December  23,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
601^, 
-  Death  of  Mr.  James  Casey. — It  is  with  sincere  regret  that 
we  learn  of  the  sudden  death  of  Mr.  .Tames  Casey,  which  occurred  on 
the  8th  inst.,  from  the  result  of  a  chill  contracted  the  previous  week. 
The  deceased,  whose  age  was  fifty-one,  had  been  with  Messrs.  H.  Low 
and  Co.  about  thirty-four  years,  and  latterly  has  represented  this  well- 
known  firm  as  a  traveller  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  where  he 
was  thoroughly  well  known  and  respected. 
-  Flowers  in  the  Scilly  Islands. — According  to  a  daily 
contemporary  the  flower  crops  on  the  Scilly  Islands  ai’e  not  so  forward 
as  they  were  last  year,  which  was  a  record  one,  and  the  general  opinion 
among  the  farmers  is  that  the  early  blooms  will  not  be  so  prolific  as 
last  season.  Various  reasons  are  given  for  this,  one  being  that  the  bulbs 
are  somewhat  exhausted  after  the  exceptionally  heavy  crops  they 
produced  last  year.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  good  prices  will  compensate 
for  any  deficiency  in  quantity.  iVIuch  has  been  done  recently  by  the 
Great  Western  and  the  North-Western  Railways  to  develop  this  delicate 
industry.  New  markets  in  the  North  have  been  opened  up  by  a  quick 
and  improved  service  of  fast  trains,  particularly  the  new  night  express 
from  Bristol  by  the  Severn  Tunnel  route,  in  direct  connection  with  the 
up  night  mail  from  Penzance.  Consignments  leaving  the  islands  in  the 
forenoon  are  in  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  markets  as  early  as  six 
the  next  morning,  at  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  by  midday,  and  at  such  a 
distant  station  as  Aberdeen  at  six  o’clock  on  the  evening  of  the  following 
day. 
-  Royal  Meteorological  Society.— The  monthly  meeting 
of  this  Society  was  held  on  Wednesday  evening,  the  15th  inst.,  at  the 
Institution  of  Civil  Engineers  ;  iMr.  E.  Mawley,  F.R.H.S.,  President,  in 
the  chair.  Mr.  W.  Marriott  read  a  paper  on  “  The  Rainfall  of  Seath- 
waite,  Cumberland.”  This  place  has  long  been  noted  for  its  heavy 
rainfall,  being  in  fact  one  of  the  wettest  spots  in  the  British  Isles.  The 
average  yearly  amount  is  137  inches.  The  spring  months  of  April,  May, 
and  .Tune  are  the  driest,  so  they  not  only  have  the  least  rainfall,  but  also 
the  least  number  of  rainy  days,  August,  the  month  when  the  Lake 
District  is  thronged  with  visitors,  has  the  greatest  number  of  rainy  days. 
The  heavy  nature  of  the  rainfall  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that 
21  per  cent,  of  the  falls  are  above  1  inch,  2  per  cent,  being  above  3  inches. 
The  greatest  fall  in  one  day  was  8  03  inches,  on  November  12th,  1897. 
The  author  has  investigated  the  atmospheric  conditions  under  which  the 
heavy  rainfalls  occurred  at  Seathwaite,  and  he  finds  that  these  heavy 
falls  are  due  to  the  direction  and  force  of  the  wind.  When  the  wind  is 
blowing  strongly  from  the  south-east  or  south-west,  it  will  be  concentrated 
in  the  valleys  on  the  windward  of  Seafell,  and  rush  up  them  with 
considerable  force,  the  a'r  current  consequently  being  projected  to  a 
considerable  altitude  beyond  Seafell.  Owing  to  the  reduction  of 
temperature  with  elevation  the  air  parts  with  a  great  deal  of  its  moisture, 
which  falls  as  rain.  With  such  a  process  going  on  continuously  for  a 
whole  day,  the  heavy  rainfall  at  Seathwaite  is  fully  accounted  for.  Mr. 
R.  C,  Mossman,  F.R.S.E.,  also  read  a  paper  on  “  The  Daily  Values  of  Non- 
instruraental  Meteorological  Phenomena  in  London  from  1763  to  1896.” 
-  The  Rating  op  Nurseries. — One  of  the  unfortunate  results 
of  the  Agricultural  Rating  Act  was  that  in  granting  relief  to  all  land 
classed  as  agricultural  the  burthen  of  recompense  is  thrown  upon  the  tax¬ 
payer  at  large,  and  thus  the  agricultural  interest,  which  denounces  sugar 
bounties  in  other  countries,  readily  accepts  a  bounty  in  the  shape  of 
relief  of  rates  from  the  Government.  It  will  seem  to  the  unfortunate  and 
over-burdened  taxpayer  grave  aggravation  of  his  burthens  if,  as  was 
recently  claimed  at  Teddington,  nurseries  of  glass  houses  on  building  land 
in  populous  districts  should  claim  exception  from  local  burthens,  on  the 
ground  that  the  land  so  occupied  is  agricultural.  As  well  say 
that  every  piece  of  land  occupied  by  a  factory  or  workshops  of  any 
description  is  agricultural  also.  Surely  it  was  never  intended  by  Parlia¬ 
ment  that  other  than  land  purely  agricultural  should  be  so  exempted  from 
a  burthen  of  rate  which  everybody  else  has  to  make  good  in  taxes. 
When  we  see  wealthy  florists  and  nurserymen  claiming  exem})tions  we 
are  naturally  led  to  infer  that  they  have  scant  consideration  for  the 
pockets  of  their  neighbours.  It  is  too  much  of  a  joke  to  assume  that  the 
nursery  or  market  growing  industries  are  “  distressed.”  Already, 
indeed,  we  see  that  the  purely  agricultural  interest  is  rapidly  becoming 
more  prosperous,  and  the  gross  injustice  of  the  Rating  Act  is  thus 
rendered  all  the  greater.  Naturally  the  decision  of  the  House  of  Lords 
is  awaited  with  exceeding  interest.  It  is  hoped  that  the  law  will  be  so 
clear  on  the  matter  that  there  shall  be  no  division  of  opinion,  as  was  seen 
in  a  recent  case.  It  is  too  much  to  hope  that  the  House  will  denounce 
the  Rating  Act  as  grossly  unjust,  but  at  least  it  may,  by  its  decision, 
jirotect  the  pockets  of  taxpayers  from  outrageous  demands. — Taxed. 
-  Tree  Planting  in  the  Isle  op  Man.— We  learn  from  a 
contemporary  that  a  movement,  at  the  head  of  which  is  Lord  Henniker, 
has  been  initiated  in  the  Isle  of  Man  for  extensively  planting  the  island 
with  trees,  and  thus  making  its  arboreal  charms  more  attractive  to  visitors. 
At  a  meeting  held  at  Douglas  reports  favourable  to  the  project  were 
received  from  various  parts  of  the  island,  and  a  resolution  was  adopted 
for  the  formation  of  a  tree-planting  society,  and  an  influential  committee 
appointed  to  draw  up  a  constitution  and  code  of  rules  for  the  management 
and  development  of  the  same. 
-  SCHIZOSTYLIS  COCCINEA. — This,  I  venture  to  assert,  is  one  of 
those  plants  not  cultivated  nearly  as  much  as  its  merits  claim.  This 
applies  more  especially  to  the  southern  and  West  of  England  counties. 
For  the  last  six  years  I  have  annually  seen  some  fine  clumps  of  this 
KafBr  Lily,  producing  many  spikes  of  the  graceful  scarlet  flowers  with 
their  effective  yellow  anthers,  and  very  useful  they  have  been  found 
when  arranged  in  vases.  Flowering  naturally  out  of  doors  in  October 
there  are  then  usually  a  good  quantity  of  Anemone  japonica  alba  in 
flower,  and  the  two  growing  and  flowering  side  by  side  in  the  garden,  or 
arranged  together  for  decorative  purposes,  enhance  the  beauty  of  each 
other  in  a  most  desirable  way. — Exile. 
THE  MILDNESS  OF  THE  SEASON. 
There  are  too  few  records  published  of  the  condition  of  the  Arctic 
ice  north  of  Europe  to  dogmatise  about  and  to  predict  genei'al  outlook  as 
to  the  severity  of  the  coming  winter.  It  would  be  of  the  greatest 
value  to  know  more.  The  annually  increasing  movement  of  vessels  in 
those  regions,  however,  will  remedy  this  defect  somewhat,  and  it  is 
consistent  with  the  repeated  reports  received  thence  as  to  the  unusual 
retreat  this  year  of  the  Arctic  ice-masses  to  point  to  the  actual  mildness 
as  a  possible  consequence  of  that  retreat,  and  the  continuation  of  which 
might  allow  us  to  look  for  a  generally  mild  winter.  Furthermore,  the 
reduced  rainfall  we  find  so  prevalent  this  year  would  mean,  if  over  larger 
areas  and  further  north,  reduced  snowfall,  and  tend  in  the  same  direction 
towards  mildness.  ^ 
A  meteorological  station  at  Spitzbergen — nay,  at  Franz  .Joseph’s  Land 
and  elsewhere — with  submarine  cables,  should  be  the  natural  outcome  of 
this  age  of  science  and  exploration.  Even  the  homely  question  of  the 
Christmas  meat  market  might  not  inappreciably  direct  its  attention  to 
early  information  as  to  the  useful  limits  thereby  counselled  to  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  Christmas  cheer,  and  a  more  general  influence  on  agriculture 
might  be  exercised  bv  future  regular  news  from  those  northern  regions. — 
H.  H.  R.,  Forest  Hill  _ _ 
OLD  PARK,  VENTNOR. 
This,  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Spindler,  is  beautifully  situated  on  the 
Undercliffe  of  the  Garden  Isle.  Extensive  beltings  and  plantations 
have  been  formed  from  time  to  time  to  afford  shelter  and  privacy.  The 
horticultural  department,  in  the  capable  hands  of  Mr.  Geo.  Abbott, 
comprises  many  good  points.  The  erection  of  four  houses,  consisting  of 
three  Orchid  houses  and  a  show  house,  each  about  20  feet  by  25  feet, 
with  tanks  for  rain  water,  and  cellars  underneath,  proves  the  interest 
taken  in  horticulture  by  Mrs.  Spindler.  The  lean-to  vineries  contain 
some  healthy  canes  of  Black  Hamburgh,  Foster’s  Seedling,  and  Buck- 
land  Sweetwa  er,  which  have  yielded -abundant  crops  this  season.  Two 
large  greenhouses  were  well  stocked  with  a  miscellaneous  collection  of 
plants,  Galla  aethiopica  being  exceptionally  fine.  The  Chrj'santhemums 
were  gradually  getting  over,  with  the  exception  of  L.  Tanning  (which  is 
considered  to  be  indispensable  for  late  work)  and  Mrs.  H.  Weeks. 
There  is  not  much  to  see  in  the  kitchen  garden  at  this  time  of  the 
year,  though  we  noticed  some  fine  Celery,  autumn-sown  Onions,  and  a 
healthy  collection  of  winter  vegetables.  The  fruit  department  is  excel¬ 
lently  arranged.  There  are  two  gardens,  each  comprising  an  area  of 
about  900  square  yards  enclosed  with  a  wall  10  feet  high,  securely  netted 
overhead  so  as  to  exclude  the  birds,  which  are  innumerable  in  the  fruit 
season.  Wall  trees  are  grown  in  quantity,  consisting  of  well  trained 
Pears,  Plums,  Cherries,  and  Peaches  ;  whilst  in  the  open  quarters  are 
bush  Apple  trees.  Gooseberries,  Currants,  Strawberries,  and  Raspberries. 
In  the  cultivation  of  Strawberries  Mr.  Abbott  finds  that  they  frmt  well  for 
four  or  five  years,  and  pay  him  better  than  making  a  new  bed  every  second 
or  third  year  ;  and  also  that  digging  amongst  them  in  autumn  or  winter 
is  productive  of  good,  and  not  harm.  I  need  not  say  that  only  the  best 
varieties  of  fruits  are  grown. 
On  a  south  wall  Roses  are  cut  nearly  all  through  the  winter.  Ihe 
o-rounds  surrounding  the  mansion  are  very  picturesque  and  charming  in 
the  extreme.  On  the  edge  of  a  large  lake  were  fine  plants  of  Calla 
lEthiopica,  which  bloom  jirofusely.  The  aquatics  include  Nuphar  lutea 
and  Nymphaea  alba.  The  extensive  lawn  is  relieved  by  large  plants  of 
Eucalyptus  globulus.  Yucca  aloifolia  variegata,  Chamierops  Fortunei, 
Aralia  Sieboldi  (over  18  feet  in  circumference).  Magnolia  grandiflora, 
Choisya  ternata,  Picea  pinsapo,  Picea  nobilis,  and  other  magnificent 
specimen  plants.  .  ,  ^  t  ,  j  n 
The  estate  is  one  of  the  largest  and  best  m  the  Garden  Isle,  and  well 
worth  a  visit  from  anyone  interested  in  gardening.  It  is  one  mile  fri^ 
St.  Lawrence  Station,  and  three  miles  from  Ventnor,  on  the  road  to  the 
world-famed  St.  Catherine’s  Lighthouse  and  Black  Gang  Chine.— S.  II. 
