574 THE GARDENER. [Dec. 



THE WEATHER NEAR LONDON. 



I AM no weather prophet ; neither would I draw conclusions as to the coming 

 winter from passing incidents : one fact I will mention, during a practice of forty 

 years I never knew the ice-house filled so early as the 14th of November until 

 this day, and this day it has been done, with nice ice, much of it from 2 to 24 

 inches thick : the place is within 18 miles of London. AVe have before now saved 

 our ice in November, and found that the winter afforded no second chance ; it 

 may not be so this season. S. X. 



WEATHER REPORT. 



Mean temperature for July — min. 47°. 4, max. 71°; rainfall, 2.90. Rain fell on 

 twenty-four days of this month, and thunder was heard on the 1st, 4th, 5th, 

 10th, 23d, 26th, and 30th, Lightning was only eeen on the Ist and 4th. It will 

 be seen from the above that rain fell on almost all the days of this month, but 

 not to any great extent; on the 4tb, 0.48 inch was the greatest in twenty-four 

 hours. 



Mean temperature for August — min. 47°. 5, max. 72°. 6. The thermometer on 

 the 10th registered 86° in the shade, which was the highest recorded this sum- 

 mer ; lowest, 37° on the 22d. Eainfall, 1.72 ; days of fall, eight. No rain fell 

 from the 30th of July up to August 17th. 



Mean temperature for September— min. 42°.5, max. 62°.l. The min. ther- 

 mometer read 32° on the 29th, which was the lowest; rainfall, 5.04 inches. On 

 nineteen days of this mouth rain fell, on the 24th and 27th 1.21 and 1.01 inch 

 respectively fell in twenty-four hours. 



The disease amongst the Potatoes is very prevalent in this neighbourhood this 

 year, and there is very much difi'erence in the varieties as to being attacked with 

 the disease. Early Ash Leaf Kidney, about 10 per cent are diseased ; Prince's 

 Early Prolific and Myatt's Kidney, 5 per cent ; the Ash Top Fluke quite 80 per 

 cent ; and Smith's Early is very bad — they are nearly all gone together : but the 

 Potatoes that are cultivated in the field are a fair average crop, and not more than 

 5 per cent are gone, JoiiN Finlay. 



JMeldon Park, Morpeth, Northumberland. 



KITCHEN-GAEDEN. 



In early positions Peas and Beans may 

 be coming through the ground this 

 month. When this is the case, more 

 soil may be drawn over them, or a 

 quantity of coal-ashes placed along the 

 tows, which keeps slugs off, as well as 



efiectual means of getting rid of the 

 pests as anything. Poison should be 

 used carefully, and in a way that 

 pheasants, domestic fowls, dogs, &c., 

 cannot reach it. While it is necessary 

 to get the manure-yard cleared as early 



affords protection. Timely staking of j as possible (to make room for leaves. 

 Pease is advantageous, especially if they and all kinds of material for future use), 



are exposed to easterly or northerly 

 winds. Evergreens placed along the 

 rows in small pieces also do good ser- 

 vice. Those who have not the better 

 means of raising their early Peas and 

 Beans under glass in turf, tiles, boxes, 

 &c,, require to be all the more attentive 

 to their crops when exposed to so many 

 evils in the open ground. Mice and 

 other vermin are in some places very 

 destructive. Traps are perhaps as 



we would not recommend to lay the 

 manure down at random, simply be- 

 cause the space was vacant, but judge 

 how the ground was prepared last 

 season, and what amount of crop it 

 carried. Where plenty of manure was 

 given to the last crop, the ground after 

 being well trenched may be in capital 

 order for such crops as Potatoes, 

 Turnips, Beet, and Carrots. A good 

 quantity of the best manure should be 



