February  4,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
95 
- Gardening  Appointment. — Mr.  J.  P.  Kendall,  hard  gardener 
and  bailiff  for  thirteen  years  to  the  late  H.  L.  Holland,  Esq.,  Templeton, 
Roehampton,  S.W.,  bat  been  appointed  in  a  similar  capacity  to  J.  P. 
Gassiot,  Esq.,  The  Culvers,  Carshalton,  Surrey. 
-  Death  of  Mr,  Alexandeb  Curle. — We  regret  to  have  to 
announce  the  death  of  Mr.  Alexander  Curie,  which  took  place  a  short 
time  back  at  Priorwood,  near  Melrose  Abbey.  Mr.  Curie  took  a  keen 
interest  in  botany,  and  had  an  observant  eye  for  all  things  beautiful 
in  Nature.  He  had  a  knowledge  of  all  classes  of  horticulture,  and  bis 
garden  and  grounds  were  an  interesting  study. 
-  Winchester  Gardeners’  Association.— On  Tuesday  the 
26th  ult.  Mr.  P.  H.  Foulkes,  B.Sc.,  M.R.A.S.  (of  the  University  Exten¬ 
sion  College,  Reading),  gave  a  lecture  on  “  Insects  Injurious  to  Plant 
Life,  and  How  to  Deal  with  Them.”  The  lecture  was  made  more 
interesting  by  the  different  subjects  treated  on  beiDg  clearly  shown  by 
the  lantern.  The  principal  subjects  were  the  winter  moth,  eelworm, 
and  weevils,  giving  the  life  history  of  each,  the  time  when  they  could 
be  dealt  with  successfully,  and  the  best  methods  of  doing  it.  Many 
useful  and  practical  hints  were  given,  and  the  lecture  was  highly 
appreciated.  A  vote  of  thanks  was  given  to  Mr.  Foulkes  for  his 
lecture. 
-  A  Tree  Diamond  Memorial— The  intimation  that  a 
northern  nobleman  proposes  to  plant  some  trees  on  his  estate  in 
memoriam  of  the  Queen’s  sixty  years’  reign  seems  to  be  a  singularly 
happy  one.  It  is  a  suggest'on  that  might  be  acted  upon  in  a  thousand 
directions,  not  only  by  private  landowners,  but  by  many  public  bodies 
who  have  parks  or  open  spaces  of  considerable  area  under  their  control 
There  are  several  parks  in  London,  for  instance,  where  sixty  enduring 
trees,  such  as  the  Oriental  Planes,  might  be  planted,  either  in  one  huge 
group  or  in  several,  or  in  avenue  form.  In  how  many  large  private 
parks  might  not  a  grand  group  of  sixty  trees  become  in  time  one  of  the 
finest  objects  in  the  landscape  !  Those  whose  parks  or  land  are  limited 
might  plant  Thorns,  Laburnums,  or  small  Conifers,  or  even  shrubs.  In 
other  directions  fruit  growers  might  plant  specially  selected  sixty  trees 
of  Apples,  Pears,  or  other  fruits.  Wherever  so  planted  and  labelled 
these  trees  would  have  enduring  interest  as  a  memorial  of  the  Royal 
event  of  the  century,  one  so  far  unique  in  the  history  of  England.  In 
bow  many  small  areas  and  gardens  might  not  a  single  memorial  tree  be 
planted  !  Indeed,  were  this  idea  acted  upon  generally  it  is  not  too  much 
to  assert  that  over  a  million  of  such  memorial  trees  would  be  planted 
during  the  present  year.  In  the  majority  of  cases  the  planting  would 
have  to  be  done  in  the  autumn,  as  the  month  of  June  for  the  purpose 
wou’d  not  do.  That  is  of  little  moment  so  long  as  planted  in  the 
diamond  year  of  1897.  I  venture  to  think  this  proposition  is  very 
sensible,  is  very  practical,  and  most  certainly  is  eminently  fitted  to 
benefit  horticulture. — A.  D. 
-  Wakefield  Paxton  Society.— Under  the  title  of ‘  Rambling 
and  Scrambling  among  the  Alps,”  Mr.  J.  W.  McPherson,  B  A.,  of  the 
Wakefield  Grammar  School,  delivered  a  highly  interesting  lecture  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Paxton  Society  held  on  the  23rd  ult.,  in  presence  of  a 
good  company,  over  which  Mr.  W.  Tunnicliffe,  Denby  Dale  Road,  pre¬ 
sided  ;  Mr.  J.  G.  Brown,  Outwood,  being  Vice-Chairman.  By  the 
kindness  of  Mr.  Harold  Parkin,  who  lent  and  cleverly  manipulaUd  his 
lantern,  the  lecture  was  profusely  illustrated  with  excellent  slides 
obtained  by  the  lecturer  for  the  occasion.  Mr.  McPherson  eloquently 
and  felicitously  described  the  pictures  presented,  the  earlier  part  of  his 
lecture  and  the  accompanying  illustrations  setting  forth  the  beauties  of 
Lucerne,  the  lovely  villages  nestling  on  its  shores,  the  resorts  of  tourists 
upon  the  hills  around,  and  the  wonders  of  Pilatus  and  the  superstitions 
of  the  natives  in  regard  thereto,  and  gave  many  interesting  details  of 
the  Righi,  in  the  ascent  of  which  botanists  might  see  a  marvellous  variety 
of  floral  specimens,  including  the  Harebell,  which  was  of  large  growth 
and  tinged  considerable  patches  of  the  slopes  with  blue.  At  one  Btage 
of  the  lecture  Mr.  McPherson  gave  his  audience  an  example  of  the 
unmusical  call  of  the  mounain  horn,  so  much  in  use  in  the  Alps  by 
tourists  and  others.  The  references  to  Schiller’s  abode  and  Toll’s  Chapel 
and  monument  revived  in  the  minds  of  the  audience  the  legends  learnt 
in  their  boyhood,  and  were  also  a  diversion  from  the  beaten  track 
followed  by  the  ordinary  tourist.  Having  dt scribed  the  ascent  of 
Pilatus  by  railway,  the  lecturer  passed  on  to  the  St.  Gotbard  district.' 
and  exhibited  many  picturesque  or  otherwise  interesting  views,  embracing 
the  Rhone  glacier,  Basle,  and  the  Rhine.  Concluding,  Mr.  McPherson 
said  our  own  north  country  scenery  compared  very  favourably  with  tl  e 
nuch-vaunted  scenery  of  the  Alps.  The  lecturer  and  Mr.  H.  Parkin 
were  cordially  thanked  for  their  services. 
-  South  Shields  Weather. — Mr.  Bernard  Cowan  writes  : — 
“  We  are  having  severe  weather  here  just  now.  The  thermometer  has 
only  been  11°,  but  the  north-east  wind  has  been  of  the  bitterest 
description.  I  am  more  than  anxious,  as  we  have  17,000  Wallflowers 
planted  out  this  spring  and  8000  Stocks.”  £ 
-  January  Weather  at  Driffield. — Mean  temperature  at 
9  A.M.  (corrected),  33  80°.  Wet  bulb,  33-17°.  Mean  maximum,  38  01°; 
mean  minimum,  30-66°.  Highest,  43  6°  on  the  1st  ;  lowest,  18  8°  on 
the  26th.  Mean  of  maxima  and  minima,  3433°.  Mean  radiation 
temperature  on  the  grass,  26  93°;  lowest,  14  6°  on  the  25th  and  26th. 
Rainfall,  2  44  inches.  Number  of  rainy  days,  twenty-one  ;  greatest 
amount  on  one  day,  0-36  inch  on  the  7th  and  8th. — W.  E.  Lovel, 
Observer ,  York  Road,  Driffield. 
-  Wintry  Weather. — A  touch  of  real  winter  has  been  experi¬ 
enced  over  the  British  Islands  during  the  past  week,  and  the  thermometer 
has  in  many  places  registered  a  lower  reading  than  on  any  previous 
occasion  since  winter  set  in.  Towards  the  close  of  last  week,  and 
especially  on  Friday  and  Saturday,  snow  fell  very  generally  at  many  of 
the  English  stations,  and  on  Saturday  night  there  was  a  heavy  fall  in  the 
metropolis.  The  snow  quickly  disappeared  from  the  more  crowded  parts 
of  London,  but  it  remained  unthawed  in  the  suburbs  on  Tuesday 
morning.  The  thermometer  in  the  screen  at  night  has  registered  10°  or 
12°  of  frost  in  many  parts  of  Great  Britain,  while  the  exposed  thermo¬ 
meter,  on  the  grass,  has  fallen  several  degrees  lower.  The  type  of 
weather  over  our  islands  has  become  an ticy clonic ;  and  if  these  condi¬ 
tions  continue  a  spell  of  settled  cold  weather  will  be  experienced. — 
(“  Nature.”) 
-  Presentation  to  Mr.  Cypher. — In  a  recent  issue  we  called 
attention  to  a  supper  that  had  been  given  by  this  well-known  nursery¬ 
man  to  his  employes  to  commemorate  the  attainment  of  his  seventieth 
birthday.  It  appears  that  the  object  of  the  supper  came  as  a  complete 
surprise  to  the  men,  who  were  consequently  unprepared  to  make  any 
recognition  of  the  interesting  event  at  the  time  ;  but  as  the  outcome  of 
subsequent  action  of  the  men,  who  were  determined  not  to  let  such  an 
event  pass  unrecognised,  Mr.  Cypher  was  on  Friday  night  the  recipient  of 
a  handsome  armchair  as  a  mark  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  is  held 
by  the  meD,  and  of  the  cordial  relations  that  have  so  long  subsisted 
between  employer  and  employed.  The  presentation  was  made  by  Mr. 
Richard  Cull,  who  expressed  the  hope  that  their  respected  master  might 
long  be  spared  to  f*njoy  the  ease  and  comfort  he  so  richly  deserved.  Mr. 
Cypher  was  much  affected  by  this  mark  of  appreciation. 
-  Anoiganthus  breviflorus. —  This  has  been  known  to 
botanists  for  over  fifty  years,  but  it  is  only  within  the  last  decade  that 
it  has  been  in  cultivation.  It  is  a  bulbous  plant  nearly  related  to  the 
Cyrtanthus,  and  is  a  native  of  several  portions  of  Eastern  South  Africa. 
Its  value  lies  in  its  being  an  easily  cultivated  plant,  which  flowers 
freely  when  once  established,  and  generally  during  the  winter  or  spring 
months.  At  present,  sayB  a  contemporary,  it  is  not  common,  and  it 
would  be  a  gain  to  horticulture  if  a  large  importation  of  it  could  be 
made  so  as  to  enable  it  to  be  grown  in  quantity.  There  is  one  mass  of 
it  which  bore  four  spikes  of  flower  in  the  Heath  house  at  Kew,  which  is 
just  sufficient  to  show  what  a  charming  display  could  be  made  with  fifty 
or  one  hundred  scapes  grouped  with  Maidenhair  Fern  or  some  such 
plant,  for  it  is  itself  destitute  of  foliage  at  this  season.  Strong  scapes 
carry  from  nine  to  a  dozen  flowers,  which  are  of  a  clear  bright  yellow, 
the  segments  of  the  perianth  being  1*  inch  to  2  inches  long.  It 
requires  quite  cool  treatment,  and  may  oe  grown  in  an  unheated  frame. 
_  Begonia  Gloire  de  Lorraine.— Gloire  de  Lorraine,  of 
which  there  is  a  notice  aad  illustration  on  page  48  of  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture ,  well  merits  the  praise  it  has  received,  as  it  is  undoubtedly 
a  valuable  acquisition.  As  seen  during  the  last  months  of  the  past  year 
in  the  Oxford  Botanic  Garden  it  was  exceedingly  pretty  ;  dwarf  compact 
plants  10  to  12  inches  in  diameter  were  so  profusely  bloomed  as  to  present 
really  delightful  masses  of  clear  rosy-pink  flowers  so  dense  as  to  almost 
envelop  the  neat  foliage  that  emerged  from  their  lower  branchlets,  as 
though  designedly  to  garnish  the  rims  of  the  pots  in  which  tbe  plants 
were  growing.  There  is  a  distinctive  prettiness  in  this  Begonia  that 
makes  it  particularly  welcome,  especially  at  a  season  of  the  year  when 
flowers  are  none  *oo  abundant,  and  a  quality  that  will  doubtless  speedily 
win  for  it  universal  favour.  The  parentage  of  this  triumph  of  hybridisa¬ 
tion  is  said  to  be  Begonia  socotrana  and  B.  Dregei,  the  former  being 
introduced  into  this  country  by  Professor  J.  Balfour,  I  believe,  during 
his  directorate  of  tbe  Oxford  Botanic  Garden.  Mons.  Lemoine  may  be 
heartily  congratulated  on  having  raised  and  distributed  such  a  charming 
hybrid  Begonia  as  that  of  Gloire  de  Lorraine.— John  E.  Jefferies. 
