252 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Mar 31.1887. 
passed through, the indices are liable to be shaken from their proper posi¬ 
tion, and it requires long immersion in order to attain the temperature of 
its surroundings. Mr. J. Y. Buchanan has shown how, by the use of 
mercury and water piezometers, the actual temperature at a given point 
may be obtained, no matter how the temperature between that point 
and the surface may vary. Such instruments have not been much used, 
and now a modification of the mercurial outflow thermometer, patented 
by Messrs. Negretti & Zambra as the standard deep-sea thermometer, 
is largely used. When fitted in a frame which admits of the ther¬ 
mometer registering at a precisely known depth, admirable results are 
obtained by it. The manner of using these thermometers in the Scottish 
frame, and of conducting temperature trips in comparatively shallow 
water, were described, and the best ways of recording the observations 
and elaborating the results were alluded to, the work of the Scottish 
Marine Station on the Clyde sea area being taken as an illustration. 
The importance of marine temperature observations as bearing on 
submarine geography, on navigation, on the distribution of animal life, 
and consequently on fisheries, was alluded to. The paper was illustrated 
by diagrams and by the exhibition of the apparatus, which was described. 
After the reading of these papers the meeting was adjourned in order to 
afford the Fellows an opportunity of inspecting the Exhibition of 
Marine Meteorological Instruments and Apparatus which had been 
organised under the auspices of the Society. 
SPRING GARDENING AT KEW. 
Now that the days are lengthening and the sun is becoming more 
powerful the pretty flowers of spring are everywhere studding the 
ground. The sight of these spring flowers, notwithstanding the perfec¬ 
tion attained in modern times, has the same fascination for us to-day 
as they had for our predecessors fifty or a hundred years ago, much 
of the pleasure derivable from outdoor plants depends, however, on 
whether the position be a natural one or otherwise. A group so placed 
as to position and surroundings as to give it a natural appearance has a 
charm of its own that is quite lost in the slipshod way often practised 
of dibbling in bulbs or plants anywhere and everywhere an open space 
presents itself without the least regard to effect, associations, &c. In 
planting even such common bulbs as the Wood Hyacinth, the 
Daffodil, the Snowdrop, Crocus, &c., something more is required than 
the mere effort of planting, however carefully that may be done. To 
render the effect all that may be desired the surroundings, the position, 
exposure, after effect, and a host of other and perhaps minor points 
have all to be fully considered by the careful gardener before com¬ 
mitting his bulbs to the ground, and these are often the points left out 
of count altogether. A natural style should be the gardener’s aim, and 
although this has been to a large extent lost sight of in modern times, 
the popularity of what is now termed wild or spring gardening tells us 
that we are returning to the old state of things before the introduction 
of ribbon and carpet bedding. In hundreds of gardens in this country 
facilities are afforded for making this phase of gardening a grand 
feature, and that, too, at a comparatively small cost in obtaining the 
bulbs in the first instance. No greenhouses arc required for wintering 
these harbingers of spring, and little or no trouble besides that of 
keeping the ground free of rank weeds during the growing season. 
At Kew, as the leading public garden, much has been done within 
the last few years to show how this can be effectively carried out, 
although from the peculiar and flat character of the ground generally 
the task has been to all appearance the reverse of an easy one. The 
grounds are hardly varied enough to show this style of gardening on 
the extensive scale it merits ; such as they are, however, they seem to 
have been taken advantage of at every point, as the present effect amply 
testifies. Nothing of the kind we believe had been hitherto attempted 
at Kew, and the interest it awakens in the visitors has already done 
much to popularise this charming style. The wild garden, as it is called 
at Kew, commands a prominent position in the form of a large mound to 
the south of the rockery, and divided from the rockery by the main 
walk from the Cumberland Gate, it borders No. 1 Museum, the pond 
near the Palm house, the walk from the latter house to the T range 
flanking the west side of it. Tall forest trees are a prominent feature, 
and a clump of old weather-beaten Box trees show well on the slope. 
One or two old Cedars on the east slope, underneath which the ground 
is covered with Ivy, forming a fine natural evergreen bank. A few 
clumps of mixed shrubs, Roses and Rhododendrons, with a fine bed of 
Yuccas in a prominent position, help to brighten it during the dull 
months of winter. On the highest point is the Temple of Alolus, of 
which a peep is to be had only at intervals among the dense foliage. On 
the slope and facing the Cumberland Gate are myriads of the quaint 
Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis), showing how well it thrives on a 
sloping position ; another portion is thickly covered with Squills, Scilla 
sibirica and bifolia, intermixed with Winter Aconite and Snowdrops, on 
a thin groundwork of the Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor), and behind 
these are thousands of Snowdrops, the common single and double, and 
G. Elwesi, the latter apparently not so much at home as G. nivalis. A 
gentle rise behind this is covered with Primroses, and thickly planted 
with Daffodils, which will be a grand sight, as we are told that some¬ 
thing like 30,000 bulbs have been planted of the common Narcissus 
pseudo-Narcissus, besides thousands of wild Hyacinths, White Lilies., 
clumps of Gentians, and a fine patch of Cyclamen neapolitanum, which' 
seems quite at home, hundreds of seedlings strewing the ground all/ 
around. Anemone nemorosa is also being introduced, as were Crocuses,, 
the spring yellow and purple varieties covering the ground ; they pre¬ 
sent a welcome sight sparkling on their bed of green. A large 
clump of Hydrangeas seems quite at home, as also do the Oriental’ 
Poppies, Mulleins, and other tall plants. A large bed of Cistuses has- 
escaped the winter almost scatheless, notwithstanding its unusual 
severity. On the Cumberland Walk an unusually large plant of Gun- 
nera scabra, and another of Polygonum sachalinense, occupy the fore¬ 
ground, and handsome they look in their summer foliage with their 
graceful arching leaves and stems. 
The ground near the lake in front of Museum No. 1 has also under¬ 
gone a great improvement lately. Here we see the Japanese Iris- 
(I. Kmmpferi) quite at home, with its roots almost in the water, speci¬ 
men plants of Gunnera scabra and G. manicata, clumps of Spiraea, 
palmata, Ac. ; and the banks, almost to the water’s edge, thickly planted 
with the Poet’s Daffodil, Fritillaria Meleagris, and the autumn Col- 
chicum. All this and much more is being done for natural gardening; 
at Kew, and although as yet in an embryo state, it will improve yearly 
as the bulbs get established, and no doubt additions will be made as- 
opportunities offer.—A Visitor. 
MARIE LOUISE PEAR. 
The engraving (fig. 16) illustrates a tree growing in the Elvastore 
Castle G ardens, only planted eight years on a south aspect in a prepared/ 
border of good loam. When bought from the Upton Nurseries, Chester, 
it had four pairs of horizontal branches with a good leader ; it is now 
32 feet high, and has thirty-one pairs of horizontal branches, mostly 
8 feet long from the main stem. This tree has not only grown well, but 
has annually produced a heavy crop of fruit. Last season 4 bushels of 
Pears were gathered from the tree, and this year it had fifty-seven dozen 
fruit. The tree is well attended to with water, and receives supplies of 
liquid manure from the farmyard. The fruits are thinned and rcgu>- 
lated, and the tree is protected when in bloom. We begin to take the- 
crop early in September, and put these first-gathered Pears into boxes- 
to ripen, as this gathering is liable to shrivel if laid on the open shelves- 
in the fruit room. The next gathering is made in October, clearing the 
upper part of the tree. The fruit on the lower part is left to hang as- 
long as possible, in order to prolong the season of this highly esteemed 
Pear, and this year we had some hanging at Christmas. This system 
enables us to have this variety in use for nearly three months. We 
grow about 100 varieties, but the Marie Louise is the most appreciated 
of them all.—J. H. Goodacre. 
LONDON’S LESSER OPEN SPACES—THEIR TREES 
AND PLANTS. 
NEW SERIES. —No. 2. 
It is pleasant to talk about our numerous and thickly populated 
London suburbs, the many indications of a widely spreading taste for 
gardening, which cannot but prove of great moral benefit to the people. 
We see signs of it now, when winter is yielding to spring, and find old 
and young busy in turning up their garden plots, which are frequently 
decorated with early bulbs. Their culture is not devoid of its cares, for 
these as they bloom must be protected from sparrows, cats, and petty 
thieves. For the most part it is not the custom of the managers of our 
smaller open spaces to attempt any display of spring flowers, except the 
distribution of some Crocuses and Wallflowers, the reason doubtless 
being usually insufficient funds for the purpose. Something might be 
done at little cost with shrubs or trees that bloom early, but not in the 
radius where London smoke much affects vegetation. 
Clerkenwell and its vicinity may boast of many rural and horticul¬ 
tural memories, if now it presents few attractions. Rising above the 
City it had, wc are told, on all sides but one a prospect of wooded hills, 
which were vales of luxuriant verdure, and here and there a vineyard 
or orchard. On the west, in a secluded dell, the river of Wells took 
its rise, and flowed circuitously to the Thames, joining the Fleet and 
the Old Bourne. Saffron Hill, at one season, was blue with the flowers 
of that plant; and about the City Road were many gardens, some in 
which citizens grew Roses and other flowers, some where the early 
costermongers raised vegetables to sell in Golden Lane. Somewhere in 
Old Street the poet Daniel had his garden and rosery in the reign of 
James I., and one John Milton had a nursery for choice plants. 1 had 
a hope that Bartholomew Square, a small open space yet extant, might 
prove to be a relic of one of the older greeneries ; but, alas I if so, it is 
now converted into a place for refuse by its inhabitants, though it con¬ 
tains a few dismal shrubs. 
To reach Clerkenwell from the City Aldersgate was the readiest 
way, a gate so ramed, some say, because Alder or Elder trees grew 
thickly just outside the walls ; but others think it alludes to the 
antiquity of the gate. Part of the vacant space here became the 
