February  27,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
183 
Weather  in  London.  —  The  excessively  mild  weather  has 
during  the  last  few  days  been  superseded  by  a  spell  of  cold,  more 
seasonable  to  the  time  of  the  year.  While  the  thermometer  has  not 
fallen  very  low,  an  easterly  wind,  which  still  prevails,  renders  the  air 
extremely  cold  and  biting.  The  change,  however,  is  welcomed  rather 
than  otherwise  as  a  means  of  keeping  in  check  vegetation ,  which  was 
making  rapid  progress,  and,  had  the  mild  weather  continued,  would 
doubtless  have  suffered  more  later  on. 
-  Weather  in  the  North. — The  week  preceding  the  25th 
inst.  has  been  variable,  with  cold  winds  from  the  west  in  the  former 
part,  from  the  E.  and  S.E.  latterly.  Eain  fell  on  the  evening  of  the 
19th  and  on  the  two  following  days.  Sunday  was  bright,  but  cold,  with 
4°  frost  in  the  morning,  and  on  Monday  5°  were  recorded.  •  The  morning 
of  the  latter  day  was  bright ;  the  afternoon  dull,  with  every  appearance 
of  a  change  to  rain. — B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire. 
-  Illustrated  Lecture  on  Fruit  Growing.  —  A  lecturei 
entitled  “  Fruit  Growing  for  Cottagers,”  and  illustrated  with  lantern 
views,  was  given  on  Thursday  evening  last  at  the  Public  Hall,  Clydach, 
Swansea,  by  Mr.  John  Ettle,  gardener,  Glais  House.  Mr.  ThomaB 
Powell,  Board  Schools,  Glais,  occupied  the  chair,  and  in  a  few  well 
chosen  remarks  said  he  hoped  the  lecture  would  be  an  incentive  to 
those  present  to  grow  more  fruit  in  their  gardens,  as  fruit  waB  not  only 
very  wholesome  as  food,  but  fruit  growing  was  healthy  as  an  occupation. 
In  commencing  his  lecture  Mr.  Ettle  said  he  intended  only  taking  those 
kinds  of  fruits  suitable  for  growing  in  the  Swansea  Valley  district — 
viz.,  Apples  and  Pears,  bush  fruits  and  Strawberries.  He  then,  with 
the  aid  of  the  lantern,  gave  what  may  be  termed  an  “  object  lesson  ”  on 
the  preparation  of  the  soil,  propagation  by  budding,  grafting,  cuttings, 
suckers,  and  runners ;  planting,  giving  right  and  wrong  methods ; 
pruning,  root-pruning,  training ;  packing  fruit  for  market.  He  also 
gave  in  detail  the  insect  pests  of  the  various  fruits,  with  their  prevention 
and  cure  ;  and  suitable  manures  and  their  application.  It  is  hoped  the 
lecture  will  be  given  again  in  other  parts  of  the  district. 
-  Death  of  Mr.  John  Morris,  Dundee.— A  widespread  circle 
of  friends  learned,  probably  more  with  sorrow  than  surprise,  of  the 
death  of  Mr.  John  Morris,  on  the  15th  inst.,  at  his  residence  in  the 
outskirts  of  Dundee.  In  the  parish  of  Mains  and  Strathmartine  his  was 
a  well-known  name  for  half  a  century.  He  was  schoolmaster  there  till 
bis  retirement  in  1880,  and  held  several  public  offices  till  his  death.  A 
man  of  cultured  classical,  literary,  and  artistic  tastes,  he  was  a  frequent 
contributor  to  the  local  Press,  an  esteemed  counsellor  to  his  professional 
brethren,  and  a  welcome  occupier  of  the  lecture  platform.  If  tenacious 
of  his  matured  opinions,  he  was  tolerant  of  those  who  differed,  and 
eminently  possessed  the  somewhat  rare  tact  to  discuss  keenly  without 
engendering  bitterness.  To  strict  integrity  he  united  a  kindly,  genial 
disposition  that  made  acquaintance  rapidly  ripen  into  warm  friendship. 
A  keen  florist  of  the  older  school,  in  earlier  years  a  successful  cultivator 
of  several  flowers,  he  latterly  confined  himself  mainly  to  the  Auriculai 
and  till  a  few  years  ago,  when  failing  health  forced  him  to  part  with  it, 
he  possessed  a  large  and  unique  collection.  Clinging  fondly  to  many 
of  the  older  varieties,  he  added  such  of  the  approved  newer  sorts  as  kept 
him  abreast  of  the  times,  and  visitors  in  great  numbers  annually  dropped 
in  at  Ivy  Cottage  to  see  the  bloom.  It  was  a  treat  to  a  real  lover  of 
the  flower  to  spend  an  hour  with  him  at  that,  or,  indeed,  at  any  time, 
and  to  see  and  hear  the  evidences  of  his  warm  attachment  to  it.  His 
death,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  has  caused  sincere  regret  in,  and  far 
beyond,  the  district  in  which  he  so  long  resided,  and  in  the  pages  of  the 
Journal,  where  his  contributions  on  the  Auricula  have  over  and  again 
awakened  the  attentions  of  its  lovers,  an  attached  admirer,  on  behalf  of 
many  sorrowing  friends,  would  seek  to  place  this  unworthy  record  of 
their  loss.  How  the  roll  of  Auricula  growers  in  Scotland  shortens  !  Of 
one’s  acquaintances,  the  majority  bound  by  a  much  warmer  tie,  Alex. 
Meiklejohn  of  Kaploch,  Chas.  Jeffrey,  John  Gair,  Peter  Campbell  of 
Falkirk,  Thos.  Hastie  of  Strathaven,  G.  B.  Simpson  of  Dundee  have 
gone,  and  now  worthy  John  Morris  is  called  at  a  season  when  his  letters 
began  to  pulse  with  freshening  interest.  And  how  few,  how  very  few, 
remain  1 — A  Northern  Amateur. 
-  Oxford  Botanic  Garden.— Mr.  W.  Warde  Fowler,  Fellow 
of  Lincoln  College,  has  been  appointed  Curator  of  this  garden  in  succes¬ 
sion  to  Mr.  E.  Chapman,  who  has  resigned. 
-  Chester  Horticultural  Show  and  Fete.  —  It  was 
accidentally  stated  on  page  163  last  week,  that  the  date  of  the  above 
show  is  July  15th.  The  writer  of  the  notification  was  misled  by  the 
boldness  of  the  type  announcing  that  entries  close  on  July  15th,  over¬ 
looking  the  much  lighter  line  on  the  schedule  indicating  the  dates  of 
the  exhibition — August  5th  and  6th,  We  must  find  him  some  spectacles 
though  we  suspect  the  show  itself  will  be  large  enough  for  him  to  see 
without  them. 
- Reading  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement  Associa¬ 
tion. — The  fortnightly  meeting  of  this  Association  was  held  on  Monday 
evening,  when  a  very  interesting  and  instructive  lecture  on  “  Some 
Common  Insects  of  the  Kitchen  Garden  and  Orchard  ”  was  given  by 
Mr.  James  Stewart,  Horticultural  Lecturer  to  the  Oxfordshire  County 
Council.  The  lecturer  had  prepared  drawings  of  various  insects,  which 
he  showed  by  the  aid  of  the  magic  lantern.  The  discussion  which 
followed  turned  chiefly  on  the  ravages  of  the  Onion  fly  and  the  Carrot 
fly,  and  the  best  methods  of  dealing  with  these  pests.  At  the  conclusion 
the  lecturer  was  accorded  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks. 
-  Camellias. — Mention  of  the  collection  of  Camellias  in  pots 
exhibited  last  week  at  the  Drill  Hall,  London,  reminds  me  of  the  attrac¬ 
tive  show  of  these  flowers  I  saw  about  a  week  ago  in  the  Birmingham 
Botanical  Gardens,  and  which  are  at  the  present  time  a  special  feature 
there.  They  are  all  grown  in  pots,  tubs  or  boxes,  and  though  mostly  of 
considerable  age,  are  in  the  healthiest  condition.  A  noble  looking  plant, 
about  14  feet  high  and  bushy  in  proportion,  of  the  good  old  C.'imbricata 
was  smothered  with  fine  blooms ;  as  usual,  the  fine  specimen  of 
C.  reticulata  was  in  resplendent  array,  Apropos  of  the  specific 
name  of  this  variety,  somehow  I  have  ever  been  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  it  is  not  sufficiently  significant  of  the  chief  charac¬ 
teristic  of  the  variety — that  is  the  gorgeous,  Pseony-like  blossoms, 
and  that,  for  instance,  paeoniseflora,  might  well  have  been  appended 
to  the  variety  in  question,  not  but  what  the  name  reticulata 
suitably  applies  to  the  distinct  network  venation  of  its  foliage. 
In  comparison  with  its  congeners,  owing  to  its  somewhat  straggling 
habit  of  growth  and  less  bright  green  foliage,  when  not  in  flower  this 
variety ’does  not  lend  itself  so  readily  as  an  ornamental  evergreen  shrub, 
and  probably  that  is  in  a  great  measure  why  it  is  so  seldom  seen  in  our 
greenhouses.  With  this  digression  I  herewith  append  the  names  of  a 
few  of  the  more  attractive  varieties  in  bloom  at  the  time  of  my  visit, 
comprising  such  as  Donckelaari,  Countess  of  Orkney,  Madame  Pepin, 
Rubens,  L6on  Lequay,  Count  de  Gomez,  Augustine  superba,  Suzeriana, 
Princess  of  Prussia,  Yalteveredo,  Comtesse  Lavinia  Maggi,  Beali,  De  la 
Reine,  Masteri,  Mathotiana,  and  alba  plena. — W.  G. 
-  Attractive  Apples. — Supplementary  to  the  numerous  and 
good  list  of  Apples  forwarded  to  “  Planter  ”  (p.  144),  the  following 
sorts  may  be  well  recommended  to  select  from.  Culinary  :  Bramley’s 
Seedling,  Loddington,  Mere  de  Mfinage,  Potts’  Seedling,  Tyler’s  Kernel, 
a  very  fine  Herefordshire  Apple  ;  Yorkshire  Beauty,  Alfriston,  Bedford¬ 
shire  Foundling,  Red  Costard,  one  of  the  oldest  known ;  Flanders’  Pippin, 
Frogmore  Prolific,  Gascoyne’s  Scarlet  Seedling,  very  attractive ;  Maltster, 
Yorkshire  Greening,  Schoolmaster,  Lewis’s  Incomparable,  and  Northern 
Greening  or  John  Apple,  an  excellent  bearer,  long  keeper,  and  first- 
class  cooker.  Dessert :  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin,  Ribston  Pippin,  Court 
Pendfi  Plat,  Duchess  of  Oldenburg,  Red  Astrachan,  Golden  Winter 
Pearmain,  Golden  Pippin,  Wyken  Pippin,  Mannington’s  Pearmain,  Old 
Nonpareil,  Quarenden,  Adams’  Pearmain. 
_  In  accordance  with  the  courteous  invitation  of  the  Editor,  I 
beg  to  supplement  the  list  of  valuable  Apples  given  on  page  144  of 
the  Journal  of  Horticulture ,  with  the  following  varieties,  which  I  grow 
in  my  garden,  and  find  highly  ornamental  as  pyramid  trees— viz,,  (1) 
Duchess  of  Oldenburg,  or  Russian  Peach,  (2)  Beauty  of  Bath,  (3)  Lady 
Sudeley,  (4)  Gascoyne’s  Scarlet  Seedling,  or  the  Glory  of  England.  All 
of  these  are  very  beautiful  and  highly  productive.  Beauty  of  Bath, 
though  only  of  medium  size,  is  an  invaluable  dessert  Apple,  and  one 
of  the  earliest  at  present  in  cultivation,  coming  into  flower  before  the 
Irish  Peach,  which  usually  sheds  its  blossoms  in  the  beginning  of 
May.  I  might  also  have  included  the  Early  Rivers  Apple,  raised  by 
Mr.  Rivers  at  Sawbridgeworth.  It  is  a  distinct  advance,  in  many  im¬ 
portant  respects,  on  Lord  Suffield.  It  has  been  highly  praised  by 
Mr.  Bunyard  at  Maidstone,  a  reliable  authority  on  matters  pertaining 
j  to  fruit  cultivation.— David  R,  Williamson. 
