544 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
recemter  11,  1902. 
Appointment. 
Mr.  Wm.  Taylor,  late  head  gardener  at  Rockingham,  Boyle, 
Co.  Roscommon,  as  head  gardener  to  Mr.  Walker,  at  Bradfield, 
Cullompton,  Devon. 
Eucalypti  as  Water  Storers. 
Eucalyptus  and  other  trees  of  the  Australian  deserts  store 
up  water,  which  the  natives  obtain  by  cutting  up  the  roots  and 
standing  the  pieces  on  end. 
Royal  Meteorological  Society. 
At  the  ordinary  meeting  of  the  society,  to  be  held  at  the 
Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  Great  George  Street,  Westminster, 
S.W.,  on  Wednesday,  the  17th  inst.,  at  7.30  p.m.,  the  following 
papers  will  be  read  :  “  The  Climate  of  Cyprus,”  by  Cl  V.  Bellamy, 
M.Inst.C.E.,  F.R.Met.Soc.  ;  “The  Eclipse  Cyclone  of  1900,”  by 
H.  Helm  Clayton.  As  the  balloting  list  for  the  council  for  the 
year  1903  will  be  prepared  at  the  next  council  meeting,  it  is 
requested  that  those  Fellows  who  wish  to  suggest  Fellows  for 
election  on  the  new  council  will  send  in  proposed  names  before 
the  16th  inst. — W.  M. 
Coronation  Park  for  Ormskirk. 
The  fine  old  Lancashire  town  of  Ormskirk  will  at  no  distant 
date  be  enriched  by  the  addition  of  a  public  park,  the-  plans  of 
which  are  now  before'  the  Urban  District  Council.  The  extent 
of  the  ground  is  74  acres,  and  provision  has  been  made  for  a 
lake  with  central  island,  approached  by  rustic  bridges,  with  a 
9ft  walk  round  the  inside  of  the  park.  Lord  Derby  receives 
£2,000  for  the  land,  and  of  this  sum  lie  will,  with  his  usual 
generosity,  remit  £1,000  when  the  scheme  is  carried  out.  At  the 
council  meeting  held  on  Tuesday  it,  was  announced  that  Lord 
Derby  had  also  given  without  payment  other  land  that  the  sub¬ 
committee  found  would  be  required  to  bring  the  scheme  to  a 
successful  issue. — R.  P.  R. 
Mushroom  Farming. 
This  time  of  year  is  the  best  season  for  the  Mushroom  farmer. 
The  man  who  now  has  his  Mushroom  beds  full  can  make  money 
every  day.  A  great  many  market  gardeners  say  that  Mushroom 
farming  does  not  pay,  as  the  expense  involved  in  the  production 
of  the  delicious  fungi  runs  away  with  all  the  profits.  The  two 
difficulties  in  producing  Mushrooms  are  the  necessity  of  a  high 
temperature  and  the  requirement  of  a  very  large  quantity  of 
manure.  The  Mushroom  beds  must  be  kept  at  a  temperature  of 
about  60deg,  and  it  takes  about  £15  worth  of  manure  to  pro¬ 
duce  a  ton  of  Mushrooms.  The  valu®  of  a  ton  is  about  £50  at 
this  time  of  year,  so  that  the  possible  profit  appears  large,  but 
there  are  many  other  expenses  besides  the  cost  of  manure. 
August  and  September  are,  of  course,  bad  months  for  the  Mush¬ 
room  grower,  for  the  fungi  can  be  picked  out  of  doors  at  that 
time  of  year. 
A  Competition  for  a  Bothy  Plan. 
The  warmly  supported  discussion  of  the  young  gardeners’ 
bothy  question,  which  lasted  over  a  number  of  our  issues  in  the 
early  summer  of  this  year,  will  be  fresh  in  the  minds  of  readers. 
It  was  then  proposed  to  call  for  competitive  plans  of  a  com¬ 
fortable  bothy  for  gardeners,  and  this  competition  was  fixed  to 
be  closed  by  Christmas.  It  was  not  deemed  a  difficult  matter  to 
draw  a  suitable  and  simple  bothy  plan,  but  during  the  long  days 
of  summer  and  autumn  the  Editor  believed  that  few  had  time 
or  the  desire  to  take  up  rule  or  compass.  The  plans  now  ought 
all  to  be  in  our  hands  by  Thursday,  December  25.  The  rules 
of  the  competition  are  as  follows:  The  plan,  drawn  to  scale, 
must  not  exceed  7in  broad  by  7in  deep,  and  must  be  clearly 
defined  on  stout  paper.  The  plan  must  provide  suitable  accom¬ 
modation  for  six  men,  and  the  cost  of  the  building  ought  not 
to  exceed  £250  to  £300.  A  statement  of  the  general  items  of 
cost  should  accompany  the  plans,  together  with  any  written 
comments  thereon.  The  sender’s  name  and  full  address  should 
be  enclosed  when  sending  the  plan,  and  the  sender  will  alone  be 
held  responsible  for  it.  The  competition  is  open  to  all.  The 
prizes  are:  1st,  £3;  2nd,  £1. 
Devon  and  Exeter  Gardeners. 
A  paper  was  read  at  the  latest  meeting  of  the  Devon  and 
Exeter  Gardeners’  Association,  at  the  Guildhall,  Exeter,  by 
Mr.  W.  Andrews,  of  the  Exeter  Public  Grounds,  on  “  Miscel¬ 
laneous  Bulbous^rooted  Plants  for  the  Flower  Border.”  The 
chair  was  occupied  by  Mr.  S.  Radley. 
Newcastle  Horticulturists. 
The  annual  meeting  of  the  Durham,  Northumberland,  and 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne  Botanical  and  Horticultural  Society  was 
held  on  December  8  at  the  offices  of  Messrs.  J.  Hindhaugh  and 
Co.,  Cloth  Market,  Newcastle.  The  chairman  of  the  society, 
Aid.  J.  Baxter-Ellis,  presided.  The  secretary,  Mr.  I.  B.  Reid, 
presented  the  annual  report  and  statement  of  accounts,  showing 
a  balance  in  hand  amounting  to  £24  11s.  5d.  It  was  agreed  to 
abandon  the  spring  show. 
Weather  in  the  North, 
Winter  has  at  last  closed  upon  us  in  the  north.  Since  the 
morning  of  the  4th  inst.  dense  hoar  frost  has  whitened  all  the 
lower  grounds,  and  the  higher  hills  are  covered  with  snow. 
Frost  of  from  8cleg  to  20deg  on  the  mornings  of  Sunday  and 
Monday  has  prevailed,  but  a  good  deal  of  sunshine  has 
brightened  the  past  week. — B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire. 
[Seventeen  degrees  (Fall.)  of  frost  were  recorded  on  the  6th 
at  Eynsford,  in  Kent. — Ed.] 
Electroid  Gas 
Remarkable  properties  are  claimed  for  the  gas  called  elec¬ 
troid  by  its  discoverer,  Professor  Rychnowski,  of  Lemberg. 
When  condensed,  the  gas  assumes  the  form  of  tiny  greenish- 
blue  balls,  which  are  elastic  like  indiarubber,  and  emit  rays 
under  the  influence  of  which  the  growth  of  plants  and  flowers 
is  greatly  accelerated,  and  organic  matter  is  prevented  from 
decomposing.  The  “  Family  Doctor  ”  says  that  Rosebuds  burst 
into  flower  under  it,  and  flesh  meat  has  been  kept  fresh  for  two 
years. 
Departmental  Committee  on  Poisons. 
The  Departmental  Committee  on  Poisons,  which  has  been 
carrying  on  its  work  for  about  a  year,  and  has  held  some  seven¬ 
teen  or  eighteen  sittings  for  the  reception  of  evidence,  has  had  a 
meeting  to  consider  the  draft  report  of  the  Chairman,  Sir 
Herbert  Maxwell.  Though  the  report  lias  not  yet  been  finally 
adopted,  it  is  understood  that  it  will  recommend  the  addition 
of  a  third  schedule  to  the  Pharmacy  Act,  under  which  persons 
who  are  not  authorised  pharmacists  may  be  licensed  to  sell 
poisonous  articles  of  use  in  agriculture  and  horticulture,  subject 
to  regulations  to  be  laid  down  by  the  Privy  Council  in  the 
interests  of  the  public  safety.  These  regulations  are  expected 
to  insist  on  special  shapes  and  labels  for  bottles  and  packages 
containing  poisonous  substances,  and  other  alterations  are  also 
to  be  recommended  in  the  Pharmacy  Act  schedules,  which  will 
have  the  effect  of  liberating  the  sale  of  sheep-dips,  insecticides, 
and  other  similar  articles,  which  has  hitherto  been  restricted 
to  pharmaceutical  chemists,  and  placing  it  under  reasonable  re¬ 
strictions  in  the  hands  of  persons  more  directly  concerned  with 
agricultural  and  horticultural  industries. 
Notes  from  Hamilton,'  N.B. 
The^  variable  nature  of  the  weather  for  some  time  past  has 
now  given  way  to  frost.  Few  will  be  sorry  for  the  change,  for 
almost  anything  would  be  an  improvement  in  comparison  to 
the  wet  of  the  last  week  or  two.  This  morning  (4th  inst.)  we  had 
12deg  F.,  a  rather  hard  frost  right  off,  and  following  on  a  twenty- 
four  hours’  rainfall.  The  consequence  was  that  the  ground  was 
frost-bound,  and!  though  trenching  or  digging  were  possibilities, 
yet  the  little  now  remaining  to  be  turned  we  prefer  to  defer  till 
it.  comes  fresh.  The  soil  of  this  district  is  cold  enough  in  its 
normal  condition,  and  we  opine  that,  however  beneficial  the 
burying  of  frost  crusts  may  be  in  light  soil,  it  must  be  always 
a  very  questionable  action  to  bury  them  in  cold  clayey  soils.  This 
district  is  very  much  engrossed  in  the  game  of  curling  when  the 
frost  sets  in,  and  not  a  fewT  will  hail  the  advent  of  the  present 
auspicious  prospects  with  delight.  A  day  or  two  on  the  ice 
renews  the  vigour  so  much  used  up  during  the  trying  times  of 
the  past  season.  And  the  gardener,  if  any  person  requires 
revigoration,  is  certainly  one  who  does.  So  we  wish  him  to 
have  his  few  days’  frost  and  a  good  game  at  the  grand  old  sport — 
the  roaring  game. — D.  C. 
