November 5, 1885. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
403 
the interest of which shall be applied to carry into effect the said prizes, 
which shall be entitled Turner Memorial Prizes ; the fund, and all its 
incomings and outgoings, to he administered by a body of trustees or 
governors to be hereafter appointed.’ It was further resolved that 
H. M. Pollett, Esq., of Femside, Bickley, Kent, be the Honorary 
Treasurer, and Mr. James Douglas, The Gardens, Great Gearies, Ilford 
Honorary Secretary. The importance of the present movement will be 
felt and understood by horticulturists of all grades and tastes, for in every 
department, and by men of all parties, the name of Charles Turner has 
been held in honour, both because of the high character and gentle 
manners of the man, and his earnest work as a practical and ever- 
advancing florist during a successful career of over fifty years. It is no 
part of the business now in hand to pronounce any eulogy, the object of 
this circular is to make a direct appeal to the horticultural public for the 
means of establishing the proposed Turner Fund. The promoters feel 
that the cause carries with it all the persuasions needful to success, and 
they urge upon all sympathisers with its objects the need of prompt 
attention in collecting subscriptions and forwarding them to the Hon. 
Treasurer without delay. Copies of this circular will be supplied 
wherever needed, and gardeners are requested to bring it under the 
notice of their employers, the object being to make a formal and im¬ 
pressive public record of ^appreciative and affectionate regard for the 
memory of the most distinguished horticulturist and florist of the nine¬ 
teenth century. The subscription list will close at the end of December; 
any person wishing to contribute will kindly forward the amount to the 
Treasurer as soon as convenient. Head and under gardeners are earnestly 
solicited to subscribe.” 
- “F. J.” writes :—“I have this year gathered three pods of ripe 
seed from a Chimonanthtjs fragrans tree on a wall, and shall be glad 
to know if it is unusual for seed to ripen in the midland counties.” 
-A brilliant display of Orchids in November can scarcely 
be expected even in the largest collections, but Mr. W. Bull has in his 
Clelsea Nursery one of the prettiest shows of these plants that we have 
ever seen at this time of year. In one house there are some scores of 
spikes of the handsome rich crimson Lselia autumnalis atrorubens, the 
splendid colour of which affords a fine contrast with equally numerous 
blooms of Oncidium tigrinum, the lips very large and pure yellow 
Then there is a magnificent bank of the old but handsome Odontoglossum 
grande, numerous plants of O. Insleayi leopardinum, and the sweet little 
Trichosma suavis, which fills the house with its Orange blossom perfume. 
In another house the valuable and beautiful Aerides Lawrencisc is flower¬ 
ing, and is unquestionably the finest of its genus, the flowers of great 
size, of a waxlike creamy tint streaked with rosy crimson. A plant of 
the superb Yanda Sanderiana is also in excellent condition, bearing on 
three spikes no less than seventeen large grandly marked blooms, one of 
the spikes having ten blooms. Several other rare and beautiful Orchids 
are flowering and render the house very attractive. 
- Considerable attention has lately been drawn to the Pre¬ 
servation of Native Plants ; and at the cryptogamic meeting of 
the Essex Field Club on October 3rd, Professor R. Meldola (on behalf of the 
corresponding Societies’ Committee of the British Association) directed 
the attention of the Club to the following resolution, which had been 
submitted to the Conference of delegates held in Aberdeen by Professor 
Hillhouse of the Mason College, Birmingham, and carried unanimously :— 
“ We view with regret and indignation the more or less complete extirpa¬ 
tion of many of our rarest or most interesting native plants. Recognising 
that this is a subject in which local societies of naturalists will take great 
interest and can exercise especial influence, we urge upon the delegates of 
corresponding societies the importance of extending to plants a little of 
that protection which is already accorded by legislature to animals and 
prehistoric monuments, and of steadily discouraging, and, where possible 
of preventing, any undue removal of such plants from their natural 
habitats, and we trust that they will bring these views under the notice 
of their respective societies.” 
- The American Grocer says that a French savant claims to have 
discovered in cotton-tree seed a nutritious matter, presenting some 
most remarkable features in its composition. An analysis of the seed 
of Cotton trees, of which several varieties are cultivated in Bolivia, shows 
that thiB is the richest of all known grains in nitrogenous substances. He 
is convinced that Cotton-tree seed will make a flour destined to take an 
important place as a food for man. 
- Gardening Appointment. —Mr. J. Wyke, who has until 
recently been gardener to Mrs. Dunn, Henley Grove, Westbury-on-Trym, 
near Bristol, has taken charge of Mrs. Dunn’s gardens at Eccleshall 
Castle, Eccleshall, Staffordshire. 
- Shelter'Trenches for Horizontal Cordon Trees. — Mr. T. 
Francis Rivers writes :—“ A very cheap shelter for horizontal cordon 
trees may be made by planting them in trenches about 3 feet wide and 
2 deep ; the soil should be banked on each side of the trench. After 
settling the banks will be about 1 foot high, and will form the support 
for the protection against spring frosts. This may consist of straw 
hurdles or stakes laid across and covered with mats.” 
- Mr. Joseprc Mallender sends the following summary of 
meteorological observations at Hodsock Priory, Worksop, Nottsi 
for October, 1885 :—Mean temperature of month, 45-2°; maximum on 
the 2nd, 57-9°; minimum on the 30th, 27 3° ; maximum in sun on the 5th, 
115 1° ; minimum on the grass on the 30th, 20'2° ; mean temperature of 
the air (at 9 A.M., 45-1° ; mean temperature of soil 1 foot deep, 47-6°. 
Warmest day, the 17th; coldest day, the 30th. Nights below 32° in 
shade, two ; on grass, eleven. Total duration of sunshine in the month, 
sixty-eight hours, or 21 per cent of possible duration ; we had ten sunless 
days. Total rainfall in month, 5-32 in.; maximum fall in twenty-four 
hours on the 23rd, 1*67 in. Rain fell on twenty-four days. Average 
velocity of wind, 11‘4 miles per hour; exceeded 400 miles on four days, 
fell short of 100 on three days. Very wet, cold, and dull. In ten years 
we have only had two months with a larger rainfall—viz , December, 
1876, and October, 1880. October, 1880, had also a lower mean tempera¬ 
ture, and 1881 was nearly as cold ; but in no previous years have we had 
such low day temperatures. Sunshine less than in any of the last four 
years. 
-The Society of Arts Journal records that the Largest Vine in 
the World is one growing at Oys (Portugal), which has been in bearing 
since 1802. Its maximum yield was in 1864, in which year it produced a 
sufficient quantity of Grapes to make 750 litres (165 gals.) of wine; in 
1874, 665 litres (146£ gals.) ; and in 1S84, only 360 litres (79i gals.). It 
covers an area of 494 square metres (5315 square feet), and the stem at 
the base measures 2 metres in circumference. 
-Extensive Tree Planting in Mexico is now being under¬ 
taken by the Government, and contract has been made with Mr. Oscar A, 
Droege to plant 2,000,000 trees in the valley of Mexico within four years. 
The respective numbers are—80,000 Ash, 35,000 Willows, 120,000 Poplars, 
60,000 Eucalyptus Trees, 60,000 Troenos japones, 60,000 Mountain Cypress 
Cedars, 60,000 Acacias, and 120,000 of miscellaneous varieties. The trees 
are to be in plantations of from 50,000 to 100,000 each. 
- An American paper has apparently become very philosophical, 
and puts forward the following remarkable observation “A life devoted 
to the extermination of cockroaches is nobler spent than a life devoted to 
the gathering of Orchids.” This will perhaps prove an alarmiDg discovery 
to some similarly thoughtful readers, but we do not anticipate that many 
will be induced thereby to undertake the “ nobler ” employment. 
WHITE GEM CELERY. 
Whether the season has been too dry for the growth of Celery in 
gardens generally I do not know, but certain it is very little has been 
written concerning it this season so far as I have seen. The object of 
this note is to call attention to the above excellent variety, sent out, I 
believe, by Messrs. Sutton in the spring of last year. It is, as its name 
implies, a gem amongst white varieties, and should be grown in gardens, 
large and small alike, where early Celery is desirable. Seed was sown 
about the middle of March on a gentle hotbed, the plants brought on in 
the usual manner, and planted out at the end of May and beginning of 
June. The weather at the time being hot and dry, water was given 
morning and evening for a few days, until the plants were re-established 
in their new quarters. A mulching of short grass from the mowing 
machine was applied as planting was completed, and was replenished as 
often as necessary during the summer. A quantity of grass was also 
dug in the trenches to serve as manure. Water was given every ten days 
or fortnight, and then not the quantity usually considered necessary, as 
the mulching prevented excessive evaporation, and maintained a more 
equable moisture than would have been the case had no mulching been 
applied. The usual practice of earthing early and often was not adopted, 
nothing being done in that way until about a month before it was “ fit 
to dig.” 
This might seem almost impossible to many readers, but not when I 
state that our trenches were deep and the plants so compact and dwarf 
that the upper leaves covered the trench, thereby producing semi-darkness 
to the lower part of the plants, causing them to blanch naturally. I 
