February  10,  1898. 
JOUBNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
125 
-  Sussex  Rainfa  ll. — The  total  rainfall  at  Stonehurst,  Ardingly, 
for  the  past  month  was  0’74  inch,  being  1’39  inch  below  the  average. 
The  heaviest  fall  was  0'28  inch  on  the  5th.  Rain  fell  on  nine  days.  The 
maximum  temperature  was  53°  on  the  22nd,  the  minimum  30°  on  the  11th. 
Mean  maximum,  45'25° ;  mean  minimum,  39*02°  ;  mean  temperature* 
42*13°,  which  is  5*64°  above  the  average  of  ten  years.  Vegetation  forward 
enough  for  the  middle  of  March,  and  cooler  weather  would  be  welcomed 
to  keep  fruit  trees  back. — R.  I. 
-  January  Weather  at  IIodsock  Priory,  Worksop,  Notts. 
— Mean  temperature,  42*9°.  Maximum  in  screen,  57*1°  on  30th  ;  mini¬ 
mum  in  screen,  28*9°  on  10th.  Minimum  on  grass,  19*1°  on  10th. 
Sunshine  twenty  hours,  or  8  per  cent,  of  possible  duration.  Rainfall, 
0*45  inch.  Rain  fell  on  ten  days.  Warmer  than  any  January  of  the 
last  twenty-two  years  except  1884,  when  the  temperature  was  43*0°. 
Drier  than  any  except  1880,  when  only  0*22  inch  fell,  and  duller  than 
any  of  the  last  seventeen  years  except  1885,  when  the  sunshine  was  only 
fourteen  hours.— J.  Mallender. 
-  January  Weather  in  Glamorganshire. — Mr.  W.  Mabbott 
writes  from  Gwernllwyn  Gardens,  Dowlais  : — “The  following  is  a 
summary  of  the  weather  here  for  the  past  month.  Rainfall  2*07  inches, 
which  fell  on  fourteen  days  ;  maximum  0*48  on  the  5th.  Average 
maximum  temperature  43°  ;  highest  reading  48°  on  the  3rd.  Average 
minimum  34°  ;  lowest  reading  25°  on  the  9th.  There  were  seven  occa¬ 
sions  when  the  minimum  was  above  40°  ;  below  freezing  point  on  nine 
days.  There  were  twenty-five  sunless  days.  The  wind  was  in  the  W. 
and  S.W.  on  fifteen  days,  and  in  the  E.  and  S.E.  on  eleven  days  ;  very 
quiet  on  the  whole  and  the  weather  open.  A  very  small  rainfall  for  this 
district.  Fogs  were  very  dense  on  a  few  occasions.” 
-  Loniobra  FRAGRANtissima. — For  the  last  two  months  a  large 
plant  of  this  Chinese  Honeysuckle  has  been  flowering  freely  at  Kew,  and 
now  (February  3rd)  every  shoot  is  covered  with  pretty  sweetly  scented  white 
flowers.  The  flowers  are  usually  produced  in  pairs,  several  springing 
from  every  bud  on  last  year’s  growth.  Growing  close  by  are  several 
plants  of  L.  Standishi,  a  species  with  which  the  former  is  often  confused. 
A  glance  at  the  two  together  shows  that  they  are  quite  distinct.  In  the 
former  the  leaves  are  shorter,  more  ovate,  not  so  acuminate,  and  not 
nearly  so  hairy  as  in  the  latter  ;  and  while  many  of  the  leaves  of  the  first 
named  are  retained  during  the  whole  winter,  those  of  L.  Standishi  usually 
fall  before  the  flowers  commence  to  open.  Flowering,  in  midwinter,  it 
will  be  found  worthy  of  a  place  in  any  collection. — Kewite. 
-  The  Weather  Last  Month. — January  was  extremely  mild, 
similar  to  January  1882  and  1890,  but  milder  than  either.  The  wind 
was  in  a  southerly  direction  on  twenty-four  days.  Total  rainfall  was 
0*78  inch,  which  fell  on  nine  days,  and  1  inch  below  the  average  for 
the  month.  The  greatest  daily  fall  was  0*32  inch  on  the  4th.  Barometer 
(corrected  and  reduced),  highest  reading,  30*629  inches  on  the  15th  at 
9  P.M.  ;  lowest,  29*385  inches  on  the  1st  at  9  A.M.  Thermometer  : 
highest  in  the  shade  56°  on  the  30th  ;  lowest,  27°  on  the  23rd.  Mean  of 
daily  maxima,  47*09°  ;  mean  of  daily  minima,  36*80°.  Mean  temperature 
of  the  month,  41*94°.  Lowest  on  grass,  21°  on  the  10th  and  23rd ;  highest 
in  the  sun,  82°  on  the  12th.  Mean  temperature  of  the  earth  at  3  feet, 
42*38°.  Total  sunshine,  41  hours  40  minutes.  There  were  fifteen  sunless 
days. — W.  H.  Divers,  The  Gardens,  Belvoir  Castle,  Grantham, 
-  The  R.H.S.  Examination. — May  I  be  allowed  to  supplement 
the  advice  given  by  yourself  (page  93)  and  “  A.  D.”  (page  102),  urging 
young  gardeners  to  attend  the  above  examination  ?  We  are  occasionally 
met  with  the  despairing  cry  that  “  the  time  for  preparation  is  so  short.” 
In  reply  to  this  I  crave  permission  to  ask  young  gardeners  to  take  a 
common  sense  view  of  the  matter,  and  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  practical 
work  which  they  have  been  engaged  in  since  the  age  of  sixteen  is  the 
very  best  preparation  they  can  have.  A  glance  at  past  questions  reveals 
the  fact  that  the  majority  of  them  bear  either  upon  everyday  work,  or 
upon  scientific  matters  which  careful  readers  may  have  observed  in  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture  from  time  to  time.  Good,  honest,  practical  work, 
coupled  with  intelligent  study  of  the  gardening  papers  and  an  occasional 
contribution  to  the  “  Young  Gardeners’  Domain,”  ought  to  suffice  to 
pass  any  of  your  readers.  Candidates  need  not  trouble  themselves 
about  some  of  the  questions,  and  if  they  wait  for  a  scheme  of  examination 
which  everybody  regards  as  being  perfect,  nothing  will  be  done.  The 
great  universal  now  is  the  only  lime  any  of  us  can  call  our  own,  so  let  us 
make  the  best  use  we  can  of  it,  and  by  submitting  to  tests  let  us  find  out 
our  weak  points,  remembering  that  the  best  man  in  the  long  run  is  the 
one  who  learns  most  from  his  failures. — Practice  with  Science. 
-  A  Frostless  January. — It  is  not  often  that  we  get  a  frostless 
•lanuary  ;  but  the  precedent  of  those  years  in  recent  times  that  have 
opened  with  so  mild  a  month  as  we  have  experienced  this  year  warns  us 
against  thinking  that  winter  is  over.  In  1873  there  was  no  touch  of 
winter  till  January  was  over.  Then,  on  February  1st,  an  intense  frost 
set  in  and  lasted  into  March.  The  following  year  was  better  ;  it  opened 
in  a  similar  way,  and  kept  on  without  a  break,  so  that  harvest  was  in 
July.  In  1878,  again,  there  was  a  frostless  first  month,  and  vegetation 
came  on  early,  only  to  be  nipped  by  frosts  and  cbilly  weather  in  March 
and  April,  an  experience  that  was  repeated  in  1892,  So  that  the  balance 
of  experience  is  against  an  open  January  being  followed  by  an  unbroken 
period  of  fine  spring  weather, 
-  The  National  Dahlia  SociBty. — In  common  with  other 
members  of  this  estimable  Society,  I  am  in  receipt  of  the  present  year’s 
report  and  schedule  of  prizes  at  the  great  autumn  show  at  the  Crystal 
Palace,  on  the  2nd  and  3rd  September  next.  This  is  undoubtedly  the 
great  Dahlia  exhibition  of  the  season,  and  it  has  as  such  no  rival.  All  the 
same,  every  autumn  exhibition  all  over  the  kingdom  not  only  finds  Dahlias 
in  the  various  sections  prominent,  but  they  are  liberally  encouraged  by  prizes. 
Dahlias  have  grown  into  popular  favour  in  a  remarkable  way — indeed, 
they  now  rank  with  the  Rose  and  the  Chrj'santhemum,  in  their  respective 
seasons,  as  people’s  flowers.  The  National  Society  has  done  very  much 
in  creating  this  popularity,  for  its  exhibitions  are  of  the  finest,  and 
novelties  find  at  them  every  encouragement.  But  in  looking  over  the 
schedule  of  the  National  Dahlia  Show,  I  am  struck  with  the  great  diversity 
found  in  the  amounts  offered  as  prizes  for  these  beautiful  flowers  as  com¬ 
pared  with  what  are  offered  generally  for  Chrysanthemums.  With 
Dahlias,  £4  10s.  is  thought  to  be  a  good  first  prize  for  sixty  show  blooms. 
W ere  this  a  class  for  sixty  Chrysanthemums,  fully  three  times  the  amount 
would  be  looked  for.  In  the  case  of  the  large  class  of  eighteen  varieties 
of  Cactus  Dahlias,  a  total  of  108  flowers,  the  first  prize  is  only  40s.,  although 
amateurs  come  off  better,  as  they  get  a  first  prize  of  60s.  for  72  blooms. 
Taking  the  schedule  all  through,  one  sees  prizes  of  the  most  reasonable 
kind,  and  yet  great  competition  results.  There  is  nothing  to  stimulate 
greed  in  them,  and  that  is  a  pleasing  feature.  The  rage  which  seems  so 
strongly  to  exist  in  the  Chrysanthemum  world  for  big  money  prizes  will 
some  day  bring  about  its  own  cure,  in  the  utter  impossibility  of  committees 
to  find  them.  Why  cannot  we  see  Chrysanthemums  exhibited  a  little  for 
love  as  Dahlias  are,  and  less  to  secure  big  cash  amounts  ? — A.  D. 
THE  REVOLUTION  IN  INSECTICIDES. 
All  those  who  have  had  to  do  with  greenhouses,  especially  small 
amateurs,  know  what  a  terrible  nuisance  the  insect  pests  are,  and  how 
very  nasty  and  unpleasant  have  been  the  means  used  to  get  rid  of  them, 
and  how  oftentimes,  after  all  the  trouble  that  has  been  taken  and  the 
unpleasantness  endured,  the  aphides  especially  have  laughed  at  these 
attempts.  There  have  been  dangers,  too,  connected  with  the  fumigation, 
for  should  the  tobacco  paper  or  cloth  used  flare  up  into  a  blaze  injury  has 
often  been  done  to  the  plants,  while  the  person  employed  in  the  opeption 
must  come  out  from  the  house  into  which  he  has  introduced  the  fumigator 
pale  and  miserable.  I  remember  seeing  in  a  large  and  well  ordered 
establishment  an  ingenious  contrivance  by  which  the  man  who  conducted 
the  fumigation  got  admission  into  the  house  by  a  hole  low  down,  so  that 
he  was  beneath  the  influence  of  the  smoke. 
But  this  is  all  now  changed.  The  introduction  of  vaporisers  does 
away  with  all  the  inconvenience  and  effectually  carries  out  its  object. 
There  are  two  of  which  I  have  heard,  Richards’  and  Macdougall’s  ;  of 
these  I  have  only  tried  the  latter.  It  is  simple  and  economical,  while  it 
completely  destroyed  all  semblance  of  aphis  in  my  greenhouse.  It  left  a 
smell  of  nicotine  for  a  short  time,  but  this  soon  passed  away.  The  house 
was  operated  upon  about  three  weeks  ago,  and  I  have  seen  no  trace  of 
aphis  since.  A  friend  says  that  he  has  tried  Richards’;  it  not  only 
destroyed  the  aphis,  but  also  those  terrible  pests  scale  and  meaW  bug. 
This  is  a  boon  which  those  who  have  had  to  do  with  Stephanotis  and  other 
plants  of  similar  character  will  greatly  value,  and  altogether  this  new 
invention  will  be  received  with  gjreat  thankfulness. 
There  is,  however,  another  side  of  this  picture,  as  there  is  in  most 
things.  I  remember,  fo?  instance,  many  years  ago  that  a  flourishing 
factory  was  established  in  the  West  of  Ireland  for  the  purpose  of 
extracting  iodine  from  seaweed,  and  everything  for  some  years  went  on 
well,  as  the  drug  fetched  a  high  price,  and  was  not  easy  to  procure ;  but 
suddenly  it  was  discovered  in  Germany  in  its  natural  state,  and  con¬ 
sequently  the  whole  affair  in  the  AY est  of  Ireland  came  to  grief.  Have 
we  not  heard,  too,  how  the  profitable  culture  of  the  cochineal  insect  in 
the  Canaries  was  completely  ruined  by  the  discovery  of  aniline  dyes  /  and 
so  now  it  has  been  with  the  manufacturers  of  tobacco  paper  and  tobacco 
cloth.  One  well-known  manufacturer  of  the  former  told  me  that  the 
discovery  of  these  vaporisers  entailed  on  him  a  loss  of  £300  a  year,  while 
a  manufacturer  of  tobacco  cloth  told  a  friend  of  mine  it  was  not  the 
slightest  use  making  any  more.  But  this  is  always  the  case  when  any 
new  discovery  is  made  ;  still,  with  this  drawback,  I  think  that  all  gardeners 
will  gladly  welcome  the  vaporisers. — D.,  Deal. 
