534 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  12,  1901. 
Appointment. 
Mr.  G.  Ellwood,  for  the  past  four  years  head  gardener  to 
C.  R.  de  la  Salle,  Esq.,  of  Enbridge,  Newbury,  as  head  gardener 
to  W.  H.  Myers,  Esq.,  M.P.,  Swanmore  Park,  Bishops  Waltham, 
Hants.  Entering  on  his  duties  January  1. 
Chimonanthus  fragrans  at  Kew. 
This  soft-yellow  flowered  shrub  that  dares  to  blossom  while 
snows  hang  upon  its  twigs,  and  frost  upon  the  fringes  of  its 
petals,  has  already  bedecked  part  of  a  west  wall  between  the 
Cactus  house  and  the  private  pits  in  the  Royal  Gardens  at  Kew. 
Near  by  it  the  crimson  flowers  of  Cydonia  (Pyrus)  japonica 
are  also  expanding,  but  elsewhere  all  around  is  bare. 
A  New  Flower  Vase. 
A  new  style  of  flower  vase  has  been  patented  by  Mr.  A.  W. 
Young,  the  hardy  plant sman,  of  Stevenage,  Herts.  The 
advantages  claimed  for  the  invention  are: — “  (1)  Being  of  a  taper 
shape,  all  flowers  placed  therein  at  once  assume  the  desired  posi¬ 
tion,  viz.,  even  bunches,  showing  each  flower  to  advantage  with¬ 
out  crowding,  and  blooms  facing  all  one  way ;  (2)  Being  made  in 
six  sizes  of  different  heights,  they  can  be  placed  one  behind  the 
other,  and  the  flowers  will  then  appear  in  the  form  of  a  bank, 
without  the  aid  of  pots,  blocks,  or  other  cumbersome  contri¬ 
vances  ;  (3)  Should  any  vase  be  wanted  to  be  heightened,  it  can 
be  done  by  simply  using  one  of  the  tubes  made  for  that  purpose ; 
(4)  Lightness  in  conveyance ;  little  room  required,  as  they  can  be 
placed  one  in  the  other,  thus  occupying  little  space  when  not  in 
use ;  (5)  Being  made  in  zinc,  they  are  not  liable  to  damage  and 
breakage  in  travelling  as  the  china  vases  now  in  use  ;  (6)  In  short, 
all  flowers  exhibited  in  these  vases  show  to  much  better 
advantage,  they  being  made  ornamental.” 
Presentation  to  an  Old  Gardener. 
On  his  retirement  from  a  forty  years’  superintendence  of  the 
gardens  and  estate  of  Glenlee,  New  Galloway,  N.B.,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  district  presented  Mr.  Melville,  on  Wednesday 
evening,  December  4,  with  a  handsome  marble  and  bronze  clock, 
a  pair  of  silver  candlesticks,  and  a  purse  of  sovereigns;  and  to 
Mrs.  Melville  a  beautiful  tea  and  coffee  service.  Provost  Cowan, 
New  Galloway,  made  the  presentation,  and  expressed  the  hope 
that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Melville  would  long  be  spared  to  look  on 
and  use  these  mementoes  of  their  friends  in  the  Glenkens,  and 
enjoy  the  leisure  they  had  so  well  earned  after  their  long,  useful, 
and  honourable  life  spent  in  Glenlee  glen.  Mr.  Melville  feelingly 
replied.  The  clock  bore  the  following  inscription  :  — “  Presented 
to  Mr.  Wm.  Melville  by  his  friends  and  well-wishers  on  the 
occasion  of  his  leaving  Glenlee  after  thirty-nine  years’  service. — 
November  27,  1901.”  It  might  be  added  that  a  great  deal  of 
ornamental  and  forest  tree-planting  was  done  on  the  estate  in 
Mr.  Melville’s  time,  and  for  many  years  his  services  were  much 
in  request  as  judge  at  horticultural  shows  in  the  South-West 
of  Scotland.— Correspondent. 
The  “  Garden  Annual.” 
The  “  Garden  Annual,  Almanack,  and  Address  Book  ”  for  the 
coming  year,  has  been  issued  from  the  office  of  “  Gardening,” 
37,  Southampton  Street,  Strand,  W.C.  We  notice  that  the 
change  of  names  in  the  curatorsliip  of  the  Royal  Gardens  at  Kew 
has  not  been  made,  nor  has  Mr.  Bean’s  appointment  to  the 
assistant  curatorship,  which  occurred  a  year  ago,  been  noticed, 
and,  of  course,  nearly  the  whole  body  of  the  garden  head  staff 
have  been  variously  changed.  The  changes  that  took  place  in 
the  Royal  Gardens  at  Windsor,  on  the  accession  of  His  Majesty 
the  King,  have  been  overlooked,  consequently  the  gardeners’ 
names  there,  and  at  Sandringham  and  Gosford,  are  wrongly 
given.  Mr.  J.  W.  McHattie’s  name  is  omitted  from  the  superin- 
tendenceship  of  the  Edinburgh  City  Gardens,  and  the  new  secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Scottish  Horticultural  Association  (that  has  about 
1,000  members)  is  unrecognised,  and  Mr.  Laird’s  name  and 
address  remain.  The  foregoing  are  all  so  important  that  in  a 
horticultural  directory  book  they  ought  by  no  means  to  have 
been  overlooked.  Of  course,  there  are  a  large  number  of  such 
defects,  but  having  practical  experience  of  the  difficulty  there  is 
in  getting  gardeners  to  send  in  alterations  of  address,  it  is  unfair 
to  refer  to  them.  Even  the  most  perfect  directory  speedily 
becomes  unreliable  owing  to  the  constant  changes  that  are 
occurring.  Lists  of  new  plants  certificated  during  the  year  (but 
without  any  descriptive  text)  are  included,  also  calendar  and 
seasonable  work  for  each  month,  postal  and  other  useful 
information. 
Kildare  County  Council. 
Mr.  W.  Tyndall,  The  Gardens,  Gilltown,  Newbridge,  Ireland, 
has  been  appointed  instructor  in  horticulture  to  the  Kildare 
County  Council. 
Mr.  Shrivell  at  Broughty  Ferry. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  Technical  Instruction  Committee, 
Mr.  F.  W.  E.  Shrivell,  F.L.S.,  gave  his  lecture  on  “Chemical 
Manures  in  the  Kitchen  Garden,”  on  December  6,  at  Broughty 
Ferry.  The  subject  was  illustrated  by  blackboard  sketches,  and 
proved  entertaining. 
Women  as  Working  Gardeners. 
Speaking  at  the  Women’s  Institute,  in  Victoria  Street, 
recently,  Miss  Bradley,  of  Lady  Warwick’s  Hostel,  Reading,  is 
reported  to  have  said  “  that  experience  at  the  Reading  School 
showed  that  a  period  of  two  years,  with  about  six  hours’  practical 
work  and  some  lectures  daily,  was  sufficient  to  give  the  training 
necessary  for  a  single-handed  gardener,  but  that  for  a  post  of 
authority  a  longer  experience  was  requisite.  Gardening,  dairy 
work,  poultry  raising,  or  bee-keeping  would,  under  favourable 
circumstances,  provide  a  livelihood  for  an  industrious  woman. 
She  mentioned  that  pupils  from  Lady  Warwick’s  Agricultural 
College  now  obtained  good  posts  in  the  colonies,  and  that  at 
home  many  of  them  occupied  satisfactory  posts  at  a  minimum  of 
25s.  a  week.”  The  advantages  of  an  open-air  life  are  freely 
acknowledged,  but  there  is  a  natural  doubt  whether  the  majority 
of  women  would  find  the  life  of  a  working  gardener  at  25s.  a  week 
at  all  suitable. 
Kew  Gardens  and  Fog. 
Sir  William  Thisleton  Dyer,  the  Director  of  the  Royal  Gardens 
at  Kew,  was  recently  interviewed  by  a  representative  of  the 
“  Daily  News,”  and  in  his  remarks  he  touched  upon  the  fog 
nuisance.  “  The  smoke  going  into  the  air  gathers  moisture, 
condensing  the  clouds,  and  you  have  fog.  What 'we  have  to  do,” 
said  the  Director,  “  is  to  attack  the  factories  in  the  East  of 
London,  for  the  fog  comes  up  from  east  to  west,  and  extends  as 
far  as  Reading.  It  is  of  no  use  to  go  along  the  Thames  Valley 
to  get  away  from  it.  If  we  could  only  stop  the  factory  chim¬ 
neys  !  The  domestic  grate  could  also  be  much  improved.  But 
we  cannot  do  everything  at  once,  and  wre  ought  to  stop  the 
factory  chimney  from  sending  out  smoke.  If  London  were 
governed  as  Glasgow  is,  it  would  be  done.  They  won’t  have  it 
in  Glasgow,  where  they  even  fined  a  Lord  Provost.  They  have 
a  modified  Socialism  there,  which  is  common  sense.  Sir  W. 
Richmond  thinks  that  about  50  per  cent,  of  the  fog  would  go  if 
the  factory  chimneys  were  stopped,  and  he  is  probably  right. 
Ten  years  ago  I  promoted  a  committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society,  and  experiments  were  made  as  to  the  constitution  of  a 
foggy  atmosphere.  Be  sure  you  give  credit  to  the  Horticultural 
Society  for  that,  because  they  did  the  work.  I  will  show  you  a 
report  of  it.  We  had  some  dreadful  fogs  in  February,  1891,  and 
the  investigation  was  made  then.  The  point  we  ascertained  was, 
that  there  is  a  definite  poison  in  fog.  And  then  there  is  the 
colouring  of  the  flowers.  The  proper  development  of  colour 
requires  light,  and  we  do  not  get  it.” 
Meteorological  Observations  at  Chiswick. 
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.M. 
1901. 
December. 
ection  c 
Wind. 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
Rain. 
At 
1-ft. 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
f-t  j 
a  co 
iss 
►  io 
Q  pj 
U 
5 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
«a 
Cl 
A 
bfl 
s 
Lowest. 
^  s  g 
<0  ° 
tn 
Sunday  ...  1 
w. 
deg. 
41-5 
deg. 
39-5 
deg. 
48-1 
deg. 
38-9 
Ins. 
deg. 
40-7 
deg. 
43-2 
deg. 
47-2 
deg. 
30-0 
Monday  ...  2 
s.w. 
46T 
43-7 
523 
40-8 
— 
42-0 
43'8 
47-2 
34-0 
Tuesday  ..  3 
s.w. 
45T 
42'2 
47-8 
41-5 
— 
42-4 
44-2 
47T 
32-2 
Wed’sday  4 
s.w. 
36-2 
35-0 
40-1 
320 
— 
41-2 
44'5 
47-1 
23-6 
Thursday  5 
S.E. 
33-8 
32  C 
44-9 
27-0 
0-02 
396 
44-0 
47-1 
21-8 
Friday  ...  6 
S.W. 
33-3 
32-9 
54-3 
29-0 
— 
39-9 
43-7 
47-1 
20-4 
Saturday  7 
s.w. 
53'9 
5T5 
55-4 
33-8 
0*06 
41-5 
43-5 
47-0 
30*3 
Means  ... 
41-4 
39-5 
49-0 
34-7 
Total. 
0-08 
41-0 
43’8 
47-1 
27-5 
Another  week  characterised  by  cold, 'dull,  dry  weather. 
