10 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ .fjiinnry ?, ISM. 
would not be likely to perch on anything so unsubstantial as a flower. 
I do not at all think that bullfinches devour fruit buds for the sake of 
any insects concealed in them ; and as some people are sure to continue 
to say that they do, it would be well if some of those who have these 
birds in their gardens were to follow Mias Ormerod’s suggestion, and 
send up the contents of their crops for microscopical examination by an 
expert.—W. K. Eaillem. 
- The annual meeting of the Richmond (Shrrey) Horticul¬ 
tural Society was recently held at the Greyhound Hotel, Sir J. Whit¬ 
taker Ellis presiding. The balance in hand is £28 7s. 2d. Mr. Gribble 
having tendered his resignation as Assistant Secretary, was presented 
with a handsomely illuminated address on vellum, as a mark of 
appreciation of his useful services during the past five years. 
■-Ware and District Horticultural Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Society —An ordinary meeting of this Society was held in 
Ware on the 17th inst. There was a good attendance of members. Mr. 
R. Smith was voted to the chair. The subject for the evening was 
“ Chrysanthemum Culture,” by Mr. G. Fulford. The paper dealt with 
the chief points in their culture, and a discussion followed by Messrs. 
Brown, Wiltshire, and Pavey. The meeting terminated with the usual 
votes of thanks to the Chairman and essayist. 
- The Plague of Rats. — Writing to the Standard, “John 
Rodent ” says :—“ I beg to send you a simple means of destroying large 
numbers of these vermin. Fiil a large barrel three parts full of chaff. 
Place a quantity of barley meal or other bait on top of the chaff ; place 
a board, sloping from top of barrel, for rats to jump on top of chaff, 
but not to come within G inches of it. Rats can thus have a feast and 
escape. The following night fill the barrel three parts full of water, 
place about 4 inches of chaff to float on the top, bait as before, and in 
the morning you will find the barrel half full of drowned rats.” 
-The Durham, Northumberland, and Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne Botanical and Horticultural Society. —We learn from 
the report of the Council of this important Society that the fine autumn 
Exhibition held on the occasion of the visit of the British Association 
to the city was not a financial success in consequence of wet weather 
on the whole of the three days. Still the receipts amounted to 
£519 5s. Id. The deficiency was made up by a concert, and the Leazes 
Park Committee considera*’ely waiving a great portion of the rent. The 
Council announce a great increase of membership, and confidently 
expect the subscription list will Ve so enlarged in 1890 that the income 
will meet the expenditure even in adverse weather, leaving a surplus to 
form a reserve fund. The receipts from all sources during the year were 
£1532 93 ., and the expenditure £1462 7s. lid., balance in favour of the 
Society £70 Is. Id. The Society is to be congratulated on having such 
earnest supporters, and we trust it will have a prosperous career. 
-Luculia gratissima.—I enclose a photograph of the above 
shrub, grown against a pillar in the conservatory here, covering it 
20 feet high, and flowering freely from the top to the floor. The large 
trusses of flowers of a pleasing pink deliciously scented, with the vigo¬ 
rous dark green leaves, have been the admiration of many who have seen 
it this autumn. The plant is at least twelve years old, planted in loam 
with a little peat and sand, thoroughly drained, and watered occasion¬ 
ally with liquid manure made from artificial and stable manures. The 
plant is pruned at the end of January, and cut back to within a joint of 
where previous cut, or spur-pruned. The conservatory is large, and is 
heated from September to May 50° to 5.5° at night, and the plant is 
much exposed to the sun from the roof. This is the finest plant of its 
kind that I have seen, and is worthy of more general cultivation. We 
have not found the flowers useful for cutting purposes.—G. Harris, 
Almmclt- Castle Gardens [The photograph shows that the plant, which 
we remember well, is an extremely fine one, and is flowering most pro¬ 
fusely, but it was too indistinct for reproduction by engraving.] 
- Mr. H. C. Russell, Government Astronomer of New South 
Wales, has published the results of Meteorological Observations 
made in that colony during 1887. The number of reporting stations is 
now 862, being ninety-four more than in 1880, the increase being almost 
wholly in rain stations. The arrangement of the tables, which give ihe 
most important data for each station separately, is the same as in 
previous years ; but there are also two new tables giving the mean 
maximum and minimum temperature at Sydney for each month from 
1856 to 1887. The mean temperature of the whole colony for the last 
seventeen years is 61-2°. At Sydney the mean for th’rty years is 62 7°. 
The diagrams appended to the volume give a good idea of the weather 
conditions at Sydney, and clearly exhibit the peculiarities of certain 
periods, such as the very short winter of 1873, and the long one of 1874, 
also the long summer of 1877-78, with four months of hot weather, 
and the short summer of 1886-87, when there was only one month of 
hot weather. In 1878 the lowest winter temperature occurred in June, 
and in 1872 in August. A comparison is made of the rainfall at the 
principal places in the various colonies. The contrast between the 
amount at Brisbane and Sydney and that at Melbourne is very striking. 
At the former places as much rain sometimes falls in one month as would 
make a year’s rainfall at Melbourne. At Sydney the least annual rain¬ 
fall on record is 21 "48 inches, and the greatest 82’81 inches. The ques¬ 
tion of evaporation continues to receive considerable attention ; the 
tabular results are published, with the rain and river results, in a separate 
volume.— (JXaturel) 
- The Wimbledon and District Royal Horticultural 
AND Cottage Garden Society held their annual meeting at the 
Lecture Hall recently, and Dr. G. Walker presided over a good at¬ 
tendance. The seventeenth annual report stated that both the summer 
and autumn shows maintained their high standard of excellence. The 
entries were numerous, and in all the classes the competition was fair. 
At the National Chrysanthemum Society’s Show the Wimbledon Society 
won the trophy which is offered every year for competition among the 
forty-three affiliated societies. The report stated in conclusion that Mr. 
W. B. Faulkner had generously offered a challenge cup, value 15 guineas, 
and 5 guineas as a first prize for the autumn show, and the Committee 
trusted that others would follow his good example. The accounts 
showed a balance in hand of £2 63 . 2d. .The receipts amounted to 
£242 16s. lOJ., and the expenditure to £240 lOs. 8 d. The subscriptions 
amounted to £166 93 . Mr. A. Hutchinson thought the time had 
arrived when they should appoint a paid secretary. Although in this 
instance a dual government had worked very well, yet in nearly every 
other instance a dual government tended to disorder. He objected to 
it on principle, and moved that Mr. Lyne be chosen Secretary for the 
ensuing year. Mr. Neller seconded the motion, but Mr. Lyne declined 
the offer, observing that he would probably be leaving Wimbledon in 
two or three years’ time. He was, however, quite willing to work jointly 
with Dr. Walker gratuitously if the Society saw fit to elect him again. 
Ultimately Mr. Hutchinson withdrew his motion in deference to the 
feeling of the meeting, and Dr. Walker and Mr. Lyne were re-elected 
joint Honorary Secretaries. Sir Edwin Saunders has presented the 
Society with a handsome banner for use at the annual shows. 
- Dowdy Gardens. —Some gardens have a look much worse 
than that of neglect; they are “ dowdy.” One cause for this is over¬ 
crowding. The plants have neither room, light, nor air sufficient to 
enable them to develops their forms of flowers. Not long since we saw 
a bed of Balsams of fully fifty plants in a space foot square ; the 
owner complained bitterly because his flowers were not so fine as ours, 
yet our plants occupy 6 square feet each, and they completely cover 
the space. Plants should be thinned soon after they are started to get 
a strong healthy growth. Another common cause of dowdy gardens is 
a desire to have a little of everything in a space only sufficient to grow 
a few things well. Form and colour are so intermixed that the effect is 
destroyed ; no harmony, no distinctness, simply a jumble of colour. 
And still w'e are asked to admire flowers under such conditions. As 
well might we call an artist’s palette a picture. In the window garden 
the same thing is noticeable. Ten times as many plants as look well 
or do well, are crowded into a given space, for fear they will be killed in 
the garden. Better have them killed by Jack Frost than to starve them in 
the house or let them eke out a sickly existence. A plant is never so 
beautiful as when it is grown to perfection. This cannot be done if it 
is crowded, or in the shade of trees or walls. It is better to have a 
single specimen in the vigour of health and bloom than a floral hospital. 
A single plant of a good Zinnia will adorn a garden for three months ; 
whatever its colour may be, there will be none other to destroy its 
harmony, and there is no colour but what is pleasing if it does not suffer 
by comparison. Plant a few things, and give them a living chance.— 
(^American Garden.') 
THE NAMES OF PLANTS. 
In explaining this digest of Rose statistics in the last issue of the 
Royal Horticultural Society’s Journal, the Rev. W. Wilks has the fol¬ 
lowing remarks upon nomenclature that are worth a careful perusal :— 
Beyond the mere clerical work the chief difficulty has arisen from vary¬ 
ing nomenclature, and that not only with regard to synonyms, but also 
in regard to the very varied spelling of names. Great confusion is 
evidently caused by that most reprehensible practice of raisers of new 
