January  20,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
59 
-  The  Hamburg  International  Horticultural  Exposi¬ 
tion. — We  observe  that  this  exhibition,  which  closed  at  the  beginning  of 
October,  resulted  in  a  surplus  of  300,000  marks.  The  amount  received 
from  season  tickets  was  810,000  marks,  and  from  daily  tickets  770,000. 
The  receipts  for  rentals  of  dining  halls  and  sale  of  privileges  was  enormous. 
This  shows  the  interest  which  the  German  people  take  in  horticultural 
matters. 
-  Marriage  of  Mr.  Bernard  Cowan.  —  The  marriage  of 
Mr.  Bernard  Cowan,  Harton  Cemetery,  with  the  widow  of  the  late  Mr. 
Peter  Marshall  of  South  Shields,  which  took  place  on  the  13th  ult.,  may 
be  matter  of  interest  to  many  readers.  Mr.  Cowan  is  a  lecturer  on 
horticulture  for  the  Durham  County  Council.  He  was  the  first  Chairman 
of  the  Newcastle  and  District  Horticultural  ^lutnal  Improvement  xVssocia- 
tion,  and  is  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  English  Arboricultural 
Society.  He  is  also  Secretary  of  the  South  Shields  and  Northern  Counties 
Chrysanthemum  Society. 
-  Ancient  Society  op  York  Florists.-  ■  The  annual  meeting 
of  the  above  Society  was  held  on  the  11th  inst.,  Mr.  Councillor  J.  E. 
Wilkinson  in  the  chair.  There  was  a  good  attendance.  The  Secretary 
(Mr.  John  Lazenby)  read  the  report  and  balance-sheet.  The  report 
showed  that  the  year’s  work  had  been  very  satisfactory.  Financially,  it 
was  satisfactory  to  note  that  at  the  close  of  the  year  there  was  a  balance 
in  hand  of  £180  1  Is.  lid.,  as  against  £177  17s.  Id.  last  year.  Mr.  Lazenby 
writes  : — “  xV  most  regrettable  circumstance  happened  to  us  in  the  death  of 
our  beloved  President,  Alderman  Sir  Joseph  Terry,  within  a  few  hours  of 
his  re-election.”  A  sum  of  £70  was  allotted  for  the  minor  or  summer 
free  shows,  and  £170  to  Chi*ysanthemum  show,  this  year,  apart  from 
many  special  prizes  oflfered. 
-  “The  Garden  and  Forest.”— It  is  a  matter  for  regret  to 
learn  that  this  admirably  conducted  journal  has  ceased  to  exist.  For 
years  it  has  been  considered  one  of  the  best  managed  and  most  reliable 
of  the  American  gardening  papers,  and  many  readers  will  miss  it.  In 
announcing  their  decision  the  conductors  say,  “  With  the  present  issue^ 
which  completes  the  tenth  volume,  the  publication  of  ‘Garden  and 
Forest  ’  ends.  For  ten  years  tbe  experiment  has  been  tried  of  publishing 
a  weekly  journal  devoted  to  horticulture  and  forestry,  absolutely  free 
from  all  trade  influences,  and  as  good  as  it  has  been  possible  for  us  to 
make  it.  This  experiment,  which  has  cost  a  large  amount  of  time  and 
money,  has  shown  conclusively  that  there  are  not  i)ersons  enough  in  the 
United  States  interested  in  the  subjects  which  have  been  presented  in  the 
columns  of  ‘Garden  and  Forest’  to  make  a  journal  of  its  class  and 
character  self-supporting.  It  is  useless  to  expend  more  time  and  money 
on  a  publication  which  cannot  be  made  financially  successful,  and  must, 
therefore,  sooner  or  later  cease  to  exist.” 
-  The  Weather. — It  is  not  wise  to  holloa  before  you  are  out 
of  the  wood,  nor  to  cry  out  summer  when  winter  is  not  half  over. 
Only  three  years  ago  one  of  the  hardest  frosts  of  the  century  occurred 
as  late  as  February.  But  so  far  as  the  winter  has  gone  it  has  undoubtedly 
been  one  of  the  mildest  we  have  had  for  many  years  past.  With  the 
exception  of  three  or  four  days  about  Christmas  time  there  has  been  no 
frost  to  speak  of  in  any  part  of  England.  In  London  the  thermometer 
on  no  fewer  than  thirteen  out  of  the  past  forty-three  days  has  risen  in 
the  daytime  to  50®  or  more,  and  on  two  consecutive  days  in  the 
middle  of  last  month  it  went  above  55°.  On  four  days  only  has  the 
thermometer  failed  to  touch  40°,  and  on  the  coldest  of  these  it  rose  to 
37°.  Frost  has  occurred  in  the  screen  on  as  many  as  fourteen  nights  out 
of  the  forty-three,  but  with  the  exception  of  five  occasions  ending  with 
Boxing  morning,  it  has  never  prevailed  for  more  than  two  nights  in 
succession,  and  has  never  been  of  any  great  severity.  Neither  snow  nor 
sleet  has  been  seen  in  London.  This  is  a  state  of  things  without  parallel 
in  the  winters  of  the  past  five-and-twenty  years.  In  the  winter  of  1888-89 
snow  did  not  put  in  an  appearance  in  London  until  the  12th  January,  but 
with  this  exception  a  fall  of  greater  or  less  severity  occurred  in  every 
December  of  the  past  twenty-five  years,  in  thirteen  Novembers,  and  even 
in  six  Octobers.  The  prevalence  of  fog  in  London  this  winter  has  been 
generally  looked  upon  as  far  in  excess  of  the  average.  Taking,  however, 
the  number  "of  days  only  on  which  it  has  occurred,  irrespective  of  density 
or  length  of  continuance,  there  have  been  other  winters  of  recent  years 
equally  ill-favoured,  among  them  being  the  seasons  of  1891-92  and  of 
1892-93.  If,  however,  we  have  had  more  fog  than  is  our  due,  we  have 
certainly  been  favoured  with  an  unusual  amount  of  bright  sunshine.  At 
Greenwich  the  total  duration  last  month  was  no  less  than  fifty  hours, 
being  as  many  as  fourteen  hours  in  excess  of  anything  recorded  there 
in  December  since  the  sunshine  instrument  was  set  up  in  1876. — 
(“  Daily  News.”) 
-  Death  of  Mr.  Max  Deegen. — We  regret  to  have  to  record  the 
recent  demise  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years  of  this  well-known  Dahlia  grower. 
The  death  occurred  at  Kostritz,  in  Thuringia.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  known  as  one  of  the  most  successful  raisers  of  new  Dahlias,  and 
English,  with  foreign  growers,  will  feel  the  loss. 
-  Death  of  Mr.  M.  Laurence.— Many  persons  will  deplore 
the  death  of  Mr.  Michael  Laurence,  who  since  1847  has  had  charge  of 
the  flower  gardens  at  Tostock  House,  Suffolk,  the  seat  of  ilrs.  William 
Gilbert  Tuck.  Although  more  than  eighty-tw)  years  of  age,  he 
remained  active  until  the  last,  and  was  rarely  absent  from  his  work. 
-  Isle  of  Wight  Association. — The  annual  meeting  of  the 
Chrysanthemum  Society  was  held  at  Newport  on  the  15th  inst.  Dr. 
J.  Groves,  B.A.,  .T.P.,  presided  over  a  large  attendance  of  members  and 
exhibitors.  The  report  and  balance-sheet  were  unanimously  adopted 
on  the  motion  of  the  Chairman,  who  regretted  that  the  balance  in  hand 
was  less  than  last  year — £18,  against  £22  last  year.  The  question  of 
an  Isle  of  Wight  championship  prize  was  brought  forward  and  delegated 
to  a  Sub-Committee,  to  discuss  and  report  to  the  Society.  Sir  Chas. 
Seely,  Bart.,  was  re-elected  President,  Dr.  J.  Groves  was  re-elected 
Chairman,  and  Dr.  Coombes  re-elected  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  C.  H.  Cave 
Hon.  Secretary. 
- -  Planting  and  Pruning. — The  second  of  the  lectures 
organised  by  the  Morden  Cottage  Garden  and  Industrial  Society  was 
given  on  Thursday  last  at  the  Village  Club,  Morden.  The  lecturer  was 
Mr.  C.  Gibson,  head  gardener  to  J.  Wormald,  Esq.,  of  Morden  Park,  and 
he  took  for  his  subject  “  Planting  and  Pruning.”  Touching  lightly  on 
the  ordinary  trees  and  evergreens,  the  details  of  various  kinds  of  fruit 
trees  were  carefully  gone  into  ;  their  selection,  planting,  soil,  mulching, 
and  removal.  The  dangers  of  deep  unskilful  planting  were  pointed  out> 
and  hints  given  as  to  the  best  kind  of  fruit  trees  for  a  cottager  to  select, 
the  most  early  and  prolific,  and  the  price  which  ought  to  be  paid  for 
them.  The  second  half  of  the  evening  was  devoted  to  pruning,  and  the 
interest  was  much  heightened  by  specimens  of  trees  pruned  by  different 
methods  and  not  pruned  at  all ;  these  were  explained  and  experimented 
on,  and  the  lecture  closed  with  an  interesting  discussion. 
-  Carnivorous  Slugs. — The  observations  made  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Arnold  (page  39)  are  exceedingly  interesting,  as  but  few  records  appa¬ 
rently  exist  in  support  of  the  statement  that  worm-eating  slugs  seize  and 
swallow  other  slugs.  I  have  heard  of  two  Testacellm  being  found  with 
the  opposite  ends  of  the  same  worm  in  their  mouths,  but  Mr,  Arnold 
“  goes  one  better,”  though  he  does  not  tell  us  which  slug  made  the  best 
meal.  Judging  from  the  drawing  (fig.  7)  the  mollusc  in  question  is 
Testacella  haliotidea,  though  it  might  be  the  other  small  shelled  species, 
Testacella  scutulum.  The  latter  is  usually  more  yellow  than  the  former, 
and  the  lines  on  its  back  meet  in  front  of  the  shell,  while  in  T.  haliotidea 
they  run  together  just  under  its  edge.  With  regard  to  the  larger  shelled 
species,  T.  Mangel  was  evidently  a  misprint  for  Maugei  (named  after 
Maug^).  The  fact  that  it  has  now  been  found  in  most  south-western 
counties  of  England,  in  Wales,  and  in  Ireland,  points  to  its  being 
indigenous  to  this  country.  I  should  be  pleased  to  hear  anything  my 
readers  may  know  of  white  (albino)  or  black  examples  of  these  slugs, 
and  to  have  any  specimens  they  may  be  kind  enough  to  send  me,  as  I  am 
still  engaged  in  working  out  their  distribution. — WILFRID  Mark  Webb, 
Ellerie,  Brentwood. 
-  Crown  Woods  and  Forests.— The  report  for  the  year 
ended  31st  March,  1897,  of  the  Commissioner  in  charge  of  the  Crown 
woods  and  forests  has  been  issued.  The  property  under  the  direction  of 
the  Commissioner  comprises  the  New  Forest,  Dean  Forest,  and  the  whole 
Crown  property  in  Wales,  county  Monmouth,  in  Scotland,  in  Ireland, 
and  in  the  Isles  of  Man  and  Aldernej’.  The  income  derived  from  the  New 
Forest  from  sales  of  forest  produce  amounted  in  the  year  1896-7  to 
£7355  4s.  lid.,  and  certain  service  rents,  amounting  in  the  same  year  to 
£3099  11s.  8d,  The  income  derived  from  the  Forest  of  Dean  from  the 
sources  above  mentioned  amounted  to  £5305  17s.  7d.,  and  £1856  12s.  lid. 
respectively.  During  the  year  there  were  about  660  acres  added  to  the 
area  enclosed  for  planting  purposes.  With  a  view  to  introduce  in  the 
Forest  of  Dean  and  the  Highmeadow  Woods  a  more  scientific  and 
systematic  system  of  forest  cultivation  than  has  hitherto  been  adopted, 
the  Commission  has  arranged  with  an  experienced  Conservator  of  Forests 
in  the  Indian  Forest  Service  to  make  a  detailed  examination  of  the 
woods  and  furnish  a  report  on  them.  It  is  desired  not  only  to  improve 
the  prospective  yield  of  the  Forest,  but  also  to  establish  such  a  system  of 
management  as  may  serve  those  who  desire  to  study  forestry  in  this 
country  with  a  good  practical  object  lesson,  such  as  at  the  oresent  time 
they  have  to  go  to  France  or  Germany  to  find. 
