388 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 16, 1895. 
in which the forces of Nature are con¬ 
cerned, it wants analysing. Reports have 
come in from various sources all over the 
world lately showing at once the extent of 
the area over which severe weather and 
snowstorms prevail, and the effects of it 
upon locomotion and all kinds of life. 
From Devonshire comes the statement that 
the frost has killed the wild birds in large 
numbers. A blizzard actually prevailed 
over the Highlands and other parts of 
Scotland during the early part of last week, 
blocking the railways, snowing up trains 
and putting a stop to the traffic. The 
sheep were being smothered in the snow 
owing to the impossibility of carrying 
fodder to them. Game was dying in large 
numbers, and the grouse were being driven 
before the blinding drift into the sea. 
Famished deer had so far given up their 
wildness that they approached the farm¬ 
yards fearlessly in quest of food and 
shelter. In Westmorland, it was said that 
the grouse were dying by hundreds for want 
of food, and others were being killed by 
crows. Sheep were dying in numbers in 
Antrim and Down, Ireland. Similar re¬ 
ports concerning the severity of the storm 
and the intensity of the frost come from 
other parts of the British Islands, as well 
as America and the Continent, and in Italy 
it is stated that the Olive and Orange 
groves are practically destroyed, involving 
enormous loss. 
Assuming that the wild birds are being 
killed in large numbers in Devonshire, it 
does not necessarily follow that the frost is 
directly responsible for it. Independently 
of records, it may betaken for granted that 
the cold is more intense inland and in the 
north, and correctly or incorrectly, report 
states that the minimum temperature has 
varied from 20 9 of frost to 4° and y Q below 
zero. One can understand sheep being 
smothered in the drifting snow, and birds 
being driven to sea or out of their course 
by the force of a gale and the blinding 
effects of a blizzard, but these cases bring 
into consideration another set of causes. 
The effect of blizzards and deep snow is to 
cover up the food of wild animals including 
birds. Without snow the frost might be 
more severe, yet comparatively harmless to 
the animals so long as their food is acces¬ 
sible. Insectivorous birds, but particularly 
some classes of them, would be most likely 
to suffer. Provided they are able to obtain 
a tolerably fair supply of food, they can 
maintain their warmth and natural energies 
in spite of excessively low temperatures. 
The crows above mentioned (if report is 
correct about the matter) belong to a class 
that can and do feed upon a great variety 
of food when driven to it, as they are both 
flesh and vegetable feeders. 
In the face of all this evidence, it seems 
at first sight that insects must be destroyed 
in myriads, especially when we remember 
the destruction that an early autumn frost 
causes amongst them. But those insects 
have served their time and enjoyed their 
brief day in most cases, and their loss causes 
no break in the chain of living nature. 
Those that live more than a year or 
hibernate through the winter seek their 
hiding quarters as the cold increases, and 
those whose earlier stages are passed in 
the earth, descend still deeper on the 
approach of frost. Those of more 
ephemeral duration have laid their eggs or 
their young have passed through the grub 
or caterpillar stage and are resting or rather 
passing the pupa or chrysalis period of 
their existence below or above ground 
according to their kind. Some moths and 
butterflies pass the winter in the perfect 
state, others as caterpillars intending to 
resume their feeding as growth commences 
and leaves unfold in spring ; but a very 
large number assume the chrysallis stage 
below ground. The pupae of the Cabbage 
butterflies are hung up to a stone or wooden 
wall or fence in some more or less sheltered 
position, but otherwise exposed to the ac¬ 
tion of frost, and unless birds discover and 
destroy them, they would hatch out in 
spring as if nothing had happened while 
they were dormant. 
The fact is that nature has long ago 
settled the question what insects were 
capable of withstanding the severities of 
our northern latitudes. It is certain that 
for thousands of years past there have been 
severe winters, it may be at irregularly 
recurrent intervals, and those insects which 
could not endure them must have perished. 
Eggs and pupae in exposed positions and 
also at a few inches beneath the surface of 
the soil, must often get frozen solid 
and yet seem none the worse on the return 
of milder times. Experiments have actually 
proved this to be the case. Even some 
caterpillars can exist through the winter 
under a thin skin of gum on the branches 
of trees. Paradoxical as it may seem, 
caterpillars are more liable to wholesale 
destruction in summer, through the wetting 
of their food by heavy downpours of rain. 
The Antler Moth which destroys grass 
pastures by the acre, is partial to moun¬ 
tainous and upland districts yet may be 
destroyed in this way. Should this or any 
other caterpillar be comparatively scarce 
next summer compared with the last, it is 
necessary in weighing the evidence as to the 
cause, to have ascertained from actual 
observation whether the caterpillars were 
destroyed or not by the cold rains of the 
previous season. 
-•*-- 
Mr. James Dickson, from Keir Gardens, Perthshire, 
has been engaged as gardener to Sir John H. Amory, 
Bart., Knightshayes Court, Tiverton. 
Mr. J. Milburn, for the past two years gardener to 
C. W. Fincken, Esq., Hoyland Hall, Barnsley, has 
been engaged as gardener to F. M. Burton, Esq., 
Highfield, Gainsboro’. 
Death of a French Nurseryman. —We regret to hear 
of the death cn January 20th of M. Albert Truffant, 
of Versailles. 
Proposed National Exhibition of Vegetables. —At 
the adjourned meeting of the Committee held at the 
Royal Aquarium, Westminster, on the 12th, inst. 
Mr. H. Briscoe-Ironside presiding, Mr. Molyneaux 
reported the result of his efforts since the proceeding 
meeting to obtain pecuniary support from the seed 
trade, but this not being of an assuring character, it 
was resolved unanimously that the matter be post¬ 
poned to another year. 
Syndical Chamber of Belgian Horticulturists. —The 
monthly meeting of the Syndical Chamber of Belgian 
Horticulturists and of the Royal Agricultural and 
Botanical Society of Ghent was held on the 3rd. inst 
in the compartments of the Casino, when Certificates 
of Merit were awarded to Cypripedium Surprise, C. 
Pomone, C. Verlumne, C. Mellona, C Flamingo, and 
C. Eteocle. The first named was the best and the 
verdict in its favour was unanimous. A Certificate 
of Merit was also accorded to a group of seven 
Cypripediums, which like the previous ones were 
exhibited by M. Jules, Hye, Ghent. Honourable 
mention for cultural merit was accorded to M. 
Panzer, of Merzem-lez-Anvers, for Pandanus Fos- 
terianus. 
Feeding the Birds. —Mr. H. W. S. Worsley-Benison, 
of Sutton, Surrey, has given us an account of his 
experience of feeding birds in winter. He adopts 
two plans—one is to suspend a beef or mutton bone 
to the lower branch of a tree ; the other is to place 
kitchen scraps and leavings on a board, supported 
on uprights, to serve as a table. This, while serving 
the purpose of the birds, renders them safe from the 
attack of the predatory cat. The meat-bone is in 
the same way attacked with zest as soon as it is 
suspended. Mr. Benison claims that he is recom¬ 
pensed not only by the interest of the spectacle of 
the feeding birds, but by the assistance they render 
him in getting rid of numerous garden pests. 
William Thomson Memorial Fund. —At a meeting 
of members of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural 
Society, held at Edinburgh on the 23rd ult., it was 
agreed that a fund should be instituted, and the interest 
thereof applied in providing memorial prizes in 
memory of the late Mr. William Thomson, Cloven¬ 
fords, such prizes to take the form of medals and 
sums of money, to be awarded for exhibits at various 
shows throughout the United Kingdom, in the same 
manner as the memorial prizes already in existence, 
and Mr. Thomson’s family have expressed their 
approval of the proposal. Such fund will be vested 
in trustees to be named by the subscribers. It is 
further proposed that a general committee, consisting 
of gentlemen in various parts of the United King¬ 
dom, should be appointed for the purpose of collect¬ 
ing subscriptions, and Mr. Chas. Stewart, 4, Albyn 
Place, Edinburgh, will be glad to hear of anyone 
who may desire to help in the movement. 
Scottish Horticultural Association —The Trans¬ 
actions of this Association for 1894, together with 
the Syllabus for 1895 and the 18th annual report, 
have just been published. The Association meets 
on the first Tuesday of each month, and besides the 
reading of papers and the discussions thereon, 
exhibits are brought to the meetings, to which First- 
class Certificates may be awarded to new and meri¬ 
torious subjects not in commerce. Awards of Merit 
and Commendations are granted to meritorious sub¬ 
jects which may be in cultivation, but possess 
sufficient excellence or rarity to entitle them to the 
same. The present membership of the Association 
is 520, a fact of no small importance, and enables it 
to take the leading place amongst associations of its 
kind in Scotland. By the aid of a grant voted to it 
by the Magistrates and Town Council, the Associa¬ 
tion has been able to carry on a course of Technical 
Education Lectures during last year, and is con¬ 
tinued again, having been commenced on the 17th 
of January. Copious extracts of various practical 
papers read at the meetings and dealing with horti¬ 
culture have been printed in the Transactions and 
must prove useful to the members who have now 
the opportunity of studying them at their leisure. 
There is a humorous one about the Chrysanthemum, 
also papers on Violets, Winter and Spring Supply of 
Flowers, the Vine, a Horticultural Journey from 
England to Valencia, Agriculture on the Nile, Plants 
for Winter and Spring Decoration, Japanese Chry¬ 
santhemums, and on Soils. 
Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. —The 
twelfth annual report of this body is published in the 
form of a pamphlet extending to 133 pages. The 
Association was formed in 1883, that is, about eleven 
years ago, for the purpose of securing all gardens, 
vacant plots of ground, and open spaces available in 
and around the Metropolis, to lay them out as 
gardens or recreation grounds for the benefit of the 
inhabitants. The income is derived from the 
voluntary annual subscriptions of members and from 
legacies which may be occasionally left for the use 
of the Association. The present membership is 868, 
but the expenditure is greater than the income, 
owing to the urgency of the wants of the population, 
which increases at the rate of 70,000 annually, the 
increment being practically equal to a good-sized 
town. Since the formation of the Association it has 
laid out 62 gardens and 20 playgrounds having an 
aggregate of 112 acres and costing £38,000. Besides 
this 3,000 trees have been planted, and 3,000 seats 
placed about certain streets and public gardens of 
the Metropolis. A map of London is given showing 
by red marks the enormous number of spaces which 
the Association has opened, helped to open, or over 
which it holds control. The opening of Lincoln’s 
Inn Fields (which have been closed to the public 
since 1734) was one of its earliest projects, though 
as a body it had only been the means of keeping the 
subject before the public till the London County 
Council, under the Improvement Act, 1894, accom¬ 
plished the acquirement of the said fields for the 
use of the public, and which will be opened this 
year. The pamphlet also gives a long list of church¬ 
yards, disused burial grounds, gardens and recrea¬ 
tion grounds which have been or are about to be 
laid out as public gardens. 
