December  7,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
497 
-  ISLE  OF  Wight — The  monthly  meeting  of  the  Isle  of  Wight 
Horticultural  Improvement  Association  was  held  at  Newport  on  Satur¬ 
day  last.  Dr.  J.  Groves,  B  A,,  J.P.,  presided  over  a  large  attendance  of 
members  who  were  present  to  hear  a  paper  read  by  Mr.  W.  Tribbick, 
F.R.H  S.,  Brook  Gardens,  on  the  “  Cultivation  of  Muscat  Grapes.”  The 
essayist,  who  is  au  expert  in  Grape  culture,  dealt  exhaustively  w  th  the 
subject,  and  received  a  vote  of  thanks.  The  subsequent  discussion  was 
taken  part  in  by  the  Chairman,  Messrs.  W.  )W.  Heath  A.  W.  Kime, 
R.  Bennett,  and  others  Several  new  members  were  elected  at  the  close 
of  a  most  successful  meeting  — S.  H. 
-  Jam  for  Our  Soldiers. — Amongst  the  provender  for  the 
troops  in  South  Africa  a  particularly  interesting  item  is  the  jam.  This 
commodity  was  firs,  given  to  the  British  troops  in  the  Soudan  expedition 
of  1884  and  1885,  and  it  was  afterwards  supplied  to  the  Ashanti  expedition. 
It  was  reported  on  very  favourably  on  each  occasion,  for  not  only  was  it 
regarded  with  favour  by  the  troops,  but  it  was  found  to  be  a  distinctly 
healthy  food.  Jam  has  therefore  taken  its  permanent  place  as  one  good 
thing  among  others  for  troops  to  fight  on,  and  the  quantities  to  be  kept 
in  South  Africa  as  a  four  months’  reserve  amount  to  no  fewer  than 
1,450,000  lbs.,  consigned  in  tins  each  containing  a  single  pound. 
-  Birds  and  Fruit  Buds. — “R.  M.”  asks  on  page  475  for 
advice  about  protecting  fruit  buds  from  the  depredations  of  bullfinches. 
I  find  several  other  offenders,  namely,  chaffinches,  bluecaps,  sparrows  ; 
the  latter  most  numerous.  I  have  effectually  protected  my  fruit  buds  for 
the  past  twenty  years  with  black  cotton  :  white  will  not  do.  When 
pruning  commences  in  November  start  a  small  boy  to  follow  with  a  bobbin 
of  black  cotton,  giving  the  end  of  the  cotton  a  couple  of  turns  on  one  of 
the  outer  twigs,  then  pass  on  (allowing  the  bobbin  to  revolve  in  the  partly 
closed  palm  of  the  hand),  forming  an  almost  invisible  network  of 
about  6-inch  mesh.  I  allow  this  to  remain  on  the  year  round.  It  helps  to 
keep  off  the  blackbirds  in  summer. — J.  CAMPBELL,  Mickleover  Manor 
Gardens,  Derby. 
-  Fresh  Grapes  from  Canada. — There  is  now,  says  the 
“  Daily  Mail,”  every  prospect  of  a  cheap  supply  of  fresh  Grapes  being 
put  upon  the  English  markets  in  future  years  during  the  autumn  and 
winter  months.  Already  the  test  shipments  of  these  fruits,  carried  in 
refrigerated  chambers,  are  on  show  at  Manchester,  and  the  trade 
expresses  much  satisfaction  at  the  saleable  nature  of  the  fruit.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  great  development  of  the  Canadian  fruit  trade 
in  the  United  Kingdom  will  do  much  to  extend  the  demand  for  cheap 
late  Grapes,  for  hitherto  the  middle  and  working  classes  have  had  to 
depend  upon  the  hard  Spanish  Almerias,  which  are  sent  into  our  ports 
packed  in  cork-dust  in  barrels  weighing  from  50lbs.  to  601bs.  gross.  These 
are  the  well-known  green  Grapes,  so  popular  with  grocers  and  dried 
fruit  traders.  The  Canadian  supply  will  insure  ample  quantities  of 
Grapes,  of  far  superior  quality  to  the  Almerias  and  at  a  reasonable 
price.  When  arrangements  have  been  completed  the  English  markets 
will  be  kept  stocked  with  fresh  Grapes  put  up  in  dainty  little  baskets, 
and  thus  render  the  storage  of  the  Almeria  Grapes  by  market  men,  to 
insure  supplies  after  Christmas,  unnecessary.  Various  other  fruits  are 
#o  be  sent  in  time,  and  the  French,  Spanish,  and  Dutch  shippers  will  find 
many  of  their  fruits  displaced  by  the  superior  products  despatched  from 
Canada. 
_  Thinning  Apples  —  The  Codlin  Moth.  —  A  Tompkins 
County  (New  York)  correspondent  of  an  American  contemporary  relates 
his  experience  this  year  in  the  Apple  orchard.  The  Rhode  Island 
Greening  exceeded  all  in  productiveness,  and  though  sold  at  10  cents  per 
barrel  less  than  red  sorts,  proved  more  profitable.  Some  old  sorts,  like 
Yellow  Bellflower  and  Spitzenberg,  gave  full  cropB,  but  Baldwin  did  not. 
Two  trees  that  were  thinned  last  winter  by  removing  branches  and  fruit 
buds,  gave  twice  as  much  saleable  fruit  as  those  that  were  not  thinned, 
and  the  labour  did  not  cost  much.  He  thinks  it  is  easier  and  cheaper  to 
thin  in  this  way  than  after  the  fruit  has  set.  Trees  which  had  many 
limbs  taken  out,  so  as  to  leave  them  open  to  the  sun,  gave  fruit  more  free 
from  the  Codlin  moth  caterpillar  than  those  with  close  heads,  and  the 
fruit  was  larger.  It  is  his  idea  that  the  moth  prefers  to  lay  her  eggs  in 
the  shade,  as  Apples  at  the  top  and  in  open  spaces  were  not  so  badly 
infested  as  in  places  where  the  branches  were  thick.  The  opinion  of  the 
American  Cultivator  is  that  she  seeks  shelter  from  the  wind,  but  thinning 
the  trees  would  let  in  both  sun  and  wind.  In  that  section  the  Apple 
buyers  sort  and  pack  the  fruit  themselves,  and  those  who  have  sold  to 
them  do  not  believe  that  small,  wormy,  or  defective  fruit  goes  into  the 
middle  of  the  barrel,  as  they  sometimes  leave  half  the  crop  on  the  ground. 
The  seconds  go  to  the  evaporators  at  40  cents  per  100  lbs.  Most  of  the 
crops  sold  at  1  dol.  50  cents  a  barrel  for  fruit  in  piles  in  the  orchard. 
-  Re-roofing  the  Crystal  Palace. — An  important  piei*  o 
work  is  in  course  of  completion  at  the  Crystal  Palace.'in  the  re-roofing 
of  the  great  central  transept.  The  immense  iron  and  glass  structure, 
designed  by  Sir  Joseph  Paxton,  to  house  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851, 
was  only  intended  for  that  temporary  use,  and  its  re-erection  at  Sydenham 
was  wholly  an  afterthought.  Probably  the  nave  will  next  require  atten¬ 
tion.  The  work  on  the  transept  alone,  now  nearly  completed,  will  use  up 
a  hundred  tons  of  glass,  and  will  cost  about  £12,000.  The  new  roofs  will 
be  lighter  than  the  old,  and  larger  sheets  of  glass  have  been  put  in  without 
the  use  of  putty.  Forty-nine  inches  was  the  extreme  length  to  which 
glass  manufacturers  could  go  when  the  Crystal  Palace  was  originally 
built,  but  it  is  now  said  that  there  is  practically  no  limit.  The  total  area 
of  the  glass  in  these  roofs  is  nearly  15  acres. 
- Sussex  Weather. — The  total  rainfall  at  Abbots  Leigh,  Hay¬ 
wards  Heath,  for  the  past  month  was  55*5  inches,  being  1*88  inch  above 
the  average.  The  heaviest  '^fall  was  1*96  inch  on  the  5th  ;  rain  fell  on 
ten  days.  The  maximum  temperature  was  61°  on  the  2nd  ;  the  minimum 
30°  on  the  30th.  Mean  maximum  52*19°,  mean  minimum  39  23°,  mean 
temperature  45*76°,  which  is  2*50°  above  the  average.  Since  the  first 
week,  which  was  wet  and  stormy,  it  has  been  exceptionally  fine,  though 
not  very  bright.  We  had  7°  frost  on  the  morning  of  the  3rd  inst. — R.  I. 
-  November  Weather  at  DowlAis. — Rainfall  5-73  inches, 
which  fell  on  nine  days  ;  greatest  fall  1*56  inch  on  the  3rd  and  1*75 
inch  on  the  7th.  Temperatures :  Mean  maximum  46*566° ;  highest 
reading  53°  on  the  4th,  mean  minimum  37*500°  ;  lowest  reading  22°  on 
the  18th.  Below  freezing  point  on  four  nights.  The  prevailing  direction 
of  the  wind  was  S.W^and  W.  There  were  twenty-three  sunless  days. 
After  the  first  week  the  wind  was  very  quiet,  but  was  remarkable  for  dull 
days,  with  no  sunshine  and  no  rain  from  the  11th  onwards,  a  very  unusual 
thing  for  this  district. — Wm.  Mabbott. 
-  November  Weather  at  Hodsock  Priory,  Worksop. — 
Mean  temperature,  47°.  Maximum  in  the  screen,  63°  on  the  2nd  ; 
minimum  in  the  screen,  5*1°  on  the  19th  ;  on  the  grass,  18°  on  the 
17th.  Number  of  frosts  in  the  shade,  three  }  on  the  grass,  fifteen 
Sunshine,  thirty-nine  hours,  or  15  per  cent,  of  the  possible  duration  } 
difference  from  average  —  7.  Rainfall,  1*21  inch  ;  ;  difference  from 
average  —  0  88.  Rainy  days,  twelve  ;  maximum  fall,  0*29  inch  on  the  3rd. 
Rainfall  from  January  1st,  19*94  inches ;  difference  from  average. 
—  3*24  inches.  The  warmest  November  since  1881.  Mean  temperature 
the  same  as  in  October ;  a  good  deal  of  high  wind,  but  little  rain, 
especially  during  the  latter  half  of  the  month. — J.  Mallender. 
-  November  Weather  at  Belvoir  Castle. — The  wind  was 
in  a  westerly  direction  twenty-two  days.  The  total  rainfall  was  1*46 
inch,  this  fell  on  fifteen  days,  and  is  0*94  inch  below  the  average  for  the 
month  ;  the  greatest  daily  fall  was  0  29  inch  on  the  7th.  Barometer  (cor¬ 
rected  and  reduced)  :  highest  reading  30  751  inches  on  the  17th  at  9  A.M.  ; 
lowest,  29*289  inches  on  the  8th  at  9  A.M.  Thermometers  :  highest  in  the 
shade  62°  on  the  4th  ;  lowest,  22°  on  the  19th.  Mean  of  daily  maxima, 
51-73°  ;  mean  of  daily  minima,  40*20°,  mean  temperature  of  the  month, 
45*96°  ;  lowest  on  the  grass,  20°  on  the  19th  ;  highest  in  the  sun,  95°  on 
the  1st.  Mean  temperature  of  the  earth  at  3  feet  deep,  47*43°.  Total 
sunshine,  66  hours  30  min.  There  were  eight  sunless  days. — W.  H.  Divers. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS  AT  CHISWICK. 
— Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens — height  above 
sea  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. 
November. 
and 
December. 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
At 
1-ft. 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
03 
09 
© 
A 
bfi 
H 
© 
(s 
o 
hJ 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
ins. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Sunday  ..26 
S.W. 
44-6 
44*1 
63-4 
42-9 
— 
46-9 
48-1 
60-6 
40-6 
Monday.  .27 
s.w. 
48-9 
47-0 
64-8 
42-9 
— 
46-4 
48-3 
60-4 
29-3 
Tuesday  28 
vv.s.w. 
47'6 
45-9 
64-0 
46-8 
— 
47-6 
48-6 
60-3 
42-0 
VVed’sday  29 
N.E. 
83*1 
33-0 
47-1 
30*5 
_ 
44-9 
48-6 
60-3 
24-3 
Thursday  30 
N.  N.W. 
29-8 
29-6 
47-9 
28-0 
— 
42-9 
47-6 
50-3 
23-6 
Friday  ..  1 
s.  w. 
48*2 
44-9 
63-2 
32-6 
0*27 
43-8 
46’9 
60-2 
31*1 
Saturday  2 
W.N.W. 
36-9 
36-1 
41 T 
32-7 
— 
44-1 
47-1 
60-0 
23-9 
Total 
Means  .. 
41*2 
39-9 
60*2 
36-6 
0-27 
45-2 
47-9 
60-3 
30*7 
The  weather  during  the  week  has  been  dull,  with  much  fog  and  frost 
on  five  mornings. 
