July  15,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
49 
-  Gaedening  appointments. — Mr.  G.  Dance,  general  foreman 
at  South  Lychett  Manor,  has  been  appointed  head  gardener  to  Sir  Elliott 
Lees,  Bart.,  at  the  same  place.  Mr  E.  Seal,  gardener  at  Pownall  Hall, 
Wilmslow,  has  been  placed  in  a  similar  position  at  Sharston  Hall,  North- 
enden,  the  residence  of  R.  Clay,  Esq. 
-  Kentish  Strawberey  Crops. — In  some  parts  of  Kent  this 
year  the  crop  of  Strawberries  is  quite  phenomenal.  From  Sandwich 
alone  during  seven  days  over  100  tons  of  this  luscious  fruit  were 
despatched.  In  one  day  the  consignments  exceeded  30  tons,  requiring 
special  goods  trains  to  convey  them  to  London.  Large  quantities,  how¬ 
ever,  go  beyond  London  to  the  great  centres  in  the  Midlands  and  the 
"North,  the  average  price  being  Is.  per  gallon.  There  is  now  a  very  con¬ 
siderable  acreage  under  Strawberry  cultivation  in  Kent. — (“  Westminster 
Gazette.”) 
-  New  York  Markets. — The  first  new  Apples,  green  and 
small,  came  from  North  Carolina  recently,  says  a  New  York  con¬ 
temporary.  Niagara  Grapes,  from  Florida,  are  already  offered  here,  a 
3  lb.  basket  of  large  berried  attractive  bunches  costing  45  cents.  Other 
new-crop  fruits  are  Currants  and  black  and  red  Raspberries  from  Mary¬ 
land,  Delaware,  and  New  Jersey,  Water  Melons  and  Musk  Melons  are 
now  of  good  size  and  flavour,  and  sell  readily.  Choice  English  Goose¬ 
berries  of  immense  size  bring  20  cents  a  quart.  Nectarines,  from 
California,  large  and  showy,  cost  50  cents  a  dozen,  and  new  Grape-fruit, 
from  Jamaica,  25  cents  apiece.  Forty-four  carloads  of  California  fruits 
were  sold  here  last  week.  Lemons  have  advanced  100  dol.  a  box  during 
the  past  ten  days,  in  anticipation  of  warmer  weather. 
-  The  Late  Mr.  Woodcock. — Under  the  heading  of  a  ”  Public 
Loss,”  we  take  the  following  particulars  from  the  “Eastern  Evening 
News  ”  of  the  5th  inst.  “  Mr.  Woodcock  began  lecturing  under  the 
Norfolk  County  Council  in  1802,  and  in  consequence  of  the  success 
attending  his  lectures  he  was  given  a  permanent  appointment  in  May, 
1893,  since  when  he  has  been  continuously  at  work  lecturing  in  school 
rooms  or  in  the  open  air  on  the  management  of  allotments  and  gardens  ; 
inspecting  allotments  for  the  award  of  the  County  Council  prizes,  and 
acting  as  Judge  at  the  various  county  shows.  The  deceased  gentleman 
was  held  in  the  highest  possible  regard  by  members  of  the  County 
Council,  who  placed  a  high  value  on  his  labours.  He  had  an  immense 
store  of  experience  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  he  had  a  happy  knack 
of  imparting  his  knowledge  to  others.  Amongst  cottage  garden  and 
allotment  holders  all  over  Norfolk  he  made  a  large  circle  of  friends. 
Applications  for  his  services  were  constantly  being  received  at  the 
County  Council  offices,  and  whenever  he  lectured  he  was  asked  for  a 
second  time.  Personally  he  was  a  man  of  genial  unobtrasive  character. 
He  had  only  attained  the  age  of  fifty-six.  A  pathetic  circumstance  in 
connection  with  the  sad  event  is  that  at  the  meeting  of  the  County 
Council  on  Saturday  morning  Mr.  Lee  Warner,  as  Chairman  of  the 
Technical  Education  Committee,  speaking  in  ignorance  that  death  had 
already  taken  place,  expressed  a  cordial  hope  that  Mr.  Woodcock  would 
soon  be  restored  to  health.” 
-  A  New  Use  for  Snails. — In  Paris,  as  in  London,  there  are 
critics  who  believe  that  Government  clerks,  who  for  the  most  part 
discharge  their  duties  with  zeal  and  punctuality,  in  return  for  a  com¬ 
paratively  trifling  salary,  are  in  the  possession  of  sinecures,  and  lead  a 
butterfly  existence.  The  latest  story  which  has  been  circulated  at  the 
expense  of  the  officials  of  one  of  the  departments  in  Paris,  is  so  droll 
that  it  has  at  least  the  saving  merit  of  ingenuity.  It  seems  to  be  meeting 
with  any  amount  of  credence,  though  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that 
it  should  be  accepted  with  the  proverbial  grain  of  salt.  In  order,  as 
the  narrative  goes,  to  beguile  the  tedium  of  office  hours  the  clerks  have 
invented  a  novel  kind  of  “  sport” — to  wit,  snail  races,  which  are  run  in 
a  large  and  unused  upper  chamber  under  the  roof.  The  snails  are 
ranged  at  one  end  of  the  room,  and  at  the  other  is  laid  a  collection  of 
vegetables,  for  which  they  naturally  make  with  as  much  celerity  as 
their  rather  inadequate  means  of  locomotion  will  permit.  But  it  is  not 
entirely  on  level  ground,  in  the  shape  of  the  floor,  that  the  contest  takes 
place.  The  excitement  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  in  their  slow  but 
sure  career  the  snails  have  to  surmount  various  obstacles  ere  the 
winning-post,  represented  by  Cabbage  leaves.  Carrots,  and  so  forth,  is 
■  reached,  so  that  the  match  p  rtakes  of  the  character  of  a  steeple  chase 
rather  than  of  a  race  for  the  Grand  Prix  at  Longchamps.  A  sweepstake 
is  got  up,  and  the  winnings  are  pocketed  by  the  backers  of  the  liveliest 
snails.  Such  is  the  story,  and  already  it  has  brought  down  upon  the 
devoted  heads  of  the  unfortunate  employes  a  heavy  storm  of  reproaches, 
which,  as  may  well  be  believed,  are  quite  unmerited. — (  '  Gardeners’ 
Magazine.”) 
-  The  Weather  Last  Month. — The  prevailing  direction 
of  the  wind  was  W.  on  sixteen  days.  Total  rainfall  2  37  inches, 
which  is  0  25  inch  above  the  average  for  the  month.  This  fell  on 
thirteen  days,  the  greatest  daily  fall  being  0  72  inch  on  the  28th  ; 
barometer  (corrected  and  reduced),  highest  reading  30'281  inches  on  the 
12fch  at  9  A.M.;  lowest,  29  316  inches  on  the  18th  at  1  P.M.  Tempera¬ 
ture  :  highest  in  the  shade  83°  on  the  13th  ;  lowest  41°  on  the  10th.  Mean 
of  daily  maxima  69  '36° ;  mean  of  daily  minima,  50’60°.  Mean  temperature 
of  the  month  59  98°.  Lowest  on  the  grass  37°  on  the  10th  ;  highest  in 
the  sun  145°  on  the  28th,  Mean  of  the  earth  at  3  feet  55‘40°.  Total 
sunshine  156  hours  40  minutes.  There  were  three  sunless  days. — 
W.  H.  Divers,  The  Gardens,  Belvoir  Castle,  Grantham, 
-  Isle  of  Wight. — During  the  past  week  the  Potato  disease  has 
spread  with  great  rapidity  in  all  parts  of  the  Island,  The  varieties  Late 
Rose  and  White  Beauty  of  Hebron,  from  reports  to  hand,  are  the  most 
badly  affected.  The  cause  of  the  disease  is  no  doubt  the  dampness  of  the 
atmosphere,  which,  according  to  meteorological  observations,  stands  out 
very  prominently  during  the  month  of  June.  On  six  days  the  atmosphere 
was  almost  completely  saturated,  and  the  rainfall  was  greater  than  in 
any  preceding  June  for  the  last  ten  years.  Several  thunderstorms  have 
visited  the  Island,  and  the  total  rainfall  for  the  month  is  3‘30  inches.  In 
the  valleys  and  sheltered  situations  the  disease  is  most  conspicuous.  Peas, 
Grapes,  and  Onions  are  reported  from  various  districts  to  be  suffering 
from  diseases,  though  not  to  an  alarming  extent,  or  anything  in  com¬ 
parison  to  the  Potato  disease.  The  early  Potatoes  are  turning  out  very 
well  indeed,  particularly  Sutton’s  Ringleader,  Early  Regent,  and  Sutton’s 
Seedling.  The  prices  are,  retail,  from  38.  to  43.  a  bushel  in  Newport, 
the  capital  and  oldest  market  town  in  the  Island. — S.  H. 
-  Olearia  macrodonta. — Where  this  shrub  will  stand  the 
winter  ic  mokes  a  welcome  addition  to  the  evergreens  Although  it 
grows  well  and  has  stood  unprotected  in  Shropshire  it  requires  a  very 
sheltered  position  to  keep  it  unharmed  about  London.  In  any  garden, 
however,  where  it  does  stand  it  is  worth  growing  largely,  as  apart  from 
the  beauty  of  the  graceful  heads  of  white  star-shaped  blossoms  during 
June  and  the  early  part  of  July,  the  leaves  are  beautiful  the  whole  year 
round.  During  the  summer  the  plant  grows  very  fast,  and  probably  this 
is  the  reason  why  it  does  not  stand  the  winter  well  in  some  places,  the 
shoots  not  getting  thoroughly  ripened.  The  leaves  are  very  freely  pro¬ 
duced.  They  are  ovate  in  shape  with  deeply  dentated  margins.  The 
upper  surface  is  deep  olive  green  and  very  glossy,  the  under  surface 
silvery.  As  cuttings  can  be  easily  rooted  it  is  as  well  to  keep  a  few 
small  plants  in  a  frame  each  winter  to  insure  a  stock  in  case  of  injury 
by  severe  frosts.  It  is  a  New  Zealand  plant,  and  is  worth  growing  as  a 
cool  greenhouse  plant  where  it  cannot  be  grown  outside,  as  it  makes  a 
good  plant  for  decoration  during  winter. — K. 
-  Battersea  Park  — A  proposal  will  shortly  come  before  the 
London  County  Council  for  the  construction  of  a  suitable  embankment 
along  the  whole  river  frontage  of  Battersea  Park.  The  existing  river 
wall  is  of  a  very  slight  nature,  and  a  large  proportion  of  it  is  in  an 
extremely  bad  condition.  The  Parks  and  Open  Spaces  Committee  of 
the  Council,  who  are  making  the  proposal,  state  that  the  present  wall 
may  be  described  as  a  mere  skin  of  concrete  blocks,  generally  9  Inches 
in  thickness  and  in  some  cases  less.  For  some  years  past  it  has  been  the 
practice  to  patch  the  worst  places  from  time  to  time  at  an  annual  outlay 
of  some  £400  or  £500.  The  result,  however,  has  not  been  satisfactory, 
and  the  deterioration  which  has  arisen  in  past  years  has  not  been  over¬ 
taken,  so  that  the  wall  is  steadily  growing  worse.  The  Council’s 
engineer  reported  in  1895  that  the  cost  of  putting  the  wall  into  a 
proper  state  of  repair,  if  undertaken  at  that  time,  would  be  about  £6000, 
and  that  even  then  there  would  be  a  subsequent  annual  charge  of  about 
£200  for  its  maintenance.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Committee 
are  firmly  of  the  opinion  that  the  best  and  most  economical  course  would 
be  to  reconstruct  the  wall  in  a  substantial  manner.  The  length  of  the 
river  front  of  the  park  is  about  1300  yards,  or  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile,  and  the  engineer  is  of  opinion  that  a  granite-faced  wall  with  a 
granite  parapet  can  be  constructed  there  for  the  sum  of  £43,500.  In 
view  of  the  large  recurring  charge  for  maintaining  the  existing  wall,  and 
of  the  economy  that  would  ultimately  be  effected  by  the  substitution 
for  it  of  a  permanent  granite  embankment,  and  also  taking  into  account 
the  enhancement  of  the  appearance  of  the  park,  the  Committee  strongly 
recommend  the  Council  to  adopt  the  scheme.  It  is  proposed  that  the 
cost  of  the  improvement  shall  be  charged  to  capital  account,  the  re¬ 
payment  being  spread  over  the  full  term  of  the  stock,  out  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  issue  of  which  the  cost  would  be  defrayed.  — 
(“  Garden.”) 
