540 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 24 , 1891. 
- Glenny’s Gardeners’ Almanack. —The leading article of the 
issue of January, 1892, is devoted to bush fruit and its cultivation. 
Among other matter are lists of new flowers, fruit, and vegetables as 
supplied by different seedsmen, florists, and nurserymen. 
- For continuity of flowering throughout the summer the Tea 
Rose, Madame de Watteville, is one of the best. Either in bud or 
fully expanded it is appreciated, the fleshy-like pink of its colouring is so 
pleasing. The flowers last along time in a cut state in water. We grow 
it on a low south wall, and have good reason to be satisfied with it.—S 
- Copper in Preserved Vegetables.—A correspondent sends 
the following cutting :—At a recent meeting of the Bavarian Society 
of Applied Chemistry, the subject of the “ Presence of Copper in 
Preserved Vegetables ” was under discussion. The discussion was 
epitomised in the “ Chemiker Zeitung.” One of the speakers, Director 
Koehler of Berlin, made a remarkable statement. He said that during 
a visit to the Strasburg Exhibition his attention had been attracted to 
the remarkably beautiful green of some preserved Beans, and upon inquiry as 
to how this colour had been imparted, he was told that it was a trade 
Becret. Subsequently he had learned that during the boiling of these 
vegetables in a copper vessel an electric current was passed through the 
whole, the copper of the vessel acting as an anode, and that in this 
way a large quantity of copper was carried into solution, giving the 
vegetable a fine tint. 
- York Florists’ Annual Dinner.— The annual dinner in 
connection with the Ancient Society of York Florists was held at the 
White Swan Hotel, Pavement, York, when an excellent menu was laid 
before a large company of members andj friends by Mr. and Mrs. 
Hornsey. Alderman Sir Joseph Terry presided, Mr. J. Lazenby 
(Secretary) being in the vice-chair. Amongst those present were the 
City Sheriff (Mr. Councillor L. Foster), Mr. Alderman Rymer, Mr. 
Alderman Clayton, Councillors Wragge, Purnell, J. S. Gray, the Vice- 
Presidents and Committee of the Society, and numerous others. Mr. 
Councillor Wragge said he was pleased to see that his Lordship had 
promised to give, at their summer series of Shows, a sum of £5, to be 
divided, at the discretion of the Committee, amongst the artisan class, 
for exhibits of their own culture. Mr. Councillor J. S. Gray referred to 
the great age of the Society, and was glad to see that it was now in a 
healthy, sound position. He thought the autumn Chrysanthemum 
Show had been a great success. The Chairman remarked that the 
Society had made grants to several of the charitable institutions of the 
city. They had granted the Hospital and Dispensary £7 7s. each, and 
also £10 10s. to the Benevolent Institution for Gardeners. Mr. John 
Fielden (Treasurer) said their income from all sources had been 
£472 12s. 2d., an advance of £81 2s. 7d. on the previous year. They 
had expended £444 3s. 7d., which was £101 9s. lid. more than last 
year. They had given £25 5s. 8d. to various charities, and had a 
balance in hand at the bank of £171 15s. 8d. 
-Royal Meteorological Society. —The usual monthly meet¬ 
ing of this Society was held on Wednesday evening, the 16th inst., at 
the Institution of Civil Engineers, Mr. Baldwin Latham, M.Inst.C.E., 
President, in the chair. Mr. R. H. Hooker, B.A., Mr. A. B. MacDowall, 
M.A., Mr. E. G. Ravenstein, F.R.G.S., and Mr. R. Hedger-Wallace were 
elected Fellows of the Society. Mr. W. Marriott gave the results of the 
investigation undertaken by the Society into the thunderstorms of 
1888 and 1889, which he illustrated by a number of lantern slides. Mr. 
Marriott gave the number of days on which thunderstorms occurred at 
each station, the number of days of thunderstorms in each month for 
the whole country, the number of days on which it was reported that 
damage or accidents from lightning occurred, and also the number of 
days on which hail accompanied the thunderstorms. In 1888 there were 
113 days, and in 1889 123 days on which thunderstorms occurred in 
some part of the country. The number of days with damage by lightning 
was thirty-three in 1888 and thirty-eight in 1889, and there were fifty- 
six days in each year on which hail accompanied the thunderstorms. 
The tables of hourly frequency show that thunderstorms are most 
frequent between noon and 4 p.m., and least frequent between 1 A.M. 
and 7 A.M. Thunderstorms appear to travel at an average rate of about 
eighteen miles per hour in ill-defined low barometric pressure systems, 
but at a higher rate in squally conditions. The author is of opinion 
that individual thunderstorms do not travel more than about twenty 
miles, and that they take the path of least resistance, and are conse¬ 
quently most frequent on flat and low ground. The author believes that 
the thunderstorm formations are small atmospheric whirls, in all respects 
like ordinary cyclones, and that the whirl may vary from one mile to 
ten miles or more in diameter. There are frequently several whirls near 
together or following one another along the same track. The numerous 
oscillations in the barometric curve are evidently due to the passage of a 
succession of atmospheric whirls, and it appears that lightning strokes 
are most frequent when these oscillations are numerous. 
- Mr. F. J. Brodie read a paper “ On the Prevalence of 
Fog IN London during the twenty years 1871 to 1890.” The popular 
notion that November is par excellence a month of fog is not confirmed 
by the figures given by the author. The number of fogs in that month 
is, if anything, slightly less than in October or January, and decidedly 
less than in December, the last-mentioned month being certainly the 
worst of the whole year. The latter part of the winter is not only less 
foggy than the earlier part, but is clearer than the autumn months. In 
February the average number of days with fog is only 6-6, as against 8'9 
in January, 10 2 in December, 9 - 2 in October, and 8 8 in November. 
- Cobham Park. —In Smither’s “ Gravesend Almanack ” we find 
an interesting description of walks and rides round Gravesend by our 
able correspondent, Mr. J. R. S. Clifford. We cite the following on 
Cobham Park :—“ Cobham Park gives us a fine display of noble and 
ancient trees. It has large Oaks, though none of great age, avenues of 
venerable Limes and Chestnuts, handsome Pines and Firs, with many 
kinds we cannot enumerate, and it is remarkable for the show it makes 
in early summer of that grand exotic flower the Rhododendron. To the 
naturalist it is interesting as the resort of birds and insects, being the 
home of some both curious and rare. So, too, Shorne Wood, and others 
around Cobham ; but as they are also preserves of game the stroller 
needs to be careful, for he may be suddenly ‘ warned off.’ The Darnley 
Mausoleum in the Park, perched upon an eminence, is a conspicuous 
object j erected a century ago, it has never been used for the purpose 
of interment. Cobham Hall takes high rank amongst the family 
mansions of our nobility. Its centre is one of the memorials of the 
famous Inigo Jones. The wings, of date somewhat later, please the eye 
by their mullioned windows, quaint gables, and Tudor doorways, the 
deep hue of the bricks testifying to the fact that they are of the kind 
which stand the weather for centuries, now, alas ! no longer made. 
Within the pile are splendid apartments and saloons, many of them 
filled with antiques and art treasures. (Cards to view that portion of 
the Hall shown to the public may be had from Mr. J. S. Caddel, King 
Street, also at the village post office. Admission is on Fridays, and 
the charge Is., the proceeds being given to a charitable object.) Cobham 
itself is a pleasing specimen of the old-fashioned English village. At 
its Leather Bottle Inn many a traveller has enjoyed his lunch while he 
called up memories of Dickens’ characters in hia ‘Pickwick Papers,’ 
which have made this spot of enduring fame.” 
Chrysanthemum Robert Owen. 
On several occasions during the past few weeks attention has been 
called to the remarkable seedling Chrysanthemum bearing the above 
name. The variety w’as first shown at the Royal Horticultural Society’s 
meeting on December 8th last, but owing to there being only one bloom 
no award could be made for it by the Floral Committee. The same 
difficulty occurred at the National Chrysanthemum Society’s Show on 
the next day, but there it obtained a special prize. Early in the season 
Mrs. Myers had offered two prizes of a guinea each for the best new 
Japanese and incurved Chrysanthemum of the year ; but these not 
having been awarded, it was resolved at the meeting on December 9th 
to divide the amount into four prizes of half a guinea each. As only 
three novelties were found worthy of the prizes, two were adjudged to 
Mr. Owen for his namesake, and another for the incurved Henry 
Perkins. 
Chrysanthemum Robert Owen is a seedling raised at Mr. Owen’s 
nurseries, Maidenhead, and described as resulting from a cross between 
Sarah Owen and an American seedling. It is an incurved Japanese, 
the bloom shown being 74 inches in diameter and 4£ inches deep ; the 
florets broad, tapering to an acute point, and strongly incurved, forming 
a deep massive bloom of a rich bronzy yellow tint. The development 
of this variety will be watched with much interest another season, 
for it is one of the most distinct yet secured. The illustration (fig 98) 
was prepared from the bloom when shown at the R.H.S. meeting. 
