October  31,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  uGTTAQE  GARDENER. 
399 
Gardening  Ciian^as  in  Perth  District. 
Mr.  T.  Dobbin  from  Balhousie  Castle,  Perth,  to  Balthayock 
House,  Kin'fauns.  Mr.  J.  Low  from  Glencarse  House,  Glencarse, 
to  Balhousie  Castle.  Mr.  James  Lindsay  from  Balcraig,  New 
Scone,  to  Glendoick,  Kinfauns.  Mr.  William  Wilkie  from  Lign- 
wood,  New  Scone,  to  Balcraig.  Mr.  Mathewson  from  Inchyra 
House,  Glencarse,  to  Lignwood.  Mr.  T.  Peggie  to  Cleeve,  Cherry 
Bank,  Perth. — Adbyn. 
A  Sundriesman's  Catalogue. 
It  is  that  of  Mr.  C.  E.  West,  of  Roundhay.  There  is  a  some¬ 
what  humorous  explanative  within  brackets  after  the  name 
“  Roundhay  ”  on  the  front  page  of  this  catalogue,  and  consists 
of  the  words  “  sufficient  address in  italics.  The  humour,  or 
felicity,  that  it  calls  up,  lies  in  the  fact  of  the  business  eagerness 
of  Mr.  West  to  save  his  customers  every  possible'  item  of  trouble. 
How  simple !  C.  E.  West,  Roundhay.  And  with  interest  to 
entertain  us  outside  the  covers,  what  is  there  within  ?  Every¬ 
thing  of  a  mechanical  nature  that  is  necessary  to  be  got  for  the 
garden  is  listed,  and  a  long  rigmarole  is  printed,  but  which,  at 
the  same  time,  we  seriously  recommend  to  gardeners  and  others, 
in  which  the  compiler  of  the  catalogue  asks  why  labour  facilitating 
inventions  and  artificial  aids  to  plant  culture  are  not  known  and 
adopted  by  those  whose  business  or  pleasure  it  is  to  grow  plants 
and  attend  to  gardens.  Amongst  some  of  the  appliances  offered 
we  may  mention  plant  and  flower  stands,  exhibition  boards, 
flower  holders,  syringes  of  all  sorts  and  watering  cans,  baskets, 
shears,  knives,  fumigators,  and  quite  an  array  of  things  that  are 
of  great  usefulness  and  necessity.  But  the  best  thing  to  do  is  to 
write  for  the  catalogue  to  the  maker  himself,  at  Roundhay. 
Devonshire  Gardeners 
The  annual  meeting  of  the  Devon  and  Exeter  Gardeners’  Association 
wras  held  on  Thursday  evening,  October  24.  in  the  Guildhall.  Exeter 
Mr.  Chas.  Berry  (horticultural  instructor  under  the  Devon  County 
Council)  occupying  the  chair.  Among  others  present  were  Messrs. 
Andrew  Hope  (hon.  secretary),  W.  Mackay  (hon.  treasurer),  W. 
Andrews.  J.  Baker,  W.  R.  Baker,  W.  Charley,  G.  C.  Crabbe,  S. 
Radley.  G,  Rogers,  and  J.  Weeks.  The  Committee,  in  presenting 
their  annual  report,  reminded  the  members  that  the  association  had 
completed  ten  years  of  steady  progress  and  useful  work,  in  which  a 
great  variety  of  subjects  had  been  handled.  It  was  a  fair  assumption 
that  some  permanent  good  had  been  done  to  gardening  as 
a  profession,  and  to  the  followers  of  it  in  the  neighbourhood.  In  July 
an  enjoyable’and  profitable  excursion  was  undertaken  by  the  members 
to  Cardiff,  the  members  attending  the  extensive  flower  show  there  at 
the  invitation  of  their  Welsh  sister  association.  The  trip  was  under¬ 
taken  without  cost  to  the  association.  Last  spring  a  new  feature  was 
introduced  at  the  fortnightly  meetings  by  a  friendly  competition 
among  the  members  of  single  dishes  of  vegetables  or  specimens  of  any 
flowering  plant.  These  competitions  were  found  to  give  an  interest  to 
the  meetings,  and  the  committee  unanimously  recommended  them  to  be 
continued.  The  Association  was  still  in  a  financially  prosperous 
condition.  The  committee  thanked  the  president  (Mr.  E.  A.  Sanders) 
for  his  continued  interest  and  generous  help,  and  recorded  their 
appreciation  of  the  assistance  given  by  the  Mayor  in  continuing  to 
allow  the  use  of  the  committee  room  of  the  Guildhall  for  the  fort¬ 
nightly  meetings.  The  help  rendered  by  the  Press  was  also  acknow¬ 
ledged,  and  the  report  concluded  by  stating  that  an  excellent  series  of 
papers  had  been  arranged  for  the  present  session,  and  tliatthefprospects 
of  the  association  appeared  to  be  as  bright  as  at  any  period  of  its  history. 
The  financial  statement  showed  a  balance  in  hand  of  £15  4s.  4d., 
exclusive  of  one  or  two  outstanding  accounts.  On  the  motion  of  the 
chairman,  seconded]  by  Mr.  Crabbe,  the  report  and  accounts  were 
adopted.  Mr.  E.  A.  Sanders  was  unanimously  re-elected  president, 
on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Mackay,  seconded  by  Mr.  Andrews,  and  the 
following  vice-presidents  were  re-elected : — The  Mayor  and  Sheriff, 
Major  Tracey,  Messrs.  Imbert-Terry,  P.  C.  M.  Veitch,  G.  D.  Cann, 
C.  T.  K.  Roberts,  R.  G.  Abraham,  and  W.  B.  Heberden,^C.B.  The 
hon.  secretary  and  treasurer  were  unanimously  re-elected,  with  thanks 
for  their  past  services.  The  following  committee  were  elected  : — 
Messrs.  W.  Andrews,  J.  Baker,  W.  R.  Baker,  W.  Charley,  E.  Cole, 
G.  C.  Crabbe,  C.  M.  Collingwood,  W.  Merritt,  C.  H.  Perkins,  S.  Radley, 
J.  Rogers,  and  J.  Weeks.  The  Secretary  mentioned  that  the  first 
lecture  of  the  session  will  be  held  on  Wednesday,  the  6th  of 
November.  Thanks  were  expressed  for  the  Mayor’s  kindness  in 
granting  the  use  of  the  room,  and  a  vote  of  thanks'to  the  chairman 
for  presiding  closed  the  meeting. 
Earl’s  Court  Exhibition. 
The  Jury  of  the  Military  Exhibition.  1901,  have  again  awarded 
Messrs.  John  Laing  and  Sons,  Forest  Hill  Nurseries,  the  gold  medal 
and  diploma  for  their  decorations  of  the  extensive  gardens  there. 
Weather  in  Ireland. 
The  climatic  conditions  for  the  past  month  have  been  favour¬ 
able,  being  dry,  with  an  absence  of  frost.  Although  the  tendency 
was  to  dull  days,  rain  was  noteworthy  by  its  absence  ;  in  the 
preceding  months  the  rainfall  was  fairly  persistent.  Last  month 
the  variation  in  temperature  was  slight. — A.  O’N. 
Personal 
A  complimentary  dinner  was  given  in  honour  of  Mr.  George  Nichol¬ 
son,  late  curator  of  the  Royal  Gardens.  Kew,  last  evening  (Wednes¬ 
day),  in  Cannon  Street  Hotel,  a  goodly  number  of  the  most  notable 
horticulturists  attending.  The  meeting  was  of  a  private  nature.  It 
is  sincerely  hoped  that  the  gathering  resulted  in  a  decision  to  appeal 
for  a  testimonial  to  Mr.  Nicholson,  to  which  we  feel  sure  all  gardeners 
would  be  only  too  delighted  to  have  the  opportunity  to  subscribe. 
Reafforestation  of  Mountains. 
Referring  to  the  special  Milan  telegram  in  a  recent  issue 
of  the  “  Pall  Mall  Gazette  ”  on  the  proposed  reafforestation 
of  certain  mountain  lands  in  North  Italy,  an  old  member 
of  the  Royal  Scottish  Arboricultural  Society  writes :  No  country 
in  Europe  has  suffered  from  the  wanton  and  avaricious  destruc¬ 
tion  of  mountain  forests  as  Italy,  if  we  except  Spain,  and  the 
terrible  lesson  that  parts  of  Spain  experienced  in  the  autumn  of 
1893  does  not  appear  to  have  stimulated  practical  reform  such  as 
the  North  of  Italy  is  now  projecting,  and  which  France  and 
Germany,  especially  Germany,  have  been  sj^stematically  carrying 
out  for  many  years.  Many  years  ago  the  Montes  de  Toledo, 
which  separate  the  waters  of  the  Tagus  on  the  north  from  those 
of  the  Guadiana  on  the  south,  were  cleared  of  trees,  and  no 
reafforestation  work  was  undertaken.  In  the  autumn  of  1893, 
after  a  severe,  and  even  for  Spain  a  protracted  drought,  there 
was  an  unprecedented  fall  of  rain  in  those  high  regions  of  Castile. 
Petty  streamlets  became  raging  floods,  and  rivers  overflowed 
their  banks  for  many  miles.  Bridges  were  washed  away,  and 
thousands  of  cattle  perished.  No  such  visitation  could  have 
taken  place  had  the  mountain  slopes  not  been  cleared  of  timber. 
A  few  years  ago  the  Forestry  Department  of  the  French  Govern¬ 
ment  spent  £99,300  in  mountain  “  reboisement  ” — that  is,  in 
planting  up  dangerous  mountain  sides  and  regulating  the  beds  of 
mountain  torrents,  and  in  Germany  work  of  that  kind  is 
systematically  carried  out  at  much  annual  outlay.  No  doubt 
many  avalanches  have  their  origin  above  tree-growth,  but  the 
presence  of  large  masses  of  trees  on  the  lower  slopes  regulates  the 
flow  of  water  and  protects  the  villages  below.  Such  forests  also 
are  protective  against  violent  air  currents,  and  are  of  great 
hygienic  effect.  A  great  deal  of  good  work  in  the  way  of 
reafforesting  waste  land  has  been  done  in  Scotland  by  Mr.  Munro- 
Ferguson,  M.P.,  and  in  Ireland  by  Lord  Powerscourt  (returns,  on 
an  average,  10s.  per  acre),  but  the  work  is  sadly  neglected  by  most 
landowners,  and  wholly  by  our  Government. 
Meteorological  Observations  at  Chiswiok. 
Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens  at  Chiswick — • 
height  above  sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A. If. 
1901. 
October. 
si 
-r-f 
o  J> 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
.2* 
’3 
Ph 
At 
1-ft. 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4  ft. 
deep. 
*H  • 
-2  S 
Ssi 
^  a  g 
©  ° 
u 
Q 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
-*f» 
GO 
<V 
xs 
to 
s 
GO 
© 
S 
o 
J 
Sunday  ...20 
S.E. 
(leg. 
38-2 
deg. 
379 
deg. 
57-9 
deg. 
34-5 
Ins. 
deg. 
490 
deg. 
53  6 
deg. 
55-2 
deg. 
30-0 
Monday  .  ..21 
S.E. 
40-9 
40-4 
55-1 
330 
0.09 
47-5 
52-8 
55-0 
280 
Tuesday  ..22 
S.E. 
47-4 
46'2 
51T 
37-8 
0-07 
47-9 
523 
54-8 
31-5 
Wed’sday  23 
N.N.E. 
41-5 
41-3 
53-1 
39-8 
— 
47-9 
518 
54-5 
33-5 
Thursday  24 
w.s.w. 
43-4 
42-9 
53-3 
33-0 
005 
46’8 
515 
54-3 
26-7 
Friday  ...25 
s.w. 
43-6 
42-7 
52-1 
38.9 
— 
47-2 
51-2 
540 
330 
Saturday  26 
S.E. 
35-1 
34-8 
44-8 
31-8 
45-8 
50-8 
53-8 
26-5 
Miaks  ... 
41-4 
40.9 
52-5 
35’5 
Total 
021 
47-4 
52-0 
54 '5 
29-9 
A  week  of  dull  foggy  weather. 
