300 . 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 19, 1390. 
west sprang up yesterday, and still continues pretty high, and several 
showers have accompanied it. Temperature during the night 38°.—B. D. 
- Glut of Potatoes.—T he following paragraph has appeared 
in some newspapers : “ There is an extraordinary glut of Potatoes in the 
Peterborough district, where the farmers have vast quantities on hand. 
The quotation they receive from the London markets is only 20s. a ton, 
and local prices, as a rule, range from IJd. to 2|^d. a stone.” When a 
glut of inferior fruit is poured into the market it is made a pretext for 
condemning the production of superior samples, so we may now expect 
to be told how foolish it must be to continue growing Potatoes. 
- Royal Meteorological Society.—A t the ordinary meeting 
of this Society, to be held at 26, Great George Street, Westminster, on 
Wednesday, the 16th instant, at 7 p.m., the following papers will he 
read ;—“ The Cold Period at the Beginning of March, 1890,” by Charles 
Harding, F.R.Met.Soc.; “ Note on the Whirlwind which Occurred at 
Fulford, near York, March 8th, 1890,” by J. E. Clark, B.Sc., F.G.S.; 
“ On the Possibility of Forecasting the Weather by means of Monthly 
Averages,” by Albert E. Watson, B.A.. F.R.Met.Soc.; “ Rainfall of the 
Globe,” by W. B. Tripp, M.Inst.C.E., F.R.Met.Soc. 
- Gardening Appointment. —Mr. H. May, late foreman at 
King’s Ride, Ascot, as head gardener to Lady Keane, Rosemount, 
Sunninghill. a 
- Mr. Gladstone at Weybridge.—W e are informed that 
the veteran statesman, when on a visit to Admiral Egerton last week, 
was taken by his guest to see Mr. G. F. Wilson’s garden. He evinced 
much interest in what he saw, admiring the flowers greatly, especially 
the Oakwood Blue Primrose, that attracted so much attention at 
Westminster on Tuesday last. 
- The Sparrow Pest. —A correspondent, “ B.,” writes :— 
“ May I ask if there is any way known to keep down sparrows 2 My 
gardens are infested by them, and without nets it is impossible to grow 
Currants, Strawberries, or any kind of seed. Scarecrows are of no use. 
May I use poison in any shape 2 ” We shall be glad if our readers can 
give the desired information. 
- Spring Flowering Plants. —Foremost amongst these. 
Anemone appenina deserves special mention, large beds of this very 
pretty species, of dwarf habit and pale blue flowers, yielding sheets of 
flowers under a wall with an east aspect, and close by is a large bed of 
Tritelcia uniflora, a mass of flower of a shaded pale lilac and white 
colour. These masses are now in full beauty at Messrs. Thomson’s 
Birmingham nurseries. Ranunculus montanus is another beautiful 
companion plant, a miniature Buttercup, now giving a profusion of 
golden yellow flowers. 
- Dividing Herbaceous Plants. —Those who have to contend 
with a wet, heavy, and consequently cold soil during the winter months, 
will find the present a good time to increase these plants by division. 
Carefully cut through with a sharp edging knife, lifted with a fork, 
and planted quickly, they will start into growth at once, whereas if the 
dividing is done in the autumn little progress is made until the present 
time. The slugs, too, play havoc with the tender shoots which would 
just now be springing up through the soil. It is difficult to prevent 
this, for they prey upon the tender morsels just below the surface. It 
is a good plan to clear the growths and apply a sprinkling of soot about 
them, replacing the soil again.—E. 
- Poinsettia pulcherrima Planted Out.—I lately saw in 
a small lean-to house, the front part of which is devoted to Melons 
during the summer, the Poinsettia planted in a narrow border at the 
back, the branches being trained against the wall, the main stems in a 
horizontal manner. This season twenty-five heads were produced, 
which were large and richly coloured, their appearance being consider¬ 
ably improved by the ample deep green foliage with which the plant 
was covered. Some of the shoots had grown 6 feet long from the base 
where pruning was done the year previous. At the present time many 
small bracts are pushing from short side shoots, which are being forced 
from the joints since the main blooms were cut. To obtain strong 
growth and subsequently strong bracts the current season’s growth 
should be cut in to within one or two eyes of the base, as in the case of 
allowing a considerable extension of last year’s growth with a view to 
extend the size of the plant in any direction growth is not nearly so 
freely or strongly made, but by concentrating the whole energy of the 
plant into fewer branches more strength is given to subsequent growth 
and finer bracts. Abundance of water to the roots while growth is 
active is beneficial, and indeed necessary.—M, 
- Death of Mr. Michael Middleton. —Mr. M. Middleton 
late gardener at Admiralty House, Bermuda, died of consumption at 
Hamilton of that place on the 26th February last at the early age of 
forty-four. Twenty-one years ago Mr. Middleton was one of a group 
of about a dozen young men, then students in the Royal Gardens, Kew. 
This group consisted of Englishmen, Scotchmen, Irishmen, one Welsh¬ 
man, two Germans, and one Dane. They were contemporary with Mr. 
Kingston, who fell a victim to his love of botany in the Herbarium not 
many years after, with Mr. R. I. Lynch, now of the Cambridge Botanic 
Gardens. They sat at the same examinations both at South Kensington 
and for the Society of Arts, and Mr. Middleton was not the least success¬ 
ful among his compeers. These young men were soon scattered. Three 
went to India ; one I last heard of in a good position in America; the 
Germans went to fight for their Fatherland, and have not been heard 
of again by the writer ; the Welshman took to preaching, and others to 
various parts of the United Kingdom. After some few years’ experience 
in gentlemen’s places the late Mr. Smith showed his confidence in him 
by getting him to take the place of a sick foreman for some time, and 
afterwards recommended him to General Lefroy, with whom he went 
for a term of five years while he was Governor of Bermuda. At the 
end of that time he returned to England with his master, and was for a 
short time with a gentleman in his native county of Northumberland. 
He afterwards went to America and in various parts of the States as 
far west as Dakota, where his health broke down, and was advised to 
seek the more salubrious climate of Bermuda. After recovering from 
his illness he was appointed to the Admiralty Gardens, where he was 
till shortly before his death.—R. Inglis. 
-A Beautiful Hanging Basket.—D uring a recent visit to 
Childwall Hall, Liverpool, I was particularly struck with a basket filled 
with Lachenalia pendula. This grand old occupant of our greenhouses 
it would be impossible to see to greater advantage, the basket in question 
being about 2 feet wide by 2J feet deep ; the whole perfectly draped 
with graceful foliage and spikes of bloom a foot long. Those who have 
not seen Lachenalias grown in this way can form no conception of their 
almost matchless beauty. Mr. Wink worth proposes exhibiting this 
plant at the Spring Show of the Liverpool Horticultural Association, 
and if staged in the perfection I saw it, will prove a striking feature.— 
Visitor. 
- - The Weather Last Month.— March was cold and wintry 
for the first five days. The minimum temperature on the 4,th (12°) was 
the lowest we have any record of for March, and the lowest this 
winter here. The remainder of the month was bright weather on the 
whole, with the exception of 18th to 22nd. Highest shade temperature 
was 62° on the 17th, lowest 12° on 4th; lowest on grass 12° on 4th. 
Barometer.—Highest, 30'60 at 9 A.M. on 3 rd, lowest 2913 at 9 p.m. on 
24th. Rainfall.—Total, 2 23 inches, which fell on eighteen days, and 
0'68 inch of which fell on the 19th. Wind was in a westerly direction 
twenty-five days during the month. The garden spring ran 23 gallons 
per minutes on 31st.—W. H. Divers, Ketton Hall, Stamford, 
- Summary of Meteorological Observations at Hod- 
sock Priory, Worksop, Notts, for March. — Mean tempera¬ 
ture of month, 43’6°. Maximum on the 12th, 62'2° ; minimum on the 
4th, 19’7°. Maximum in the sun on the 26th, 116’0° ; minimum on the 
grass on the 4th, 12-6°. Mean temperature of theairat9A.M.,44'l°. Mean 
temperature of the soil at 1 foot deep, 41 9°. Nights below 32°, in shade 
ten, on grass seventeen. Total duration of sunshine, ninety-four hours, 
or 26 per cent, of possible duration. We had five sunless days. Total 
rainfall 1'72 inch ; rain fell on twelve days. Average velocity of wind, 
13’8 miles per hour ; exceeded 400 miles on eight days, and fell short 
of 100 miles on one day. Approximate averages for March—Mean 
temperature, 4l‘8° ; sunshine, ninety-eight hours ; rainfall, 1'61 inch. 
A mild month, with average rainfall. The mean temperature is higher 
than in any of the last fifteen years, exeept 1882. Vegetation very 
forward.— Joseph Mallender. 
- Fishes in a Fountain Basin.—I have a fountain basin in 
my garden about 14 feet diameter and 2 to 3 feet deep ; a quantity of a 
filamentous weed grew in it, which kept the water very clear and 
bright; but it grew so thick, and the basin had not been cleaned out 
for so long, that I determined to clean it out, which I did. I threw 
back a small quantity of the weed, thinking it would grow again, but it 
did not, and now I cannot see the water clear, I have Lilies and other 
water plants, but they have not the same effect. I should be glad if 
you would kindly tell me the name of the weed. I fancy it is what is 
called the American Pond-weed, which grows so rapidly, and chokes up 
canals, &c., in some places. I may add that the golden orfe is a capital 
