March  25,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
251 
-  Bulbs  and  Cut  Flowers. — Mr.  H.  B.  Greenfield  writes : — 
“  I  am  particularly  anxious  to  ascertain  the  total  value  of  bulbs  imported 
into  London  annually,  and  also  the  total  value  of  cut  flowers  at  Covent 
Garden.  Can  any  reader  help  me  ?  I  should  esteem  any  information.” 
-  Azalea  indica  alba. — In  looking  through  our  single  white 
Azaleas  I  fail  to  find  one  so  pure  in  its  snowy  whiteness  as  the  old  but 
ever  useful  Azalea  alba,  where  it  can  be  easily  distinguished  from  any 
other  variety.  True,  it  is  not  such  a  quick  grower  nor  does  it  possess 
the  handsome  foliage  of  many  of  the  newer  varieties,  but  when  we  come 
to  its  blooming  qualities,  its  lasting  properties  when  cut,  and  its  value 
to  those  who  have  to  keep  white  flowers  for  wreaths  and  crosses,  we 
must  have  Something  good  ere  we  can  part  with  an  old  and  tried  friend. 
— Florist. 
-  Birmingham  Gardeners’  Association.— Under  the  title  of 
“  Bulb  Culture  in  England,”  Mr.  W.  Spinks  read  a  paper  contributed 
by  Mr.  F.  W.  Burbidge,  Trinity  College  Botanic  Gardens,  Dublin,  in  the 
presence  of  a  good  assembly,  presided  over  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Latham.  Con¬ 
sidering  his  well-known,  intimate  knowledge  of  bulbous  plants,  and  of 
the  essayist’s  graphic  and  facile  pen,  it  may  be  readily  assumed  that  the 
reading  of  the  paper  evoked  the  deepest  interest,  and  resulted  in  an 
interesting  discussion.  [An  instalment  of  Mr.  Burbidge’s  excellent  and 
suggestive  paper  appears  on  another  page.] 
-  Preservation  of  Flowers. — The  following  is  a  very  old 
method  of  keeping  flowers  without  loss  of  colour.  Dry  some  very  fine, 
pure  silicious  sand  in  the  sun  or  oven  ;  then  take  a  wooden,  tin-plate,  or 
pasteboard  box  sufficiently  large  and  deep,  and  place  your  flowers  inside 
erect ;  then  fill  the  box  with  sand  until  this  last  is  about  an  inch  above 
the  top  of  the  flowers.  The  sand  must  be  run  in  gently  so  as  not  to  break 
the  flowers.  Cover  the  box  with  paper  or  perforated  cardboard,  and 
place  it  in  the  sunlight,  oven,  or  stove,  continuous  heat  giving  the  best 
results.  After  two  or  three  days  the  flowers  will  be  very  dry,  but  they 
will  have  lost  none  of  their  natural  brilliancy. 
-  Cinerarias. — I  have  often  wished  that  Mr.iJames  of  Farnham 
Royal,  who  always  shows  such  wonderfully  perfect  Cinerarias  in  the 
spring,  would  put  a  dozen  of  his  best  varieties,  of  which  stock  is  alwayB 
kept,  into  the  market.  It  would  be  interesting  then  to  see  how  near  to 
the  same  remarkable  pitch  of  excellence  seen  in  Mr.  James’  plants  other 
growers  could  produce  them.  Big  enough  the  blooms  are  certainly,  and 
in  substance,  colouring,  clearness  of  marking,  and  form  no  flowers  could 
be  better.  I  hope  none  will  produce  larger  blooms.  The  exceeding 
dwarfness  seen  in  the  plants  is  partly  due  to  the  habit  of  the  strain  and 
partly  to  the  cool  culture  given,  with  ample  light  and  air.  Those  who 
grow  Cinerarias  for  very  early  blooming  must  largely  force,  and  of 
course  the  plants  are  drawn  and  the  blooms  somewhat  demoralised. 
Strong  feeding  is  a  mistake,  and  should  not  be  encouraged.  Mr.  James 
does  not  feed  materially,  and  pots  firmly. — A. 
-  Royal  Meteorological  Society. — This  Society  has  for 
many  years  past  held  an  exhibition  annually,  which  has  been  devoted  to 
some  special  class  of  meteorological  instruments.  This  year  the  Society 
has  arranged  an  exhibition  of  meteorological  instruments  in  use  in  1837 
and  1897,  in  commemoration  of  the  Diamond  Jubilee  of  H.M.  the 
Queen.  The  exhibition,  which  was  opened  on  Tuesday  the  16th  instant, 
ia  held  in  the  large  Library  of  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers, 
Great  George  Street,  Westminster,  S.W.  The  most  interesting  exhibit 
is  a  railed-off  enclosure  about  12  feet  square,  covered  with  green  baize, 
representing  a  typical  climatological  station  of  the  Royal  Meteorological 
Society.  The  exhibition  will  remain  open  until  Friday  the  19th  inst. 
In  connection  with  the  Royal  Meteorological  Society’s  special  exhibition 
of  instruments,  a  lecture  was  delivered  on  Wednesday  evening  the  17th 
instant  by  Mr.  G.  J.  Symons,  F.R.S.,  on  “Meteorological  Observations 
in  1837  and  1897.”  After  describing  some  of  the  instruments  in  use  at 
the  commencement  of  the  Queen’s  reign,  the  lecturer  stated  that  he  had 
collected  all  the  known  records  of  rainfall  for  the  year  1837,  and  that 
he  was  able  to  give  the  total  rainfall  for  that  year  from  161  stations. 
An  account  was  then  given  of  the  meteorological  instruments  in  use  at 
the  present  day,  reference  being  made  to  the  barometer,  thermometer, 
hygrometer,  rain  gauges,  anemometers,  self-recording  instruments,  &c. 
The  methods  adopted  for  registering  the  duration  of  sunshine,  and  the 
amount  of  evaporation  were  next  described.  Allusion  was  also  made  to 
the  help  which  photography  has  rendered  to  meteorology,  especially  in 
relation  to  the  forms  and  movement  of  clouds,  &c.  Mr.  Symons  con¬ 
cluded  his  lecture  by  exhibiting  a  map  showing  the  state  of  the  weather 
over  Western  Europe  at  8  A.M.  the  same  morning.  The  lecture  through¬ 
out  was  illustrated  by  numerous  lantern  slides. 
-  Tadcaster  Paxton  Society. — At  the  weekly  meeting  of  th 
above  Society,  held  on  Thursday,  March  18th,  an  excellent  paper  was 
read  by  Mr.  Clayton,  the  Gardens,  Grimston  Park,  on  “  Hardy  Peren¬ 
nials.”  He  described  the  formation  of  borders,  situation,  arrangement, 
and  selection  of  suitable  plants,  propagation,  and  cultural  routine. 
His  remarks  were  listened  to  with  very  great  interest.  A  very  hearty 
vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  to  Mr.  Clayton. — J .  S.  S, 
-  The  Weather  and  Fruit  Prospects  South  of  Ireland. 
— The  month  of  March  so  far  has  been  very  inclement,  and  the 
temperature  uniformly  low  here.  The  snow  is  on  the  hills  around, 
although  it  fell  as  sleet  or  wetted  snow  in  the  lowlands.  Fortunately 
for  tender  opening  blossoms  such  as  Apricots,  Peaches,  and  Nectarines 
on  south  walls,  not  protected,  and  Jargonelles  and  Early  Rivers  Plums 
in  the  open  garden,  there  has  been  no  frost  in  the  south  of  Ireland 
during  the  month,  presumably  owing  to  the  wind  steadily  veering 
between  south  and  wes*v  On  three  nights  during  the  month  here  my 
outdoor  thermometer  registered  34°,  perilously  near  the  freezing  point. 
At  present  all  garden  and  farm  land  is  saturated — so  different  from  the 
customary  dusty,  dry,  biting  March  winds.  All  crops  must  necessarily 
be  backward.  I  cannot  remember  brighter  fruit  prospects  on  any 
former  year  if  all  goes  well.— W.  J.  Murphy,  Clonmel. 
-  New  Classes  at  Shows.  —  I  read  with  much  interest  last 
autumn  the  desire  expressed  by  some  of  your  readers  for  new  classes  at 
flower  shows,  and  1  think  it  may  interest  some  to  hear  of  two  novel 
ideas  which  were  carried  out  at  a  small  exhibition  held  here  last 
November.  The  first  was  a  class  for  any  design,  with  or  without  ribbon, 
not  mentioned  in  any  of  the  preceding  classes.  It  called  forth  keen 
competition,  there  being  thirteen  entries.  The  first  prize  was  awarded 
to  a  bridesmaid’s  staff  with  Chrysanthemums  and  bronze  foliage  with 
ribbons.  Amongst  the  other  entries  there  were  several  most  attractive 
designs,  including  two  tastefully  arranged  sets  of  table  vases,  a  decorated 
banjo,  &c.  The  other  novelty  was  a  special  prize  to  be  voted  for  by  the 
visitors  to  the  show,  each  visitor  to  receive  one  vote.  This  proved  a 
great  attraction,  and  the  hour  for  the  result  to  be  known  was  waited  for 
with  great  interest  by  all  concerned.  It  was  eventually  awarded  to  the 
bridesmaid’s  staff,  but  it  was  closely  run  by  another  entry  in  the  same 
class,  and  a  very  charming  basket  of  Chrysanthemums.  —  C.  F.  W., 
Fairford. 
_  Grassendale  Show. — The  seventh  annual  exhibition  was 
opened  in  the  Grassendale  Parish  Room,  and  was  ahead  of  previous 
efforts.  The  Secretary  and  Committee  are  deserving  of  every  credit  for 
bringing  about  such  a  floral  treat.  There  was  an  increase  of  exhibits 
this  year  ;  they  numbered  140.  The  Staging  Committee  did  their  share 
of  the  work  in  a  capital  manner,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  record  an  excellent 
attendance  of  visitors.  The  principal  prizewinners  were  Messrs.  O.  H. 
Williams,  W.  J.  Davey,  R.  P.  Houston,  M.P.,  A.  L.  Jones,  E.  Pryor, 
W.  C.  Atkinson,  E.  Lawrence,  W.  B.  Bowring,  C.  Langton,  and  Mrs. 
Duncan,  their  contributions  being  of  the  highest  possible  standard  of 
merit.  Perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  feature  in  the  show  exhibiting  the 
highest  culture  was  a  splendidly  grown  Rose  of  Madame  Berard,  carrying 
fifty  open  blooms  and  the  same  number  of  buds.  This  was  staged  by 
the  Hon.  Secretary,  Mr.  Fawkes,  gardener  to  C.  Langton,  Esq.,  Aigburth, 
and  he  had  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  it.  A  large  share  of  work  was 
accomplished  in  a  cheerful  manner  by  Messrs.  W.  Blomily,  J.  Whitfield, 
A.  Bryers,  and  E.  Evans. 
_  Woolton  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement  Society.— 
Oq  Thursday  evening  the  Mechanics’  Institute  presented  an  unusually 
bright  appearance  on  the  occasion  of  the  closing  meeting  of  the  session, 
when,  as  for  many  years  past,  the  Committee  had  presented  to  the 
members  and  friends  a  rich  floral  treat,  combined  with  an  attractive 
musical  programme.  The  new  Secretary,  Mr.  R.  G.  Waterman,  has 
a'  ways  been  to  the  fore  in  such  work  ;  he  has  laboured  diligently 
to  make  the  Society’s  undertakings  a  great  success,  and  is  deserving  of 
the  highest  commendation.  To  one  and  all  the  meeting  proved  of  the 
greatest  interest,  the  charming  spring  flowers  being  greatly  admired  by 
the  large  number  of  visitors.  The  thanks  of  the  Committee  are  due  to 
the  following  gentlemen  for  their  kindness  in  sending  and  staging  such 
splendid  exhibits— viz.,  Mr.  Todd,  gardener  to  Holbrook  Gaskell,  Esq., 
Woolton  Wood;  Mr.  B.  Cromwell,  gardener  to  T.  S.  Timmis,  Esq., 
Cieveley  ;  Mr.  J.  Glover,  gardener  to  Col.  Walker,  Gateacre  Grange  ‘> 
Mr.  Jellicoe,  gardener  to  F.  H.  Gossage,  Esq.,  J.P.,  Woolton  ;  Mr. 
T.  Carling,  gardener  to  Mrs.  Cope,  Woolton  ;  Mr.  G.  Eaton,  gardener 
to  Col.  Shirley,  Allerton  ;  Mr.  J.  McColl,  gardener  to  T.  Hughes,  Esq. 
The  programme  of  music  was  most  successfully  rendered,  and  a  balance 
of  about  £3  will  be  handed  to  the  Victorian  Era  Fund.— R.  P.  R. 
