216 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r March 14, 1389. 
both E. and W. have prevailed. Frost has averaged about 4°.” In the 
south of England the weather has also been changeable, rain falling for 
several days at the end of last week, bat Saturday was exceptionally 
fine, sunny, and spring-like. The early part of this week has been 
distinguished by cold north-easterly winds, with light frost at night, and 
considerable dulness generally. 
-The Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society's 
Shows for 1S80 will be held on the following dates April 
3rd and 4th; July 10th and 11th; and September 11th and 12th. 
- The twenty-second annual Show of the Cheadle Floral and 
Horticultural Society will be he’d on August lGth and 17th this year. 
The schedule enumerates 102 classes, in many of which the prizes are of 
small amount, as low as Is. as third prize. Substantial sums are offered, 
however, for plants. Thus, for twelve stove and greenhouse plants the 
prizes are £15, £10, and £8, while for ten similar plants from amateurs 
And gentlemen’s gardeners the prizes are £10, £7 and £4. 
- The Glasgow and West of Scotland Horticultural 
Society’s Schedule for 1889 gives the dates of the Shows as 
follows :—Spring Show in the City Hall, Candleriggs, Glasgow, 
March 27th ; Autumn Show in the same hall, September 4th. At 
the first-named sixty classes are provided, with prizes from 603. to 2s.; 
and at the second 136 classes are enumerated, the prizes being of 
similar amounts. Mr. Franc Gibb Dougall, 167, Canning Street, 
Glasgow, is the Secretary. 
- The value and beauty of Boronia megastigma have been 
often commended by cultivators, but still the plant cannot be too 
widely known, as though possessing small flowers of an unattractive 
colour, ample compensation for any such defects is derived from the 
powerful and agreeable fragrance with which the air is filled where a 
few plants are grown. In a small house two or three are sufficient to 
render their presence known, but it is difficult to have too many, as the 
odour never becomes cloying. 
- Early flowering plants for cool houses are not too numerous, 
and comparatively few persons have fairly tested the merits of Milla 
uniflora for winter flowering in pots without forcing. The flowers 
are about the size of a shilling, white tipped with bluish mauve, the 
narrow leaves drooping over the surface of the soil and the sides of the 
pots. A good number of bulbs can be placed in a 48-size pot, and such 
examples with twenty flowers or more each are excellent for the front 
rows of conservatory or greenhouse stages. 
- Cinerarias and Primulas at Marston House.—M r. 
W. H. Morton writes :— 11 Being in the neighbourhood of Marston House 
the other day, I spent a pleasant hour with Mr. Iggulden, and experi¬ 
enced a grand treat in viewing a brilliant display of Cinerarias and 
Primulas—certainly the finest and most even flowers I have seen of 
these varieties. The Cinerarias were perhaps the more showy of the 
two, the brilliant and varied coloured flowers being of large size and 
substance, borne on stout trusses, standing well clear of the foliage, and 
of the most perfect symmetry. Out of the many varieties I saw it 
would be almost impossible to select any as individually superior. The 
Primulas were remarkable for the evenness and solidity of their trusses 
—quite a show in themselves.” 
-The Eoyal Meteorological Society’s tenth annual 
Exhibition of Instruments. —At the ordinary meeting of the 
Society, to be held at 25, Great George Street, Westminster, on 
Wednesday, the 20th inst,, at 7 P.M., Dr. W. Marcet, F.R.S., President, 
will deliver an address on “ The Sun—its Heat and Light,” which will 
be illustrated by experiments. After the reading of this address the 
meeting will be adjourned, in order to afford the Fellows and their 
friends an opportunity of inspecting the Exhibition of actinometers 
and solar radiation apparatus, 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 19th inst., and will remain open till Friday the 22nd inst, 
- Messrs. J. Cheal & Sons, Lowfield Nurseries, Crawley, Sussex, 
write:—“We notice in your last week’s issue that a correspondent 
asks a question respecting a variety of Pear supplied by us to Sir F. Wyatt 
Truseott, the BeurrE Alexander Lucas (page 170). He asks whether 
it is grown under any other name. We never heard of it under any 
other name, and believe it to be an entirely distinct variety. It is one 
that we received from the Continent five years ago. For the first 
year or two we had a suspicion that it might prove to be Doyenn6 
Boussoch, as there is much resemblance in foliage and growth. It 
probably may be related to Doyennd Boussoch, though the fruit is quite 
distinct, it being longer in shape and a month or two later. We 
desciibe the fruit as ‘large, very handsome and even in its outline; 
season October and November.’ It is very juicy and melting, but the 
flavour is not much superior to Doyenne Boussoch. We consider it one 
of our best exhibition varieties, and it has proved itself to be a good 
cropper.” 
- An Indian publication in a review of the work of the Indian 
Forest Department under the rule of Lord Dufferin, says that the 
total number of prosecutions for ofEences against the forest laws has 
been steadily diminishing. The area under protection from fire, has 
risen from 15,570 to 18,691 square miles. Large areas have been with¬ 
drawn from nomadic grazing ; and, generally speaking, the old and 
wasteful methods have been displaced by an entirely new system, which 
js only now making itself felt. The influence of forest conservancy on 
the rainfall, the temperature, and the water supply is becoming appre¬ 
ciated by the people of India. Large additions have been made to the 
Teak plantations of Burma, and great quantities of Mahogany have 
been planted at Nilambur. The revenue has risen from 67 lacs in the. 
years 1876-80, to 94 lacs during the viceroyalty of Lord Eipon, and 
to 116 during that of Lord Dufferin. These figures do not include the 
money received from Upper Burma, where the loosely drawn leases 
have given infinite trouble to' the officials. The staff is too weak for 
the work, but a reorganisation scheme is under consideration. The 
forest class at Cooper’s Hill, and the working of the Dehra Dun School, 
will no doubt improve the standard of knowledge of the officials. 
- The Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. —A largely attended meet¬ 
ing of the Committee, and of growers of plants for Covent Garden 
Market, was held on Friday evening last, to make arrangements for a 
Floral Fete in the Great Flower Market on behalf of the funds. Mr. G. 
Deal presided ; he lucidly explained the object in view, and invited the 
co-operation of all who showed their sympathy by their presence. It was 
then proposed by Mr. Messer, and seconded by Mr. Hawkins, “ That this 
meeting, consisting mainly of growers aud standholders of the Whole¬ 
sale Flower Market, Covent Garden, cordially endorses the proposal to 
hold a second evening floral fete in aid of the Gardeners’ Orphan Fund ; 
and having heard with pleasure that His Grace the Duke of Bedford has 
kindly granted the free use of the Market for this purpose, hereby 
pledges itself to render the best assistance in its power to successfully 
carry out the same, and to co-operate in general with the Executive 
Committee of the Fund.” This having been carried unanimously, it was 
proposed by Mr. Assbee, and seconded by Mr. Stroud, that ten represen¬ 
tatives of the standholders and growers be elected for co-operating with 
the officials in making the necessary arrangements for the Fete, and the 
following gentlemen were chosen :—Messrs. Baker, Cattiano, Clarke, 
Dickson, Hawkins, G. May, H. B, May, Lewington, Messer, Paulton, 
and Eochford. The FOte is expected to be held on the evening of 
May 8th, and the floral display will be of extraordinary magnitude and 
merit, such as cannot be elsewhere seen in this or any other country. 
-—— The Manufacture of Wine from Currants. —The United 
States Consul at Patras, in recent reports, says that the recent large crop 
of Currants in Greece could not be sold at remunerative prices if it 
were not for the new outlet in France, where they are used for making 
wine. The introduction of Currants into France for this purpose dates 
from 1877, when the crops were large and the quality indifferent. The 
low price attracted the notice of French distillers, and the Currants 
were found to produce excellent aromatic a’cohol, superior in quality to 
any other spirit, except that distilled from wine. Prices, however, rose, 
and distillers were no longer able to use Currants at a profit; but mean¬ 
while they. had been tried for wine, and, the expeiiments proving 
successful in producing the cheap wines required by the labouring 
classes, the new industry made rapid strides in all parts of France. The 
importation has now increased to 40.000 or 50,000 tons of Currants, 
besides about 60,000 tons of Turkish and Spanish raisins, and much 
capital has been invested in building large factories and acquiring the 
necessary material for the production of this wine. Since the import to 
France has attained such dimensions the price of Currants in Greece 
has increased 50 per cent. The process of making wine from dried 
Currants is exceedingly simple. The fruit is emptied out of the barrels 
or sacks in which it arrives into large wooden tubs, holding several tons, 
and water is added according to the quality and strength of the wine 
desired. The water must be of an average summer temperature, other¬ 
wise fermentation would be delayed, but under ordinary circumstances 
