December  26,  1895. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
597 
Weathee  in  London. — Though  not  being  what  is  usually  termed 
seasonable  Christmas  weather,  there  is  little  to  complain  of,  as  the 
dry  healthy  atmosphere  which  has  chiefly  prevailed  during  the  past 
four  days  continues  at  the  time  of  going  to  press,  facilitating  greatly 
the  increased  business  of  Christmas  time,  and  also  making  it  pleasant 
for  holiday  seekers.  On  several  mornings  the  thermometer  has  fallen 
below  freezing  point,  with  slight  fog,  the  latter,  however,  clearing  as 
the  days  have  advanced. 
-  The  Royal  Hoeticdltueal  Society.— The  meetings  for 
1896  have  been  arranged  to  take  place  as  follows  ; — At  the  Drill  Hall, 
Westminster,  on  January  14th,  February  11th,  March  10th  and  24th, 
April  7th  and  2l8t,  May  5th,  June  9th  and  23rd,  July  14th  and  28th, 
August  11th  and  25th,  September  8th,  October  13th  and  27th,  November 
10th  and  24th,  and  December  15ch.  The  annual  general  meeting  will 
be  held  at  the  Society’s  offices,  117,  Victoria  Street,  S  W.,  in  the  afternoon 
of  February  11th.  The  Temple  Show  will  take  place  on  May  19th,  20th, 
and  2l8t.  A  great  exhibition  of  British-grown  fruit  will  be  held  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  on  October  Ist,  2nd,  and  3rd. 
-  Veitch  Memokial  Medals  and  Prizes. — At  a  meeting  of 
the  Trustees  held  on  the  20th  inst.  it  was  resolved  to  present  the  Veitch 
silver  medal  to  the  following  gentlemen  in  recognition  of  their  eminent 
services  to  scientific  horticulture,  forestry,  and  arboriculture — viz., 
Mons.  Henry  Vilmorin  of  Paris ;  Professor  Sargent,  Director  of  the 
Arnold  Arboretum,  Boston,  tJ.S.A.  j  Mr.  F.  W.  Burbidge,  M.A.,  Curator 
of  Trinity  College  Botanic  Gardens,  Dublin,  and  Mr.  Malcolm  Dunn 
of  the  Palace  Gardens,  Dalkeith.  It  was  also  resolved  to  place  at  the 
disposal  of  the  National  Rose  Society  two  medals  and  two  prizes  of  £5 
each,  one  to  be  competed  for  at  the  metropolitan  show  held  at  the 
Crystal  Palace,  and  the  other  at  the  northern  show  to  be  held  at 
Dlverston  ;  also  two  medals  and  two  prizes  of  £5  each  at  the  disposal 
of  the  National  Chrysanthemum  Society,  to  be  competed  for  at  the 
Jubilee  exhibition  of  the  Society,  and  one  medal  and  one  prize  of  £5  to 
each  of  the  following  provincial  horticultural  societies — Ulster,  Dundee, 
and  Derbyshire. 
-  Chester  Paxton  Society. — The  annual  general  meeting  of 
this  Society  was  held  in  the  Grosvenor  Museum  on  Saturday,  under  the 
presidency  of  Mr.  Thomas  Weaver,  Christleton  Hall  Gardens.  The 
Honorary  Secretary  and  Treasurer  (Mr.  G.  P.  Miln)  submitted  his  report, 
which  was  of  a  very  satisfactory  nature,  a  substantial  balance  being 
carried  forward  to  next  year’s  account.  He  also  pointed  out  that  the 
membership  had  increased  considerably  of  late,  the  roll  at  present 
showing  that  105  members  (the  majority  being  practical  gardeners)  had 
paid  their  subscriptions  for  the  past  year.  After  this  the  Chairman 
expressed  a  wish  to  retire  from  the  presidency,  which  he  had  held  for 
the  customary  term  of  three  years.  This  was  accepted  with  regret,  and 
Mr.  Weaver  was  warmly  thanked  for  the  able  manner  in  which  he  had 
discharged  the  duties  allotted  to  him  during  his  term  of  office.  Mr. 
Nicholas  F.  Barnes,  Eaton  Gardens,  was  afterwards  unanimously  elected 
President,  Mr.  Miln  promising  to  undertake  the  duties  of  Secretary 
and  Treasurer  for  another  year. 
-  Fruit  Culture  in  England. — The  charges  of  middlemen  and 
“  commission  agents  ”  are  in  general  so  excessive  that  the  cultivation  of 
fruit  in  England  frequently  does  not  pay,  especially  in  a  prolific  season 
such  as  that  of  the  present  year.  In  foreign  countries  large  quantities  of 
fruit  are  dried  and  preserved  either  by  solar  or  artificial  heat.  Plums 
and  Prunes  are  dried  on  the  Continent  by  the  sun  and  by  artificial  heat. 
In  the  United  States  vast  quantities  are  dried,  or  dessicated,  by  means 
of  stoves,  and  in  sunny  California  by  the  sun  and  by  evaporating 
machines,  not  only  in  seasons  of  abundant  crops,  but  as  a  regular  part  of 
the  fruit-grower’s  business.  Apples,  also,  are  dried  in  various  forms  upon 
stoves  and  evaporators  in  many  other  parts  of  America.  Hitherto  little 
or  nothing  has  been  done  in  this  direction  in  Great  Britain.  There  is  a 
growing  importation  of  dried  fruit  from  other  countries.  An  effort 
should  be  made  by  British  fruit  growers,  says  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
to  obtain  part  of  this  trade  for  themselves. 
-  Wolverhampton  Auxiliary  of  the  Gardeners’  Royal 
Benevolent  Institution. — At  the  meeting  of  this  Society  Mr.  G.  A. 
Bishop,  the  Chairman,  handed  in  his  list  of  subscriptions,  which 
amounted  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  to  the  sum  of  £70,  including 
twenty-six  annual  subscribers  of  a  guinea. 
-  WooLTON  Gardeners’  Improvement  Society. — On  Thurs¬ 
day  evening  the  first  part  of  the  session  was  brought  to  a  close  by 
Mr.  Geo.  Haigh,  gardener  to  W.  H.  Tate,  Esq.,  Highfield,  Woolton,  read¬ 
ing  a  concise  and  admirable  paper  on  the  “  Cultivation  of  the  Chrys¬ 
anthemum.”  A  discussion  followed,  the  decided  opinion  of  everyone 
present  being  that  it  was  one  of  the  best  papers  ever  read  before  the 
Society.  The  usual  votes  closed  the  proceedings. 
-  Botanical  Department  of  the  British  Museum. — The 
Report  of  the  Department  of  Botany  at  the  British  Museum  for  1894,  by 
Mr.  W.  Carruthers,  shows  that  many  interesting  additions  were  made  to 
the  Herbarium  during  the  year,  one  of  the  most  important  being  the 
collection  of  fresh-water  Algre  made  by  the  late  Dr.  A.  H.  Hassall,  which 
includes  a  number  of  type  specimens.  Collections  of  flowering  and 
flowerless  plants  have  also  been  obtained,  by  donation,  exchange,  or 
purchase,  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  especially  from  British  India  and 
from  our  other  colonies. 
-  The  Sutton  Coldfield  Branch  of  the  Birmingham 
AND  Midland  Counties  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement 
Association. — At  a  meeting  of  the  members  and  friends  of  this 
Society  at  the  Town  Hall,  Sutton  Coldfield,  Mr.  S.  T.  Wright  read  an 
essay  on  “  The  Commercial  Aspects  of  Fruit  Culture.”  Dr.  Evans,  the 
President  of  the  Association,  occupied  the  chair.  The  essay  proved  to  be 
the  same  with  which  Mr.  Wright  gained  the  silver  medal  in  the  recent 
Fruit  Essay  competition.  It  is  needless  to  remark  that  the  essayist  was 
listened  to  with  marked  attention,  and  that  he  also  suitably  replied  to 
the  various  questions  put  by  members  interested  in  fruit  culture. 
-  The  Hessle  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement  Society. 
— At  a  meeting  of  the  above  Society,  held  in  the  Parish  Schoolroom, 
December  17th,  a  paper  was  read  by  Mr.  G.  C.  Coates,  gardener  to 
W.  Wheateley,  Esq.,  Hull,  on  “Chrysanthemums.”  The  essayist  in 
commencing  remarked  on  the  great  advantage  the  southern  growers 
have  over  ourselves  in  Chrysanthemum  culture,  the  climate  being  so 
much  more  suitable  for  perfect  growth.  He  advises  taking  cuttings 
early,  and  considers  that  the  timing  of  the  bud  has  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  success.  Mr.  Coates  does  not  agree  with  excessive  feeding.  For 
final  potting  he  uses  only  fresh  loam  and  builder’s  sand,  with  pots  of  a 
good  size,  feeding  slightly  after  the  buds  are  set.  Housing  is  done  at 
the  end  of  September,  shading  if  necessary,  and  ventilating  freely, 
especially  at  the  bottom. — F.  L.  T. 
-  Royal  Meteorological  Society. — The  monthly  meeting 
of  this  Society  was  held  on  Wednesday  evening,  the  18th  inst.,  Mr.  R. 
Inwards,  F.R.A.S.,  President,  in  the  chair.  Mr.  R.  H.  Scott,  F.R.S., 
read  a  paper  ‘  On  some  of  the  differences  between  Fogs,  as  related  to  the 
weather  systems  which  accompany  them.”  In  this  it  was  shown  that 
there  are  at  least  two  distinct  classes  of  phenomena  described  under  the 
generic  name  of  “  fog.”  In  the  case  of  anticyclonic  fogs  no  rainfall 
takes  place,  the  temperature  is  low  in  the  morning,  and  there  is  a  con¬ 
siderable  rise  during  the  day  ;  while  in  the  case  of  cyclonic  fogs,  rainfall 
does  take  place,  and  the  temperature  is  high  in  the  morning,  frequently 
approaching  or  even  equalling  the  maximum  for  the  day.  Mr.  Scott 
also  investigated  the  cases  of  several  well-marked  fogs  in  London,  and 
found  that  there  was  no  direct  relation  traceable  between  the  tempera¬ 
ture  accompanying  them  and  the  death  rate. 
-  Pictures  of  the  Kew  Lake. — The  lake  at  the  southern  end 
of  the  Royal  Gardens  is  an  entirely  artificial  creation.  It  was  commenced 
about  forty  years  ago  by  the  late  Sir  William  Hooker,  the  then  Director, 
who  had  nothing  more  than  an  old  gravel  pit  to  work  upon.  It  was 
further  developed  by  Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  and  no  pains  have  since  been 
spared  to  improve  its  scenic  beauty.  The  Pinetum  skirts  it  on  its  east 
side,  and  the  collections  of  Alders  and  Willows  fringe  it  on  the  north 
and  west.  These,  apart  from  their  botanical  interest,  have  been  as  far 
as  possible  arranged  to  produce  a  pictorial  effect.  This  has  attracted 
the  attention  of  M.  and  Madame  de  I’Aubini^re,  who  for  the  last  two  years 
have  been  employed  in  painting  a  series  of  studies  and  pictures  from 
different  points  of  view.  As  an  inspection  of  a  selection  of  these  would 
be  of  interest  to  many  visitors  to  the  Royal  Gardens,  the  private  room  in 
the  north  gallery  has  been  utilised  for  the  purpose, — (“Kew  Bulletin.”) 
