June 15, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
667 
" Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man "— Bacon. 
©Ije @miming 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S., F.R.H.S. 
SATURDAY , JUNE 15th, 1901. 
The Editorial and Publishing Offices are 
now at 4, Dorset Buildings, Salisbury 
Square, Fleet St., London, E.C., where 
all communications and remittances are 
to be addressed to the Proprietors. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Tuesday, June 18th.—R.H.S. Committees. 
Wednesday, June 19th.—Oxfordshire Horticultural Exhi¬ 
bition at Oxford. 
Thursday, June 20th.—Linneao Society Meeting; Royal 
Botanical Society Meeting. 
he Scientific Observation of Natural 
Phenomena in Britain.— In recent 
years we have been hearing a good deal 
about Nature schools of study, and some 
practical attempts at it are carried on both 
in this country and America, possibly else¬ 
where. The average man in the street and 
most of the staunch supporters of the old 
order of things have much to say against 
innovations of the kind, particularly when 
part of‘the curriculum includes practical 
application of the dissecting knife, which 
has many hard names given it according to 
the nature of the subject operated upon. 
Entirely different, however, is the theme 
upon which we propose to dwell for a little 
on the present occasion. All over the main¬ 
lands of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 
with a few on some of the larger islands, 
are observers noting various natural phe¬ 
nomena, and sending their notes to head¬ 
quarters. Under the title of “ phenologi- 
cal observations ” these various notes have 
been summarised in the form of a report 
by Edward Mawley, Esq., F.R.H.S., Rose- 
bank, Berkhampsted, and published in the 
“Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteoro¬ 
logical Society, Vol. xxvii, No. 118,” for 
April, 1901. As a matter of course it sum¬ 
marises the year 1900, commencing the 
winter with December of the previous year, 
and finishing up 1900 at the end of Novem¬ 
ber. 
In this summary it is evident that 
meteorology is only an item in the work of 
these observers located over the British 
Isles. Many of the tabulated records show 
what the casual observer, judging from his 
own district alone, could scarcely dream of 
being the case. We refer in the first in¬ 
stance to the first or earliest flowering of a 
given number (13) of plants in various 
parts of the country. One would imagine 
that the greater the latitude, that is, the 
further north we go the weather would be 
colder and the season later. To a certain 
extent that holds good, but the conditions 
even of such a small portion of the earth’s 
surface as Great Britain are so complicated 
that we have to reckon upon many things 
quite independently of latitude. The plants 
under observation are Hazel, Coltsfoot, 
Wood Anemone, Blackthorn, Garlic Hedge 
Mustard, Horse Chestnut, Hawthorn, 
White Ox-Eye, Dog Rose, Black Knap¬ 
weed, Harebell, Greater Bindweed, and 
Ivy. All of these plants are common 
enough, and no doubt suitable for the pur¬ 
pose provided certain rules are observed 
with regard to them. In order to determine 
the first appearance or expansion of a flower 
upon any of them, in our opinion it would 
be necessary to observe the same plants 
year after year, so as to make sure of their 
natural period of flowering, and that the 
conditions were always the same. It is well 
known to gardeners that there are pre¬ 
cocious individuals, as well as late ones, 
amongst every class of plants; and the 
results could scarcely be an average record 
if an early one was noted one year and a 
late-flowering individual the next. The 
observers may be alive to this fact, but we 
have no evidence of it in this report. All 
the plants under observation are of more 
than one year’s duration, with the exception 
of the Garlic Hedge Mustard, which is 
generally an annual, though occasionally 
biennial, so that the same individual would 
never be seen in bloom a second time, and 
fresh seedlings might arise under different 
conditions. 
According to the tables all the plants 
were behind their average date of flowering 
in nearly every part of the country. It is 
interesting to note, however, that most of 
the plants bloom earlier in the north of 
Scotland than they do further south. This 
fact is, no doubt, due to the influence of the 
Gulf Stream upon the climate of that part 
of Britain. The Hazel was first observed 
in bloom in the south of England, and latest 
on the east of Scotland, the difference being 
about thirty-two days. In the north of 
Scotland, on the other hand, it flowered 
about thirteen or fourteen days earlier. In 
the case of the Horse Chestnut there were 
only about twelve to fourteen days difference 
between its flowering in the south-west of 
England and the north of Scotland. The Dog 
Rose and the Harebell flowered nearly con¬ 
temporaneously in the south of Ireland and 
England and the north of Scotland. Strange 
to say, the Greater Bindweed flowered 
earlier in the latter district than anywhere 
else. 
Turning to the summary of the four 
seasons we note that the winter (December, 
January, and February) was a cold one in 
all parts of the British Isles, though the 
temperature almost everywhere was rather 
high in January. The rainfall was in ex¬ 
cess except in the west and north of Scot¬ 
land. Sunshine was good except in the 
English districts. Many garden plants 
remained in bloom till the end of the first 
week in December, while Roses and Mig¬ 
nonette could be gathered in the middle of 
February. The hive bee was six days 
behind its average date of appearance. 
During spring (March, April, and May) 
the first month was a cold one in all parts 
of the country. The rainfall was in most 
cases deficient. Sunshine was again scanty 
except in certain favoured northern dis¬ 
tricts. Owing to the cold state of the 
ground and the lack of sunshine garden 
seeds were very slow in germinating ; while 
on the contrary fruit trees bloomed pro¬ 
fusely and set wonderful crops of fruit. The 
past winter and spring have been very 
similar in general character to that of the 
previous one, and it will be interesting to 
note whether results will be similarly fine. 
Last year was also notable for its profusion 
of bloom upon wild trees and shrubs. The 
flowering plants under observation were 
uniformly late in coming into bloom. The 
record given is : “ the Coltsfoot was twelve 
days late, the Wood Anemone ten dayslate, 
the Blackthorn eleven days late, the Garlic 
Hedge Mustard nine days late, the Horse 
Chestnut eight dayslate, and the Hawthorn 
nine days late. Certain specified birds, 
wasps, and butterflies were all more or less 
behind their usual dates of appearance.” 
June, July, and August, or the summer, 
was a warm one in all parts of the kingdom, 
though July alone was exceptionally warm. 
The rainfall was rather above the average ; 
and sunshine was abundant except in Scot¬ 
land. The sudden and prolonged heat of 
July checked the growth of Potatos, and 
the rain that supervened during August 
brought on disease, consequently the crop 
was light. The gales on the third and 
fourth of August caused much damage to 
fruit and other trees. 
The autumn (September, October, and 
November) was characterised by a high 
temperature over nearly the whole of the 
British Isles. It was also a wet one except 
in England, where the rainfall was every¬ 
where deficient, and the sunshine corres¬ 
pondingly abundant. Garden flowers were 
remarkably abundant all through the autumn 
owing to the high temperature, Dahlias con¬ 
tinuing to bloom till the middle of Novem¬ 
ber. The planting and transplanting of 
fruit and other trees were greatly retarded 
owing to the dry state of the ground till 
November was well advanced. Wild fruits 
were unusually abundant, including Hips, 
Haws, Acorns, Beechmast, and Black¬ 
berries. Sloes, Bullaces, and Damsons 
might be added to the list. In the garden 
hardy fruits of all kinds were heavily 
cropped, with the exception of Pears, which 
were deficient generally. Taking a glance 
at the whole year, the cold and gloomy 
spring and the heat of July were the most 
notable agents in influencing vegetation. 
It is a pity all these useful data could not 
be previously determined, for gardeners 
could then make preparations to mould 
matters more in accordance with their own 
requirements and conveniences. 
--S—- 
The Rainfall.—DuriDg the first four months of the 
year the rainfall has been much below the average 
throughout the country. 
Mr. H. Dunkin, horticultural lecturer for the 
Warwickshire County Council, says that the 
southern division of that county is specially adapted 
to Apple culture. 
Luscious Mangoes.—The British Island colony 
of St. Lucia, says The Fruit Grower, exported during 
1839 Mangoes to the value of £644, and vegetables 
to the value of £812. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next fruit and 
flower show of the Royal Horticultural Society will 
beheld on Tuesday, June 18th, in the Drill Hall, 
Buckingham Gate, Westminster, 1—5 p.m. A 
lecture on "Gardening in the London Parks," will 
be given by Mi/. W. J. Wheatley at 3 o’clock. 
Hazelbourne Orchids.—On several occasions dur¬ 
ing the past few years fine exhibits of Orchids, 
chiefly Odontoglossums, from Hazelbourne, made 
their appearance at public shows, giving evidence of 
good culture and good varieties. Excellent prices 
were obtained for the finer forms at the sale rooms 
of Messrs. Protheroe and Morris, Cheapside, on the 
4th inst. A heavily blotched variety of Odonto- 
glossum crispum reached 200 gs. at the fall of the 
hammer, O. c. Emily Ellis sold for 105 gs.; and 
the beautifully spotted O. c. Hazelbourne var., 70 
gs- 
The Yeitch Memorial Medal.—For the third time 
since the custom of bestowing these medals, honoris 
causa, was instituted, the recipient has been an 
American, either a native or franchised. This 
time the honour has been bestowed on Mr. T. 
Meehan, of Philadelphia. He is an Englishman by 
birth, and graduated at Kew, and adds one more to 
the lengthy roll of Kew men who have distinguished 
themselves. He has risen from a journeyman 
gardener to the position of a leading municipal 
dignitary of a great city, but is still a gardener, and 
owns one of the most important nurseries in the 
United States. He has devoted much time to 
scient’fic research, and has made numerous botani¬ 
cal observations of great value. To show how his 
work has been appreciated, for thirty years he has 
been vice-president of the Academy of Natural 
Sciences in Philadelphia. It is to his exertions 
that Philadelphia owns its museums and public 
parks and gardens. It was in 1848 that he left Kew. 
While he was there his political opinions and 
indignant denunciations of numerous proceedings are 
said to have greatly offended Sir William Jackson 
Hooker, the director. 
