404 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 23, 1895. 
Embankment, shows that they have been 
deprived of their natural means.of subsis¬ 
tence round the coasts. Their feeding 
grounds around the muddy shores have 
become frozen over. From 2o Q to 30 s of 
frost have been common, and 4 0 below zero 
have been recorded from the neighbourhood 
of Leicester. Even this has been much 
exceeded at Braemar, if the readings have 
been properly taken, for a minimum of 15’ 
below zero or 47® of frost has been tabula¬ 
ted. From different parts of Aberdeenshire 
we hear of 8 Q and 2i g below zero. The 
minimum for Sweden last week is put down 
as iS* below zero. From many different 
stations we get almost as many inter¬ 
mediate temperatures according to local 
situations and surroundings. 
One of the first questions a gardener will 
ask, is, what amount of harm has been done 
in gardens by the intensity and duration of 
the frost. That cannot be answered until 
the storm has entirely disappeared, and 
perhaps not fully till growth is resumed in 
spring. It may be that a sharp frost of a 
week’s duration,-followed by a sudden thaw, 
woulT work as much havoc amongst tender 
subjects as a storm of greater duration; for 
it must be remembered that the atmosphere 
has been particularly dry, more so than 
that to which we are generally accustomed 
in the south. Various ponds and lakes 
have been covered with a depth of 5m. to 
Sin. of ice, and in one case where the ice 
was flooded with water on the top, it froze 
to a depth of 13m. In estimating the in¬ 
tensity of the frost and the harm it is likely 
to effect, we must remember that up till 
Christmas the prevailing mildness had kept 
vegetation in a growing and flowering state 
which was altogether unnatural as unex¬ 
pected. Not only must the different parts 
of the country be taken into consideration, 
but the altitude, the influence of sea breezes, 
the direction of the wind generally, shelter, 
and exposure, when reckoning up the 
amount of damage by frost of a certain in¬ 
tensity. All these things may be noted 
daily, as they occur, and, though the entries 
need not be lengthy, yet they should be 
done with sufficient care to make the notes 
useful for reference at any future period of 
the writer’s life. 
Comparison may be made between the 
suitability of evergreen and deciduous trees 
and shrubs for certain positions, sheltered 
or exposed. Damage done to plants of low 
stature or short duration may soon be re¬ 
paired ; but it becomes more serious when 
a plantation of something is destroyed or 
gaps made in it that cannot be restored for 
years to come, and then only with uncer¬ 
tainty. Here comes in the value of 
habituating oneself to the making of correct 
observations ; and to none does it apply 
more forcibly than to the younger members 
of the profession. Only the hardiest of 
trees should be planted as wind-breaks, for 
screening unsightly objects or shutting out 
undesirable views. Whether evergreen or 
deciduous the more tender species shonld 
be planted in the most suitable positions 
according to their kind, and where their 
destruction would be less keenly felt if that 
undesirable occurrence should take place. 
Here it must be remembered that Cherry 
Laurels, Magnolia grandiflora, and similar 
objects may, and often do get stripped of 
their foliage during winter, owing to their 
being exposed to gales of wind, while their 
leaves are in a stiff and frozen condition. 
Deciduous subjects and many Conifers 
would be more appropriate in such posi¬ 
tions. Many intrinsically beautiful sub¬ 
jects will get planted notwithstanding the 
fact that their tender character is well 
known. They should not, therefore, be 
allowed to interfere with those plantations 
whose permanence is one of their most 
valuable features. There will, doubtless, be 
a great mortality amongst Roses, par¬ 
ticularly those belonging to the Tea class; 
but losses in this quarter, however un¬ 
desirable, can soon be made good. Hardy 
subjects in frames are sometimes killed by 
excessive kindness in keeping them per¬ 
manently covered up during severe weather, 
and their destruction is not infrequently 
attributed to the severity of the frost, but 
erroneously so, seeing that continued dark¬ 
ness is at the bottom of the mischief. 
The destruction of vegetables will un¬ 
doubtedly cause a greater amount of un¬ 
easiness amongst certain gardeners, than 
the loss of more permanent subjects. 
Where the covering of snow has been 
shallow and the frost severe, such things as 
Brussels Sprouts, Savoys, and Broccoli are 
already seen to be in great distress. On 
the other hand, a heavy covering of snow 
proves no better protection, after a length¬ 
ened period, especially after being subjected 
to alternate freezing and thawing. Happy 
are they who have a good stock of Seakale, 
Asparagus, and Leeks by way of green 
vegetables. Dwarf Curled Greens and 
various kinds of sprouting Borecole are 
generally tolerably hardy, and cultivators 
would do well to grow a breadth of them 
against severe winters in the future. If not 
already accomplished, sowings should now 
be made of Cauliflower, Cabbages, and 
other necessary subjects to compensate for 
the destruction of the autumn sown ones by 
frost, wood pigeons, partridges, pheasants, 
and other starving birds. Potatos in store 
should be well covered with straw if in 
sheds, and those in the open air in earth 
pits should be secured in the same way 
after taking out the necessary supply. 
Heating apparatus will be tested to the 
uttermost, and the lessons to be learned 
concerning the exclusion of frost from them 
and keeping up the necessary temperatures 
will not be the least important during the 
present severe winter. 
-—' 
The Kew Guild.—The Annual General Meeting of 
this Association will be held in the Garden Library 
at Kew on Thursday evening next, February 28th, 
at eight o'clock. Members who are unable to attend 
are requested to send any contributions for the 
Journal, to be published in May, or any suggestions 
they may desire to make with respect to the Guild 
to the Secretary, Mr. J. Aikman, Whitestile Road, 
Brentford. 
Seed Potatos Supply (Ireland) Bill.—In the House 
of Commons, on Monday, Mr. J. Morley brought in 
a Bill to provide for the supply of seed Potatos to 
occupiers and cultivators of land in Ireland which, 
he said, was, with a comparatively unimportant 
alteration, a copy of the Bill of 1890 introduced by 
Mr. A. J. Balfour, The Bill was read a first time, 
and a second time on Tuesday. 
Preserving Fruit with Lime —More or less attention 
has been paid for some years past to the subject of 
the preservation of fruits and roots by means of 
powdered quicklime. An interesting communication 
has recently been made by Mr. Monclar to the 
Agricultural Society of Albi on the subject of the 
results of his experiments in this direction. He 
exhibited, in support of his assertions, some 
Chasselas Grapes, which were perfectly preserved, 
and were as round and plump as on the day they 
were gathered. The taste also was the same, except, 
perhaps, it was a little more saccharine. Unfor¬ 
tunately, despite the fact that they had been washed, 
some traces of lime remained upon a few of the 
berries. They had remained embedded in the lime 
for seven months. Mr. Monclar stated that after 
they had remained only four or five months therein, 
a washing caused the whole of the lime to disappear. 
He added that his Grapes had been perfectly pre¬ 
served during the entire winter in two different years. 
About the middle of March, only a tenth were 
spoiled, and a month later about half of them. In 
order to have perfect success, it would be prudent 
not to put off the consumption of the fruit beyond 
the beginning of March. M. Monclar also exhibited 
some Apples that had been preserved in the same 
way for a long time, and that were found to be in a 
perfect state .—Le Genie Civil. 
Shirley and District Ga"dener3' Improvement Asso¬ 
ciation. —An extra meeting was held at the School¬ 
rooms, Highfield, Southampton, on the 15th inst., 
the Rector, the Rev. E. Silver, M.A., presiding, but 
it being a wild cold night the attendance of members 
was smaller than usual. Mr. E. Molyneux, Swan- 
more Park Gardens, gave a lecture on " The Salient 
Points of Vegetable Culture,” more particularly 
addressed to the owners of cottage gardens and 
allotments. The salient points were preparation of 
the soil, manuring in plenty, then sowing the seeds, 
and regular attention during the period of growth. 
Taking each point in order, Mr. Molyneux, by the 
aid of numerous diagrams, described how best to 
carry out each detail. As an example of what is 
possible he gave a list of the vegetables growing on 
a prize allotment in his own district last summer. 
A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. 
Molyneux at the termination of his lecture. The 
ordinary monthly meeting was held on the 18th inst. 
at the Parish Room, Shirley, the President presiding. 
Mr. F. Bartlett opened a discussion on “ Frost and 
Snow : Its Advantages and Disadvantages to Horti¬ 
culture.” A vote of thanks was accorded to him at 
the close of the meeting. 
National Chrysanthemum Society.—At a meeting of 
the Committee on Monday evening, Mr. R. Ballantine 
presiding, six new members were elected and the 
Windsor, Eton, and District Chrysanthemum Society 
admitted into affiliation. The Annual General 
Meeting will be held at Anderton’s Hotel, on 
Monday evening, at 7 p.m., when Mr. C. E. Shea 
will take the chair. 
Seed Orders and the Seed Trade. —A Seedsman’s 
Assistant writes:—“You will confer an everlasting 
blessing upon us poor seedsmen’s assistants if you 
will kindly find room for a few words in your 
columns urging the advantages to be derived by pur¬ 
chasers of seeds from sending in their orders at once 
instead of holding them over, as is the prevailing 
custom, until the frost breaks, which means an enor¬ 
mous pressure and very hard labour for us who are 
practically standing idle now for want of the work which 
will overwhelm us directly the weather changes. I 
do not write for the benefit of my firm in particular, 
but for the whole of the assistants in our trade, who 
are in the same condition, and who would, I am 
sure, welcome any change from the present stagna- 
nation.” The wisdom of the old maxim, '* First 
come, first served,” is so obvious, that no recommenda¬ 
tion in such a matter as making out and sending in 
seed orders should now be necessary ; and yet it is the 
universal experience of the seed trade that imme¬ 
diately a frost sets in the orders fall off to zero, and 
in the case of long spells of frost like the present, 
what is once lost in this way is seldom regained 
during the remainder of the season. The tendency 
of late years has all been in the direction of earliness, 
and if things go on at the present rate of progress, 
we may soon expect to see the seed catalogues issued 
with the Christmas annuals in October and Novem¬ 
ber, and mayhap, by the end of the century we shall 
have them to take with us to the sea-side. There 
would seem to be a fashion in ordering seeds, as in 
most other things. March and April used to be the 
months that tested the mettle of the seedsmen s 
assistants : now it is January and February in ordin¬ 
arily open seasons : but this year the '• frost " in the 
falling off of orders up to the present has been as 
keenly felt by our seedsmen as the frost outside. 
Why is this ? If seeds were perishable things in 
the same sense as tender plants are, one might be 
able to understand the almost universal disinclina¬ 
tion to send in orders during frosty weather. As it 
is, the cause at present remains somewhat of an 
enigma, and we can only beg of our readers that 
they will shew the seedsmen’s assistants some little 
consideration, net to say a merciful one, by sending 
The Amateur Orchid Grower’s Guide Book. By H. A. 
Burberry (Orchid Grower to the Rt Hon. J. Chamberlain, 
M.P.). Containing sound, practical information and advice 
for Amateurs, giving a List with Cultural Descriptions ot 
those most suitable for Cool-house, Intermediate-house, and 
Warm-house Culture, together with a Calendar of Operations 
and Treatment for each Month of the Year. In Cloth (Crown 
8VO.5 by 7J), price 2S. 6d.; post free, 2s. 9d. Publisher, Garden¬ 
ing World, i, Clement's Inn, Strand, London, W.C. 
