December  9,  1897 
551 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
-  The  “Devonian”  Potato. — This  is  the  temporary  name  of 
a  new  Potato  which  has  come  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  0.  Thomas,  of  the 
Royal  Gardens,  Frogmore,  and  which  I  have  been  favoured  to  taste,  after 
being  well  cooked.  Not  any  time  since  the  days  of  the  once  famous 
Victoria  have  I  been  enabled  to  taste  so  delicious  a  Potato.  The  flesh 
is  tinged  with  yellow,  as  all  the  best  flavoured  ones  are.  It  is  flaky, 
starchy,  soft  right  through,  and  quite  delicious.  Mr.  Thomas  will  send 
some  to  Chiswick  to  grow  there  next  year.  The  variety  is  of  a  longish 
flat  form,  some  tubers  almost  kidney  shaped  ;  skin  white,  and  roughly 
netted. — A.  D. 
-  Monument  to  the  Late  Baron  von  Mueller.— It  is 
proposed  to  erect  a  monument  of  grey  granite,  23  feet  high, 
over,  the  grave  of  Baron  von  Mueller  in  St.  Kilda  Cemetery,  and 
donations  are  invited  for  that  purpose  by  the  late  investigator’s  executors. 
Botanists  will  be  pleased  to  know  that  the  Baron’s  supplemental  volume 
of  the  “  Flora  Australiensis,’’  upon  which  he  had  worked  for  years  and 
was  preparing  for  the  press  at  the  time  of  his  death,  together  with  two 
volumes  on  his  administration  as  Director  of  the  Botanical  Gardens, 
embracing  a  biography  and  complete  bibliography  of  his  writings,  are  to 
be  published.  His  executors  will  feel  favoured  by  the  loan  of  any  of 
his  letters,  or  the  communication  of  incidents  in  the  Baron’s  life  which 
his  friends  deem  to  be  worthy  of  notice  in  his  biography.  Subscriptions 
for  the  monument,  or  material  for  the  biography,  should  be  sent  to  the 
Rev.  W.  Potter,  “  Vonmueller,”  Arnold  Street,  South  Yarra,  Victoria. 
— (“  Nature.”) 
-  Aster  tartaricus.— One  of  the  most  useful  of  late  blooming 
herbaceous  plants  is  Aster  tartaricus.  Very  nearly  all  our  native  sorts, 
of  which  there  is  such  a  large  variety  out  of  bloom,  but  just  as  they 
are  over  and  one  thinks  the  herbaceous  display  is  past  for  the  season,  out 
comes  this  beautiful  Asiatic  species.  There  are  not  many  leaves  besides 
the  radical  ones.  The  flower  stalks  arise  to  a  height  of  4  to  5  feet, 
carrying  masses  of  large,  light  blue  flowers  at  the  summit,  and  these 
flowers  are  in  perfection  a  long  time.  I  write  this,  says  Mr.  ,T.  Meehan 
in  an  American  contemporary,  on  October  28th,  and  should  it  not  freeze 
before,  I  am  sure  there  will  be  a  good  display  for  two  weeks  yet,  and 
there  has  been  r.  two  weeks’  display  already.  This  beautiful  species 
spreads  rapidly  from  its  roots,  soon  forming  strong  clumps.  It  will  be 
valuable  for  forming  masses  to  give  late  flowers.  There  is  no  other 
herbaceous  plant  that  I  know  that  approaches  it  in  appearance  or  in  its 
value  for  autumn  display. 
-  A  Gardeners’  Mistake.  — Under  this  heading  we  referred 
last  week  to  a  case  then  pending  at  the  Nottingham  Assizes.  The 
information  was  condensed  from  reports  that  were  sent  to  us  by  three 
correspondents.  We  have  now  sent  for  publication  the  result  of  the 
trial  as  follows  :  —  “Thomas  Harwood  Grasp,  gardener,  on  bail,  was 
indicted  for  embezzling  sums  of  £4,  £2,  £1  14s.,  and  11s.  respectively, 
moneys  received  by  him  on  account  for  the  Right  Hon.  Francis  John 
Savile  Foljambe,  at  Osberton,  on  September  l5th,  1896,  and  other  days. 
Mr.  Etherington  Smith  appeared  for  the  prosecution,  and  Mr.  Snow 
Fordham  for  the  defence.  The  prisoner  had  been  employed  by  Mr. 
Foljambe  for  a  year  and  three-quarters  as  head  gardener,  at  a  salary 
of  £100  a  year,  with  extras  in  the  shape  of  rent,  coals,  &c.,  and  it  was 
his  duty  to  sell  flowers  and  produce  from  the  garden,  and  render  an 
account  through  Mr.  Kaye,  his  master’s  agent.  The  allegations  now 
were  that  prisoner  had  sold  flowers  to  a  Mrs.  Mellish,  a  florist  and 
greengrocer,  at  Worksop,  to  sell  again,  and  had  not  accounted  for  the 
money.  The  Judge,  in  summing  up,  pointed  out  the  impossibility  of 
the  prisoner  forgetting  about  the  money,  and  on  the  Jury  finding  him 
guilty,  sentenced  him  to  two  months’  imprisonment  with  hard  labour.” 
The  nature  of  the  defence  was  indicated  last  week.  We  can,  of  course, 
say  nothing  against  the  sad  and  severe  sentence ;  but  as  to  the 
“  impossibility  of  forgetting,”  we  happen  to  know  that  “  forgetting  ”  to 
send  in  accounts  for  money  legitimately  due  is  the  reverse  of  an 
“  impossible  ’  occurrence.  The  sender  of  the  above  paragraph  (from 
the  Sheffield  “  Daily  Telegraph  ”),  and  himself  an  employer  of 
gardeners,  adds  :  “Everyone  I  know  deeply  regrets  that  such  an  able 
man  as  Grasp  should  have  got  into  this  difficulty,  .and  everyone  deeply 
sympathises  with  his  wife  and  family.  ’  Mrs.  Grasp  is  in  the  greater 
need  of  sympathy  as  the  victim  of  a  double  misfortune,  for  we  are 
informed  that  her  father  died  on  the  day  of  the  trial.  Her  husband  is 
admittedly  one  of  the  most  competent  of  gardeners,  and  few  men  could 
have  had  better  testimonials  as  to  character  and  ability  than  he  had 
from  noblemen  who  appreciated  his  services.  The  importance  of 
scrupulous  exactitude  in  the  discharge  of  duties  of  whatever  nature  is 
strongly  enforced  by  this  lamentable  case. 
-  Royal  Meteorological  Society.— At  the  ordinary  meeting 
of  the  Society,  to  be  held  at  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  Great 
George  Street,  Westminster,  on  Wednesday,  the  t5th  inst.,  at  7.30  P.M., 
the  following  papers  will  be  read  :  — “  Daily  Values  of  Non-Instrumental 
Meteorological  Phenomena  in  London,  1763-1896,”  by  Mr.  R.  C.  Moss- 
man,  F.R.S.E.,  F.R.Met.Soc. ;  “  The  Rainfall  of  Seathwaite,  Borrowdale, 
'"'umberland,”  by^  William  Marriott,  F.R.Met.Soc. 
-  Sussex  Weather. — The  total  rainfall  for  the  past  month  at 
Stonehurst,  Ardingly,  Sussex,  was  1’71  inch,  being  1’96  inch  below  the 
average.  The  heaviest  fall  was  0'59  inch  on  the  27th.  Rain  fell  on  twelve 
days.  The  highest  temperature  was  59°  on  the  18th,  the  lowest  28°  on 
the  26th ;  mean  maximum,  49’25° ;  mean  minimum,  39T5°  ;  mean 
temperature,  44’20°,  which  is  1*43°  above  the  average. — R.  I. 
-  November  Weather  at  Driffield.— Mean  temperature 
at  9  A.M.  (corrected),  44-41°  ;  wet  bulb,  43-35°.  Mean  maximum,  49-43°  ; 
mean  minimum,  39-37°  ;  highest,  56-8°  on  the  13th  and  20th  ;  lowest, 
28-8°  on  the  16th.  Mean  of  maxima  and  minima,  44-4°.  Mean 
radiation  temperature  on  the  grass,  35-62°  ;  lowest,  22-5°  on  the  16th. 
Rainfall,  3-04  inches  ;  number  of  rainy  days,  twenty-one  ;  greatest  amount 
on  one  day,  0-6  inch  on  the  14th.— W.  E.  LovEL,  Observer,  York  Road, 
Driffield. 
-  November  Weather  at  Hodsock  Priory.— Mean  tem¬ 
perature,  45-1°.  Maximum  in  the  screen,  58-8°  on  the  20th  :  minimum  in 
the  screen,  28-2°  on  the  23rd  and  30th.  Minimum  on  the  grass,  16-7°  on 
the  30th.  Number  of  frosts  in  the  shade,  five  ;  on  the  grass,  thirteen. 
Sunshine,  thirty  hours,  or  12  per  cent,  of  the  possible  duration.  Rainfall, 
2-02  inches.  Rain  fell  on  seventeen  days ;  maximum  fall,  0-66  on  30th. 
Rainfall  from  Jan.  1st,  20  53  inches.  Difference  from  av.,  2-6o.  Mild 
and  very  dull.  Dry  till  the  last  few  days,  which  were  stormy.— 
J.Mal  lender. 
-  AVEATHER  at  Dowlais.  -  The  following  is  a  summary  of  the 
weather  here  for  the  past  month  Average  maximum  temperature,  48°  ; 
highest  reading,  62°  on  the  18th.  Average  minimum,  34-7° ;  lowest 
reading,  21°  on  the  29th.  It  was  below  freezing  point  on  eleven  days. 
Total  rainfall,  5-03  inches,  2-65  of  which  fell  on  the  12th  and  13th  ; 
greatest  fall,  1‘50  inch,  which  fell  on  the  12th.  Rain  fell  on  thirteen  days 
The  wind  was  in  the  N.  and  N.W.  on  seventeen  days  -,  very  strong  and 
cold  for  the  first  week,  very  thick  fog  every  day  of  the  second  week,  and 
culminating  with  the  downpour  referred  to  above.  There  were  nineteen 
sunless  days. — Wm.  MabbotT. 
-  The  Weather  Last  Month.— November  gave  us  much  fog^ 
and  sixteen  days  were  wholly-  without  sunshine.  It  was  also  remarkable 
for  a  very  high  reading  of  the  barometer,  30-708  inches,  which  is  the 
highest  reading  here  since  1893.  The  wind  was  in  a  southerly  direction 
nineteen  days.  Total  rainfall-1-42  inches  ;  this  fell  on  seventeen  days, 
and  is  0-98  inch  below  the  average  for  the  month  ;  the  greatest  daily  fall 
was  0-29  inch  on  the  14th.  Barometer  (corrected  and  reduced).— Highest 
reading,  30-708  inches  on  the  21st  at  9  A.M.  ;  lowest,  29-026  inches  on  the 
28th  at  10.30  P.M.  Thermometers. — Highest  in  the  shade,  58°  on  the 
12th  and  13th  ;  lowest,  27°  on  the  26th.  Mean  of  daily  maxima,  49-23°; 
mean  of  daily  minima,  38*50°.  Mean  temperature  of  the  month,  43*86° ; 
lowest  on  the  grass,  23°  on  the  26th  and  30th  ;  highest  in  the  sitn,  84°  on 
the  loth.  Mean  temperature  of  the  earth  3  feet  deep,  47-70°.  Total 
sunshine,  forty  hours  thirtyffive  minutes  ;  there  were  sixteen  sunless 
(Jays. _ W.  H.  Divers,  Belvoir  Castle  Gardens,  Grantham. 
_  IlACKTHORiI  Hall.— Galling  the  other  day  at  Hackthorn  Ilall 
near  Lincoln,  the  residence  of  E.  AV.  Gracroft,  Esq.,  I  saw  the  splendid 
Black  Hamburgh  Grape  Vine  which  was  planted  by  the  present  gardener 
twenty-seven  years  ago.  The  house  is  about  50  feet  long,  and  the  Vine 
is  planted  in  the  centre  about  5  feet  from  the  back  wall,  and  having  a 
cane  running  right  and  left  to  the  ends  of  the  house.  From  this  are  ten 
other  canes  at  regular  distances  trained  downwards  to  the  house  front^ 
with  shorter  canes  from  the  main  stem  to  the  top.  The  Vine  is  wonder¬ 
fully  healthy,  and  is  still  carrying  a  heavy  crop  of  well  coloured  bunches 
averaging  about  1  lb.  each.  The  total  crop  this  year  is  nearly  500  lbs. 
Mr.  Popple  allows  the  Vine  to  break  naturally,  using  a  little  warmth  in 
the  pipes  as  the  berries  begin  to  colour.  A  large  piece  of  ground  in  the 
gardens  is  enclosed  with  wire  netting  for  the  cultivation  and  protection 
of  small  fruits,  such  as  Gurrants,  Gooseberries,  and  Raspberries.  The 
plan  has  been  adopted  for  many  years  with  the  most  satisfactory  results. 
A  capital  lot  of  Ghrysanthemums  in  lull  flower  filled  the  greenhouse. 
All  the  most  useful  varieties  for  cutting  and  decoration  were  represented. 
To  show  the  mildness  of  the  autumn,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  many- 
Cactus  Dahlias  were  in  flower  on  November  22nd.— G.  AV.  Cummins. 
