March  8,  IflOO. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
197 
Recent  Weather  In  london, — The  weather  has,  in  the  main, 
during  the  past  few  days,  been  dry  and  dull,  with  cold  winds  and 
occasional  glimpses  of  welcome  sunshine.  On  Sunday  and  Monday 
snow  threatened  more  than  once,  but  scarcely  any  fell.  On  Tuesday 
morning  a  cold  drizzle  fell  for  a  short  time.  On  Wednesday  morning 
it  was  clear  and  very  cold. 
Weather  In  the  Worth.  — February  closed  with  cold  easterly 
winds,  but  a  gradual  tendency  to  drier  weather.  The  first  few  days  of 
March  were  fine,  with  a  good  deal  of  brilliant  sunshine.  On  the  morning 
of  the  2nd  8°  of  frost,  and  on  that  of  the  4th  5°  were  recorded,  and 
there  was  again  a  sharp  touch  on  Monday,  the  day  being  duller  but 
pleasant. —  B.  D.,  8.  Perthshire. 
Apple  Hollandbury.  —  I  note  the  reply  to  a  correspondent 
regarding  this  Apple.  We  have  one  tree  of  it  planted  with  many  more 
for  trial  purposes.  It  has  fruited  freely  enough  the  last  ten  years,  but 
the  colour  has  never  been  what  it  ought  to  be.  In  every  other  respect, 
even  to  the  habit  of  growth,  this  tree  corresponds  with  what  is  said  of 
the  variety.  The  want  of  colour  in  the  fruit  appears  the  more  inex¬ 
plicable  when  I  know  that  all  other  varieties  colour  profusely  when 
growing  in  the  same  soil. — E.  Molyneux. 
Isle  of  Wight. — The  monthly  meeting  of  the  Isle  of  Wight 
Horticultural  Improvement  Association  was  held  at  Newport  on 
Saturday  last.  The  chair  was  taken  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Mitchell.  Mr.  S. 
Heaton  gave  a  practical  demonstration  in  the  “  Pruning  of  Fruit 
Trees,”  showing  how  it  should  be  done,  and  how  it  should  not  be  done. 
The  objects  of  pruning,  the  methods  of  pruning,  and  the  seasons  of 
pruning  were  dealt  with  at  length,  with  the  result  that  the  subsequent 
discussion  proved  most  interesting  and  profitable.  A  capital  meeting 
was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  election  of  several  new  members,  and 
votes  of  thanks  to  the  lecturer  and  chairman. 
Chinese  Primulas  from  Wem.  —  The  name  of  Mr.  Henry 
Eckford  of  Wem,  in  Shropshire,  has  become  so  intimately  connected 
with  Sweet  Peas,  that  many  people  have  taken  the  impression  that  to 
these  plants  alone  the  veteran  horticulturist  devotes  his  energies. 
This,  however,  is  by  no  means  the  Case,  as  the  several  excellent 
ijulinary  Peas  that  have  come  from  Wbm  go  far  to  prove.  But  we 
must  go  much  farther  than  this  if  we  would  enumerate  all  the  plants 
that  have  been  subjected  to  his  attention.  This  cannot  now  be  done, 
and  we  must  be  content  with  calling  attention  to  the  strain  of  Chinese 
Primulas,  of  which  Mr.  Eckford  has  favoured  us  with  some  examples* 
These  have  size,  substance,  and  are  beautifully  fimbriated,  while  the 
colours  are  sufficiently  distinct  and  attractive  to  insure  general 
admiration. 
Iiondon  Open  Spaces. —  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Metropolitan 
Public  Gardens  Association,  the  draft  final  report  of  the  Hampstead 
Heath  (Holder’s  Hill)  Extension  Commiltee  was  submitted,  and  it  was 
stated  that  with  the  conveyance  cf  the  estate  to  the  London  County 
Council  at  the  end  of  last  year  the  work  of  the  Committee  had  been 
successfully  completed,  and  that  the  snmll  balance  in  hand  would  be 
devoted  to  a  fund  for  the  purchase  of  another  addition  to  the  Heath. 
The  London  County  Council  General  Powers  Bill  was  considered,  and 
it  was  decided  to  oppose  that  part  of  it  which  proposed  to  give  power 
to  the  Battersea  Vestry  to’appropriate  the  Latchmere  Garden  allotment 
land,  11  acres  in  extent,  to  turn  out  the  Blllotment  holders,  and  to  utilise 
the  greater  part  of  the  site  for  building  purposes.  A  letter  was  read 
from  the  Board  of  Agriculture  enclosing  a  copy  of  the  scheme  for  the 
preservation  and  management  of  Petersham  Common,  which  embodied 
some  of  the  suggestions  made  by  the  Association.  It  was  reported 
that  Christ  Church  (Blackfriars  Eoad)  churchyard  had  at  length  been 
transferred  to  the  St.  Saviour’s  Board  of  Works,  and  that  the  Associa¬ 
tion  had  commenced  laying  it  out.  An  intimation  was  received  from 
the  Camberwell  Vestry  accepting  the  offpr  of  the  Association  to  lay  out 
a  recreation  ground  in  Sumner  Road,  and  it  was  agreed  to  put  the  work 
tin  hand  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
Committee  of  this  Fund,  held  on  the  2nd  inst.,  Mr.  H.  B.  May,  Dyson’s 
Lane  Nursery,  Upper  Edmonton,  was  unanimously  elected  Chairman 
in  succession  to  Mr.  Wm.  Marshall. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society, — The  next  fruit  and  flower  show 
of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  be  held  on  Tuesday,  March 
13th,  in  the  Drill  Hall,  James  Street,  Westminster,  1  to  4  p.m.  A  lecture 
on  •“  The  Evolution  of  Plants,  illustrated  by  various  garden  strains 
coming  true  from  seed,”  will  be  given  at  three  o’clock  by  Mr 
R.  Irwin  Lynch. 
Anthurlum  Scherzerlanum  Saersl. — On  the  occasion  of  a 
visit  recently  paid  to  the  gardens  of  the  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland, 
over  which  Mr.  G.  Sayers  presides,  he  showed  me  a  form  of 
Anthurium  Scherzerianum  named  Saersi,  which  is  practically  a  con¬ 
tinuous  fiowerer  for  at  least  four  months  each  year.  The  plant  was 
carrying  eight  spathes;  the  length  of  the  largest  was  7  inches,  and 
the  width  3^  inches. — A.  O’Neile. 
Certificates  for  Chrysanthemums.  —  At  a  recent  meeting  of 
the  Floral  Committee  of  the  National  Chrysanthemum  Society  it  was 
decided  to  adopt  a  new  method  in  granting  certificates.  In  future 
novelties  submitted  will  be  judged  by  points,  and  in  the  case  of  cut 
blooms  18  points  will  be  the  maximum.  The  properties  are  divided  as 
follows  : — Breadth,  depth,  form,  solidity,  colour  and  finish,  each  of 
which  may  receive  a  maximum  of  3  points.  There  will  be  three  kinds 
of  awards — -viz.,  1,  first-class  certificates  for  varieties  that  obtain 
15  points  or  more;  2,  awards  of  merit  for  those  that  gain  12  to 
15  points ;  and  3,  commendations  for  such  as  may  get  9  to  12  points. 
measurements  of  lieeks. — The  great  interest  manifested  in  the 
growing  and  showing  of  Leeks  in  the  North  of  England  is  scarcely 
comprehended  in  the  South  where  no  special  pains  are  taken  in  pro* 
ducing  them  in  the  great  majority  of  gardens.  If  Leeks  were  not 
made  a  subject  of  study  and  earnest  cultural  effort  in  most  northern 
gardens,  a  table  of  cubic  measurements  of  examples  of  various  sizes 
would  scarcely  have  been  required.  Such  a  table,  however,  is  provided 
by  Mr.  John  Wear,  Felton  Mills,  Northumberland.  On  a  card  a  little 
more  than  6  inches  square,  may  be  seen  at  a  glance  the  cubic  contents 
of  more  than  500  different  sized  Leeks.  The  contents  of  the  smallest 
example  in  the  table  (6  inches  long  by  3. in  cii’cumferenoe)  is  shown  as 
4'30  cubic  inches  and  the  largest  (12  inches  long  by  8  in  circumference) 
given  as  61T2  cubic  inches.  Mr.  Wear  has  certainly  been  very  diligent, 
and  his  ready  reckoner  will  doubtless  be  in  demand  in  Leek  growing 
districts,  where  a  large  number  of  cultivators  exhibit  the  products  of 
their  skill  at  special  shows  of  their  favourite  vegetable,  though  we  do 
not  know  that  there  are  classes  for  what  may  be  termed  the  smaller 
fry  in  the  table  before  us. 
Winter  Greens. — Nearly  all  descriptions  of  Winter  Greens  are 
rapidly  becoming  scarce.  What  with  the  great  check  given  to 
summer  growth  by  the  drought  of  last  season,  the  excessive  attacks 
of  aphis,  which  followed,  and  later  the  effects  of  severe  frosts,  stocks 
were  far  from  plentiful,  even  before  Christmas,  and  hard  cutting  of 
what  was  alive  since  has  greatly  thinned  the  crops.  The  best  and 
cleanest  of  greenstuffs  in  the  market  just  now,  of  home  grown  kinds, 
is  Chou  de  Milan,  or  the  strong-growing  Hundredheads,  which  is 
one  of  the  hardiest  and  most  valuable  of  all  the  late  white  Kales. 
There  is  a  fair  supply  of  what  are  probably  Cornish  white  Broccolis, 
very  solid  and  tender,  but  these  are  of  course  expensive,  costing  3d. 
and  4d.  per  head.  Where  there  were  good  stocks  of  Bllam’s  and  similar 
early  Cabbages  put  out  in  September  there  should,  provided  they  have 
escaped  harm,  be  good  material  for  cutting  shortly.  But  whore  there 
are  none  it  seems  very  likely  that  there  must  soon  be  a  great 
scarcity  of  greenstuff s.  It  seems  early  to  write  about  catch  crops,  as 
these  are  usually  advised  to  be  sown  or  otherwise  prepared  in  the 
autumn.  But  none  too  early  is  it  on  warm  borders  to  sow  Spinach, 
Early  Milan  Turnip,  Early  Gem  Carrot  in  a  frame,  and  to  get  if  possible 
strong  Cabbage  plants  to  put  out  close  together  for  early  cutting  as 
Greens.  Well  favoured  are  the  gardeners  who  have  raised  from  seeds 
sown  several  weeks  since  plenty  of  strong  young  plants  of  Snowball 
Cauliflower,  and  in  a  frame  dibbled  out  in  October,  or  from  a  September 
sowing,  plenty  of  good  stout  Cabbage  plants.  Some  early  sown  Chelsea 
Gem  Peas  on  a  warm  border  also  will  come  in  helpful  at  a  critical  time, 
when  other  things  are  running  short.  No  vegetable  more  greatly 
assists  the  gardener  than  does  Seakala  when  roots  for  blanching  are 
abundant, — Observer. 
