414 
October  31,  IfcSa. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Events  op  the  Week.  —  Several  Chrysanthemum  shows  are 
announced  for  the  coming  week,  and  a  list  of  the  chief  of  them  will 
be  found  on  page  416, 
-  Weather  in  London, — Sharp  frosts  have  visited  the 
metropolis  on  several  nights  during  the  past  week,  while  fogs  in  the 
evenings  and  mornings  have  been  constant  though  not  very  thick.  On 
Monday  afternoon  the  weather  changed,  as  in  the  evening  and  night 
some  rain  fell.  Tuesday,  however,  was  dull  and  cold.  During  the  night 
there  was  a  frost,  and  at  the  time  of  going  to  press  on  Wednesday 
the  air  was  sharp  and  clear. 
-  Weather  in  the  North. — Bright  days  with  continuous 
frost,  averaging  between  5°  and  6°,  marked  the  week  ending  the  29th,  9° 
being  registered  on  Monday  morning.  Frost  of  greater  severity  is 
reported  from  various  parts  of  the  country.  Between  Friday  night  and 
Saturday  morning  snow  fell  in  most  districts,  about  an  inch  in  this 
locality.  This  mostly  disappeared  during  an  hour  or  two  on  Sunday 
afternoon,  but  frost  soon  returned,  and  seems  like  continuing. — B.  D. 
S.  Perthshire, 
- United  Horticultural  Benefit  and  Provident  Society. 
— Since  giving  our  report  of  the  annual  dinner  of  the  above  Society  we 
have  been  requested  to  state  that  Messrs.  A.  F.  Barron,  Chiswick,  and 
Geo.  Monro,  Covent  Garden,  have  each  contributed  one  guinea  in 
addition  to  the  amount  published  in  our  last  issue. 
-  Prize  Essay  Presentation.— At  the  meeting  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society’s  Committees  at  the  Drill  Hall,  Westminster,  on 
Tuesday  last,  the  prizes  offered  by  the  above  Society  for  the  essay  on 
the  Commercial  Aspect  of  Hardy  Fruit  Growing  in  Great  Britain  were 
presented  to  the  two  successful  competitors,  Messrs.  Lewis  Castle  and 
S.  T.  Wright,  together  with  the  silver  medals  given  by  Dr.  Hogg.  In 
the  unavoidable  absence  of  the  President  of  the  Society,  Sir  Trevor 
Lawrence,  Bart.,  the  presentations  were  made  by  Sir  Alexander 
Arbuthnot,  Bart.  Mr.  Lewis  Castle  being  absent,  the  Rev.  W.  Wilks 
received  the  medal  and  cheque  on  his  behalf,  and  when  handing  the 
prize  to  Mr.  Wright  Sir  Alexander  said  it  gave  him  great  pleasure  to 
present  it,  and  stated  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Society  to  give  one 
prize  of  £10,  but  so  good  were  the  essays  of  the  two  successful 
competitors  that  it  was  found  impossible  to  judge  between  them.  The 
Society  therefore  decided  to  raise  the  prize  to  £15  and  divide  it  equally. 
Dr.  Hogg  had  also  come  forward  and  added  to  the  prize  money  in  both 
cases  a  large  silver  medal,  which  he  (Sir  Alexander)  thought  would  be 
even  of  more  durable  value  to  the  recipients  than  the  money.  Mr.  Wright, 
in  acknowledgment,  briefly  thanked  both  the  Society  and  Dr.  Hogg  for 
the  prize  and  medal,  adding  that  he  hoped  the  essay  would  be  of  assist¬ 
ance  in  furthering  the  interests  of  fruit  growing  in  this  country. 
-  Decorative  Plants  in  Small  Pots.— The  culture  of  these 
was  dealt  with  in  a  paper  by  Mr.  J.  Hudson,  read  at  the  October  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Brighton  and  Sussex  Horticultural  Society.  The  writer 
referred  to  the  common  fault  on  the  part  of  the  cultivator  in  the  use  of 
too  large  pots.  A  relatively  small  pot  served  to  check  the  injury  likely 
to  arise  from  overwatering.  A  change  in  the  size  should  be  made  only 
to  the  next  number,  and  good  peat  soil  must  be  used,  which  should 
be  firmly  pressed.  The  chief  endeavour  ought  to  be  to  obtain  a  sturdy 
growth  from  the  first.  It  would  be  a  mistake  with  Palms,  for  instance^ 
to  suppose  that  they  would  grow  more  rapidly  in  large  pots  ;  indeed, 
even  when  root-bound,  they  would  grow  better  thari  if  overpotted. 
Overcrowding  also  should  be  carefully  avoided.  If  Palms  were  over¬ 
crowded  the  result  would  be  seen  in  the  attenuated  leaves  and  the  weak 
leafstalks,  and  they  would  speedily  lose  their  freshness  when  placed  in 
the  dwelling  house.  Overfeeding  was  as  micchievous  to  plant  life  as  in 
the  animal  world,  A  reduction  in  the  temperature  also  should  be 
followed  by  a  reduction  in  the  supply  of  water,  and,  as  any  check  inter¬ 
fered  with  the  absorption  of  water,  overpoiting  must  result  in  a  chill 
to  the  roots.  Another  common  mistake  was  the  attempt  to  grow  too 
many  plants,  the  result  being  often  that  all  proved  indifferent,  whereas 
a  few  really  well-growing  specimens  might  have  been  grown  with  less 
trouble.  ... 
-  Weather  at  Shoreham,  Sussex. — “G.  H.”  writes  .A 
sudden  change  occurred  here  on  the  23rd  inst.  Between  5  and  7  a.m.. 
on  that  date  the  thermometer  fell  from  39°  down  to  20°,  or  12°  of  frost, 
and  as  it  had  been  raining  during  the  night  the  effects  of  the  frost  cam 
be  better  imagined  than  described,” 
-  Frost. — On  the  morning  of  the  27th  the  water,  both  in  front 
and  behind  Uckfield  Mill,  was  frozen  over.  This  has  not  previously 
occurred  in  October  during  the  past  forty-*i.x  years.  All  outdoor 
flowers  and  autumnal  beauty  have  suddenly  disappeared,  and  I  fear 
many  were  caught  napping  with  half-hardy  plants. — A,  P. 
-  October  Frosts  in  Bedfordshire  — We  have  had  several 
unusual  frosts  for  October  within  the  past  few  days.  On  October  24th 
the  lowest  temperature  registered  was  15°  Fahr. ;  on  October  25tb,  17° 
October  26th,  14°  ;  and  October  28th,  10°.  The  last  named  reading 
popularly  rendered  as  22°  of  frost  is  extremely  keen  even  for  a  low 
situation  on  cold  soil. — Observer. 
-  Weather  in  South  Wales. — There  has  been  a  great  change 
in  the  weather  here  during  the  past  week.  On  the  night  of  the  21st  a 
very  strong  gale  was  blowing,  with  heavy  rain,  and  at  daylight  the 
following  morning  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow,  which  continued 
to  fall  until  11.30  A.M,  We  have  had  rain  and  snow  every  day  since, 
with  very  sharp  frosts  on  each  night.  The  snow  that  was  in  the  gauge 
on  the  morning  of  the  27ch,  when  thawed,  registered  0'06  ;  the  total 
amount  of  rain  and  snow  for  the  above  dates,  inclusive,  being  I’Ol  inch.. 
— W.  Mabbott,  Owernllwyn  House,  JDowlais. 
-  Frost  in  the  Isle  of  Wight. — The  glorious  weather 
experienced  here  up  to  the  present  week,  together  with  the  brilliant 
appearance  of  the  flower  borders,  almost  led  one  to  think  that  the 
summer  months  were  still  with  us;  but,  alas  I  all  is  changed.  On  the 
23rd  inst.  rain  fell  heavily  all  day,  we  registered  0’55  inch  ;  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  24th  we  awoke  to  find  that  “Jack  Frost”  had  paid  us^ 
his  first  visit,  to  the  extent  of  7°,  silently  sending  to  rest  his  many 
victims,  some  never  to  wake  again. — W.  H.  Y.,  Foreman  Royal  Gardens, 
Osborne, 
-  Euphorbia  splendens  and  Camellias.  —  Amongst  the 
most  notable  objects  connected  with  the  old  established  nurseries  of 
Mr.  John  Stevens  (an  old  Chiswick  man,  and  a  thirty-years  patron  of 
the  Journal  of  Horticulture'),  at  Coventry,  is  a  long  row,  about  50  feet, 
of  Euphorbia  splendens,  planted  out  against  the  back  wall  of  one  of 
the  plant  houses,  and  where  they  have  for  many  years  past  afforded  a 
plentiful  supply  of  flowers  for  the  large  trade  which  is  there  done  in 
bouquets  and  other  floral  decorations.  The  plants  were  not  trained  to 
the  wall,  but  allowed  to  grow  bush-like,  and  must  present  a  striking 
effect  when  in  full  bloom.  In  another  long  range  of  glass  are  fine  old 
specimens  of  the  white  flowered  varieties  of  Camellias  studded  with 
thousands  of  swelling  buds  on  the  eve  of  expansion ;  two  or  three  of 
these  veterans  measure  each  about  12  feet  high  and  the  same  in  diameter^ 
They  are  planted  out  in  square  built  pits,  and  wooden  stages  or  platforms 
are  erected  around  a  few  of  them  for  gathering  the  blooms. 
-  A  Variegated  Decorative  Pelargonium.— In  the  way  of 
novelties  Mr.  Stevens’  son  showed  me  a  new  seedling  Pelargonium 
which  he  had  raised  from  a  double-petalled  pink-coloured  variety.  The 
variegation  of  the  foliage  is  pure  white  and  green,  handsome  and  of 
good  substance.  The  small  truss  of  bright  red  double  flowers,  though 
small  in  truss  and  pip,  which  latter  feature  Mr.  Stevens  hopes  will 
eventually  be  improved,  afforded  a  pleasing  contrast  together.  Another 
seedling,  with  equally  beautiful  silvery  foliage  and  an  orange-scarlet 
coloured  double  flower,  and  larger  in  petal  than  the  former,  Mr.  Stevens 
intends  to  “  take  care  of.” 
-  PiTMASTON  Duchess  Pear, — An  interesting  event  in  con¬ 
nection  with  Mr.  Stevens’  horticultural  career  is  the  fact  that  he  assisted 
in  the  distribution  of  the  grafts  of  the  Pitmaston  Duchess  Pear  when  he- 
was  gardener  to  the  late  John  Williams,  Esq.,  of  Malvern  Hall,  Knowle, 
North  Warwickshire,  the  son  of  the  raiser  of  this  noble  looking  Pear  at 
Pitmaston,  A  large  number  of  grafts  were  sent  at  the  same  time  to  the 
Horticultural  Society’s  Garden  at  Chiswick.  Mr,  Stevens  relates  a 
rather  amusing  story  anent  a  commercial  transaction  of  this  Pear,  to  the 
effect  that  the  representative  of  one  of  the  largest  nurseries  m  the 
kingdom  noticed  shortly  after  the  distribution  of  the  Pear  a  good  stock 
of  young  trees  of  it  in  a  nursery  near  Birmingham,  and  he  was  so  much 
impressed  with  the  character  of  the  fruit  that  he  at  once  purcha»ed  ihe 
whole  of  them,  but  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  already  there  was  a 
larger  stock  of  it  at  home.  Aa  a  result  he  was  richly  bantered  for  the 
unconscious  transaction. — W.  G. 
