November  14, 1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
455 
Events  of  the  Week. — Once  again  we  have  to  refer  our  readers 
to  the  list  of  shows  given  on  page  459,  for  the  principal  events  of 
horticultural  interest  to  take  place  during  the  forthcoming  week. 
-  Weather  in  London. — Rain  has  fallen  on  each  day  since 
our  last  issue  went  to  press.  On  Thursday  and  Friday  rain  fell  during 
the  day,  but  not  in  the  evening  ;  while  though  Saturday  opened  damp 
and  dull,  it  cleared  off,  and  was  bright  and  fine  throughout  the 
remainder  of  the  day.  On  Sunday,  Monday,  and  Tuesday  heavy 
showers  prevailed,  and  on  the  latter  day  it  turned  decidedly  colder. 
On  Wednesday  the  sun  shone  brightly  and  the  air  was  cold. 
-  Weather  in  the  North. — In  striking  contrast  to  the  three 
weeks  preceding,  that  ending  the  12th  inst,  was  for  the  greater  part 
dull  and  wet.  Saturday  was  on  the  whole  fine  for  the  season,  but  the 
night  was  excessively  wet,  as  were  also  the  morning  and  evening  of 
Sunday.  Between  the  latter  and  Monday  morning  a  gale  from  the 
south-west  raged  for  several  hours.  Rain  fell  also  on  the  evening  of 
Monday,  and  a  dull  morning  on  Tuesday  with  a  low  and  falling 
barometer  promised  no  improvement. — B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire, 
- Royal  Meteorological  Society. — At  the  ordinary  meeting 
of  the  Society,  to  be  held  by  kind  permission  of  the  Council  of  the 
Institution  of  Civil  Engineers  at  25,  Great  George  Street,  Westminster, 
on  Wednesday,  the  20th  inst.,  at  7.30  P.M.,  the  following  papers  will  be 
read  : — “  On  the  origin  of  the  cold  weather  storms  of  the  year  1893  in 
India,  and  the  character  of  the  air  movement  on  the  Indian  seas  and 
the  equatorial  belt,  more  especially  during  the  south-west  monsoon 
period,”  by  John  Eliot,  M.A.,  F.R.S.,  F.R.Met.Soc.  ;  ‘‘The  Diurnal 
Variation  of  Wind  Velocity  at  Tokio,  Japan,”  by  Charles  Davison, 
M.A.,  F.G.S. 
- Liverpool  Horticultural  Association.— On  Wednesday 
evening  the  first  lecture  of  the  session  was  given  by  Mr.  R.  W.  Ker,  of 
the  Aigburth  Nursery,  in  the  Free  Library,  Liverpool,  his  subject  being 
“  Holland  and  the  Bulb  Growers.”  With  such  a  subject  Mr.  Ker  was 
thoroughly  happy,  his  periodical  visits  to  Holland  and  his  many 
appointments  at  various  times  to  adjudicate  at  the  great  exhibitions 
making  him  eminently  qualified  to  deal  with  it  in  almost  every  phase. 
The  writer  of  this  short  note  has  been  many  times  delighted  by  the 
accounts  of  Holland  when  privately  conversing  with  Mr.  Ker,  and  no 
less  so  was  the  large  audience  which  assembled  and  listened  with  such 
attention  to  the  lecturer’s  lucid  descriptions.  A  unanimous  vote  of 
thanks  was  passed  to  Mr.  Ker  in  conclusion. — R.  P.  R. 
-  Hardy  Fruit  at  Woodhatch,  Reigate.  —  The  fine  fruit 
room  here,  prominently  placed,  gives  exactly  the  ideal  appearance  so 
much  to  be  desired  in  many  gardens.  It  is  well  fitted  up  with  six  tiers 
of  shelves,  is  very  roomy,  and  has  a  table  in  the  centre  on  which  are 
always  laid  plates  and  knives  and  forks,  so  that  visitors  can  not  only 
enjoy  a  look  at  the  fine  fruit  but  may  taste  to  their  appetites’  content. 
Apples  and  Pears  are  here  well  grown,  and  as  admirably  displayed.  A 
bold  label  tacked  to  the  front  of  the  shelf  shows  the  name  of  each 
variety,  which  is  helpful  to  visitors'  who  do  not  want  to  ask  too  many 
questions.  Very  fine  kitchen  Apples  are  Gloria  Mundi,  Peasgood’s 
Nonesuch,  The  Queen  (here  going  soft  too  soon),  Lady  Henniker,  Stone’s 
Pippin  (one  of  the  very  best  for  cooking).  Lord  Derby,  Tower  of  Glamis, 
Golden  Noble  (very  fine),  Tibbet’s  Pearmain,  Bismarck,  M^re  de  Mdnage, 
Warner’s  King,  and  Lane’s  Prince  Albert ;  and,  of  dessert  varieties, 
Cox’s  Orange,  Ribston,  Blenheim,  and  King  of  Pippins  ;  Mabbott’s 
Pearmain  (beautiful  fruits),  Toker’s  Incomparable,  Rosemary,  and 
Brownlee’s  Russets  (both  fine  and  handsome),  the  Foil,  and  Court 
Pendu  Plat  were  all  first-rate  samples.  Pears,  too,  were  good,  but 
many  of  the  earliest  had  been  consumed.  Marie  Louise,  Josephine 
de  Malines,  Winter  Nelis,  Glou  Morceau,  Easter  Beurrd,  and  Beurr6 
Diel,  showed  that  some  good  keepers  were,  however,  in  store.  I 
noticed  that  half  a  dozen  of  the  neat  little  fruit  trays  so  recently 
certificated  were  here  employed,  and  are  very  highly  appreciated.  For 
those  who  have  no  regular  fruit  rooms  these  trays  seem  to  be  especially 
useful,  being  afterwards  available  for  seed  Potatoes. — D. 
-  Beckenham  Horticultural  Society. — On  Friday  evening 
Mr.  Edwin  Molyneux  delivered  a  lecture,  entitled  “  Salient  Points  in 
Chrysanthemum  Culture,”  before  the  members  of  the  Beckenham 
Horticultural  Society  in  the  Beckenham  Public  Hall.  Over  300  were 
present,  and  the  greatest  interest  was  shown  in  the  subject.  Some  fine 
exhibits  by  Messrs.  Cannell  &  Sons,  the  Bromley  Chrysanthemum 
Society,  and  a  large  number  of  private  growers  made  the  room  look  gay, 
and  rendered  the  subject  additionally  interesting. 
-  The  Worcestershire  Branch  of  the  Gardeners’ 
Royal  Benevolent  Institution.— The  inauguration  of  this  branch 
will  be  held  in  the  Guildhall,  Worcester,  on  Monday,  November  18th, 
at  3  P.M.,  Earl  Beauchamp  in  the  chair,  supported  by  several  infiuential 
gentlemen.  Messrs.  Veitch  and  Ingram  will  attend  and  address  the 
meeting.  It  is  sincerely  hoped  that  all  gardeners  of  the  county  and 
patrons  of  horticulture  will  attend  and  show  practical  sympathy  with 
the  movement. 
- Finger  and  Toe. — The  connection  of  an  attack  of  “  finger  and 
toe  ”  in  Turnips,  &c.,  with  a  previous  impoverishment  of  the  soil  in  lime,  is 
well  shown  by  two  soil  analyses  just  completed  at  the  South-Eastern 
Agricultural  College,  Wye  (County  Councils  of  Kent  and  Surrey).  One 
portion  of  a  16-acre  field  in  the  south  of  Kent  was  badly  affected  by 
“  finger  and  toe,”  the  rest  being  only  slightly  attacked.  Samples  of  the 
soil  taken  from  that  part  of  the  field  where  the  disease  was  prevalent 
showed  on  analysis  only  13  per  cent,  of  available  lime  ;  while  the  soil 
from  the  rest  of  the  field  contained  43  per  cent.  Wherever  “  finger  and 
toe”  (anbury  or  club  root)  shows  itself  the  land  probably  wants  a 
dressing  of  chalk  or  lime. 
-  The  Celery  Grub. — I  have  recently  noticed  that  the  supply 
of  Celery  brought  into  the  Birmingham  market  has  been  particularly  free 
of  blistered  leaves  caused  by  the  larvae  of  the  Celery  fly  (Tephritis 
onopordinis).  The  major  portion  of  the  best  Celery  supplied  to  this 
market  comes  from  the  Tamworth  district,  and  the  opinion  of  one  of  the 
best  growers  as  to  this  immunity  from  the  grub  was  due  to  the  absence 
of  fruit  trees  in  the  fields  where  the  Celery  is  grown,  and  that  under 
such  conditions  the  crop  is  rarely  affected  hy  the  fly.  The  opinion 
prevails  that  the  fly  will  leave  the  fruit  trees  in  favour  of  the  Celery. 
There  would  appear  to  be  a  modicum  of  truth  in  this  assumption  if 
judged  by  more  than  one  crop  of  Celery  I  have  seen  this  season  in 
gardens  where  Apple,  Pear,  and  other  fruit  trees  are  grown,  inasmuch  as 
the  plants  were  in  some  instances  badly  affected.  Perhaps  some  ento¬ 
mologist  may  be  able  to  afford  a  more  decided  elucidation  of  the 
matter  ? — W.  G. 
-  Sports  in  London  Parks. — The  cost  of  maintaining  the 
games  spaces  in  the  parks  and  open  spaces  of  London  has  been 
occupying  the  attention  of  the  London  County  Council,  but  the 
following  resolution,  moved  by  Mr.  Beachcroft  at  the  last  Council 
meeting,  was  rejected,  and  consequently  cricket,  football,  may  be 
still  indulged  in  free  of  cost  :  “  That  it  be  referred  to  the  Parks  and 
Open  Spaces  Committee  to  consider  and  report  whether,  having  regard 
to  the  large  cost  incurred  in  maintaining  those  portions  of  the  Council’s 
open  spaces  which  are  devoted  to  games  and  exercises,  the  increasing 
demand  for  such  provision,  and  the  fact  that,  at  the  best,  but  a 
limited  number  of  those  requiring  the  privilege  can  be  accommodated, 
it  is  not  reasonable  that  some  charge  should  be  made  for  the  use  of 
the  portions  set  apart  for  these  purposes,  and  that  Parliamentary  power 
should  accordingly  be  sought  enabling  the  Council,  where  it  thinks  fit, 
to  make  charges.” 
-  Stem  Potato  Tubers. — Most  interesting  were  the  illustra¬ 
tions  of  these  abnormal  tuber  growths,  shown  by  Mr.  Sutton  the  other 
day  at  the  Drill  Hall.  I  have  often  found  similar  products  where  stems 
have  been  severely  whipped  by  the  wind,  and  thus  broken  the  bark  at  the 
ground  line,  also  where  the  bark  below  the  surface  has  been  eaten  by 
grubs  or  wire  worms.  The  chief  interest,  however,  which  attaches  to 
these  illustrations  of  abnormal  Potato  production  is  found  in  the 
evidence  afforded  of  the  action  of  the  sap  in  plants  in  creating  tubers 
only  after  it  has  been  aerated  in  the  leafage,  where  it  receives  oxygen, 
then  passing  down  the  bark  or  epidermis,  both  builds  up  or  increases 
stem  growth  and  finally  ground  tubers.  Then  it  is  obvious  to  do  that 
certain  of  this  sap  is  capable  of  producing  tubers  and  nothing  more,  and 
being  prevented  by  the  fractures  in  the  bark  below  from  passing  into 
the  roots  perforce  creates  aeriali  or  stem  tubers.  We  see,  too,  in  this 
matter  the  important  part  healthy  leafage  plays  in  sound  tuber  produc- 
tior.— d,  D. 
