IFebrunry  13,  190?. 
■JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
139 
Protecting  Apricots  from  Frosts. 
I  have  been  very  successful  with  Apricots  on  a  south  wall  in 
my  town  garden,  though  doomed  by  many  friends  to  failure 
before  trial.  The  only  protection  I  give  them  is,  at  this  time  of 
the  year  I  put  a  board  extending  the  breadth  of  the  trees,  and, 
say,  loin  wide,  against  wall  right  over  them.  This  wards  off 
mow,  cold  rains,  and  partially  frosts.  They  fruit  every  year. 
Early  Rivers  and  Moor  Park  were  recommended  me  by  the  late 
Mr.  Rivers,  and  no  one  could  desire  better. — W.  J.  Murphy, 
Clonmel. 
National  Chrysanthemnm  Society. 
Refen’ing  to  your  report  of  the  annual  meeting  of  the  above 
Society,  I  observe  you  say  (and  quite  correctly),  “There  were 
•some  sharp  words  uttered  at  this  juncture  owing  to  the  secretary 
having  proposed  the  new  auditor.”  The  new  auditor,  Mr.  G.  J. 
Ingrain,  was  proposed  at  the  meeting  of  the  committee  bn 
January  13,  and  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  lie  should  be 
nominated  by  the  comriiittee  at  the  annual  general  meeting.  I 
proposed  the  name  of  Mr.  G.  J.  Ingram  on  the  3rd  inst.  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  me  an  opportunity  of  informing  the  meeting 
who  and  what  Mr.  Ingram  is.  Rut  there  are  a  few  of  the 
members — a  very  few  indeed — who  appear  to  think  that  every¬ 
thing  the  secretary  does  mu.st  be  wrong. — R.  Dean. 
Helleborus  niger. 
It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  have  seen  what  I  may 
describe  as  a  rare  sight,  viz.,  a  large  bed  of  pure  white  flowers 
flowering  freely  in  the  open  ground  in  mid- January.  In  the 
grounds  of  a  house  at  Ware,  in  Hertfordshire,  there  is  an  oval 
bed,  18ft  long  by  10ft  wide,  planted  entirely  with  Christmas 
Roses  (by  no  means  an  easy  plant  of  cultivation),  and  there  in 
great  profusion  are  masses  of  this  beautiful  flower,  exquisite  in 
their  almost  perfect  whiteness,  which  is  well  set  off  by  the  hand¬ 
some  dark  green  foliage,  and  forming  in  the  darkest  season  of 
outdoor  gardening  a  perfect  gem  of  beauty  unrivalled  in  flori¬ 
culture.  An  Ivy  wall,  20ft  high  (in  itself  somewhat  unique) 
protects  the  plants  in  great  measure  from  the  hot  south  sun  of 
summer,  and  the  constant  care  of  their  owner  sees  that  they  are 
not  disfigured  by  the  baleful  spot  so  often  seen  on  the  bloom, 
•caused  by  the  too  affectionate  slug.  This  bed  of  flowers  is 
owned  by  a  lady  who,  we  think,  may  well  feel  a  pride  in  them,  for 
the  happy  possessor  of  such  a  rare  and  beautiful  thing  is  much  to 
be  congratulated,  and  we  suspect  must  be  envied  by  every  lover 
•of  flowers.  I  propose  to  give  some  further  notes  on  these  flowers 
.and  their  culture  later  on  — J.  B.  R. 
“  Horticultural  Directory  ’’ :  a  Testimonial. 
During  December,  in  a  review  of  a  certain  garden  address 
book,  you  commented  on  the  fact  that  you  had  had  experience 
of  the  great  difficulty  there  is  in  getting  gardeners  to  send  in 
alterations  of  address.  I  can  understand  that  such  a  list  of  names 
is  valuable  to  large  firms  of  seedsmen,  &c.  As  to  nurserymen  and 
others  in  the  ti’ade  having  their  names  in  a  horticultural  direc¬ 
tory,  I  have  received  within  the  last  few  months  a  very  striking 
lesson  on  its  value.  We  have  been  established  in  the  Ea.stem 
•counties  as  nurserymen,  seedsmen,  and  florists  for  over  fifty 
years,  but  our  name  had  not  appeared  in  your  directory,  although 
my  grandfather’s  name  used  .to  be  in  “  Glenny’s  Annual,”  which 
I  believe  has  died  out.  (I  should  be  glad  to  hear  from  anyone 
who  has  a  copy  of  it  in  their  possession.)  During  last  autumn  we 
received  an  order  for  a  large  quantity  of  fruit  trees,  and,  not 
knowing  where  to  get  suitable  ones,  we  wrote  to  a  certain  firm 
in  Nottinghamshire,  and  a  type-written  reply  was  received  from 
them  saying  that  as  our  name  was  not  in  the  horticultural  direc¬ 
tories  they  could  not  send  their  trade  list  without  references  as 
to  our  being  genuine  nurserymen.  By  the  time  this  was  done 
the  suppl.v  of  fruit  trees  for  trade  buyers  was  exhausted,  and  we 
therefore  lost  the  order ;  the  result  was  I  immediately  sent  our 
name  to  be  inserted  in  your  “  Horticultural  Directory  ”  for  1902. 
The  action  of  the  Notts  firm  is  commendable,  and  ought  to  be 
imitated  by  all  in  the  wholesale  trade,  and  this  would,  I  believe, 
do  something  towards  checking  every  little  grocer’s  shop  from 
turning  into  retail  seed  shops,  and  Avould  thus  protect  the  genuine 
tradesman.  Wishing  your  useful  and  up-to-date  directory  great 
success,  I  enclose  my  card,  and  beg  to  remain,  yours  truly, 
— Eastern  Counties. 
The  Rainfall  ef  1901  at  Wick. 
I  herewith  send  you  a  note  of  the  rainfall  for  1901  in  this  far 
northern  county  of  Caithness.  Rainfall  here  is  not  so  heavy  as 
people  farther  south  imagine  it  is,  and  is  never  of  long  duration, 
such  as  it  is  on  the  west  coast  of  Scotland.  At  the  very  most  I 
have  not  seen  it  last  longer  than  one  day  here,  while  on  the  west 
coast  of  Scotland  I  have  seen  it  often  last  for  five  or  six  days 
without  ceasing ;  but,  as  in  most  other  cases.  Nature  has  made 
provision  for  that  also,  as  the  soil  here  is  heavy  and  does  not 
take  in  rain  so  readily  as  on  the  west  coast,  where  the  soil  is  light 
and  mor^  sandy.  Perhaps  this  list  may  interest  some  of  your 
readers : 
Rainfall. — January,  l.oTin;  February,  l.GOin ;  March, 
2.30in ;  April,  2.80in ;  May,  1.79in;  June,  l.SOin;  July,  2.30in; 
August,  2.04in  ;  September,  1.85in;  October,  3.05in ;  November, 
2.30in ;  December,  2.26in. — D.  Maclean,  Rosebank  Gardens, 
Caithne.ss. 
More  Late  Chrysanthemums. 
I  enclose  four  blooms  of  Yellow  Princess  Victoria  Chrys¬ 
anthemum.  They  were  originally  cut  with  about  15in  of  stem,  just 
a  fortnight  ago  to-day,  January  20.  The  blooms  were  arranged 
in  a  vase,  the  water  of  which  was  changed  every  alternate  day, 
and  they  are  as  fresh  now  as  they  were  when  first  cut.  The 
colour  is  much  more  vivid  than  that  old  favourite  W.  H.  Lincoln, 
and  is  much  superior  as  a  cut-flower  variety  on  accoTint  of  its 
having  a  good  length  of  stem ;  it  is  also  ten  days  later.  It 
should  be  disbudded  to  have  perfectly  double  blooms  like  those 
I  send  for  your  inspection.  Princess  Victoria,  from  which  Yellow 
Princess  sported,  is  too  well  known  as  a  late  flowering  white  to 
need  any  praise  from  me.  Mes.srs.  W.  Wells  and  Co.,  Ltd., 
and  Messrs.  H.  Cannell,  I  notice,  catalogue  a  pink  sport  from 
Princess  Victoria,  and  both  seem  to  be  distinct  in  colour  by  the 
description  given  of  each ;  they  are  differently  named,  also.  The 
three — White,  Yelloiv,  and  Pink — ivill  form  a  trio  very  hard  to 
beat,  and  I  strongly  recommend  all  market  growers  and  gardeners 
to  add  these  as  soon  as  possible  to  their  collection. — A.  Jefferies, 
gardener.  Moor  Hall,  Harlow,  Essex.  [Nothing  could  be  more  to 
our  satisfaction  than  that  the  late  growing  varieties  should  be 
prominently  brought  to  the  notice  of  growers.  Those  named  by 
Mr.  Jefferies  are  eminently  fitted  to  be  chosen,  and,  though  space 
does  not  allow  us  now,  we  will  yet  name  others  that  should  be 
given  a  trial.  Attention  in  the  meantime  may  be  directed  to 
Godfrey’s  Winter  Queen,  which  as  shown  on  the  14th  inst.  in 
the  Drill  Hall,  well  deserves  its  name.  Mr.  Jefferies’  flowers 
had  strong  and  healthy  foliage,  and  could  not  fail  to  last  fresh 
for  a  long  while.^ — Ed.] 
The  Market  Gardeners’  Act  and  Gardens. 
At  the  Preston  County  Court  recently,  observes  the  “  North 
British  Agriculturist,”  Judge  Coventry  had  rather  a  curious  case 
before  him,  in  which  the  Market  Gardeners’  Act  was  introduced. 
The  plaintiff  or  pursuer  was  Robert  Jones,  a  property  owner, 
living  at  Ashton-on-Ribble,  and  the  defendant  John  Taylor,  who 
has  been  one  of  his  tenants.  From  the  evidence  it  appeared 
that  for  a  .score  of  years  defendant  was  a  tenant  of  the  plaintiff, 
but  received  notice  to  quit,  which  notice  expired  on  November  30 
last.  In  front  of  the  house  was  a  small  garden,  planted  by 
defendant,  as  was  admitted,  with  Laburnum  trees.  Auriculas, 
Pyrethrums,  Roses,  Raspberry  canes,  Lilies,  Sage  plants. 
Phloxes,  Violas,  Campanulas,  Crocuses,  and  plants  of  various 
descriptions.  On  November  29  Mr.  Jones  saw  Mr.  Taylor 
digging  up  the  Laburnum  trees  and  removing  the  flowers.  He 
remonstrated  with  him,  but  without  effect,  defendant  contending 
that  as  a  market  gardener  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  take  the 
plants  away.  Plaintiff,  however,  instituted  an  action  for  the 
value  of  the  plants,  and  now  claimed  £1  5s.  6d.  Mr.  Smith,  on 
behalf  of  the  plaintiff,  cited  the  Market  Gardeners’  Compensa¬ 
tion  Act,  1895,  which  defines  a  market  garden  as  “  a  holding  or 
that  part  of  a  holding  which  is  cultivated  wholly  or  mainly  for 
the  purposes  of  trade  or  business  of  a  market  gardener,”  urging 
that  the  small  plot  of  land  in  question  was  simply  used  for 
ornamentation  purposes,  and  could  not  be  regarded  in  the  light 
of  a  market  garden. 
His  Honour:  It  does  not  matter  lioiv  small  the  plot  of  land 
is,  but  rather  how  the  occupier  uses  it. 
Mr.  Smith :  A  nurseryman  at  the  end  of  his  term  of  tenancy 
may  remove  trees  planted  for  the  purpose  of  his  trade,  but  a 
private  person  may  not  even  remove  a  flower. 
In  giving  his  deci.sion  the  learned  Judge  said  the  whole  ques¬ 
tion  was  whether  the  plants  and  flowers  enumerated  would  apply 
wholly  or  only  in  part  to  a  man  carrying  on  the  business  of  a 
nursery  gardener.  He  should  quite  think  defendant,  as  he  had 
said,  did  plant  these  things,  and  occasionally  sold  some,  but  at 
the  same  time  others  would  not  possibly  come  within  the  scope 
in  question,  and  there  would  be  a  verdict  for  plaintiff  for  10s. 
