March 20, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
457 
to suggest certain exact conditions scarcely to be 
obtained by artificial means. But I do not dogmatise 
as I may be wrong in my conjecture. This I know, 
that I shall never forget the peculiar beauty of the blue 
Hydrangeas at Muckross, as there was something 
unusual and striking in the depth of colour they 
displayed.— H. D. 
--**<—- 
FROST, FOG AND WIND. 
The drawing from which the accompanying illustra¬ 
tion, was prepared, was made on February 19th last; 
it represents a remarkable effect of frost, fog and 
wind combined. For several days, about the date just 
mentioned, the frost was very severe here ; the hills at 
the same time were continuously hidden by a wet fog, 
which was driven gently along by a biting wind from the 
north-east. The effect of 
this on the naked branches 
of the trees and bushes on 
the top of the hills was most 
curious, for every branch, 
from top to bottom of the 
tallest trees, presented verti¬ 
cal bands of ice to the wind. 
The blades of ice were about 
2 in. wide, to from 2 in. to 2 
ft. long, and as thin as a 
knife blade, the edge being 
towards the wind. When 
the thin bands of ice attained 
a width of about 2 in., they 
fell from the branches to the 
ground, only for new blades 
to be again quickly formed. 
Any little extra wind caused 
a stir amongst the branches 
like the sound of breaking 
glass, and then numberless 
blades of glass would fall to 
the ground ; underneath the 
trees the ground was thickly 
carpeted with pieces of ice 
from 2 in. to 8 in. long, 2 in. 
wide, and about as thick as 
writing paper. As it was 
freezing sharp all the time, 
these fragments, like waste 
pieces of window glass, re¬ 
mained on the ground for a 
long time. The illustration 
shows a fragment of a wild 
rose bush ornamented by 
frost, fog, and wind in this 
peculiar manner. It will be 
observed that the blades of 
ice are not continuously at¬ 
tached down the whole length 
of the branches, but are held 
on here and there at special 
points. This curious method 
of attachment seems to have 
been brought about by the 
branches being warmer than 
the atmosphere, and so causing the ice to partially 
melt away as soon as formed. 
The ground has not been free from snow here for 
about four months, and at the present time it is 3 ft. 
and 4 ft. deep where it has drifted by some hedge 
sides. In flat places it has nearly vanished. 
During the winter, the snow by constant thawing 
and freezing was changed to thick coverings of ice. 
This ice sheet in some places completely imprisoned 
swarms of Moles. These animals beneath the ice came 
to the surface of the ground, and burrowed between 
the bottom of the ice sheet and the ground surface, so 
that when the ice was at last melted the runs of the 
moles were seen without the usual earthern covering. 
I have carefully measured and drawn some of these 
complicated labyrinths of the ice-bound moles. 
The grass and wild plants are much more advanced 
m growth where the snow has lain longest, as the 
vegetation has not been so badly bitten by the frost. 
Snowdrops, the winter Aconite, Hellebores, and the 
Mezereon, seem but little the worse for the cold 
weather. 
One plant growth in January greatly surprised me. 
Near my residence is a beautiful stretch of grass on a 
road-side, this was covered for a week or two with 
snow, when a bright day or two melted it all away ; 
to my astonishment on visiting this spot before all the 
snow had really gone, I found it covered with a grand 
growth of Nostoc commune, the familiar gelantuous 
green substance (Alga) called in some place “fallen 
stars.” The Chinese eat an allied species (Nostoc 
edule 1 ) of this dirty green quivering jelly—they turn it 
into soup, and then say the resulting liquor is fit for 
the gods ; I am hardly so far advanced in gastronomy 
at present.— -IF. G. Smith, Dunstable. 
-—->£<-- 
A HOME FOR FLOWERS. 
Mr. H. Cannell is at once an original and a most 
capable florist, and when deviating from the beaten 
track in designation, he applied the term “ Home for 
Flov'ers ” to his very extensive, and still growing 
establishment at Swanley, he v'as doubtless desirous 
of attracting public attention on the one hand, whilst 
yet practically creating a huge floral home. But it 
must be admitted that to myriads of the plants reared 
at Swanley, the term “home” is hardly realised, as they 
seem to be raised in thousands to-day, to be dispersed 
to the four quarters, or shall I commit an Hiber- 
nianism, and say five quarters of the earth to-morrow. 
Certainly the Home prospers upon the migration of its 
progeny. Well, the Swanley Home is a remarkable 
place at any time, and, perhaps, most of all so when 
seen in the dead of winter. 
I have been there in January, and was there again 
but the other day in the second week of March, and 
truth to tell, the January day of some three or four 
years since was a soft summerish day compared with 
that of March the 11 ult., when the bitter frost-laden 
north-easter blew up this long Kentish valley a blast as 
fierce as could well be experienced. All nature in the 
open bore a wretched, seared, blasted aspect, and the 
ground was locked up in frost. Within the houses — 
and these are almost legion—sweet, soft, balmy summer 
prevailed, and flowers were found in such W'ondrous 
beauty and abundance, as to beggar true and honest 
description. Walking through the nursery, I became 
aware, with peculiar emphasis, of the forethought shown 
by Mr. Cannell in planting here and there in rows, 
crossing and recrossing each other, Lombardy Poplars ; 
for these, now some 16 ft. in height, and 2 j ft. through 
at the base, though leafless, yet broke up the wind with 
good effect, fully moderating its bitter keeness one half. 
It was just the day to display the advantage of shelter, 
and I found the benefit of it, as did all vegetation 
within its range. Mr. Cannell also has Beech hedges — 
still covered with the dry leaves, which weirdly clatter 
in the wind, but none the less break its force effectually. 
In planting future shelter rows, Beech and Poplar will 
be alternated. 
But outside at this season there is little that is 
worthy of special notice, for my business is rather with 
the contents of the glass-houses, which have largely 
increased in number since I was last at Swanley. 
Beaders who have heard of 
the Home, and have not yet 
visited it, will be interested 
to learn that whilst there is 
an acre or more covered with 
frames, the plant - houses 
number about thirty-five. 
Of these there are two blocks 
of 100 ft. houses, of which 
there are thirty, all standing 
side by side, all span-roof, 
each 10 ft. wide, and all with¬ 
out side-lights, butventilated 
solely from the top and by 
means of the doors at either 
end. How admirably this 
style of house suits plants it 
is but needful to visit Swan¬ 
ley, or, indeed, any market 
plant-growing, establish¬ 
ment to be assured of. The 
other five houses are each 
150 ft. in length. Thus we 
get an absolute length of 
3,750 ft. run of house, cover¬ 
ing a large area, and, as in 
the present instance filled 
to the utmost with plants. 
Here we have no less than 
three-quarters of a mile of 
houses full to repletion, and 
anyone anxious for a sum 
in arithmetic may employ 
themselves in ascertaining 
how many plants in 48-sized 
pots this big area of glass¬ 
houses will hold, deducting 
throughout the length an 
alley 2 ft. in width. Of these 
houses no less than eight are 
devoted solely to Pelargo¬ 
niums, of which family there 
are many sections ; but just 
now the most attractive are 
the single zonals, a section 
for which Mr. Cannell is al¬ 
ways famous, and never more 
so than in the winter months, when his houses of these 
plants are in bloom, whilst all outside is misery, is one of 
the floral sights of the kingdom, and worth going hun¬ 
dreds of miles to see. When I looked in the other day the 
knife and propagation had beheaded many fine kinds, 
but there was still a glorious show of bloom, and 
although the plants had been flowering for five months 
yet many of the trusses rvere grand, and the flowers 
wonderfully fine and marvellously perfect. Better 
would hardly be possible. Many of the pips almost 
excelled the representations found in Mr. Cannell's re¬ 
markable “ Floral Guide. ” 
Of kinds then, and doubtless still, in bloom were 
M. Chevreul, rich magenta ; Celia, rich crimson ; 
Hermia, rosy red; Constance, rich rose : Swanley Gem, 
rosy salmon ; Scarlet Cloth, rich scarlet ; Lord Hose- 
berry, cerise red ; Plutarch, bright scarlet ; Mrs. 
Norris, fiery scarlet; Ajax, reddish scarlet; Mrs. 
Johnson, rosy magenta; Commander-in-Chief, Dr. 
Denny’s grand scarlet, and almost the only one of that 
raiser’s in stock ; Lady Reed, pure white, scarlet centre, 
the finest of all the oculated section ; Norah, soft blush ; 
Lady Chesterfield, deep salmon ; Imogen, soft salmon ; 
Edith George, reddish pink ; J. McIntosh, crimson- 
scarlet ; Leno, magenta, very dwarf and free ; and that 
Effects of Frost, Fog and Wind. 
