206 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  5,  1896. 
-  Death  op  Me.  W.  A.  Green. — We  deeply  regret  to  announce 
the'Jdeath  of  Mr.  W.  A.  Green,  father  of  the  indefatigable  Secretary  of 
the  Wolverhampton  Floral  Ffites,  which  occurred  in  the  early  morning 
of  the  1st  inst. 
-  Gardening  Appointment. — Mr.  W.  H.  Whittaker,  for  nearly 
five  years  foreman  to  Col.  Stracy  Clitherow  Boston  House,  Brentford, 
has  been  engaged  as  head  gardener  to  Sir  Hickman  B.  Bacon  Bart., 
Thonock,  Gainsborough. 
-  February  Weather  at  Driffield. — Mean  temperature  at 
9  A.M.  (corrected)  37-89°.  Wet  bulb,  36-87°.  Mean  maximum,  43-23°  ; 
mean  minimum,  33-26°.  Highest,  63°  on  the  8th ;  lowest,  24-5°  on  the  3rd. 
Mean  of  maxima  and  minima,  38-24°.  Mean  radiation  temperature  on 
grass,  27-84°  ;  lowest,  18-6°  on  the  26th  and  27th.  Rainfall,  0-81  inch. 
Number  of  rainy  days,  nine.  Greatest  amount  on  one  day,  0  42  inch  on 
the  20th. — W.  E.  Lovel,  Observer,  York  Road,  Driffield. 
-  Weather  in  South  Wales. — The  total  rainfall  here  for 
the  paBt  month  was  1-33  inch.  Number  of  days  on  which  rain  fell, 
ten  ;  greatest  depth  0-42,  on  the  8th  ;  number  of  hours  of  sunshine, 
sixty-Beven  ;  sunless  days,  twelve.  The  wind  was  in  the  S.E.  and  E.  on 
fourteen  days,  and  in  the  N.W.  and  W.  on  twelve  days;  there  was  frost 
on  thirteen  days,  but  mostly  very  slight,  with  the  exception  of  the  24th 
to  the  27th,  inclusive. — W.  Mabbott,  Gwernllwyn  House,  Doiclais. 
-  February  Weather  at  Hodsock  Priory,  Worksop 
Notts. — Mean  temperature,  39  6°.  Maximum  in  the  screen,  56-9°  on 
the  8th  ;  minimum  in  the  screen,  18-3°  on  the  26th.  Minimum  on  the 
grass,  10’2  on  the  26th.  Frosts  in  the  shade,  twelve  ;  on  the  grass,  twenty. 
Sunshine,  thirty-nine  hours,  or  14  per  cent,  of  the  possible  duration, 
Rainfall,  0-65  inch.  Rain  fell  on  seven  days.  Dry,  dull,  and  mild,  but 
with  some  frosts  in  last  week.  The  mean  temperature  of  February,  1895. 
was  28-1°. — J.  Mallender. 
-  Sussex  Weather.  —  The  total  rainfall  at  Abbot’s  Leigh, 
Haywards  Heath,  Sussex,  for  February  was  0  25  inch,  being  2-39  inches 
below  the  average  ;  the  heaviest  fall  was  0-05  inch  on  the  20th,  Rain 
fell  on  seven  days.  This  is  the  driest  February  in  a  sixteen  -  years 
record,  except  1891,  when  the  amount  was  only  0-04  inch.  The 
maximum  temperature  was  54°  on  the  29th  ;  the  minimum  18°  on  the 
26th.  Mean  maximum,  45-15°;  mean  minimum,  34-15°.  Mean 
temperature  39-65°— 2  92°  above  the  average.  March  1st,  dull  and 
damp. — R.  I. 
-  Insects  Infesting  the  Red  Currant.  —  Fruit  growers  in 
the  East  often  envy  those  of  the  North-western  Pacific  States.  Nearly 
every  kind  of  our  garden  fruits  thrive  admirably,  and  for  a  while  it 
seemed  as  if  they  required  no  care  from  the  hand  of  the  gardener  or 
fruit  grower.  It  is,  however,  only  a  question  of  time  when  the  enemy 
will  steal  into  every  garden,  and  this  is  getting  to  be  the  experience  of 
the  North-western  fruit  grower.  The  ordinary  Red  Currant  is  at  home 
there.  In  no  part  of  the  country  are  the  Currant  bushes  so  healthy  or 
the  product  so  large  as  in  Washington  Slate  ;  but  the  cotton  scale  has 
found  it  out.  This  is  known  to  entomologists  as  Pulvinaria  ribis. 
According  to  “Meehan’s  Monthly  ”  it  is  considered  as  one  of  the  worst 
insect  pests  that  the  Currant  grower  of  that  region  has  to  contend  with, 
Kerosene  emulsion  has  to  be  applied  in  order  to  dislodge  them. 
The  Late  Mr.  R.  Bloxam.  —  There  has  just  passed  away 
from  amongst  us  one  who  had  been  for  many  years  a  most  ardent  lover 
of  the  queen  of  flowers  ;  one  who,  like  a  shock  of  corn  in  full  season  in 
a  ripe  old  age,  in  passing  away  has  left  a  blank  which  will  not  easily 
be  filled.  No  one  would  have  imagined  when  walking  in  his  beautiful 
garden  that  they  were  within  eight  miles  of  Charing  Cross.  One  in 
writing  of  it  has  called  it  “an  ideal  garden,”  and  so  in  truth  it  was, 
with  its  beautiful  trees  and  its  abundance  of  Roses.  No  one  who  ever 
spent  a  day  at  Eltham  Court  is  likely  to  forget  it,  while  the  ruins  of  the 
old  ludor  banqueting  hall  gave  it  an  air  of  antiquarian  interest,  which 
added  greatly  to  its  charms  ;  and  how  its  owner  loved  it,  especially  the 
Roses  ?  Herein  he  might  be  seen  long  after  he  had  passed  his  fourscore 
years,  with  keen  eye  and  steady  hand,  budding  his  dwarf  plants ;  and 
then  when  the  time  for  the  local  show  came  on,  of  which  he  had  been 
the  originator,  with  what  keen  interest  he  entered  into  it,  and  how  kind 
was  his  reception  of  any  of  those  interested  in  the  show.  As  a  member 
of  the  Committee  of  the  National  Rose  Society  he  was  often  most 
helpful ;  his  manners  were  quiet  and  unobtrusive,  but  his  words,  the 
outcome  of  a  calm  and  judicial  mind,  were  ever  weighty  and  of  much 
interest.  Here  and  in  many  other  places  he  will  be  sadly  missed,  and 
he  has  left  behind  no  worthier  representative  of  the  cause  he  had  so 
much  at  heart  as  that  of  the  queen  of  flowers.— D.,  Deal. 
-  Potato  Scab. — An  application  of  300  lbs.  of  sulphur  to  the 
acre  has  been  tried  with  great  success  in  the  New  Jersey  Experiment 
Station.  This  is  a  safer  remedy  by  far  than  the  application  of  corrosive 
sublimate. 
-  Uriah  Pike  Carnation.— A  correspondent  recently  inquired 
whether  this  somewhat  famous  Carnation  was  a  winter  bloomer.  I  saw 
recently  one  of  the  largest  collections  of  the  variety,  numbering 
many  hundreds  of  plants,  and  large  ones  too,  in  the  kingdom,  and  very 
few  indeed  were  carrying  flowers.  I  was  informed  that  whilst  flowering 
pretty  freely  during  the  previous  winter,  the  variety  was  rather  shy 
this  winter,  and  the  change  was  attributed  to  some  diverse  conditions 
of  weather.  Uriah  Pike  has  about  it  much  of  the  tree  character,  but 
may  not  be  regarded  as  a  winter  bloomer  in  the  same  way  that  many 
tree  varieties  are. — A.  D. 
-  A  Worthy  Case  for  the  Orphan  Fund. — The  “  Southamp¬ 
ton  Times  ”  reports  the  sad  death  of  a  nursery  employ^.  The  deceased, 
Thomas  Hatch,  was  a  Rose  and  Carnation  grower  in  the  service  of 
Messrs.  Ratsch  and  Co.,  nurserymen,  Christchurch,  Hants.  About  one 
o’clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  24th  ult.  the  deceased  was  engaged 
at  his  work  when  he  suddenly  fell  forward  dead.  He  had  been  formerly 
employed  in  one  of  the  Messrs.  Rochford’s  nurseries.  No  inquest  was 
held.  The  unfortunate  man,  who  was  thirty -six  years  of  age,  leaves 
behind  a  widow  and  four  young  children.  We  can  but  hope  that 
members  of  the  market  trade  will  see  next  year  that  one  of  Hatch’s 
orphans  is  nominated  for  the  benefits  of  the  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund. 
-  Snapdragons  as  Winter  Flowers. — An  American  contem¬ 
porary  says  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Boston  a  white-flowered  Antir¬ 
rhinum  has  been  grown  for  some  years  in  the  greenhouses  for  winter 
flowers,  and  it  has  become  quite  popular.  Other  people  throughout  the 
country  have  now  taken  hold  of  it,  and  it  is  being  grown  considerably 
both  in  private  and  commercial  establishments.  Amateurs  as  a  rule  grow 
it  in  pots,  as  they  do  Carnations  or  Cinerarias,  but  the  florists  plant  it  out 
on  benches  in  the  same  way  as  they  do  Carnations.  New  plants  are  raised 
from  cuttings  every  year.  By  pinching  back  the  flower  tips  we  can  retard 
the  blooming  time  as  late  as  is  wished,  also  by  not  raising  the  young 
plants  so  early  in  the  season  we  can  have  them  come  into  bloom,  without 
much  pinching,  at  the  required  Beason.  Altogether  this  white  Snap¬ 
dragon  is  a  pretty  and  useful  and  easily  grown  addition  to  our  winter 
flowers,  but  we  question  its  popularity  being  long-lived. 
-  The  Electrical  Drying  of  Fruit.  —  There  would  appear 
to  be  a  good  opening  for  the  use  of  electric  heating  in  connection  with 
the  fruit  trade.  It  is  well  known  that  fresh-gathered  fruit  must  be 
dried  before  being  packed.  This  process,  although  an  apparently 
simple  one,  necessitates  great  care,  and  the  temperature  must  be  well 
regulated,  otherwise  there  is  danger  of  the  fruit  being  damaged.  Large 
drying  rooms  are  in  use  in  some  cases,  heated  by  means  of  steam,  and 
although  this  system  may  be  cheap  to  work  on  a  large  scale,  it  is  not 
always  so  satisfactory  on  a  small  one.  In  such  situations  electric  heat¬ 
ing  could  be  used  with  advantage.  The  perfect  regulation  allows  of 
any  temperature  being  obtained,  and,  what  is  of  great  consequence  in 
such  an  installation,  practically  no  attention  would  be  required.  The 
electrical  plant,  too,  could  be  used  for  lighting,  and  a  few  motors  to  aid 
the  packing  could  easily  be  laid  down. — (“  The  Electrician.”) 
-  Esparto  Grass. — Although  best  known  as  material  for  the 
manufacture  of  good  paper  this  Grass  can  be  put  to  a  number  of  other 
uses.  Hats,  baskets,  mats,  camel  and  donkey  panniers,  cordage,  and  a 
few  coarse  textiles  are  made  from  it  by  the  natives  of  Spain  and  Northern 
Africa,  especially  around  Tunis  and  Tripoli,  where  the  Esparto  (Stipa 
tenacisaima)  grows  abundantly  in  a  wild  state.  The  Esparto  is  one  of 
those  plants  that  do  not  take  kindly  to  cultivation  ;  consequently,  many 
of  the  larger  firms  who  manufacture  the  better  kinds  of  paper  have 
purchased  or  rent  large  tracts  of  land  in  Spain  and  elsewhere,  where 
Esparto  is  almost  the  only  Grass  that  grows.  These  tracts  are  systemati¬ 
cally  worked,  so  that  there  is  no  destruction  of  roots,  and  the  plants 
recover  in  successional  areas.  Even  the  old  Romans  knew  the  value  of 
the  fibrous  Esparto,  and  made  coarse  ropes  of  it,  and  to-day  many  of  the 
Mediterranean  fishermen  prefer  Esparto  to  hemp  cordage.  One  thing 
however,  says  a  contemporary,  prevents  a  wider  use  of  this  subject  for 
cordage,  and  that  is  its  want  of  elasticity.  In  the  No.  2  Museum  at 
Kew  is  a  series  of  articles  made  from  this  now  famous  Grass,  and  also 
samples  of  Esparto  in  the  various  stages  it  his  to  pass  during  its  manu¬ 
facture  into  paper.  A  large  amount  of  Esparto  is  annually  exported 
from  Tunis  and  Tripoli  to  France  and  to  England  ;  the  latter  country 
however,  is  by  far  the  largest  customer,  both  of  the  fibre  suitable  for 
paper  and  that  used  in  textile. 
