58 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



Another new feature consists of an essay " On the Ordering and 

 Management of Small Gardens," which, there can be no doubt, 

 will be of immense service to amateurs and others. The selections 

 of fruits, flowers, and vegetables are as full and accurate as hereto- 

 fore ; and upwards of twenty of the most useful and distinct of the 

 latter are illustrated. 



Tbe weather, since my last notes were written, has occupied 

 much of our attention, although, up to the present time, the winter 

 has not been characterized by any unusual phenomena. In the 

 neighbourhood of London, thirty degrees of frost were several times 

 registered, whilst twenty degrees of frost was quite common in all 

 parts of the country. In Yorkshire and Norfolk, and many other 

 counties, correspondents state that upon one or two occasions the 

 temperature fell several degrees below the zero of Fahrenheit. In 

 low-lying and damp situations, the kitchen garden crops have 

 suffered severely ; but so far as I have been able to ascertain by 

 observation, and from the reports of correspondents, trees and shrubs 

 do not appear to have received much, if any damage. This is, no 

 doubt, owing to the well ripened condition of the wood when the 

 frost caught it. The exact amount of injury which trees and shrubs 

 have received, cannot as yet be correctly ascertained, but there is no 

 cause to fear that much harm has been done. 



The Persian Cyclamen is now justly appreciated in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the metropolis, but few provincial horticulturists who 

 have not been fortunate enough to see the magnificent collections 

 exhibited at the spring exhibitions of the two Royal Societies in 

 London, by Mr. James and Mr. Wiggins, of Isleworth, Mr. Edmonds, 

 of Hayes Common, and Mr. Stevens, of Ealing, have an adequate 

 idea of the perfection to which they can be grown. The other day, 

 I had the good fortune to see the collection under the charge of Mr. 

 James, in tbe gardens of W. E. Watson, Esq., Redlees, Isleworth. 

 The bulk of the plants were not fully out, but they were in the 

 most luxuriant health, and bristling with flower-buds. I have had 

 the opportunity of seeing the collection every season for several 

 years past, and I feel bound to say that no word painting will con- 

 vey anything like an adequate idea of the appearance of the house 

 when the plants are at their best. Many of them have from two to 

 three hundred flowers expanded at one time. The flowers are also 

 of the most perfect form, and the colours range from the purest 

 white to the deepest rose and carmine. Tbe flowers are so vastly 

 superior to the narrow petalled flowers of the varieties usually grown, 

 that one can hardly believe them to be the same. The system of 

 culture, adopted by Mr. James, is exceedingly simple. The seed is 

 sown directly it is gathered, the young plants grown on briskly the 

 first year without being dried off, and the old plants only allowed to 

 rest for about a month in the summer. The compost used is mode- 

 rately rich and open, and a liberal quantity of sand is added, to 

 admit of the free development of the roots. We frequently hear of 

 "spotted" Cyclamens so called, as if the character was fixed; 

 whereas the spots on the light flowers is always caused by an excess 

 of atmospheric humidity, and is evidence of improper management. 



