72 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Jamiary  25,  1900 
Recent  Weather  In  Iiondon. — The  weather  in  the  metropolis 
during  the  past  few  days  has  kept  very  mild  and  unseasonable.  On 
Sunday  it  was  wet  almost  the  whole  of  the  afternoon  and  evening,  the 
downfall  being  very  heavy  at  intervals.  On  Monday  it  was  very  dull, 
but  except  for  a  few  small  drops  no  rain  fell.  On  Tuesday  the 
conditions  were  practically  the  same  as  on  the  preceding  day. 
Wednesday  was  wet  at  intervals. 
Weather  In  the  North. — The  two  weeks  ending  22nd  inst.  have 
been  marked  by  very  variable  weather.  Occasionally  there  has  been  a 
slight  frost  in  the  morning,  never  exceeding  3°.  Snow  has  fallen,  but 
to  no  great  extent.  Sleety  showers  and  rain  have  been  frequent,  and 
some  of  the  nights  exceedingly  wet  and  boisterous.  The  18th  was 
perhaps  the  finest  day,  but  the  following  was  extremely  wet.  Sunday 
was  showery,  the  night  tempestuous,  and  a  high  westerly  wind  con¬ 
tinued  throughout  Monday. — B.  D.,  8.  Perthshire, 
Continuation  School  Gardens.  —  Mr.  John  Ettle,  county 
instructor  in  gardening  for  the  Somerset  County  Council,  sends  us  a 
report,  showing  that  119  educational  plots  were  cultivated  by  youths 
under  skilled  guidance  in  the  county  last  year.  The  silver  Banksian 
medal  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  was  granted  to  the  worker 
of  the  best  plot.  The  Council  of  the  Society  allowed  Mr.  Ettle  to 
purchase  the  medal,  “  thus  forming  a  precedent,  as  the  rule  has  been 
only  to  supply  medals  to  affiliated  societies.’^ 
Xsle  of  Wight. — The  annual  meeting  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  Society  was  held  at  Newport  on  Saturday  last.  Dr.  J. 
Groves,  B.A..,  J.P.,  presided  over  a  small  attendance.  Mr.  C.  H.  Cave, 
Honorary  Secretary,  presented  a  financial  statement  of  the  affairs  of 
the  Society,  which  showed  a  very  small  credit  balance ;  insufficient 
to  carry  on  the  exhibitions  in  the  future.  Therefore,  after  a  lengthy 
discussion,  it  was  decided  to  wind  up  the  affairs  of  the  present  Society, 
and’to  call  a  public  meeting  with  a  view  to  establishing  a  new  Society. 
— S.  H. 
Xlessle  Gardeners’  Soclet  — There  was  a  good  attendance  of 
members  at  the  fortnightly  meeting  of  the  above  Society,  held  on 
January  9th.  The  lecture  for  the  evening  was  on  “  Plant  Life,” 
illustrated,  by  Mr.  Knight,  Pearson’s  Public  Park,  Hull.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  that  the  lantern  slides  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the 
scientific  remarks  were  of  Mr.  Knight’s  own  production,  and  were 
deserving  of  great  praise.  The  entertainment  was  highly  instructive. 
Votes  of  thanks  to  the  Lecturer  and  Chairman  terminated  a  thoroughly 
enjoyable  evening. — J.  E.  D.,  Yorks. 
Death  of  Mr.  Blackmore. — We  regret  to  announce  the  death  of 
Mr.  E.  D.  Blackmore,  the  novelist,  which  took  place  on  Saturday  at 
his  residence  at  Teddington.  The  deceased  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  J. 
Blackmore,  and  was  born  at  Longworth,  Berkshire,  on  June  7th, 
1825,  so  that  he  was  in  his  seventy-fifth  year.  He  was  educated  at 
Blundell’s  School,  Tiverton,  and  was  a  scholar  of  Exeter  College, 
Oxford,  where  he  graduated  B.A.  in  1847,  taking  a  second  class  in 
classics.  He  was  called  to  the  Bar  at  the  Middle  Temple  in  1852 
and  practised  as  a  conveyancer,  but  he  soon  began  to  devote  most  of 
his  time  to  literature,  varying  his  pleasures  in  that  direction  by  fruit 
growing,  a  pursuit  in  which  he  took  an  immense  interest.  Mr. 
Blackmore  was  a  connoisseur  in  Pears,  and  grew  an  enormous  number 
of  vai’ieties.  Many  of  these  were  quite  useless  for  commercial  pur¬ 
poses;  and  yet  because  they  did  not  “  pay  ”  he  was  apt  to  write  letters 
to  the  “  Times  ”  against  fruit  culture  generally  as  a  profitable  industry. 
He  did  not  perceive  that  the  most  successful  growers  proceeded  on 
exactly  opposite  lines  to  himself,  namely,  in  planting  many  trees  of  a 
few  wisely  selected  varieties,  instead  of  one  or  two  trees  of  as  many 
varieties  as  he  could  obtain  or  find  room  for.  He  had  quite  a  museum 
of  Pears,  interesting  but  unprofitable,  and  could  happily  afford  to 
indulge  in  the  luxury.  Mr.  Blackmore  was  a  good  judge  of  the  quality 
of  fruit,  and  was  at  one  time,  in  the  eighties,  a  member  of  the  Fruit 
Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.  The  late  Dr.  Hogg 
embodied  some  of  his  experiences  in  the  “  Fruit  Manual.’ 
The  Driest  Spot  on  Earth. — The  reputation  of  being  the 
driest  spot  on  earth  is  claimed  for  Payta,  in  Peru,  a  place  about  5“ 
south  of  the  equator  on  a  coast  that  has  risen  40  feet  in  historic  times. 
According  to  a  contemporary.  Professor  David  G.  Fairchild,  a  recent 
visitor,  reports  having  reached  there  in  February  just  after  a  rain  of 
more  than  twenty-four  hours,  the  first  for  eight  years.  The  average 
interval  between  two  showers  is  seven  years.  Sea  fogs  are  common  , 
Of  about  nine  species  of  plants  noticed,  seven  were  annuals,  and  their 
seeds  must  have  remained  dormant  in  the  ground  for  eight  years.  In 
spite  of  the  lack  of  rain,  the  long-rooted  Peruvian  cotton  is  grown  in  the 
dried-up  river  bed,  furnishing  crops  that  yield  subsistence  to  the  natives. 
Ga^rdenlng  Appointments.  —  Mr.  Charles  Young  has  been 
appointed  gardener  to  Eustace  A.  Smith,  Esq.,  Longhills,  Lincoln. 
Mr.  Young  belongs  to  a  good  gardening  family,  of  which  his  brother, 
Mr.  Arthur  Young,  the  competent  head  of  Witley  Court  Gardens,  is 
the  senior  representative.  Mr.W.  P.  Bound,  for  the  past  two  and  a  hal 
ytars  gardener  to  Mrs.  Leveson  Gower  at  Bill  Hill,  Wokingham,  has 
been  appointed  head  gardener  to  J.  Colman,  Esq.,  Gatton  Park,  Reigate, 
Surrey,  in  succession  to  Mr.  W.  King,  who  died  recently.  Mr.  W.  J. 
Blake  succeeds  Mr.  Bound  at  Bill  Hill,  Wokingham.  In  the  place  of 
Mr.  Whitaker  who  has  resigned  the  position  of  head  gardener  at 
Crewe  Hall,  Mr.  Fenner,  who  has  been  head  gardener  to  the  Right 
Hon.  the  Earl  of  Crewe,  at  Fryston  Hall,  Ferrybridge,  Yorks,  has  been 
appointed,  and  has  now  taken  over  the  charge.  Those  who  know 
Mr.  Fenner  will  be  pleased  to  hear  of  the  appointment. 
Royal  Meteorological  Society. — The  annual  meeting  of  this 
Society  was  held  on  Wednesday  evening,  the  17th  inst.,  at  the  Institu¬ 
tion  of  Civil  Engineers,  Mr.  F.  C.  Bayard,  L.L.M.,  President,  in  the  chair. 
The  Secretary  read  the  report  of  the  Council,  which  showed  that  the  most 
noteworthy  event  in  connection  with  the  Society  had  been  the  removal  of 
the  offices  and  library  from  22,  Great  George  Street,  to  new  rooms  at 
70,  Victoria  Street.  This  step  was  rendered  necessary  by  the  acquisi¬ 
tion  of  the  former  premises  by  the  Commissioners  of  Her  Majesty's 
Works  and  Public  Buildings  for  the  erection  of  new  Governmenf 
offices.  Mr.  F.  Campbell  Bayard,  in  his  presidential  address,  discussed 
the  meteorological  observations  made  at  the  Royal  Observatory,  Green¬ 
wich,  during  the  fifty-one  years,  1848-1898,  and  brought  out  in  a  novel 
way  many  interesting  features  in  the  variability  of  the  various  obser¬ 
vations  of  the  barometer,  maximum  and  minimum  temperatures,  rela¬ 
tive  humidity,  direction  of  the  wind,  and  rainfall.  These  were  shown 
in  a  diagramn-atic  form  on  the  screen  by  means  of  a  number  of  lantern 
slides.  The  address  was  also  illustrated  by  various  views  of  the  Royal 
Observatory  and  of  the  instruments  employed.  Mr.  G.  J.  Symons, 
F.R.S.,  was  elected  President  for  the  ensuing  year. 
The  Richmond  and  R.H.S.  Tolnt  Exhibition. — Great  as  is 
the  attraction  afforded  by  the  Temple  Flower  Show  at  the  end  of 
May,  the  two  days’  exhibition  arranged  for  the  present  year  in  the 
Old  Deer  Park  by  the  Richmond  Horticultural  Society  and  the  Council 
of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  should  prove  to  be  a  very  for¬ 
midable  rival  in  attractiveness  to  the  first  named  show,  as  it  will  be 
held  at  the  end  of  June,  and  in  the  fine  area  at  Richmond  mentioned, 
where  the  surroundings  are  essentially  picturesque  and  rural,  where 
there  is  ample  room  and  fine  expanses  of  verdure,  overhanging  trees, 
and,  in  sunshine,  pleasant  shade,  with  undoubtedly  a  grand  exhibition, 
for  it  is  certain  that  on  so  auspicious  an  occasion  the  many  habitual 
exhibitors  at  the  R.H.S.  meetings  will  support  the  national  society 
in  this  new  venture.  Few  towns  near  London,  and  it  is  not  more 
than  eight  miles  from  Charing  Cross,  are  so  easily  reached  as 
Richmond.  Lines  of  rail  from  literally  all  directions  centre  upon  it, 
and  therefore  it  can  be  most  easily  reached.  The  Deer  Park  is  midway 
between  the  town  and  Kew  Gardens.  The  beauties  of  Richmond  Hill 
attract  on  the  one  hand,  as  do  the  botanical  treasures  of  Kew  Gardens 
on  the  other,  whilst  the  silvery  Thames  flows  so  majestically  along  on 
the  margin,  enticing  all  lovers  of  aquatic  life  to  disport  themselves 
on  its  waters.  All  R.H.S.  Fellows’  and  privilege  tickets  admit  free  to 
the  Show  on  each  of  the  days  of  the  Exhibition,  the  27th  and  28th  of 
June,  and  a  great  luncheon  has  been  arranged  to  which  all  members  of 
the  Committees  will  be  invited.  Of  course  the  respective  Committees 
will  sit  as  usual,  and  it  is  hoped  find  ample  work  furnished  them.  This 
gathering  will  not  take  the  place  of  any  of  the  Drill  Hall  meetings,  but 
will  rather  be  an  extra ;  the  conditions,  however,  under  which  it  will 
be  held  should  make  it  to  resemble  rather  an  enjoyable  holiday  outing 
than  one  of  the  stereotyped  character.  With  fine  weather  the  gathering 
should  be  a  great  success. — Wandeeee. 
