March  14,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
207 
Weather  In  Xondnn. — On  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  the 
6th  inst.,  London,  experienced  a  sudden  and  boisterous  thunderstorm. 
The  weather  on  the  whole  has  been  colder  than  during  the  week 
previous,  and  a  considerable  amount  of  rain  has  fallen.  Saturday  was 
bright  for  the  most  part,  while  Sunday,  Monday,  and  Tuesday  were 
agreeable  days.  As  we  go  to  press  on  Wednesday  it  is  dull. 
Weather  in  the  North. — In  the  beginning  of  the  week  ending 
the  11th  inst.  there  were  one  or  two  very  boisterous  nights,  and  sleety 
showers  fell  during  the  day,  the  hills  all  round  being  oovered  with 
snow.  Since  the  6th  there  has  been  an  improvement,  showers,  sunshine, 
and  dull  fair  intervals  alternating.  Sunday  was  a  most  lovely  spring, 
like  day,  but  became  colder  towards  evening,  while  Monday  was  duller 
but  fair  throughout. — B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire. 
National  Auricula  and  Primula  Society  :  Southern 
Section. — The  annual  report  of  the  above  society  shows  a  balance 
in  hand  of  £19  17s.  6d. ;  and  without  a  bank  account  no  society  can 
prosper.  The  past  season  was  not  altogether  a  satisfactory  one  so 
far  as  cultural  conditions  were  concerned,  bub  the  show  held  in 
the  Drill  Hall  in  conjunction  with  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s 
meeting  on  April  24th,  1900,  was  of  a  high-class  quality.  The  twenty  - 
fifth  annual  exhibition  will  be  held  in  the  same  Hall  on  the  23rd  of 
April  this  year.  Mr.  T.  E.  Henwood,  16,  Hamilton  Road,  Reading,  is 
secretary. 
Ghent  Ihird  Quinquennial  Horticultural  Show. — This  great 
show,  which  receives  the  aotive  support  of  the  Belgian  Government  and 
of  the  provincial  administrative  bodies,  has  not  been  definitely  fixed  yet 
as  to  date,  but  it  will  be  held  some  time  during  August  next.  The 
programme  definitif  and  the  schedule  of  prizes  is  announced  to  appear 
next  month.  The  present  preliminary  programme  gives  a  rough  idea 
of  the  various  sections  into  which  the  show  will  be  divided.  There  will 
be  sections  for  new  plants,  Orchids,  Palms,  Aroids,  stove  and  greenhouse 
plants,  floral  designs  and  decorations,  and  some  divisions  more  or  less 
only  applicable  to  continental  gardeners  and  nurserymen.  Any 
communications  relating  to  the  exhibition  should  be  made  to  the 
secretary,  Mr.  A.  Van  Bockxstaele,  Cercle  Hortioole  Van  Houtte, 
Ledeberg,  Ghent,  Brussels. 
Messrs.  Mackenzie  &.  Moncur’s  Catalogue. — Those  who 
expect  to  read  of  a  dry  catalogue  describing  patent  hot-water  joints, 
or  improved  valve-gearing,  hot-water  ci  culation,  and  so  on,  will  be 
agreeably  surprised  to  learn  that  the  catalogue  of  this  great  hothouse 
building  firm  (Balcarres  Street,  Euinburgh)  is  mainly  composed  of 
very  handsome  illustrations.  These  represent  photographic  selections 
of  the  finest  erections  in  the  way  of  conservatories  and  other  glass 
houseB  that  Messrs.  Mackenzie  &  Moncur  have  finished  during  recent 
years.  For  instance  the  beautiful  conservatories  at  Falkland  Park,  S.E  . 
Sefton  Park,  Liverpool;  Philiphaugh,  Selkirk,  N.B. ;  Sunderland 
Public  Park,  and  other  places  are  herein  portrayed.  Various  ground 
plans  are  also  furnished,  so  that  the  catalogue  provides  a  selection  in 
almost  any  style  of  glass  house  or  range  according  to  the  taste  of  the 
patron.  To  all  who  are  likely  to  have  ranges  or  houses  to  construct  we 
can  recommend  the  catalogue  of  which  we  now  write. 
The  Apple  Cure. — There  are  so  many  sufferers  nowadays  from 
rheumatic  and  gouty  maladies,  says  the  “  Free  Lance,”  that  I  feel  I 
am  only  doing  a  service  to  them  to  advise  them  to  try  an  Apple  diet. 
I  do  not,  of  course,  mean  that  they  should  live  upon  the  “  fateful 
fruit  of  Paris,”  but  I  have  during  the  past  few  months  seen  suoh 
beneficial  results  from  the  daily  consumption  of  Apples  that  I  am 
persuaded  many  pains  and  much  medicine  might  be  avoided  by  their 
use,  as  also  by  the  drinking  of  cider  instead  of  wine  or  beer.  In 
cider-producing  districts  rheumatism  is  unknown  unless  imported.  The 
Apple  contains  a  powerful  blood  purifier  called  malio  acid,  which  is 
found  in  no  other  fruit  or  vegetable,  and  this  it  iB  which  acts  so 
healthfully  on  the  system.  Now  that  California  and  Tasmania  have 
placed  suoh  splendid  orchards  at  our  service  we  need  never  be  without 
Apples.  Personally  I  prefer  the  Tasmanians — they  have  more  flavour 
than  the  Californians. 
Appointment. — Mr.  J.  Botley,  for  over  two  years  foreman  at 
Blythe  wood  Gtrdens,  Maidenhead,  as  gardener  to  Rev.  H.  M.  Wells, 
Scarlets  Park,  Twyford,  Berks. 
Royal  Meteorological  Society. — At  the  ordinary  meeting  o 
the  society,  to  be  held  by  kind  permission  of  the  Council,  at  the 
Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  Great  George  Street,  Westminster,  on 
Wednesday  the  20th  inst,  at  7.30  P.M.,  a  lecture  will  be  delivered  on 
“  Climate,  and  the  Effects  of  Climate,’’  by  Dr.  Hugh  Robert  Mill, 
F.R  S.E.  The  lecture  will  be  illustrated  by  lantern  slides.  Fellows 
may  introduce  friends. 
Mrs.  Lawson  Carnation  off  Colour. — It  may  please  Mr.  Robert 
Sydenham  (who  has  no  great  appreciation  for  the  Lawson  Carnation) 
to  learn  of  a  complaint  made  by  an  American  grower  in  one  of  the 
horticultural  journals  of  that  country.  The  grower  writes  ; — “I  would 
like  to  know  the  canse  of  Mrs.  Thos.  W.  Lawson  Carnation  coming 
light  in  oolour.  Some  are  all  right,  while  others  are  a  very  light, 
washy  colour.  The  soil  is  a  clayey  loam.” 
Windsor  Elms  Doomed. —  According  to  a  daily  paper  some  of 
the  finest  Elm  trees  in  the  Long  Walk  at  Windsor  have  been  condemned 
as  unsafe,  having  been  injuriously  affected  by  the  dry  weather  in  recent 
summers.  Many  of  the  trees  have  already  been  felled  and  in  their 
places  young  Elms  planted.  The  avenue  was  originally  planted  in  1680^ 
and  extends  along  three  miles,  leading  to  the  top  of  Snow  Hill,  from 
which  there  is  a  charming  view  of  the  surrounding  country. 
Flowers  from  Scllly.  — The  London  Press  furnishes  its  annual 
contribution  of  paragraphs  relating  the  glories  of  the  Soilly  Isles  in 
their  pristine  loveliness,  bedecked  with  myriads  of  Narcissi.  Despite 
storms  and  wet  weather  it  appears  likely  that  the  harvest  of  blooms  will 
be  a  large  one.  No  less  than  27  tons  of  flowers  were  shipped  from 
the  islands’  shores  on  the  5th  inst.,  and  as  each  package  weighs  only 
a  few  pounds,  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  enormous  bulk  these 
figures  represent.  The  steamship  was  late  arriving  at  Penzmoe,  where 
the  huge  floral  consignment  was  smartly  taken  in  hand  by  the  Great 
Western  Railway  officials,  and  early  in  the  evening  a  special  express 
train  containing  nothing  but  flowers  was  speeding  its  way  to  the 
London,  midland,  and  northern  markets. 
Deatb  of  a  Scottish  Gardener. — We  regret  to  announce  the 
death  of  Mr.  A.  Henderson,  late  of  Thoresby  Gardens,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-eight.  He  had  his  early  training  in  some  of  the  best  gardens  in 
Scotland.  In  1858  he  was  engaged  by  Mr.  David  Thomson  to  go  with 
him  as  foreman  in  Archerfield  Gardens,  and  in  1861  he  was  engaged  to 
be  head  gardener  to  the  late  Earl  Manvers  at  Thoresby  Park,  where  he 
laid  out  and  built  from  their  foundations  the  fine  gardens  there,  as  well 
as  the  grounds  round  the  new  mansion.  Up  to  his  retirement,  at  the 
late  Earl’s  death,  Mr.  Henderson  managed  that  fine  place  with  unbroken 
and  conspicuous  success  for  forty  years.  He  was  of  a  very  modest  and 
retiring  disposition,  but  at  the  same  time  of  energetic  and  very 
methodical  habits,  and  a  manager  of  men.  His  unremitting  devotion  to 
his  duties,  and  his  success  as  a  cultivator,  coupled  with  his  sterling 
uprightness  and  good  conduct,  very  soon  earned  for  him  the  highest 
esteem,  and  we  may  say  the  friendship  also  of  Lord  and  Lady  Manvers, 
which  existed  without  a  break  throughout  his  long  service.  On  his 
retirement  he  was  treated  with  most  substantial  tokens  of  their 
appreciation  and  respect.  To  mourn  his  loss  he  has  left  a  widow  and 
one  married  daughter,  and  he  will  be  missed  by  friends  who  for  many 
years  held  him  in  high  esteem. 
Obituary. — Horticulture  has  lost  one  of  its  best  exponents  by 
the  death  of  Mr.  Wm.  Ironmonger,  who  was  for  more  than  forty 
years  one  of  the  principal  assistants  in  the  nurseries  of  Messrs.  Wm. 
Paul  &  Son  of  Waltham  Cross.  He  gained  his  early  experience  in  the 
gardens  of  Earl  Cowper  at  Panshanger  Park,  near  Hereford,  and  became 
one  of  the  staff  of  the  Waltham  Cross  Nurseries  more  than  forty  years 
ago.  For  many  years  he  was  a  prominent  figure  at  the  exhibitions,  the 
large  specimen  Roses  then  so  much  in  vogue,  and  So  finely  shown  by 
the  firm,  being  grown  and  set  up  under  his  supervision.  In  1877  he 
left  Waltham  Cross  to  take  charge  of  one  of  Messrs.  Wm.  Paul  &  Son’s 
branch  nurseries,  and  retired  four  years  ago.  He  died  at  Ridgewood 
Farm,  Uckfield,  on  the  9th  inst.,  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  his  age. 
His  great  intelligence  and  integrity  of  character  placed  him  on  a  high 
level  in  the  esteem  of  his  employers  and  of  all  who  came  in  contact 
with  him. 
