March  22,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
243 
NOTES 
OTICES 
Recent  Weather  In  liondon. — The  weather  of  the  past  few 
days  has  been  peculiarly  varied.  On  Saturday  we  had  snow  both  in 
the  morning  and  evening,  with  sufficient  frost  to  cover  ponds  with  a 
thin  sheet  of  ice.  Sunday  morning  was  fine,  but  the  evening  brought 
snow  and  heavy  rain.  On  Monday  morning  the  ground  was  thinly 
covered  with  snow,  which  did  not  remain  long ;  in  the  evening  there 
was  torrential  rain.  Tuesday  was  brilliantly  fine  and  spring-like,  the 
sun  being  quite  warm.  At  the  time  of  going  to  press  on  Wednesday 
it  was  bright  and  pleasant. 
Weather  in  the  North. — In  the  earlier  part  of  the  week  ending 
the  19th  inst.jhigh  and  cold  westerly  winds  prevailed.  Frost  set  in  on 
the  evening  of  the  15th,  and  3°,  8°,  10°  were  recorded  on  the  following 
mornings.  Snow  has  again  fallen  heavily  in  several  parts  of  the  county, 
and  a  continuous  onset  for  some  hours  on  Monday  forenoon  covered  the 
ground  to  nearly  3  inches.  This,  in  great  part,  disappeared  by  the 
evening. — B.  D.,  8.  Perthshire. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society. — The  next  Fruit  and  Flower  Show 
of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  be  held  on  Tuesday,  March  27th, 
in  the  Drill  Hall,  James  Street,  Westminster,  1  to  5  p.m.  A  lecture  on 
“  Some  of  the  Plants  Exhibited  ”  will  be  given  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  Geo. 
Henslow,  M.A.,  at  three  o’clock. 
New  Agrrlcultural  College.— Recently  there  has  been  keen 
excitement  about  the  gentry,  with  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Brownrigg,  Bishop 
of  Ossory,  as  chairman,  who  are  taking  the  necessary  preliminary  steps 
to  have  the  disused  workhouse  at  Donoughmore  converted  into  an 
agricultural  college.  The  committee  is  an  inflaential  one,  whilst  the 
workhouse  is  eminently  suitable  for  the  purpose  in  view.  The  college 
is  to  be  for  the  following  counties — Kings  and  Queens,  Tipperary, 
North  and  South  Ridings,  Kilkenny,  Barlow,  and  Kildare.  At  the  last 
meeting  of  the  committee  a  resolution  was  adopted,  and  was  directed 
to  the  heads  of  the  Department  of  Agricultural  and  Technical  Instruc¬ 
tion,  pointing  out  the  great  facilities  which  exist  at  Donoughmore  for 
the  establishment  of  an  agricultural  college. — A.  0.  N, 
Rlementary  Education. — At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee  of  the  Agricultural  Education  CommittBe,  held  at  10,  Queen 
Anne’s  Gate,  Westminster,  S.W.,  on  Tuesday,  the  13th  March,  it  was 
moved  by  Sir  Wm.  Hart  Dyke,  Bart.,  M.P. , 
A.  C.  Humphreys  Owen,  M.P.,  and  carried  unanimously,  “  That  this 
committee  hails  with  the  greatest  satisfaction 
and  seconded  by  Mr. 
the  provisions  of  the 
new  Day  School  Code  adopting  the  system  of  ^  block  grants,’  extend¬ 
ing  lessons  on  ‘  common  things  ’  to  the  higher  standards,  and  requiring 
the  course  of  instruction  to  be  suitable  to  thi  circumstances  of  the 
children  and  the  neighbourhood.  They  attapn  great  importance  to 
the  new  course  of  ‘  household  management'  prescribed  for  girls. 
Generally,  they  regard  the  alterations  made  this  year  as  likely  to  prove 
most  beneficial  to  country  children,  teachers,  and  school  managers, 
and  they  trust  that  the  Department  may  see  their  way  to  make  corre¬ 
sponding  changes  in  the  forthcoming  code  fcr  evening  continuation 
schools.” 
National  Diploma  In  Agriculture.— iThe  Royal  Agricultural 
Society  of  England  and  the  Highland  and  Agncultural  Society  of  Scot¬ 
land  have  joined  forces  in  the  establishment  (’  an  examination  in  the 
science  and  practice  of  agriculture,  to  take  the  place  of  the  separate 
examinations  which  have  heretofore  been  Ipld  by  the  two  societies 
independently  .'^Candidates  who  pass  this  exampation,  which  is  under  the 
management  of  the  National  Agricultural  Examination  Board,  appointed 
by  the  two  societies,  are  to  receive  the  natioml  diploma  in  agriculture. 
Those  who  obtain  not  less  than  a  certain  picentage  of  the  maximum 
number  of  marks  in  each  of  the  subjects  will  receive  the  diploma  with 
honours,^a  gold  medal  being  awarded  to  the  (nndidate  who  is  highest  on 
the  honours  list.  It  has  been  arranged  that  tpe  first  examination  for  the 
diploma  shall  be  held  in  the  great  hall  of  tha  Yorkshire  College,  Leeds, 
on  Monday,  April  30th,  and  five  following  days.  Applications  to  be 
allowed  to  sit  at  this  examination  must  be  mide  not  later  than  Saturday, 
the  31st  inst. 
Petersham  Commou. — Many,  readers  will  be  glad  to  know  that 
Petersham  Common  will  very  shortly  come  under  the  Metropolitan 
Commons  Acts.  The  Board  of  Agriculture  last  year  certified  a  scheme 
for  the  establishment  of  a  local  management  with  respect  to  the 
common,  but  such  a  scheme  has  not  of  itself  any  operation  until  it 
shall  have  been  confirmed  by  Parliament,  with  or  without  modification. 
The  confirming  bill  has  now  been  introduced,  and  will,  no  doubt,  have 
an  easy  and  rapid  passage  through  both  houses. 
Anatomy  of  Eight. — At  the  Royal  Institution,  Lord  Rayleigh,  on 
Friday,  continued  his  lecture  on  “  Polarised  Light.”  Pull  of  the  keenest 
insight  into  the  facts  connected  with  the  phenomena,  and  aided  by 
exceptionally  successful  experiments,  the  scientist  unfolded  the  subject, 
showing  at  every  point  Nature’s  wonderful  laws  in  relation  to  the 
phenomena — crystalline  properties  of  light,  and,  notably,  laws  of  colour 
based  on  the  triangle  of  colours  as  expounded  by  Newton.  The  screen 
diagrams  demonstrating  all  this,  constituted  a  series  of  beautiful 
pictures. 
Gardening  Appointments.  —  Mr.  G.  Stotesbury,  late  head 
gardener  to  George  Pirn,  Esq.,  Brennanstown,  Cabinteely,  has  been 
appointed  to  a  similar  position  in  the  g.ardens  of  Colonel  Smyth, 
Gaybrook,  Mullingar;  Mr.  W.  Usher,  general  foreman,  succeeds  Mr. 
Stotesbury.  Mr.  W.  McClatchie,  for  the  past  three  years  head  gardener 
to  Sir  Ralph  Cusack,  Furry  Park,  Raheny,  has  been  appointed  head 
gardener  to  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  David  Harrel,  Under-Secretary’s  Lodge, 
Phoenix  Park,  Dublin.  Mr.  George  Reid,  for  a  number  of  years  fore¬ 
man  in  Kirklees  Park  Gardens,  Brighouse,  succeeds  Mr.  Herbert  as 
head  gardener  to  Miss  Trevor,  the  Mount,  Littlethorpe,  Ripon. 
St.  Valentine’s  Day  In  Boston. — Valentine’s  Day  in  Boston, 
U.  S.A.,  has  always  been  a  busy  and  profitable  occasion  for  the  florist. 
February  13th  and  14th  are  equally  busy  with  the  wholesalers,  the  out 
of  town  trade  buying  briskly  on  the  earlier  date  for  demands  of  the 
14th.  Small  flowers  sell  best,  Violets  leading  everything  else,  but  the 
demand  really  covers  everything  in  the  flower  line  and  applies  to  all 
grades  of  the  business.  Flowers  for  Valentine  gifts  are  sent  almost 
invariably  in  boxes,  a  fancy  card  or  valentine  being  laid  on  top  of  the 
flowers,  and  there  is  little  or  nothing  done  in  the  way  of  special  design 
work  or  decoration.  Last  year  was  a  most  unfortunate  one  for  the 
valentine  trade,  as  the  big  blizzard  struck  in  the  day  before,  and, 
everything  being  blocked,  people  who  wanted  Violets  had  to  go  without, 
and  the  dealers  missed  the  benefit  of  the  much-needed  business  in  the 
worst  coal-eating  season  they  had  seen  for  many  years. 
Death  of  XVXrs,  Eawrenson, — With  regret,  that  all  who  knew 
her  will  share,  I  have  to  announce  the  death  of  Mrs.  Lawrenson,  which 
took  place  at  her  residence,  Salerno,  Killiney,  Co.  Dublin,  on  the  14th 
inst.  Better  known,  perhaps,  under  the  nom  deplmne  of  “  St.  Brigid,” 
her  labours  of  love  in  the  gardening  world,  which  are  inseparably 
associated  with  that  fine  strain  of  Anemones,  may  yet  show  further 
developments  of  her  loving  care  and  enthusiasm  in  other  directions. 
Since  leaving  Howth — where  she  was  laid  to  rest  on  St.  Patrick’s  Day — 
to  reside  on  the  western  shores  of  Dublin  Bay,  Hellebores  and  Narcissi 
had,  among  other  things,  claimed  her  attention.  Of  the  former 
particularly  this  estimable  lady  was  very  hopeful  and  proud  of  a 
numerous  progeny  she  had  raised.  These,  we  venture  to  hope,  will 
fall  into  good  hands  now  that  Salerno — that  lovely  spot  overlooking  sea 
and  mountain — knows  its  gentle  mistress  no  more.— K.,  Dublin. 
Gardeners’  Charity  Guild. — It  is  not  every  gardener  in  the 
United  Kingdom  who  is  aware  that  there  is  a  “  Gardeners’  Charity 
Guild,”  or  that  this  association  has  inaugurated  concerts  in  aid  of  the 
gardening  charities.  Such,  however,  are  bare  facts,  substantiated  by 
the  fact  that  last  year  the  concert  was  the  medium  by  which  upwards 
of  £30  was  handed  to  the  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund.  This 
season,  in  order  to  continue  the  excellent  work  that  has  been  begun,  a 
concert  was  arranged  for  the  evening  of  Wednesday,  March  14th,  at 
the  Cannon  Street  Hotel,  when  N.  N.  Sherwood,  Esq.,  occupied  the 
chair.  The  great  hall  was  well  filled  with  people,  who  were  in  high 
good  humour,  and  bent  upon  enjoyment.  An  admirable  programme 
had  been  arranged,  and  the  items  therein  were  heartily  received.  The 
committee  and  Mr.  T,  Swales  (hon.  secretary)  are  to  bo  congratulated 
on  the  result  of  their  efforts.  We  have  not  yet  learned  to  what 
extent  the  funds  of  the  Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent  Institution  have 
benefitted,  but  trust  it  will  be  a  good  round  sum.  Of  this,  we  are 
informed,  the  honorary  secretary  will  send  particulars  at  an  early  date. 
