March 11, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
193 
■munificent sum of 51. per day for three meals has sufficed to keep me in 
perfect health and thoroughly fit me for the duties of life. This matter 
affects the really provident poor especially, although even those whose 
lines have fallen in more pleasant places may well inquire if the vege¬ 
tarian diet be not worth a thought in connection with the lengthy doctor’s 
bills they are annually called upon to discharge.” 
-At the ordinary meeting of the Royal Meteorological 
Society, to be held at 25, Great George Street, Westminster, on Wed¬ 
nesday, the 17th inst., at 7 P.M., the following paper will be read : — 
■“ Brief Historical Account of the Barometer,” by William Ellis, F.R.A.S., 
President. After the reading of this paper the meeting will be adjourned, 
in order to afford the Fellows and their friends an opportunity of inspecting 
the exhibition of barometers, and of such new instruments as have 
been invented and first constructed since the last Exhibition. The 
Exhibition will, at the request of the Secretary of the Institution of Civil 
Engineers, be open in readiness for their meeting on Tuesday evening 
the 16th inst. 
-The Taunton and District Gardeners’ Association will 
toll a Chrysanthemum, Primula, and Fruit Show in the London Hotel 
Assembly Rooms, TauntoD, on Thursday, November 18th, seventy classes 
being provided, in some of which substantial prizes are offered, as, for 
•instance, in the class for thirty-six Chrysanthemum blooms, eighteen 
Japanese, and eighteen incurved, for which £5, £3, and £1 10s. are the 
"first, second, and third pr’zes. The Hon. Sec. is Mr. R. H. Poynter. 
- At a recent meeting of the Linnean Society Mr. F. Darwin read 
a paper on the relation between the Bloom of Leaves and the Dis¬ 
tribution of the Stomata. “Bloom” on leaves is used by him to 
mean a coating of minute particles of a waxy character, which is remove¬ 
able by hot water or ether. But gradations occur from a distinct and 
appreciable greasiness throwing off moisture to such as are easily wetted. 
A large series of leaves of different groups of plants have been studied by 
him, and for convenience in the analysis of data he has divided them into 
four classes. Leaves of Class I. are devoid of bloom on both surfaces, and 
yield 51 per cent, which have no stomata on the upper surface. In 
Class II. bloom is deficient above but present below, whereof 83 per cent, 
contain stomata on the leaves’ lower surface. Class III. possesses bloom 
on the leaves above, but none inferiorly, and 100 per cent, of these have 
stomata on the upper surface. Class IV. have leaves with bloom on both 
surfaces, 62 per cent, of them having stomata above. From such analyses 
•and other facts and data given, Mr. Darwin concludes that the accumula¬ 
tion of stomata accompanies that of bloom, and, other things being equal, 
that it is functionally protective against undue wetting by raiD, and thus 
id jury to the leaf-tissue. 
- An exceedingly interesting Hybrid Orchid flowered last week in 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons’ Chelsea Nursery—namely, Phalcenopsis inter¬ 
media, obtained from a cross between P. amabilis and P. rosea. 
P. intermedia has long been regarded as a natural hybrid between the 
two species named, and the experiment was undertaken to prove if the 
opinion was correct. In the admirable paper read before the Orchid 
Conference, Mr. Harry J. Veitch gave some account of this plant which 
13 worth repeating. After referring to the interest attaching to the plant 
Taised from seed of this cross, he remarked, “ The plant had made three 
healthy leaves, it was well established in a small pot, which, to be more 
secure from danger, was placed upon an inverted pot that stood in a pan 
of water. One morning, to the great dismay of Seden, it was discovered 
that a slug had eaten off two of the best leaves, and would, if not trapped 
certainly devour the remainder. Anxious to save the treasure, the plant 
was watched incessantly for hours in the expectation that sooner or laler 
the marauder would make his appearance; to induce him to do so the 
mass was constantly plunged into water ; the repeated duckings had at 
length the desired effect, the culprit issued from his lurking place, and the 
plant was saved.” This has now flowered, and proves to be the true 
P. intermedia, a good variety of dark colour, the two wings of the lip 
being of similar colour to the central lobe. Numbers of introduced 
Orchids are reputed natural hybrids, but we believe this is the first that 
has been artificially proved, and is, moreover, the first hybrid Phalmnopsis 
that has flowered. 
- Mr. Andrew Spiering, nurseryman, Bergedorf, Hamburg, 
formerly of the Bay of Plenty Nursery, Tauranga, Auckland, New 
Zealand, sends the following:—“In answer to ‘ M. C. B.’ in the la9t 
number of the Journal, respecting a New Zealvnd Plant, I may 
nform him that Kowhai-nguta-kaka is the native name for Olianthus 
punieeus, meaning the beak of the parrot, alluding to the shape of the 
flower ; the colonists call it therefore Pairot’s Beak, and also Libster Claws 
on account of the bright colour of the flowers. Clianthus punieeus is 
considered a native of New Zealand, but I never remember seeing it in 
its wild state during a stay of seventeen years in the colony, though it is 
such a remarkable plant that a gardener would hardly overlook the same. 
When found wild it is on old native settlement, and from this fact it is 
more likely that the seeds were brought by the Maories from the South 
Sea Island on their landing in New Zealand ; they brought several other 
roots and seeds with them and are still cultivated. The Kumera or Sweet 
Potato (Convolvulus batatas), Taro (Caladium esculentum), the Calabach 
(Lagenaria vulgaris), and perhaps others. The late Venerable Archdeacon 
Brown, an old missionary, who travelled through the greater part of the 
Northern Island, told me that he onty met the Clianthus at native villages 
or such places that had been formerly occupied by natives. Another 
native plant of New Zealand called Kowhai is Edwardsia microphylla, a 
tall evergreen tree, very often seen. The colonists call it also the Kowhai 
Tree ; it has bright yellow flowers; the name alludes to the shape of the 
flowers—a beak. The description and culture of Clianthus punieeus 
(English Glory Pea) is found in most garden books, but the native name 
is perhaps less known.” 
- Mr. Joseph Mallender sends the following Summary of 
Meteorological Observations at HodsockPriory, Worksop, Notts, for 
February, 1886 :—Mean temperature of the month, 34'3° ; maximum on 
the 13th, 48-8 s ; minimum on the 7th and 27th, 20 7° ; maximum in sun on 
the 26th, 93 9° ; minimum on grass on the 27th, 13 0°. Mean temperature 
of the air at 9 A.M., 33T° ; mean temperature of soil 1 foot deep, 35 p 7 : - 
Nights below 32° in shade nineteen, on grass twenty-five. Warmest day the 
14th, coldest day the 7th. Total duration of sunshine in month, forty-seven 
hours, or 17 per cent, of possible duration ; twelve sunless days. Total rain¬ 
fall, 0 39 inch ; maximum fall in twenty-four hours on the 18th, 12 inches. 
Rain fell on twelve days. A very cold and dry month, with average sun¬ 
shine. Both day and night mean temperatures are 2£° lower than any of 
the previous ten years, and are also lower than in January. In no former 
year have we had less than 1 inch of rain in February. Vegetation shows 
no sign of spring growth at present. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS IN WINTER. 
I have only just observed “ A Northerner's” remarks on this subject, 
page 111, or should have replied earlier. The time I generally stack the 
plants in the autumn is the first week in November, and they are taken 
out of the ashes and placed in an upright position some time in March, 
provided the weather is not too wet nor too severe. I have never yet 
found them suffer from dryness during this period, because the ashes, as 
well as the soil in the pots, absorb sufficient moisture to keep them 
perfectly healthy and fresh. The average rainfall here during the above 
period is 12 inches, and as the situation is extremely low, damp, and 
sheltered, the evaporation is but little. I have frequently plunged a few 
plants in an upright position for experiment, and have never found them 
after wet winters in such a satisfactory condition as those stacked in ashes. 
It has been said that plants wintered in this manner lose their roots and 
are less vigorous, but I cannot say that I have ever found this to be the 
case. I do not, as a ru'e, attempt to grow large fruit, but when required 
find no difficulty in obtaining fruit in April and May from 1) to 2 ozs. 
each, which I imagine could not be easily obtained from plants in a weak 
or rootless condition.—T. Challib. 
ROVAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S PROVINCIAL SHOW. 
On Saturday last a meeting of gentlemen interested in horticulture 
was held in the Town Hall, Liverpool, for the purpose of considering 
arrangements for the forthcoming Exhibition. David Radcliffe, Esq., 
Mayor of the city, presided, and in his opening speech said he should be 
pleased to do all that lay in his power to render the Exhibition of the 
“ Royal ” a success. Resolutions were passed for the purpose of getting 
up the guarantee fund of £1500. To carry out this object a Committee 
was formed, and the names of some eighteen or twenty gentlemen were 
enlisted with power to add to their number. The Mayor was elected 
President, Enoch Harvey, Esq., Secretary, and H. Gaskell, Esq., Treasurer. 
A very good start was made with the guarantee fund, for the list after 
being passed round the hall included the names of the majority of the 
gentlemen present for £25 each. The number of letters read from those 
not present also testified to the hearty manner in which the visit of the 
Royal is entertained. 
I do not doubt that the “ Royal ” will cover as much ground in their 
schedule as they possibly can, but it would be very difficult to form any 
idea of the extent or even the variety of the Exhibition from the remarks 
made by Mr. Harvey, who appeared willing to leave this matter in the 
hands of the officials of the Royal Horticultural Society. 
Mr, Harvey spoke in high terms of the Manchester Botanic Society’s 
