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JOUBNAIi OF HOBTICULTUBB AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



February 28, MW. 



tion, for Thnjft Lobbii, gigantea, and Menziesii appear in the 

 same garb as before ; and the eame may be said of Tbujopsis 

 borealis. I bardly know whether to include T. dolabrata in the 

 same list or not, as the plants are smali, and were much covered 

 with enow. The new Ketinosporas seem to be hardy enough, 

 E. pisifera, which is 8 feet high, being quite uninjured ; and 

 the same is the case with B. obtusa, leptoclada, squarrosa, and, 

 I think, erieoidcs, but I am not certain as to the last. The 

 members of the genus Cupressus also seem to be generally hardy. 

 C Lawsoniana was not hurt ; perhaps there was a shade of 

 difference in the tint of C. macrocarpa as compared with that 

 ■which it previously exhibited, but it ia only a shade ; and 

 Taiodium sempervirens growing both in dry and damp situa- 

 tions seems capable of withstanding any amount of cold which 

 is hkely to occur in our climate, for I see no difference in its 

 appearance now from that which it offers after mild winters ; 

 and the same is the case with Cryptomeria japonica and 

 C. Lobbii. 1 have, however, to lament a sad accident that 

 befel a specimen of Cryptomeria japonica : a high wind on the 

 8th of January broke off upwards of 14 feet from the top of our 

 highest tree, which, before the accident, was about 40 feet high, 

 as straight as an arrow, and tapering from only about 10 feet 

 in diameter at bottom to the top. I am glad to say that I ex- 

 pect Cryptomeria elegans wiU prove hardy, as the shoots, though 

 brown, are not killed, and the rich brown tint which it assumes in 

 antumn before any cold sets in is, perhaps, an advantage rather 

 than otherwise. Some other species of Abies, such as A. polita 

 and microsperma, were too small to report upon. I may, how- 

 «Ter, remark that Picea lasiocarpa seems hardy. 



As we are too apt to magnify present evils as exceeding 

 former ones, it may, perhaps, be premature yet to compare this 

 winter with others of a severe charccter in years gone by, 

 until the full extent of the injury be known ; but at this 

 place the frost has certainly been more destructive than that of 

 1860-61. The cold in February, 1854, certainly exceeded that 

 of the present year, and as far as I can remember its results 

 were as disastrous, though not to Conifers. I may add that 

 Wellingtonias in all situations have escaped unhurt, whilst 

 other plants hitherto regarded as perfectly hardy have suffered ; 

 the mischief here has been chiefly confined to a particular part 

 cf the ground that had escaped in former years, and in such a 

 manner as leads to the impression that an intensity of cold 

 prevailed in a ceiiain plot of a few acres in extent which did 

 not exist in another situation of equal altitude but a short way 

 off. This, however, is a subject I can only give an opinion of, 

 but on a more extensive scale there is proof enough that it has 

 been so, as witness the disparity of thermometric readings. 



It remains only for me to remark that in the kitchen garden, 

 which here is on a higher level than the dressed grounds, the 

 Joss is not so serious as on some occasions ; but all tall Broc- 

 colis are either killed or much hurt, while dwarf varieties, 

 being under the snow, escaped with more or less damage ac- 

 cording to the protection which they had, the advantages of a 

 snow covering being most apparent in a breadth of Spinach, 

 which looks as well now as at Christmas. Of Lettuces and 

 eimilar low crops the same remark holds good. — J. Eoeson. 



FRIENDS IN CANADA. 



" Great welcome makes a merry feast." 

 The perusal of " Wiltshiee Eectok's " prose Christmas 

 Carol in the Christmas number of the " Journal " was a source 

 of much pleasure to one English family living in exile in far- 

 4istant Canada. 



"We also, like your worthy contributor, are fond of Christ- 

 mas carols, and more than one comfortless night have we spent 

 in the keen frosty air in order to indulge in singing, under the 

 window of our rector, the good old carol of " Helmore," as we 

 devoutly shun any of the " Annie Laurie " type. Oh, that the 

 Wiltshire robin bad warbled for us ! We would have wished 

 him no " bune in his throat ;" he would have been doubly 

 welcome ; for through the long dreary Canadian winter we have 

 no songsters to enliven us, or disturb the dismal stillness — not 

 even a crow. We, too, should consider ourselves happy to wish 

 our friends a " Huppy New Tear " in an English temperature. 

 Fancy, you people in good old England, turning out on New 

 Tear's-day with the thermometer at 20° below zero, and a gale 

 of wind blowing ! The good old angel Christmas had need 

 come with plenty of good cheer in such an inhospitable climate 

 as we Uve m ; but, although our winters are long and severe, oi\r 

 gnmmers are warm, and all the hardy fruits are grown with 



much success. Peaches were formerly a certain crop ; but of 

 late years, owing to the extreme cold, the result has been very 

 uncertain. Apples, Pears, Plume, Cherries, and the small 

 fruits, with the exception of Gooseberries, all do remarkablj 

 well, but as a general rule are very deficient in flavour when 

 compared with English fruit. The native Grapes are also 

 widely cultivated, but the disagreeable aroma which distin- 

 guishes them makes them very unpalatable to an Englishman. 



As " Wiltshire Rector " remarks, we readers of the 

 "Journal" (our Journal I should have said), seem likt 

 brothers, as indeed we are. Nothing is looked forward to with 

 more pleasure in this household than the arrival of our favourite. 

 " Dear me ! how late the Journal is this week !" is often heard ; 

 and when it does arrive, it is not long before its pages are well 

 read. It seems like one of the connecting links that bind UB 

 to " our island home," and nothing in its pages imbues us with 

 a more fraternal feeling than the contributions of "Wiltshire 

 Eector." Long may he be spared to enliven with his genial 

 style the columns of "our Journal;" indeed, we should b« 

 sorry to miss the well-known names of any of its regular 

 writers ; and until we again set foot on our native land, for I 

 trust our exile draws near to a close, welcome, thrice welcome, 

 to our fireside here will be our weekly friend. I trust that 

 this response from beyond the seas to " Wiltshire Eectob's " 

 desire to know more of our fraternity, will prove to him and 

 all connected with the Journal, that their efforts to do good 

 and make life pleasanter have not been in vain. — W. T. Gold- 

 smith, St. CatJiarine's, Canada West. 



[The Editors kindly sent to me the manuscript of the above ; 

 and I speak truly when I say that no letter that the postman 

 ever brought to me gave me greater pleasure. It reached mc 

 on a Sunday morning, while the church bells around were pro- 

 claiming the day of rest and blessing to man, and it wai'med 

 and cheered my heart ; and when, a few hours after, I was lead- 

 ing the sacred service in my own Ivy-clad village chmch, mj 

 thoughts strayed to the kind writer and his family in far-distant 

 Canada, who, perhaps, at the same time were joining in th* 

 same holy words. I thank our Canadian friend for his fraternal 

 greeting. I thank him on behalf of " all the regular writers " 

 in this periodical, for he includes all ; first and foremost on 

 behalf of the Editors, then on behalf of the rest whose word* 

 he frequently reads, and lastly on my own behalf. It i( 

 pleasant to know that the bread we have cast upon the water* 

 has not only done a good work, but that we are thanked for it. 

 It is pleasant to put thoughts on paper which have given u» 

 pleasure, and then to know that they have given pleasure to 

 others. Our walk in literature is not a lofty one, but not tb* 

 less useful ; we inform the mind, we give hints of use to thos« 

 who earn their daily bread, and better still, we at times, so it 

 seems, reach the heart. We think we add to home comforts, 

 and make the home circle draw closer, by drawing it around 

 our Journal as a centre. I was aware this periodical wa« 

 warmly welcomed in many an English home ; but it was a new 

 jJeasure to find that we brought old England to the mind's 

 eyes and hearts of our colonists, deadening for a while " that 

 wasting pang — home-sickness." We in England join in wishing 

 Mr. Goldsmith and his family well, and, in thought, stretch a 

 warmly grasping hand to them in far-distant Canada. And may 

 they continue to derive pleasure from our pages ; and when 

 reading of our English gardens and homes may they feel for a 

 while (so fancy oft cheats man pleasingly), that they are looking 

 at our bright flowers, and listening to our merry English birds. 

 Wishing well, therefore, to all under Mr. Goldsmith's roof tree, 

 and that they may soon walk in English fields and gardens, and 

 be exiles no longer, I remain theirs fraternally — Wiltshibb 

 Eector.] 



TEANSrLANTING LARGE I'RUIT TREES. 

 On opening your Journal of February 14th I was not a little 

 surprised to see a communication from " T. P. I." on the very 

 trees I mentioned in my paper sent last week. As a commen- 

 tai7 on his observations, I beg to state that only a few of the 

 Peach trees had been planted previously to my taking charge 

 of the garden at Oakley Hall. The Pears had been planted 

 two years. The large Apricot mentioned must have been fully 

 thirty years old, and one Pear much older. — Wm. Eobins, 

 Oakioj Park, Suffolk. 



West of Exgland Eose Show. — This Show, to be held at 

 Hereford, is postponed to July 9th, on account of the Show at 

 South Kensington being on the day previously announced. 



