JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
September  16,  1898. 
206 
Weather  in  London.  —  On  Thursday,  Friday,  and  Saturday 
of  last  week  the  weather  was  intensely  hot  ;  indeed,  on  the  first-named 
the  thermometer  stood  at  91°  in  the  shade.  This  is  the  highest 
September  temperature  for  just  thirty  years,  as  is  pointed  out  in  another 
paragraph.  Sunday  was  slightly  cooler,  while  on  Monday  morning  a 
light  rain  fell  until  about  8.30  A.M.,  when  it  cleared,  and  the  sun  shone 
brightly.  In  the  evening  it  was  considerably  cooler,  and  a  refreshing 
breeze  blew.  On  Tuesday  it  was  much  milder,  and  occasional  showers 
fell.  At  the  time  of  going  to  press  on  Wednesday  it  was  bright  and  warm. 
-  Isle  oe  Wight. — The  first  show  in  connection  with  the 
E.  Cowes  Horticultural  Society  was  opened  in  the  Town  Hall  on  the 
7th  inst.,  by  Mr.  J.  Lee-White,  President  of  the  Society,  who  wa9 
supported  by  Mr.  G.  Groves,  J.P.,  C.C.,  Chairman  of  the  Society.  The 
exhibits  were  of  first-class  quality,  and  the  competition  keen  in  most 
classes.  The  principal  prizewinners  were  Messrs.  C.  Orchard,  J. 
Bastiani,  .T.  Heygate,  A.  Saunders,  W.  Hills,  S.  Cotton,  ,T.  Niblett,  C. 
Martin,  W.  A.  Kent,  and  A,  Hills.  For  table  decorations,  epergnes, 
and  baskets  Mrs.  Heygate,  Miss  Blake,  Miss  M.  Bastiani,  Miss  R. 
Bastiani,  and  Mrs.  Brading  were  most  successful.  The  Judges,  Messrs. 
Amys  and  Wills  of  Southampton,  did  their  duties  in  a  very  satisfactory 
manner.  The  show  undoubtedly  reflects  great  credit  on  the  Hon.  Secs., 
Messrs.  D.  S.  Heath  and  A.  Hills,  and  a  hardworking  Committee, 
-  Marrows  without  Manure. — Certain  cantankerous  persons 
have  been  heard  to  declare  that  gardeners  never  own  to  being  beaten. 
Perhaps  not.  It  is  certainly  more  pleasant  to  be  able  to  point  to  a 
success  than  a  failure,  especially  if  the  good  result  is  based  on  a  well- 
defined,  even  if  unpopular,  principle.  I  am  in  the  happy  position  of 
shining  by  comparison  with  certain  good  neighbours  of  mine  with  the 
humble  but  useful  Vegetable  Marrow.  Plants  from  the  same  box  have 
in  one  case  done  well,  and  in  others  very  badly.  They  were  planted 
by  tbe  same  hand,  on  the  same  day,  and  in  similar  positions.  The  only 
difference  was  that  the  “  hand  ”  in  question  was  allowed  to  use  as  much 
manure  as  he  liked,  except  on  my  side,  where  he  was  restricted  to  a 
couple  of  forksful  for  one  plant,  and  not  permitted  to  use  a  particle  for 
the  others.  These  plants  have  gone  through  the  long  spells  of  hot 
weather  in  exuberant  health,  and  fruited  persistently.  The  others  have 
dried  off.  The  common  practice  of  planting  Marrows  on  a  heap  of 
manure  is  a  vicious  delusion.  The  mass  becomes  parched,  and  unless 
copious  watering  is  resorted,  to  failure  results. — W.  Pea. 
-  Propagating  Potatoes  by  Eyes. — In  a  cutting  before  me 
from  one  of  the  horticultural  papers,  is  a  reference  to  the  famous  compe¬ 
tition  in  Potato  production  instituted  by  Messrs.  Hooper  &  Co.  of  Covent 
Garden.  But  the  paragraph  gives  the  date  as  1895,  which  is,  of  course, 
wrong,  and  I  think  must  have  been  intended  for  1875,  as,  so  far  as  my 
recollection  ser.ves,  it  must  have  been  so  long  since  that  the  competition 
took  place.  I  well  remember  seeing  the  huge  heaps  of  tubers  grouped  in 
one  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  arcades  at  South  Kensington, 
and  of  the  astonishment  displayed  on  every  hand  that  such  enormous 
quantities  of  tubers  should  have  been  obtained  irom  single  pounds  of 
sets,  Mr.  J.  Pink,  at  that  time  gardener  to  Lord  Sondes,  Lees  Court, 
Faversham,  heading  the  weights  with  Eureka  647  lbs.,  and  Snowflake 
with  372£  Ibs.J  tEureka  thus  gave  the  immense  product  of  not  less  than 
11£  bushels  from  1  lb.  of  tubers.  But  the  method  of  propagation  was 
most  artificial,  the  tubers  being  started  in  warmth,  then  shoots  taken  off, 
rooted  as  cuttings,  grown  on  in  pots,  and  so  on,  increased  indefinitely  so 
long  as  increase  was  possible.  Just  recently  Mr.  Forbes  of  Regent 
House  Gardens,  Surbiton,  sent  me  a  note  of  the  results  of  his  simpler 
method  of  progagating  2  lbs.  of  Carter’s  Snowball  Potato  last  spring. 
He  scooped  out  the  eyes  singly  with  very  small  portions  of  flesh  attached, 
seventy-six  in  all,  and  planted  them,  just  as  they  were,  in  a  shallow  drill 
90  feet  long.  These  eyes  were  not  buried  deep,  fine  soil  being  used  to 
cover  them.  All  grew,  and  when  the  crop  was  lifted  the  other  day  the 
total  produce,  all  sound,  was  220  lbs.,  or  about  3f  bushels.  That  was  not 
a  bad  result.  Of  course  planting  sets  of  this  description  could  hardly  be 
done  on  a  large  scale,  but  still  the  product  shows  that  after  all  size  of 
set  seems  to  have  little  to  do  with  productiveness,  in  spite  of  many  trials 
and  experience  to  the  contrary. — A.  I). 
-  Royal  Horticultural  Society.  —  The  next  Fruit  and 
Floral  meeting  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Seciety  will  be  held  on 
Tuesday,  September  20th,  in  the  Drill  Hall,  James  Street,  West¬ 
minster,  1  to  5  p.M.  A  lecture  on  “  Fruit  Growing  in  Suburban  Gardens’' 
will  be  given  at  three  o’clock  by  Mr.  W.  Roupell,  F.R.H.S. 
-  Death  of  Mr.  John  Mallender  —  We  much  regret  to  have 
to  announce  the  demise,  which  occurred  on  the  29th  ult.,  at  Oban,  Scot¬ 
land,  of  Mr.  John  Mallender,  the  only  son  of  Mr.  Joseph  Mallender,  the 
Gardens,  Hodsock  Priory,  Worksop.  The  deceased  was  only  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  and  much  sympathy  will  be  felt  for  the  well-known 
Notts  gardener  in  his  bereavement. 
-  The  Amenities  of  Journalism.— We  read  in  an  evening 
paper  that  “  the  *  Daily  Telegraph  ’  very  courteously  placed  its  war 
despatches  at  the  disposal  of  the  ‘Times,’  which,  owing  to  Mr. 
Howard’s  death  and  Colonel  Rhodes’s  wound,  had  no  messages  of 
its  own  from  Omdurman.  This  is  an  instance  of  journalistic  good  feeling 
which  i9  well  worthy  of  note.”  It  is  with  pleasure  that  we  are  able  to 
note  the  prevalence  of  good  feeling  that  exists  among  those  who  happen 
to  be  responsible  for  the  journalism  of  gardening.  May  it  long  continue 
— each  organ  doing  its  best  for  itself  and  constituency,  and  all,  in  the 
aggregate,  the  most  that  can  be  done,  in  friendly  rivalry,  for  the  prosperity 
of  Horticulture. 
-  Isle  of  Wight  Horticultural  Association.  —  The 
members  of  the  above  Association  had  a  most  enjoyable  outing  on 
Saturday  last  to  Worth  Park,  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Montefiore,  and 
to  the  fruit  nurseries  of  Messrs.  J.  Cheal  &  Sons,  Crawley,  Sussex* 
The  day  was  beautifully  fine,  and  everything  passed  off  satisfactorily- 
The  day  will  undoubtedly  be  a  red-letter  one  in  the  history  of  the 
Association.  The  Island  Association  is  getting  very  strong,  numbering 
at  present  some  300  members,  each  of  which  takes  very  great  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  the  Society.  It  is  decided  to  hold  another  fruit  exhibition 
this  year  at  Newport,  when  any  outside  assistance  will  be  greatly 
appreciated. — S.  H, 
-  The  Oakworth  House  Winter  Garden.— As  will  be  seen 
by  advertisement  in  another  column,  this  splendid  structure,  which  was 
erected  and  furnished  by  the  late  Sir  Isaac  Holden,  Bart.,  at  great  cost, 
is,  with  its  contents,  and  the  contents  of  other  structures,  to  be  sold  by 
auction  by  Messrs.  Hepper  &  Sons,  Leeds.  The  catalogue  consists  of 
thirty  pages,  and  comprises  883  lots  of  plants,  materials,  and  appliances. 
The  sale  begins  on  the  Oakworth  premises  at  eleven  for  twelve  o’clock 
on  Thursday,  20th  inst.,  and  continues  on  the  two  following  days.  The 
products  may  be  viewed  from  ten  to  four  o’clock  on  the  17th  and  19th 
in  st.  Among  the  diversified  assortment  of  plants  will  be  found  unusually 
fine  specimens  of  Palms  and  Tree  Ferns.  Oakworth  is  on  the  Keighley 
and  Worth  Valley  branch  of  the  Midland  Railway,  and  the  gardens  are 
near  the  station. 
-  Excessive  September  Heat.— In  London,  Thursday  last  was 
not  only  the  hottest  day  we  have  had  this  year,  or  as  a  matter  of  fact 
since  August,  1893,  but  the  hottest  September  day  experienced  for  just 
thirty  years  past.  At  eight  o’clock  in  the  morning  the  thermometer  in 
the  shade  stood  at  69°,  and  by  10  A.M.  it  had  risen  to  83°,  while  at  about 
midday  it  reached  a  maximum  of  91°,  the  reading  being  no  fewer  than 
24°  above  the  average  for  the  month  of  September.  To  find  an  equally 
warm  September  day  we  must  go  back  to  the  year  1868,  when  the 
thermometer  at  Greenwich  rose  on  the  7th  of  the  month  to  92°.  In  no 
other  September  of  the  past  fifty-seven  years  did  the  thermometer  get 
within  3°  of  yesterday’s  reading,  or  within  4°  of  the  1868  value,  the  nearest 
approach  to  it  being  Wednesdaj’.  7th  inst.,  and  on  the  4th  of  the  month  in 
1880,  when  it  reached  87°.  In  only  seven  of  the  past  fifty-eight  Septembers 
has  the  thermometer  in  London  even  touched  85°,  and  in  no  fewer  than 
forty-three  years  out  of  the  fifty-eight  it  failed  to  reach  80°.  Over  England 
readings  of  90°  and  upwards  in  the  shade  are  fortunately  rare.  Going 
back  to  the  year  1871,  when  the  Meteorological  Office  record  for  London 
commenced,  we  can  find  only  eighteen  days  with  such  a  temperature,  two 
of  these  occurring  in  June,  nine  in  July,  and  seven  in  August.  The  longest 
spell  of  extreme  heat  occurred  in  July,  1876,  when  maximum  readings 
ranging  between  90°  and  92°  were  recorded  on  four  consecutive  days.  In 
August,  1893,  however,  there  were  three  consecutive  days  with  a  maximum 
ranging  between  90®  and  93°,  and  on  the  middle  night  of  the  three  the 
thermometer  never  fell  below  72°,  this  being  apparently  the  warmest  night 
on  record.  The  highest  day  temperature  recorded  in  London  since  1871 
was  on  the  13th  August,  1876,  when  the  thermometer  in  the  shade 
rose  to  96°.  The  only  other  reading  touching  95°  was  on  the 
15th  July,  1881. 
