278 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
April  4,  1901. 
Weather  Id  London.  —  Thursday  last  (March  28th)  was 
wretchedly  cold,  and  in  the  City  we  had  a  heavy  shower  of  snow' 
Friday  was  slightly  milder,  but  Saturday  was  again  cold,  boisterous, 
and  very  wet.  Sunday  morning  opened  with  a  deluge  of  rain,  but 
the  afternoon  and  evening  were  fair  and  pleasant.  April  1st  was  a 
beautiful,  smiling  day,  though  heavy  clouds  rolled  overhead.  Tuesday 
was  a  duplicate  of  Monday.  As  we  go  to  press  on  Wednesday  it  is 
breezy,  mild,  and  dull. 
Weather  In  the  North. — The  weather  of  the  past  week  has 
been  wintry  in  the  extreme.  From  4°  to  15°  of  frost  has  been  registered 
nightly,  and  snow  has  fallen  on  the  last  two  nights.  Monday  was 
milder,  but  the  snow  lay  on  the  hills  all  round. — B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire. 
*  *  *  Writing  from  Dumfries  on  Saturday  Mr.  Arnott  says:  — 
“  The  weather  is  very  unlike  spring  this  week,  and  I  fear  it  will  do  some 
injury.  Fortunately  for  us  we  have  no  fruit  blossom  yet,  though  a  few 
days  of  spring-like  weather  would  bring  it.” 
Weather  In  Ireland. — The  character  of  the  weather  for  the 
past  month  was,  on  the  whole,  dry  with  piercing  east  winds.  The 
latter  days  were  intensely  bitter  with  intermittent  showers  of  snow, 
but  lasting  for  a  short  time,  and  frost  could  by  no  means  be  termed 
prevalent.  There  is  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  crops  of  all  kinds  will  be 
backward,  whilst  bulbous  flowers  are  yet  shy  in  coming  into  bloom. 
Sussex  Weather. — The  total  rainfall  at  Abbots  Leigh,  Haywards 
Heath,  for  March  was  1-91  inch,  being  0'04  inch  above  the  average. 
The  total  for  the  three  months  5-09  inches,  l-57  inch  less  than  the 
normal.  The  heaviest  fall  was  0-46  inch  on  the  30th.  Rain,  or  snow, 
fell  on  fourteen  days.  The  maximum  temperature  was  54°  on  the 
12th  ;  the  minimum,  21°  on  the  29th.  Mean  maximum,  45  21°  ;  mean 
minimum,  33'04° ;  mean  temperature,  39‘12°,  which  is  D430  below  the 
average.  March  came  in  strong,  and  has  been  throughout  cold  and 
almost  sunless.  The  wind  was  N.  and  N.E.  from  the  8th  to  the  29th. 
It  blew  a  gale  from  S.W.  with  nearly  half  an  inch  of  rain  on  the  30th. 
April  came  in  beautiful  and  bright,  but  in  the  afternoon  a  thunderstorm 
came  up,  bringing  more  snow,  hail,  and  rain.  Fruit  trees  have  made 
very  little  progress  yet,  and  vegetation  generally  is  late. — R.  I. 
Estate  of  the  late  Mr.  Dunnett. — Mr.  William  Henry  Dunnett 
of  Stour  House,  Dedham,  Essex,  late  a  partner  with  Messrs.  James 
Carter  &  Co.,  seedsmen,  High  Holborn,  died  on  December  29th 
last,  aged  seventy-four,  leaving  property  of  the  value  of  £110,683  16s.  5d., 
of  which  the  net  personality  is  £65,551  6s.  4d.  The  executors  are  his 
widow,  his  son  Harry  Norman,  his  daughter  Jane  Ann,  all  of  Dedham, 
and  the  Rev.  Hamilton  Ashwin,  LL.D.,  of  the  Lecture  House,  Dedham. 
Rose  Show  Fixtures  In  1901. 
June  12th  (Wednesday). — Colchester  and  Yorkt. 
„  26th  (Wednesday).— Richmond  (Surrey),  N.R.S. 
,,  29th  (Saturday). — Canterbury  and  Windsor. 
July  2nd  (Tuesday). — Drill  Hall  (R.H.S.)  Southampton  *,and  Hereford 
„  3rd  (Wednesday). —  Croydon,  Hanley*,  and  Farningham. 
,,  4th  (Thursday). — Temple  Gardens  (N.R.S)  and  Norwich. 
„  9th  (Tuesday). — Gloucester,  Harrow,  and  Wolverhamptonf. 
„  10th  (Wednesday). — Stambridge  (Essex),  Worthing,  and  Formby. 
„  11th  (Thursday). — Bath,  Brentwood,  Eltham,  Helensburgh,  and 
Woodbridge. 
„  13th  (Saturday). — Manchester. 
„  16th  (Tuesday). — Kidderminster*. 
„  17th  (Wednesday). — Ulverston  (N.R.S.)  and  Cardiff*. 
„  18th  (Thursday). — Halifax. 
„  20th  (Saturday). — Newton  Mearns. 
„  23rd  (Tuesday). — Tibshelf. 
*  Shows  lasting  two  days.  +  Shows  lasting  three  days. 
The  above  are  the  only  fixtures  definitely  arranged  that  have  as  yet 
reached  me.  I  shall  be  glad  to  receive  the  dates  of  other  Rose  shows 
(or  horticultural  exhibitions  where  Roses  form  a  leading  feature)  for 
insertion  in  future  lists.  — Edw.  Mawley,  Ttosebank,  Berhhamsted,  Herts  “ 
Flre.proof  Timber. — American  enterprise  has  found  a  means  for 
making  certain  woods  fire-proof.  Liquor  is  forced  through  the  wood 
under  a  very  great  hydraulic  pressure,  and  this  renders  the  wood 
almost  incombustible. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society. — As  mentioned  in  our  report  of 
the  latest  general  meeting  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  held  on 
Tuesday,  March  26th,  forty-two  new  Fellows  were  elected,  amongst 
them  being  Lady  Rosamund  Christie,  Lady  R.  Gipps,  General  Sir  R. 
Gipps,  K.C.B.,  Rev.  Henry  Swann,  Chas.  J.  Billson,  M.A.,  Mrs.  Gore 
Langton,  and  W.  H.  Myers.,  M.P.  The  next  fruit  and  flower  show  of 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  be  held  on  Tuesday,  April  9th,  in 
the  Drill  Hall,  Buckingham  Gate,  Westminster,  1  to  5  p.m.,  when 
special  prizes  will  be  offered  for  Daffodils.  At  three  o’clock  a  lecture  on 
“  Some  of  the  Plants  Exhibited,”  will  be  given  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  G. 
Henslow,  M.A.,  V.M.H.,  &c. 
Private  Correspondence. — While  in  conversation  with  a  gardener 
who  lives  in  the  west  of  London,  and  whose  reputation  has  caused  him 
to  be  known  in  all  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  much  further,  he 
complained  of  the  tremendous  amount  of  private  correspondence  that 
he  daily  receives  from  fellow  craftsmen  and  others  desirous  of  his 
advice.  He  is  one  of  the  best  natured  men,  and  most  enthusiastic  and 
willing  to  be  of  service  to  all,  but  when  one  comes  to  receive  close  on 
a  dozen  letters  a  day,  most  of  them  without  a  stamp  for  reply,  one’s 
magnanimity  loses  stimulus.  Mercenary  motives  were  not  placed  first 
by  our  friend  when  he  hinted  at  making  such  a  notice  as  we  here 
issue,  but  he  is  too  sorely  tried  for  time  to  do  justice  to  all  who  inquire 
of  him.  The  horticultural  press  is  always  willing  to  help  correspon¬ 
dents,  and  to  make  efforts  to  secure  the  best  advice  for  them,  and  this 
is  the  channel  through  which  queries  should  pass. 
Fruit  and  Vegetable  Retailers’  Association. — The  annual 
meeting  of  the  Birmingham  and  District  Retail  Fruit  and  Vegetable 
Retailers’  Association  was  held  on  Thursday  evening  at  the  Tamworth 
Arms  Hotel,  Moor  Street ;  Mr.  C.  Bellringer  presiding.  The 
committee’s  report  made  mention  of  the  fact  that  a  person  not  a 
member  of  the  association  had  been  appointed  to  look  after  the  weights 
of  Grapes,  Tomatoes,  and  any  other  goods  in  the  market.  An 
agitation  for  the  federation  of  kindred  bodies  was  begun  by  the 
Birmingham  association,  and  favourable  replies  had  been  received  from 
Bristol,  Liverpool,  and  other  large  centres.  Now  that  federation  had 
been  accomplished,  the  committee  considered  the  time  had  come  to 
ask  the  markets  and  fairs  committee  to  appoint  an  official  inspector  in 
the  wholesale  market.  The  report  concluded  by  stating  that  a  balance 
of  £34  10s.  lOjd.  remained  in  hand.  The  report  having  been  adopted, 
Mr.  Bellringer  was  re-elected  president,  Mr.  F.  0.  Cummings  treasurer, 
Mr.  E.  C.  Daft,  secretary,  and  Mr.  W.  W.  Bennett,  assistant  secretary. 
West  Cornwall  Crops. — The  severe  weather  that  has  prevailed 
thoughout  West  Cornwall  during  the  last  few  days  has  had  a  most 
disastrous  effect  on  the  growing  crops.  Potatoes  planted  early  in 
January  are  well  up  in  rows,  and  an  early  season  was  anticipated,  while 
many  others  were  just  breaking  the  ground.  But  the  frost  cut  them 
so  severely  that  it  will  probably  take  weeks  for  the  plants  most  advanced 
to  recover.  Further  damage  was  done  to  the  crop  by  other  recent 
sharp  frosts.  It  will,  perhaps,  be  hardly  possible  to  accurately  estimate 
the  loss  the  market  gardeners  of  West  Cornwall  have  sustained  during 
the  past  week,  but  it  is  very  great,  and  the  prospects  of  the  coming 
season  have  been  materially  diminished  by  the  set  back  the  crops  have 
received.  The  Brocooli  crop  this  season  has  not  been  a  success.  It 
came  in  later  than  usual,  and  the  heads  were  so  coarse  and  rough  that  ifc 
was  difficult  for  Cornish  Broocoli  to  find  buyers,  unless  at  a  very  nominal 
figure,  when  foreign  Broccoli  was  in  the  markets.  It  is  reported  that 
Cornish  Broccoli  this  year  is  particularly  coarse  and  flavourless.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  growing  Brocooli  year  after  year  on  the  same  land 
tends  to  exhaust  the  soil  of  that  particular  element  on  which  the  plants 
especially  feed,  and  some  ascribe  the  deterioration  almost  entirely  to 
that  cause.  Others,  however,  contend  that  the  seed  has  become 
exhausted  by  its  having  been  saved  for  many  years  in  succession  from 
plants  grown  on  the  same  soil.  The  market  gardeners  might  next  year 
exchange  seed  with  one  another  and  carefully  watoh  results.  In  the 
flower  trade  there  has  not  been  much  doing.  There  has,  however,  been  no 
lack  of  blooms,  though  the  long  spell  of  easterly  wind,  which  commenced 
last  month  and  continued  all  through,  has  somewhat  checked  their 
development;  but  with  milder  weather  the  Wallflower  and  Narcissus 
crops  particularly  will  be  most  abundant. 
