April H, 18SP. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
297 
Surrey town none are endowed by Nature with a better site and 
more beautiful outlook, and no one could go through the grounds with¬ 
out seeing that the gardener was a good all-round man. When Mr. 
Haywood took up Orchids he found in his gardener an able and willing 
helper, while his Chrysanthemums were the admiration of many, and 
won him many an honour, as did also his Grapes. In fact, he was 
everywhere at home. He was, moreover, a quiet, modest, and unassum¬ 
ing man. He had found in Mr. and Mrs. Haywood kind and sympa¬ 
thising friends. He worked cheerfully for them, and were he able to 
tell us he would say never had gardener a kinder master and mistress. 
He will be a great loss, and it will be indeed difficult to replace a man 
so thoroughly efficient and trustworthy as James Ridout.—D., Deal. 
[Mr. J. Ridout died of apoplexy on the 28th ult., at the age of 51.] 
-An International Horticultural Congress will take 
place at Paris during the General Horticultural Show, which will be 
held from the 16tfi to the 21st August this year, and persons desiring to 
take part in it are desired to inform M. Hardy, President of the Com¬ 
mittee of organisation, Rue de Grenelle, 84, Paris, as early as possible. 
Papers should be sent to him not latter than the 1st of June. The 
questions to be discussed are as follows :—1, Is it possible to obtain by 
artificial fertilisation, practised between species of plants which lend 
themselves to this operation, characters or qualities which have been 
foreseen, whatever may be the cultural section to which they belong— 
market gardening, fruitful or ornamental arboriculture or floriculture Z 
2, Is it necessary for obtaining flowers with striped corollas to first 
obtain flowers with white corollas ? 3, An examination of the tariffs 
of railway companies applied to the transport of horticultural products. 
4, Revision of the Phylloxera Convention of Berne. 5, Chemical 
manures in horticulture; their mode of employment. 6, Means of 
destroying the enemies of cultivated plants. 
- Leeds Paxton Society.—T he third annual dinner of the 
above Society was held at the Wheatsheaf Hotel, Upperhead Row, 
Leeds, on Thursday evening, March 28th, but as the report only reached 
us as we were preparing for press, the utmost we can do is to say the 
gathering appears to have been a large one and highly successful. 
-Notwithstanding the unfavourable season of 1888 for ripen¬ 
ing the wood of fruit trees, Peach trees in late houses are flower¬ 
ing splendidly, and betting equally well. We find that by giving the 
trees a slight syringing at noon while they are in flower the fruits set 
quite as thickly as when the rabbit’s tail is passed over them, but the 
former is by far the quickest method of securing a regular set, and I 
therefore consider it the best. —D. 
- Striking Fuchsia Cuttings.—D uring the spring months, 
when so much propagating has to be done, and there is no house that 
can be devoted specially to the purpose, great difficulty is sometimes 
experienced in finding suitable places for handlights and bell-glasses in 
which cuttings can be kept close till rooted, and a great saving of time 
can often be effected by knowing exactly what cuttings can be rooted 
with certainty without the aid of any of the above-named appliances. 
Hitherto we have taken the trouble to place Fuchsia cuttings under hand- 
lights until rooted, but this season, requiring a much larger stock than 
usual, a more expeditious method had to be pursued. We dibbled the 
cuttings into shallow boxes, placed them in a shady part of a vinery for 
a few days, then removed them to the front of the house, where the 
shade is not so dense, and with this treatment not one in sixty failed to 
root.—H. Dunkin. 
- Gardening Appointments. —Mr. James Tullett, for the past 
seven years general foreman to His Grace the Duke of Cleveland, Raby 
Castle, Darlington, Durham, has been appointed head gardener to Sir 
Edward W. Blackett, Bart, Matfen Hall, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northum¬ 
berland. Mr. J. A. Worsfold, late foreman for the last six years in the 
gardens of J. B. Charlesworth, Esq., Hatfield, Wakefield, Yorks, has 
been appointed head gardener to F. Crowder, Esq., of Scrimby Hall, 
Spilsby. Mr. C. J. Salter, for nine years gardener to the late John 
Southgate, Esq., Selborne, Streatham, has been appointed gardener to 
T. B. Haywood, Esq., Wood Hatch, Reigate. Mr. T. A. Todd, late of 
Ford Manor, has been appointed gardener to Lady Scott, Sundridge 
Park, Bromley. Mr. Wm. Rye, late head gardener for eleven years to 
James Derham, Esq., Sneyd Park, Bristol, has been appointed head 
gardener to R. N. Hooper, Esq., Stanshawes Court, Chipping Sodbury. 
Gloucestershire. 
-The Rainfall in Mid-Sussex. —The rainfall at Cuckfield for 
the past three months was — January, 1-28 inch; February, 2-64 
inches ; March, 2'39 inches ; being 4-15 inches under the average for the 
quarter. The highest temperature registered was 59° on February 17 th 
and March 17th. The lowest temperature was 15° on February 13th. 
Mean temperature for January 37°, 1° under the average ; for February 
36'6°, 3 G° under the average; for March, 405°, the average.— 
R. Inglis. 
- At the ordinary meeting of the Royal Meteorological 
Society, to be held at 25, Great George Street, Westminster, on Wed¬ 
nesday, the 17th instant, at 7 p.m., the following papers will be read :— 
“On the Deaths caused by Lightning in England and Wales from 
1852 to 1880,” by Robert Lawson, LL.D., F.R.Mct.Soc. “The Diurnal 
Range of the Barometer in Great Britain and Ireland,” by F. C. Bayard, 
LL.M., F.R.Met.Soc. “Note on a Working Model of the Gulf Stream,” 
by A. W. Clayden, M.A., F.R.Met.Soc. 
- Mr. J. Mallender sends the following Summary of 
Meteorological Observations at Hodsock Priory, Worksop, 
Notts, for March :—Mean temperature of month, 40'5°. Maximum 
on the 24th, 63'4° ; minimum on the 4th, 16°. Maximum in the sun on 
the 24th, 108'9° ; minimum on the grass on the 4th, 13 - 4°. Mean 
temperature of the air at 9 A.M., 40'4°. Mean temperature of soil 
1 foot deep, 39°. Nights below 82° in shade, twelve ; on grass, twenty- 
two. Sunshine, total duration in month, eighty-seven hours, or 24 per 
cent, of possible duration. We had five sunless days. Total rainfall, 
4-17 inches. Maximum fall in twenty-four hours on the 8th, 1'62 inch ; 
also 1'40 inch on the 19th. Rain fell on eleven days. Average velocity 
of wind, 10'6 miles per hour ; velocity exceeded 400 miles on five days, 
and fell short of 100 miles on two days. Approximate averages for 
March:—Mean temperature, 41'8° ; rainfall, 1'61 inch; sunshine, 
100 hours. The warmest March since 1884, and the wettest for at least 
thirty years. Floods occurred after both the heavy falls, that on the 
20th was the highest. 
- The second winter’s meetings of the Cardiff Castle 
Gardeners’ Association were brought to a close on Tuesday, 
April 2nd. The meeting was solely a business one, the principal item 
being the drawing up of a code of rules for the governance of what 
will be known in the future as the Cardiff Gardeners’ Mutual Im¬ 
provement Association. The meetings throughout have been a great 
success in merit of the papers read, and so much so in point of numbers 
that it has been found necessary to take a larger room than the one 
now made use of, a suitable one having been obtained in a very central 
part of the town, so that for next session we anticipate still greater 
success. During the session papers upon the following subjects were 
read : The Cultivation of the Peach, Pear, Apple, Melon, Tomato, Straw¬ 
berry, Mushroom, Potato, Leek, Seakale, Orchids, Rose, Chrysanthe¬ 
mum, Tuberous Begonia, Eueharis, Zonal Pelargonium, Bouvardia, 
Primula, (Practical Botany—Grasses and Grains), Reminiscences of a 
Tour in Scotland, Propagation of Hardwooded Plants, Propaga¬ 
tion of Ferns, and Packing Fruit for Market. Before the close of 
the meeting the officers for the ensuing session were elected. The 
President, Mr. A. Pettigrew, occupied the chair.— Thomas H. Cook, 
Hon. Secretary. 
_ Sheffield Floral and Horticultural Society.—A t 
the usual monthly meeting of the above Society, held at the Montgomery 
Hall, New Surrey Street, on Wednesday, April 3rd, Mr. C. Cooke, 
gardener to C. Beatson Clarke, Esq., Rotherham, read an essay on “ The 
Azalea,” before a good attendance of members. Mr. William Collier, 
gardener to J. Eaton, Esq., Sharrow Bank, occupied the chair. Mr. 
Cooke, in an interesting and succinct paper, gave some valuable infor¬ 
mation on the cultivation of the Azalea. His remarks included the 
proper kind of compost to grow the plants in, which he described as 
“ two-thirds peat and two-thirds loam ’’—the proper time and manner of 
potting ; treatment before, during, and after flowering ; temperature, 
prevention and destruction of insect enemies, and the general manage¬ 
ment throughout the year, concluding with a list of the best varieties 
for early forcing. A discussion followed, and questions were asked, and 
replied to by Mr. Cooke satisfactorily. He illustrated his paper with a 
collection of fine Azalea blooms, for which he was awarded a first-class 
cultural certificate, as well as a vote of thanks for his paper. The 
exhibits of the members for the month consisted of plants of Spirsea 
japonica, Deutzia gracilis, and Azaleas; cut blooms of Azaleas, Roses, 
Callas, Camellias, Amaryllises, Imantophyllums, Rhododendrons, Salvias, 
Primulas, and Dendrobiums ; also, an unusual feature at this time of the 
year, blooms of Mdlle. Lacroix and Margot Chrysanthemums. 
