October  13,  189°. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
283 
-  An  Aviary  for  Stanley  Park,  Liverpool.  —  At  a 
meeting  of  the  City  Council  last  week  Councillor  J.  R.  Grant,  a  gentle¬ 
man  well  known  in  municipal  affairs,  offered  to  build  at  his  own  expense 
a  handsome  aviary  for  Stanley  Park,  and  needless  to  say  the  gift  was  at 
once  accepted  by  the  members  present.  Mr.  Grant  deserves  the  thanks 
of  all  Liverpudlians,  as  Stanley  Park  is  a  great  resort  for  the  working 
class  of  this  busy  part  of  the  city,  who  are  certain  to  enjoy  to  the  full  this 
interesting  presentation. —  R.  P.  R. 
-  September  Weather  at  Hodsock  Priory.  —  Mean 
temperature,  59*2°.  Maximum  in  the  screen,  85*8°  on  the  17th  ;  mini¬ 
mum  in  the  screen,  34*4  on  the  24th  ;  minimum  on  the  grass,  26*0  on  the 
29th  ;  7°  frost  on  the  grass,  none  in  the  shade.  Sunshine,  139  hours,  or 
37  per  cent,  of  the  possible  duration,  twenty  hours  above  the  average. 
Rainfall,  0  52  inch  ;  difference  from  average,  —  1*42.  Rain  fell  on  five 
days  ;  maximum  fall,  0\38  inch  on  the  29th.  Rainfall  from  January  1st, 
13  99  inches.  Difference  from  average,  --  4*32.  A  hot  and  fine  month, 
very  similar  to  1895,  but  not  so  sunny.  The  maximum  temperature  is 
the  highest  yet  reached  in  September. — J.  Mallender,  Worhsop. 
-  September  Weather  at  Dowlais.  —  Total  rainfall, 
1*78  inch,  which  fell  on  eleven  days  ;  greatest  fall,  1*15  inch,  on  the 
29th.  Mean  maximum  temperature,  73° ;  highest  reading,  90°  on  the 
4th  and  two  following  days.  Mean  minimum,  43°  ;  lowest  reading, 
31°  on  the  24th  and  28th.  The  wind  was  in  the  W.  and  S.W.  on 
twenty  days.  There  were  seven  sunless  days  The  early  part  of  the 
month  was  very  hot  and  dry,  the  temperature  on  five  occasions  being 
higher  than  at  any  time  in  August,  while  on  the  5th  there  was  a 
difference  of  45°  in  the  day  and  night  temperatures.  Since  the  17th  it 
has  been  much  cooler,  and  on  the  29th  we  had  a  rough  gale  of  wind, 
with  heavy  rain,  which  w  as  much  needed. — Wm.  Mabbott. 
-  Drought  in  Somersetshire.— I  read  in  the  “  Daily  Mail  ” 
that  the  trees  and  shrubs  of  Windsor  Park  have  suffered  very  seriously 
by  the  long  drought.  All  my  Conifers  have  been  seriously  injured  by  the 
continued  dry  weather.  All  are  covered  more  or  less  with  small  dead 
limbs.  Having  an  unlimited  quantity  of  water  I  have  been  supplying  the 
roots  with  the  needed  moisture  by  pipes  laid  along  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  by  whit  h  means  I  hope  to  succeed  in  saving  them.  In  some  of 
the  villages  the  people  have  to  send  miles  to  get  a  small  supply  of  water 
for  their  wants.  Through  the  unfavourable  spring  weather  the  Apple 
trees  and  Walnut  trees  have  shed  a  large  proportion  of  their  leaves,  and 
although  I  have  between  2000  and  3000  fruit  trees  of  all  kinds  the 
quantity  of  fruit  is  very  small,  and  a  great  portion  worthless.  -  J.  Chaffin, 
The  Grange,  Charlcombe,  Bath, 
-  Sussex  Weather. — The  total  rainfall  for  the  past  month  at 
Stonehurst,  Ardingly,  was  0*68  inch,  being  2*45  inch  below  the  average. 
The  heaviest  fall  was  0*41  inch  on  the  29th.  Rain  fell  on  five  days.  A 
drier  September  was  that  of  1895,  when  only  0*29  inch  was  recorded. 
But  in  that  year  the  fall  for  July  and  August  amounted  to  6*61  inches, 
while  the  same  months  this  year  only  produced  2*06  inches.  The  dry 
September  of  1895  was  followed  during  the  last  quarter  by  a  fall  of 
12*32  inches.  What  we  may  have  this  year  remains  to  be  seen  ;  but  if  it 
only  amounts  to  the  average  of  8*48  inches  the  total  will  be  22  inches, 
which  will  be  the  smallest  amount  for  any  year  in  a  nineteen  years’ 
record,  1884,  with  a  fall  of  24*05  inches,  being  the  nearest  approach  to 
it.  The  maximum  temperature  was  98°  on  the  7th,  the  minimum  38°  on 
the  29th.  Mean  maximum,  72*22°  ;  mean  minimum,  50*25°  ;  mean  tem¬ 
perature,  61*23°,  being  4*15°  above  the  average.  Things  much  freshened 
by  rain  on  29th  ;  but  it  has  again  set  in  dry,  with  N.E.  winds  and  baro¬ 
meter  high. — R.  I. 
-  September  Weather  at  Belvoir. — September  was  much 
drier  and  hotter  than  usual,  and  also  gave  an  excessive  amount  of  sun¬ 
shine.  The  wind  was  in  a  S.W.  direction  seventeen  days.  The  total 
rainfall  was  0*54  inch.  This  fell  on  four  days,  and  is  1*87  inch  below 
the  average  for  the  month.  The  greatest  daily  fall  was  0*45  inch  on 
the  29th.  The  total  rainfall  for  the  first  nine  months  (January- 
September)  is  only  12*70  inches,  which  is  6*62  inches  below  the 
average  for  this  period.  Barometer  (corrected  and  reduced),  highest 
reading  30*401  inches  on  the  4th  at  9  A.M. ;  lowest  29*695  inches  on  the 
27th  at  9  P.M.  Thermometers,  highest  in  the  shade  (Stevenson  screen) 
88°  on  the  8th  ;  lowest  33°  on  the  24th.  Mean  of  daily  maxima  69*26° ; 
mean  of  daily  minima  49*73°.  Mean  temperature  of  the  month  59*49°. 
Lowest  on  the  grass  29°  on  the  24th  ;  highest  in  the  sun  150°  on  the  8th. 
Mean  temperature  of  the  earth  at  3  feet  59*56°.  Total  sunshine  216  hours 
45  minutes.  This  is  95  hours  51  minutes  above  the  average.  There  were 
no  sunless  days. — W.  H.  Divers,  Grantham. 
-  Ware’s  Nurseries,  Tottenham. — We  are  authoritatively- 
informed  that  these  nurseries  have  been  sold  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Osborne,  and 
the  business  has  been  formed  into  a  limited  company  under  the  style  of 
‘Thomas  S.  Ware,  Ltd.”  In  every  essential  respect  the  business  will 
be  carried  on  as  heretofore. 
-  School  of  Handicrafts,  Chertsey. — We  are  forming  t, 
museum  in  our  School  for  teaching  purposes,  and  a  section  has  been  set 
aside  for  the  garden.  We  should  be  glad  to  know  the  best  means  of 
filling  it,  and  the  kind  of  specimens  representing  garden  and  farm.  We 
are  getting  a  collection  of  wood  as  far  as  we  can.  Any  advice  the 
readers  of  the  Journal  can  give,  with  any  specimens  they  have  to  spare, 
vould  be  very  welcome. — A.  J.  Brown,  Farm  and  Garden  Department. 
-  Death  of  Mr.  G.  Taylor.— Those  of  our  readers  who 
knew  him  will  learn  with  regret  of  the  death  of  Mr.  George  Taylor, 
who  was  for  so  many  years  associated  with  Messrs.  James  Veitch  &  Sons 
at  their  Chelsea  Nursery.  He  will  be  remembered  as  of  a  genial  kindly 
disposition,  and  he  was  undoubtedly  very  widely  respected.  Mr.  Taylor 
will  long  be  remembered  as  being  amongst  the  first  to  experiment  in  the 
raising  of  hybrid  greenhouse  Rhododendrons,  and  it  was  from  him  that 
R.  Taylori  took  its  name.  We  believe,  too,  that  we  are  correct  in  saying 
that  he  raised  the  well-known  and  still  excellent  Veitcb’s  Perfection  Pea, 
which  was  first  placed  in  commerce  about  forty  years  ago.  For  some 
jears  Mr.  Taylor  has  been  living  in  retirement  at  Deal,  where  he  was 
inteired  on  Tuesday  last. 
-  A  Snake  in  a  Melon  Crate. — Your  readers  might  like  to 
know  of  an  unpleasant  discovery  made  recently  in  the  shop  cf  Mr. 
T.  Haslon,  fruiterer,  Liverpool.  A  crate  of  Melons  had  been  brought 
into  the  shop,  and  the  assistants  were  horrified  to  see  protruding  from  tb® 
straw  in  the  unopened  crate  the  head  and  neck  of  a  small  snake.  Tb® 
crate  was  taken  out  of  the  shop  on  to  the  street  pavement  and  carefully 
emptied,  when  there  emerged  from  the  straw  a  lively  and  very  beautiful 
specimen  of  the  Spanish  adder  about  18  inches  in  length.  It  was  coaxed 
into  a  bottla,  whence  it  was  transferred  to  a  glass-topped  box,  and  it  will 
probably  find  a  resting  place  in  the  Liverpool  Museum.  Inquiry  mad® 
amongst  fruit  dealers  in  Liverpool  showed  that  such  an  incident  had 
never  within  their  recollection  happened  in  connection  with  the  Liverpool 
fruit  trade  before. — R.  P.  R. 
-  A  Blenheim  Bouquet.  —  The  marriage  of  Lady  Lilian 
Churchill,  sister  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  to  Mr.  Grenfell,  wac 
solemnised  in  the  Chapel  Royal  on  Saturday  last,  October  8th,  amid  an 
uustinteJ  profusion  of  choice  white  exotic  flowers,  that  contributed  largely 
to  what  was  an  exceedingly  pretty  as  well  as  a  bright  and  cheerful 
ceremony.  The  bride  carried  a  lovely  bouquet,  made  and  despatched 
from  Blenheim  Palace  gardens  the  same  morning,  whence,  it  will  he 
remembered,  the  colossal  bridal  bouquet  was  forwarded  to  New  York  for 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough’s  wedding.  The  one  used  on  the  present 
occasion  was  of  the  description  known  as  a  shower  bouquet,  and  was 
composed  of  choice  Orchids,  white  Tea  Roses,  Lilies  of  the  Valley, 
Stephanotis,  Eucharis,  Orange  blossoms,  and  white  Carnations,  skilfully 
set  in  Myrtle  and  Asparagus  plumosus,  the  arrangement  being  rendered 
complete  with  a  broad  white  satin  ribbon  encircling  the  handle,  and 
depending  in  graceful  lengths  from  bows  below  the  marginal  feathery 
sprays.  It  was  an  elegant  arrangement,  and  reflected  credit  on  Mr. 
Whillans,  the  head  gardener  at  Blenheim  Palace. 
-  The  Drought. — The  continued  drought  in  the  south-easter* 
parts  of  the  kingdom  has  naturally  served  to  accentuate  the  very  remark¬ 
able  deficiency  in  the  year’s  rainfall.  At  many  places  in  the  West  and 
North  of  England  the  deficiency  is  not  very  great,  York  having  had  as 
much  as  84  per  cent,  of  its  normal  quantity,  and  Liverpool  no  less  tha* 
92  per  cent.  In  the  southern  and  south-eastern  districts  the  rainfall  hat 
amounted,  with  a  few  lccal  exceptions,  to  less  than  two-thirds  of  the 
average,  the  total  fall,  even  in  the  Scilly  Islands  (where  rains  are  usually 
frequent)  being  only  63  per  cent,  of  the  normal.  It  is,  however,  in  Hh.® 
south-eastern  and  south  midland  counties  that  the  drought  has  reached 
its  greatest  severity,  the  rainfall  for  the  whole  nine  months  being  only 
55  per  cent,  of  the  average  in  London,  54  per  cent,  at  Oxford,  and  52  pec 
cent,  at  Dungeness.  We  must  again  bear  in  mind  also  the  fact  that  the 
present,  deficiency  of  rain  commenced  long  before  the  beginning  of  the 
present  year.  Going  back  to  May,  1897,  it  appears  that  both  in  London 
and  at  Oxford  there  has  been  a  deficiency  in  thirteen  out  of  the  past 
seventeen  months.  At  Oxford  the  total  amount  of  rain  for  the  whole  of 
this  very  long  period  has  been  only  74  per  cent,  of  the  average:,  while  i® 
London  it  has  been  only  65  per  cent,  of  the  average.  So  long  a  period  of 
drought  seems  to  be  without  precedent,  at  all  events  in  meteorological 
records  going  back  to  very  near  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
