4 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



warmth and brightness of summer broke upon us, and may be said to 

 have continued till near the end of November ; bedding plants remaining 

 in bloom later than usual, the fall of the leaf being protracted, and many- 

 tender subjects that are generally expected to perish of frost, if left out 

 after the middle of October, were green and vigorous on the 16th of 

 December, in the neighbourhood of London. 



The unusual warmth of the season caused the blooming and fruiting of 

 many plants which usually refuse to accommodate themselves thoroughly 

 to our climate. At a late meeting of the Linna?an Society, Professor Owen 

 produced pods of the three-thorned acacia, which had ripened in his 

 garden at Richmond ; the previous instance on record of the fruiting of 

 this shrub being that mentioned by Miller, which occurred in 1728. The 

 Chronicle records the ripening of the nuts of two sorts of hickory, Cart/a 

 porcince and C. obcordatce ; the ripening of the crimson samara? or keys of 

 Ailanthus glandulosus, a deciduous tree of Chinese origin. At Kew and other 

 places, Koelreuteria paniculata, a beautiful deciduous tree of the soapwort 

 family, also from China, has produced its blabbery sea-vessels in abun- 

 dance ; catalpa trees, at Chiswick, came out loaded with pods ; and in the 

 Horticultural Society's garden, the levantine oak (Quereus cegilops) ripened 

 abundance of acorns. Among the notes made of similar events within my 

 own experience, I may mention the free blooming of pyrus vestita ; the 

 ripening of fruits on standard peaches (Peche des Vignes) in Mr. Rivers's 

 nursery at Sawbridgeworth, the free blooming of the double white Hibis- 

 cus, and the fruiting of Eugenia Ugni, besides grapes, figs, and pome- 

 granates ripened on open walls, of a quality such as we never before saw 

 equalled under similar circumstances. Peaches have been gathered of 

 two-and-a-half pounds weight; Pears of two pounds have been common. 

 Mr. Clarke, the seedsman, of the Borough, lately exhibited a couple, one 

 of which weighed two pounds fourteen ounces; and twelve Belle Angevine, 

 exhibited by Mr. Solomon at Willis's Room's, weighed twenty -five pounds. 



Amongst the events of the year, the flower and fruit shows may be 

 spoken of as having been successful beyond precedent. The new locus 

 for such things at Sydenham has told favourably for gardening interests, 

 and though the shareholders' committee estimated the profits of the three 

 shows at only £500, it is to be hoped that better management in future 

 may render such fetes as productive to the company as they are acceptable 

 to the public ; and every enthusiast in horticulture, whether dealer or 

 amateur, would regret the loss of such agreeable reunions, especially 

 since they are celebrated in a spot where decorative gardening has been 

 brought to its highest state of perfection for all popular purposes. At 

 those three shows prizes to the amount of near £2,300 were distributed ; 

 that was the mistake. Let the honour of showing have preponderance 

 over the temptation of prizes, and let the latter be wisely apportioned to 

 merit of the most diverse kinds, and neither professional nor amateur 

 cultivators will cease to regard the Crystal Palace as a place worthy of 

 the best productions of their skill. In regard to shows generally, those 

 of the National, the Horticultural Society, and the many local associations 

 in various parts of the country, must be spoken of as having been un- 

 usually brilliant ; and to crown the close of the season with a grand 

 flourish, came the autumn fruit show at Willis's Rooms — an experiment 



