May  7,  1903: 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
407 
The  Gardeners’  Dinner. 
The  proposed  gai'deners’  dinner  in  connection  with  the  fruit 
and  vegetable  exhibition  and  conference,  to  be  held  on  Sep¬ 
tember  29,  is  rapidly  being  organised.  Mr.  Owen  Thomas, 
A7M.H.,  is  chairman  of  the  dinner  committee,  and  Mr.  A.  Dean, 
of  Kingston,  and  Mr.  E.  Beckett,  of  Aldenham,  are  hon.  secre¬ 
taries.  The  services  of  Leopold  de  Kothschild,  Esq.,  have  been 
.secured  as  chairman  at  the  dinner. 
Kew  Guild  Dinner. 
We  are  requested  to  remind  our  readers  who  are  oldJKewites 
that  the  annual  dinner  will  take  place  at  the  Holborn  Restau¬ 
rant  on  the  25th  instant,  at  7.30  p.m.,  and  that  the  secretarj", 
Mr.  Winn,  would  be  glad  to  hear  before  the  18th  from  all  who 
intend  to  be  present.  The  chair  will  be  taken  by  Dr.  Scott, 
F.R.S.,  and  he  will  be  supported  by  Sir  W.  T.  Thiselton-Dyer, 
director;  Sir  T.  H.  Elliott,  secretary  to  the  Board  of  Agricul¬ 
ture,  &G. 
Royal  Botanic  Society  of  London. 
The  syllabus  of  lectures  by  Prof.  W.  B.  Bottomley,  M.A., 
F.L.S.  (King’s  College,  Univer.sity  of  London),  on  “  Plant  Ada^ita- 
tions,”  in  the  Museum,  on  Fridays,  at  4  p.m.,  is  as  follows: — 
Lecture  1,  May  22. — Root  structure  and  functions  ;  special  adapta¬ 
tions  of  land  roots,  water  roots,  aerial  roots,  and  parasitic  roots. 
Lecture  2,  May  29. — Stem  structure  and  functions;  underground 
.stems,  floating  stems,  climbing  stems,  &c.  Lecture  3,  June  5. — 
Leaf  structure  and  functions;  light  relation  of  leave.?;  arrange¬ 
ment  of  leaves;  leaf  protection;  leaf  modification.  Lecture  4, 
June  12. — Plant  nutrition;  chlorophyll  and  its  meaning;  plants 
without  chlorophyll ;  special  adairtations  of  carnivorous  plants. 
Lecture  5,  June  19. — Flower  structure;  adaptations  for  insect 
visitors;  protection  against  unwelcome  guests;  dispersal  of  fruits 
and  seeds.  Lecture  6,  June  26. — Water  plants  or  hydrophyte 
societies ;  special  adaptations  for  land  and  swamp  life.  Lecture 
7,  July  3. — Desert  plants  or  xerophyte  societies ;  special  charac¬ 
ters  and  adaptations.  Lecture  8,  July  10. — Meadow  and  wood 
plants  or  mesophyte  societies ;  general  characters  of  vegetation  of 
temperate  regions.  The  ordinary  Fellows’  orders  admit  to  these 
lectures.  A  ticket,  giving  admission  to  the  whole  course,  is 
issued  to  Fellows  on  application  to  the  secretary,  at  the  Gardens, 
Regent’s  Park. 
Herefordshire  Fruit  Growers  and  Insect  Pests. 
Herefordshire  fruit  growers  who  met  at  the  Mitre  Hotel, 
Hereford,  on  April  29  discussed  at  length  the  Bill  which  has 
just  been  introduced  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Sir  James 
Rankin,  M.P.,  dealing  with  the  diseases  of  fruit  trees.  The 
nurserymen  present  lodged  a  strong  protest  against  the  Bill 
while  it  simply  applied  to  them  only.  They  argued  that  the 
various  diseases  spread  from  old  orchards,  and  if  the  Bill  did  not 
include  these  it  should,  at  any  rate,  bring  within  its  scope  all 
those  persons  who  grew  trees  for  the  sake  of  profit  and  did  not 
come  within  the  category  of  nurserymen.  It  was  resolved 
“  That  this  as,sociation  approves  generally  cf  Sir  James  Rankin’s 
Bill  for  the  eradication  of  disease  and  all  injurious  insects 
amongst  fruit  trees  in  nursery  gardens,  and  expresses  the  hope 
that  it  may  be  passed  into  law  without  delay ;  that  Clause  15 
should  be  struck  out,  and  that  the  Bill  should  be  made  more 
universal  in  its  scope.”  The  clause  (15)  objected  to  is  to  the 
following  effect:  “This  Act  shall  not  apply  to  occupiers  or 
owners  of  land  engaged  in  fruit-growing  who  are  not  nursery¬ 
men,  but  who  may  desire  to  .sell  or  exchange  surplus  trees  or 
plants  of  their  own  growing.”  Mr.  J.  Riley,  of  Putley  Court, 
the  president,  proposed  that  the  Hereford.'-hire  Fruit  Growers’ 
Association  desired  to  put  on  record  its  great  regret  at  the 
death  of  Mr.  Hanbury,  the  Minister  of  Agriculture,  who  devoted 
himself  with  untiring  energy  and  zeal  to  the  duties  of  his  office, 
and  to  whom  farmers  had  begun  to  look  as  a  friend  anxious 
to  help  and  benefit  them,  and  to  express  their  .sympathy  with 
his  sorrowing  widow  and  relatives.  This  was  carried. 
Weather  in  the  North. 
Since  the  departure  of  frost  on  the  25tli  ult.  there  has  been 
an  almost  uninterrupted  .sequence  of  dull  days,  with  an  occasional 
hour  ov  two  of  sunshine.  A  cold  ea.ster]y  wind  has  made  the  last 
week  unpleasant.  On  the  last  day  of  April  thunder  occurred 
over  most  of  the  country,  and  the  frequent  showers  then  and 
since  have  greatly  benefited  vegetaticn.— B.  D.,  S.  Perth.diire. 
Sussex  Weather. 
The  total  rainfall  at  Abbots  Leigh,  Hayward’s  Heath,  for  the 
past  inonth  was  2.24in,  being  1..53in  above  the  average.  The 
hea\  iest  fall  was  0.83in  on  the  2Gth ;  rain  fell  on  ten  days.  The 
nmximum  temperature  was  Gldeg  on  the  29tli;  the  minimum 
27deg  on  the  14th  and  19th.  Mean  maximum,  53.10deg;  mean 
minimum,  36.07deg;  mean  temperature,  44.58deg,  which  is 
2.3Gdeg  below  the  average  of  fifteen  years.  It  has  been  tho 
coldest  April  since  1891,  when  the  mean  temperature  was 
42.(D6deg.  A  cold,  dry  month,  the  rain  registered  was  chiefly 
during  the  last  six  days.  Situated  on  a  southern  slope,  wo 
have  not  had  so  many  degrees  of  frost  as  .some  have  had  at 
lower  levels.  On  the  eight  days,  13th  to  20th,  there  was  each 
night  4deg  to  odeg  of  frost.  What  the  result  to  fruit  crops  will 
be  it  is  hard  to  say  yet. — R.  I. 
The  Weather  at  Hamilton, 
The  atmospheric  condition  of  the  week  which  is  past,  though 
decidedly  improved  on  the  foregoing,  were  not  of  a  very  con¬ 
genial  nature.  The  dull,  leaden,  .sunless  .sky,  the  cold  easterly 
wind,  and  the  u.sual  attending  gloom,  were  well  in  evidence. 
On  Thursday  night  rain  came  on,  and  did  it  finish  with  that, 
much  good  would  have  been  done,  for  the  earth  was  in  a  very 
needful  state  for  a  .shower.  On  the  contrary,  it  has  but  varied 
little  .since,  and  the  prospects  of  its  doing  .‘^o  socn  are  by  no 
means  particularly  promising.  To-day  (4th)  is  as  cold  and  cheer¬ 
less  as  well  could  be  at  such  an  advanced  time  of  the  year. 
The  rain,  though  cold,  has  wonderfully  rushed  on  many  things. 
Forest  trees  are  later  in  coming  into  leaf  than  last  year.  The 
swallow  made  its  finst  appearance  here  last  week,  and  many 
fledgelings  cf  our  commoner  songsters  are  already  flying  about 
and  doing  for  themselves.— D.  C. 
Temple  House  Gardens,  Great  Marlow,  Bucks. 
The  register  of  rainfall  here  for  April,  1903,  was  2.06in,  and 
for  April,  1902,  l.OOin.  Rain  fell  on  sixteen  days  during  tho 
month;  we  had  sleet  on  the  12th,  sleet  and  hail  on  the  13th; 
sleet  on  the  14th,  hail  on  the  15th,  sleet  and  snow  on  the  16th, 
and  sleet  on  the  23rd,  but  not  enough  to  register  on  the  latter 
date.  The  maximum  temperature  taken  from  thermometers 
(one  of  L.  Casella’s  thermometers  stands  3ft  Gin  above  the  gras.s) 
for  April,  1903,  was  :  GOdeg  on  the  25th,  28th,  and  29th ;  ancl 
the  minimum,  24deg  on  the  15th  and  18th.  The  minimum  for 
the  month  of  April,  1903,  registered  by  the  exposed  thermometer, 
was  21deg  on  the  15th  and  18th ;  the  maximum  for  April,  1902, 
was  67deg,  and  the  minimum  29deg  on  the  Ist,  6th,  8th,  and 
13th.  Fruit  blossom  of  all  kinds,  young  Gooseberries,  and  the 
young  leaves  of  deciduous  trees  and  shrubs  have  been  scvei’ely 
damaged  by  cold  winds  and  frost. — G.  G. 
April  Weather  at  Belvoir  Castle. 
The  prevailing  direction  of  the  wind  was  N.  seven  days.  The 
total  rainfall  was  l.GOin;  this  fell  on  fifteen  days,  and  is  0.20in 
below  the  average  for  the  month.  The  greatest  daily  fall  was 
0.55in,  on  the  30th.  Barometer  (corrected  and  reduced)  highest 
reading  30.415in,  on  the  18th,  at  9  a.m. ;  lowest  reading  29.273in, 
on  the  29th,  at  9  a.m.  Thermometers:  Highest  in  tho  shade, 
GOdeg,  on  the  28th  and  29th ;  lowest,  23deg,  on  the  23rd;  mean  of 
daily  maxima,  50. GOdeg ;  mean  of  daily  minima,  34.G0deg  ;  mean 
temperature  of  the  month,  42. GOdeg;  lowest  on  the  grass,  15deg, 
on  the  23rd  ;  highe.st  in  the  sun,  114deg,  on  the  30th;  mean  tem¬ 
perature  cf  the  earth  at  3ft,  44.33deg.  Total  snn.shine,  14Gh  25m, 
which  is  llh  11m  below  the  average ;  there  was  one  sunless  day. 
The  mean  temireratures  are  3deg  and  4deg  below  the  average  this 
month  owing  to  the  two  week.?’  of  frost,  which  la'-ted  unusually 
long,  and  damaged  fruit  trees  and  flowering  shrubs  very  much. — 
W.  H.  Divers. 
