April 2, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
485 
WEBBS’ 
SEEDS 
OF BEAUTIFUL 
FLOWERS 
ASTERS, Webbs’ Victoria, mixed colours.per packet, Is. 
ASTERS, Webbs' Victoria .12 distinct colours for 3s. 6 d. 
AURICULA, Webbs’ Defiance, mixed colours, pkt., Is. & 2s. 6 d. 
BALSAMS, Camellia-flowered, mixed colours..per packet, Is. 
CARNATION, Webbs’ Choice, mixed colours, 
per packet, Is. 6 d. & 2s. 6 d. 
PICOTEE, Webbs' Choice, mixed colours, pkt., Is. Gel. & 2s. 6(1. 
MARIGOLD, Webbs’ Gold-striped, mixed colours, packet, Is. 
MIMULUS, Webbs' Hybrid, mixed colours_per packet, Is. 
POPPY, Webbs’ Sterling, mixed colours .per packet, Is. 
STOCKS, Webbs' Imperial, mixed colours ... .per packet. Is. 
STOCKS, Webbs’ Imperial .S distinct colours for 3s. 
ZINNIA, Webbs’ Exhibition, mixed colours, acket, 6d. & Is. 
WEBBS’ BOXES OF 
FLORAL GEMS 
Specially arranged for the Gardens of 
Ladies and Amateurs, 
2s. 64., 5s., 7s. 64., 10s. 64., 15s., 21s., 
31s. 64., 42s., & 63s. each. 
(P” ALL FLOWER SEEDS POST FREE. 
[Seedsmen by Royal Warrants to H.M. the 
Queen and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. 
WORDSLEY, STOURBRIDGE. 
PRIZE STRAINS 
OF CHOICE 
FLOWER SEEDS 
POST FREE. 
Per packet— s. cl. 
AURICULA, Alpine.10 
BALSAM, Williams’ Superb Strain .. .. Is. 6<f. & 2 6 
BEGONIA hybrida, Williams' Superb Mixed Is. 6 d. & 2 6 
CALCEOLARIA, Williams'Superb Strain Is. 6(1. & 2 6 
CARNATION, Choice Mixed.16 
CINERARIA, Williams’ Extra Choice Strain Is. 6 d. & 2 6 
CINERARIA, Large-flowering French.2 6 
CINERARIA alba .. .. .. .. .. ..2 6 
COCKSCOMB, Williams’Prize .. .. .. ..2 6 
CYCLAMEN persicum, Williams’Superb.. Is. 6(1. & 2 6 
CYCLAMEN giganteuin, Mixed .2 6 
GLOXINIA erecta, Williams’Finest Spotted .. ..2 6 
GLOXINIA erecta, Williams’Superb .. .. ..2 6 
PRIMULA sinensis, Williams’Superb Mixed Is. 6rl. & 2 6 
PRIMULA sinensis, six varieties, Mixed .. Is. 6 d. & 2 6 
STOCKS, Williams’ Superb Large-flowering Ten-week 
in distinct colours.10 
In collections of three colours .. ..26 
STOCK, East Lothian, in distinct colours.. .. ..10 
In collections of three colours .. .. 2 6 
In collections of five varieties .. .. 5 0 
ZINNIA elegans, double, mixed.0 6 
ZINNIA elegans, double, collections of ten varieties .. 2 0 
Illustrated Seed Catalogue forwarded gratis and post free 
on application. 
VICTORIA AND PARADISE NURSERIES, 
UPPER HOLLOWAY, LONDON, N. 
EADEES OF THE GARDENING 
WORLD, when ordering articles advertised in its pages, 
will greatly oblige the publisher by mentioning the paper, and 
in ease of any difficulty or irregularity, by communicating with 
him at once. 
Shropshire Horticultural Society. 
UMMER SHOW (open to all) August 17th 
and ISth. Twenty Plants, £25, £20, £15. Collection of 
Fruit, £10, £6, £3. For Grapes, £44. Collection of Vegetables, 
eight sorts, £5, £3, £2, £1. Schedules and full particulars from 
MESSRS. ADN1TT & NAUNTON, Shrewsbury, Hon. Secs 
■ Royal Horticultural Society. 
NOTICE. 
ELLOWS are informed that they may ob¬ 
tain Volume VIII. of the Journal of the above Society, 
entitled, THE FROST REPORT, on the effects of the severe 
frosts on vegetation during the winters of 1S79-80 and 1880-1, by 
the Rev. George Henslow, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., fiee of charge 
on application to the Secretary, Royal Horticultural Society, 
South Kensington, S.W. 
New Picotee. 
"TV/TRS. SHARP (Sharp). — Heavy-edged 
-LtJL rosy scarlet, a grand addition to the class. First Class 
Certificate at Oxford, August 4th, 1SS5 ; and at Manchester, 
August 14th, 18S6. Send for Catalogue, with full description 
and price.—ROBT. LORD, Florist, Todmorden. 
pARNATIONS AND RICOTEES.— 
\D Choicest named exhibition varieties, my selection, 6s. per 
dozen. Liberal collections at 10s., 15s. and 20s. Carriage 
free for cash. Send for Catalogue.—ROBT. LORD, Florist, 
Todmorden. 
Begonias a Speciality. 
L AING’S BEGONIA TUBERS. Awarded 
Two Gold Medals. Free by post. Unequalled quality. 
Named singles from 12s. to 42s. per dozen ; unnamed seedlings, 
selected to colour, for pots, from 12s. per dozen; bedding, 
selected to colour, 9s. per dozen ; bedding, choicest mixed 
colours, 6s. per dozen. Choicest named doubles from 42s. per 
dozen ; unnamed, very choice selected, 24s. and 30s. per dozen ; 
choicest mixed, ISs. per dozen. Catalogue gratis—JOHN 
LAING & Co., The Nurseries, Forest Hill, S.E. 
Next Week’s Engagements. 
Monday, April 4th.—Sale of 30,000 Bulbs of Lilium auratum at 
Stevens’ Rooms. 
Tuesday, April 5th.—Sale of Imported and Established Orchids 
at Stevens’ Rooms. 
Wednesday, April 6th.—Sale of Rare Imported and Established 
Orchids, and Greenhouse Plants from Ghent at Stevens’ 
Rooms. Sale of Lilies, Tuberoses, Roses, &c., at Protheroe & 
Morris’s Rooms. 
CONTENTS. 
PAGE 
PAGE 
Auriculas, alpine . 
492 
Law Notes . 
493 
Amateurs’ Garden. 
4S7 
Obituary . 
493 
Bellicide . 
491 
Orchid Growers’ Calendar. 
491 
Birmingham, the Queen’s 
Paraffin Oil . 
487 
visit to . 
4SS 
Pink, Lord Lyon . 
491 
Cattleya intermedia Laingi 
491 
Plants, new, certificated .. 
490 
Ccelogyne cristata alba.... 
491 
Polypody, arborescent.... 
490 
Cucumber Giant Pera .... 
490 
Primulas, double . 
488 
Cyclamens . 
490 
Primula, the Chinese _ 
4SS 
Floriculture. 
492 
Sciilas . 
486 
Flowers at Swanley . 
4S6 
Snowdrops, the . 
490 
Frost Report, the . 
Gardeners’ Calendar, the.. 
4S5 
Spring Flower Exhibitions 
4SS 
492 
Transplanting Box. 
490 
Gardening made easy .... 
490 
AVeather in the Midlands.. 
490 
Heating without cost .... 
4S9 
Wiring Walls . 
490 
“Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”—B acon. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 1S87. 
The Frost Report. —The eighth volume of 
the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
which has just been issued, contains the long 
anticipated report of the injury done to vege¬ 
tation during the severe winters of 1879-80 
and 1880-81. Notwithstanding the condensed 
nature of the matter, 65 pages are occupied 
by the introduction and 338 by the reports. 
These are by no means voluminous, although 
they are given as a record of the effects of 
the temperature, rainfall, aspect, or exposure 
and drainage of such a small area as Great 
Britain and Ireland, for the two winters 
mentioned. 
Those who have been impatiently antici¬ 
pating the report may rest satisfied with its 
fullness for the time specified ; but the true 
value of a report of this nature, and which 
would constitute a most efficient guide to 
planters, would depend on the number of years 
during which the observations were made. 
Many of the plants killed or injured, as 
mentioned in the report, would be more or 
less damaged during ordinary winters, so that 
a series of observations, extending over many 
winters, is necessary, before such observations 
can be of any great value. Were such a series 
of observations to he started, observers would 
be able to determine what plants were killed 
by the dampness of our winters, independent 
of frost ; what were injured or destroyed by a 
winter of ordinary severity ; and what (in the 
case of herbaceous and alpine plants especially) 
became defunct during winter through the 
agency of birds, mice and other animal pests. It 
must be patent to the most casual observer, that 
there is an annual mortality amongst plants of 
a tender kind, independent of severe winters. 
A series of observations would eliminate those 
plants from a general report, while, at the same 
time, determining those that succumb in ex¬ 
ceptionally severe winters. The value of this 
would consist in showing what plants might 
reasonably be expected to give satisfaction 
for all ordinary winters, and give planters an 
opportunity of making a selection accordingly. 
The introduction to the volume before us 
contains a short account of ten severe winters, 
extending from 1837-38 to 1880-81 inclusive. 
It treats also of the Distribution of Tempera¬ 
tures, the Grouping of Counties into Divisions, 
the Effect of Soils, Subterranean Frost, Delayed 
Evidence of Injuries, and the Ages at which 
Plants are most liable to suffer. The question 
of subterranean frost is one of great impor¬ 
tance to planters, for its effects are hut too 
apparent to those who have anything to do 
with the cultivation of tender plants out of 
doors, or even with those that, in ordinary 
every-day life, are reckoned hardy. Good 
instances of it have been observed during the 
past severe winter. Usually, the aerial parts 
of plants are the first to succumb ; hut during 
hard frost such things as newly-planted Roses 
or stocks are partly thrown out of the ground, 
and if alternate freezing and thawing ensues 
the denuded part (usually more tender than 
that ordinarily exposed) is subjected to great 
and trying extremes. Many jdants suffer in 
this manner if the ground is hare during severe 
winters; while they are more likely to he 
injured above the snow line only, should the 
earth be protected with a mantle of snow. 
The rest of the introduction is occupied by 
an index to the counties mentioned in the 
report, giving the pages on which information 
respecting the same will he found; and a very 
copious index of the names of plants referred 
to in the report is given in alphabetical order, 
together with the temperatures at which they 
Avere injured or not. The number of plants 
embraced, both species and garden or culti- 
A'ated forms, is truly surprising, and Avill he 
useful for reference by those interested in 
statistics. Orving, moreover, to the condensed 
nature of the matter, most of it takes the 
form of statistics. A short index refers to a 
number of plants of either species, varieties or 
individuals in Avhich different degrees of injury 
sustained have been recorded. This is a valua- 
able feature of the report, and one that, if 
thoroughly investigated by numerous observers 
in different parts of the country, Avould he 
productive of much practical benefit to horti¬ 
culture. 
As already stated, the reports proper occupy 
338 pages of the volume ; and the idea origi¬ 
nated Avith Mr. Elwes at a meeting of the 
Scientific Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, held on March 8th, 1880. A sub¬ 
committee Avas appointed to collect information, 
and the report has been summarised and drawn 
up by the honorary secretary to the Scientific 
Committee. The counties of England, Scotland 
and Ireland are divided into districts for 
convenience of reference to any part of the 
country. The reports of the tAvo severe Avinters 
are treated separately, hut after the same 
method. 
Middlesex and Yorkshire are treated sepa¬ 
rately, hut in most or all other cases the 
counties are grouped. In some cases the infor- 
