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JOURNAL OF HOBTICtJLTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t Jane 23, 1870. 



Peaches, Elruge Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, and a Cashmere 

 Melon. Mr. Clark, gardener to Earl Cowper, Brockett Hall, is second. 

 The best Pine Apple is a Qneen of 5 lbs. 11 ozs., from Mr. Ward, 

 gardener to T. N. Miller, Esq., Bishop Stortford ; the second best 

 a Providence of 10 lbs., from Mr. H. Bertram, gardener to R. T. Craw- 

 shay, Esq., Cyfarthfa ; and the same variety from Mr. Penford, 

 gardener to the Earl of Radnor, Longford Castle, Wilts. The third 

 prize went to a Queen of 4 lbs. 7 ozs., from Mr. A. Grant, Manor 

 House, Finchley. The best Green-fleshed Melon is Colston Bassett 

 Seedling, from Mr. Lamb ; the second best, unnamed, comes from 

 Mr. Cross, Rendcombe Park, Gloucestershire ; the third prize being 

 awarded to Mr. Douglas, Loxford Hall, Ilford, for Meredith'B Hybrid 

 Cashmere. In the Scarlet-fleshed class, Mr. Weir, gardener to Mrs. 

 Hodgson, Hampstead, is first with Weir's Eclipse ; Mr. Douglas being 

 second with Scarlet Gem. Mr. Masters, Sherbnrn Castle, Oxfordshire, 

 sends three handsome fruit of a cross-bred between Meredith's Cash- 

 merej and Heckfield Hybrid, about the quality of which nothing can 

 be said, as they were not to be cut. 



The prize baskets of Grapes are all Black Hamburgh, and large 

 and beautifully coloured are most of the berries. Mr. Ward is first, 

 Mr, M. Henderson, gardener to Sir G. Beaumont, second, Mr. Banner- 

 man third. The best three bunches of Black Grapes are Mill Hill 

 Hamburgh from Mr. Henderson ; Mr. Miller, Combe Abbey, being 

 second with Black Hamburgh, and Mr. Bannerman third, all with 

 excellent well-coloured bunches. 



The first prize for White Grapes went to Mr. A. Reid, gardener to 

 L. Hath, Esq., for splendid bunches and berries, as regards size, of 

 Buckland Sweetwater, Mr. Douglas being second with finely-finished 

 bunches of the same variety. 



The beBt two dishes of Peaches are Bellegarde and Royal George, 

 large and highly coloured, shown by Mr. Jack, gardener to the Duke 

 «f Cleveland, Battle Abbey. Mr. Davies, Whetstone, is second with 

 the same kinds; and Mr. Ross, gardener to C. Eyre, Esq., Welford 

 Park, Newbury, third with Royal George and Violette Hitive. For 

 Nectarines, the first prize goes to Mr. Miles, Lord Carrington's gar- 

 dener at Wycombe Abbey, for excellent fruit of the Elruge ; the 

 second to Mr. Carmichael, gardener to H.K.H. the Prince of Wales, 

 Sandringham, for Violette Hativo and Elruge, likewise excellent. The 

 third prize was awarded to Mr. Hill, gardener to E. Snevd, Eso., 

 KeeleHall. 



Of Black Cherries, a most splendid dish of Black Tartarian from 

 Mr. Miles, is first, and in White Cherries, an even more beautiful 

 dish of Bigarreau Napoleon, from the same Bkilfnl fruit grower, takes 

 a similar position. In Strawberries, again, another most successful 

 cultivator iB first, both for four dishes and for two dishes — viz., Mr. 

 Douglas, of Loxford Hall— for four dishes with Sir Harry, Mr. Rad- 

 clyffe, La Constante, and Frogmore Late Pine, of which he has 

 splendid berries, even in this dry season ; for two dishes with British 

 Qneen and La Constante. Mr. Miles is second, with four dishes, and 

 Messrs. Standish & Co., with two. 



SOME PECULIAPJTIES OF THE SEASON. 



It is a Baying that winter never passes away without leaving 

 some trace of its existence behind it. A very severe winter 

 damages shrubs and trees, and often kills a number, as well as 

 does more or less injury to plants of humbler growth unless 

 they have been covered with snow. A mild winter, instead of 

 deiDg harm to existing vegetation, takes its revenge on that 

 which is to come by rendering the ground unkind to work and 

 unfit for the purposes of cultivation. This, no amount of 

 labour can effectually remedy at once. We have also some- 

 times had winters giving great encouragement to Blags and 

 other enemies to young vegetation, and now and then a high 

 wind leaves its mark behind it. All these and other mis- 

 fortunes we have to lament more or less, but fortunately we 

 never have the whole all at once. A sharp frost, if it deprives 

 us of much that is valuable, sweetens and pulverises the soil in 

 readiness for another crop, and tillage is then easy and pleasant. 



The autumn of last year was in no respect remarkable ; 

 perhaps more than the average amount of rain fell, but we had 

 no extraordinarily high winds. Frosts were moderate until 

 alter Christmas, when a week of winter weather concluded 

 1869. The January of the present year was mostly mild, and 

 on the whole dry, as was likewise the beginning of February, 

 the first week or so being unusually dry ; but the cold winds 

 of the 11th, 12th, and 13th left their mark behind them, the 

 windward side of single shrubs, trees, and other plants show- 

 ing unmistakeably the injury they received ; belts of shrubs 

 facing the north and east especially suffered. The amount of 

 actual frost was never sufficient to account for the injury ; it 

 was the withering, biting north-east wind which oontinued for 

 three or four days and nights which did the mischief. It was 

 more to the night wind that the condition of vegetation at the 

 end of this period may bs attributed than to that of the days ; 

 while the drifting of the snow exposed many plants that would 

 have otherwise been protected by a mantle of white. Broccoli 



and other garden crops suffered, but the effects on shrubs and 

 some other plants are difficult to comprehend, and different 

 from those observable in most years. The leaves of the com- 

 mon Laurel were in most places so irijared that most of them 

 fell, while Lanrustinus scarcely suffered, and it flowered pro- 

 fusely afterwards, although not so freely as in the spring of 

 1869. 



The effects on plants near the surface were not less remark- 

 able. Some plants of Centaurea candidissima which had stood 

 three winters here were killed, and I find that Cannas in two 

 large beds, which had remained even longer, are coming up 

 very unevenly this season, and several, I imagine, are dead. I 

 must, however, observe with regard to the Cannas, that in 

 previous years I have been in the habit of covering the bed 

 with leaves to the depth of C or 8 inches, or more, whereas 

 last autumn the stems of the plants were merely bent down 

 as evenly as possible, and covered with turf. I hardly know 

 whether to blame the frosts in February or the wet autumn for 

 the failure, and as yet I am not quite sure whether more of 

 the Cannas are not alive. Some other plants that usually 

 escape have also suffered : Lavender Cotton (Santolina inoana) 

 has been killed in places, and Verbena venosa has also suc- 

 cumbed to cold or some malady. It is difficult to account for 

 this result, for we grow the plant largely, and I find it is all 

 but killed on a series of raised beds, of which the principal 

 fault in summer is their dryness, while in some other beds on 

 the surface, and more moist, it is coming up as thickly as turf, 

 and at the time I write (June 9th) is coming into flower. I 

 suppose the wind swept the snow from the raised beds, and 

 the roots, being near the surface, could not withstand the frost 

 that followed. Gazanias where covered with the snow also 

 escaped, and a bed of Camellias in the open air flowered very 

 well in April ; and againBt sheltered walls there has been no 

 material Iobs of tender shrubs or climbers. The singular- 

 flowered Edwardsia microphylla presented us with a few of its 

 blossoms, and the Ceanothus dentatus, pallidus, and papillosum 

 have all flowered as usual. The common hardy shrubs and 

 trees have been loaded with blossom, but this is mostly due to 

 the autumn of laBt" year, and not to the current season, whioh 

 has been disastrous to newly-planted shrubs, owing to the 

 absence of rain. The continued drought is doing very much 

 injury to everything not deeply enough rooted to withstand it. 



Of trees and shrubs browned on the north-eastern side, 

 those of the Pinus tribe are pre-eminent, and perhaps the 

 Spruce Fir is about the worst affected, and that which will be 

 the longest in recovering, but none has escaped ; even the 

 Wellingtonia has suffered, and the worst in the collection here, 

 excepting some Mexican Pines, is Cupressus Knightiana, but 

 it is coming round again. Thujopsis borealis does not seem 

 to have a leaf turned, but it is rather sheltered ; Taxodium 

 sempervirens is quite as well sheltered, but it is very much 

 injured. Most others have escaped, including Cupressus Lam- 

 bertiana, which was so much injured in 1866. 



I will now pass to the spring. Most people will be complain- 

 ing of the absence of rain, yet it is something remarkable that 

 although the growth of grass has been short, and the hay crop 

 in this neighbourhood next to a total failure, yet tke lawns and 

 pastures have never shown those signs' of distress we have seen 

 them do in other years when the rainfall has been double what 

 it has been in 1870. The reason undoubtedly is that a dry 

 season inures vegetation to sustain it by degrees, and induces 

 the roots to descend for moisture, instead of lingering near the 

 surface to catch what may fall. In fact, it is a similar law 

 which governs watering by hand — plants become accustomed 

 to it, and cannot do without it. But although the grass fields 

 are not so burnt up as they have been known to be, the growth 

 has been very tardy, seed stems only are produced, and there 

 seems to be a general languishing for rain, which hitherto has 

 only fallen in very small quantities in this district. During 

 the present year there fell barely 6 incheB of rain in the first 

 five months, ending May 31st. This is a small quantity where 

 the average yearly rainfall of the past fifteen years has been 

 upwards of 26 inches. 



Although insects attacking trees and established plants, as 

 Roses and the like, have not been so common as in some years, 

 there seem to have been more losses amongst small seeds 

 than usual. Even where vegetation has taken place, the 

 plants disappeared in a manner not easily accounted for ; and 

 in other cases the progress has been tardy. The greatest draw- 

 back in the kitchen garden is deficiency of Peas. Strawberries 

 also threaten to be small, and Lettuces and other vegetables 

 quickly run to seed. Of the hardy fruits, Apples are reported 



