3M 



JOCBNAL OP HOBTICniiTDBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



( Fcbrunr 28, 1867. 



anticipated. Although I quite agree with your valuable cor- 

 respondent Mr. Eadcljffe, that it will not be until the spring 

 that we can tell to what extent our Roses and other hardy trees 

 and shrubs may have Buffered ; yet, as far as my observation 

 has gone, the losses amongst Boses will not be considerable. 

 I have noticed, and I should be glad to know if others of your 

 correspondents have observed the same, that the old two-year- 

 old wood of my Eoses seems to have suffered to a greater ex- 

 tent than the newer, greener, less-ripened shoots. I cannot 

 say that any of my Boses are killed, unless it be two or three 

 plants of Triomphe de Rennes, but I fully expect many of those 

 on the Manetti stock to die down to the snow hne. Some of 

 ihem present the singular appearance of having been crushed 

 for an inch or two about this line, not by the bark or stem 

 appearing to be bruised or wounded, but by its discoloration, 

 while the upper part of the branch above this line appears at 

 present quite fresh and uninjured. The only protection 1 

 afforded to the bulk of my Eoses was to increase the thickness 

 of Nature's best blanket by having more snow shovelled on to 

 my dwarfs, whether on their own roots or on Manetti ; and in 

 the case of my newly-budded Manettis the application has been 

 thoroughly successful, as even in the case of some Teas the 

 buds look as green and fresh as the day they were put in. 



One beneficial result, amongst others, of the severe frost will 

 be to prove thoroughly the hardiness or otherwise of the new 

 Eoses of the last three or four years, and how far Roses on the 

 Manetti are better able to resist the effect of such intense cold 

 than those on their own roots or on the Briar, and it will be a 

 great boon to amateur rosarians if, as the season advances, 

 some of your readers will give lists of what Eoses have been 

 killed or suffered most from the effects of the late frost. 



None of my hardy shrubs as yet show any sign of injury, 

 though Broccoli and Celery seem to have suffered considerably. 



I must not forget to mention, in passing, that so late as Janu- 

 ary 19th I had a good covering of straw put round some pillar 

 Eoses which I was anxious, if possible, to preserve from injury. 

 These are trained to circular iron trainers, and straw was 

 placed round them, to the extent of an inch in thickness, from 

 ihe ground to a height of 4 or .5 feet, leaving still 2 or 3 feet of 

 the top of the shoots exposed. If this had been put on previous 

 to the severe frost it would no doubt have proved a protection 

 against almost any degree of cold ; but as it is, I hope it may 

 stiU be of use, as I am convinced that plants suffer as much 

 from sudden exposure to bright sun or drying winds after such 

 weather as we have had, as from the effects of the intense 

 •old. 



I am surprised to find how little plants have suffered in cold 

 frames in comparison with what I should have expected, for 

 though protected with additional covering, and in the case of 

 the first frost to some extent with straw, the intensity of the 

 cold was such that I expected much more damage to have been 

 done than has been. How is this ? Did the late mild autumn 

 cause the loss of ground temperature to be much less than is 

 usual on the approach of winter ? and when we came to cover 

 up our cold frames closely, was there, therefore, much more of it 

 f.ban common at this time of year stored up to resist such frost 

 as we have had lately ? Unfortunately I had no self-registering 

 thermometer in any of my cold frames, so that I have no means 

 of telling with exactness what was the temperature ; but I 

 find the injury to my Calceolarias, Gazanias, Carnations, Tea 

 Eoses, and other occupants of my cold frames almost nothing. 

 Verbenas, Ilumeas, &c., in the same frames have suffered more ; 

 but I might, without difScnlty, have added such additional pro- 

 tection as would have saved these too. 



No doubt the small injury done to vegetation compared with 

 the severity of the past frost is to be attributed entirely to the 

 beneficial protection of the snowfall, which was more or less 

 abundant throughout the country. — Countey Curate. 



Penzance. — Frost commenced on December 31st, 18fi6, and 

 continued till January 4th, 1867. The lowest temperature 

 during these days, by Negretti & Zambra's self- registering ther- 

 mometer, was 27°. In a garden near this place none of the 

 jjants enumerated below, excepting Sparmannia africana, then 

 in flower, suffered. On January 11th frost set in again. On 

 the 14th the snow was 5 inches in depth. On the 15th and 

 16th the minimum during the preceding nights was 15°, an 

 excess of 7° of cold beyond what I have ever observed during 

 the twenty-eight years of my residence in Cornwall. 



I find this day (February 6th), that the following plants in 

 the borders and unprotected have been killed :— Hakea acicn- 

 laris, Sparmannia africana, Eutaxia myrtiflora, Serissa margi- 

 nata, Acacia armata, Eriostemon pulchellnm, Pelargoniums, 



including some of the Cape kinds which had survived many 

 winters here and in the Soilly Islands ; and Alona cipiestis. 



Severely injured : — Veronicas (various shrubby kinds). Aster 

 argophyUus, Polygala Dalmaisiana, Gazania splendens, Bo- 

 ronia tetrandra, Myrsine undulata, Centaurea ragusina and 

 gymnocarpa, and Cineraria maritima. Cassia corymbosa has 

 lost the wood of 1806. 



Slightly injured — i. c, extremities of shoots pinched :— 

 Myrtles, Erica codonodcs, CoUetia spinosa, Witscnia corymbosa, 

 Mitraria coccinea, Correa alba, and Hakea suaveolens. Several 

 plants of Ghent Azaleas were unhurt, a young leaf or so at the 

 extremities of the shoots only being destroyed. The same 

 with Camellias, among which there was no damage except where 

 the new growth had already begun. 



Unhurt : — Gunnera scabra, Dracspna indiviea. Yuccas, Rho- 

 dodendron arborenm, Abutilon vitifolium, Erica arborea, Col- 

 letia bictonensis, Olea ilicifolia, and Convolvulus cneonim. 



No Roses whatever have been damaged ; but Fuchsia fulgens, 

 splendens, and serratifoUa are killed to the ground. 



So many of the plants above mentioned are usually only 

 found under glass during winter, that the effect of the late 

 frost upon them may be useful. The result that most surpriseg 

 me concerns the Dracaenas, of which I have three specimens, 

 one 9 feet and the others 6 feet in height. That they should, 

 have survived a temperature so low as 15° was beyond my 

 expectations, especially as, when frost set in after the snow on. 

 their leaves had been melted by the sun, the hearts of the 

 plants were covered with a solid block of ice. I speak of these 

 plants as D. indivisa, but some think that they are D. aus- 

 trahs. 



The Orange trees. Pelargoniums, and Calceolarias in a badly 

 glazed lean-to greenhouse, without any heat but that of a 

 paraffin lamp during the night, had only a leaf here and there 

 touched, although on one night the minimum was 22°, and on 

 three others 23°. In wooden frames matted over, and filled with 

 Zonal and Variegated Pelargoniums, Heliotropes, and other 

 bedding plants, nothing was injured beyond the tips of the 

 Celsias and of the Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums in one corner. 



Our district is one in which market-gardening is carried on. 

 to a largo extent. At this season the main crop is Broccoli, of 

 which acres are destroyed. The Potatoes, fortunately, were 

 stiU in safety on their shelves, as the practice of November 

 planting has been almost wholly given up in this neighboui'- 

 hood.— W. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



One of the novelties for which we anticipate a large measure 

 of success is a new Black Gkape, raised by Mr. Standish, 

 which we noticed in our pages two years ago under the name 

 of Royal Black, but which he has since changed to Eoyal 

 Ascot, as indicating more distinctly its origin. For some years 

 Mr. Standish devoted his attention to the crossing of Grapes, 

 and one of the crosses he attempted was to get a result par- 

 taking of the character of the Muscat of Alexandria and the 

 TroverenFrontignan ; and for this purpose he used the Bowood, 

 which at the time was considered an earlier form and generaUy 

 a superior variety of the Muscat. To his astonishment, in- 

 stead of a white Grape he obtained a black one, and instead of 

 a Muscat a variety with a large oval berry, of a character very 

 similar to the Black Hamburgh, and with a sensible though 

 very faint trace of Frontignan flavour. Our object, however, 

 in noticing this subject at present is to report what promises 

 to be its great fertility and wonderful vigour. Mr. Standish 

 has planted a whole house with it for market purposes, and 

 the Vines, though only planted twelve months ago, show on 

 each lateral as many as four large bunches, and on some of the 

 rods we counted as many as forty in all. The fruit is earUer 

 than the Black Hamburgh by a week, and it has the peculiarity 

 of being of a jet black colour long before it is ripe, being in 

 that respect UketheRedChasselas, which colours as soon as the 

 berry is formed. Judging by what we saw of the fruit last 

 year, the remarkably stout stalk, and the short, sturdy, warted 

 berry-stalks, we believe that this will be equally valuable as a 

 hanging Grape as it is for forcing and for its earliness. 



These are, or shortly wiU be, one or two vacancies for 



students at Chiswick. Young men who are desirous of avail- 

 ing themselves of the advantages thus offered may receive par- 

 ticulars by applying to Mr. Barron, the Superintendent of the 

 Garden. 



Majob K. Trevor Clabke asks us to correct aa error ia 



