254 THE GARDENER. []u-sE 



TEMPERATURE OF FORCING - HOUSES. 



I RETUKN to the subject once again, and with these remarks I close the discus- 

 sion with "D. J.," on my side at least. 



After reading his last paper through, I am struck with its meagreness, seeing 

 it is the production of one who, according to his own account, had the accumu- 

 lated facts of a lifetime to draw upon, but which seem to have evaporated in 

 an unaccountable manner iu the first emergency. It seems I am accused of 

 dark and " unscruiiulous insinuations," to use my own words; but which are 

 not my words at all, but " D. J.'s " misquoting as usual. Now '* insinivations," 

 as Sam "Weller's "respected parient " woidd say, I take to be the weapons of 

 those who dare not, or hesitate to express their real sentiments frankly. In this 

 sense the term does not apply to me, for I think I may fairly claim to having 

 been exceedingly exj)licit with "D. J." when accusing him of misquoting my 

 text — or mending it, shall we say ? — and not only mine, but also Mr Thompson's, 

 on the assumption that he quoted from his 'Gardener's Assistant,' — and which 

 he has not refuted yet ; and as a guarantee of good faith I appended my name to 

 my paper, more especially as it appeared that " D. J." was striving, in a round- 

 about way, to identify "J. S." and the "worthy Mr Simpson of Wortley" 

 with one another. I see that he, for a most paradoxical reason, prefers to re- 

 main safe behind his initials. As it appears, however, that "D. J." had to go 

 back to my paper to understand it properly a month after he had answered it, 

 J am willing to credit him with having made a mistake, so far. But he ' ' does 

 surprise " me when he says, with regard to temperature, that he counted from 

 morning till noon, and "holds he is right." This looks exceedingly like begging 

 the question. I took it for granted, of course, that he apprehended me in the 

 sense that I put it. I spoke of the dedine of the temperature, not of its rise, 

 though 1 am perfectly willing to take this view of the matter, for it just comes 

 to the same thing. Under natural conditions, the rise of temperatvire is always 

 more sudden than its decline. As a rule, the minimum is reached just before 

 sunrise ; after this, the temperature rises rapidly to its maximum. On a Peach 

 or Apricot wall, for instance, these conditions are aggravated (and without any 

 bad results), for the sun blazes forth upon the trees while they are still wet 

 with dew, and will sometimes raise the temperature as much as 30° or 40° in an 

 hour, or little more ; so there is no loop-hole here for your correspondent. 

 Next, I am accused of culling extreme instances of temperature from the 

 ' Meteorological Society's Journal,' extending over a number of years ; whereas, 

 except in one instance, I quoted only from the spring numbers of 1870 and 

 1871. But " D. J." may quote from any year he chooses; the residt will be the 

 same, especially with regard to mean temperatures. An instance comes to hand. 

 The mean temperature of the month of April at Bordeaux is only a few degrees 

 under that of Catania and Cadiz ; but only the other day we learn that the 

 vintage there has been destroyed by frost near the end of April — an unfrequent 

 occurrence, perhaps, but sufficient to show that the temperature must frequently 

 be very low when the Vines are well advanced in growth. 



Further on, " D. J." makes me to say that if Vines are not treated to a mini- 

 mum temperature of 45° or 50°, the end will be "failure, ruin, and death." I 

 must refer your readers to my original December statements, to show how my 

 words have been here manipidated by my opponent, and made to express a mean- 

 ing that was never intended. But his case is desperate, as he shows by quibbling 

 about my words "up to " the setting period, and " while Muscats are in bloom." 

 In my mind these terms are synonymous ; but let me be explicit, and say that I 



