October  16,  1896. 
375 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
-  iKOPyEOLUM  SPECIOSUM.— If  "  D.,  Beal,"  will  plant  his 
Tropaeolum  speciosum  to  the  north  I  think  he  may  be  more  successful. 
In  this  neighbourhood  it  grows  fairly  well,  but  only  on  a  north  wal^ 
against  a  wire  netting.— Marianne  Pollock,  Bagshot. 
-  The  Weather  in  the  West  op  Scotland.— The  weather 
here  daring  the  whole  of  September  has  been  of  the  most  wretched 
description*  We  had  rain  on  eighteen  days,  and  most  of  the  month  high 
winds  prevailed.  October  does  not  improve  the  prospect,  for  we  have 
not  yet  had  one  fine  day,  and  the  wind  has  been  blowing  a  gale  nearly 
the  whole  time.  Dahliai  and  Chrysanthemums  have  suffered  very  much. 
No  frost  yet. — S.  J. 
Sussex  Rainfall. — The  total  rainfall  at  Abbots  Leigh,  Hay¬ 
ward’s  Heath,  for  September  was  5-81  inches,  being  2-68  inches  above 
the  average.  Total  for  the  year  up  to  date,  16  13  inches.  The  heaviest 
fall  was  0'89  inch  on  the  21th.  Rain  fell  on  twenty-three  days.  The 
maximum  temperature  was  71°  on  the  8th ;  the  minimum,  38°,  on  the 
2l8t.  Mean  maximum,  63'25°  ;  mean  minimum,  4912° ;  mean  tempe¬ 
rature,  o6’18°,  which  is  0  51°  below  the  average. —  R.  I. 
-  Heavy  Snow  in  the  Lake  District.- A  heavy  fall  of 
snow  occurred  in  the  northern  part  of  Lake  district  during  Saturday 
night  and  Sunday  morning,  and  not  only  were  the  moantains  covered, 
but  there  was  a  greater  depth  in  the  vales  than  at  any  time  daring  last 
winter.  Trees  almost  in  full  foliage  were  white  with  snow,  and  hay 
and  corn,  some  still  ancut  in  the  fields,  presented  a  sight,  the  like  of 
which  probably  has  not  been  witnessed  in  living  memory. 
-  September  Weather  at  Hodsock  Priory,  Worksop.— 
Mean  temperature,  55  6°.  Maximum  in  the  screen,  69-1°  on  the  13th  ; 
minimum  in  the  screen,  33’9°  on  the  21st ;  minimum  on  the  grass,  29  1° 
on  the  21st.  Sunshine,  sixty-five  hours,  or  17  per  cent,  of  stheSpossible 
duration.  Rainfall  :  4-26  inches  of  rain  fell  on  twenty-three]  days.  A 
very  dull,  wet,  and  stormy  month,  with  one  slight  frost  on  grass,  and  a 
complete  absence  of  fine  weather. — J.  Mallender. 
'  The  Weather  in  Isle  of  Wight.— The  elements  are  still 
in  a  very  unsettled  state,  wind  and  rain  daily,  the  former  with  such 
terrific  force  as  to  uproot  trees,  lower  hoardings  to  the  ground,  and 
shake  the  houses,  both  glass  and  brick,  so  as  to  disturb  the^slumbers 
of  the  occupants.  Gardens  which  a  few  weeks  ago  looked  in  the  pink 
of  condition,  have  a  very  dilapidated  appearance.  Kidney  Beans  in 
promising  condition  have  been  so  battered  that  not  a  leaf  is  left  on  them. 
Tomatoes  with  excellent  crops  of  fruit  are  strewn  all  overjthe  place, 
Chrysanthemums  laid  as  flat  as  a  “pancake,”  with  leaves  ;asj black  as 
soot,  bedding  plants  have  a  forlorn  appearance.  What  an  unusual  state 
of  things  for  the  Garden  Isle  I  The  “  visitors  ”  have  departed,  as  the 
majority  of  them  find  more  comfort  at  home  than  in  other  people’s 
houses,  and  we  have  to  suffer  the  loss. — S.  H. 
Weather  in  South  Wales. — The  following  is  a  summary 
of  the  weather  here  for  the  past  month  Sunshine,  forty-two  hours 
fifty  minutes.  There  were  twelve  sunless  days  j  the  greatest  amount 
was  five  hours  on  the  lOtL.  Thera  was  less  than  three  hours  of  sunshine 
on  ten  days.  Total  rainfall,  9  13  inches,  which  fell  on  twenty-six  days, 
leaving  only  tour  days  without  rain.  The  greatest  fall  was  on  the  24th! 
1-95,  being  followed  on  the  17th  by  M4  inch,  the  total  for  the  preced¬ 
ing  eight  months  being  18-83  inches.  The  wind  was  in  the  W.  and 
6.W.  on  twenty-one  days.  There  were  very  strong  winds  throughout 
the  month,  developing  into  very  strong  gales  on  the  26th  and  27th,  doing 
a  great  amount  of  damage,  especially  in  the  case  of  Chrysanthemums, 
some  plants  being  stripped  of  every  leaf,  and  only  the  bud  being  left  on 
the  top,  and  a  great  number  of  plants  were  totally  destroyed.— 
W .  Mabbott,  Gwernllwyn  Mouse,  Bowlais. 
-  Early  Winter. — The  exceptiouil  character  of  the  weatker 
experienced  in  Edinburgh  on  the  11th  inst.  may  be  best  judged  from  the 
facts  that  only  thrice  during  the  p  ist  126  years  has  snow  fallen  so  early 
in  the  season.  The  following  statement  includes  every  entry  of  snow 
as  early  as  October  10th  : — 
1817,  October  1  .  Slight  snow  showers. 
1852,  October  8  .  Snow  shower  in  morning. 
1888,  October  4  .  Hail,  sleet,  and  snow. 
1896,  October  10  .  Sleet  and  snow  after  4  p.m. 
Taking  the  average  of  the  past  century  and  a  quarter,  the  date  of  first 
snowfall  works  out — November  24th,  the  earliest  appearance  of  winter 
occurring  in  1817,  when  snow  fell  on  October  Ist.  In  the  winter  of 
1857-58  the  first  snow  fell  on  January  3 Ist  of  the  latter  year,  the  season 
being  abnormally  mild  till  the  middle  of  February.— I  am,  icc., 
R.  C,  Mossman.— (“Scotsman”).  ' 
-  September  Weather  at  Bath. — I  am  looking  forward  to 
the  published  accounts  of  the  rainfall  for  September  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  Rain  has  fallen  here  on  twenty-four  days.  On  seven 
days  the  fall  averaged  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  for  each  day,  in¬ 
cluding  a  fall  of  1'13  inch  on  the  24th,  making  for  the  month  a  total 
fall  of  7-78.  It  was  only  after  the  heavy  rain  and  strong  wind  on  the 
24th  that  the  springs  and  the  brook  showed  any  improvement.  Now 
the  fields  are  beautifully  green,  while  the  trees  have  put  on  their 
autumn  tints. — J.  M.,  Camerton. 
-  The  Weather  Last  Month. — September  was  remarkable  for 
six  consecutive  sunless  days  at  the  commencement,  and  for  the  heavy 
rainfall,  which  makes  it  the  wettest  September  since  1883.  The  wind 
was  in  a  southerly  direction  twenty  days.  Total  rainfall  4’15  inches, 
which  fell  on  twenty-seven  days,  the  greatest  daily  fall  being  0  68  inch 
on  the  24tb.  Barometer,  highest  reading,  30*268  on  the  30th  at  9  P.M.; 
lowest,  28*470  on  the  25th  at  9  A.M.  Thermometers,  highest  in  the 
shade,  69  5°  on  the  11th  ;  lowest,  35°  on  the  2l8t.  Mean  of  daily  maxima 
62*38°  ;  mean  of  daily  minima  49  46°.  Mean  temperature  of  the  month 
56*92°.  Lowest  on  the  grass,  32®  on  the  2l9t ;  highest  in  the  sun,  125° 
on  the  9th.  Mean  of  the  earth  at  3  feet  56*43°  Total  sunshine 
ninety-two  hours  forty-five  minutes.  We  had  seven  sunless  days. — 
W.  H.  Divers. 
-  Apple  Grovting. — Through  New  York  State  this  is  quite  an 
industry,  and  with  good  management,  paying  attention  to  the  trees,  and 
growing  suitable  varieties  for  shipping,  is  successful.  Planting  an 
orchard  and  keeping  it  in  good  shape  means  a  great  amount  of  labour 
and  some  years  of  waiting  for  returns.  Supposing  the  trees  do  well  we 
must  count  six  or  seven  years  until  there  are  any  returns.  This  seems 
a  long  time  to  wait,  but  after  that  period,  if  the  trees  have  been  properly 
cared  for,  the  returns  will  come  in  ;  but  the  man  who  wants  a  fancy 
price  for  his  fruit  must  at  no  time  ship  any  but  first-class  samples. 
When  a  man  once  gets  his  name  up,  says  an  American  contemporary,  he 
can  keep  it  by  shipping  selected  fruit.  A  large  per-centage  of  Apples 
are  shipped  3000  miles  to  England.  One  can  hardly  pass  a  fruit  store 
in  London  which  had  not  those  bouncing  Baldwins  ;  they  are  certainly 
much  finer  in  appearance  than  the  English-grown  fruit.  In  growing 
Apples  for  profit  winter  varieties  are  the  ones  to  rely  on,  such  as  Bald¬ 
win,  Ben  Davis,  Golden  Russett,  Newton  Pippin,  Northern  Spy,  and 
Rhode  Island  Greening  ;  these  are  all  good  for  shipping  long  distances. 
York  Imperial  is  rapidly  forcing  its  way  to  the  first  rank  on  English 
maikets.  A  few  autumn  Apples  come  in  useful  for  home  use.  Duchess  of 
Oldenburg,  Gravenstein,  Fall  Pippin,  Maiden’s  Blush  are  standard  sorts. 
Apples  are  an  important  autumn  and  winter  fruit,  and  well  deserve 
attention. 
MS.  PETER  WHITTON. 
This  well-known  Perthshire  gardener  died  on  the  5th  inst.  at 
Methven  Castle,  near  Perth,  where  he  had  been  head  gardener  to  the 
Smythes  of  Methven  for  nearly  fifty  years.  Though  not  an  exhibitor  he 
was  a  thorough  all-round  gardener,  and,  as  befitting  a  place  where 
arboreal  interest  is  strikingly  represented,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Royal  Scottish  Arboricultural  Society,  and  to  whom  he  rendered 
excellent  service  when  they  visited  that  grand  domain  some  years  ago. 
His  alacrity  in  giving  information  when  solicited  was  very  remarkable. 
It  is  not  a  privilege  afforded  everyone  to  root  cuttings  of  Coniferas 
and  see  them  grow  to  trees  60  feet  and  more  high.  The  Conifers  which 
Mr.  Whitton  planted  are  the  admiration  of  all  visitors  to  the  fine  old 
place. 
This  year  the  kitchen  garden  attains  its  centenary,  and  it  is  remark¬ 
able  that  during  that  period  there  have  been  only  three  head  gardeners 
at  Methven.  In  the  sixties,  when  the  pleasure  grounds  were  extended, 
Mr.  Whitton  planted  many  interesting  Conifers,  which  are  now  objects 
of  great  beauty,  the  main  feature  being  an  avenue  of  Cedrus  deodora, 
known  as  the  Simla  Walk  from  the  fact  that  the  plants  were  raised  on 
the  place  from  seeds  sent  from  Simla  to  Mrs.  Smythe  by  her  cousin,  the 
late  Earl  of  Elgin,  then  Viceroy  of  India. 
Mr.  Whitton  took  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  parish,  being 
President  of  the  village  library  for  over  thirty  years,  also  an  Elder  in 
the  parish  church  for  over  thirty-six  years.  A  keen  curler,  he  was 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Methven  Curling  Club  for  many  years. 
His  funeral,  on  October  8th,  was  attended  by  many  head  gardeners  from 
all  parts  of  Perthshire  and  other  counties.  An  act,  which  spoke  volumes, 
from  an  appreciative  family,  whom  he  faithfully  served  so  long,  was  that 
Colonel  Smythe  laid  his  head  in  the  grave  at  Methven  Churchyard. 
Of  Mr.  Whitton’s  five  surviving  sons  two  followed  gardening,  one 
being  the  talented  Superintendent  of  Glasgow  public  parks,  the  other 
Superintendent  of  the  Dooars  district  of  one  of  these  new  gigantic  tea 
companies  in  India. 
Mrs.  Whitton  predeceased  her  husband  only  six  weeks.  Mr.  Tames 
Jackson,  an  old  pupil  whom  Mr.  Whitton  had  recommended,  has  been 
appointed  big  successor. 
