April  26,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
349 
NOTES 
OTICES 
Recent  Weatber  In  Iiondon.  —  On  Saturday  and  Sunday 
Londoners  had  apparently^een  dropped  into  the  middle  of  Jane,  for  the 
heat  was  great.  Overcoats  were  left  at  home,  and  straw  hats  became 
the  order  of  the  day.  The  nights  continued  moderately  cool  considering 
the  heat  of  the  day.  On  Monday  and  Tuesday  though  dull  in  the 
morning  it  became  clear  and  quite  warm  later.  Wednesday  opened 
cold  and  wet. 
Weather  In  the  Iforth. — With  an  occasional  dull  forenoon  or 
evening  the  weather  of  the  past  week  has  been  extremely  fine  for  the 
season,  the  19th  and  the  two  following  days  especially  so.  The  wind 
set  into  the  east  on  Saturday  evening,  and  rain  fell  during  the  night. 
Sunday  was  dull ;  Monday  brought  alternately  sunshine  and  heavy 
showers. — B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire^ 
Royal  Horticultural  Society  of  Ireland.— In  your  brief  report 
of  the  spring  show  of  the  above  society,  I  notice  no  allusion  was 
made  to  the  new  double  Violet,  The  Countess  of  Caledon,  which  was 
staged  by  Mr.  Jeffreys,  gardener  to  the  Earl  of  Caledon,  Caledon 
Park,  Tyrone.  It  is  much  finer  than  Marie  Louise,  with  greater 
substance  of  petal,  and  in  shade  a  pale  lavender  or  heliotrope.  The 
exhibitor  was  awarded  a  certificate.  Mr.  Jeffreys’  dish  of  Strawberries 
contained  the  finest  fruits  ever  shown  in  Dublin.  Several  specimens 
weighed  over  2  ozs.,  and  six  of  them  cleared  the  scales  at  13^  ozs. 
Sheffield  Chrysanthemum  Society. — Upwards  of  seventy 
members  were  present,  at  a  recent  meeting,  to  hear  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones, 
of  Ryecroft  Nuisery,  Lewisham,  give  an  excellent  lecture  entitled 
“  Chrysanthemum  Culture  on  the  Newest  System  for  Growing  Flowers 
for  Exhibition.”  Mr.  Jones  spoke  at  some  length  on  propagation,  and 
recommended  the  cuttings  to  be  inserted  in  boxes  instead  of  pots, 
letting  them  have  plenty  of  light  and  space  at  all  times,  and  keeping 
them  in  a  temperature  of  from  45°  to  50°  until  ready  for  3-inch  pots. 
He  considered  that  early  varieties  were  best  pinched  the  third  week  in 
March,  and  later  ones  the  first  week  in  May,  giving  preference  to  second 
crown  buds.  The  lecture  was  most  interesting. 
liXlnnesota  Horticultural  School. -^Minnesota  now  boasts  one 
of  the  most  complete  horticultural  buildings  connected  with  a  school  or 
college  in  the  United  States.  It  was  completed  and  occupied  January 
1st,  1900,  and  is  connected  with  the  Minnesota  School  of  Agriculture 
and  Experiment  Station,  St.  Anthony  Park.  The  buidling  and  equip¬ 
ment,  according  to  ”  Meehan’s  Monthly,”  cost  67,000  dols.,  and  consists 
of  a  main  building,  an  annex  for  a  greenhouse,  laboratory,  machine  shed, 
about  4000  feet  of  glass,  and  a  good  nursery  cellar.  A  large  number  of 
students  can  be  accommodated.  This  term  the  classes  in  horticulture 
number  178.  A  very  important  feature  of  the  school  work  consists  of 
practice  by  the  students  of  seed-sowing,  transplanting,  the  growing  of 
plants  by  cutting  and  grafting,  the  packing  of  nursery  stock,  pollination, 
testing  of  seeds,  the  making  of  Bordeaux  mixture  and  grafting  wax,  and 
similar  horticultural  operations. 
national  Chrysanthemum  Society.— The  annual  report  and 
the  schedules  of  the  shows  to  be  held  during  the  coming  autumn  have 
reached  us  from  the  secretary,  Mr.  R.  Dean,  V.M.H.,  Ranelagh  Road, 
Ealing.  The  report  has  already  been  dealt  with  in  our  columns,  and 
we  need  therefore  only  call  attention  to  the  schedules  at  the  present 
moment.  The  early  autumn  show  will  be  held  on  October  9th,  10th, 
and  11th,  and,  as  usual,  the  quality  at  this  early  date  will  be  governed 
wholly  by  the  season.  The  principal  exhibition  opens  on  Tuesday, 
November  6th,  and  continues  over  the  two  following- days.  This  is 
invariably  most  excellent,  and  it  is  scarcely  likely  to  prove  an  exception 
this  season.  Numerous  valuable  special  prizes  are  offered  for  com¬ 
petition,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  ones  of  the  society.  The  president 
(Sir  Edwin  Saunders)  offers  a  premier  prize  of  £15  for  a  floral  display 
of  Chrysanthemums  and  suitable  foliage  plants,  and  other  awards  of 
£10,  £8,  and  £6  will  be  given  by  the  society.  This  should  prove  to  be 
a  splendid  class.  The  dates  chosen  for  the  early  winter  show  are 
December  4th,  5th,  and  6th.  Full  particulars  may  be  had  from  the 
secretary  at  the  address  given  above. 
Alexander  College. — An  effective  piece  of  floral  decoration  was 
seen  at  this  educational  establishment  on  the  occasion  of  the  recent 
visit  of  some  members  of  the  Royal  Family,  and  the  Lord  Lieutenant  and 
party.  The  task  of  opening  some  new  wings  devolved  upon  H.R  H. 
Princess  Christian.  The  various  halls  were  decorated  with  Daffodils, 
the  principal  variety  utilised  being  maximus,  from  Mr.  Hartland, 
Cork,  whilst  Miss  F.  Currey,  of  Lismore,  forwarded  a  choice  collection 
of  the  leading  types,  which  were  suitably  displayed  in  one  of  the 
class  rooms.  A  handsome  bouquet  of  Shamrock  and  white  Narcissi  was 
presented  to  H.R  H.  Princess  Christian. 
Croydon  Horticultural  Society. — The  schedule  for  the  show  of 
this  society,  which  is  to  be  held  in  the  grounds  of  Brickwood  House,, 
Addiscombe  Road,  on  Wednesday,  July  4th,  is  now  publi^ed,  and 
may  be  obtained  from  the  secretary,  Mr.  A.  C.  Roffey,  St.  Andrews 
Villa,  55,  Church  Road,  Croydon.  Particulars  are  given  of  upwards  of 
100  classes,  embracing  practically  all  the  products  in  season  at  that 
moment  of  the  year.  Roses  are  always  an  excellent  feature,  and  this 
year,  provided  we  are  favoured  with  a  propitious  season,  will  probably 
prove  no  exception  to  the  rule.  There  are  numerous  local  as  well  as 
open  classes,  and  so  far  as  can  be  seen  provision  has  been  made  for  all 
sections  of  growers. 
Hew  Ross  Agricultural  Society. — Atarecent  meetingof  theNew 
Ross  District  Council  a  motion  was  put  forward  tentatively,  namely,  the 
starting  of  an  Agricultural  Society  for  New  Ross.  As  a  result,  a 
number  of  influential  men  assembled  in  the  Grand  Jury  room,  on  April 
19th,  with  the  object  of  taking  the  necessary  preliminary  steps  to  bring 
the  motion  into  concrete  form.  The  chair  was  occupied  by  Captain 
Barrett-Hamilton,  and  after  a  brief  discussion  a  committee  was  formed. 
The  following  consented  to  undertake  the  secretarial  duties  :  Messrs. 
A.  Tyndall,  J.P.,  Ballyanne,  and  John  Jeffares,  Seark.  Prior  to  the 
dissolution  of  the  meeting  it  was  unanimously  decided  that  a  general 
meeting  be  held  in  New  Ross  on  the  next  fair  day. 
Xiinnean  Society, — At  the  last  meeting  of  this  society  under  the 
presidency  of  Mr.  C.  B.  Clarke,  F.R.S.,  Dr.  D.  H.  Scott,  P.R.S.,  read  a 
paper  on  “  Sphenophyllum  and  its  Allies,  an  Extinct  Division  of  the 
Vascular  Cryptogams.”  The  author  explained  that  his  purpo-se  was 
not  to  communicate  new  observations,  but  to  give  a  summary  of  our 
present  knowledge  of  the  group  and  to  discuss  its  affinities.  He 
pointed  out  that  the  study  of  the  Palaeozoic  flora  not  only  greatly 
widens  our  conception  of  the  three  existing  classes  of  Pteridophyta, 
but  adds  a  fourth — that  of  the  Sphenophyllales — to  their  number. 
The  different  views  which  have  been  held  as  to  affinities  of  the 
Sphenophyllales  were  then  discussed  in  the  light  of  the  results 
recently  attained.  The  supposed  relation  to  Hydropteridae,  though 
supported  by  some  ingenious  arguments,  was  rejected  as  baseless, 
and  as  inconsistent  with  the  manifest  Filicinean  affinities  of  that 
family.  The  author  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Sphenophyllales 
were  most  naturally  regarded  as  the  derivatives  of  a  synthetic  group, 
combining  the  characters  of  Lycopods  and  Bquisetales,  and  indicating 
the  common  origin  of  those  two  classes. 
Ipswich  and  District  Gardeners’  Association. — At  a  recent 
meeting  of  this  association,  Mr.  Geo.  Gilbert  presiding,  a  paper  on 
“Daffodils”  was  read  by  Mr.  R.  C.  Notcutt,  vice-president  of  the 
association.  The  paper  was  illustrated  by  a  large  selection  of  specimen 
blooms,  a  number  of  which  had  been  kindly  sent  for  the  purpose  by 
Messrs.  Barr  &  Sons,  T.  S.  Ware  &  Co.,  Ltd,,  and  E  J.  W.  Disbrowe,  of 
Bennington.  The  essayist  commenced  by  giving  some  account  of  the 
history  of  the  Narcissus,  pointing  out  that  it  was  quite  a  flower  of 
antiquity,  and  well  known  to  the  ancients.  Reference  was  made  to 
the  existence  of  the  Daffodil  in  a  wild  state,  over  the  whole  of  Western 
Europe.  The  classification  of  the  flower  next  occupied  the  lecturer’s 
attention,  and  the  system  introduced  by  Mr.  J.  G.  B  iker  in  1869  was 
explained  and  discussed.  Naturally  the  Trumpet  Daffodil  and  its 
sub-divisions  were  dealt  with  fully,  and  fine  examples  of  maximus  and 
some  interesting  specimens  of  minor  and  the  tiny  minimus  were  shown. 
The  concluding  portion  of  the  paper  was  devoted  to  what  may  be  termed 
the  practical  side  of  the  subject.  An  interesting  account  was  given  of 
the  production  of  bulbs  in  a  typical  Lincolnshire  bulb  farm,  the  bulbs 
from  which,  the  lecturer  said,  were  often,  in  his  opinion,  better  grown 
and  in  a  healthier  condition  than  those  from  Holland.  S  >me  useful 
advice  was  given  as  to  the  culture  aud  treatment  of  Daffodils,  with 
particulars  regarding  their  favourite  hautits  and  soils.  At  the  end  of 
the  paper  an  animated  discussion  ensued,  aud  the  meeting  was  brought 
to  a  conclusion  by  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Notcutt. 
