September  12,  1895. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
249 
Weather  in  London.  —  Up  to  the  early  hours  of  Saturday 
morning  the  weather  was  hot  and  oppressive,  when  a  terrific  thunder¬ 
storm  burst  over  London,  visiting  all  districts.  The  lightning  flashes 
were  intensely  vivid,  and  illuminated  the  whole  sky.  Continual  peals 
of  thunder  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succession,  and  at  last  appeared 
to  culminate  in  one  huge  clap,  which  in  some  parts  appeared  to  shake 
the  houses.  Rain  and  hail  fell  in  sheets,  and  for  a  considerable  time 
the  storm  raged  furiously.  Much  damage  was  done  to  crops  in  suburban 
districts,  houses  were  flooded,  trains  blocked,  and  great  inconvenience 
thus  caused  to  city  travellers.  Many  houses  were  damaged  by  flooding, 
and  several  were  struck  by  lightning.  The  atmosphere  since  has 
continued  oppressive,  and  on  Tuesday  night  rain  again  fell  heavily. 
Wednesday  was  cooler. 
-  The  Barron  Testimonial  Fund. — A  meeting  of  the  General 
Committee  of  the  above  fund  was  held  at  the  Hotel  Windsor  on  Tuesday 
afternoon,  when  there  were  present  Dr.  Masters  (Chairman),  and  Messrs. 
J.  H.  Veitch,  P.  Veitch,  H.  Turner,  P.  Barr,  G.  Gordon,  R.  Dean, 
J..  Laing,  H.  B.  May,  W.  Y.  Baker,  H.  Herbst,  A.  W,  G.  Weeks,  G.  W. 
Cummins,  J.  Cheal,  Ranger  Johnson,  and  the  Hon.  Secretaries,  Messrs. 
W.  Marshall  and  B.  Wynne.  Mr.  H.  J.  Veitch  wrote  accepting  the  post 
of  treasurer  to  the  fund.  Several  letters  were  read  from  gentlemen 
willing  to  serve  on  the  Committee,  and  promising  support.  It  was 
resolved  to  publish  the  list  of  subscribers.  The  amount  already  promised 
is  £116  15s.  A  sub-committee  was  appointed  to  arrange  details. 
-  Potatoes  at  Chiswick. — About  seventy  varieties  of  Pota¬ 
toes  in  the  Chiswick  trials  were  examined  on  Thursday  last.  The  tubers 
of  many  were  malformed,  but  there  was  little  disease.  For  good 
cropping,  shape,  and  quality  three  marks  were  accorded  for  the  follow¬ 
ing  : — Syoti  House  Prolific  (Wythes’),  flattish  white  round  ;  CoolierilVs 
Seedling , 'KhiiQ  round,  prolific;  Birmingham,"  flattish  round;  and 
Pride  of  Tonbridge  (Webber),  raised  by  Mr.  Bridges,  a  round  or  oval 
variety  and  great  cropper, 
-  Spring-sown  Cabbages  at  Chiswick. — The  collection  of 
these  is  large,  the  seed  of  all  having  been  sown  on  May  19th.  Ellam’s 
Early  is  not  good  for  spring  sowing.  Early  Nonpareil  is  one  of  the 
best,  and  this  with  Early  Etampes  received  marks  of  merit  on  a  former 
occasion.  Last  week  three  marks  were  accorded  for  Early  Yorh  (Barr) 
true  type  ;  Sutton's  Little  fresh  and  green,  the  best  of  the  "  Pixie  ” 
type  ;  St.  John's  Bay,  round,  green,  and  very  crisp  ;  Winnigstadt,  very 
green,  conical,  late,  excellent  for  dry  soils  ;  and  Leeds  Market,  a  variety 
of  the  Oxheart,  and  good  for  the  purpose  suggested.  The  hardy 
Christmas  Drumhead  required  more  time  for  development. 
-  Parsley. — I  have  seen  of  late  three  apparently  distinct  and 
all  excellent  varieties  of  Parsley,  yet  neither  of  them  was  the  true  old 
Treble  Curled  or  the  pretty  Moss  Curled.  The  first  was  a  dwarf, 
compact,  rich  green  variety,  growing  at  Maiden  Erleigh,  Reading. 
Mr.  Turton  sows  this  specially  in  June  to  have  a  bed  of  it  to  cover 
over  with  a  large  frame  for  winter  use.  This  was  Sutton’s  Dwarf 
Perfection.  At  Hackwood  Park  Mr.  Bowerman  has  two  fine  beds  of 
Veitch’s  Improved  Curled,  a  stronger  growing  rich  green  variety  ;  and 
in  pots  at  the  Royal  Aquarium,  Westminster,  were  some  splendid  dense 
plants  of  Dobbie’s  Select  Curled.  I  think  in  all  decorative  Parsleys 
deep  colour  allied  to  pleasing  curl  and  compact  habit  is  desirable. — D. 
-  Bristol  Amateur  Horticultural  Society.— On  Satur¬ 
day  last  the  members  of  this  Society,  accompanied  by  their  President, 
Mr.  J.  Walls,  F.R.H.S.,  and  party  were  enabled,  by  the  courtesy  of  Sir 
Greville  Smyth,  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  grounds  and  gardens  of  Ashton 
Court.  The  afternoon  was  greatly  enjoyed  by  all  present,  the  deer  park, 
conservatories,  winter  garden,  grotto,  aviary,  and  kitchen  gardens  all 
being  carefully  gone  through,  and  the  many  points  of  interest  explained 
by  Mr.  Noble,  the  head  gardener.  The  fancy  beds  on  the  extensive  lawn 
were  worthy  of  special  attention,  showing  as  they  did  the  greatest  taste 
in  the  selection  and  b'ending  of  the  many  tints  and  hues.  Most  of  the 
party  were  enthusiastic  amateurs,  and  their  warmest  thanks  were 
tendered  to  Mr.  Noble  for  his  kind  and  painstaking  instructions. 
-  The  fruit  season  in  Cheshire  is  the  best  of  recent  yeais, 
and  the  supply  of  all  descriptions,  except  good  Pears,  Green  Gages,  and 
Plums,  exceeds  the  demand. 
-  The  Royal  Parks  of  London,  as  well  as  the  parks,  gardens, 
and  open  spaces  under  the  control  of  the  London  County  Council,  will 
be  again  supplied  with  bulbs  by  the  well-known  firm  of  Messrs.  James 
Carter  &  Co.,  High  Holborn,  London,  W.C. 
-  The  State  of  New  York  has  voted  16,000  dollars  for  the 
purpose  of  investigating  plant  diseases.  This  sum  has  been  placed  in 
the  hands  of  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey,  the  well  known  investigator  of 
Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.Y. 
-  Hereford  Fruit  Market.— About  600  lots  of  fruit,  com¬ 
prising  Apples  and  a  few  hampers  of  Pears  and  Plums,  were  recently 
sent  to  the  Hereford  Fruit  Market  for  the  first  sale  of  the  season.  Some 
of  the  fruit  was  really  prime,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  other  lots  were 
exceedingly  poor.  Nearly  every  lot  was  sold,  but  prices  ruled  some¬ 
what  low. 
-  Royal  Botanic  Society.  —  There  is  now  growing  in  the 
Victoria  tank  of  the  above  Society  in  the  gardens  in  the  Regent’s  Park, 
one  of  the  finest  plants  of  the  Royal  Water  Lily  ever  before  seen  in 
London.  The  surface  covered  by  the  plant  is  over  400  square  feet. 
There  are  ten  gigantic  leaves,  each  measuring  more  than  7  feet  in 
diameter,  while  several  of  the  beautiful  flowers  open  almost  at  the  same 
time. 
-  Australian  Lemons. — A  Covent  Garden  sale  of  Lemons,  just 
received  from  Australia,  has  attracted  attention  to  the  capabilities 
of  the  irrigation  colonies  of  Mildura  and  Renmark  as  Lemon  growing 
districts.  Five  hundred  cases  were  disposed  of  at  prices  ranging  from 
9s.  6d.  to  14s.  6d.  per  case.  The  variety  has  a  thin  smooth  skin  of  pure 
pale  colour,  a  very  juicy  pulp  with  but  few  pips,  weighs  heavily,  and  is 
of  full  average  size. 
-  Mr.  Akers-Douglas,  the  First  Commissioner  of  Works, 
intends,  during  the  coming  autumn,  to  consider  how  far  the  terrace  of 
the  House  of  Commons  may  be  beautified,  without  being  rendered  too 
attractive,  by  an  arrangement  of  shrubs  and  other  plants,  as  was 
projected  by  his  predecessor  in  office.  The  right  hon.  gentleman  has 
already  had  the  stone  vases  removed,  two  of  which  had  been  blown 
down  and  cracked. 
- In  the  interior  of  Florida  the  best  Pine  Apples  are  grown  under 
a  cover  consisting  of  narrow  strips  of  board  set  a  few  inches  apart  on 
stringers,  and  high  enough  to  allow  a  man  to  walk  under  it.  This 
structure  is  weather-boarded  on  the  north  and  west  sides  to  protect  the 
plants  from  cold  winds,  and  the  cover  excludes  some  of  the  hot  sun¬ 
shine  in  summer.  Under  this  shading  the  flowering  can  be  controlled  to 
some  extent,  and  Pine  Apples  can  be  made  to  ripen  nearly  every  month 
in  the  year.  They  are  said  to  be  much  larger  and  to  have  a  better 
flavour  than  those  grown  in  the  open  ground. 
-  The  “  Botanical  Magazine  ”  for  September  includes  the 
following  subjects  :  —  Helianthus  debilis  (Compositse).  This  is  a 
notice  of  the  littoral  of  the  Southern  States  of  America,  and  is  one  of 
the  annual  species  of  Helianthus  which  all  have  a  tendency  to  run  into 
each  other.  The  plant  is  hispidulous,  the  stem  speckled  with  white,  and 
the  flower  heads  between  2  and  3  inches  broad,  those  of  the  ray  being 
bright  yellow,  and  those  of  the  disk  a  maroon  brown.  Rumex  hyme- 
nosepalus  (Polygonacem)  is  a  native  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  The 
roots  of  this  plant  have  for  200  years  been  used  by  the  Mexicans  for  the 
purposes  of  dyeing,  and  they  are  now  being  made  the  subject  of  experi¬ 
ment  by  the  United  States  Government.  The  roots  are  dark  red,  and  grow 
in  clusters.  The  bisexual  flowers  are  green,  touched  with  crimson,  and 
are  arranged  in  panicles  of  from  3  to  5  inches  in  length,  Cleyera 
Fortune!  (Ternstroemiacem),  a  native  of  Japan,  is  a  branching  shrub, 
with  brown  branches  and  long  elliptical  leaves,  bright  green  in  the 
centre,  but  turning  to  golden  jellow  towards  the  margin,  and  edged 
with  scarlet.  The  pale  yellow  flowers  are  small,  and  fascicled  in  the 
axils  of  the  leaves.  Atraphaxis  Muschketowi  (Polygonacere),  a  native 
of  Central  Asia,  is  a  dwarf  shrub,  with  brown  branches  and  small 
leaves,  the  white  flowers  being  arranged  in  terminal  whorls.  Richardia 
Rehmanni  (Aroidem)  is  a  native  of  Natal.  This  has  very  much  the 
appearance  of  the  ordinary  Arum,  only  the  leaves  are  covered  with 
greenish  white  blotches,  and  the  white  spathe  takes  a  pink  flush  towards 
the  edges.  Mr.  Adlam,  who  sent  the  plant  from  Natal,  states  that  when 
he  gathered  it  in  situ  on  granite  rocks  it  was  as  red  as  a  Hom^re  Rose, 
but  thi-t  since  being  transplanted  it  has  turned  almost  white. 
