JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
297 
April  2,  1903. 
The  Midland  Daffodil  Society. 
Owing  to  the  vei-y  early  season,  this  society  has  decided  to 
hold  its  exhibition  on  Thursday  and  Friday,  April  lb  and  17, 
instead  of  the  23rd  and  24th,  as  mentioned  in  the  schedule, 
page  27. 
Irish  Forestry. 
Forestry  is  rousing  a  keen  intei-est  in  Ireland,  much  of  the 
enthusiasm  being  due  to  tlie  Irish  Forestry  Society,  which  is 
providing  leaflets  embodying  the  following:  The  best  trees  to 
plant  for  varying  situations;  also  the  simplest  way  to  plant 
and  raise  a  stock  for  the  plantations.  The  information  is  very 
concise  and  accurate,  and  the  leaflets  are  distributed  in 
c^uantities  to  farmers  and  the  County  Councils,  so  as  to  reach 
the  greatest  number  of  cultivators,  and  it  seems  that  a  great 
deal  of  practical  work  is  being  done.  Probably,  in  a  compara¬ 
tively  short  time,  the  denuded  hills  will  again  be  clad  in  the 
spmbre  green  of  the  forest. — 0‘N. 
The  Royal  Horticultural  Society  of  Ireland. 
Judging  by  the  financial  condition  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  of  Ireland,  things  horticultural  on  this  side  are  not 
looking  up.  Gardeners,  however,  are  not  prone  to  judge  by 
what  is  a  little  out  of  touch  with,  themselves  and  the  times. 
Year  by  year  its  prestige  and  popularity  has  grown  smaller  by 
degrees  and  beautifully  less,  until  the  Society  stands  ivith  a 
big  balance  to  the  bad,  and  unless  some  extraneous  vitality  is 
soon  infused  into  its  ancient  body,  everything  points  to  a 
royal  funeral  in  the  not  far  distant  future,  with,  probably,  but 
few  mourners.  The  young  and  vigorous  Irish  Gaixleners’  Asso¬ 
ciation,  fortunately,  grows  apace,  and  although  it  neither  is, 
nor  has  been,  a  competitor  with  the  Royal,  it  is  difficult  to 
predict  what  it  might  not  accomplish  in  the  way  of  shows  if 
once  initiated  amongst  the  itleasure  loving  people  of  the 
Milesian  Metropolis. — K. 
The  Board  of  Agriculture  and  Technical  Instruction  for  Ireland. 
The  examination  of  candidates  by  the  above  Board  for 
County  Council  appointments  as  horticultural  instructors  was 
held  recently,  and  may  do  much  to  alter  the  lack  of  interest 
in  commercial  horticulture,  or  it  may  do  little.  It  is  said  that 
200  applied  for  entry  to  the  exam,  at  Glasneviu,  fifty  of  whom 
were  .selected  to  sit,  and  sat  from  10  a.m.  till  5.30  p.m.,  save 
forty-five  minutes  for  luncheon,  where  no  luncheon  was  to  be 
had  for  love  or  money.  As  the  preliminar.y  notice  interested 
some  English  gardener.3  sufficiently  to  inquire  about  the  subject 
from  which,  apparentljq  they  were  debarred  from  competing, 
it  may  be  some  consolation  to  them  in  knowing  that  “  The 
Board  ”  has  no  power  to  appoint  its  elect  to  the  post  of  County 
Council  instructors.  All  it  can  do  is  to  recommend  them  to  the 
lK)wers  that  be,  and  although  it  cannot  be  said  that  such  powers 
will  not  appoint  the  men  recommended,  it  cannot  be  said  that 
they  will,  for  there  are  sidelights  and  underenrrents  affecting 
most  public  {questions  in  the  Green  Isle. — K. 
Professor  L.  H.  Bailey. 
Recently  we  called  attention  to  the  appointment  of  Prof. 
L.  H.  Bailey  as  the  successor  to  Prof.  I.  P.  Roberts  as  Dean  of 
the  College  of  Agriculture  at  Cornell  University.  In  regard  to 
his  life,  he  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Michigan.  His  father  is  one 
of  the  best  known  fruit  growers  in  that  State,  and  although  now 
nearly  eighty-three  years,  he  is  planning  to  plant  a  Peach 
orchard  this  season.  He  is  thoroughly  in  love  with  Nature,  and 
in  this  respect  his  distinguished  son  has  inherited  much.  Prof. 
Bailey  attended  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College,  and  was 
graduated  in  1882.  For  two  years  thereafter  he  was  private 
assistant  to  Dr.  Asa  Gray,  the  world-renowned  botanist  of 
Harvard  University.  While  there  he  did  considei’able  horti¬ 
cultural  editorial  work.  In  1885  he  was  called  to  his  Alma 
Mater,  Michigan  Agricultural  College,  and  accepted  the  pro¬ 
fessorship  of  horticulture  and  landscape  gardening,  which  posi¬ 
tion  he  held  until  1888.  He  was  called  to  Cornell  Universitj' 
to  accept  the  chair  of  general  and  experimental  horticulture  in 
1888.  Part  of  the  year  he  spent  abroad,  and  he  really  took  up 
the  active  work  in  New  York  in  1889.  His  subsequent  history 
is  well  known.  He  writes:  “From  that  time  until  this  I  have 
tried  to  be  busy.”  No  one  will  question  the  fact  that  his 
teachings  and  writings  have  had  a  wider  beneficial  effect  upon 
experimental  horticulture  and  horticultural  literature  in 
America  than  that  of  any  other  man. 
Weather  in  the  North. 
^  There  has  been  no  day  fair  throughout  the  past  week.  The 
24th  was  fine  and  breezy,  but  rain  fell  in  the  evening  and  during 
the  night.  The  27th  was  variable,  with  bright  but  brief 
intervals.  Saturday  was  disagreeably  wet  and  blustering,  a'^ 
were  also  Sunday  and  Mondaj'.  Outdoor  operations  on  farms 
or  in  gardens  arc  at  a  complete  standstill. — B.  D.,  S.  Perth- 
The  Weather  at  Hamilton. 
No  improvement  to  report  on  the  weather.  The  .status  quo 
is  practically  unchanged,  a  state-of  matter  which  is  now  occasion¬ 
ing  anxiety  among  gardeners  and  farmers.  Tuesday  was  the 
only  decent  day  of  the  week.  It  is  very  remarkable  that  the 
week-ends,  almost  without  exception,  have  been  specially 
boi.sterous  for  the  last  two  months.  The  present  one  certainly 
is  no  exception  to  the  order.  Friday  evening  came  on  very  wet, 
followed  on  Saturday  by  a  heavy  gale  of  wind  and  rain  from  the 
south.  The  air  is  cold,  laden  with  sleety  rain. — D.  C. 
The  Nurserymen,  Market  Gardeners,  and  General  Hailstorm 
Insurance  Corporation,  liimited. 
The  eighth  annual  general  meeting  of  shareholders  of  tho 
above  corporation  will  be  held  at  the  registered  head  office, 
41  and  42,  King  Street,.  Covent  Garden,  W.C.,  to-morrow, 
Friday,  April  3,  at  4  p.m.  The  corporations  annual  I'eport 
enumerates  a  list  of  disastrous,  hailstorms  that  occurred  in 
divers  parts  of  the  country  during  fhe  year,  doing  damage  to 
glass  houses,  and  name  the  claims  paid  to  members  who  suffered 
loss  by  these  storms.  The  directors,  are  able  to  pay  a  five  per 
cent,  dividend  on  paid  up  capital,  free  of  income  tax,  and  also 
a  bonus  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent.,  amounting  altogether  to 
£750;  and  they  suggest  that  a  sum  of  £1,220  be  placed  to 
re.serve  fund,  thus  making  up  the  resein^es  to  £6,000,  and  that 
the  balance  of  £630  18s.  lid.  be  carried  forward. 
“Flora  and  Sylva.” 
Mr.  W.  Robinson,  author  of  the  “  English  Flower  Garden  ” 
and  other  standard  works,,  and  proprietor  of  “  Gardening  Illu  :- 
trated”  and  “Home  and  Farm,”  two  weekly  journals,  has  now 
added  another  publication  to  his  control.  The  title  page  of  the 
new  monthly,  which  will  bear  the  title  “Flora  and  Sylva,” 
describes  it  as  “  A  monthly  review  for  lovers  of  landscape, 
woodland,  tree,  or  flower;  new  or  rare  plants,  trees,  shrubs, 
fruits,  and  vegetables;  the  gai’den  beautiful,  home  woods,  and 
heme  landscape.”  It  is  published  at  the  price  of  2s.  6d.  from 
17,  Furnival  Street,  Holborn,  E.C.  The  first  irumber  to  hand 
opens  with  an  article  by  Lord  Redesdale  on  Hardy  Bamboos, 
and  others  throughout  the  forty-six  pa.ges,  12in  by  9in,  embrace 
such  subjects  as  New  and  Beautiful  Daffodils,  Hardy  Fruits  of 
the  Lyons  Region,  Magnolia,  a  mastedy  ess.ay  by  Geo.  Nichol¬ 
son,  and  illustrated  by  one  coloured  plate  and  an  engraving. 
“  A  Revision  of  the  Genus  Galochortus,”  by  Carl  Purdy,  of 
Ukiah,  California,  is  also  supplemented  by  a  coloured  plate,  and 
there  is  also  an  extended  article  on  “  Greater  Trees  of  the 
Northern  Forest,”  besides  other  notes  and  shorter  articles.  The 
arrangement  and  style  of  the  work  is  such  a.3  to  give  it  a  high 
standing. 
Meteorological  Observations  at  Chiswick. 
Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens  at  Chis¬ 
wick,  height  above  sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
Direction  ol 
Wind. 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Rain. 
Temperature  ol 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
Lowest  j 
Temperature  i 
on  Qrass,  | 
1903. 
March. 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
At 
1-ft. 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
Highest. 
1  Lowest.  ! 
1 J 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Ins. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Sunday  ...22 
S.W. 
51-9 
49-5 
62  1 
48-3 
— 
47-3 
46  2 
457 
57'3 
Monday  ...23 
s.w. 
56 -9 
50  0 
61-2 
48  2 
0  03 
48  2 
46-7 
45  9 
37'3 
Tuesday  ...24 
S.W. 
49T 
45T 
57-2 
38-8 
0-05 
48T 
47"1 
4b  1 
30'0 
Wed’sday  25 
S.S.K. 
56  5 
51-5 
68-2 
45 '3 
0T5 
47-8 
47-2 
46-2 
38  0 
Thursday  26 
S.B.W. 
51 '9 
48-0 
56-7 
48  0 
0  02 
49  7 
47  6 
46  5 
428 
Friday  ...27 
S.S.W. 
49  9 
47-9 
53-3 
45-3 
0  03 
48-6 
48  0 
46  7 
29  0 
Saturday  28 
S.W. 
51-7 
49  0 
56-4 
44-8 
0.07 
48  3 
47-9 
46-9 
39  0 
Total. 
Means  ... 
52-6 
43’7 
59-3 
45-5 
0-35 
48-3 
47  2 
46-3 
:6-2 
A  very  warm  week  wit'.i  imieh  wind,  and  rain  on  six  da;\s. 
