184 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  9,  1899. 
1MCSTEOROI.OGZCAI.  OBSERVATION'S  AT  CHZSWZCR. 
— Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens— height  above 
sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
<V 
U 
1899. 
February 
and 
March. 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
C 
d 
Ph 
At 
1-ft. 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
U 
o 
>-*^ 
Q 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
.*^ 
a> 
bO 
a 
•4^ 
C/3 
a> 
Ef 
O 
■X*  w 
H 
Sunday  , . 
Monday.  .27 
Tuesday  28 
Wed’.sday  1 
Thursday  2 
Friday  .’.  .‘J 
Saturday  •} 
N.K. 
N.  K. 
W.S.W. 
VV.S.W 
W.S.W. 
N.  W. 
W.S.W. 
deft. 
20 -0 
24-8 
•24-8 
37*8 
36*5 
3.0  •  I 
3.0 -3 
deg. 
30*0 
24*8 
•24*8 
33*5 
33*3 
34*8 
34*8 
deg. 
43*1 
29*5 
47*9 
54-8 
48*9 
.00 -0 
48*1 
deg. 
‘2()*2 
‘23*3 
‘20-5 
24*6 
‘26*.') 
28*0 
30*2 
ins. 
0-02 
deg. 
37*2 
36*3 
30  *,0 
35*5 
35*5 
35- 6 
36- 9 
deg. 
41*6 
41-0 
40*0 
39*9 
39*7 
.■59*0 
39*7 
deg. 
45*1 
44*9 
44*8 
44*5 
44-2 
43*9 
43*6 
deg. 
15*5 
10*5 
13*5 
15*3 
10*5 
‘21*5 
22*0 
AIkans  . . 
33*9 
32-4 
39-7 
2.0*3 
Total 
0•02 
3(i*3 
40-r) 
44-3 
17*7 
Every  morninir  has  been  more  or  less  fogsy,  followed  later  by  bright 
sun.  The  temperature  has  been  lower  than  in  any  previous  week  during 
the  winter.  On  Saturday,  March  4ih,  there  was  a  slight  hailstorm. 
-  Sussex  Rainfall. — The  total  rainfall  at  Stonehurst,  Ardingley, 
for  February  was  3‘10  inches,  being  0’70  inch  above  the  average.  The 
heaviest  tall  was  1’82  inch  on  the  8th.  Rain  fell  on  eleven  days.  The 
maximum  temperature  was  56°  on  the  10th  ;  the  minimum  25°  on  the 
28th.  Mean  maximum,  46’18°  ;  mean  minimum,  .35*23°.  Mean  tempera¬ 
ture,  40*70°,  which  is  3*85°  above  the  average.  Since  the  15th  we  have 
had  no  rain,  but  have  enjoyed  thirteen  days  in  succession  of  bright  sun¬ 
shine,  with  slight  frosts  at  night.— R.  I. 
■ -  February  Weather  at  Belvoir  Castle. — The  prevailing 
direction  of  the  wind  was  S.  on  twenty-one  days.  The  total  rainfall  was 
1'19  inch,  which  fell  on  twelve  days,  and  is  0*62  inch  below  the  average 
for  the  month.  The  greatest  daily  fall  was  0*31  inch  on  the  15th, 
Barometer  (corrected  and  reduced)  highest  reading  30*637  inches  on  the 
28th  at  9  A.M.  ;  lowest  reading  28*826  inches  on  the  13th  at  9  P.M. 
Thermometers  ;  highest  In  the  shade  62°  on  the  10th,  lowest  23°  on  the 
26th  and  27th.  Mean  of  daily  maxima  47*07°,  mean  of  daily  minima  33*25°. 
Mean  temperature  of  the  month  40*16°;  lowest  on  the  grass  16°  on  the  28th, 
highest  in  the  sun  110°  on  the  10th.  Mean  temperature  of  the  earth  at 
3  feet  deep  40*82°.  Total  sunshine  118  hours  20  min.  There  were  four 
sunless  days. — W.  H.  Divers. 
1  HYSIANTHUS  ALBENS. — Your  remarks  on  the  above  plant  at 
page  148  induce  me  t  >  send  you  a  pair  of  fruits  taken  from  a  plant 
growing  outside  and  trained  to  a  wall  over  a  doorway,  where  it  is 
always  an  object  of  interest,  either  in  summer,  when  it  is  covered  with 
Its  creamy  white  flowers,  or  autumn  and  winter,  with  its  peculiar  fruits 
Here  the  plant  seems  perfectly  hardy,  and  regularly  ripens  its  fruit,  at 
least  ripe  enough  for  its  seeds  to  grow,  although  I  have  never  seen  them 
of  an  orange  colour.  Our  plant  has  thirty  fruits  on  it  this  year. — 
W.  Frosser,  Moreton  House,  Dorset.  [The  fruits  were  excellent,  and  we 
can  quite  understand  the  interest  your  plant  creates.] 
-  Strelitzia  Regina. — I  see  this  plant  was  exhibited  at  the 
Drill  Hall  on  the  14th  of  February,  and  it  is  the  first  time  I  remember 
seeing  it  mentioned  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture.  It  is  a  long  time  since 
it  was  introduced  into  this  country  ;  yet  how  very  seldom  it  is  seen  in 
gardens,  which  is  strange  with  such  a  beautiful  plant.  There  is  much 
about  it  to  recommend  ;  of  a  bold  and  almost  majestic  type,  easily  grown, 
not  much  subject  to  insect  pests,  its  curious  but  beautiful  orange  and 
purple  flowers  standing  out  amongst  its  fine  evergreen  foliage,  at  once 
arrest  and  receive  a  large  share  of  admiration.  Eleven  years  ago  we 
had  a  plant  sent  us,  or  more  strictly  speaking,  a  very  small  piece  of  a 
plant  only  three  leaves,  and  almost  rootless.  It  was  potted  in  turfy 
loam  and  sand,  and  now  it  occupies  a  tub  about  2  feet  across.  The  plant 
is  4^  feet  high,  over  6  feet  in  diameter,  and  last  autumn  threw  up  twenty 
spikes  of  flowers.  It  seems  to  enjoy  a  light  sunshiny  position,  as  our 
plant  has  stood  close  to  the  glass  at  the  south  end  of  a  span-roofed 
intermediate  house,  and  the  hot-w'ater  pipes  pass  underneath  the  platform 
on  which  it  is  standing  about  1  foot  from  its  roots.  In  the  South  I  have 
no  doubt  this  plant  will  do  equally  as  well  at  the  warm  end  of  a  green¬ 
house,  Ours  is  a  cold  northern  locality. — N.  N.  [The  flowers  sent 
were  of  excellent  quality,  and  for  di«tinctive  beauty*  could  not  be 
iurnassed.] 
-  Gardening  Appointment. — Mr.  W.  Abbey,  late  gardener  to 
E.  Chatrian,  Esq.,  Woodbrooke  House,  Birmingham,  has  been  appointed 
gardener  to  A.  Balwin  Bantock,  Esq.,  Merridale  House,  Wolverhampton. 
-  Nicotiana  affinis.— Seeds  of  the  Sweet-scented  Tobacco 
should  be  sown  in  a  pan  or  box,  and  the  seedlings  pricked  out  to 
strengthen  in  other  receptacles  before  potting  or  planting  out.  It  is  an 
i-xcellent  plant  to  produce  sweetness,  especially  in  the  evening,  at  which 
time  its  flowers  open,  and  the  odour  from  them  is  exceptionally  strong. 
In  the  day  the  blooms  hang  limp  and  loose,  and  appear  not  to  like  the 
light  at  all. — E,  S. 
-  Death  of  Mr.  James  Hall. — Mr.  James  Hall,, who  for  the 
past  thirty-eight  years  has  been  employed  on  the  estates  of  the  Earl  of 
Scarborough,  for  the  first  seventeen  years  as  gardener  at  Sandbeck  Park, 
Yorkshire,  and  since  as  stew-ard  on  the  Lumley  estate,  Co.  Durham,  died 
on  February  24th  in  his  seventieth  year.  He  is  succeeded  in  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  the  Lumley  estate  by  Mr.  T.  Garnett,  who  has  been  gardener  at 
St.  John’s,  Wakefield,  for  the  past  twenty-five  years. 
- Birmingham  Gardeners’  A.ssociation.  —  The  members  of 
this  Society  assembled  in  force  at  the  fortnightly  meeting,  on  the  27th  ult„ 
to  listen  to  a  lecture  on  “  Fruit  Growing,”  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Goodacre, 
Elvaston  Castle  Gardei  s,  Derby.  The  chair  was  taken  by  Professor 
W.  Hillhouse,  of  Mason  College.  Mr.  Goodacre,  who  is  a  well-known 
exhibitor  of  fruit  and  Chrysanthemums  at  the  Birmingham  shows,  was 
accorded  a  hearty  reception,  and  afterwards  read  a  most  exhaustive 
essay,  which  was  highly  appreciated,  as  it  contained  an  immense  amount 
of  valuable  information. 
-  Propagating  Marguerites.— White  and  yellow  Marguerites 
may  be  readily  propagated  in  a  bottom  heat  of  65°  to  70°.  Select 
stout,  healthy  tops  or  side  shoots  about  3  inches  long  ;  remove  the  bottom 
leaves,  and  cut  level  close  to  a  joint.  Drain  and  fill  3-inch  pots  with  a 
good  mixture  of  sandy  loam  and  leaf  mould.  Insert  the  cuttings  round 
the  edge.  Four  in  each  pot  will  suffice.  Plunge  the  pots  in  cocoa-nut 
fibre  refuse  to  the  rim  in  a  frame  or  box  placed  where  the  heat  can  produce 
the  temperature  named.  When  rooted,  pot  singly  and  grow  without 
bottom  heat. — S. 
•  t 
-  The  Silver  Wattle. — In  the  temperate  house  at  Kew  a  plant 
of  Acacia  dealbata,  35  to  40  feet  in  height,  is  now  very  pretty,  the  head 
being  smothered  with  flowers.  For  a  large  structure  it  is  well  adapted, 
as  it  can  be  taken  up  on  a  single  stem  until  well  above  other  plants,  and 
then  be  allowed  to  branch  freely*,  and  so  fill  the  top  of  the  house  without 
interfering  with  the  dwarfer  plants  below.  The  fluffly  globose  heads 
— produced  in  large  branching  racemes— of  bright  golden  flowers  are  well 
known  to  everyone  as  the  “  Mimosa,”  sold  in  such  large  quantities  in 
florists’  shops  and  about  the  streets.  Besides  being  so  pretty  when  in 
flower,  it  is  worth  growing  as  a  foliage  plant,  the  leaves  being  silvery  and 
glaucous.  It  is  a  good  natured  plant,  requiring  little  attention  when 
planted  out.  It  should  be  cut  hard  back  every  second  year. — D.  K. 
-  The  Ta.xation  of  Gardeners. — There  is  a  phase  of  this 
subject  that  seems  so  far  not  to  have  received  the  attention  which  it 
deserves,  and  that  is  the  effects  of  such  taxing  or  fiscal  burthen  on  the 
provision  of  employment.  We  have  but  to  glance  just  now  through  the 
advertising  columns  of  gardening  publications  to  note  what  an  immense 
number  of  gardeners,  young  and  old,  are  applying  for  places,  showing 
how  many  must  be  in  need  of  employment,  and  fail  to  find  it.  Is  there 
any  connection  between  the  lack  of  labour  in  gardens,  and  the  tax  which 
a  parental  Government  imposes  upon  a  gardener’s  employment  in  private 
places  ?  Of  course,  the  assumption  is  that  the  employer  pays,  and  as  he 
is  wealthy,  how  does  labour  suffer  ?  But  is  the  employer  after  all  so 
wealthy  ?  and  in  being  called  upon  to  pay  a  tax  because  he  employs  a 
gardener,  is  he  not  deterred,  and  seriously  deterred,  from  keeping  more 
than  one  or  two  perhaps,  certainly  as  few  as  possible,  because  of  the  tax 
imposed  upon  gardeners  in  his  constant  employ  ?  Stupid  people,  who 
cannot  see  an  inch  beyond  their  noses,  reply,  “  Oh  !  if  a  gentleman 
cannot  afford  to  pay  the  tax,  why  employ  so  many  ?  ”  But  those  who 
look  farther  ahead  realise  that  there  can  be  no  stronger  reason  urged  for 
the  abolition  of  the  tax  if  it  restricts  labour,  and  that  it  does  in  gardens, 
and  materially  so,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Practically  this  and  some 
similar  taxes  are  taxes  or  impositions  on  labour  and  employment,  and  it 
is  because  they  are  such  every  effort  should  be  made  to  secure  their 
removal.  Were  they  so  removed,  who  can  doubt  but  that  a  great  fillip 
would  be  given  to  employment  in  gardening,  and  that  the  entire  com¬ 
munity  would  benefit  ?  Taxes  we  must  have,  but  of  all  taxes,  those 
which  help  to  render  employment  difficult,  whether  in  gardening  or  other¬ 
wise  are  the  worst. — A.  D. 
