341 
April  27,  1890.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
nXETEOROX.OCZCAI.  OBSERVATZOIf S  AT  CHXSWZCK. 
— Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens— height  above 
sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
o 
Temperature  of  the 
Air, 
Rain. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
Lowest 
Temperature 
j  on  Gra.ss. 
April. 
.2  ^ 
*■5  .s 
■q 
At  9  A.M. 
Dry  Wet 
Bulb.  Bulb. 
Day.  Night 
At 
1-ft. 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
xn 
<D 
i-H 
m 
Oil 
> 
o 
1-3 
Sunday  .  .16 
Monday.  .17 
Tuesday  18 
Wed’sday  19 
Thursday  20 
Friday  ..21 
Saturday  22 
N.N.W. 
N.K. 
N.W. 
w.s.w. 
\v.s.\v. 
S.K. 
N.N.E. 
deff. 
43- 7 
42-4 
44- 0 
47-1 
50-2 
42 - .5 
43- 5 
deg. 
41 -i 
37  *8 
41*8 
41-9 
45-0 
41-0 
39-2 
deg. 
47-5 
52- 4 
53- 0 
58- 9 
59- 1 
45-8 
55-0 
deg. 
40-5 
31-0 
31- 3 
29-6 
32- 5 
42-0 
34-0 
ins. 
0-09 
0-19 
0'20 
deg. 
4(>-8 
45-6 
45- 9 
46- 7 
48- 1 
49- 9 
46-9 
deg. 
46-9 
46-9 
46- 9 
47  T 
47- 6 
48- 1 
47-9 
deg. 
46-8 
46-8 
46-8 
46-9 
46-9 
46-9 
47  T 
deg. 
34-5 
22-9 
24-0 
21-0 
24- 3 
41-2 
25- 0 
Means  .. 
44-9 
41-8 
53-1 
34-4 
Total 
0-48 
47-1 
47-3 
46-9 
27*6 
The  week  has  been  characterised  by  dull  weather  and  very  cold 
laoruings. 
-  Stbelitzia  Reoin^. — Few  plants  when  in  flower  attract  more 
attention  than  this  old  favourite.  For  brilliance  of  colour  it  has  few 
equals,  the  contrast  between  the  deep  orange  of  one  portion  and  the  dark 
Wue  of  the  other  being  very  striking.  At  Kew  two  examples  are  now 
'flowering  in  the  Mexican  house,  one  carrying  three  spikes  and  the  other 
six.  The  spikes  are  4  feet  in  height,  and  bear  about  five  flowers  each. 
The  flowers  last  in  good  condition  from  three  to  four  weeks,  and  as 
usually  there  is  a  difference  of  two  or  three  weeks  between  the  opening  of 
the  flowers  on  the  first  and  last  spikes,  the  flowering  season  is  prolonged 
for  eight  or  ten  weeks.  Although  it  has  been  in  cultivation  upwards  of 
a  century,  and  was  one  of  the  first  plants  to  be  figured  in  the  “Botanical 
Magazine,”  it  is  now  but  seldom  seen,  and  then  usually  as  a  pot  plant. 
At  Kew  it  has  been  planted  out  in  a  border  of  loam  in  a  bouse  which  has 
a  minimum  winter  temperature  of  50°,  and  it  is  there  found  to  grow  more 
wigorously  and  flower  better  than  wh.en  grown  as  a  pot  plant. — W.  D. 
-  Floaver  Traffic  of  the  Scilly  Isles. — A  competition 
■(says  the  “  Western  Weekly  ”)  organised  by  the  flower-growers  of  the 
Isles  of  Scilly,  in  the  hope  that  the  Great  Western  Railway  Company 
would  be  induced  to  lower  its  rate  of  £8  10s.  a  ton  to  Paddington,  was 
started  in  the  spring,  and  has  been  keenly  watched  by  the  islanders. 
The  flowers  have  hitherto  been  conveyed  to  Penzance  by  steamer,  and 
thence  by  rail  to  London  and  other  great  markets.  This  year  some  of 
the  Scillonians  entered  into  an  arrangement  with  Mr,  Thompson  to 
■convey  their  produce  from  St.  Mary’s  to  the  London  and  S  juth-Western 
Railway  Company’s  goods  terminus  on  the  Devonport  side  of  Stonehouse 
Pool.  This  service  commenced  on  March  4:h,  since  which  two  ketches, 
the  Agnes  and  the  Mount  Carmel,  have  been  running  two  or  three  times 
41  week.  Leaving  the  Isles  at  nine  o’clock  in  the  evening,  they  have 
reached  Devonport  in  time  for  the  early  afternoon  express  train  for 
London  next  day,  and  each  vessel  has  carried  from  1000  to  2000  boxes 
■of  flowers,  160  of  which  go  to  the  ton.  It  is  claimed  that  there  has  been 
a  saving  in  carriage  of  between  £2  and  £3  a  ton. 
-  Royal  Meteorological  Society.— The  monthly  meeting  of 
ihe  Society  was  held  on  Wednesday  evening  the  19th  inst.  at  the  Institu¬ 
tion  of  Civil  Engineers,  Westminster ;  Mr.  F.  C.  Bayard,  L.L.M.,  President, 
in  the  chair.  Mr.  II.  Mellish,  F.R.Met.Soc.,  read  a  paper  on  “Soil 
Temperature,”  in  which  he  discussed  the  observations  from  the  thermo¬ 
meters  at  various  depths  in  the  soil  which  have  been  made  at  the  stations 
of  the  Royal  Meteorological  Society.  The  records  have  been  carried  on 
at  many  of  the  stations  since  1881,  and  observations  have  been  made  at 
•the  following  depths  in  the  soil  2  inches,  6  inches,  1  foot,  2  feet,  and 
4  feet.  It  appears  that  in  nearly  all  cases  the  annual  temperature  of  the 
■goil  at  a  depth  of  1  foot  is  slightly  higher  than  that  of  the  air.  In  winter 
4ime  the  air  and  the  soil  at  1  foot  have  about  the  same  temperature, 
the  soil  being  often  a  little  warmer  till  about  the  end  of  Januarj-, 
after  which,  for  the  next  two  months,  the  air  has  a  small  advantage  ; 
■but  in  the  summer  months  the  soil  at  1  foot  is  generally  warmer  than 
the  air,  the  difference  exceeding  3°  at  several  stations.  Mr.  Mellish 
shows  that  on  the  mean  for  the  year  the  light  soils  are  1°  warmer 
than  the  air,  while  the  strong  ones  are  only  0'2°  warmer,  and  he  is  of 
opinion  that  near  the  surface  we  may  expect  to  find  wider  extremes  of 
temperature  in  light  soils  than  in  strong  ones,  but  that  the  heavier 
soils  are  better  conductors  of  heat. 
-  American  Apple  Exports. — The  total  Apple  shipments  to 
European  ports  for  the  week  ending  April  Isf,  1899,  were,  says  a  trans¬ 
atlantic  contemporary,  13,414  barrels,  including  7914  barrels  to  Liverpool 
and  5500  barrels  to  London.  The  exports  included  2052  barrels  from 
Boston,  85  barrels  from  New  York,  2920  barrels  from  Portland,  6514 
barrels  from  Halifax,  and  1743  barrels  from  St.  John,  N.B.  Fur  the  tame 
week  last  year  the  Apple  shipments  were  18,173  barrels.  The  total  ship¬ 
ments  thus  far  this  season  have  been  1,204,491  barrels,  against  883,158 
barrels  for  the  same  time  last  year.  The  shipments  in  detail  to  datehavo 
bren  227,749  barrels  fiom  Boston,  154,270  barrels  from  New  York, 
137,593  barrels  from  Portland,  406,705  barrels  from  Montreal.  220,241 
barrels  from  Halifax,  and  51,993  barrels  from  St.  John,  N  B. 
-  Dumfriesshire  and  Galloway  Horticultural  Society. 
— An  interesting  exhibition  of  D.xffodils  and  other  spring  flowers  was 
held  by  this  Society  in  Dumfries  on  18th  inst.  The  season  in  the  South 
of  Scotland  has  been  an  unfavourable  one  for  early  flowers,  and  compara¬ 
tively  few  of  the  local  growers  were  able  to  exhibit.  Some  lovely  flowers 
were,  however,  sent  by  others.  Messrs  R.  Smith  &  Co.  of  Worcester 
sent  a  number  of  Daffodils  representative  of  the  various  sections,  with  a 
collection  of  other  early  flowers.  Messrs.  Barr  &  Sons  of  London  showed 
a  fine  collection  of  Narcissi,  many  of  which  wore  new  to  the  greater 
number  of  those  who  visited  the  exhibition.  Mossr.s.  Hogg  &  Robertson 
of  Dublin  sent  about  forty  varieties  grown  in  their  bulb  nurseries  at 
Rush,  near  Dublin.  These  were  much  admired.  Mr.  W.  B.  Hartland’s, 
of  Cork,  flowers  were  over  for  the  season,  but  his  ponderosa,  a  double 
Daffodil,  ovas  exhibited  and  viewed  with  interest.  Mr.  Service,  Maxwell- 
town,  and  other  local  trade  growers,  had  miscellaneous  exhibits  of  much 
value.  Mr.  James  Davidson  of  Summerville,  Mr.  J.  Primrose  of  Arundel 
House,  and  other  private  growers,  added  much  to  the  exhibition  by  their 
Orchids  and  hardy  flowers,  Mr.  Davidson’s  Masdevallia  Harryana  was 
greatly  admired.  The  exhibition  was  followed  by  a  lecture  on  Daffodils 
by  Mr.  S.  Arnott,  Carsethorn.  Mr.  W.  J.  Maxwell,  la‘e  M.P.  for  Dum¬ 
friesshire,  occupied  the  chair,  Mr.  Arnott’s  paper  treated  of  the  literature, 
history,  and  cultivation  of  the  Narcissus.  A  running  commentary  upon 
the  varieties  was  given  in  connection  with  the  description  of  the  sections 
into  which  the  flower  is  botanically  divided.  Probible  improvements  in 
the  flow'ers  were  also  toue-hed  upon  in  a  suggestive  way.  An  interesting 
discussion  followed,  and  Mr.  Arnott  was  heartily  thanked  for  his  paper. 
Votes  of  thanks  w  ere  also  given  to  the  more  prominent  exhibitors. 
-  Experimental  Fruit  Gardens.— We  take  the  following 
announcement  from  the  Report  of  the  Agricultural  Sub-Committee  of 
tho  Herefordshire  County  Council  Recognising  the  dearth  of  really 
competent  persons  to  undertake  pruning  and  grafting,  it  has  been 
decided  to  establish  experimental  gardens  in  various  parts  of  the  county, 
in  which  to  provide  instruction  in  raising,  grafting,  budding,  pruning, 
and  training  of  all  kinds  of  fruit  trees.  To  commence  with,  each  garden 
will  have  an  area  of  an  acre,  be  provided  by  the  landowners,  who  will 
use  the  sites  as  nurseries  for  their  own  estates,  and  merely  place  them  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Committee  for  educational  purposes.  Teachers  will 
visit  these  gardens  at  the  proper  seasons,  and  as  often  as  necessarj',  to 
give  demonstrations  in  the  various  processes  to  the  public,  and  special 
individual  instiuction  to  such  as  are  desirous  of  qualifying  for  a  County 
Council  certificate.  This  will  be  given  after  an  examination,  which  will 
bo  partly  practical  and  partly  theoretical.  The  theoretical  examination 
will  be  by  means  of  written  papers,  or  vica  vocc,  according  to  the 
capabilities  of  those  presenting  themselves.  No  person  will  therefore  be 
debarred  on  account  of  any  lack  of  previous  literary  training.  Although 
the  only  cost  to  the  Committee  will  be  the  provision  of  the  instruction 
and  the  conduct  of  the  examinations,  it  is  hoped  that  these  gardens  will 
not  be  altogether  valueless  to  those  gentlemen  who  provide  the  land  ; 
but  whatever  the  result  may  prove  to  be,  several  landowners  have  entered 
upon  the  experiment  con  amore,  and  there  are  not  wanting  signs  that 
plenty  of  plot's  will  be  available  as  the  scheme  becomes  better  known. 
The  sites  already  accepted  are  at  Hope-under-Dinmore  and  Bodenham, 
kindly  offered  by  Mr.  Arkwright  ;  E'ton  and  Downton,  by  Mr.  Boughton 
Knight ;  Bryngwyn,  by  Mr.  Rankin,  M.P.  ;  Putley,  by  Mr.  John  Riley  } 
and  Thinghill,  by  Mr.  John  Smith.  [Herefordshire  is  the  greatest 
orcharding  county  in  Britain,  but  vast  numbers  of  trees  are  in  a  deplor¬ 
able  condition.  The  teaching  projected  seems  to  be  very  appropriate, 
and  ought  in  time  to  be  highly  beneficial.  are  pleased  to  see  that  all 
the  proposed  examinations  are  not  to  bo  in  the  form  of  written  papers,  a» 
we  happen  to  know  of  skilful  workers  who  are  unable  to  do  anything  like 
justice  with  the  pen  to  their  practical  abilities,  while  others  by  its  skilful 
use  can  do  a  great  deal  more  than  justice  to  themselves  as  efficient  and 
profitable  workers.] 
