September  14,  1899. 
■JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
231 
■  -  One  Tree  Hill. — We  karn  from  a  contemporary  that  it  has 
been  decided  — against  the  hopes  of  the  dwellers  around — that  this  favourite 
spot  is  private  property,  and  that  the  golf  club  is  entitled  to  possession. 
As  streets  of  houses  are  being  bui't  in  this  locality,  it  behoves  those 
desirous  of  keeping  open  a  fine  landscape  and  recreation  ground  to  bestir 
themselves,  so  as  to  secure  from  the  builder  one  more  fine  open  space  for 
South  London. 
-  Stevens’  Auction  Rooms. — This  heading  has  long  been 
familiar  to  readers  of  the  horticultural  journal3.  Mr.  J.  C.  Stevens 
informs  us  that  he  has  taken  into  partnership  Mr.  D.  Pell  Smiih,  who  for 
some  years,  and  until  recently,  held  a  responsible  position  with  Messrs. 
Veitch  &  Sons,  nursrrymen,  Chelsea.  It  is  intended  that  the  horti¬ 
cultural  branch  of  the  business  shall  receive  more  particular  attention, 
while  sales  or  valuations  for  probate  and  legacy  duty  or  arbitration 
will  continue  to  have  the  same  careful  and  prompt  attention  as  heretofore. 
The  practical  knowledge  of  Mr.  Smith,  and  his  close  identification  with 
horticulture,  coupled  with  his  natural  urbanity,  should  be  n  source  of 
■strength  to  the  firm,  which  has  been  established  close  upon  140  years. 
-  Prizes  for  Grapes. — One  result  of  the  valuable  cash  prizes 
offered  at  Shrewsbury  in  the  great  Grape  class  is  that  Grape  growers 
generally  are  dissatisfied  with  the  v*  ry  moderate  sums  offered  for  them, 
in  other  places.  One  friend,  writing  about  the  Shrewsbury  Grapes, 
thinks  that  offering  £5  only  as  a  first  prize  for  twelve  bunches  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  is  far  too  low,  and  does  not  repay  for  long  journeys  and 
three  or  four  days  from  home.  That  is  no  doubt  true.  Wo  have  seen  in 
so  many  directions  costs  or  prices  or  values  go  up  that  it  is  no  wonder  if 
the  horticultural  exhibitor  is  a  little  disaffected.  For  after  all  there  is 
great  risk  in  fruit  showing,  because  the  products  nr>*  so  perishable  ;  and 
to  find  that  whilst  only  £5  are  offered  as  a  first  pr  ze  for  twelve  bunches 
of  fire  Grapes,  produced  only  after  exceptional  effort3,  when  double  the 
■sum  is  offered  as  a  first  for  thirty  six  Chrysanthemums,  flowers  that 
anyone  can  grow,  is  rather  exasperating. — A.  D. 
-  Potato  Windsor  Castle. — I  saved  a  large  quantity  of  seed 
of  this  fine  Potato  for  field  planting  last  season,  but  so  far  I  am  not  at 
all  satisfied  with  the  appearance  of  the  plants.  As  I  have  to  grow  my 
field  Potatoes  on  a  piece  of  ground  that  is  onlv  under  ordinary  field 
culture  I  seldom  look  for  the  best  results  ;  but  Windsor  Castle,  according 
to  my  experience,  requires  good  culture.  It  is  not  the  season  that  is  at 
fault,  for  (here  have  been  many  worse  than  the  present  one.  and  1  have  a 
■first-rate  crop  of  it  in  the  garden.  The  real  fact  of  the  mat  er  is  that  the 
soil  is  not  properly  cultivated,  and  unless  it  is  growers  will  be  wise  to 
leave  this  fine  variety'  alone  for  field  culture.  There  is  a  great  difficulty 
in  getting  farm  baliffs  to  properly  cultivate  the  soil  for  th:s  crop.  Th«y 
think  probably  that  what  is  good  enough  for  Wheat  and  Turnips  is  good 
enough  for  Potatoes  ;  but  this  is  a  great  mistake.  Ploughing  a  p:ece  of 
foul  ground  and  dropping  the  sets  in  every  other  row  seems  to  bo  the 
-custom,  so  it  is  small  wonder  the  returns  are  poor.  When  the  soil  is 
ridged  and  the  ridges  split  with  a  double  plough  it  is  not  quite  so  bad, 
as  the  soil  is  more  deeply'  stirred,  hut  the  ridges  should  be  cut  in  autumn. 
Scab  and  other  evils  follow  the  addition  of  fresh  manure  to  the  trenches, 
so  the  soil  should  be  in  good  heart  previously. — R. 
-  A  Growl  about  the  Shrewsbury  Show. — Arter  reading 
"the  glowing  account  of  the  great  Show  in  jour  columns,  I  hav^  been 
induced  to  forward  you  a  few  lines  abcut  the  Show  as  I  found  it. 
I  journeyed  on  the  22nd  ult.  from  the'extreme  west  of  Surrey  to  a  town 
in  the  Midlands,  having  for  my  principal  object  a  visit  to  the  Shrews¬ 
bury  Show.  I  stayed  at  the  Midland  toyvn  on  the  23rd,  and  even¬ 
tually,  on  the  24th,  took  train  to  Shrewsbury.  On  visiting  the  Show 
the  inspection  of  exhibits  was  most  interesting,  but  the  dust  was  suf¬ 
focating.  The  air  was  charged  with  dust  to  its  fullest  capacity,  and 
everything  was  covered.  The  loveliest,  most  exquisite,  and  most  superb 
exhibits  in  the  large  plant  tent  were  thick  with  dust,  in  fact  everything 
alike  was  covered  with  it,  and  the  many  thousands  cf  people  in  their 
endeavour  to  see  the  finest  exhibts  the  best  skill  in  the  country  can 
produce,  were  forced  to  fill  their  lungs  with  dust.  Surely  such  a 
state  of  things  might  have  been  prevented  at  the  expense  of  two  or 
three  men  with  water  cans  or  other  appliances  for  damping  the  gang¬ 
ways,  and  made  the  Show  alike  pleasant  for  visitors,  exhibitors,  and 
exhibits.— H.  O.  Etherington.— [It  will  be  c<  needed  that  this  is  a 
dusty  sort  of  letter.  It  is,  however,  inserted  in  accordance  wiih  the 
established  custom  of  giving  both  sides  of  the  question.  Our  reporters 
weTe  there  on  the  first  day,  when  all  was  clean,  bright,  and  beautiful. 
Whether  it  is  practicable  to  prevent  nearly  40,000  people  kicking  up  a 
dust  on  a  particularly  dry  day  is  a  question  for  the  show  authorities 
o  determine.  They  are  equal  to  most  things  at  Shrewsbury.] 
- United  Horticultural  Benefit  and  Provident  Society. 
— The  annual  dinner  of  the  above  Society  will  take  place  at  the  Holborn 
Restaurant,  High  Ilolborn,  W.C.,  on  Thursday,  October  5th,  at  6.30  P.M. 
W.  Y.  Baker,  Esq  ,  will  preside. 
-  Tomatoes  Growing  on  a  Sea  Beach. — An  interesting  and 
probably  unique  find  has  been  made  at  Whitburn,  a  small  fishing  village 
a  few  miles  north  of  Sunderland.  Upon  the  beach,  just  above  high-water 
mark,  there  has  been  found  a  patch  of  Tomato  plants.  They  are  strong 
and  healthy  and  full  of  blossom.  What  is  even  more  surprising  than 
their  growing  in  such  a  situation,  is  that  although  growing  among  the 
sand  and  shingle,  and  facing  the  north  east,  the  plants  have  borne  fruit. 
Most  of  this,  as  might  be  expected,  is  hard  and  green  ;  but  some  is  ripe, 
and  the  largest  specimen,  2  inches  in  diameter,  was  of  a  rich  red  colour. 
— (“  Daily  Mail.”) 
-  Accident  at  a  Horticultural  Exhibition. —  As  Dr. 
Farquharson,  M.P.,  West  Aberdeenshire,  was  engaged  in  presenting  the 
prizes  to  the  successful  competitors  at  the  Aboyne  Horticultural  Exhibi¬ 
tion  recently,  the  platform  on  which  he  and  a  number  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  stood  collapsed.  The  doctor  escaped  with  a  slight  injury  to 
his  knee,  and  the  Marquis  of  Huntly  saved  himself  by  springing  off  the 
erection.  Dr.  Arthur  Farquharson  and  several  ladi’s,  however,  were 
pitched  to  the  ground,  and  somewhat  shaken  and  I  raised,  w  hile  the 
suffering  from  alarm  and  shock  was  considerable.  A  number  ol  valuable 
plants  and  a  grand  piano  were  much  damaged. 
-  August  Weather  at  Hodsock  Priory,  Worksop. — Mean 
temperature,  G2'5°  +  3-2°  ;  maximum  in  the  screen,  87'8°  on  the  25th  ; 
minimum  in  the  screen,  41'6°  on  the  11th  ;  minimum  on  the  grass,  34 
on  the  1 1  th.  Sunshine,  217  hours,  or  48  per  cent,  ot  the  possible  duration  ; 
difference  from  the  average  +  74.  Rainfall,  0  85  inch  ;  difference  from 
the  average  -  158.  Rain  fell  on  nine  days.  Maximum  fall,  0  41  inch 
on  the  31st.  R  onfall  from  January  1st,  13-53  inches  ;  difference  from 
the  average  —  2'84  inches.  Rain  less  than  any  of  the  last  twenty-three 
years.  Mean  temperature  higher  than  any  except  1803,  though  in  that 
year  the  days  were  not  so  warm.  There  was  more  sunshine  than  in  any 
of  the  last  eighteen  years. — J.  MALLENDER. 
-  Polygonum  baldschuanicum. — The  handful  of  flowers  of 
this  species  which  were  exhibited  at  the  Drill  Hall,  on  August  29th,  gave 
one  only  a  meagre  idea  of  what  a  beautiful  plant  it  is.  At  Kew  it  is 
grown  under  two  different  methods.  In  a  border  in  the  herbaceous 
ground  it  was  tied  to  strikes  to  give  it  a  start,  and  then  allowed  to  have 
its  own  way.  Under  these  conditions  it  has  made  a  mass  7  to  8  feet  high 
and  6  feet  through,  and  is  now  perfectly  covered  with  its  pretty  white 
ilowers  and  young  fruits,  with  here  and  there  oider  fruits  which  have 
taken  on  the  pink  tinge  that  comes  with  age.  In  another  part  of  the 
gardens  it  was  planted  at  the  foot  of  a  thinly  furnished  Conifer,  and 
allowed  to  grow  over  it  until  it  is  now  about  15  feet  high.  It  has 
branched  free  ly  but  not  sufficiently  to  hide  the  dark  green  leaves  of  its 
support.  Now,  when  the  flowers  are  at  their  btst,  a  very  effective  picture 
is  made,  which  from  a  distance  gives  one  the  impression  that  the  tree  is 
covered  with  snow.  It  is  without  doubt  a  valuable  plant  for  autumn 
work,  and  is  almost  sure  to  be  largely  grown  in  the  near  future. — lv. 
MSTEOROIOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS  AT  CHISWICK, 
_ Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens— height  above 
iea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
Direction  of 
Wind. 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Rain. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
Lowest 
Temperature 
on  Grass. 
1899. 
September. 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
At 
1-ft. 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
-O 
<D 
A 
tUD 
5 
m 
U 
1 
Sunday  .. 3 
Mouday  . .  4 
Tuesday  5 
Wed’sday  6 
Thursday  7 
Friday  . .  8 
Saturday  9 
W. 
S.S.E. 
E.S.Jfi. 
K.N.K. 
K.  X.  E. 
W.N.W. 
N.N.W. 
deg. 
(it  (3 
69  9 
70- 0 
71- 6 
641 
(35  "5 
60'2 
deg.1 
56-7 
61-1 
639 
65-2 
63-3 
62  6 
53  0 
deg. 
73-1 
78-8 
86 '3 
73-1 
73-0 
74'7 
67'5 
deg. 
44-0 
46-9 
54-5 
58-4 
62  "5 
57-5 
54-4 
ins. 
0-44 
0-07 
deg. 
61- 7 
62- 3 
63- 9 
667 
65  T 
64- 7 
64-5 
deg. 
63-2 
62- 9 
634 
63- 5 
63-7 
63-5 
03'7 
deg. 
61-9 
61-7 
61-5 
61-5 
61'5 
C1'5 
01-5 
deg. 
37  "3 
399 
48'5 
51-9 
68-2 
51-9 
50-5 
- —  ■ 
Means  .. 
66'2 
60S 
75'2 
54*0 
Total 
0'51 
644 
63'4 
Cl -6 
48-3 
For  the  most  part  the  weather  has  been  dull  und  misty.  The 
temperature  rose  to  86‘3°  on  the  5th,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  heavy 
thunderstorm  on  the  6th. 
