 
being 3° warmer than Lisbon, 11° warmer than Nice, 19° warmer than 
Paris, and 30° warmer than Belfort. Even in the north of 
Sweden, where the south-westerly current of air has exerted some slight 
influence, the weather yesterday was much milder than it was over the 
central parts of Germany and France, Ilaparanda being no less than 
12° warmer than either Lyons or Munich. In t.he course of the day 
the thermometer in London reached a maximum of 58°, and yesterday 
was therefore the mildest December day experienced since 1873, when a 
similar reading was recorded on the 17th of the month. An examina¬ 
tion of the meteorological statistics shows that the thermometer in 
December seldom rises above 55°, and in the years 1885, 1886, and 1887 
it did not succeed even in reaching that level. The warmest December 
day on record was in the year 1848, when the thermometer at the 
Greenwich Observatory rose to 62° on the 10th. The reports of last 
evening gave no indication of any divided change in the weather. The 
Continental anticyclone remained firmly established, and fresh breezes 
from the southward or south-westward continued to blow over the 
whole of the United Kingdom. The 6 p.m. temperatures were above 50° 
in most places, and at Shields and York the thermometer stands as high 
as 57°.” To this we may add a change occurred on Sunday night last, 
the 9th inst., slight frost being apparent on Monday morning.” 
SINGLE ANEMONES. 
For insuring a supply of the beautiful Poppy Anemones in spring, 
than which few flowers are more attractive in beds and borders, or more 
suitable for the ornamentation of vases, tubers should be planted with 
as little delay as possible. They are very cheap, and a good display of 
flowers may be had for a small investment. Should the planting be 
