May  30,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER , 
455 
Appointment. — Mr.  H.  Naylor,  for  the  past  three  years  gardener 
Piggott’s  Manor,  Elstree,  Herts,  has  been  appointed  gardener  to 
J.  M.  Hughes,  Esq.,  Harrow  Weald  Park,  Middlesex. 
Alcohol  from  lilchens. — Why  could  not  Cladonia  rangiferina 
and  other  starchy  Lichens,  such  as  grow  in  the  far  North,  be  utilised  for 
the  production  of  alcohol  ?  They  are  said  to  be  so  employed  in 
Scandinavia. — C.  W.  G. 
t 
Death  of  M.  Joseph  Vlcat. — The  decease  of  M.  Joseph  Vicat  is 
announced.  He  was  a  tutor  at  Grenoble,  and  he  it  was  who  discovered 
the  properties  of  the  insecticide  powder  prepared  from  Pyrethrum 
caucasicum,  now  universally  known. 
Extensive  Tree  Felling'. — Roumania’s  impecuniosity  has  led  to 
the  sacrifice  of  her  peerless  Oak  forests.  A  oontract  has  lately  been 
entered  into  for  the  cutting  of  half  a  million  Oaks  under  disastrous 
conditions.  Every  tree  with  the  diameter  of  half  a  yard  and  above 
may  be  felled,  the  uniform  price  to  be  about  12s.  per  tree,  and  it  is 
further  laid  down  that  the  contractor  iB  to  exercise  the  option  of 
rejecting  one-fourth  of  the  trees  having  only  the  minimum  diameter  of 
half  a  yard. 
Horticultural  lectures  at  Thorne. — The  first  of  a  series  of 
lectures  on  practical  gardening  arranged  by  the  Thorne  Technical 
Instruction  Committee  was  held  on  May  11th  in  Mr.  T.  Gra veil’s 
orchard,  Thorne.  The  lecturer  was  Mr.  Thomas  Reddington  of  the 
Yorkshire  College,  Leeds,  who  spoke  to  an  encouraging  attendance  on 
the  pests  which  infest  fruit  trees,  and  how  to  syringe  orchards.  Mr. 
Donkin,  the  secretary  of  the  Technical  Committee,  announced  that  they 
had  been  successful  in  getting  sanction  from  the  West  Riding  County 
Council  to  have  a  series  of  five  lectures  on  practical  gardening,  and  to 
hold  classes  on  poultry  keeping  and  dairying  in  the  autumn. 
Moths  as  Food. — An  article  of  food  which  is  relished  by  the 
natives  of  the  Philippine  Islands  is  procured  by  collecting  large 
quantities  of  moths  from  the  rocks  of  the  mountainous  regions.  The 
moths  seem  to  mass  in  the  crevioes  and  hang  there.  The  natives 
have  not  failed  to  discover  the  worth  of  the  moth  as  a  “  dainty  ”  of 
a  sort,  and  they  use  the  insects  in  large  quantities ;  but  they  do  not 
eat  the  wiDgs  or  the  heads  ;  often  the  bodies  are  eaten  with  sugar 
or  other  articles  of  food.  Agaio,  they  are  used  in  conjunction  with 
other  mixtures  in  the  form  of  pudding  and  prepared  dishes.  Cocoanut 
cake  and  pie  moth  fillings  are  common. 
Flowers  for  City  Schools. — Recently  the  Liverpool  Kyrle  Society 
started  a  branch  for  the  distribution  of  flowers  to  the  children  of  the 
elementary  sohools  in  the  poorer  districts  of  the  city.  Friends  in  the 
country  send  boxes  of  wild  and  other  flowers,  and  specimens  of  any 
natural  object  suitable  for  drawing  and  object  lessons,  and  despatch 
their  contributions  at  regular  intervals  during  term-time.  Amongst 
others,  six  industrial,  and  the  “  speoial  ”  schools  in  Shaw  Street  for 
oripple  and  defective  children,  have  been  provided  for.  There  have 
been  more  applications  for  flowers  than  country  workers  can  supply. 
That  the  flowers  have  more  than  a  purely  educational  purpose  is 
testified  by  a  teacher,  who  wrote  :  “  Our  school  is  amongst  the  poorest 
in  the  south  end,  but  the  children  always  seem  so  grateful  that  anyone 
should  be  interested  in  them,  and,  apart  from  the  beauty  value  of  the 
flowers,  such  a  gift  is  helpful  and  useful.” 
“Cassell’s  Dictionary  of  Gardening.”  —  Part  i.  of  this 
remarkably  cheap  production  (the  price  per  part  be  ng  7d.  net)  has 
been  offered  to  cultivators  of  plants.  The  dictionary  does  not  cater 
for  the  scientist  or  dilettante,  but  merely  for  the  cultivator.  With 
this  section  of  clientage  it  ought  to  find  a  ready  demand.  There  is 
nothing  original  in  the  arrangement.  The  leading  idea  of  the  work  has 
been  to  choose  from  the  thousands  of  plants  in  cultivation  all  that  are 
worthy  of  being  grown.  A  few  brief  descriptive  notes  are  furnished 
to  each  separate  genus,  and  a  short,  select  list  of  the  best  known 
species  or  varieties  (but  with  meagre  descriptions  of  their  characters)  is 
given.  It  is  a  matter  for  regret  not  to  find  the  varieties  more  fully 
described.  There  are  great  numbers  of  illustrations.  As  with  other 
works  on  gardening  now  being  published,  there  is  no  scale  given  with 
the  illustrations,  and  with  a  dictionary  of  this  nature  we  should 
consider  a  scale  to  compare  from,  an  absolute  necessity.  The  printing, 
the  clearness  of  the  illustrations,  and  the  quality  of  the  paper  are  each 
exceedingly  good.  We  think,  however,  that  more  oultural  details  are 
necessary  if  the  work  is  to  be  of  any  material  assistance  to  the  ordinary 
gardener  or  cultivator. 
Horticultural  Club. — The  usual  monthly  dinner  and  oonversazione 
will  take  place  on  Tuesday,  June  4th,  at  6  P.M.  The  subject  for 
conversation  will  be  “  The  Annual  Excursion.”  Committee  meeting 
at  5.30  :  present  position  of  the  olub;  ballot  for  new  members. 
A  Prolific  Rose  Tree. — Mr.  F.  J.  Sheere,  florist,  of  Taunton, 
Somerset,  gathered  from  a  white  climbing  Niphetos  growing  in  his 
Rose  house,  from  April  10th  to  May  9th,  1312  clean  perfeot  buds ;  also 
off  a  Reine  Marie  Henrietta  653,  the  oolour  of  the  latter  being  cherry 
carmine. 
Variorum. — In  his  nurseries  at  Wick  Mr.  J.  H.  White  has  a  Broccoli 
which  at  the  end  of  last  week  measured  46  inches  round.  On  Thursday 
it  had  increased  to  51  inches,  and  was  still  growing.  *  #  The  report 
by  the  Principal  of  the  School  of  Horticulture  (Council  of  Agricultural 
Education,  Viotoria)  for  1899,  has  only  now  been  issued.  The  estate 
attached  to  the  school  comprises  40  acres,  so  that  many  interesting 
notes  are  recorded.  These  we  must  refer  to  at  another  time. 
Fibre  Cultivation. — The  cultivation  of  fibre  has  been  started  in 
German  East  Africa  with  much  promise  of  success,  and  the  industry 
should  be  taken  up  in  South  Africa.  An  attempt  was  made  some 
years  ago  in  the  eastern  province  of  the  Cape  to  utilise  the  fibre  of 
the  Aloe,  but  the  machinery  was  not  suitable  and  the  funds  gave  out. 
In  the  East  African  settlement  there  are  at  present  over  800,000 
Fourcroya  gigantea  plants  and  750,000  Agave  rigida.  Compared  to 
other  products,  the  cultivation  of  fibre  is  very  simple  and  inexpensive. 
The  only  fear  is  that,  owing  to  over-production,  the  price  will  fall 
considerably. 
Harvest  Weather  Forecasts. — During  the  harvest  season  the 
Meteorological  Council  will  supply  forecasts  of  weather  by  telegraph,  to 
persons  desirous  of  receiving  them,  upon  payment  of  the  cost  of  the 
telegrams.  The  forecasts  will  be  so  worded  that  the  cost  of  each 
message  will  be  6d.  including  an  address  of  three  words.  If  the 
address  to  which  the  forecasts  are  to  be  sent  exceeds  three  words  an 
addition  of  a  halfpennny  for  each  additional  word  must  be  made  to  the 
cost  of  the  daily  telegram.  The  speoial  harvest  forecasts  are  prepared 
at  3.30  p.m.  daily  (except  Sundays),  and  are  applicable  to  the  twenty- 
four  hours  from  midnight  following  the  time  of  issue.  Applications  for 
the  forecasts  may  be  made  on  forms  to  be  obtained  of  the  secretary  ^ 
which  should  be  returned  with  a  cheque  or  postal  order  for  the 
cost  of  the  telegrams  for  the  period  during  which  the  forecasts  are  to  be 
sent.  In  view  of  the  importance  of  checking  the  acouraoy  of  the 
harvest  forecasts  the  Council  will  be  glad  to  supply  to  those  recipients 
who  signify  their  willingness  to  co-operate  in  the  matter,  forms  on 
which  reoords  of  the  weather  experienced  may  be  entered  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  the  Council  to  compare  the  forecasts  with  the 
subsequent  weather.  The  service  of  harvest  foreoasts  is  in  addition  to 
the  ordinary  service  of  daily  forecasts  prepared  at  the  office  at  11  A.M. 
and  8  p.m.  Within  these  hours  the  latest  forecasts  can  be  obtained  by 
telegraph  upon  payment  at  any  post  office  of  a  fee  of  6d.  in  addition 
to  the  cost  of  the  inquiry  and  reply  telegrams.  By  order  of  the 
Meteorological  Council. — W.  N.  Shaw,  Secretary,  63,  Victoria  Street, 
S.W.,  May,  1901. 
Meteorological  Observations  at  Cblswlclc. — Taken  in  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens — height  above  sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
Direction  of 
Wind. 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Rain. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
Lowest 
Temperature 
on  Grass. 
1901. 
May. 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
At 
1-ft. 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
-A3 
m 
9 
ao 
a 
<D 
* 
o 
J 
Sunday  . .  19 
Monday . .  20 
Tuesday  21 
Wed’sday  22 
Thursday  23 
Friday  ..  24 
Saturday  25 
E.S.E. 
E.N.E. 
E.N.E, 
E.N.E. 
E. 
E. 
E.N.E. 
deg. 
59-4 
65'7 
64-5 
61-2 
61 '2 
62-7 
62*4 
deg. 
53-5 
49- 2 
50- 0 
52 '7 
62  0 
63-0 
64'8 
deg. 
69- 0 
61-2 
65'2 
66 ’9 
66  0 
70- 2 
68-8 
deg. 
41-8 
43-9 
45-0 
45-3 
44'8 
46  1 
46'3 
Ins. 
deg. 
64- 6 
65- 6 
65'3 
65'9 
56'3 
66'8 
67-5 
deg. 
63- 0 
53'4 
53 '6 
64- 0 
54-2 
54-6 
64-8 
deg. 
51-0 
61  0 
61'0 
61-2 
61'4 
61'6 
61-8 
deg. 
35-0 
35-0 
35'6 
34-5 
33-9 
37 ’1 
34  0 
Means  .. 
59-6 
62 '2 
66'7 
44 '7 
Total 
66  0 
63'9 
61-3 
360 
A  week  of  bright  sunny  weather  with  cold  drying  winds.  No  rain 
has  fallen  since  the  9th  inst. 
